Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Zhang Ningwei nodded, “You’re right, thank you, Xiaoxiao.”
“We’re practically family, why are you thanking me?” Mo Xiaoxiao pulled her along, smiling.
On the other side, Jiang Mochen looked at the fish in Yan Qingchi’s hand, “How much longer?”
“Let’s wait a little longer,” Yan Qingchi said.
Hearing his voice, Jiang Mochen asked, “Why did you turn off your mic?”
Yan Qingchi looked up at Jiang Mochen, a half-smile on his face.
Jiang Mochen was completely baffled by his gaze, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“If nothing’s wrong, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because you’re handsome.”
Jiang Mochen: “…”
He leaned closer to him, lowering his voice to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Yan Qingchi sighed, “Nothing, I’m just quite envious of you.”
“Envious of me?” Jiang Mochen asked, puzzled.
“Yeah,” Yan Qingchi leaned closer to him, muted his mic, and whispered, “Why is it that I only encounter old men trying to take advantage of me, while you only encounter young girls with crushes on you? Your romantic prospects are much better than mine.”
Jiang Mochen was a little confused. He thought for a moment and asked Yan Qingchi, “Does Mo Xiaoxiao like me?”
Yan Qingchi shook his head. “It’s Zhang Ningwei who likes you.”
Jiang Mochen was a little surprised. “She likes me?” he said in shock. “I really couldn’t tell.”
“Of course, otherwise why would she say it’s a crush?”
Jiang Mochen thought back to when he and Zhang Ningwei went to the water’s edge together. Zhang Ningwei had obediently and quietly followed him, not saying much. Occasionally, she would talk to him about things related to the program. He really hadn’t realized that Zhang Ningwei actually liked him.
“How did you know? Did Mo Xiaoxiao tell you?”
Yan Qingchi nodded. “She asked me what kind of girl you like.”
“What did you answer?”
“I said you like confident, decisive, independent, strong, gentle but opinionated people.”
Jiang Mochen chuckled. “Aren’t you putting Zhang Ningwei in a difficult position?”
“Yes, so Mo Xiaoxiao was a little worried, but she quickly figured it out and decided to encourage Zhang Ningwei to overcome these difficulties and boldly pursue you.”
“And what about you? What did you say to her?”
“How did you know I would continue talking to her?” Yan Qingchi asked him.
Jiang Mochen looked at him. “Can you really just watch Zhang Ningwei pursue me and do nothing?”
“Why not?” Yan Qingchi retorted. “Perfect, I can use this to test how strong our relationship is.”
Jiang Mochen patted his hand helplessly. “Wake up, you’re not that kind of person. This scenario you’re describing simply doesn’t exist.”
Yan Qingchi smiled. “Okay, you’re smart. I continued talking to her, saying you don’t like being pursued, you prefer to take the initiative.”
“So Mo Xiaoxiao gave up after thinking about letting Zhang Ningwei pursue me?”
“She asked me if I would show it if I liked someone. I said yes. After hearing that, I felt she had probably given up. After all, Zhang Ningwei is a quiet and shy person, so it would take a lot of courage for her to pursue a boy. And knowing that this boy doesn’t like others pursuing him, and still letting her best friend pursue him, isn’t that just digging a pit for her best friend to fall into? Mo Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ningwei aren’t just fake friends, she wouldn’t do that. Besides, she knows that you would show it if you liked someone, so if you like Zhang Ningwei, they can see it and can wait patiently for you to pursue her; if you don’t like Zhang Ningwei, they can also sense it, so why rush to muster up courage only to end up heartbroken, right?”
Jiang Mochen nodded, “That makes sense.”
“Sigh,” Yan Qingchi sighed, “If we had already gone public, or if we were more familiar with them, I could have told her the truth. Because we’re not close, it’s easy for things to go wrong if I tell her, but if I don’t dissuade her, wouldn’t that just be watching Zhang Ningwei do useless work, wasting the girl’s time and affecting our moods? Besides, how embarrassing would it be for Zhang Ningwei if it went public later?”
Jiang Mochen felt he had thought things through very thoroughly, especially regarding Zhang Ningwei.
He leaned close to Yan Qingchi’s ear and whispered, “Madam is truly clever and kind.”
