“Good morning, everyone.” In the crisp morning wind, Qi Ke held up a GoPro with one hand. In the lens, she was bathed in the golden sunlight coming over the eaves, looking as beautiful as if a filter had been applied. She tossed her long hair, her smile radiant. “It’s seven in the morning right now, and Teacher Song isn’t up yet.”
“And me!” As she spoke, she raised her other hand, the paper bag rustling. “I’ve already bought breakfast and come back.”
A drone followed behind her, bobbing up and down, recording her every move.
It was still too early, so there were no fans waiting at the entrance of the residential complex.
The security guard was yawning in his booth, looking at her curiously. Qi Ke wasn’t shy and greeted the guard, “Hi!”
The guard dazedly replied, “Hi.”
Qi Ke’s eyes curved into a smile as she walked briskly into the complex. She left the guard standing there, still bewildered. The drone paused in front of him for a moment, recording his mumbled words: “What’s she so happy about?”
Qi Ke was indeed happy.
During yesterday’s candlelight dinner, she and Song Yushi had reminisced about their time in love, which had at least eased Song Yushi’s mood. When they slept in the same bed that night, Song Yushi was less guarded. She didn’t even notice when Qi Ke secretly held her hand in her sleep.
So soft.
Qi Ke thought gleefully.
Qi Ke’s good mood lasted until she returned to the villa.
The boy band downstairs was up. The two were an officially promoted pairing within their group, and they were working hard early in the morning, their bromance so intense the camera couldn’t bear to watch.
Chen Sheng greeted her, “Morning, Teacher Qi!”
Teacher Qi looked straight ahead. “Morning.” Before Chen Sheng could offer another polite remark, she quickly said, “You guys are busy, I’ll head upstairs first!”
Further up, the young couple on the second floor was also awake. They were sitting stickily at the dining table eating breakfast, feeding each other mouthfuls. Seeing Qi Ke, they greeted her, “Keke, have you had breakfast? Want to eat with us… Let go of my hand!”
“Don’t you have another hand to eat with!”
Qi Ke: “…”
Damn couple!
She forced a smile. “No thanks, I bought breakfast to eat with my captain.”
Once on the third floor, Qi Ke started complaining to the GoPro, “Is everyone’s schedule this regular? Shoving dog food in people’s faces this early in the morning, have you no public decency? I’m filing a complaint, a complaint!”
Qi Ke placed the breakfast on the coffee table and gently pushed open the bedroom door.
As expected, Song Yushi was still asleep. She was well-behaved when she slept, not moving around or kicking off the covers. Her face was turned to the side on the pillow, her long eyelashes drooping softly. In the heated room, a faint blush graced her small face.
Qi Ke crouched by the bed and called to her in a low voice, “Captain, time to get up.”
No response.
Qi Ke extended her index finger, hesitated for a moment, then poked Song Yushi’s cheek before quickly retracting her hand.
Song Yushi’s eyelashes trembled slightly, but she still didn’t wake up.
Qi Ke pressed her lips together in a difficult position and whispered to the camera, “As everyone knows, our captain gets really, really grumpy when she wakes up. No one who has tried to wake her has survived. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the other members. My dear fans, don’t mind my rambling. I love you all. I’m going in.”
Qi Ke could imagine that when this episode aired, the bullet comments would definitely be full of: Just go already!! You talk so much!
Qi Ke felt tragic and heroic.
Then she extended her index finger again, poking Song Yushi’s cheek again and again, creating a small dimple and then smoothing it out. Finally, Song Yushi’s brow furrowed. She hummed softly and slapped her hand away. “Stop messing around…”
Qi Ke: “!”
“…So tired,” Song Yushi mumbled softly.
Qi Ke: “…”
Captain, wake up! You’re going to make people misunderstand and think I did something to you last night!
Heaven is my witness! I only held her hand!
Just as Qi Ke was considering a tactical retreat, Song Yushi, on the bed, seemed to suddenly wake up and snapped her eyes open. The moment their eyes met, Song Yushi reached out and pushed her away.
Caught off guard, Qi Ke fell to the floor with a thud, staring blankly like a dumbfounded dog. “…”
Song Yushi was also stunned for a moment. She closed her eyes, letting her consciousness slowly return. The Qi Ke from her dream overlapped, separated, and then overlapped again with the Qi Ke in front of her. She opened her eyes and said coquettishly in a low voice, “You scared me.”
