Chapter 36
The two changed clothes and went downstairs.
As the focus of last night, the two of them naturally drew everyone’s attention. In an instant, the dark camera lenses tactfully turned and aimed straight at them.
The staff all looked over, every gaze carrying a scorching, eager warmth.
Embarrassment rushed to Jiang Yuan’s head. She stepped behind Yu Qingshi, attempting to hide herself.
However, she was tall with long limbs, while the person in front of her was delicate and slender. How could she possibly hide behind her?
The lower half of Jiang Yuan’s face was hidden behind Yu Qingshi, while her dark, moist eyes were exposed above Yu Qingshi’s head.
Their figures merged into one, making it look as if Jiang Yuan were embracing her from behind, resting her chin on Yu Qingshi’s head. From the outside, they looked intimate.
Her clumsy movement was captured by the camera, extremely eye-catching.
[Stop hiding. We saw you.]
[Guilty puppy is currently covering her ears while stealing a bell…]
[Looks like she sobered up, hahahahahaha.]
[This is my first time seeing someone get drunk from one cup of this kind of alcohol. The brand was so scared they clarified the alcohol content overnight. I’m dying of laughter.]
[Humans can drink this alcohol, but puppies cannot.]
Last night’s viewership had risen exponentially, climbing to another height.
Even when Qin Yiting slept, the corners of her mouth had not dropped.
Facing these two grandaunts, she became even more attentive, winking as she handed over the task card.
The pink-and-white task card unfolded. Written on it was the title of the fourth heartbeat date—
Boldly Try, Gladly Accept.
The two phrases were written separately for each side of the couple. Clearly, this time’s theme was novelty.
Yu Qingshi closed the card. She exchanged a glance with Jiang Yuan. “I’m sorry, but we can’t complete the task today.”
The decision had been made too hastily, and they had not yet informed Qin Yiting.
“What? Why?!” Qin Yiting cried out in surprise. Her money tree had grown legs, and she simply could not keep hold of it. “Did something happen?”
Fanssty’s endorsement required a confidentiality agreement, so it was not convenient to say in front of the camera. Yu Qingshi gestured for Qin Yiting to go somewhere else to talk.
Qin Yiting immediately followed. She looked around carefully and asked, “What’s wrong? Did I go too far yesterday?”
For the sake of the show’s effect, she had indeed arranged for the other four to “look after” this CP more last night.
But she had also let them leave early. After that, the four people at the drinking table had also asked questions enthusiastically, without treating anyone differently.
“No.” Yu Qingshi shook her head. “Fanssty wants us to endorse their new couple jewelry series, so we need to take a day off today.”
Fanssty was a brand under the Qin Group, and the current CEO of Qin Group was Qin Yiting’s mother.
Qin Yiting was the heir of the Qin family, so there was no harm in telling her about this.
Hearing this, Qin Yiting frowned. “No way. Fanssty wants to steal people from me too?”
“Who asked you two to go?” She counted one by one. “Ji Bing? Yang Yu? Jiang Xiaoran? Tell me. I’ll go find her.”
“Yang Yu.” She was a mutual friend of the two of them, so Yu Qingshi did not hide it. She continued, “Yuanyuan and I already agreed to her.”
“That annoying Yang Yu.” Qin Yiting bluntly scolded her.
The moment she thought of her money tree leaving, her heart felt uncomfortable.
Her brain spun quickly, and suddenly, inspiration flashed. She slapped her forehead and excitedly suggested, “Since Fanssty wants to borrow your popularity, why don’t we move the livestream room over there directly?”
Theoretically speaking, Qin Yiting and Fanssty were from the same family.
Yu Qingshi lightly raised a brow. “If you can convince them, I have no objections.”
“Leave it to me. They want popularity, so I’ll set the fire for them directly.”
The other four people in the house also came downstairs one after another. When they saw Jiang Yuan below, their eyes all filled with teasing.
Chen Shu laughed the happiest. “Xiao Yuan is awake?”
“Have you sobered up?”
“…I’m sober.” Jiang Yuan lowered her eyes and murmured softly, “Good morning, Chen-jie.”
The thing she had hoped for did not happen. Everyone still remembered.
