Why Did the Top Alpha Suddenly Stop Acting Out? - Chapter 24

In that moment, countless questions Yi Qian had long wanted to ask flashed through her mind. But perhaps unwilling to disrupt the relaxed atmosphere, she found herself inexplicably unable to voice them. Instead, she asked a question related to the show: “When we voted for roommates today, what did you draw?”

Ye Shuyi answered truthfully, “I drew a heart.”

Yi Qian’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly pressed, “Why?”

“Because you’re my artist.”

The blanket was lifted again.

Ye Shuyi’s thoughts swirled before she said, “Since you don’t want to share the same blanket, you can have this one. I’ll go back to my own bed.”

As she moved to get up, the person behind her grabbed her wrist and pulled her into an embrace, declaring matter-of-factly, “Since you’re so eager to share a blanket with me, I’ll indulge you. After all, this blanket was earned by you.”

A faint smile curled Ye Shuyi’s lips in the darkness, and she didn’t refute the claim.

Time passed indeterminably before Ye Shuyi slowly opened her eyes.

The night was deep, and snowflakes drifted outside.

Soft, even breaths sounded behind her ear. She called out softly, “Yi Qian, are you asleep?”

No response.

She called again, but still, no answer came.

Slowly, she turned to face Yi Qian, reaching out to trace the features hidden in the dark eyebrows, eyes, nose, cheeks, jawline, lips.

Three years since their breakup, how could she not have missed this face?

“You’re really asleep, right?” she murmured.

She gently pressed her lips against the slightly cool ones, about to pull away when the back of her head was suddenly held in place.

Her eyes widened in the darkness.

Yi Qian slowly opened her eyes, her gaze turbulent beneath the night’s veil though Ye Shuyi couldn’t quite discern it.

“Stealing a kiss isn’t very well-behaved,” Yi Qian murmured.

Before the words fully settled, Yi Qian captured those soft lips again, her movements urgent, as if she wanted to devour the person in her arms.

Her tongue traced the seam of Ye Shuyi’s lips before boldly slipping past, tangling with the retreating tongue.

Outside, the snow had ceased at some point. Ye Shuyi pushed against the relentless woman, breathing lightly as she whispered, “Enough.”

Yi Qian pulled her closer by the waist, her tone petulant. “You started it.”

Seeing Yi Qian lean in again, Ye Shuyi covered her mouth and mumbled, “But I didn’t mean for it to last so long.”

Noticing the flustered attempt to escape, Yi Qian quickly reeled her back in, soothing, “Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Let’s sleep.”

Like smoothing ruffled fur, she gently nuzzled her chin against Ye Shuyi’s hair.

The next morning, dawn stretched across half the sky in winding hues.

Inside the villa, the shared speakers blared a high-energy song with explosive vocals, the sound echoing through the entire house maddeningly catchy.

Cai Yunyoo bolted upright in bed, grabbing her hair in frustration. “Can this damn production team act human for once? Using my song as a wake-up call?”

Beside her, Long Xiaoqin stretched and smiled warmly. “You sing so well, Youyoo. Usually, I can’t understand rap lyrics, but yours, what’s it called? The enunciation is so clear? Anyway, I understood every word. Amazing.”

After saying that, she even hummed along: “With me here, nothing is possible.”

Cai Yunyoo tilted her head to look at her, a faint smile breaking through her previously irritated expression. Seeing the other’s sincere face, she scratched her head sheepishly: “Is that so.”

In the third-floor bedroom, Yi Qian frowned slightly before slowly opening her eyes. When she saw the person nestled in her arms, the corners of her lips curled up happily. Just like countless mornings when she’d been woken by annoying alarms, she rubbed her hands together, blew warm breath into her palms, then gently covered Ye Shuyi’s ears. Her voice still hoarse from sleep, she murmured: “Sleep a little longer, it’s still early.”

Ye Shuyi slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the person before her, she curved her lips into a smile, nuzzled into the warm hands covering her ears, and closed her eyes to sleep again. But moments later, her eyes flew open wide, filled with disbelief, and she directly reached up to pinch the other’s cheeks hard.

“Ouch.”

Yi Qian made a pained sound.

Ye Shuyi’s eyes widened slightly as she murmured: “This isn’t a dream.”

“Seems you’ve dreamed of me often?” Yi Qian didn’t mind being pinched, her voice even carrying a hint of amusement. “Last night wasn’t a dream either.”

At this reminder, images of their kiss from the previous night instantly flooded Ye Shuyi’s mind. Her gaze unconsciously dropped to the other’s lips before she broke free from the embrace and said coolly: “No.”

She got up and went to the bathroom.

When they both came downstairs to the living room one after another, they found the production crew setting up a breakfast stall in the open area near the staircase. Seeing them descend, the staff eagerly greeted: “Good morning ladies! Would you like some delicious breakfast? All our items are clearly priced, no scams here!”

Yi Qian scanned the price tags beneath each breakfast item:

Soy milk: ¥10

Fried dough stick: ¥10

Meat bun: ¥20

Vegetable bun: ¥10

She lifted her cold gaze to the staff member at the stall. Before she could speak, the staff member quickly said with strong survival instincts: “Teacher Yi, don’t look at me like that, I didn’t set these prices!”

