Phoenix A has Gone Viral Across the Entire Internet! - Chapter 34

It was love. It was the love from the depths of Shen Nian’s heart.

The phoenix had always been stubborn, refusing to admit her feelings, which had caused Qi Wan to feel anxious and uncertain for a long time. In that period, her heart was a tangled web of love and resentment. She resented Shen Nian for not understanding, and she resented her for not being honest enough. But now, the returned memories served as the ultimate proof.

Thinking of this, Jiang Zhiwan tilted her head slightly and placed a light kiss on the phoenix’s shoulder. When she opened her eyes again, they were filled with a unique depth of affection and tenderness. She could not help but sigh softly, sounding like a mild reproach but more like a murmur to herself.

“How heartless you are. Yet, in the end, you still cannot hide your heart.”

Faced with the accusation of being heartless, Shen Nian did not actually want to accept it. After all, all things have feelings. Even the divine beast phoenix is part of all things, so how could she be an exception? Moreover, Qi Wan had no idea that there was a reason why she was like this.

As the last phoenix in the world, Shen Nian had been warned since childhood never to fall in love easily. If she were to die one day, the other person would be too pitiful. Therefore, Shen Nian had always been cautious, maintaining a distance from everyone around her. Only Qi Wan was an exception.

If Shen Nian took a step back, Qi Wan would take two steps forward. If Shen Nian turned and ran, Qi Wan would stay in place, silent and still, merely watching her with that dark, unreadable gaze for a long time until Shen Nian’s heart softened and she dejectedly approached again on her own. Shen Nian simply had no way to deal with her. It was like that in the past, it was like that now, and in the future, it would likely remain the same.

In fact, after hearing Qi Wan narrate the causes and consequences, the most prominent emotion in Shen Nian’s heart was heartache. The few words of the story did not show the full danger, but she knew well in her heart the weight of bowing at every one of the ninety-nine steps of the Heavenly Ladder and transforming into the ninety-nine tribulations of Heavenly Punishment. If one did not possess an extremely firm conviction, how could they endure such pain and torture?

Qi Wan had actually gone to such lengths for her. Clearly, Qi Wan had liked acting when she first entered the entertainment industry, but later, due to the Heavenly Punishment, she had difficulty moving and had to give it up. Why was she unwilling to tell the truth sooner?

Shen Nian suddenly felt her eyes grow sour, but she did not want the person beside her to notice. With a slight shift of her will, she transformed back into that beautiful ink-wash little bird. She did not fly far, only fluttering her wings to land on Jiang Zhiwan’s shoulder. Then, before the other woman could react, she quietly poked her head out. While stealing a light peck on the cheek, she silently shed tiny, sesame-sized tears.

Eventually, she could not contain her emotions and curled into a small ball of fluff to avoid the Omega’s searching gaze. Knowing she did not want to be seen, Jiang Zhiwan considerately did not press for the reason. She gently moved the soft ball of fluff to her lap and tenderly smoothed her feathers. The past was over. Now, she had finally triumphed over the last Heavenly Punishment and attained her heart’s desire. What was there left to regret?

Only, she seemed to have forgotten something.

At the filming site for the third episode of the dating show, Jiang Zhiwan silently observed the Omega beside her, who was wearing a pink V-neck top and a gray half-skirt. She remembered what she had temporarily forgotten. This was the so-called Qi Wan.

There were two surprise guests this time, one Alpha and one Omega: Ji Xicheng and Qi Wan. It was said there was originally only going to be Qi Wan, but somehow, two days before the broadcast, another name was suddenly added to the list. Others might not know, but Jiang Zhiwan and Shen Nian knew that Ji Xicheng had mostly come to join the fun. After all, based on their previous phone call, she seemed to know something about Qi Wan.

Years ago, Qi Wan had kept a bit of selfishness, intentionally setting the name of the “White Moonlight” that Shen Nian always pined for in the plot as a homophone of her own name. Aside from this hidden sentiment, Qi Wan did not write much about this character, as she only existed as a background figure. But now, in this small world where the creation had become real and the laws operated autonomously, even a character with such an unclear setting had become a living person of flesh and blood. Moreover, they more or less possessed their own autonomously generated memories.

Looking at Qi Wan’s appearance, her face was pretty, but she did not look like Jiang Zhiwan. Looking at Qi Wan’s aura, she was quite approachable, but entirely different from her. Jiang Zhiwan only took a couple of glances before withdrawing her gaze. No matter how she looked at it, the conclusion was that aside from gender and profession, the other woman had no similarities to her. However, she was not yet clear about what the memories of the past between Shen Nian and this woman, automatically supplemented by the world, would look like.

Thinking of a certain phoenix, Jiang Zhiwan turned her gaze slightly toward her again. Shen Nian was not looking at anyone; she was focused on fiddling with the props given to her by the program crew until Ji Xicheng interrupted her. She simply stopped what she was doing. She gave the other woman a casual glance and said, “What is it?”

