Why Did the Top Alpha Suddenly Stop Acting Out? - Chapter 29

“Hmm?” Yi Qian smiled, waving a hand in front of her face. “What do you think?”

Ye Shuyi glanced at her, quickly averting her gaze as she took a deep breath and feigned nonchalance. “I’m fine with anything.”

Yi Qian looked at Director Lu, her peach-blossom eyes curving into crescents as she chuckled. “We’re good to go.”

Her gaze then shifted to the two playing the game. Raising an eyebrow at Cai Yunyoo, who was watching her, she grinned. “Mind speeding up? I’m a bit impatient.”

Cai Yunyoo swallowed hard at the smile that didn’t reach Yi Qian’s eyes and nodded. “Sure.”

Clearing her throat dramatically, she suddenly let out a piercing scream before plunging her hand into the black box, frantically groping around inside.

The shriek echoed through every corner of the living room, lingering like an unbroken melody…

Huang Xin, sitting closest to her, winced and silently covered her ears.

Director Lu and the staff member beside him exchanged stunned glances at the monitor, both thinking the same thing: No wonder fans call her the Iron-Lung Princess her breath control is inhuman…

Moments later, Cai Yunyoo withdrew her hand, and the screaming stopped abruptly.

Patting her chest, she exhaled heavily. “That was terrifying.”

Everyone present: “…”

Director Lu rubbed his ears and picked up the megaphone. “So, Iron-Lung Princess, did you figure out what’s inside?”

Cai Yunyoo arched a brow and cut to the chase. “Just give me the answer.”

Director Lu gave an “OK” sign and counted down: “Your answer, please.”

Cai Yunyoo: “A medium-length wig mannequin head.”

Huang Xin: “Mannequin head.”

The two locked eyes, having given identical answers.

Director Lu played coy for a moment before raising the megaphone again. “You can come up and see for yourselves what’s really in the box.”

The pair strode forward calmly, exchanging smug smirks.

They’d gotten it right.

Director Lu: “Correct! Total time: 6 minutes and 8 seconds, 3 minutes faster than He Tong and Long Xiaoqin’s team. Currently in first place.” He then turned to the duo on the couch, his tone teasing, as if plotting mischief. “Your turn, Teacher Yi, Manager Ye.”

After the crew swapped out the black box, Director Lu lifted the megaphone again. “Ready, you two?”

Yi Qian stood first and walked toward the box.

Ye Shuyi watched her back for a moment, flexing her stiff fingers before following.

As they stood before the box, Yi Qian studied the woman beside her outwardly composed, but her hands trembled slightly at her sides.

Yi Qian lowered her head, a faint smirk tugging at her lips as she took one of Ye Shuyi’s hands and wrapped it around her own wrist. “Hold onto me like this. I’ll do the groping and identifying, then tell you the answer. We’ll respond together. Still scared?”

After a pause, she leaned in, whispering by her ear, “I haven’t forgotten how much you hate this game. But you looked pretty cute when you freaked out back then.”

Ye Shuyi stared back at her, expression unreadable.

Yi Qian maintained a gentle smile, like a mischievous adult teasing a child, and softly said, “Just stay behind me like you did back then, okay?”

Ye Shuyi: “…”

The first time she played this game was during her sophomore year at a freshman icebreaker event organized by the student club. Out of over sixty students, five were chosen to play a blind box guessing game and Ye Shuyi was lucky enough to be one of them.

During the game, the other four participants breezed through effortlessly, quickly completing their turns. Only Ye Shuyi hesitated, her hand lingering at the edge of the box, too afraid to touch what was inside.

Yi Qian walked over, patted her back, and negotiated with the underclassmen, “How about I take Ye Shuyi’s place? If you won’t spare her, I’ll be heartbroken.”

The crowd erupted in playful jeers, but soon chanted, “No way! Senior, have some pity on us single souls too!”

Yi Qian sighed helplessly and could only comfort Ye Shuyi with gentle pats. “Don’t be scared. There’s nothing too frightening in there.”

Ye Shuyi swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and nodded. Clutching the hem of Yi Qian’s clothes, she slowly lowered her hand into the box.

Time ticked by, but the students waited patiently, watching in silence as Ye Shuyi inched closer to the object inside.

A moment later, as soon as her fingers brushed against something, she yanked her hand out and immediately hid behind Yi Qian, gripping her arm. Though her expression feigned calm, her voice trembled pitifully, “It licked me…”

Yi Qian chuckled fondly, then raised an eyebrow at the amused underclassmen. “You wouldn’t be so cruel, would you?”

Their expressions were telling, but they eventually relented and let Yi Qian take over.

She had thought that would be her first and last time playing the game, yet here she was today.

“Uh!”

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off by the director’s megaphone. She looked up just as Director Lu raised it to his mouth, only for Yi Qian to interrupt before he could finish a single syllable.

“Shh…” Yi Qian pressed a finger to her lips, her smile curling slowly, though her pale eyes remained unreadable. “You never mentioned this rule earlier. Are you adding restrictions on the fly?”

“The rule-maker breaking the rules tsk, what a terrible precedent…”

She left the sentence hanging, her gaze sweeping over Director Lu with blatant disdain.

