Make Her Heart Flutter - Chapter 29

“Just say what you want to say. If it’s about yesterday, there’s no need, it was my fault to begin with.”

Jiang Qi had things on her mind, so her tone was indifferent, her gaze drifting past the director toward the window behind him.

Sensing her distraction, the director didn’t press her to stay. “Still, I have to thank you this time. By the way, have you checked Weibo?”

Jiang Qi shook her head. She didn’t have a Weibo account.

Suppressing a laugh, the director cleared his throat. “You’ve gone viral.”

Jiang Qi wasn’t particularly bothered. Because of yesterday’s incident? Netizens’ memories were fleeting.

Besides, new things happened every day in the world. By the time she finished the show and returned, it would probably have sunk like a stone in the ocean, with no one discussing it anymore.

Just as Jiang Qi was about to leave, the director spoke up again, “Oh, the promotional photos are out today. Remember to repost them.”

Jiang Qi nodded and closed the door behind her as she stepped out of the studio.

The director: “…” I have a strong suspicion you think I’m annoying.

Once outside, Jiang Qi pulled out her phone. Weibo?

As she crossed the courtyard to head back, Yan Xu and Tang Qiluo waved at her from a distance. “Wait for us!”

After spending these past few days together, Jiang Qi genuinely considered them friends, otherwise, yesterday’s incident wouldn’t have happened.

“What were you up to?” Jiang Qi asked, surprisingly initiating the conversation for once.

The group chatted as they made their way back to the small courtyard shared by Chi Shuang and Jiang Qi. Jiang Qi slipped into the kitchen, finally remembering what she had forgotten.

She was supposed to make breakfast today.

Feeling a bit awkward, she rubbed her nose. “Um… what do you all want for lunch?”

“Anything’s fine. We’ll eat whatever’s available,” Tang Qiluo said indifferently.

Yan Xu nodded in agreement.

Jiang Qi worked quickly, preparing four dishes and a soup in about an hour. As she set the table, she casually asked, “By the way, who made breakfast?”

Yan Xu, who had helped tend the fire while Jiang Qi cooked, had been stuck in the hot kitchen for an hour, her forehead damp with sweat. Spotting some tissues on the table, she grabbed a couple. “This morning? It was Xiao Shuang.”

She knew it.

A sweet feeling warmed Jiang Qi’s heart, and a soft glow lit up her eyes.

“Where’s Chi Shuang?” Jiang Qi couldn’t help but ask.

Yan Xu thought for a moment, then glanced at her wristwatch. “She should be back soon. I think she went grocery shopping.”

With that, she looked toward Jiang Ran at the door. “Right? Xiao Shuang mentioned it to you earlier…”

In the morning, after everyone had finished breakfast, a message arrived in the show’s group chat.

Likely because of yesterday’s events, the production team decided to capitalize on the buzz and officially announce the show’s premiere.

“8 p.m.! We’ll watch it with the comments on!” Shang Chumu said cheerfully.

“Haha, we get to eat Sister Shuang’s marinated duck snacks again! Just thinking about it makes me drool,” Jiang Ran, the foodie, chimed in, her eyes crinkling with delight.

“Alright, alright, I’ll make sure you’re satisfied,” Chi Shuang patted her head helplessly.

With the premiere scheduled for that evening, the director had asked them to watch the first episode together, planning a small interactive segment as a treat for the fans.

But after agreeing, Chi Shuang checked the fridge and realized, “Sorry, Ranran, I didn’t buy any duck snacks in advance, and there aren’t any left in the fridge.”

Jiang Ran let out a disappointed “aww” but didn’t dwell on it. “Anything else is fine too. Sorry to trouble you, Sister Shuang.”

Chi Shuang nodded with a smile, “No trouble at all. You’re young, so it’s only right to take care of you.”

Though she said that, after some thought, Chi Shuang still decided to make a trip to the market to buy a few things.

“That’s how it was,” Jiang Ran said, repeating the story while shaking Jiang Qi’s arm. “Ahhh! Sister Chi is just too amazing! I love her so much.”

So, it turns out I’m not that special after all, Jiang Qi thought gloomily.

Outside the door, Tang Qiluo sneered coldly. I’ll just watch you dig your own grave in every possible way.

“The pot in the kitchen hasn’t been washed yet. Go wash it,” Jiang Qi said, pulling her hand back and motioning to Jiang Ran with her chin.

“Okay!” Still lost in her happiness, Jiang Ran didn’t mind at all and skipped off cheerfully.

Just then, an electric scooter pulled into the yard. After parking it steadily, Chi Shuang grabbed the things from the scooter and realized they were really heavy.

“Xiao Qi, come help me out. These things are a bit heavy,” she said, her hands already marked with red lines from the plastic bags.

Jiang Qi had already started over before Chi Shuang even called out, “Put them down. I’ll take care of it.”

