Make Her Heart Flutter - Chapter 31

Jiang Qi grabbed a sheet of kitchen paper and dried her wet hands.

Those hands were slender and pale, with nails trimmed and polished to a smooth, rounded finish. Chi Shuang found herself blushing as she watched, turning away somewhat awkwardly and stretching. “If you’re done, let’s head upstairs early. I’m sleepy.”

Jiang Qi nodded, reminded of how she had overslept that morning, forcing Chi Shuang to make breakfast. A wave of guilt surged within her. “Then let’s hurry upstairs.”

Chi Shuang, already with one foot on the staircase, nodded without turning around.

Jiang Qi found it strange. After all, Chi Shuang was exceptionally polite, she always made eye contact when speaking to others. This nod without even a glance felt a bit odd.

Is she feeling unwell? Jiang Qi wondered, quickly catching up to Chi Shuang, stepping past her, and then turning to look at her.

Chi Shuang swiftly averted her face, but Jiang Qi cupped her cheeks and turned her back. “Why is it so red?”

At this, Chi Shuang’s face flushed even deeper. “Th-there are cameras.”

“There are no cameras upstairs.” Jiang Qi carefully scanned the surroundings and nodded firmly. “Yeah, none.”

Chi Shuang freed her face from Jiang Qi’s grasp and took a step back to create some distance.

Jiang Qi continued, “You’re not sick, are you?”

Chi Shuang shook her head. “No, of course not. I’m always healthy.”

Jiang Qi took another step closer, staring at Chi Shuang’s rosy cheeks. “Impossible, they’re so red. You shouldn’t hide an illness.”

“This…” Chi Shuang faltered. “It’s the heat. The weather’s so hot, and the kitchen is stuffy. You know how it is.”

Jiang Qi nodded as if enlightened, so that’s it, but something still felt off. Wasn’t the air conditioning on?

“But-”

“No buts. I’m tired.” Before Jiang Qi could finish her sentence, Chi Shuang dashed back to her room and shut the door.

Weird.

Muttering to herself, Jiang Qi also returned to her room to grab her clothes for a shower.

Perhaps because she had woken up late that day, Jiang Qi lay in bed with rare insomnia and decided to check her phone.

Weibo, which she had just installed that day, pushed a notification to her.

@PeachesAndPlumsSayNothing:

Let me share a brainwave.

A seemingly arrogant and aloof but inwardly dramatic loyal dog × a seemingly bright and cheerful but inwardly unhinged seductive cat.

Anyone into this dynamic?

I’ve been wanting to write this pairing for a while but never got around to it. After watching the variety show tonight (you all probably know which one), inspiration struck, so I decided to write a fanfic.

In the following 5,327 words, Jiang Qi witnessed the epic love story between herself and Chi Shuang.

And… the car.

Is that what it’s called?

Thus, she ended up with the same flushed face as Chi Shuang.

Seriously, are netizens on Weibo always this unrestrained?

She quickly scrolled down to the comments.

[JiangChiForever]: Can anyone relate? Just started shipping this pair and already get to enjoy such high-quality fanfic, I’m spiraling into ecstasy!

[OneSwordFrostFourteenRegions]: Used to be a solo fan, but Jiang Qi is genuinely good to our sister. Never been into shipping, but after reading this… well, JiangChi, here I come!

[Past and Present]: (Screaming) (Twisting) (Creeping in the darkness) (Crawling) (Writhing) (Squirming in the shadows) (Rolling) (Frantically scrambling)

Her left arm felt a bit numb, so Jiang Qi turned over and continued scrolling through her phone.

The comments that followed were more or less the same. She returned to her homepage and was instantly shocked by the flood of 99+ notifications.

Jiang Qi tried to scroll down, but the page wouldn’t budge. It took a full minute to refresh.

After half an afternoon and an entire evening of buzz, everyone had found Jiang Qi’s Weibo account and followed her.

She glanced at her follower count, it was already close to one million.

She blinked in astonishment. Were people really this enthusiastic?

Private messages and mentions were also countless. Jiang Qi, who had a bit of OCD, tapped away each little red notification dot one by one.

But as soon as she cleared them, new ones popped up, quickly piling up to 99+ again.

After several rounds of this, Jiang Qi gradually gave up and let it be.

Many people had sent her private messages, but remembering what Chi Shuang had said earlier that day, Jiang Qi didn’t bother reading them.

Following the trail, she quickly found the fan-created supertopic for her and Chi Shuang’s pairing. Though it had just been created that day, it was already bustling with activity, as lively as a close-knit family.

There were plenty of fanfics and photos.

Jiang Qi opened a high-resolution image and studied it several times.

Wasn’t this the look Chi Shuang gave when bandaging that child’s wound? How did it get transferred to me?

Wasn’t I just chopping vegetables here? Why does it look like I’m gazing down at Chi Shuang?

She swiped through the image repeatedly, impressively, there were no signs of editing.

The pictures left her puzzled, so she opened a fanfiction instead.

Jiang Qi was a fast reader, finishing a roughly 5,000-word fanfic in about six minutes.

This one was shorter, but after just a couple of glances, she quickly closed her phone, her heart pounding wildly.

Was this really something people could write about?

The previous story had focused more on the plot. If she weren’t one of the subjects, she might have exclaimed, “Jiang-Chi is real!” The most explicit part of that story was just kissing and embracing before rolling into bed and fading to black.

But this one… why did it describe everything in such detail?

Was she really that experienced? It was her first time, after all. And she didn’t have any sadistic tendencies, why would she tie someone to the bed and then…?

Jiang Qi couldn’t bear to keep reading. She turned off her phone, buried her face in the blanket, and felt her skin burning with embarrassment.

She lowered the air conditioning temperature a few degrees, closed her eyes, and tried to steady her breathing and calm her racing heart.

But her usually reliable memory now tormented her, not only did the fanfic replay in her mind, but vivid images accompanied it.

How could this be happening?

Should she go and report that article?

The thought crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. No, no… if it was written by one of their fans, wouldn’t that be too hurtful?

She mulled over many things that night and eventually drifted off to sleep without realizing when.

The next day, when she saw Chi Shuang, she still felt awkward.

A sudden thought struck Jiang Qi: Chi Shuang’s flushed cheeks last night, could it be that she had also read that fanfic?

But when she checked the posting time, it was after she had finished her shower. So probably not.

Then why… had Chi Shuang been blushing?

Jiang Qi found herself tangled in a new mystery.

During lunch, Tang Qiluo teased Jiang Qi, “Xiao Qi, how does it feel to become an overnight sensation?”

“Not bad.” Jiang Qi shook off the jumbled thoughts in her head, maintaining her usual aloof demeanor.

Her reaction sparked a mischievous idea in Tang Qiluo. “You know, after the show aired yesterday, a huge wave of fans started shipping you and Xiao Shuang. What do you think about that?”