Dating My Drama Queen Girlfriend On A Slow-Paced Variety Show - Chapter 29

The winding mountain road spiraled through the lush green peaks. A drone took off, filming a group of people trekking up the path.

[Has anyone noticed that Luo Mingzi is exceptionally lively this episode?]

[Exceptionally? I’m warning you to watch your wording! Luo Mingzi is practically about to fly into the sky!]

[This episode is so interesting!]

[Li Yue, why did you call Wu Xuezhen “Mom”? Hahaha, look at Wu Xuezhen’s expression, truly worthy of a “textbook actress” from Beijing. That blend of horror, internal conflict, and bewilderment was perfectly executed!]

[Wait, is the chemistry between these two too much? With just one look, Luo Mingzi literally wrapped herself around Li Yue?]

[Do they practice this at home?]

[How many times do you have to practice to develop this kind of synchronization?]

[Hiss… This young hero has some serious strength in her waist and legs, carrying a grown woman and walking like the wind!]

[What do I do! I’m feeling a bit dizzy now. The more I watch, the more I’m convinced something is going on between them! Even if I’m best friends with my girl, we don’t run around carrying each other!]

[Interlocked fingers, interlocked fingers!]

[?]

[Li Yue covered Luo Mingzi’s mouth, and that smile from Luo Mingzi… are you forcing me to ship them?]

[Friends, after Li Yue lowered her hand, she even rubbed her fingers together. If that’s not savoring the moment, what is!]

[…Am I here for a “slow-living” variety show? Why does it feel like the comments are all just hunting for “sugar”?]

Li Yue bent down and picked up a long, thin branch from the ground. Before she could speak, something pressed against her waist, and a low voice threatened: “Don’t move. Hand over your heart!”

[?]

[Luo Shen, say that again? Hand over what?]

Li Yue raised her hands, turned around slowly, and raised an eyebrow at Luo Mingzi. Luo Mingzi mimicked the shape of a gun with her hand, pointed it at Li Yue, and said, “If you don’t hand it over, it’s dong-dong for you!”

“Wait a moment,” Li Yue said unhurriedly, gesturing for Luo Mingzi to look in her pocket.

Luo Mingzi puffed out her cheeks, still holding her “little handgun” with one hand while the other reached into Li Yue’s pocket.

[Sister Wu is picking up branches next to them, and you two are over here acting out a skit?]

On camera, Luo Mingzi withdrew her hand and opened it. Resting in her palm were two chocolates, ordinary store bought ones wrapped in pink foil. One was shaped like a star, the other like a heart.

Luo Mingzi curled her lips into a smile, cupping the chocolates with both hands against her cheek. Her eyes curved into crescents. “Thank you.”

[Hiss… This isn’t a skit, it’s a romance movie! I can’t watch! NO…]

[Hehehe, chocolate, hehehe.]

[I took a look at the progress bar, it’s halfway through. By the way, why did I come to watch this episode again?]

[Yeah, why…]

Luo Mingzi munched on the chocolate, swaying her head happily as she walked ahead. After Li Yue picked up a wooden branch, she placed it into Luo Mingzi’s basket. When Luo Mingzi discovered some wild fruit, she picked them, skipped over to a mountain spring to wash them clean, and ran back joyfully to share them with Li Yue and Wu Xuezhen.

“Oh right, there’s one more chocolate.” Luo Mingzi placed the star-shaped chocolate into Wu Xuezhen’s palm.

[She gave the Star to Mom. What about the Heart?]

[Where is Li Yue’s Heart?]

[Li Yue’s heart was eaten!]

[You guys are focused on the chocolate, but I’m looking at the bottom left corner. Luo Mingzi’s basket is getting fuller and fuller.]

[It’s too much! Li Yue, you overestimate Luo Mingzi! She can’t carry all that!]

[Li Yue’s “heavy” love.]

In the video, Luo Mingzi hoisted the basket onto her back. Li Yue reached out to give it a supportive nudge from underneath, tilting her head to watch Luo Mingzi walk.

The bullet comments grew passionate, praising Luo Mingzi for her tenacious spirit, her bravery in conquering the peak, and her new life breakthrough! It was as if Luo Mingzi wasn’t carrying a small wooden basket, but a massive mountain!

[Gosh, Luo Shen did it!]

