Chapter 29: Hooking Her Palm

After receiving the gift Ji Wushan had given her the day before, Xue Erbai had shamelessly shown it off in front of Zhong Dai.

The jealousy and envy she got in return satisfied her greatly; after that came Zhong Dai’s complaints…

Her little niece was about to have her full-month banquet, and her ex-girlfriend—the white moonlight she’d pined for all these years and who was now her sister-in-law—would be attending. Xue Erbai had comforted her a few times, and today she was met with an even deeper wave of resentment from Zhong Dai.

If they’d already broken up, why were they still friends? It wasn’t enough that she’d come to the wedding; now she had to show up for the baby’s full-month banquet too?

Was she going to keep helping raise the child after that, and what else…

Zhong Dai still hadn’t said who this white moonlight was, just as Xue Erbai had never told her that her own identity was actually that of a married woman.

Neither of them asked too much or said too much; they just kept chatting like that.

But Ji Wushan’s actions had given her another thought.

After she explained the reason and asked what Fu Lingnan had said, she saw the tips of Ji Wushan’s ears turn red.

Her voice had also softened a little. “She… just asked about my injuries and said we’d see each other again at the recording.”

That made Xue Erbai’s heart itch.

She didn’t answer. Instead, she stared at Ji Wushan’s ear for two seconds, then suddenly tightened her arms around her and kissed it.

Ji Wushan shrank back slightly, startled, but she didn’t dodge.

Xue Erbai’s kiss moved from her ear to her cheek; with her eyes tightly shut, she looked up at Ji Wushan.

Then she stopped.

Less than two seconds later, Ji Wushan opened her eyes again. Her gaze was a little misty as she looked at Xue Erbai, seemingly at a loss.

Xue Erbai let a smile spread across her face and asked softly, “Can I tell Zhong Dai that we’re actually married?”

Ji Wushan pressed her lips together and didn’t answer at first. Just when Xue Erbai thought she was being refused, she heard her murmur, “Yes.”

Xue Erbai hugged her even tighter and cheered, “That’s great!”

Seeing how happy she was, Ji Wushan couldn’t help smiling too.

But after the two of them went back into the room, Xue Erbai’s joy faded a little; she found Ji Wushan again. “Then can you say something to Fu Lingnan too?”

To be honest, Xue Erbai still cared a little about Ji Wushan’s interactions with Fu Lingnan.

Who knew Ji Wushan would shake her head. “No.”

“I’m not familiar with her, so I can’t casually reveal something like this.”

“We can’t violate the contract.”

Xue Erbai: “?”

Seeing her confusion, Ji Wushan continued, “It’s different with Zhong Dai.”

“You’ve known each other online for many years, and you even share novels with each other…”

“You want to tell her because you think she isn’t a risk.”

“But Fu Lingnan—I can’t guarantee that. Can you?”

The question left Xue Erbai speechless.

She was only jealous, wanting Fu Lingnan to know exactly whose woman Ji Wushan was!

But telling her was one thing; if they couldn’t keep it secret, then it really would be a breach of contract.

Xue Erbai wilted. She sat beside Ji Wushan and obediently said, “I’ll listen to my wife…”

Ji Wushan’s ears burned again at the address, and she shifted slightly.

As a result… Xue Erbai followed after her again.

Ji Wushan gripped the hem of her pants, starting to feel that the two of them were developing a little too quickly.

When she had first come to this home, she had been lost and helpless; she had wanted to rely on Xue Erbai. Once she entered the show, she had felt they should keep things strictly separate. But only a short recording had ended; how much time had actually passed…

Although in this house there was no way for her to stop certain intimate things from happening, she had actually started to feel her heart race because of them.

Because their bodies were pressed together.

She thought it must be because of Song Quwen’s appearance.

It let her clearly feel that Xue Erbai was standing on her side.

She could feel that kind of favor, something she had never had before.

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Over the next few days, the two of them were busy with their own things. The day before they returned to Yunzhi Island for filming, Xue Erbai made a follow-up appointment for Ji Wushan. In the morning, they went to the hospital, and while they were waiting for the results, they unexpectedly ran into Song Quwen.

Beside her was someone Ji Wushan had never expected at all: Ji Yun.

“Mom, Aunt.”

Ji Wushan greeted them first; Xue Erbai followed suit, even stepping slightly in front of Ji Wushan. Seeing this, Ji Yun’s expression turned a little subtle. She looked at Song Quwen beside her before asking, “Xiaosheng, Xiaobai, which one of you isn’t feeling well?”

“Teacher, Shanshan was injured on the show a while ago,” Xue Erbai answered, her gaze also resting on Song Quwen.

It had only been a few days, yet Song Quwen looked a little pale. She held Ji Yun’s arm and, after seeing the two of them, gave only a slight nod.

Only then did Xue Erbai stand beside Ji Wushan again. Hearing Ji Wushan ask, “What are you doing here at the hospital…?”

Ji Yun hesitated, unsure whether to say anything, but Song Quwen quickly said, “Nothing much.”

“I was a little dizzy, so I came in to get checked.”

It was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it, so Ji Wushan naturally didn’t ask further.

