A Top-Tier Green Tea Actress Enters a Dating Reality Show - Chapter 61

“I want to go back to my room and play with my doll.”

As she spoke, she started to carry Meng Ziqing upstairs, all the while thinking about where she could hide Meng Ziqing to ensure her safety.

Little Qin Yue was exactly like her adult self in this regard—her decisiveness and speed of action were evident even as a child.

She offered a polite “thank you” and completely ignored the blue-eyed uncle and Ms. Song beside her.

She was like a mushroom growing in a dark corner, briefly emerging into the sun for something she loved, and now, having obtained it, she was desperate to retreat into the shadows for a sense of security.

“No…”

Little Meng Ziqing’s small hand grabbed Qin Yue’s hair. The cool, soft texture felt like the body of a snake, a coiled constraint that would ensnare her if she leaned in.

She resisted the urge to let go and applied a little more force.

The child’s hand tugged at her hair, and a slight stinging sensation shot through her scalp nerves. Little Qin Yue stopped, lowered her head, and gazed at her.

“Hmm? Why?”

“I don’t want to go back to the room with you,” little Meng Ziqing frowned and refused.

Qin Yue’s mental state was clearly abnormal right now, and the disparity in their physical strength was several times greater than when they were adults.

If she rashly stayed in Qin Yue’s territory, confined to a room together…

She was truly afraid that if she said one wrong word, death would be imminent.

She was terrified of death, truly terrified. The shadow of death loomed larger over her than over most people.

Even in a dream, she had to live well.

“I came here not to hide in a room with you,” Meng Ziqing stated clearly.

She had experienced the feeling herself, so she understood Qin Yue’s current state of mind:

Inferior, timid, and helpless. Flustered, sensitive, and emotionally fragile.

Darkness had become a protective umbrella, a safe place where no one could see anything.

Out of humanitarian concern, Meng Ziqing should perhaps indulge her, staying in the darkness with Qin Yue for a while to let her calm down before proceeding with the second phase.

But she was self-centered and fearful of death, considering only her own interests. She didn’t have the time for Qin Yue’s psychological therapy.

She had to forcefully pull Qin Yue out, drag her into the sunlight.

The memory retrieval had to be completed in the most direct and fastest way possible.

Getting hurt was okay, and pain was okay.

What needed to be experienced would eventually be experienced.

Little Qin Yue wasn’t a vampire; she wouldn’t vanish into ash in the sunlight.

She would only be reborn from the flames.

“But it’s very dangerous outside.”

Little Qin Yue knitted her brows, not understanding why her doll was unwilling to return to the room with her.

It was dangerous outside, and she could protect her.

“If it’s dangerous outside, you’re outside the room right now,” Meng Ziqing gave her a look of feigned surprise. “You stepped out of the room, and aren’t you doing just fine now?”

“Why do you have to stay in your room? Do you have something fun there?”

She released little Qin Yue’s hair, her young, childlike voice full of curiosity.

“I want to draw this afternoon. Do you have an easel in your room? Do you have paints? Do you have a flower room where we can sketch?”

Meng Ziqing chose the most straightforward reason.

She herself was very clear that Qin Yue’s room had neither an easel nor paints.

Even though the adult Qin Yue was the executive of a luxury company like RY, Meng Ziqing was convinced that none of these things would be in Qin Yue’s room right now.

Qin Yue only became involved in the arts after moving abroad. A thought flashed through Meng Ziqing’s mind like a shooting star.

It was so fast that it startled her.

Why—

Why would she know that Qin Yue hadn’t been exposed to drawing before?

“No…”

Little Qin Yue pursed her lips, and after a long pause, her voice was muffled.

“My room has a lot of books. We can read today.” Little Qin Yue looked down at Meng Ziqing, a hint of stubbornness in her eyes.

“Tomorrow, there will be an easel and paints in the room. If you want to draw, we’ll draw tomorrow.”

If there were no easel and paints, she could buy them.

That wouldn’t stop her from tricking her doll into her room.

“No, I want to draw today,” Meng Ziqing firmly refused, her fair cheeks puffed out like a bun.

Qin Yue ignored the doll’s protest in her arms and turned to look at Song Xian, who was gazing at them affectionately.

This was the person who brought the doll. She looked very much like the doll; she must be her mother.

It didn’t matter if the doll was unwilling; she would listen to her mother.

Little Qin Yue lowered her eyes and asked Song Xian, “Ma’am, can I take the doll back to my room to read?”

Little Qin Yue lifted her eyelids, taking advantage of her height to meet Song Xian’s gaze.

This height didn’t quite achieve the effect of looking down on the weak, but Song Xian could clearly see the affection little Qin Yue held for her daughter in her eyes, as well as the dejection following the forceful refusal.

This little girl had a naturally sharp, cold, and aggressive look, but she hadn’t fully grown yet. The baby fat was gone.

However, her eyes were purely clean. Her long, thick lashes cast a small shadow on her eyelids, adding a touch of melancholy.

She was truly too thin, pale, and emaciated, yet she possessed the strength to hold her daughter tightly, as steady as a little poisonous mushroom grasping onto a sliver of light in the dark chaos.

To capture this sliver of light, the little poisonous mushroom was trying to blossom like a plant.

A mushroom flower…

Unfortunately, mushrooms don’t bloom. Even with the disguise, Song Xian couldn’t ignore the hidden danger within this child.

So she shook her head, and the invisible, large scissors ruthlessly clipped the flower the little poisonous mushroom had tried to bloom.

“I’m sorry, dear, no.”

“We should respect Qingqing’s wishes. She is not willing to go back to your room to read right now,” Song Xian said regretfully.

The gentle words were like a knife stabbing into little Qin Yue’s heart.