Lei Lei teased, “Xiao Yuan is down after one cup.”
Jiang Yuan silently buried her face in her collar. “Morning, Lei-jie.”
“Yesterday, Producer Qin specially told us to ‘look after’ you two. Don’t blame Lei-jie for being impolite, okay?” Lei Lei threw the blame without mercy, as if she had not been the one excitedly asking questions last night.
Looking at Jiang Yuan’s embarrassed appearance, her gaze turned emotional, and she sighed. “Youth is so nice. I hope you get what you wish for and stay happy forever.”
Her words clearly had another meaning. Jiang Yuan glanced at Chen Shu, who had turned and walked away, and did not dare ask further. “…Thank you, Lei-jie.”
On the other side.
Qin Yiting had a phone call with Yang Yu. The two argued their points and finally negotiated successfully.
The interview could be livestreamed, which would count as early warm-up promotion. But the magazine shoot could not.
Even so, Qin Yiting was still delighted. She waved her phone and trotted over to the two of them, reminding them, “When you go out, bring your exclusive follow-cam with you. They can film during the special interview.”
“Okay.” The two readily agreed.
＊
The two got into the car. After sitting down steadily, Yu Qingshi raised her gaze and finally saw Jiang Yuan’s clothes clearly.
Jiang Yuan’s collar had been rubbed messy by herself. The creases were clear, hanging there all wrinkled.
The two sat face to face. Yu Qingshi moved a little closer, coming in front of Jiang Yuan. She carefully smoothed out the wrinkles and patiently asked, “Yuanyuan is very nervous?”
“I’m okay.”
The first time was unfamiliar, the second time was easier. Jiang Yuan understood the rhythm of shooting now, so she had adapted fairly well, but…
She voiced her worry. “They won’t ask questions like yesterday’s, right?”
Yu Qingshi raised her brows and laughed softly. “I don’t know. We can’t guess it.”
“We’ll only know once we get there.”
Her finger slid downward, and she hooked Jiang Yuan’s little finger. “Yuanyuan, we don’t have a date today.”
Yu Qingshi hooked her finger and shook it, softly complaining, “Today is work.”
“When we come back, we’ll make it up, okay?” Jiang Yuan softened her voice and coaxed her.
“Okay.” Yu Qingshi curved her eyes, her gaze full of slyness. “Then I’ll prepare it. Yuanyuan, look forward to it.”
The person before her smiled mysteriously. Jiang Yuan somehow had a bad feeling. She swallowed. “Mm.”
The car drove smoothly, successfully arriving at Fanssty.
The follow-cam got out with the two of them and carried the equipment into the building.
[Wow, this building. Fanssty is too rich. I can say I’ve entered headquarters now.]
[Our family property already has a high-luxury endorsement. Amazing.]
[Magazine shoot! Magazine shoot!]
[Calm down. We definitely won’t get to see the jewelry. At most, we’ll probably just watch the interview.]
At the end of the corridor, a red-haired woman with full makeup stood in place. When she saw the two of them, her eyes lit up.
She came forward. “Darling, you’re finally here.”
“Xiao Yu, long time no see.” Yu Qingshi stepped forward and hugged her.
Every time she came to Fanssty, the two of them would get together. When she shot the poster last time, Yang Yu had been abroad on a business trip and just happened to miss it.
“This is Jiang Yuan, my girlfriend.” Yu Qingshi took Jiang Yuan’s hand and pulled her forward to introduce her.
Then she turned back. “Yang Yu, Fanssty’s fashion director, my college friend.”
“Hello.” As someone in the fashion industry, Yang Yu subconsciously examined her carefully.
The camera could distort people. Depending on the shooting angle and lighting, a person’s appearance and aura could be vastly different.
In the raw photos, Jiang Yuan had a lean figure and wore shirts in a crisp, stylish way.
Her features were deep and three-dimensional, her facial lines smooth, carrying great sharpness and impact.
But now, standing before her in person, she looked much softer.
Her eyes were moist and gentle, like a handful of calm water without ripples, softening the clean lines of her face.
Two exquisite faces appeared before her at the same time, eye-catching and outstandingly beautiful.
