“Hey—” Off-camera, Song Yushi’s voice interrupted the two’s conversation. “You’re getting further and further off-topic.”
She glanced at the live stream, saw that the number of likes was sufficient, and decisively said goodbye to the audience before shutting it down.
The children were napping in the break room, so there weren’t many Follow PDs around. Only one camera was set up, diligently working.
The curtains were drawn, blocking the sunlight from outside, making the room seem even quieter.
Almost all the children were asleep.
Even Qian Duoduo, with no one to talk to now, gradually quieted down, tugging on Song Yushi’s sleeve as sleepiness overcame her.
Qi Ke said in a whisper, “We’ll go once she’s asleep.”
Song Yushi nodded silently.
The two of them squatted by Qian Duoduo’s bed together, watching as the child closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. They both let out a sigh of relief in unison.
Qi Ke asked, “Should we go?”
Song Yushi hesitated for a moment.
Qi Ke: “Let’s stay a little longer. I don’t want to move right now.”
Song Yushi nodded.
The two silently watched Qian Duoduo sleep for a while longer. Suddenly, Qi Ke said, “Let’s not have children in the future.”
Song Yushi was stunned and subconsciously looked at the camera.
Qi Ke smiled at her, reached out, and clutched her sleeve just like Qian Duoduo, even giving it a little shake. She whined softly, “Childbirth is so painful. I’m afraid of pain, and I can’t bear for you to be in pain either.”
Hearing this, Song Yushi smiled. “Mm.”
Qi Ke started to imagine it. “If you like children, we can adopt. Not the kind of adoption where we expect them to care for us in our old age, but just because we want them to grow up healthy and safe. Okay?”
Song Yushi: “I’ll listen to you.”
“And then we’ll grow old.” Qi Ke laughed softly, her knees against the wooden bed, talking about the distant future. “But we’ll still be beautiful when we’re old. We’ll still be little princesses.”
Song Yushi smiled. “Old princesses?”
Qi Ke’s eyes widened as she shook her head, refuting her. “I don’t care. Anyway, even when you’re sixty with white hair, you’ll still be my little princess.”
Song Yushi pursed her lips, just smiling without saying anything more.
She found it magical.
The future and the days to come, things she had never thought about, suddenly became concrete through Qi Ke’s narration.
She had a future and a direction.
Ten years, twenty years, thirty years, forty years, even fifty years.
When she was old, Qi Ke would still be by her side.
“What are you thinking about?” Qi Ke reached out and poked her.
And then her finger was caught.
Under the bright glare of the camera, long, slender, pale fingers intertwined, taking on each other’s temperature. Warm and fervent.
Song Yushi said in a low voice, “I thought of a song, one adapted from a poem by Yeats.”
Qi Ke was stunned for a moment, and when she opened her mouth again, it was to sing that very song: “How many loved your moments of glad grace / And loved your beauty with love false or true…”
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, and loved the sorrows of your changing face.
They were certain that when they were old, this song would be sung for each other.
That evening.
A new fan station suddenly appeared in the Qi Yu CP Super Topic.
The name of the CP fan station was unremarkable: @WhenYouAreOldQY-0119×0328
The moment the new fan station went live, it posted a never-before-seen selfie of the two of them, sending shockwaves through the fandom. But the older fans, maintaining their senior-fan composure, offered the new station both encouragement and a gentle “warning.”
【I’ve really never seen this selfie before. Is the station master an insider? Or an old CP fan? Were you shipping them back when they were in the group?】
【Welcome to the new station. We don’t have many rules in our circle, just be good to our two kids and don’t think about making money off them. Our money is reserved for our two babies.】
【Now that you’re here, don’t run away.】
【Oh my god! Am I seeing things? They donated fifteen Hope Elementary Schools as soon as they arrived??? Named Qiyu Hope Elementary School???】
【Fuck! We’re both CP fans, why am I so poor???】
Qi Ke and Song Yushi’s group was the last to complete the live stream task.
