Chapter 31: I Still Want Another Kiss
Ji Wushan’s face was red, and for a long time she didn’t make a sound.
But Xue Erbai could clearly see the faint flush at the tips of her ears; even her breathing had gone a little uneven. That unfinished sentence hung in the air.
Xue Erbai didn’t press her any further. She only laughed softly and patted her back, her voice turning gentle and coaxing. “All right, I’m not teasing you anymore!”
“Let’s sleep early. We still have to catch a flight tomorrow.”
At that, Ji Wushan finally relaxed. She shifted farther into the bed, only to be pulled into Xue Erbai’s arms at once as the light went out.
The mingled warmth and the steady sound of a heartbeat gave her something to lean on. She was a little stiff, but she didn’t pull away; instead, she slowly took hold of Xue Erbai’s wrist, her fingers absentmindedly rubbing over it a few times before she closed her eyes.
Xue Erbai, however, didn’t close hers. Through the moonlight, she looked at Ji Wushan’s profile.
When she slept, Ji Wushan’s cool, distant features softened a great deal.
She thought of their first meeting; Ji Wushan had looked much the same then.
She had worn a serious expression like a little adult, seeming distant and aloof, but when she accepted the candy from Xue Erbai’s hand, surprise had flashed in her eyes, and the tips of her fingers had brushed Xue Erbai’s palm by accident.
Soft and warm.
Back then, she still didn’t understand love or desire; she only thought this older sister was beautiful.
Now, looking back, it felt a little miraculous. Years later, that beautiful older sister was lying beside her, and just moments ago…
She had been kissed by her, and even gotten ‘angry’ because of her.
Thinking of that, Xue Erbai couldn’t help laughing aloud. The sound made Ji Wushan, who hadn’t really fallen asleep to begin with, open her eyes to look at her.
Xue Erbai didn’t even try to cover her mouth. Instead, she simply gave up on hiding it and rested her chin on Ji Wushan’s shoulder. Her nose stung a little as she spoke softly, “Ji Wushan…”
Being called by her full name so suddenly, Ji Wushan looked over warily. But when she saw Xue Erbai’s lowered eyes, soft and helpless-looking, her caution faded. In a gentle voice, she asked, “What is it?”
“It’s nothing…”
“I just wanted to know whether you’re free on the 16th of next month to go out with me…”
And this was nothing?
Ji Wushan couldn’t help laughing quietly, instinctively reaching up to pat her head.
After asking, Xue Erbai had not only lowered her eyes; even her head was bowed very deeply, almost pressed into the hollow of her neck.
After being patted, she shifted a little and looked at her with obvious anticipation.
Ji Wushan had almost reflexively wanted to agree, but she hadn’t checked her schedule and wasn’t sure whether she was actually free. So she could only say in a low voice, “I need to check my schedule. What do you want to go out for?”
Xue Erbai knew about the schedule issue. She pulled back from Ji Wushan’s neck and said brightly, “We’ll be filming in Province Y that day!”
“And that’s also the day my Chimiaomiao shop opens in Province Y. I want you to go with me.”
A shop opening, in full view of everyone.
How could that not count as a kind of official announcement?
Thinking about it made Xue Erbai a little excited; at the same time, she carefully watched Ji Wushan’s expression.
Her expression only changed slightly, then quickly returned to normal. Her voice was a little low as she said, “If I’m free, I’ll go with you.”
I’ll go with you.
Xue Erbai felt like bubbles were rising in her heart.
Still, she held back from mentioning the anniversary.
After all, commemorating by counting months together was a little too much.
She still didn’t want Ji Wushan to find out so early!
“Then… nothing else?”
Ji Wushan had already been looking at Xue Erbai with a smile for a while when she asked this softly. Xue Erbai immediately shook her head. “Nothing else!”
“Then sleep quickly.”
Ji Wushan, who had already dozed earlier, was now sleepy again. Her eyes gradually grew dazed. She tugged the blanket into place and, without caring whether Xue Erbai was ready to sleep or not, closed her eyes.
Drowsily, she felt the space beside her grow warm and soft.
Too tired to pay much attention, she reached out and wrapped an arm around Xue Erbai’s waist.
The flight to Province G was at eleven. The production team and the guests were all a little rushed, so the cameras didn’t catch much; only the departure and boarding were filmed, then the cameras were turned off after they got on the plane. Everyone who had still seemed energetic in front of the lens became quiet.
Yi Fan’s change was the most obvious.
During filming, she had gotten along well with Deng Lu and Chang Zichen, but at this point she said very little.
She was even more indifferent toward Ji Wushan, Xue Erbai, and Zhong Dai.
She only exchanged a few pleasantries with Fu Lingnan.
It was said that the two of them were castmates in the next drama; besides, it would be Fu Lingnan’s first film or television project after coming back, and the official announcement had already brought a lot of attention.
