Dating My Drama Queen Girlfriend On A Slow-Paced Variety Show - Chapter 39

That night, Sima Mingzi’s eyes were fixed either on the table or the scenery, refusing to catch the eye of the person sitting opposite her for even a fraction of a second, as if looking over would trigger some cosmic explosion or horrific catastrophe.

Even so, after dinner concluded, Luo Mingzi couldn’t help but whisper, “I think we can exchange contact info now!”

Li Yue took a sip of water, pulled her phone from her pocket, and slid it across the table face down. However, she instantly regretted it. Just as she moved to take the phone back, Luo Mingzi’s hand impatiently pressed down on the top half of the device.

“Hehe,” she let out a happy giggle.

Li Yue’s gaze flickered. Her eyes swept from Luo Mingzi’s face toward the window as she crossed her arms and leaned back into her seat, remaining silent.

Picking up Li Yue’s phone, Luo Mingzi asked casually, “Password?”

“None,” Li Yue replied.

“Oh.”

The moment the screen lit up, it was flooded with endless spam messages and missed calls floating over the desktop: [Your parents are calling you, be a good girl and go down to accompany them…]

[Your parents are standing at the head of your bed at midnight, calling you to go on the final journey with them…]

The messages piled up in repetitive cycles, a bombardment meant to fray the nerves. Luo Mingzi had never seen such malicious words, the poisonous mockery felt like a cold wind, leaving her in a cold sweat.

From the corner of her eye, Li Yue watched Luo Mingzi’s face turn pale and curled her lip.

“Done?” she asked.

Luo Mingzi suddenly looked up, scanned the surroundings, and said, “Not yet. I feel like the air conditioning in the shop is a bit low.”

“Is it?” Li Yue said softly.

Luo Mingzi nodded quickly and lowered her head again to tap away at the phone. After a while, she looked up, pushed the phone back to Li Yue, and said with a smile, “Done!”

Li Yue didn’t look at the phone. She shoved it straight into her pocket and stood up.

“Are you leaving already?” Luo Mingzi scratched her cheek and whispered, “Do you want to go for a walk together?”

Li Yue didn’t think Luo Mingzi actually wanted to walk with her right now. She quirked the corner of her mouth, gave a cold smile as she turned away, and said, “I have class tomorrow morning.”

Sure enough, she heard Luo Mingzi’s elongated response: “Okay then…”

The two walked out one after the other. This time, Li Yue led the way. She hailed a taxi by the roadside and glanced back at Luo Mingzi. Luo Mingzi looked distracted, but upon making eye contact, she quickly forced a smile.

A very strained smile.

Li Yue opened the car door and signaled for her to get in.

Luo Mingzi slid into the car, taking the innermost seat. Realizing Li Yue wasn’t getting in, she asked in surprise, “Li Yue, aren’t you coming with me?”

The woman outside didn’t look back, silently closing the car door.

The driver in the front hit the gas and asked, “Where to?”

Luo Mingzi turned her head to look at Li Yue outside.

Amidst the colorful neon nightscape, the woman stood by the road with her head down, looking at her phone. She suddenly looked up. Not knowing if Li Yue could see her, Luo Mingzi waved, turned back, and gave the address with a smile.

Outside, Li Yue stared blankly at her phone screen, which had been wiped completely clean. In the inbox, there was only one unread message from a contact labeled “Luo Mingzi.”

[Li Yue, we’re friends now!]

Li Yue looked down, her fingers tapping. Finally, she typed just one word and hit send.

[Mm.]

“Thud.”

A suitcase bumped against the door, making a dull sound.

In the second floor room, Li Yue opened her eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment.

The wood colored beams held a pale green fan that spun slowly for decoration. It was warm in the crook of her arm, the heat of another person. The girl from her dreams was sleeping soundly beside her, her soft, dark curls scattered about, her eyes closed tight, casting long shadows of lashes on her cheeks.

Sleeping like this, she seemed no different from the youthful girl in her memories.

Li Yue curled her lips into a smile and reached out, grabbing her phone to check the time. It was already 3:00 PM.

The sounds of laughter and chatter drifted in from the small courtyard. It sounded like there was more than one new guest. Li Yue wanted to let Luo Mingzi keep sleeping and rose carefully. Having lost her heat source, Luo Mingzi frowned, opened her eyes a crack, and let out a dissatisfied hum.

“What’s wrong?” she mumbled.

“Nothing. Guests are here. I’m going down to help,” Li Yue said.

Luo Mingzi lay there for two seconds, then raised her hands to rub her face. “I’m awake. I’m coming too.”

