Chapter 21: You’re… In a Good Mood, Right?

“My name is Tan Zhenzhen. C-can I try some of your cooking? I can pay!”

This was the third thing this roommate said after entering the room, setting down her bag, and coming back out.

She had a round face and looked extremely likeable. Qu An’ge was amused and was about to agree when she suddenly remembered that she wasn’t the one who cooked. What right did she have to agree on Xu Mi’s behalf? She carefully looked toward Xu Mi.

The rice noodles were already in the pan. Logically, adding another portion meant prepping more ingredients, which was quite a hassle. But Xu Mi saw that Tan Zhenzhen was a petite girl, so she figured she couldn’t eat that much. She had cooked plenty of noodles to begin with; adding more shouldn’t affect the seasoning too much. So she nodded and said, “Of course, no need to pay. We’re all roommates; who charges for a bite to eat?”

Tan Zhenzhen’s eyes lit up. She swallowed hard and said, “I-I might eat a little more than usual, but I already had dinner. I’ll just have a taste this time.”

Despite her words, neither Qu An’ge nor Xu Mi thought much of it. When the fried rice noodles were done and brought to the table, the oily aroma hit their nostrils. Inside the dish were shredded meat, egg, and cabbage, scattered with some dried shrimp. It was fried to a golden, glossy sheen. Since Qu An’ge preferred things well-done, it also had a faint, charred fragrance. Tan Zhenzhen was already holding a bowl and chopsticks. “Just one chopstick-full, truly just one bite.”

But after one bite, she looked like she was about to cry. “Such delicious food, and I can only have one bite?”

Having her cooking appreciated made Xu Mi happy. She smiled and said, “It’s fine, eat as much as you want. We don’t like eating too much at night anyway.”

As she said this, she glanced at Qu An’ge, who was busily stuffing her own bowl full of noodles, as if afraid she’d miss out if she were too slow.

Xu Mi: “…”

In the end, Xu Mi didn’t eat much. Tan Zhenzhen put down her chopsticks and said apologetically, “I’m so sorry, it was too delicious. I ate way too much without realizing it. I really should pay you.”

Xu Mi shook her head. Qu An’ge took some noodles from her own bowl and held them up to Xu Mi’s mouth. “You didn’t seem to eat much. Want some?”

Tan Zhenzhen felt even worse. “I usually eat a bit more than most people, but I really was full after dinner. I had three bowls of ramen downstairs.”

Qu An’ge froze and said in surprise, “Three bowls?”

She looked Tan Zhenzhen up and down. The girl couldn’t be taller than five-foot-two. Her cheeks were round and plump, but it looked like baby fat; you definitely couldn’t call her overweight. And the legs exposed beneath her denim shorts were actually quite slender. It was hard to see where those three bowls of ramen and half a plate of fried noodles had gone.

Tan Zhenzhen laughed sheepishly. “Ahaha, I’ve been a big eater since I was little. By the way, are you the ones renting the south master bedroom? You two are together?”

After she spoke, she stared at Qu An’ge. She felt she’d seen her somewhere before, but a beauty like that… if she’d met her in real life, she couldn’t possibly forget her. She racked her brain trying to remember. Meanwhile, Qu An’ge and Xu Mi briefly introduced themselves. Since this shared apartment had three bedrooms, Qu An’ge asked about the last roommate and why she wasn’t back yet.

Tan Zhenzhen said, “Little Yue is a designer. She works overtime every day. Don’t worry, she’s really nice. And she leaves early and comes back late; you’ll barely see her.”

The roommates all seemed decent. Qu An’ge let out a sigh of relief. Since Tan Zhenzhen had mooched supper, she volunteered to clear the table and wash the dishes. Qu An’ge and Xu Mi went back to their room first to wash up. After Qu An’ge finished her shower, she realized she’d left her phone in the living room. She put on her pajamas and went out. Just as she was looking for it, the east bedroom door suddenly opened. Tan Zhenzhen came out in a camisole. Seeing Qu An’ge, she pointed at her with an excited look. “You’re that person, right? The Fairy Tears girl.”

Qu An’ge immediately smiled. “You saw that? How embarrassing.”

Tan Zhenzhen said, “It was on the trending topics for days! I work in new media operations, how could I not know? I can’t believe it took me this long to recognize you! No wonder my supervisor says I have no sensitivity.”

Qu An’ge secretly felt smug but kept a humble front, saying modestly, “I don’t even know why it went viral. Honestly, I was just feeling a bit sad at the time, so I borrowed a guitar and sang a song.”

Tan Zhenzhen’s eyes widened. “C-can I do a feature interview with you? Even though our public account isn’t that famous…”

Hearing this, Qu An’ge’s soaring heart began to sink. She remembered her damn contract and sighed. “I’m afraid not. Any activity like that has to be communicated through the company I’m currently signed with. And my company…”

Tan Zhenzhen said, “You’re not an amateur?”

Qu An’ge nodded. “Yeah, I signed with Spotlight Media.”

Tan Zhenzhen slapped her thigh. “Oh my god, a big company! You’re trying to be a star, right?”

She couldn’t exactly spill the awful details about Spotlight Media to an outsider right now. She simply nodded. Tan Zhenzhen seemed to want to talk more, but Xu Mi suddenly called out from inside the room, “Qu An’ge, where’s the hairdryer?”

