Sweet

Li Lan noticed Zhu Qing’s gaze and asked in bewilderment, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

There was something sharp and impish in the way Zhu Qing looked at her, in that sidelong glance of hers; even her expression was vividly alive.

“Then the incoming ringtone I heard was your AI singing, huh?” Zhu Qing said coolly.

Li Lan froze for a moment, then held back a laugh. “Your ears are something else.”

“You sang for half a minute. I’m not deaf,” Zhu Qing said. Thinking of that song again, she found it strangely appealing; a little itch rose in her heart. “You can sing too? What song was that? Do you have the full version? I want to hear it.”

Li Lan extended one finger, pressed it against Zhu Qing’s shoulder, and pushed her a little farther away. “No. I can’t play it.”

Zhu Qing: …

“Stingy,” Zhu Qing huffed. “If we lose, it’s on you.”

Li Lan said helplessly, “I really can’t sing.”

Zhu Qing said, “Not everyone who releases songs is a singer, right? Even if you’ve sung before, that doesn’t mean you can sing. Maybe the single you put out was pitch-corrected too…”

Li Lan glanced at the camera, covered Zhu Qing’s mouth, and said warningly, “Mind your words.” Don’t keep taking veiled shots at the entertainment industry.

Though the entertainment industry did deserve the shots.

Zhu Qing: …

Hu Xu boomed, “You two stop whispering; save the sweetness for tonight. Hurry up and sing. We’ve got to eat after this.”

Zhu Qing smiled. “Okay, Teacher Hu.”

Then she lowered her voice and said quietly, “If you’re hungry, there’s still an egg in the kitchen. Want me to boil it for you?”

Hu Xu’s eyes lit up just as she was about to agree, when Liu Yini pinched her.

Hu Xu coughed. “I’ll just wait for the meal.”

The program team gave the prompt.

[Please sing three songs related to the sun.]

Zhu Qing and Liu Yini raised their hands at the same time. Zhu Qing caught sight of Liu Yini’s movement from the corner of her eye and, halfway up, voluntarily lowered her own hand.

Liu Yini began, “The East is Red, the sun is rising~~~”

When they were younger, both of them had practiced this song before. Their singing was passionate and loud, instantly lifting the mood of the gray little wooden house by several notches; it suddenly felt much more presentable.

Everyone applauded. “Good!”

Li Lan said, “Teacher Liu, keep going.”

Liu Yini’s cheeks were flushed red from singing. Hearing this, she blinked. “I haven’t thought of another one yet. Do we have to sing them all in one go?”

Hu Xu laughed out loud. “You didn’t even listen to the rules properly. The first team to sing three songs wins. You’ve only got one, and you got interrupted after singing it.”

The one who had interrupted, Zhu Qing, won the first round with two nursery rhymes, “The sun’s high in the sky, the flowers smile at me” and “The sun is out, the birds are awake, the little trees are awake,” plus the lofty old classic “The East is Red, the sun is rising~.”

Li Lan applauded her and said in a low voice, “Did you learn that in kindergarten while working as a teacher?”

Zhu Qing tilted her head to look at her. “I learned it when I was in kindergarten.”

Li Lan couldn’t help laughing.

[Please sing three songs about natural scenery.]

In this round, before Zhu Qing could even get a word out, Hu Xu snatched the win with “Little White Poplar,” “Dabie Mountain,” and “Spring in the North.”

The program team clearly intended to balance things out, letting the two groups take turns winning the prompts. Before long, they reached the final question.

[Please sing three songs containing “mutual affection.”]

Mutual affection?

Compared with the previous prompts, which had clear references, this final one was unquestionably the hardest.

There were plenty of love songs in the Chinese music scene, but most of them sang about I love you, I only love you, I love you but why don’t you love me, or I’m the one who loves you most—melodramatic songs of unrequited love.

Both teams fell into thought. In the end, though, it was Hu Xu who came up with an answer; one line of “You and I, entwined and fluttering like butterflies” gave Zhu Qing enormous inspiration, and she immediately followed with “You are the wind, I am the sand.” Whichever team sang the last song first would win.

Zhu Qing’s mind spun at top speed; her expression looked like she was facing a formidable enemy. Just one last song: mutual affection, mutual affection, mutual…

Suddenly, that ringtone drilled into her ears.

“Her brows are touched with frost; I no longer eat candy… sharing the same stagger.”

“Her. Me. Shared.”

“Taking root and sprouting.”

Zhu Qing stood frozen in place. In a flash of insight, she understood the meaning of this song.

It sang of two girls who grew up side by side, hand in hand, depending on each other for survival; they stumbled and supported one another all the way into the moonlight, taking root and sprouting.