Xue Erbai looked at Yi Fan and Fu Lingnan chatting with the attitude of someone eating gossip, then poked Zhong Dai, who was sitting beside her, and nudged her to look.
Zhong Dai had actually been paying attention already; ever since morning, her gaze had been on Fu Lingnan.
Although they hadn’t said it out loud yet, the situation was exactly what the two of them had guessed.
“Haah!”
She didn’t hide it either and sighed. Xue Erbai followed suit with a sigh, too. She had just opened her mouth when Zhong Dai lowered her voice and asked, “Next month, the J girl group is holding their first concert in Province Y. Are you going?”
The J girl group had been their shared obsession for nearly a year.
They had even agreed that they would meet in person at the first concert.
Now that was settled; they’d met first, and neither of them mentioned the concert anymore.
“This…”
“Doesn’t seem like it’ll work.”
“I have work!”
Xue Erbai practically refused Zhong Dai outright.
Zhong Dai clicked her tongue twice, glanced at Ji Wushan beside Xue Erbai, who was wearing an eye mask, and said very quietly, “You forget your friends when you have a crush!”
“Get lost!” Xue Erbai shoved her, then glanced at Fu Lingnan and asked, “If someone asked you out, would you still remember the promise you made to me, that turtle of mine?”
“No.”
“I definitely wouldn’t remember.”
Zhong Dai answered just as decisively. After saying it, she was the first to laugh; Xue Erbai laughed too, and then…
Her elbow was lightly poked.
Ji Wushan was awake.
Xue Erbai scooted back to Ji Wushan’s side, covered her mouth, and shook her head.
Ji Wushan didn’t say anything else. She only glanced at Zhong Dai before putting her eye mask back on.
Zhong Dai snickered to herself.
Xue Erbai no longer dared to act recklessly; she could only lower her head and curse Zhong Dai on her phone.
Sunspot Dreaming: [Laugh, laugh all you want! Once we get off the plane and your sister gets tangled up by someone, you won’t be laughing then!]
Overly Confident Woman: [T_T]
Sunspot Dreaming: [What an ancient emoji!]
Overly Confident Woman: [And what an ancient crush you’ve got! By the way, does Sister Ji know yet that you have a crush on her?]
Xue Erbai stared at that QQ message for a long while. In the end, she typed a line: [Sorry, Xiaopu, I forgot to tell you. Ji Wushan and I are a legally married couple.]
After sending it, she closed her eyes.
The air was very quiet.
Then she felt her right arm get stabbed hard. Opening her eyes, she saw Zhong Dai staring wide-eyed, pointing back and forth at herself and Ji Wushan.
After a few rounds of that, Xue Erbai pressed her lips together in apology.
“Actually… I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time.”
“She just approved it!”
Approved?!
Zhong Dai repeated the word over and over in her head, shut her eyes hard, opened them again, then typed back to Xue Erbai on her phone.
Overly Confident Woman: [Actually, Fu Lingnan is my first love!]
“…I know.”
Xue Erbai didn’t reply by message; instead, her voice sounded right by Zhong Dai’s ear. Zhong Dai didn’t answer her, only lowered her head and kept typing.
Overly Confident Woman: [Actually, I kissed Fu Lingnan!]
Sunspot Dreaming: [!]
There was a reason they could become true friends.
At times like this, they also had to compete a little.
Then they shared all their secrets.
They even found a corner and continued chatting, but unfortunately the flight time was far too short. The broadcast came on, and the guests and staff around them opened their eyes to prepare for landing.
Xue Erbai also leaned in toward Ji Wushan to look at her. Seeing her clear eyes as she took off the eye mask, she asked a little uncertainly, “Just now… did you hear what Zhong Dai and I were saying?”
“…More or less.”
Ji Wushan paused slightly and glanced at Zhong Dai, who was standing up, before saying, “…More or less.”
Xue Erbai pressed on. “How much is ‘more or less’?”
She and Zhong Dai had been talking and typing at the same time just now; she really wasn’t sure what Ji Wushan’s “more or less” meant. So she simply told her, “I told her!”
Then she looked at Ji Wushan with bright eyes, waiting for her reaction.
In the end, she got none.
What she got instead was Ji Wushan gently pushing her and saying, “Move aside; we’re getting off the plane.”
Mm!
This was not right!
This was different from what she’d expected.
Xue Erbai pouted and followed after Ji Wushan.
Yet she couldn’t tell whether it was just her imagination, but she seemed to see the tips of Ji Wushan’s ears turning slightly red…
Xue Erbai pressed her lips together, hiding her smile.
----
After getting off the plane, everyone got into the cars arranged by the production team and headed to the scenic area for filming.
The theme for this round was camping; there were three tents, once again decided by lottery.
With the experience from the last time, the process moved quickly this time. It was still a team-answering system, but this round was an individual competition.