Yang Yu sighed. “You two are too well matched. You’re both born with faces made for magazines.”
Jiang Yuan smiled shyly. “Good morning, Yu-jie.”
“Hahahahaha.” Hearing the address, Yang Yu burst out laughing.
Her laughter was bold and unrestrained, without any concealment.
Jiang Yuan looked helpless. She turned to Yu Qingshi for help, her gaze pitiful.
Yu Qingshi covered her face, knowing what Yang Yu was about to say again.
“Xiao Shi really is an old cow eating tender grass. Xiao Yuan is still in university, right?”
“No, no, she’s not an old cow.” Jiang Yuan quickly waved her hands in denial. “I’ll be a senior when school starts. I’m graduating soon.”
“You don’t know this, but back in university, Xiao Shi said she wouldn’t date anyone younger than herself. She said they were childish.” Mentioning the past, Yang Yu looked at Yu Qingshi and teased, “Now she changed pretty quickly.”
Yu Qingshi: “……”
Younger than herself…
Jiang Yuan’s fingertips curled inward. She quietly whispered, “It’s… it’s not that big of a difference.”
Her voice was too low, and Yang Yu did not hear it. She brought the two of them to the interview room. “All right. You two get ready.”
The interview room was clean and tidy. Two white chairs were placed side by side. The camera and lights were aimed at the center, making the room bright.
Yang Yu pushed the two of them to sit. “The team watched the show. They’re very interested in the same-frequency Q&A from the pilot episode and want to do a similar couples’ special interview.”
There were boards and markers placed on the table. The lights turned on, shining on the two of them.
A staff member held up a question board and revealed today’s first question.
The board was printed with black Songti font, neat and proper:
When was your last French kiss, and how long did it last?
Clearly, the team had done its homework.
Jiang Yuan: “……”
Her body heated up in an instant. Her thin skin revealed the crimson beneath, and mist steamed in her eyes, like white vapor puffing out because she was too shy.
Instead of immediately writing the answer, Jiang Yuan looked pitifully toward Yu Qingshi, her dark pupils filled with tiny, star-like complaints.
Yu Qingshi understood the meaning inside them. Those murmured words seemed to ring beside her ear.
Qingshi, didn’t you say everyone would forget in one day?
Acting spoiled.
Yu Qingshi’s eyes held a smile. She looked away and rescued her. “You copied yesterday’s question. That’s against the rules.”
Behind the machine, Yang Yu folded her arms and joked, “Don’t worry. We’ll ask Lei Lei for the copyright. I’m sure she’d be more than happy.”
Yu Qingshi looked at Jiang Yuan again and shrugged, helpless. “Write, Yuanyuan.”
The two lowered their heads at the same time and began thinking and writing.
They had never had any French kiss at all. Jiang Yuan had no idea what to write.
Her gaze drifted aside, looking toward Yu Qingshi’s hand, attempting to judge what she was writing by the strokes.
Before her gaze could touch it, a light “cough, cough” interrupted her.
Yang Yu narrowed her eyes, holding back a laugh. “What? Kissed too many times? Don’t know which time counts as the last?”
Jiang Yuan withdrew her gaze with a blushing face and hurriedly lowered her head to write.
When time was up, the boards the two held opened at the same time, both bearing black handwriting.
Jiang Yuan wrote the location of their last kiss:
Aquarium.
Yu Qingshi wrote:
Before sleep.
[Wow~~ Then wasn’t that after drinking? Hehehehehe.]
[Jiang Yuan doesn’t even know. Ahhhhh, don’t tell me you two muddled through and did it last night.]
[Mm, right. [snickering]]
Looking at the other person’s board, Jiang Yuan’s eyes went straight, completely stunned.
“Wh-when?” she could not help asking aloud.
Yu Qingshi propped her cheek up with one hand. Her eyes flicked over lightly. “After drinking. You forgot.”
Jiang Yuan stared blankly. It took her a long while before she belatedly reacted. It should have been the good-night kiss.
Her stiff body relaxed slightly, and her back leaned against the chair again.
She said seriously, “Oh, I remember now.”
Yu Qingshi raised a brow. She turned her palm and guided Jiang Yuan’s head to face her, looking her up and down.