The Hundred Flowers Best Actress’s acting skills were on display again.
Qi Ke held her lower back and said irritably, “You’re the one who scared me! Hurry up and get out of bed for breakfast. The people downstairs are already being all lovey-dovey.”
Song Yushi tilted her head. “What lovey-dovey?”
“Nothing,” Qi Ke said petulantly. “We’re definitely sweeter than them!”
She didn’t even know what she was competing about.
Song Yushi looked completely baffled. She did get grumpy in the morning, but she had to work, and the cameras were already rolling. No matter how reluctant she was, she got out of bed quickly. Qi Ke sat at the dining table waiting for her to brush her teeth, took a bite of a steamed bun, and shouted, “I don’t care! You have to get up and buy me breakfast tomorrow.”
Song Yushi was brushing her teeth and mumbled something indistinctly. Qi Ke couldn’t hear clearly and raised her voice to ask, “What did you say?”
Song Yushi didn’t speak.
Qi Ke complained to the camera in a low voice, “She’s definitely not going to do it.”
A moment later, the bathroom door opened from the inside, and Song Yushi walked out with a face mask on. She rummaged through the breakfast in the paper bag, pulled out a cup of soy milk, and said without looking up, “I said, okay.”
Qi Ke: “…”
That comeback was way too fast!
Teacher Qi had seen the world. She calmly nodded and said to the camera, “Cut that out, thank you.”
After breakfast, a new task was delivered. This time, all three groups of guests had the same task: add a new member to their small family.
Qi Ke’s face fell. “No way, director’s team, how are the two of us supposed to add one?”
Director’s team: “…”
Qi Ke was still struggling with it. “Even if the two of us could, the boy band downstairs can’t! You’re asking for the impossible! This is asking for the impossible, right? Ah! Who hit me!”
Song Yushi retracted her guilty little hand, gave a dry laugh at the camera, and squeezed out through her teeth, “Just how much do you want the post-production team to cut for you, Teacher Qi?”
Teacher Qi felt she was being mocked to death.
Song Yushi handed her the task card. “Finish reading before you speak.”
Qi Ke huffed, casually glanced at it, and her eyes lit up. “We can go to a pet store to adopt a cat or a dog? What should we get?”
Song Yushi pondered, “A dog, I guess.”
Qi Ke: “Are you looking down on cats?”
Song Yushi: “…Cats don’t like to go out.”
Qi Ke: “And dogs do?”
After a pause, she said thoughtfully, “Dogs do like it.”
Song Yushi looked at her, both amused and exasperated, and said, “If they added arguing as an Olympic sport, you would definitely win glory for the country.”
Qi Ke: “…”
Having made their decision, they went to the first-floor living room to meet up with the other two groups of guests. The three groups exchanged their thoughts. The young couple wanted to get a dog to take on walks with them. Chen Sheng and his partner wanted a cat because cats are cute and don’t require too much attention.
Chen Sheng asked, “Why do you guys want to get a dog?”
Song Yushi: “Because…”
“Because a dog can go on walks with us,” Qi Ke cut in.
Song Yushi glanced at Qi Ke but said nothing.
Chen Sheng: “…” Why do I inexplicably feel like I’ve just been hit in the face with a public display of affection?
Qi Ke wanted to get a border collie.
The little border collie was only three months old, black and white, so round and chubby it was cute enough to make you bleed, and it whined coquettishly.
Qi Ke absolutely loved it. She held the little border collie and petted it nonstop, not forgetting to diss her own corgi. “Corgis are just little waddling fatties. How can they be as beautiful and handsome as a border collie!”
Song Yushi was still hesitating. She was scrolling through a webpage. “They say border collies are very smart.”
“Smart is good. It’ll be easy to communicate with.”
“But it might look down on its owner for being dumb.” Song Yushi looked up and said sincerely, “I’m afraid you’ll be the one it looks down on.”
Qi Ke: “…”
She had no comeback for that.
Qi Ke insisted on the border collie. The little puppy seemed to understand their conversation, wriggled out of Qi Ke’s loving embrace, and trotted over to Song Yushi, rubbing vigorously against her leg. Song Yushi was startled and managed not to pull away. She reached out and patted the border collie’s head.