Xue Erbai fought alone and bravely took third place. First was Zhong Dai, second was Chang Zichen, third was Deng Lu, and fourth was Yi Fan.
Ji Wushan… came in sixth.
She was only one point ahead of Fu Lingnan.
Because most of the questions were about wilderness survival and similar topics, none of the others had as much experience as Zhong Dai.
The rest were all very surprised. They only knew she did game livestreaming, but they hadn’t expected her to actually know so much about the outdoors!
Even Xue Erbai couldn’t help asking in surprise, “Have you traveled around with so-and-so and so-and-so before?”
Zhong Dai glanced at her and answered quickly, “More or less.” Then she turned her attention to Fu Lingnan and said to the camera, “Since Sister Lingnan doesn’t have any experience, then I’ll be the one to protect her!”
She was so used to cheesy lines that she didn’t even blink. Fu Lingnan, however, panicked for a moment, though she quickly recovered and accepted it gladly. “Then thank you, Xiao Dai.”
Next came Chang Zichen’s choice.
She put her first pick on Yi Fan. Yi Fan was still wearing a sweet smile, though it was a little strained.
Fu Lingnan, the one she had been interacting with all along, had already been chosen this time; the others didn’t really matter to her.
“I choose Xiaofan and Lulu!”
The three of them had spent the most time together, so this choice was reasonable enough.
As for the rest…
Naturally, that meant Xue Erbai and Ji Wushan ended up together by default.
Ji Wushan didn’t show much emotion, while Xue Erbai’s feelings were written all over her face; she was grinning very happily as she trotted over to Ji Wushan’s side. “Sister Shengsheng! Let’s set up the tent.”
The rules of the show hadn’t changed much, except that tent-building had been added this time. The fastest team would get one hundred Encounter Coins; second place would get seventy; third place would get fifty.
There were only three stops in the entire trip, and this stop was especially unusual. In the mountains, there weren’t many ways to earn coins, so the tasks the production team released were plentiful.
Besides tent-building, there were also rewards for cooking, carrying water, and other necessities of daily life.
Unfortunately, Xue Erbai and Ji Wushan finished last, and only received fifty Encounter Coins.
Still, both of them were smiling. While no one was paying attention, Xue Erbai secretly took Ji Wushan’s hand. Ji Wushan’s expression, which had been relaxed a moment earlier, instantly tightened.
She struggled a little, then looked around and found that no one was noticing, so she indulged Xue Erbai anyway.
Xue Erbai leaned in and whispered, “We came in last. Will Sister Shengsheng think I’m really stupid?”
“…No.”
“Really?”
“How could that be fake? Aren’t the two of us both…” Ji Wushan’s words stopped halfway as she glanced at their tent.
Third place meant the tent was the smallest one by rights; in theory, it should have been the quickest to set up.
But they were still last.
With the fewest Encounter Coins.
Thinking of that, Ji Wushan took out the coins and tried to split them with Xue Erbai. But before she could even put them in her hand, Xue Erbai snatched them away, placed them all into her palm, then closed Ji Wushan’s hand over them.
“All yours.”
“Anyway, I get to see you every day, and I’ve gone cold on the idea of that invitation thing.” Saying this, Xue Erbai folded her legs and stared intently at Ji Wushan.
In a lightly teasing tone, she added, “There’s no one in the tent who’ll notice. Tonight…”
Who knew Ji Wushan would spring to her feet as if shocked by electricity, look toward the staff already preparing their equipment, and say to Xue Erbai, “Keep filming.”
“Oh…” Xue Erbai was a little unhappy at being interrupted. She had no idea that even worse was still to come.
After filming resumed, Ji Wushan kept as far away from her as possible!
Xue Erbai shot her several resentful looks, but Ji Wushan pretended not to see any of them.
Only after filming ended did Xue Erbai finally let out all the frustration she had been holding in for so long.
A small tent had its advantages. When the two of them lay down, even if they didn’t move, they were still pressed close together. The moment Ji Wushan lay down, Xue Erbai circled her arm, lifted it above her head, and lowered her own head to pick at the tempting fruit hanging right before her.
Ji Wushan couldn’t help letting out a soft, breathless sound. She held onto Xue Erbai’s shoulder, her eyes misting over with a thread of grievance.
Muffled, she said, “Xue Erbai… no!”
Xue Erbai heard her, but still didn’t stop until several more seconds had passed. When she saw the slight redness and swelling on her lips, her gaze flickered away.
Yet her hand didn’t move at all. One arm encircled Ji Wushan’s slender wrist, and her voice turned soft and coaxing as she bargained, “I still want another kiss~”
Ji Wushan had been a little annoyed at first, but once she heard that tone, her heart softened too.
Her lashes fluttered a few times as she said, her breathing still not quite steady, “Th-then… just one more.”
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Author’s note: