A Love Letter Written to You - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Leng Ying’s breathing was steady—she didn’t seem the least bit nervous despite Ji Yu being so close. She quickly bit off the biscuit stick, chewed, then picked up a new one from the box and brought it to Ji Yu’s lips.

Ji Yu: “……”

She could hear her own heartbeat thundering in her ears. Instinctively, she opened her mouth and took the biscuit, but didn’t move.

Leng Ying: “?”

Still biting the other end of the biscuit, Leng Ying leaned in a little.

Ji Yu snapped out of it and quickly crunched through the second biscuit.

She had overestimated herself…

Really overestimated herself!

By the latter half of the game, Ji Yu felt like her entire body had stiffened. Only one belief kept her mechanically going:
We have to win first place and pick the best room.

“—Ding! Leng Ying and Ji Yu completed the challenge in four minutes and three seconds,” announced the timekeeper as they stopped the clock.

“Unfortunately,” Director Pan turned toward Ren Meng’s side, “Ren Meng and Bo Xin haven’t finished yet. That means you’ll have to pick your room second.”

Ren Meng shrugged it off. “There are still two teams behind us. Second place is fine.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s fine? BX didn’t even take the biscuit from her. They didn’t get past the first stick.”
“Well, their dynamic has totally changed. They’ve been strangers longer than they were friends now.”
“…CP fans of RenMeng & XinXin are crying in the corner.”

Before the game began, the show had started its first livestream of the day, so the whole challenge had gone out live.

“Compared to them, Leng Ying’s team is just sugar overload”
“Agreed! Rare sighting of Teacher Ying with red ears!”
“I wish I could switch bodies with Autumn Sardine or Pan-Fried Bun to watch this live—rolling.gif“
“By the way, neither Ren Meng nor Leng Ying greeted each other… seems like all those trending rumors were definitely staged”
“u1s1, even Leng Ying’s true fans can tell the hype is totally one-sided”
“Looks like Ren Meng still hasn’t moved on from her ex. Trying to spark a reunion?”
“She should leave that agency first… as long as she’s with them, there’s no way they’ll get back together. That toxic company is doomed anyway!”
“Why does the livestream cut off after the room selection? Can’t we get a bit more?”
“Sis, check the leaderboard on the left of the screen. The top-ranked teams get an extra hour of livestream per day. The rest is scheduled by production.”
“PanPan, don’t edit anything. Just release the raw footage. Netizens will do the rest.”
“+10086”

At this moment, the livestream feed was showing Leng Ying and Ji Yu selecting their room.

The production team had provided four room photos, and they all looked pretty good.

But “pretty good” usually meant hidden traps.

Ji Yu hesitated for a while, unsure what to choose, and looked at Leng Ying:
“I’ve got terrible luck.”

Leng Ying replied, “Hmm… I’m not that lucky either.”

Director Pan said cheerfully,
“All four rooms have their own charm—prepared with care by the local villagers. No matter which one you pick, it’ll be a memorable experience~~”

Ji Yu thought it over a bit more and pointed to Room #2.
“This one looks like it’s near a mountain stream. Could be good for inspiration.”

They couldn’t see what the interior was like—this was all based on intuition. Leng Ying listened, compared a bit longer, then took Room #2’s card from Director Pan.
“Okay, we’ll go with this one.”

Director Pan held out the remaining three cards for Ren Meng and the Bun-Bun duo to pick. Ren Meng took Room #1, while Pan-Fried Bun and Autumn Sardine picked Room #4, leaving Room #3 for the last team who hadn’t arrived yet.

Autumn Sardine looked a little uneasy.
“Shouldn’t the other two teachers get to choose before us?”

Director Pan smiled,
“They’re in fourth place. That is last in the lineup.”

And with that, the first round of room selection ended.

Director Pan gave the signal to turn off the livestream equipment, then asked them all to hand in their phones. Once that was done, the variety show officially began. Each pair had to find their own assigned house, with one camera operator following them—no additional hints. As Pan put it,
“All the clues are in the pictures.”

The director team switched to “free-range” mode, and the three teams exchanged glances before splitting up without a word.

…

Leng Ying and Ji Yu took the path farthest to the left—Ji Yu’s suggestion.
“I think this path leads closer to the river.”

So they took the left path.