What sprouted was not only a bright future, but the affection between the two of them.

It was singing about mutual affection.

A voice came from beside her.

“Little sister rides at the bow of the boat, big brother walks on the shore…” Li Lan called out these two lines nervously, then asked, “Right or not?”

The program team very much wanted to say that Li Lan’s lines didn’t even count as singing; having a child jump out and recite them would have had more feeling. But Hu Xu and Liu Yini had already started applauding, so the team took the win and ended this part.

While Zhu Qing was still spaced out, Li Lan had already snatched the victory.

“The fifty points you wanted,” Li Lan said with a smile, turning to look at her. “We won.”

Zhu Qing came back to her senses and went with Li Lan to the kitchen to prepare dinner. In a listless voice, she said, “That’s good, then.”

Li Lan put away the snacks Hu Xu had brought back. Turning around and seeing Zhu Qing’s expression, she asked softly, “You look like we lost. What’s wrong?”

“I’ve got something on my mind,” Zhu Qing murmured. “Don’t worry about it.”

Li Lan obediently went quiet. After a while, Zhu Qing couldn’t help saying, “Aren’t you going to ask me what it is?”

Li Lan immediately looked up, as if she had been waiting for those words. “Ask? Go on, tell me what’s on your mind.”

Zhu Qing’s breathing was a little uneven. She also knew this unexplained anger had come at the wrong time; there were cameras all around, so she definitely couldn’t ask right now. But how could she possibly hold back something like, I think I discovered that my wife once sang a love song with someone else and made it her personal ringtone, and she won’t even let me hear it!

Seeing her face go red and pale in turns, like a knocked-over paint palette, Li Lan started reflecting on herself.

“Did I steal your prompt?”

“Did someone use up your water jar again?”

“Are you not fully awake and throwing a tantrum because you’re grumpy about getting up?”

“Or… do you hate ‘The Love of the Boatman’?”

Li Lan looked genuinely suspicious about the last possibility. Zhu Qing said angrily, “It’s not convenient to talk about it now.”

Li Lan let out an “oh,” then switched off the kitchen’s fixed camera and the earphones, and closed the kitchen door and windows.

“Go ahead.”

Watching her movements and confirming that the program team’s eyes and ears were completely gone, Zhu Qing finally widened her eyes and revealed her ferocious true face.

“Li Lan, I’ve got your fox tail now; I’ve got dirt on you!”

Li Lan gave a low “oh?” and played along. “That impressive?”

Zhu Qing said indignantly, “Hurry up and confess.”

Li Lan asked tentatively, “Can I ask what this is about first? You told me just this morning that we’d start over slowly, and now you’re acting this cold toward me already. Are you starting to dislike me before you’ve even gotten me…”

“Right! I just confessed to you, and this is how you treat me—you dishonest woman!”

Li Lan pinched the bridge of her nose. “Please state the charges clearly.”

Zhu Qing snorted. “When I was answering that last question, I remembered a song. Do you know which one?”

Li Lan lowered her hand; in her heart, she gradually began to anticipate the answer.

“Taking root and sprouting!” Zhu Qing pointed at the phone beside her. “That ringtone of yours! The ringtone about you taking root and sprouting with someone else!”

Li Lan very much wanted to keep a straight face, but Zhu Qing’s gestures, tone, expression—everything about her—made it hard to hold back.

“I’m not taking root with anyone else, and I’m not sprouting either,” Li Lan said as calmly as she could. “And that isn’t my song either.”

Zhu Qing said, “How is it not yours? You’re the one singing it. I can recognize your voice.”

Li Lan said seriously, “Some singers can never sing their own songs in their lifetime.”

Zhu Qing blinked. “What?”

“This isn’t my song. I don’t own the copyright. It’s just the trace left behind when, as a child newly thrown into society, I stumbled through the whole world of work and tried to claw my way into looking vaguely human. It’s mud I rolled through on the ground; it never belonged to me.”

That sounded very literary, and Zhu Qing didn’t really understand it. But she did understand the part about not having the copyright.

Li Lan picked up the phone and handed it to her.

“The copyright is in President Yang’s hands. She composed the tune; the lyrics were written by another singer. The person originally meant to sing it with her wasn’t me. There was just an accident later, and that’s how that little tune came about.”

Zhu Qing was completely bewildered. What kind of arrangement was that?

“Then why set it as a personal ringtone?” Zhu Qing caught the most contradictory point immediately. “If you don’t own the copyright, what’s the point?”

Li Lan lowered her eyes and looked quietly at the phone screen. In her mind, that confrontation surfaced.