Yan Qingchi chuckled softly, “Stop flattering me. You’re really something, managing to attract so many suitors just by recording a variety show.”
“Don’t worry, I only see you,” Jiang Mochen said gently.
“Sweet words.”
“Words from the heart.”
“Too much talk leads to mistakes.”
“Disheartened.”
“A desperate gamble.”
“Boat…” Jiang Mochen was about to speak when he heard a resentful voice above him, “Weary from the journey!”
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen were instantly startled and looked up tremblingly. They saw the director looking at them angrily, his expression like that of a headmaster catching a high school student who was only thinking about dating instead of studying properly during the final sprint. Yan Qingchi felt inexplicably nervous.
“Director, what brings you here?”
The director looked at them, pointed to himself, and said, “Me? What brings me here? My dear stars, we’ve travelled a long way and come all this way, not to play idiom chain games with you. Even if we were, we could have turned our microphones on. What are the audience supposed to watch if you two keep your microphones off? A silent film? Idiom chain games aren’t anything shameful. Why would you two need to turn your microphones off and play secretly? What, are you afraid of losing and damaging your image?”
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, they had spontaneously started playing idiom chain games, and luckily the director arrived late and only heard the game. Yan Qingchi silently berated himself. He hadn’t even noticed someone approaching them. What a regression! It was all Jiang Mochen’s fault. The headmaster was still there, and he was still dragging him into a relationship. It really affected his sensitivity to the outside world!
“I’m sorry, Director, I’ll turn it on now,” Yan Qingchi said, turning on his microphone.
Jiang Mochen quickly turned on his microphone as well. “Sorry.”
Seeing how cooperative they were, the director thought they were teachable. Considering one was a true A-list star and the other was currently very popular, he worried that his tone might have been inappropriate. So he explained gently, “It’s not that you can’t turn off your microphones, but you can’t leave them off for too long. Otherwise, we won’t be able to hear you whispering, and the audience won’t be able to hear you either. That way, this segment won’t be usable, and there will be less material to choose from when editing the final cut. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Jiang Mochen nodded. “I’m sorry, it was our oversight. Thank you for your help.”
“It’s alright. Okay, you two chat. I’ll go check on the two of them. Why did those two girls turn off their microphones too?”
Yan Qingchi silently looked at Jiang Mochen, saying to him without a word, “The first person to turn off their microphone was Mo Xiaoxiao.”
Jiang Mochen smiled, but didn’t laugh out loud until the director left, at which point he chuckled softly.
Yan Qingchi, grilling the fish in his hand, said to him, “That scared me to death! When the director said ‘travel fatigue,’ I almost dropped the fish.”
“I was startled too.”
“Doesn’t it look like that?”
“Like what?” Jiang Mochen asked curiously.
Seeing the director approach Mo Xiaoxiao, Yan Qingchi quickly covered the microphone and whispered in Jiang Mochen’s ear, “High school students caught secretly dating by the head teacher.”
Jiang Mochen couldn’t help but chuckle, “It does look a bit like that.”
Yan Qingchi sighed, “Sigh, so being a student is tough too.”
“Luckily, we’ve already graduated.”
“But we’re not much easier than them.”
Jiang Mochen thought for a moment. Indeed, puppy love required hiding it from parents and teachers. They weren’t in a puppy love relationship, but they still had to hide it from a bunch of people. “Let’s wait until we finish our college entrance exams. Then, we can fly high.”
“Then wish us good luck on our exams.”
“Okay.”
The bewildered cameraman: …What is this? College entrance exam? Adults have to take the college entrance exam? Adult college entrance exam? Are celebrities this hardworking these days? People who haven’t been to university have to take the adult college entrance exam? Wait, Jiang Mochen doesn’t seem like someone who hasn’t been to university at all! What kind of college entrance exam is this?!
When Mo Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ningwei returned, their microphones were already on. Mo Xiaoxiao felt a little guilty towards Yan Qingchi. “It’s all my fault for turning off your microphone earlier, causing you to get scolded by the director. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Yan Qingchi said. “Perfect timing. The fish is almost cooked. We can eat it in a little while.”
Mo Xiaoxiao looked pleasantly surprised. “Is there some for me?”
“Everyone gets some. It’s only so small anyway. Let’s all have a taste. It will at least be worth all the time we’ve wasted here.”