The mother-daughter exchange ended there, leaving Xue Erbai and Ji Yun standing off to the side, equally helpless.

The four of them parted there.

When they reached the parking lot, though, Xue Erbai was stopped by Ji Yun.

She looked at Ji Wushan, who was about to get into the car, and lowered her voice. “I’ll go over there for a moment.”

Ji Wushan nodded slightly.

Only then did Xue Erbai walk over to Ji Yun. “Teacher, is something wrong?”

“You… persuade Xiaosheng to come home more often.”

Ji Yun only said that much, but the hesitation in her eyes was too obvious.

After thinking for a moment, Xue Erbai still said, “Shanshan might not listen to me.”

Ji Yun was silent for a while. Looking at Ji Wushan in the passenger seat, she said meaningfully, “She probably listens to you more often than not.”

“When her mother was young, she was foolish and treated Xiaosheng rather harshly, so…”

She didn’t need to spell it out completely, and Xue Erbai understood.

She even wanted to correct that line; it didn’t seem like her mother had only been foolish when she was young, and she might not be much better now.

But Xue Erbai had no place to say that.

She only agreed to pass the message on.

Her identity was still a little sensitive; in the end, she was close enough to count, but not quite close enough, so why hadn’t Ji Wushan listened?

Sure enough, that night when they got home and packed their luggage, Xue Erbai told Ji Wushan what Ji Yun had said, and Ji Wushan stayed silent for a long time.

The next morning, as they were leaving, she finally asked Xue Erbai, “What do you think I should do?”

Xue Erbai had been half-asleep. Hearing her, she paused before realizing what she meant. She pulled off her eye mask and said seriously, “As long as you won’t regret it.”

Whether she went back or not.

She didn’t want to see Ji Wushan always troubled by family matters.

Before the plane landed, neither of them brought it up again. Ji Wushan deliberately avoided the subject, and Xue Erbai naturally didn’t ask further.

After that, they threw themselves into the work ahead, and clearly neither of them had time to think about it.

The room assignment was still the same as last week, and the program’s flow was mostly the same too.

Only now that the show had aired, there was also a nighttime hot-topic interview segment.

#Earphone CP#

Ji Wushan read the trending tag out loud, her ears a little hot. Her gaze met Xue Erbai’s, who was sitting on the sofa looking completely unruffled, and the next second Ji Wushan looked away.

Xue Erbai, however, was perfectly open about it and didn’t seem to treat the people around her as human at all.

After their intimate contact during the last thunderstorm night, something unspeakably ambiguous had been added between them.

Their tone and actions weren’t over the top, but every time their eyes met, Ji Wushan always felt her heart speed up.

She could only ignore Xue Erbai’s gaze and stay focused.

The trending topics that followed were all read by her; only the very first, Earphone CP, was deliberately skipped.

The tag #Zhong Dai Is a Heartbreaker# was the funniest.

Under circumstances many people didn’t understand, Zhong Dai had involved herself in all the CP pairings.

She didn’t care at all, waving a hand and laughing. “Isn’t coming on this show just about making friends?”

“Of course I’m going to take the initiative!”

But the topic wasn’t only about her being a flirt; there was also the tag “Zhong Dai isolating Fu Lingnan.”

“What a joke. Sister Lingnan wasn’t even here last week, how am I supposed to have isolated her?”

Zhong Dai protested her innocence, looking at Fu Lingnan, who sat across from her and had been very quiet the whole time, her eyes carrying a meaning that was hard to describe.

Fu Lingnan looked back at her too, her gaze a little dazed; then she smiled and said, “You’re welcome to come find me.”

Her attitude was generous, and she kept looking at Zhong Dai. There was even a faint, indistinct kind of ambiguity between them?

Xue Erbai, who was having the most fun gossiping, started making little movements. She poked Zhong Dai. “What’s going on with you?”

Zhong Dai smiled at her; her lips barely moved as she let out a faint sound. “I’m learning from you!”

Her gaze moved back and forth between Xue Erbai and Ji Wushan. Xue Erbai held her breath and looked over in surprise.

What, had Zhong Dai picked up on that tiny signal between her and Ji Wushan?

A little guilty, she asked, “...Learn what?”

“Take the initiative, and don’t leave any regrets.”

“I’m aiming to share a room with her next time.”

That didn’t seem like… a bad idea?

In fact, it could even be said to be very effective.

Ever since Ji Wushan had lost her memory and she had boldly clung to her side, hadn’t Ji Wushan grown closer and closer to her?

Even after the recording ended, Xue Erbai hadn’t had time to figure it out before Ji Wushan shot her a look.

Wordlessly, she moved away from the seat she had been sharing with Zhong Dai, but Ji Wushan called her over to stand in front of her and hooked her palm with one finger.

Xue Erbai sat straight up at once, her whole body jolting.

Hey, no—how could Ji Wushan…

Hook her palm like that with such a serious expression!

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Author’s note: Lately I’ve been writing hard, hoping to finish sooner rather than later

TL Note:

white moonlight (白月光) = an idealized, usually unattainable first love or longtime crush.