She was still small and couldn’t keep her composure. Her expression immediately turned gloomy, and her blue eyes deepened to an inky black.

“Your grip is too strong! Don’t hug me like that!”

Meng Ziqing was stifled by the embrace. She struggled hard, and in the momentary lapse in little Qin Yue’s attention, she managed to break free.

Suddenly losing her support, she was suspended for two seconds, and the unexpected momentum from jumping down caused Meng Ziqing to take a few steps back.

She retreated all the way to Song Xian’s side, directly hiding behind Song Xian’s legs.

“Ms. Song, protect me.”

Meng Ziqing lowered her eyebrows and looked at little Qin Yue warily.

Her small demeanor closely resembled a chihuahua that had dropped its facade of obedience.

The meekness was only on the surface.

If she got annoyed, she would bite you.

That wary look was like another knife plunged into Qin Yue’s heart. Little Qin Yue felt a little wronged but knew that she had been too strong just now.

“I’m sorry… but I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I’m sorry…”

Little Qin Yue weakly lowered her hands. She was less articulate than her adult self and could only repeat apologies.

The blue-eyed uncle saw the scene that was supposed to be friendly sisterly bonding turn out like this in just a few minutes, and he, too, looked helplessly at Song Xian.

His daughter truly needed Meng Ziqing as a friend right now.

The blue-eyed uncle’s command of the Chinese language wasn’t great. “Song… Yue can apologize profusely to the little friend, and then they can still be friends who play together. Is that possible?”

Song Xian sighed, looking at the blue-eyed uncle. She then knelt down to negotiate with Meng Ziqing. “Qingqing, didn’t we originally come to invite the big sister to our flower room to draw?”

Qin Yue’s lowered head moved slightly.

“That’s right…” Meng Ziqing nodded. “I invited her to draw, but she insisted on me going to her room to read.”

She frowned her delicate eyebrows, sounding slightly disgusted. “I don’t like reading.”

In one sentence, little Meng Ziqing’s preferences were clearly revealed.

A straight-A student and a slacker cannot coexist.

Their interests were different.

“One person’s trash is another’s treasure,” was the essence of this sentiment.

Song Xian had a headache over her child’s aversion to studying and felt her blood pressure rising, but in this situation, she could only continue to guide the conversation.

“Qingqing, you don’t dislike the big sister, right? So, if she doesn’t read and goes to the flower room to sketch with you instead, would you be willing?”

“Her—” Meng Ziqing peeked out from behind Song Xian, giving little Qin Yue a glance. There was a sense of joy in teasing a child, and she spoke slowly, “She’s very pretty. I like pretty big sisters.”

This was as arrogant as could be.

Song Xian smiled, resisting the urge to scold her child. She turned to face the blue-eyed uncle, whose eyes seemed to hold the hope of the entire village, and gently asked little Qin Yue.

“Qin Yue, would you like to come to my house and sketch with Qingqing?”

“Are you coming or not? If you’re not coming, we’re leaving,” Meng Ziqing poked her head out from behind Song Xian.

The afternoon sun was just right. Outside, the leaves were lush and green. The little girl, bathed in the sunlight, possessed a strange beauty that suggested she might melt in the sun. Behind her was a dark brown door, its intricate carvings reflecting a delicate light.

If she agreed, Qin Yue would have to walk through that door.

Walk out and stand in the sunlight.

Although it was summer, little Qin Yue inexplicably felt cold. Her doll was standing there, smiling at her.

Yet, she didn’t dare to walk over.

The distance was only a few steps, but it clearly felt like two separate, incompatible worlds.

Little Qin Yue desperately wanted to walk over and hold the doll’s hand, but she didn’t dare.

She couldn’t overcome her fear of the sun. Her throat was like an engine that had mysteriously shut down, unable to utter a sound. The more her eyes fixed on the doll, the less she could agree.

Even a simple “Yes” was incredibly difficult.

“It still needs a push,” Meng Ziqing’s eyes darkened slightly.

“Pretty big sister, come with me!” She walked forward and grabbed Qin Yue’s thigh.

The little girl smiled sweetly, but her grip on little Qin Yue’s hand was undeniable.

Yet, she merely held on, a light, almost weightless grip.

She could let go and walk away at any moment.

“I…”

Little Qin Yue nervously held her hand back. The scene of Meng Ziqing crying out in pain and breaking free was still vivid, and she didn’t dare use any force.

“Are you coming, Big Sister?” Meng Ziqing let her hold her hand and, with rare patience, asked again.

“…” Little Qin Yue lowered her head, met Meng Ziqing’s gaze, and remained silent with pursed lips.

This stalemate between the two children lasted for three minutes. Both parents stood aside, afraid to speak.

Song Xian’s expression was grave, and the blue-eyed uncle clasped his hands, praying for his daughter to agree.

Another two minutes passed.

The aggressive chihuahua couldn’t take it anymore.

Meng Ziqing’s patience had reached its five-minute limit. This was just a dream; no matter how much she sympathized with Qin Yue in the dream, she should focus more on sympathizing with the one in reality.

It must be said that Meng Ziqing was truly cold-blooded and mean-spirited.

Even in a dream, she had little patience.

“Are you coming or not? If you don’t go, I will leave.”

She delivered her ultimatum, turning to walk away with her mother.

Then, as Meng Ziqing expected, the hand she hadn’t completely let go of pulled her back.

It pulled her directly into a cold embrace.

“Don’t…”

The girl’s raven-black hair, reaching her waist, blocked Meng Ziqing’s light. The cold, pale arms wrapped around her shoulders trembled slightly, as if the action required immense courage.

Her voice contained a choked sob of grievance, “I’ll go out with you.”

“Don’t leave me.”