The director fumbled with his megaphone, lifting and lowering it in shock, as if he’d never encountered a guest who justified rule-breaking so shamelessly. Her audacity rivaled his own.

He had assumed some rules went without saying common sense, really. But Yi Qian had outplayed him at semantics, and now she held all the leverage.

For the sake of the show, Director Lu tried appealing to her better nature. “Yi-laoshi, we’re filming a variety show here! Surely we can negotiate?”

Yi Qian pretended to hesitate for a moment, feeling Ye Shuyi’s grip unconsciously tighten around her hand. She pressed her lips together to suppress a smile before turning to Director Lu, who was watching expectantly, and mercilessly declared, “Sorry, no.”

“Besides, as you said, this is a show recording. Let’s not take it too seriously, how about we both compromise and meet halfway?”

She raised an eyebrow at Director Lu.

Director Lu: “……”

Was this really meeting halfway? He felt like he’d already retreated to some forgotten corner of the world.

Taking a deep breath, Director Lu engraved this lesson in rules deep into his bones as he returned to his monitor. “Start the timer,” he ordered.

As the staff member pressed the stopwatch, Yi Qian calmly guided Ye Shuyi’s hand into the box.

Her fingertips brushed against something warm and soft inside. She lightened her touch, carefully feeling for details. When her fingers traced from the object’s body to its head and touched its ears, the little creature inside suddenly nipped at her fingertip. The unexpected bite made Yi Qian jerk her hand back slightly. She shook her head with a helpless chuckle.

Noticing her reaction, Ye Shuyi frowned and whispered, “Is it something scary?”

Yi Qian studied her for a long moment, her gaze distant as if reminiscing about something, then gently shook her head. “No, it’s adorable.”

“Then why…?” Ye Shuyi looked puzzled.

Yi Qian shrugged helplessly. “Just got a little nibble from the little guy.”

Leaning in, she whispered the answer into Ye Shuyi’s ear before turning to the director. “We’re ready to answer.”

Director Lu picked up his megaphone with zero enthusiasm. “Go ahead.”

“Kitten.”

They answered in unison.

Without waiting for confirmation, Yi Qian crossed her arms and made her demand: “We definitely had the fastest time, right? Then I won’t hold back my request is that Ye Shuyi and I wrap up for today. Right now. Immediately.”

“Sure, whatever, you’re the winner so you call the shots…!”

Director Lu had been nodding mechanically until the meaning of her words sank in. His eyes widened comically, his lips twitching between a smile and a grimace. “Teacher Yi, you’re joking, right?”

Yi Qian tilted her head, her smile unchanging. “Do I look like I’m joking?”

Before Director Lu could respond, she continued, “I think we’ve given you more than enough footage for today’s episode. So… good luck with editing.”

Turning to the other stunned guests in the living room, she addressed them like a host seeing off visitors: “Have fun, everyone.”

Then she took Ye Shuyi, who was also frozen in place by the wrist and led her toward the stairs. “Come on, let’s head back to our room.”

Once inside, Yi Qian immediately removed her microphone and double-checked that all cameras in the room were turned off. She approached Ye Shuyi, who still stood rooted to the spot, leaning in closer and closer until their breaths mingled.

Ye Shuyi leaned back, her voice unsteady. “What are you doing?”

Yi Qian didn’t say a word. Her arm circled the other’s waist as she reached to turn off the microphone, casually removing it in one smooth motion. Standing up straight, she dangled the device between them with effortless composure. “Just helping you take off the microphone,” she said.

Her gaze drifted to the deepening blush on the other’s earlobes. Reaching out, she gently pinched the flushed skin, teasing, “What did you think I wanted to do? Or  was there something you wanted me to do?”

“How about it? All the cameras are off now, no one would know.”

Ye Shuyi froze for two seconds before pushing her away, the corners of her eyes tinged pink as she glared with all the intimidation of a startled fawn. “Get lost. Stop messing around with me.” With that, she grabbed her pajamas from the closet and disappeared into the bathroom.

Watching the retreating figure, Yi Qian curled her lips like a triumphant hunter. She placed the microphone on the nearby table before heading to the closet. Rifling through her bag, she pulled out the script for their next film and settled on the edge of the bed to study it, a habit cultivated over years in the industry. A month before each project, she’d immerse herself in the script completely.

Her pen danced between her fingers, occasionally pausing to leave notes on the pages.

Time slipped by unnoticed until the spinning pen was plucked from her grasp.

Yi Qian looked up in confusion, her peach-blossom eyes brimming with tender affection yet overshadowed by an unfathomable melancholy like a lost deer wandering through an unfamiliar forest.

Ye Shuyi hesitated, averting her gaze. “It’s getting late. Finish your reading after washing up.”

The seated figure remained motionless, but Ye Shuyi could feel the weight of that stare lingering on her. With a glance, she took the script from Yi Qian’s hands, marking the page with the pen before placing both on the nightstand. Returning to her own bed, she picked up her tablet to resume her work.

From her periphery, she noticed Yi Qian still hadn’t moved. Only after a long pause did the other finally rise, gathering her clothes before entering the bathroom.

Ye Shuyi watched the closed bathroom door before looking away. Standing, she left the room without another word.

Support