It was reported that the couple group performed adequately, but both were big names, so the traffic poured in. They steadily got their fifty million likes in three hours and happily went off for a private afternoon tea.
The “bros” group was even more amazing. They were with a pair of twins the whole time, like a version of “Dad, Where Are We Going?” The shippers screamed, exclaiming they were getting their fill of “male mothers,” and they broke fifty million likes in less than two hours.
Qi Ke took a sip of water and “condemned” the other two groups. “They left so quickly, they didn’t get to experience the joy of looking after children at all.”
Song Yushi gave her a cool look. “Did you experience it?”
Qi Ke said frankly, “Mm-hm.”
Then she carefully hooked her finger around Song Yushi’s. “I experienced the joy of looking after children with you.”
Follow PD: “Ahem.”
Watch it, you two! This is really hard for post-production to edit!
But Qi Ke, as if she knew what he was thinking, suddenly asked, “Follow PD, is our group’s footage very hard to edit?”
The Follow PD gave a dry laugh. “It’s alright.”
About the same as the group downstairs.
Qi Ke tilted her head.
Follow PD: “…”
After the show aired, there were repeated press releases asking, “30 Days of Cohabitation Life, a romance variety show?” The interactions of the “besties” group and the “bros” group were sweeter and more intense than the actual couple’s. It was all hard to edit!
Qi Ke said, “Oh,” and added, “But we’re real.”
Follow PD: “?”
Qi Ke gave a toothy grin.
Follow PD: “…”
What are you so proud of! Aren’t you afraid Sister Ming will come and kill you? Teacher Song, won’t you control her—
The Follow PD froze.
He saw Teacher Song looking at Qi Ke, her eyes gentle and full of indulgence, a doting look that let her be as willful as she pleased.
The Follow PD muttered under his breath, “You’ll spoil her like this!”
Sure enough, as they were passing a neighborhood block, Qi Ke suddenly saw someone outside selling cotton candy. On a whim, she wanted to ditch the production team to eat cotton candy and asked for Song Yushi’s opinion.
Song Yushi frowned slightly. “Cotton candy?”
Production team: Refuse her! How old are you, still eating cotton candy! Be more professional, please! You’re filming a show!
Qi Ke acted cute. “When we were trainees, there was someone selling cotton candy at the back gate of the company. Do you remember? You even bought some for me that time. I want to eat it now.”
Song Yushi nodded. “Okay, let’s go eat.”
Production team: ???
She’s being childish, and you’re going along with it!?
But ditching the production team was impossible. The team sent a follow-cameraman to film them discreetly, to avoid drawing attention by having them walk around with a camera.
A white BMW sped past on the slightly deserted weekday road, then turned right at an intersection, doubling back a few hundred meters before slowly stopping.
White boots encased long, beautifully lined legs, stepping onto the asphalt road. A red plaid short skirt, its hem fluttering. Qi Ke got out of the car first.
She turned back and held out her hand.
A small, pale hand rested in her palm, grasped tightly. With a slight pull, Song Yushi fell into her arms. Qi Ke mischievously took advantage of the situation, and lowering her head, met her captain’s somewhat resentful gaze.
Qi Ke suppressed a laugh and comforted her, “We’ll cut it, we’ll cut it. We’ll cut this part out.”
Song Yushi straightened up.
Their linked hands didn’t let go, swinging back and forth as they walked away.
They were already very close to the villa complex. A casual stroll and a shortcut would get them back. Qi Ke got to eat her cotton candy and was completely satisfied. She held the pink cotton candy to Song Yushi’s lips. “Have a taste.”
“It’s too sweet.” Though she said this, Song Yushi still took a bite.
It was like it had been mixed with low-quality industrial sugar, melting into water between her lips and teeth, so cloying it made her throat itch. But as she savored it, the sweetness became clear and refreshing, like Qi Ke’s smile at that moment.
Song Yushi pursed her lips and said, “It’s delicious.”
Qi Ke held the cotton candy out further. “Have another bite.”
