Chapter 56: Anticipation Part 2

Qiu Chao watched Yan Muyu’s expression closely. The guests in the back all held their breath, fearing she’d get upset.

But this woman’s anger was always short-lived. Her heart seemed too expansive to hold onto grudges, and any flicker of it vanished in an instant—deemed “not worth it” by her.

【So calm.】

【Is this even okay to ask?】

【Qiu Chao broke up with him like eight hundred years ago!!】

【They dated for years, though. Four years… that’s long compared to most relationships.】

【And she practically moved in! Kinda hard not to call her the almost-sister-in-law.】

【Wasn’t there talk that Qiu Chao dropping out at eighteen to marry into wealth set a bad example?】

【But then she’s grinding away at her career, and people slam her for being over thirty and still single?】

“I won’t marry Yan Kai,” Qiu Chao said.

She gazed out the window. The dark silhouettes of the mountains were barely visible, with a few lights scattered like fallen stars.

The woman in the passenger seat had long hair cascading over her shoulders. The fixed camera still captured her in crystal clarity, enough to make anyone marvel at Qiu Chao’s naturally flawless features.

But her beauty ran deeper than that—her die-hard fans adored her for that relentless ambition, the kind that wouldn’t quit until it got what it wanted.

Year after year, she’d swallowed loneliness no one understood, stuck to her guns with fierce determination. Now bathed in stardom and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the elite, she made her fans ache for her.

Someone should keep her company.

“Neither before nor in the future,” Qiu Chao added.

【Hold up!! Does that mean there’s more to the story??】

【Knew this variety show wouldn’t let me down.】

【Squatting for the hot search.】

【Ding Yingxue’s pupils are shaking】

【If I were there, I’d be shocked too lol, Yingxue’s my face proxy!】

“So, you and President Yan before…” Pei Wan ventured.

Qiu Chao glanced at Yan Muyu. “Little Yan knows.”

【What?? Don’t leave us hanging!! Killing me!】

【I won’t sleep tonight.】

【Dunno why, but every time Qiu Chao calls Yan Muyu ‘Little Yan,’ it just hits different.】

【Yan Muyu, how are you still driving?!】

Yan Muyu thought to herself: I don’t know, I don’t know.