Mo Xiaoxiao nodded repeatedly. “Brother Yan, you’re so generous! Weiwei and I are so lucky to be in your group.”
“Alright, that’s enough with the praise. If you keep praising me, I’ll get arrogant.”
“Then don’t worry about being arrogant. If you float away, I’ll find you a rope and tie it around your waist before you go up in the sky. That way, you can return to the ground when you want to land.” Jiang Mochen chimed in.
Yan Qingchi looked at him, “Am I a kite? You can play like this?”
“You can’t be a kite, you’re at least a rocket launcher.”
Yan Qingchi: …
Mo Xiaoxiao chuckled, “You two have a really good relationship, and your conversations are quite interesting. I thought Brother Jiang was a rather serious person before, but I didn’t expect him to be so humorous.”
“I learned it from him, so I try to be humorous in front of him.” Jiang Mochen didn’t shy away from it.
Yan Qingchi silently lowered his head to grill the fish. He had come to terms with it. Jiang Mochen— was teetering on the edge of public scrutiny, as if afraid others wouldn’t notice that their relationship was unusual!
“Give me the seasoning for the instant noodles in the bag,” he said.
Jiang Mochen opened a packet of instant noodles, tore open the seasoning packet, and handed it to him. Yan Qingchi sprinkled the seasoning on it, then grilled it for a little longer before it was finally done.
He asked Jiang Mochen to put out the fire, then stood up with the grilled fish, waiting for it to cool down a bit.
After Jiang Mochen finished extinguishing the fire, the fish was a bit cooler than when it was first grilled. Yan Qingchi tasted it and, confirming it was edible, handed it to Jiang Mochen. “Try it.”
Jiang Mochen took a bite immediately but couldn’t taste anything.
Yan Qingchi pointed to the part with more seasoning. “Try this piece; it has seasoning here.”
Jiang Mochen took another bite, this time tasting it. “It tastes like instant noodles.” He looked at Yan Qingchi. “But the fish was grilled quite well, and the meat was quite tender.”
Yan Qingchi was biased towards him, so he used the excuse that he and Jiang Mochen had just bitten into it, and it wouldn’t be right to give it to someone else. He thus cut off a small piece from the spot where he and Jiang Mochen had bitten into it and handed it to Jiang Mochen.
Seeing that he had worked so hard to grill it and had only taken one bite himself, Jiang Mochen declined, saying, “You eat it.”
Yan Qingchi looked at him and gestured slightly. Jiang Mochen had no choice but to eat the piece in Yan Qingchi’s hand.
Yan Qingchi then distributed the remaining fish. He cut a small piece for Mo Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ningwei, and also gave some to the director, cameraman, and other staff.
“The fish is a bit small, and Chen-ge and I aren’t very good at grilling, so please just consider it a taste. You’ve had a long journey.”
Seeing his polite manner, the staff felt that although he was famous, he was down-to-earth, so they all smiled and said, “It’s no trouble at all, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” After Yan Qingchi finished speaking, he turned back to Jiang Mochen’s side and asked him, “Shall we go wash our hands?”
Jiang Mochen nodded, and the two walked towards the river together.
Because the cameraman wasn’t following, Jiang Mochen turned off his microphone as they walked, and asked him softly, “You went through all the trouble of grilling it yourself, why did you only take one bite?”
“The fish is a bit small, if I eat a couple more bites, there won’t be any left for the others.” Yan Qingchi also turned off his microphone.
“Then why did you keep urging me to eat? I told you to eat it yourself, but you wouldn’t.”
Yan Qingchi smiled. “I wanted you to eat it,” he said. “Ever since I got pregnant, you’ve been cooking for me. I rarely grill fish, and I wanted to give it to you too.”
Jiang Mochen hadn’t expected him to have this thought. He smiled at him. “I’m happy to cook for you.”
“I’m happy to too,” Yan Qingchi reached out and took his hand, asking, “Is it good?”
Jiang Mochen held his hand and nodded. “I’m just a little sorry that you gave it to someone else.”
“We’re all together. How can we eat alone? I’ll cook for you separately when we get back and make something even better than this.”
“Okay then.”
Yan Qingchi looked up at him, his eyebrows curving into a slight smile, and walked forward.
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