Song Yushi blinked, then suddenly shifted her gaze. “Hey, this alley seems to have very few people, and it’s quite beautiful.”
Qi Ke: “?”
That was too abrupt!
Qi Ke held the cotton candy in one hand, freeing the other to take pictures of Song Yushi. The mid-afternoon sky was a bit overcast, as if a storm was brewing behind the clouds. Occasionally, a ray of sunlight would break through.
It landed on Song Yushi.
It was captured by Qi Ke’s phone, becoming eternal.
Even if there were fewer people on a weekday afternoon, they would still occasionally run into a few. Moreover, they had just been on a live stream that morning and hadn’t changed their clothes, increasing the probability of being recognized.
Fortunately, it was a non-fan.
Song Yushi promptly made a hushing gesture to prevent her from attracting more people.
A fan is a fan, and her face flushed with excitement. She wished she had four eyes so she could get a good look at both Song Yushi and Qi Ke at once. She rummaged through her bag for a long time but couldn’t find a pen and paper.
Qi Ke couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Fearing that any more delay would attract more people, she took a photo out of her wallet.
A group photo.
Of Song Yushi and Qi Ke from their Sweet Day era.
Song Yushi was stunned. Qi Ke winked at her. “It’s fine, I have lots of copies of this photo.”
Qi Ke quickly signed her name over the Song Yushi in the photo. With no other space, Song Yushi signed her name on the Qi Ke in the photo.
It was like being stamped for receipt.
Even the autographs became ambiguous.
Although it was useless, Qi Ke still reminded her, “Don’t post on Weibo and reveal our location for now, okay?”
The passerby nodded firmly.
Then, after parting ways with Qi Yu, she put a cartoon sticker over her own face, quickly posted the selfie on Weibo, and smugly said, “Went out to buy water and ran into Song Yushi and Qi Ke.”
This person had a decent online presence and also used the relevant hashtags, so the post was quickly seen and reposted by fans.
【Fuck, fuck, fuck! Aren’t they filming a show today? Did the little couple sneak out for a date?】
【The autographed photo really left me speechless. Signing on top of each other, what kind of earth-shattering sweet moment is this!】
【This place in the photo looks so familiar! I think it’s near my house, I’m going to go check it out right now.】
【!!! Don’t disturb them! We don’t encourage close-up disturbances even when they’re filming a show, let alone now when it’s supposed to be their private time! Anyone who goes now will be treated as a sasaeng!】
【OP, I advise you to delete this and post it later. You’ve exposed their location.】
No matter how many rational fans there were online, there were also more obsessive ones who immediately rushed to the suspected location after seeing the Weibo post. Song Yushi and Qi Ke hadn’t gone far, and in a moment of carelessness, they ran into the fans.
Qi Ke tutted. “This is tricky.”
She turned her head, squeezed Song Yushi’s hand tighter, and said, “Let’s run.”
Song Yushi had just been enjoying the peaceful moment and hadn’t quite come back to her senses. She stared at Qi Ke for a while, and it took a long time for her to utter a single syllable: “Huh?”
So cute.
Qi Ke was charmed by her cuteness. She pinched Song Yushi’s cheek, and without asking for her opinion anymore, she grabbed her hand and started running. The long alley twisted and turned, and in an instant, they had left the fans and the Follow PD behind.
Their breathing was ragged, unable to suppress their wildly beating hearts.
Qi Ke heard the fans’ voices as they passed by on the road, growing more and more distant. She let out a sigh of relief and looked at Song Yushi. Song Yushi still looked dazed, staring with wide, round eyes, her breathing in sync with hers.
Thump, thump.
Qi Ke started to laugh.
At the end of the alley, the dusk was burning with the height of summer, and the sound of the wind was boisterous.
Qi Ke brushed Song Yushi’s hair aside, wiped the sweat from her forehead, cupped the back of her head, and kissed her on the lips. The sweetness of the cotton candy was passed over.
A hot, wet kiss.
Pure to the extreme, it was desire.
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