I really don’t want to know!!

~~~

As expected, Qiu Chao’s words shot straight to the top of the hot searches that night.

Old news from over a decade ago resurfaced.

QiuChaoYanKai#

QiuChaoWontMarry#

QiuChaoMahjongGod#

…

The car pulled back up to the Little Mud House. Xuan Zhelu’s earlier question seemed like true drunken rambling—the village brew’s aftereffects had hit hard. Yan Muyu had to carry her off the van when she got out.

Too bad the culprit was too wasted to care.

【LMAO, Xuan Zhelu, will you regret getting drunk when you watch the replay?】

【What kind of flying guest gets smashed twice in four days? Too lightweight.】

【@Sun Sitiao Your boss ain’t all that.】

Xi Xi had already turned in for the night, but Liu Song was out front boiling water.

Ever the attentive host, she knew the group would want showers and had gotten a head start.

As soon as Ding Yingxue approached, the two huddled together, cooing over photos of a puppy they’d filmed.

Yan Muyu set Xuan Zhelu down and asked an off-camera staffer, “She’s out of it, so heading back tonight, right?”

【Pack it up lol.】

【Xuan Zhelu’s manager’s gotta be dying.】

【I’d want to die too.】

【But she’s the boss’s daughter!!】

Yan Muyu said something to someone—maybe over a radio—and got a response. “Oh, got it. You help her then. I’ve gotta change my bandage.”

When she’d carried Xuan Zhelu, her right hand hadn’t touched her at all—it stuck out awkwardly from under Xuan Zhelu’s waist, right in frame. The wound hadn’t healed yet.

In any other show, a guest would’ve flipped out over an injury like that.

But Yan Muyu, with a hand practically impaled by a nail, barely reacted. Even censored, it evoked the gory mess from before.

She just kept at it—working when there was work to do, driving when there was driving. Like she belonged here, earning her keep day in, day out, with no time for rest.

Xuan Zhelu’s hat-wearing assistant came over to guide her inside.

“Leaving tonight?” Yan Muyu asked.

That’s when Xi Xi emerged from the house—maybe woken up or just stirring—with sleepy eyes and eye-sheet masks still stuck under her lids.

She caught Yan Muyu’s words and snarked, “If you’re that reluctant, just keep her here.”

Xuan Zhelu was being led away just then. Yan Muyu stood by Liu Song, hefting a newly sharpened axe from the production team.

She swung it up onto her shoulder and strode toward Xi Xi. “Sister, can you talk less?”

Her stance was pure menace, making Xi Xi backpedal on instinct. An eye sheet fell off, prompting a wail. “My eye sheet! Ahhh!”

Liu Song rushed over and grabbed Yan Muyu’s waist. “Sister Xi was just joking.”

Yan Muyu was joking too. She hissed. “Liu Song, help me with this axe. Why’s it so heavy? My shoulder’s killing me.”

【Suddenly get why they say funny girls don’t get love.】

【What even is this?】

【Yan Muyu, you not scared of chopping yourself?】

【Qiu Chao, why are you still filming???】

【Pei Wan still doing light fixes???】

【Only Ding Yingxue’s actually walking Xuan Zhelu upstairs. Xuan Zhelu, you’ll regret this on replay.】

Yan Muyu spotted Qiu Chao snapping photos. Once Liu Song took the axe, she marched straight to her.

“No sneaky pics,” Yan Muyu warned.

Qiu Chao wasn’t fazed. She looked up at Yan Muyu. “What if I pay?”

【Classic playgirl line…】

【Who even knows who’s straight and who’s not anymore.】

“Don’t snap randomly,” Yan Muyu said.

She leaned in closer. “Lemme see. Delete the ugly ones.”

Pei Wan tactfully stepped away.

Qiu Chao backed up onto a stone bench, fiddling with her phone.

Liu Song kept boiling water and asked Pei Wan as she passed when she’d shower.

Pei Wan eyed Ding Yingxue emerging from the house.

“Shower together?” Ding Yingxue suggested.

Pei Wan turned to Liu Song. “Not enough water?”

Ding Yingxue looked at Liu Song too.

Liu Song sensed the tension, looking a bit troubled.

Xi Xi chimed in. “Burn your own next time. Our Liu Song ain’t cheap.”

Yan Muyu, glancing at Qiu Chao’s video, snorted at the commotion and muttered, “Shower together, what?”

The footage was atrocious, perfectly showcasing Qiu Chao’s trash photography skills.

“Can you not shoot from one angle? You made me look five-foot-two,” Yan Muyu griped.

【Enough already.】

“Why light Sister Xi? Even lit up, bare-faced she ain’t a goddess,” Yan Muyu added.

【How you turning personal now?!】

【Sister Xi’s figure slays.】

“Figure’s good,” Qiu Chao said.

Yan Muyu oh-ed. “She’s taller than you.”