[Luo Shen is fearless!]

[The way Li Yue looks at Luo Mingzi while smiling is so gentle.]

The “gentle” Li Yue was currently sitting in the living room, watching the screen where Luo Mingzi was hurriedly picking flowers in the backyard. She had kicked off her shoes and was running toward the second floor barefoot with a “thump-thump-thump” sound.

[Luo Mingzi is still this excited after hiking? What is fueling her?]

[Secretly picking flowers… wait, my own mouth is curling up involuntarily.]

[Can I say it? There’s definitely something between these two! This feels like an idol drama.]

After picking the flowers, a hurried Luo Mingzi filled a container with water and put the flowers in. She then ran back out with more “thump-thumps” and sat on the doorstep just as Li Yue and Wu Xuezhen appeared on the path.

[Li Yue holding a straw rabbit is actually quite cute.]

[Just after she took a photo with her phone, I saw Luo Mingzi take her phone out of her pocket and glance at it. If you know, you know.]

[Wow, she couldn’t even wait for that short distance!]

[Too sweet! I’m shipping this! And the main star practically admitted she’s the girlfriend!]

[So, why did we all gather here in the first place? What were we supposed to be talking about?]

The program continued. Having returned to the courtyard, everyone prepared to shower, eat, and rest. In the two story house, Li Yue was cooking on the first floor. On the second floor, Luo Mingzi finished her shower in a rush, grabbed her small blanket, and dashed toward Li Yue’s room.

[Speed is of the essence!]

[Luo Mingzi: “I’m sleeping here today! I’m sleeping with my ‘best friend’!”]

[She even went back to move the flower bucket and hid it in the storage room? Seriously, do you hide flowers from your “best friend” just to give them a surprise later?]

[This is pure flirtation!]

In the kitchen, Li Yue served the noodles into bowls and took out a flat pan and some molds.

[Hearts again.]

[Hahaha, Sister Wu brought chocolate and candy to give to Li Yue, not realizing that Li Yue was the one who bought them in the first place.]

[I’m being sweetened to death even through the screen.]

[Li Yue fried heart shaped eggs and even cut them into pieces for Luo Mingzi to make them easier to eat. This has to be a daily habit, right? Even my boyfriend doesn’t take care of me like this!]

[Just how “good” are your “good friends” exactly?]

[Luo Mingzi: The kind of “good” where I want to sleep in the same bed as Li Yue.]

The bullet comments were full of laughter. The entire show had transformed into a massive “sugar-hunting” session. When viewers saw Li Yue discover Luo Mingzi asleep in her bed, but instead of lying down, she went to Luo Mingzi’s room, they all sighed in disappointment.

[I gave you the chance, but you were useless!]

[What kind of bed is so small that two people can’t lie down and sleep together?]

[Is this bed unable to accommodate you?!]

In the real world, in the living room, Li Yue’s phone chimed. Luo Mingzi had seen the same comment and sent her a screenshot.

“I gave you the chance, but you were useless!”

Li Yue: “I’ve learned my lesson. Definitely next time.”

In the afternoon segment, everyone woke up, chopped wood, and picked vegetables. Luo Mingzi hummed a song while skipping toward the vegetable patch. Some of Li Yue’s fans noticed she was humming Li Yue’s new song. The previous interactions between the two during the song’s promotion were dug up back then, people thought Luo Mingzi was just helping promote a new singer from Huaguan, but no one expected these two to have such a “deep” and “intimate” relationship.

It was absolutely staggering!

On the screen, a shot of Li Yue and Luo Mingzi with their hands pressed together “praying” and sending “psychic energy” to the vegetable patch was screenshotted and turned into a meme. The edited caption read: “Blessing all my CPs to come true.”

“That’s right, we are real.”

the walk back from the vegetable patch was edited out. Instead, the scene showed the other three guests in the courtyard listening to Li Yue sing, providing a huge boost of promotion for her music.

[Listening to this lyrical song, my mind is still full of ‘An Owl Crossing a Great River.’]

[At this moment, the guests are still immersed in her gentle voice, but for us now, looking at clouds isn’t just clouds, and looking at Li isn’t just Li!]

[If this episode had aired a week earlier, I really would have believed Li Yue was just a gentle, white cloud.]

[Your ‘white cloud’ puts on an apron and starts stir-frying with a wok.]