The shock in the other person’s eyes had not fully faded and still lingered thread by thread.
When Jiang Yuan saw her looking over, her eyes immediately widened, staring straight ahead without looking away.
…The silly puppy had started staring at people again.
Yu Qingshi curved her eyes and said word by word, “Then. That’s. Good.”
The questions continued one by one.
When was the last time you argued?
Never argued.
We don’t argue.
What does Yu Qingshi hate eating?
Celery.
Celery.
What does Jiang Yuan like eating?
Seeing this, Jiang Yuan’s pen tip paused.
She had grown up in the welfare institute, and she was also the oldest child there. She had needed to take care of the younger children, so she had always eaten whatever there was.
The ink paused on the board and bled into a spot.
She stopped thinking and neatly wrote one character:
None.
“Please reveal your boards,” the staff member said.
The whiteboards opened at the same time. Everyone’s gazes focused over, and Jiang Yuan also turned her face to look.
Her gaze fell. On the clean, neat whiteboard were graceful black characters.
Meat and sweets.
Seeing the answer, Jiang Yuan’s expression went blank for a moment.
The two completely different answers immediately attracted the cameras’ focus.
Yu Qingshi also noticed. Her eyes opened slightly as she read, “None?”
Without doubting her own answer, Yu Qingshi instead laughed softly. She looked into Jiang Yuan’s eyes. “Yuanyuan doesn’t even know what she likes to eat?”
“I don’t know…” Jiang Yuan froze and murmured softly, “How does Qingshi know?”
Clearly, even she herself did not know.
The answer lay before her eyes. Her mind went hazy for a moment, but then she belatedly realized something.
The scenes seemed to unfold. The unconscious movements of her hand could not deceive anyone. She did seem to lean toward meat and sweet foods.
It was just that even she had never noticed.
Yu Qingshi said matter-of-factly, “Because we’ve eaten together so many times. Yuanyuan likes picking meat and sweets.”
Warmth filled Jiang Yuan’s heart, and the corners of her mouth lifted. She looked toward the staff member. “Qingshi is right on this question. Let’s go to the next one.”
[We’re going to eat so, so many meals together. [chin-in-hands smile]]
[Kitty just discovered a little habit the puppy herself didn’t even know. Too sweet. I know you better than you know yourself.]
[It would be great if this meat was that kind of meat.]
[Bestie, you’d better be talking about meat. [heart][rose]]
[Now both the pure and the dirty fans are shipping. Our cat-dog CP is just that authoritative.]
The staff removed the page and revealed the next question:
How many photos of the other person do you have in your phone?
Seeing the question, Jiang Yuan unconsciously bit the inside of her cheek. Her eyes drifted aside, inexplicably guilty.
They probably wouldn’t… check phones, right…
After a while, the two revealed their boards at the same time.
Jiang Yuan:
Never counted.
Yu Qingshi was also:
Never counted.
A bullet comment silently floated past:
[I think it’s because there are too many to count.]
[Upstairs found the truth.]
The next question:
In daily life, what is the thing Yu Qingshi cannot lose most?
Without hesitation, Jiang Yuan wrote the thought in her heart.
Ever since learning that Yu Qingshi had a stomach condition, she had started controlling her diet.
Coffee was counted by the week: two cups per week.
Yu Qingshi had reacted as if the sky had fallen, thinking up methods every day to wear Jiang Yuan down, all for the sake of drinking one cup.
The two revealed their answers.
Coffee.
Puppy.
The moment the boards came out, the bullet comments froze for an instant, then the whole screen began screaming.
[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I can’t take it anymore! I’m going downstairs to run a lap right now!]
[I died, I came back to life, I died again, I came back to life again. [cry][laugh][cry][laugh]]
[Singlehandedly contributing to the birth rate. [thumbs up]]
[Honestly, sometimes I feel like emperors back then might not have eaten as well as I do.]
[This emperor thinks so too.]
The moment their gazes touched, Jiang Yuan’s cheeks flushed red with a boom.
She abruptly tightened her grip on the question board. The metal edge instantly dug into her palm, cold and painful.
Yu Qingshi even shook her board toward the camera and smiled brilliantly. “Of course it’s puppy.”
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