Somehow it looped back to Qiu Chao. She arched a brow and scooted closer to Yan Muyu.

Her phone case had dangling beads. When her hands were full, Qiu Chao hooked it with her fingers, but now she reeled the phone—and herself—in.

They were practically stuck together.

Breaths mingled. The night breeze was cool, yet it felt ignited, a scorching wave slamming into Yan Muyu.

Making her feel Qiu Chao’s desire in full force.

Scent of perfume, hot breath, the pearls on the phone chain warmed by Qiu Chao’s fingertips and brushing Yan Muyu’s skin.

Even hotter.

“So what if tall?” Qiu Chao murmured.

Her voice was a low hush, emboldened by the surrounding chatter.

Xi Xi was busy shading Pei Wan for spoiling her little sister—still wanting to share a bath at her age. Eyes were elsewhere.

“Does she feel as soft against your back as me?” Qiu Chao whispered.

The words were so quiet, her breath grazed Yan Muyu’s ear. Easy to picture Qiu Chao lost in the moment, nipping at earlobes.

Yan Muyu had more piercings than her. Qiu Chao’s tongue loved probing those old holes.

Loved biting off shirt buttons too, leaving Yan Muyu griping the next day about the pricey shirt and no spares.

The culprit smug in bed, covered in marks, laughing through the complaints.

Yan Muyu didn’t think she was gloating. No, she was clearly smug, as if she’d just settled some long-held grudge.

Had she provoked her somehow?

Yan Muyu mulled it over for a long time when she sent Xing Wen off to buy another shirt.

Xing Wen looked like she wanted to speak but held herself back. She thought Yan Muyu heading off to bed felt stuck somewhere between a gigolo and a princess—hard to describe exactly. It was like prostitution, but the high-end variety.

【What did she say? I didn’t hear!】

【Someone call in a lip-reading expert!】

【Even a lip-reader couldn’t decipher that—just the side of her face.】

【Do you really need to crowd in that close for a video? Yan Muyu’s hand is injured, not severed. Qiu Chao, do you have to cradle it so tenderly?】

Yan Muyu said nothing. Right then, the video on her phone wrapped up. Her parting comment: “Great footage. Don’t bother next time.”

As she rose to her feet, Yan Muyu tossed out a fleeting remark: “Way too cool.”

【What was too cool?】

【I didn’t catch that.】

Qiu Chao heard it perfectly.

She sat on the stone bench, giggling like a fool for ages. Pei Wan finally turned down Ding Yingxue’s offer to shower together. She washed her hands instead, then plopped down beside Qiu Chao for a chat.

Seeing how cheery Qiu Chao seemed, she asked, “I heard you cleaned up at mahjong today?”

Qiu Chao nodded.

Pei Wan said, “That makes sense. Yan Muyu even suggested you go challenge the whole village mahjong parlor. That way, we could all skip out on work.”

【She really knows how to live off soft rice, huh?】

【Classic her.】

【If Yan Muyu tried it, it’d take decades of cow herding, duck chasing, and pig rearing just to pay off the tab.】

Qiu Chao replied, “How much would she owe me, then?”

Pei Wan picked up on the undercurrent right away and asked curiously, “So how’d she make it up to you today?”

Qiu Chao said, “Carried me the whole way back.”

Pei Wan let out an “Oh.”

Qiu Chao added, “And…”

The courtyard lights were dim. Even with the mugwort smoke going, the guests still wore mosquito repellent bands. But the red rope bracelet with its button on Qiu Chao’s wrist stood out all the same.

She fiddled with the button, her smile bright and sunny—a far cry from her usual cool beauty on screen. She even looked a little goofy.

Pei Wan prompted, “And what?”

Qiu Chao shook her head. “That’s a secret.”

Suit herself—she was leaving them hanging. Right on cue, Yan Muyu got ready for her shower.

Her injured hand didn’t slow her down one bit. She hopped right over the threshold without a shred of the steadiness you might expect from someone her age. She even dragged Liu Song along for the fun.

On impulse, she snatched a mosquito right out of the air with her bare hand. “Holy crap, I’m awesome. Bet you can’t do that.”

Liu Song gave it a shot.

Xi Xi drew in a deep breath. The whole scene was painful to watch.

Qiu Chao’s eyes, though, locked onto the strip of waist exposed where Yan Muyu’s shirt hem had ridden up from the jump.

Qiu Chao murmured, “I’m really looking forward to it.”

Looking forward to tonight—how Yan Muyu would make it up to her.

Try it again? Would it feel different now that they were girlfriends, instead of just bedmates?