Li Yue, who hadn’t started stir-frying yet but was wearing an apron, sat by the sink with Luo Mingzi. Li Yue rested her hands on her legs, watching Luo Mingzi wash vegetables. A tiny leaf was pressed into the water by Luo Mingzi, who scrubbed it up, down, left, and right.

[That’s the exact same motion she uses to scrub bowls!]

[Vegetable leaf: Ah! Help!!]

[Being washed is your destiny!]

Luo Mingzi was very serious, washing the leaves one by one. Her finger poked through a leaf, creating a hole. She let out an “Oops,” which only elicited a gentle laugh from Li Yue.

“You’re doing great, it’s very clean,” Li Yue said. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Luo Mingzi: “Hehe.”

[If I washed vegetables like that at home, my mom would smack my head off!]

[Two minutes! She spent two minutes washing that handful of greens!]

[Luo God! Don’t lose your sense of right and wrong! She’s rubbed those leaves into shredded ribbons!]

[Li Yue is blinded by beauty.]

[Vegetable leaf: I spent my whole life growing in the field, only to end up drowning!]

[Li Yue even knows to cut the eggs for Luo Mingzi in advance, how could she not know her vegetable-washing level? This, my friends, is love!]

[Understood! Pass it on: Li Yue doesn’t let Luo Mingzi do housework at home. The ‘wife doting’ persona is confirmed!]

Li Yue didn’t see the “apprenticeship” segment in the final cut. After washing the vegetables, she went into the kitchen to start cooking. The bullet comments were filled with praise for her, mixed with people asking for her recipes.

[Actually, Li Yue could have totally maintained a ‘ethereal/aloof’ persona. She just debuted and the public hasn’t memorized her traits yet, but she tore down her own persona herself.]

[People who rely on talent don’t need a fake persona. Besides, I think Li Yue is very authentic? Is being able to cook incompatible with being ethereal?]

[Li Yue’s persona is just ‘pure talent’!]

[And also Luo Mingzi’s girlfriend.]

[Hehe, yes, girlfriend!]

[I didn’t even know who Li Yue was before, but now I’ll remember her.]

Li Yue watched quietly without reacting, though she couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile when she saw the footage of Luo Mingzi lowering her head to eat from her bowl. She rested her face in her hand to watch only when the camera panned to her on-screen self did she realize her current posture in the real world was identical to the one on the screen.

“…”

She raised her hand, rubbed her face, and looked at her phone.

There were no new messages in the chat with the puppy avatar. Luo Mingzi was likely busy watching the show. However, Yu Bilan had sent several messages, all work-related. The airing of Late Countryside would bring a massive surge of popularity to Li Yue, meaning she was about to get very busy.

Thinking of this, Li Yue felt a bit disappointed. The original plan was for her and Luo Mingzi to be busy together, but now she was getting busy while Luo Mingzi suddenly had a lot of free time.

One can only say that plans never keep up with changes.

Li Yue lowered her eyelashes, tossed her phone aside, and leaned back into the sofa, staring up at the ceiling.

The floor standing air conditioner hummed, blowing out a cool breeze.

As the first half of the fifth episode of Late Countryside neared its end, the on-screen Li Yue sat under the porch with a guitar, singing “Late Countryside” in the evening breeze. Outside the window, the city at 10 PM was still brightly lit. The small TV screen separated two different worlds.

It made Li Yue feel a bit dazed.

Amidst the quiet singing, the screen automatically jumped to the preview for the next episode. Li Yue didn’t watch it, she heard her discarded phone vibrate a couple of times.

It wasn’t Luo Mingzi.

Li Yue lounged lazily for a moment before reaching out to drag the phone over. She clicked it open. Messages from Yu Bilan and Director Liu were stacked on top of each other.

Yu Bilan: AHHHHHHHH!!!!

Yu Bilan: AAAHHH! We’re gonna be rich!!

Li Yue: “?”

She clicked on Director Liu’s message: Teacher Li Yue, sorry to disturb you so late. Would you be interested in becoming a permanent guest on “Late Countryside”? There have been some changes here, and I, along with the rest of the production team, sincerely invite you to join us.

Li Yue: “??”

She glanced at the next episode playing on the TV, felt dazed for a split second, and immediately replied.

“Yes!”