The little border collie rubbed and rubbed, softening her heart. She nodded. “We’ll get him!”
Qi Ke: “?” So a coquettish dog has the best luck?
And so, the dog went all the way back to the villa complex with them. After arguing and deliberating for twenty minutes on the way, Song Yushi reluctantly agreed to name the border collie Candy.
Candy seemed to have endless energy to burn. Song Yushi and Qi Ke had a hasty lunch before Candy pestered them to go out and play. The two had no choice but to take the dog for a walk without even taking an afternoon nap.
Candy ran wild on the lawn while Qi Ke and Song Yushi sat on the edge of a flower bed, spacing out.
Qi Ke yawned. “Is this what it feels like to raise a child?”
Song Yushi was silent for a moment before saying slowly, “This feeling is just so-so.”
Qi Ke: “Then let’s just not have kids.”
Song Yushi: “Mm.”
After they spoke, both of them went: “…”
The topic seemed to have developed in a strange direction.
Qi Ke cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. “Oh, right, I passed the audition for 《Awakening of Insects》. We’ll be seeing each other again at the script reading this weekend!”
Song Yushi: “?”
Is the villainess such an important role that she needs to attend the script reading?
Qi Ke: “…”
What’s with that look? If you have the guts, say it in front of the camera!
Song Yushi smiled. “That’s pretty good. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can come ask me. I guarantee you’ll learn it.”
Qi Ke: Are you even being sincere?
She also smiled. “Okay, there’s something I don’t understand right now. No time like the present, so how about you teach me today!”
Song Yushi raised her eyebrows, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Wasn’t this just like that time long ago in the group, when she clashed with Qi Ke, ended up digging a pit for herself, got tricked by Qi Ke, and plop, fell right into it?
Song Yushi: …
This world was truly unfriendly to her.
Qi Ke wanted Song Yushi to practice lines with her, but the director’s team had another task. The three groups of guests were pulled away to do charity work and didn’t get back until after dinner that evening. A staff member had already walked Candy, who was now lying by the door waiting for them. By the time they finished showering, Candy was already asleep.
Song Yushi dried her hair as she stepped out of the steamy bathroom and unhurriedly walked into the bedroom.
Qi Ke was leaning against the headboard, playing on her phone, not yet asleep.
Seeing Song Yushi come out, she sat up. “You said this afternoon you’d practice lines with me. Come on, come on.”
Song Yushi’s eyes were sore with sleepiness. “It’s very late.”
Qi Ke whined, “But you already promised me!”
Captain Song always kept her word. She had dug her own pit and now had to bury herself in it, so she had no choice but to practice lines with Qi Ke.
The scene was about the female lead and the villainess getting into a catfight. Song Yushi got into character quickly and soon pulled Qi Ke into the scene as well. Qi Ke pushed her, making her retreat repeatedly. The next part was supposed to be a counterattack, but who would have thought they were acting this out by the bed? One step back, and behind her was the bed.
Caught off guard, Song Yushi fell onto the soft bed.
In her haste, she grabbed the corner of Qi Ke’s clothes.
“Ah—!!” Qi Ke cried out in alarm and was pulled down on top of Song Yushi.
Song Yushi was internally wounded: “…”
Shouldn’t she be the one screaming?
They had crossed the safe distance, and Song Yushi felt a sense of resistance in her heart. She gave Qi Ke a little push and said, “Get up, quick.”
But Qi Ke didn’t hurry to get up. Her voice was muffled against Song Yushi’s neck, her warm breath brushing against Song Yushi’s skin, sending a tingly, numbing sensation through her. She whispered aggrievedly, “Do you think I’m heavy?”
This isn’t a matter of being heavy!
Song Yushi tried her best to lift her head, avoiding Qi Ke’s touch, but she didn’t dare to be too obvious in front of the camera. She said helplessly, “You get up first.”
Qi Ke didn’t move. She turned her head, leaning close to Song Yushi’s ear. The faint scent of peach-flavored shower gel wafted over. She licked her lips and said, “…Captain, I miss you so much.”
Her voice was low, laced with a hint of disappointment, and it drilled into her ear along the curve of her auricle.
Song Yushi’s eyes flickered, and the tips of her ears turned red.
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