Yi Qian’s eyes shifted to Director Lu sitting by the monitors: “I saw a bank at the community entrance. Why don’t you just rob it?”

Director Lu was momentarily confused about why she was being told to rob a bank, but after glancing at the breakfast prices and recalling last night’s events, she immediately understood. Undaunted, she quipped: “We can’t engage in illegal activities now, can we? So certain people should have been honest from the beginning then they wouldn’t be unable to afford breakfast. But darling, we do allow credit here.”

Yi Qian: “……”

Meanwhile, Cai Yunyoo, who had been talking with Long Xiaoqin in the living room, stood up and bounced over cheerfully: “Sister Yi, what would you like to eat? I’ll buy it for you.”

Having answered all questions truthfully the previous night except the one about weight (while Long Xiaoqin had answered all honestly), and having shared one blanket to save money, their team had ample funds remaining to afford these overpriced breakfast items.

Director Lu had just stood up in front of the monitor when Cai Yunyoo keenly sensed his movement and accurately guessed what he wanted to say. She shot him a death-ray glare: “Don’t you dare add or break rules on the spot, or don’t blame us for not following them either.”

Director Lu opened his mouth like a mute who’d bitten into bitter coptis, then could only close it and sit back down.

“Beautiful Sister Ye can take whatever she wants to eat too. Xiaoqin and I will cover it,” she said, blinking playfully at Long Xiaoqin who was watching her from behind.

Long Xiaoqin responded with a gentle smile.

Before the smile could fade from her lips, Cai Yunyoo noticed someone approaching. The corner of her mouth twitched impatiently, her gaze turning displeased as she snapped, “What? Coming to lecture me again about being immature on the show?”

Huang Xin patted her head with a faint smile, saying softly, “No, I came to buy another soy milk and to compliment you. You did and said everything perfectly.”

Cai Yunyoo froze for two seconds before slapping her hand away unceremoniously. “Don’t act for the cameras. Don’t ruin my breakfast appetite.”

Huang Xin shrugged slightly, appearing completely unbothered. As promised, she bought a soy milk and returned to her seat.

Turning back to see the two watching her with knowing smiles, Cai Yunyoo cleared her throat. “Aren’t you two having breakfast?”

Ye Shuyi took a soy milk and vegetable bun, handing her ten-yuan note to the staff. “Consider the extra money as borrowed by our team.”

Yi Qian took a soy milk and meat bun, nodding at Cai Yunyoo. “Thank you.”

The dining table was peaceful, guests strictly observing the “no talking while eating” rule. Behind the monitor, Director Lu frowned, contemplating how to stir up some excitement. But soon, the tranquility was shattered by a single sentence.

Yi Qian very naturally offered her half-eaten meat bun to Ye Shuyi: “Want to try mine?”

Hearing this, all guests at the table looked up.

Huang Xin: Yesterday they wouldn’t even sit together, today they’re sharing food? Did one night’s sleep work such magic? Pity I didn’t room with the kid, might’ve improved our relationship too.

He Tong: This change is so abrupt, wonder if there’s still chance to be Yi Qian’s agent.

Cai Yunyoo and Long Xiaoqin exchanged glances, their expressions simultaneously turning inscrutable. As devoted Yi-Ye shippers who’d stayed up late discussing their ship’s authenticity, they never expected front-row seats to such sweetness first thing in the morning.

Ye Shuyi scanned the variously reacting guests before pushing Yi Qian’s hand away coolly. “No need.”

Yi Qian frowned slightly but said nothing.

After breakfast, Director Lu eagerly produced last night’s blank whiteboard, now listing several jobs:

Amusement park mascot handing out flyers: 20 yuan/hour

Supermarket cashier: 15 yuan/hour (20 yuan if unrecognized by fans)

Factory assembly line worker: 18 yuan/hour

He Tong crossed his arms, frowning. “All hard labor? At such low rates? Are we here to be coolies?”

Cai Yunyoo seemed already accustomed to the production team’s eccentric antics and calmly brought up another matter: “Director, about using my song as the wake-up alarm this morning, any plans to pay me some usage fees or something?”

“Not happening, don’t even think about it. The higher your expectations, the longer you’ll hold a grudge against me. Heh.” Director Lu refused outright with a laugh. “We already had to pay for your album to play your song. That counts as usage fees in my book.”

Cai Yunyoo responded with a cold “Hmph.”

Yi Qian lifted her eyelids and gave Director Lu a cool glance. “Just tell us how we’re supposed to choose.”

Director Lu snapped his fingers. “First, the most important point the games and tasks later will be completed by you artists together with your agents, not roommates. After all, this is ‘The Symbiotic Relationship Between Me and My Agent,’ right?”

Hearing this, the four who’d been separated exchanged glances but remained silent.

“Our game is simple, it’s called the Compatibility Quiz. There are many questions about you all in here. You’ll draw them yourselves and have staff read them out. You’ll need to answer five questions total. Write your answers separately on whiteboards. The pair with the highest compatibility gets to choose their task first. We’ll start from the top floor, Yi Qian and Ye Shuyi, you’re up first.”

A staff member brought the box over. With perfect synchronization, both women reached for it simultaneously. Predictably, their hands collided at the opening. As if electrocuted, Ye Shuyi instantly withdrew her hand.

Director Lu announced through his megaphone: “Oho! This pair’s compatibility is already showing!”

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