Ten seconds later, the girl who claimed to be awake hadn’t moved an inch. Li Yue chuckled softly and headed downstairs in her slippers. She scanned the room, five or six suitcases sat in the living room, along with two young men and two young women. Pi Dajun was greeting them and looked up happily to introduce her: “This is our Li Yue.”

“Li Yue, these are the guests from the ‘No Staining of Wind and Moon’ cast: You Shiyi, Min Xueren, Pei Dongxin, and Li Xiao,” Pi Dajun introduced them one by one.

Li Yue walked over and said warmly, “Hello, everyone.”

The four guests looked surprised, though they quickly masked it. Li Yue had been trending lately, anyone who spent time online had likely seen news about her. However, everyone only knew she had appeared in ‘Late Village’ they didn’t know she had become a permanent member of the show.

A cute girl reached out and said with a giggle, “Hello, hello! My name is easy to remember, right? I’m Min Xueren, you can call me Little Snowman!”

Li Yue smiled and politely shook hands with all four of them.

“Where is Sister Xuezhen?” Li Yue asked Pi Dajun.

“Your mom is making tea,” Pi Dajun replied casually.

Li Yue gave everyone a smile and headed to the kitchen to help Wu Xuezhen. The four guests stepped back in unison to give her space, watching her leave without saying a word.

Pi Dajun laughed heartily and told everyone to sit down. “Don’t be shy, sit, everyone sit.”

The four guests sat down stiffly. Min Xueren rubbed her knees and said, “I really feel like I’m a guest at someone’s house.”

“Uncle Dajun, where’s Xiao Yang? I’m a fan of his group and wanted an autograph!”

Pi Dajun waved a hand and laughed. “Oh, You Yang is absent recently. He’s not in this episode. I can sign for you?”

“Hahaha, sure! I grew up watching your movies, Uncle Dajun!” Min Xueren said. She seemed very enthusiastic. Just then, Li Yue returned carrying a teapot.

The two guests sitting on the edge of the sofa immediately stood up. “We can do it ourselves.”

Wu Xuezhen, following behind Li Yue, joked, “It’s fine, let Da Li do it. She looks like she hasn’t fully woken up yet.”

Li Yue poured sour plum soup into the cups, saying unhurriedly, “No, I just slept until I was a bit dazed.”

“It’s rare to see you sleep so long,” Wu Xuezhen smiled. “Where’s Xiao Luo?”

Speak of the devil, after a long “rebooting” process, Xiao Luo drifted down from the second floor hallway like a deflated balloon. Her eyes were downcast as she slowly trudged down the stairs.

The four guests stood up again to greet Luo Mingzi.

“Oh… hello…” Luo Mingzi mumbled, then plopped herself right onto Li Yue, complaining, “Why didn’t you wait for me…”

Li Yue didn’t say anything. She poured a cup of ice-cold sour plum soup and pressed the cold glass against Luo Mingzi’s cheek. Luo Mingzi’s eyes instantly went wide. She was awake now. Murder! You’re trying to murder your dear girlfriend!

On the sofa, Min Xueren, feeling a bit ignored, let her eyes dart around and smiled. “Teacher Li and Teacher Luo have such a good relationship! I heard everyone online calls you the ‘Lychee CP’!”

Li Yue paused, then said softly, “That’s fine. Lychees are very sweet.”

Luo Mingzi giggled. “I kind of want to eat lychees now!”

“If you want them, buy them,” Pi Dajun said. “Tonight I’ll take you guys to the night market on my bike and see if they have any!”

“Night market vegetables aren’t fresh. I’ll go buy them tomorrow morning,” Li Yue said. “What are we eating tomorrow?”

Luo Mingzi: “Watch out, our family has no money left!”

“If we want to eat, we buy. A little bit won’t cost much,” Wu Xuezhen added.

The conversation quickly turned to tomorrow’s menu. Since tomorrow was the last day of filming, everyone wanted a feast!

As the four of them discussed animatedly, the new guests who lacked the same status and fame felt awkward interrupting and became even more constrained. Min Xueren pursed her lips and found a gap in the conversation. “Actually, I’m a loyal viewer of ‘Late Village’. I watched the last episode Li Yue was in. You both call Sister Xuezhen ‘Mom’ and Uncle Dajun ‘Dad,’ yet you’re a CP… As a ‘little cousin’ visiting from a distant relative’s side, I feel like the relationships are a bit messy!”

“Messy?” Luo Mingzi tapped her chin, glanced at Min Xueren, then fixed her gaze on Li Yue. “What do you think?”

Li Yue held the glass pitcher and said slowly, “It’s not messy. I’m the live-in daughter.”

Luo Mingzi’s eyes lit up. “That works!”

The room went silent for a beat before Wu Xuezhen slapped her hands together and burst into laughter.

“Fine, I agree to this. It’s settled!”