Naturally, it was because of Yang Huayi’s desire to control. Or perhaps because of something even more hidden.

Yang Huayi’s later behavior carried a kind of unspoken self-deception. Li Lan vaguely knew some of the inside story, but not the details.

The phone number had been entered into Li Lan’s phone by Yang Huayi herself, and the online ringtone that could only be found with a specific extraction code had also been set as a personal ringtone by Yang Huayi herself.

This had happened not long ago, more than half a year back. It was also from around then that Yang Huayi began contacting her frequently.

If Li Lan hadn’t been certain that Yang Huayi didn’t want to sleep with her through underhanded means, but merely wanted to find something on her—or achieve some other purpose—Li Lan might really have torn her face off.

“This is an online ringtone; only a specific extraction code can find it. President Yang said I can only hear this song through this method. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll change it right now.”

Zhu Qing stopped Li Lan’s hand, her expression gloomy.

“Wait a second. This President Yang you’re talking about—is she the person behind you?”

Li Lan very much wanted to correct Zhu Qing’s thinking. “We’re collaborating.”

“Right, so she’s the big shot you’re working with?”

Li Lan was silent for two seconds, then gave a reluctant nod.

Zhu Qing instantly looked even worse. She was stricken; even her gaze turned terrified as she grabbed Li Lan’s hand.

Li Lan asked anxiously, “Xiao Qing? What’s wrong? Why do you look so bad?”

With the mournful look of a hero cutting off her own wrist, Zhu Qing said decisively, “I think this President Yang is a pervert. She’s got her eye on you. Let’s go; we’re not earning this money. I can’t let you keep smiling through this and being wronged by someone like that!”

There were too many points to critique; Li Lan actually couldn’t find where to begin.

Zhu Qing shook her arm, indignant on her behalf. “Stick with the good and you rise; stick with the bad and you fall. We can’t fall!”

Li Lan yanked one hand free and pressed it to Zhu Qing’s forehead, saying with an extremely complicated expression, “She’s a pervert?”

“She composed the tune herself, someone else wrote the lyrics, she didn’t sing it herself and made you sing it, and after you sang it she still didn’t give you the copyright. Fine, if she didn’t give it, that’s one thing; she still wouldn’t let you listen to it casually and only set it as her personal ringtone. If that isn’t perverted, then I think she’s a pure, total pervert!”

Li Lan also felt that Yang Huayi’s mental state was a mystery, so she didn’t refute her. “She’s got her eye on me?”

“What’s so strange about someone being interested in you? Why didn’t she force Qi Yao to sing her own song and set it as her own personal ringtone… ugh, disgusting.”

Li Lan thought about it. It really was disgusting. Still, she refused Zhu Qing’s request.

“Believe me, she definitely doesn’t have that kind of interest in me. She likes someone else; really.” Li Lan said seriously, “I didn’t get this variety show because of her either. She actually doesn’t much care for handing people food on a platter. She likes to add flowers to brocade, not send charcoal in the snow. She’s even… kicked me when I was down before, so you don’t need to worry. She definitely doesn’t mean that toward me.”

Li Lan’s explanation was very thorough, and very sincere. “I really don’t feel wronged. I kept that ringtone because I like the song; there’s no other meaning.”

Zhu Qing gradually calmed down.

“Just like that?”

Li Lan nodded. “Just like that. You’re overthinking it.”

Zhu Qing lowered her head, sorting through her thoughts, and only then realized belatedly that she’d reacted a little too strongly.

It was only a ringtone; Li Lan hadn’t even admitted it was her song, and she didn’t seem all that familiar with or concerned about the song either. Instead, Zhu Qing was the one who had let concern cloud her judgment.

“Ahem. Let’s start cooking.”

Li Lan opened the door and windows again. The camera obediently recorded Zhu Qing cooking, while Li Lan helped on the side and took the opportunity to learn from her.

“I don’t like ginger,” Li Lan said. “Can we leave it out?”

Zhu Qing didn’t hesitate. “Then we won’t put it in.”

Li Lan thought for a moment. “I don’t like spicy food either.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll fry some chili peppers separately; whoever wants spicy can take some. I’ll just put less in the dish.” Zhu Qing immediately accommodated her.

Li Lan was very satisfied.

Soon, the film-empress duo also came into the kitchen. Their challenge was to recite lines and recreate classic film and television dialogue.

This time, the ones who unexpectedly won were Li Lan and the others.

Ever since the show began filming, Li Lan had had her own aura; she looked cold and spoke little, but she doted on her wife and had proper manners in dealing with people. She had plenty of variety-show sense, but she wasn’t noisy. In short, she was the kind of very eye-catching presence that no one found annoying.