Xu Mi’s voice was cold, and it sent an inexplicable shiver down Qu An’ge’s spine. She quickly said, “It’s late, let’s chat some other day. I’m heading back now.”

She returned to the room. Though disappointed, Tan Zhenzhen had no choice but to shut her door and go back to her room too. Qu An’ge saw Xu Mi sitting at the head of the bed, pulling the hairdryer out of a bag. She smiled and said, “You found…”

Her words cut off abruptly. A sudden thought struck her—had Xu Mi just made an excuse to call her back in? Was she actually dissatisfied with her about something?

She immediately went on alert. “Mimi, you’re… in a good mood, right?”

Xu Mi placed the hairdryer beside her, toweling her hair leisurely. “Pretty good. I just got a bit anxious when I couldn’t find the hairdryer earlier.”

She even curled her lips into a smile. Qu An’ge didn’t know if it was genuine, but she felt that being extra attentive right now was the right move no matter what. She sat down beside Xu Mi and said, “I’ll dry your hair for you.”

Xu Mi didn’t speak. Qu An’ge reached for the towel in Xu Mi’s hands. Unexpectedly, Xu Mi pulled her hand away, and the towel fell to the floor. Qu An’ge was stunned. She bent down to pick it up, but Xu Mi stood up and started drying her hair herself.

The truth was, she was unhappy again. Qu An’ge was dressed like that; Tan Zhenzhen was dressed like that; chatting in the middle of the night. She knew nothing would happen, but she still felt a nameless irritation rising in her chest. But if she voiced this irritation, she’d seem incredibly petty. So she didn’t say it, just sulked.

She went to the bathroom doorway to dry her hair. As she dried it, she noticed Qu An’ge quietly shuffling to the foot of the bed, then standing up and walking to her side. She felt a flicker of happiness again. Over the past few days, she’d noticed how much Qu An’ge seemed to care about her. But because she didn’t understand why, there was also a sense of panic, a nagging doubt that this care would vanish in the blink of an eye.

Qu An’ge wasn’t thinking that deeply. Seeing Xu Mi hadn’t moved away, she reached out and gently pressed down on Xu Mi’s hand holding the hairdryer, taking it from her. She began drying Xu Mi’s hair for her.

Xu Mi’s hair was smooth and soft. Blown about half-dry, it felt like a kitten’s fur. Freshly washed, it carried the scent of orange blossoms. Qu An’ge couldn’t resist leaning closer. Her other hand got restless again, gently rubbing Xu Mi’s ear.

The Waterloo of their wedding night hadn’t discouraged her. She was still looking for any opening to see if there was a chance to get closer.

Today, Xu Mi didn’t seem very resistant either. She even closed her eyes slightly. Qu An’ge turned off the hairdryer and bent down to kiss Xu Mi’s lips. Dry but soft, they made her want to explore further. But just as she was about to go deeper, the sound of a door opening came from outside, followed by the click of a light switch and rustling sounds, then voices—Tan Zhenzhen’s voice:

“Little Yue, you’re back! We have new roommates!”

Another voice, steady but tired: “Really? Are they asleep? I’m too wiped out; I won’t say hi just yet.”

“Working overtime again tomorrow?”

“Yeah, still got revisions.”

Against this backdrop sound, Qu An’ge and Xu Mi were still wrapped in each other’s arms, faces flushed. Neither was sure if they should proceed.

Qu An’ge was still hesitating, but Xu Mi clearly made the decision. She pushed Qu An’ge away and said, “Going to sleep.”

Her blush spread all the way down to her neck, half of it from the embarrassment of imagining what would happen next, now that she realized how thin the walls were.

She put away the hairdryer and lay down in bed. Qu An’ge gritted her teeth and whispered fiercely, “Just one month! Very soon! We’ll move out!”

…

The first step to moving out was making money fast.

The next morning, before Xu Mi was even awake, Qu An’ge got cleaned up and left. She had arranged to meet Zuo Qingyuan at a nearby café. When she arrived, Zuo Qingyuan wasn’t there yet. She found a seat, ordered a coffee, and waited, scrolling through her phone. She noticed that Xu Mi had posted another Weibo update last night—a recipe for fried rice noodles with a photo of the finished dish. Comments were sparse this time, but thanks to the earlier buzz, there were still a few dozen, most saying it looked delicious. Qu An’ge reposted it, adding the comment, [Looks so yummy~]

Her follower count had shot up dramatically, largely because some people had already recognized her. Many comments asked if she was the actual “Fairy Tears” person. Qu An’ge didn’t respond, knowing that sometimes holding back a little was the best move.

That was true for many things, including life.

While she waited, she received a call from Zhou Yue. The previous times, he’d had Zeng Xuejia contact her, probably knowing she wouldn’t pick up his calls. This time, he used his own phone again. Qu An’ge sensed from this detail that the situation was different. She answered. Zhou Yue’s cold scoff immediately came through the receiver: “I was planning on saying that if you hadn’t answered this time, this opportunity would definitely not have been yours.”

Qu An’ge remained calm. “What opportunity? Human Observer?”

Zhou Yue said, “An audition opportunity. Ming Palace Flower.”

Qu An’ge froze.

She had to admit, even though she knew perfectly well he must have ulterior motives, her heart stirred at that moment.

For no other reason than this: if she went to the Ming Palace Flower set, she could meet, ahead of schedule, the benefactor who had helped her in her past life.