After Encountering My Deceased Wife, I Became the Male Lead's Love Rival - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Illusion

Because she lived alone, Ling Qiu’s culinary skills were quite good—at least, one could tell by looking at the woman standing nearby, staring fixedly at the dishes.

Ling Qiu looked helplessly at Fang Ziyue, who was diligently “wiping the wall” next to her, though in reality, her gaze was so glued to the plates of food that she couldn’t pull it away.

This person was overacting her support far too much. Ling Qiu felt both annoyed and amused as she said, “I made a lot. If you’re hungry, come over and eat first. The leftovers in the pot are what I need to give to the program team for judging later.”

It wasn’t that Ling Qiu was overly fussy; she felt she had to mention it primarily because Fang Ziyue was staring at the pot with an expression that suggested she might devour the pot and the plates together.

Ling Qiu was puzzled. Could a person truly change so completely after a few years abroad? The old Fang Ziyue would never have been this supportive, nor would she have appeared to be such a… well, a foodie.

Hearing her wife speak, Fang Ziyue briskly went to wash her hands to eat.

This was the first time her wife had cooked for her in this world!

Sigh… but what a pity, she still had to send half to the program team.

Fang Ziyue looked at the food in the pot with reluctance. She blinked quietly, deciding that later, in her capacity as the financial backer, she would “negotiate” with the program team to leave the food behind, and then…

“Eat properly. The food I left is enough for two people.” Ling Qiu suppressed the urge to press her palm to her forehead.

This was a live broadcast, after all; so many people were watching, yet Fang Ziyue actually dared to “eat from the bowl while looking at the pot.”

However, precisely because of this, the bullet screen began to buzz with praise for Ling Qiu’s cooking. When anti-fans tried to post malicious comments, they were rebutted by Ling Qiu’s fans using Fang Ziyue’s “I-want-to-eat-it-all” style as proof.

“Don’t worry, my sense of taste is still very good.” In the interval of scooping her second bowl of rice, Fang Ziyue caught an anti-fan’s comment and fired back.

“The food Best Actress Ling makes is delicious; it’s a pity you don’t have the luck to taste it.” Fang Ziyue narrowed her eyes happily and sighed leisurely, “Seeing as you’re so active, I’ll taste another bowl for you.”

This kind of self-righteous local shamelessness was breathtaking; the anti-fans on the bullet screen were nearly dying of anger.

Wait, has this woman always been this shameless? She’s so asking for a beating. Do you fans of Fang Ziyue know about this? LOL, she has fans?

To the person above, who are you looking down on? Our Yueyue definitely has fans. She is asking for a beating; otherwise, why would she hire so many bodyguards when her status is so low?

The bullet screen was a mess of arguments, while the person who dropped the bomb used that excuse to eat three bowls of rice in a row and finished the remaining two plates of vegetables. Even more astonishingly, she stared with burning eyes at the floral tea Ling Qiu had made nearby, even swallowing her saliva in what she thought was a hidden manner.

Ling Qiu really couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up and hid the floral tea like she was protecting a cub, saying between laughter and tears, “Don’t even think about it. You really cannot eat anymore!”

Other celebrities were busy losing weight, wishing they could survive on dew alone. How was it that when it came to Fang Ziyue, she turned into a competitive eater?

She wasn’t like this before.

Hearing Ling Qiu say this, Fang Ziyue felt it was a shame. Her reluctant look of agreement made Ling Qiu find it incredibly funny. It had to be said that if Fang Ziyue didn’t have such a serious “black history,” her current personality would be very popular with fans.

What a pity…

However, precisely because of Fang Ziyue’s unpretentious way of eating, the traffic in their live stream saw a slight increase. Some passersby also followed Fang Ziyue’s stream because watching her eat really stimulated the appetite.

Unlike the harmonious and humorous atmosphere on Fang Ziyue and Ling Qiu’s side, the Lin couple’s side was filled with tension and embarrassment.

Because she had been rebutted by Fang Ziyue’s insinuations, Lin Mengyan failed to get any ingredients. Ultimately, the two could only exchange furniture from the house with the program team for food.

But once they had the ingredients, who would cook became a problem. After all, the Lin couple had spent years building a persona of a loving couple, packaging themselves to the public as “all-rounders” who did all the housework.

But as soon as they were in front of the camera, their true colors were revealed. Neither of them knew how to cook, yet neither wanted their persona to collapse. They spent several hours in useless communication, pushing the responsibility back and forth.

In the end, Lin Mingcheng escaped using the excuse that he was too tired from tidying the room. The result of Lin Mengyan gritting her teeth and entering the kitchen was total confusion over basic grains; most terrifyingly, she didn’t even know how to use basic kitchen appliances.

This time, Lin Mengyan’s “all-around wife” persona collapsed and quickly surged to the top of the trending searches, hanging at the second spot without coming down. The comments were full of people cursing her it was unclear which agency had seized the opportunity to kick her while she was down.

The Lin couple now regretted it a hundred times over. Had they known the program team would live-stream this segment, they wouldn’t have come. After Lin Mengyan nearly blew up the kitchen, the program team, fearing for the guests’ safety, was forced to send a staff member to help.

The price, of course, was that the Lin couple’s score for this round was zero.

“Then what is there left to compete for?” Hearing that the Lin family’s score was zero, the quiet eyes of Fang Ziyue, who was weeding in the field, suddenly lit up.

She stole a few glances at Ling Qiu, who was sweeping, and rubbed her left wrist with her right hand, plotting in her heart how to sneak into the kitchen for snacks later without being caught.

As an actress, Ling Qiu was too sensitive to others’ gazes. She had been observing Fang Ziyue secretly for a long time before she finally stopped to ask, “Did you sprain your wrist?”

Something similar had happened before: a rookie actor had accidentally sprained their arm on a show but endured it without saying anything for the sake of the broadcast, only to find after filming that the arm was numb and couldn’t be lifted.

Ling Qiu put down her things and walked over. Although her relationship with Fang Ziyue was poor, this person had helped her a lot today, and they were, after all, a team.

Seeing her wife run over, Fang Ziyue felt something was wrong. She shook her wrist and explained, “I didn’t sprain it. I just like to touch my wrist when I’m thinking about things; it’s a habit.”

In the real world, during the year after Ling Qiu passed away, Fang Ziyue could always see her figure. By the window, by the bridge, by the rooftop railing Ling Qiu would grab her wrist and pull her back with great anger: “What are you doing coming to such a dangerous place?! Do you want to die!”

The scolded Fang Ziyue would happily grip her hand back, but every time she could only grasp thin air. It was empty; it was all an illusion.

“Are you alright?” A warm, soft hand suddenly grasped her left wrist, pulling her back from the memory.

Fang Ziyue’s fingertips trembled slightly. Her fingers, which instinctively gripped back, touched the warm, soft back of Ling Qiu’s hand. After a moment of daze, she let out a breath.

Ling Qiu saw a bit more tenderness appear in Fang Ziyue’s calm eyes, and her magnetic contralto voice brushed past her ear like a feather.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

Since the person was alright, Ling Qiu quickly let go, turned her back, and continued her work.

Only when her back was to the camera and Fang Ziyue did Ling Qiu show a look of slight shock. Just now, looking at Fang Ziyue’s earnest gaze, she had almost mistaken herself for someone very important to her.

How could this be?

Ling Qiu frowned. Was she suffering from some kind of hallucination? To have such an absurd illusion.

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