Those who liked her went to great lengths to catch a glimpse of Li Lan in the cracks; those who didn’t wouldn’t be bothered by her either.

Yet this Li Lan, who seemed so distant and hard to approach, absolutely crushed the film-empress team in speed and accuracy on the rustic-and-family-affection line recitation.

Sun Qi handed over the extra little crabs, eels, and grass carp and marveled, “Which one of you stole the prompt?”

Zhu Qing was also baffled. “I didn’t see her memorize anything.”

Xu Yuzhi lowered her voice. “Tell me secretly; I won’t tell anyone else.”

Zhu Qing glanced at her ear mic and honestly said, “She really didn’t have time to memorize anything last night.”

Xu Yuzhi hadn’t reacted yet when Sun Qi dragged her away. “Oooohhh~”

Zhu Qing asked Li Lan in a low voice, “You stole the prompt?”

Li Lan smiled helplessly. “No.”

Zhu Qing asked, “Then how did you know everything? You even remembered the bystander’s filler words when they passed by.”

Those little nooks and crannies of detail—unless you’d watched them dozens of times, how could you remember so clearly?

Li Lan glanced at Zhu Qing and found her rather miraculous, always asking the one thing she shouldn’t. She herself didn’t mind; the one who would mind in the end would be Zhu Qing.

Like the answer to this question.

“The orphanage only played those dramas. From morning till night, year after year, nothing changed.”

Zhu Qing immediately felt heartache again and regretted asking.

Before Li Lan could see her expression change, she quickly sent her off to fetch water.

Butchering fish was a bloody job, and Li Lan didn’t plan to let Zhu Qing do it. However…

Li Lan lifted the grass carp, which was not all that plump. Its eyes were open; its mouth flapped, and its gills bulged in and out.

It was really ugly. So ugly that it reminded her of the fish she ate as a child, the fish head that was always the only part left in her bowl, staring back at her with dead eyes.

Tsk. It was all Zhu Qing’s fault.

Zhu Qing came trotting back, dutifully did a pile of work, and even chased Li Lan off to brew tea, trying her best to crack jokes and distract her. Li Lan was worn down by her until she had no temper left at all.

The last group was Qi Yao’s team. By the time their dishes were mostly done, they finally came back stumbling in, covered head to toe in mud.

Compared with yesterday’s image of people chewing on mud, today was undoubtedly people rolling in mud, and rolling around at that.

Even the program team couldn’t bear to make them do a game and waved them back into the house at once.

Yu Ling put down a bag full of wild fruit. It was obvious the two of them hadn’t earned any points again, but today they had enough points overall, so no one would hold it against them. Still, she had been sensible enough to bring back what she could.

Seeing this, Zhu Qing’s heart immediately softened. She was only seventeen or eighteen; this was exactly the age when one needed care and protection. Yet she’d been thrown into the fields to do farm work, and with such an unreliable partner to boot. Sympathy flared up at once.

Especially with Yu Ling looking so miserable right now, all that remained of her cool, aloof, little-white-flower feel was a soft, aggrieved air.

“You can change and wash up in my room,” Zhu Qing said. “There’s medicine for insect bites on the bedside table.”

Yu Ling lowered her head; her eyes were red as she nodded. “Mm, thank you.”

Li Lan watched Yu Ling’s departing figure and frowned.

Zhu Qing sighed. “The program team is pushing Qi Yao this hard? Didn’t you say Yu Ling’s company is backing her too? Where is her company, then?”

Li Lan rubbed the back of Zhu Qing’s neck and said softly, “Don’t think too much about it. If President Yang wants to push Yu Ling, she’ll have her own arrangements. Qi Yao… you’ll understand later. People like her, pretty but hollow, come one after another. There’s never a shortage of them.”

Zhu Qing washed a few of the wild fruits Yu Ling had picked and tasted them. They were okay.

“Then count this as dessert fruit. I won’t buy any other fruit; I’ll leave the space for Yu Ling.” Zhu Qing proactively thought of Yu Ling.

Li Lan seemed about to say something, then held it back.

Zhu Qing went back to work, and Yu Ling’s face flashed through her mind again.

She actually had a mix of coolness and cuteness in her features; very contradictory, and very attractive.

Once that coolness disappeared, she would seem even gentler and more adorable.

Sweet, cute, gentle…

Zhu Qing suddenly asked, “Who’s the other person singing with you?”

Li Lan’s hand shook; the kitchen knife slipped past her fingertip and cut a notch into her neatly trimmed, rounded nail.

————————

Note: The lyrics used in this chapter’s game are quoted from online sources.

Sorry I’m late [cat claws][cat claws]