Before speaking, Ji Xicheng did not forget to check the camera. Seeing it was not recording this way, she curled her lips. “How about it? Am I loyal enough? I was afraid you could not handle the pressure from Qi Wan, so I came specifically to accompany you.”

Shen Nian gave a light snort, pulled a face-changing mask over her face, and exposed her. “Forget it. Do not think I do not know; you clearly came for the popularity of this show.”

Seeing her attempt at trickery fail, Ji Xicheng did not feel embarrassed. She just shamelessly began to argue, “It is an incidental benefit, incidental.”

The theme of the last episode of the dating show revolved around promoting intangible cultural heritage. Activities like face-changing, lion dancing, and Tai Chi were very interesting to the phoenix when experienced firsthand. Shen Nian learned and applied it immediately. As she turned her head, she gave a quick tug, and a new mask was swapped out.

Ji Xicheng was stunned and could not help but let out a cry of admiration. “Your learning ability is strong! What is the principle behind this? If I had known, I would have listened carefully just now. It looks so cool.”

It was cool, and rightfully so; this was the result of her hard work just now. Shen Nian casually took off the prop and showed the mechanism inside. “Here, there are several thin strings. Whichever mask you want to change to, you just pull that string. It is a trick of the eye.”

After teaching her, Shen Nian wanted to stretch her shoulders. During this time, she inadvertently looked up and happened to meet Qi Wan’s eyes. The other woman reacted quickly, almost immediately returning a roll of her eyes.

Shen Nian felt it could be basically concluded that they did not have a close relationship. Moreover, judging by Qi Wan’s attitude just now, they might even have a grudge. Having witnessed this scene, Ji Xicheng was not surprised. Instead, she let out a sigh.

“Sigh, you see? I told you; this person holds a grudge.”

Seeing Shen Nian’s expression was a bit blank, as if she did not quite remember the reason, she deliberately lowered her voice to remind her. “Did you forget? You raised a puppy before. When it grew a bit larger and you did not like it much anymore, you wanted to give it away. Then I suggested someone to you.”

Shen Nian guessed, “You gave it to Qi Wan?”

Ji Xicheng nodded. “Exactly! How could you really forget?”

Shen Nian remained silent, lost in thought. What kind of puppy could be so destructive that Ji Xicheng’s words made it sound like the two of them owed Qi Wan a great debt? Wait! Shen Nian suddenly widened her eyes, her previous composure vanishing.

“It is not the kind I am thinking of, is it?”

Ji Xicheng appeared even less composed than she was. “Wow, you really do not remember the bad things you did to Qi Wan! Well, I cannot carry this alone. I truly consider you a friend, even going so far as to trick someone into adopting a Beagle.”

Unbeknownst to them, the two were so engrossed in their conversation that they did not notice the camera had already turned toward them. Furthermore, because Ji Xicheng was excited, she forgot to lower her voice, allowing everyone around to hear her clearly.

[I cannot do this; I am truly going to die of laughter. These two Alphas together have truly done every bad deed possible, hahahahahaha!]

[No wonder! No wonder I saw Qi Wan looking toward them since she appeared. I thought she was interested in one of them, but she was actually locking onto her enemies, hahahahaha!]

[I suddenly appreciate Qi Wan a bit. After all, Beagle owners are very generous. As long as you chat with them a bit more, they will immediately pack the Beagle up and give it to you.]

For a moment, the comment section was filled with laughter and enthusiastic topics like “Do you want a puppy?” or “I can pack it up and give you two hundred dollars too.”

After learning the truth, Shen Nian glanced toward Qi Wan and suddenly felt a chill all over, as if a thick layer of resentment were surrounding her. She instinctively moved closer to Jiang Zhiwan. Seeing the phoenix’s adorable reaction, Jiang Zhiwan could not help but chuckle. She quietly hooked the other’s finger behind everyone’s back as a simple gesture of comfort.

After all three episodes of the dating show were recorded, the guests had to make their final heartfelt choice. After spending so much time together, aside from the mutual selection of Shen Nian and Jiang Zhiwan being without suspense, it actually facilitated two other couples: Qin Yin and Yan Luoke found shared interests, while Zhou Zhou and Su Cai had complementary personalities.

The wrap-up result was a joy for everyone. The variety show’s ratings hit a new high, and a significant amount of money was injected into the foundation to help children in the mountainous areas with their schooling. Simultaneously, with the official release of Juqu, the box office was a massive success. The names of the two leads, Shen Nian and Jiang Zhiwan, became explosively popular in the entertainment industry.

Facing such achievements in their careers, Pei Qiyi was naturally in a great mood. She even rarely stopped exploiting their labor and gave them a long holiday. Shen Nian was naturally happy; Heaven knew how tired she was from working back-to-back.

However, holiday or not, to prevent Shen Nian from causing any trouble during this time, Pei Qiyi could not help but give a few instructions, insisting that Jiang Zhiwan must keep a close eye on her. Just as she finished her instructions and was about to let them go, she suddenly remembered another important matter.

“Oh, right, Shen Nian. The Matriarch is preparing to return to the country. Remember to be prepared.”

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