With half the load off, Chi Shuang felt much lighter and flashed a sweet smile. “Thank you.”

“So much stuff? If I’d known, I would’ve gone with you,” Shang Chumu said, scratching his head. “It’s all because I was too busy having fun.”

Chi Shuang didn’t mind at all. “It’s fine going alone. Besides…”

Perhaps after enduring such a long period of darkness, these past few days had made Chi Shuang feel especially relaxed, and she spoke more casually.

Yan Xu and Tang Qiluo worked together to sort out the things Chi Shuang had bought and stuffed them into the upper and lower compartments of the fridge.

“Don’t put the duck parts away. I’m going to braise them this afternoon,” Chi Shuang instructed.

Tang Qiluo and Yan Xu replied from a distance, “Got it!”

“What else did you say?” Only Jiang Qi paid extra attention to Chi Shuang.

Chi Shuang looked up into her eyes and smiled at her. The height difference made it especially adorable. “Nothing much. I brought you a gift.”

With that, Jiang Qi felt something being slipped into her mouth, sweet and milky.

“Mmm~” Jiang Qi pulled out the stick to look at it. A milk-flavored lollipop.

Her heart swelled with sweetness again.

See, she is special.

“Come on, Ranran, open wide~” Chi Shuang’s voice called out again.

“Ah~~”

“Ooh~ It’s a lollipop!”

“And for the rest of you, I’ve left yours on the table!” Chi Shuang pulled out three more lollipops and placed them on the table.

Jiang Qi: “…”

In the afternoon, Jiang Ran hummed a tune while happily scrolling through her phone. Suddenly, she turned to Jiang Qi and asked, “Sister Jiang, have you reposted on Weibo yet? Let’s follow each other.”

Weibo? Only then did Jiang Qi remember she had downloaded the app that morning but hadn’t had time to register.

“Not yet,” Jiang Qi replied, pulling out her phone to register and log in. When it came to filling in her nickname, she paused for a moment and asked, “What nicknames did you all use?”

“Me?” Jiang Ran blinked and said in an exaggerated tone, “No way, Sister Jiang, you don’t have a Weibo account? Are you a caveman or something?”

Jiang Qi held back again and again but finally couldn’t resist uttering the first curse word of her life: “Get lost!”

Chi Shuang laughed heartily beside them. “You two are such a pair of bickering sweethearts. When the show airs, people are going to ship you two as a couple.”

No way! Jiang Qi thought to herself. Even if I were to be in a couple, it’d be with… with…

Jiang Qi shook her head, trying to clear away the strange thoughts swirling inside, then leaned against the doorframe and typed with one hand.

“Just stick with ‘Jiang Qi,’ then.”

“Nickname already taken?” Jiang Qi looked at Chi Shuang, her eyes carrying a hint of helplessness.

That gaze pierced straight into Chi Shuang’s heart. She walked over to Jiang Qi but averted her eyes. “Someone’s already registered that nickname. How about adding an English name?”

Jiang Qi nodded, thought for a moment, then slowly typed out “frost” before deleting it and changing it to “Jiang Qi.”

After confirming, the registration went through successfully.

Once that was done, Jiang Qi fiddled with her phone for a while and, with Chi Shuang’s guidance, managed to complete the repost without too much trouble.

A few minutes after the repost, there was hardly any reaction. After all, the combined fanbase of the other five participants exceeded hundreds of millions, and the number of reposts was countless. But Jiang Qi didn’t seem to mind.

Instead, Chi Shuang suddenly remembered something and warned her, “Don’t bother reading the comments. You’re not in the entertainment industry anyway. Some people just have issues, they use foul language.”

The program team had already released evidence about the sasaeng fan, and the Jiang Corporation had also fueled the fire a bit. It was clear who was in the wrong in yesterday’s incident.

But with high popularity came controversy, and there were always those who wanted to stand out from the crowd.

“Am I the only one who thinks this is too harsh on fans? Who would dare to be a fan of the entertainment industry if things keep going like this?”

“That girl didn’t look very old. Was it really necessary to go that far? What will she do now?”

“Shouldn’t public figures have some decency? Is flipping the bird in public really a good look?”

And so on…

Chi Shuang refused to repeat some of the other comments. But as soon as these remarks were posted, they were quickly refuted. By now, when Chi Shuang skimmed through the comments, the tone had improved significantly.

At the very least, the top comments were all along the lines of “Heartbroken for Yan Xu” and “That fierce sister and Chi Shuang are awesome.”

Jiang Qi nodded. “I’m not really good at using this stuff anyway.”

Jiang Ran poked her head out from the side. “I can teach you, Sister Jiang! Oh, and let’s follow each other!”

She hadn’t forgotten about this. Jiang Qi sighed helplessly and tossed her phone to Jiang Ran. “Go ahead and do it yourself.”

When she got her phone back, she noticed that her following list didn’t just include Jiang Ran, several other people had been added as well.