The camera operator followed behind, and Ji Yu finally realized something might be off… Some things just weren’t right to say with the camera rolling.

Fortunately, the house search went smoothly.

They easily found Room #2.

A tag with the show’s logo was hanging from the front door, and looking to the left matched the exact scenery from the photo. They were in the right place.

“We made it!” Ji Yu took a long look around, a little disappointed.
“It’s kinda… run-down.”

Leng Ying remained calm.
“It’s fine.”

She stepped inside first, checked the placement of all the installed cameras, set her suitcase down near the entrance, then went to inspect the bedroom. She came back and told Ji Yu,
“There are two beds.”

Ji Yu: “?”

She forgot all about feeling disappointed and rushed over to check for herself.

…It was true. Two beds.

Like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

Ji Yu walked out of the bedroom looking crestfallen and pitifully gazed at Leng Ying.
“Yingying… Teacher Ying… Big sis… I think…” she cleared her throat, “I think we can still share one bed?”

She said solemnly,
“I checked. Even the single ones are double beds.”

Leng Ying glanced at the red light blinking from a camera on the wall.
“Share one bed?”

Ji Yu tugged at her sleeve.
“Exactly! That’s it. I get scared sleeping alone.”

Leng Ying smiled.
“Didn’t seem scared at home.”

“Because back home, we always slept together,” Ji Yu said. “With our great Teacher Leng accompanying me, of course I’m not afraid. Think about it—I’ve been working hard all alone in a foreign country, and finally came back home, only to know just you!”

Leng Ying agreed, “Mm, emotionally and logically, I shouldn’t leave you behind.”

“Exactly!” Ji Yu said seriously. “Our Teacher Leng can’t be heartless!”

Leng Ying: “…”

Cameras couldn’t contain Ji Yu.

However…

When it came to her relationship with Ji Yu… Leng Ying actually hadn’t figured it out yet.

She changed the topic. “Let’s clean the house first, then rest for a bit. I guess the production team will send over a task list soon.”

Not denying was basically admitting. Ji Yu, full of energy now, responded, “Okay!”

She rushed to the bathroom. “I’ll wash the mop.”

Leng Ying: “…Mm.”

The two worked together and gave the house a quick cleaning. The refrigerator in the living room was functional and plugged in, though empty inside. The kitchen was well-equipped with utensils. Handmade crafts unique to Yacheng were hung around the house, giving it a warm and cozy vibe.

After tidying up, Leng Ying and Ji Yu decided to take a break.

They’d gotten up early, taken a flight, and then transferred to a long-distance bus—it was exhausting. Hard to keep going.

They turned off the microphones, and Leng Ying covered the camera inside the room. When she turned around, she saw Ji Yu staring at her.

Leng Ying: “Hm?”

What now?

Ji Yu whispered, “Ren Meng and Bo Xin… their relationship doesn’t seem too good?”

Qiandao Yu and Sheng Jian Bao were just regular folks—hard to judge. They’d only interacted for a few minutes, not enough to say much.

But Ren Meng was from the same industry. Bo Xin, though no longer in showbiz, used to be—so she was half a celebrity.

Leng Ying smoothed the bedsheet. “Mm…” She thought for a moment. “I’m not familiar with Ren Meng. We met because she bought one of my pieces through Sister Qun. I told you before—when I finally got my first sale.”

Ji Yu pouted, reluctantly saying, “I remember.”

Leng Ying smiled at her expression. “Mm… Although she was one of my earliest clients, it was purely work-related. Later on, her agency wanted to hype things up, and we grew more distant. I told Sister Qun a long time ago—I wouldn’t sell anything to her again.”

“I see!” Ji Yu now felt at ease. But she was still curious about Ren Meng and Bo Xin. Gossip was human nature—unavoidable. “What about her and Bo Xin?”

“Bo Xin’s been out of the industry for quite a while,” Leng Ying said. “Mm, I’m even less familiar with her—we’ve never met.”

Ji Yu propped her chin in her hand, thinking. “I just feel there’s something odd about them.”

“What’s odd?”

Ji Yu thought seriously for a while, and finally found a word: “Uh… that ex vibe?” She laughed right after. “Could they have really dated?”

Leng Ying was silent for a few seconds, then carefully replied, “I’m not sure. But if they really did, judging by how they are now, maybe staying friends is more suitable.”

Ji Yu: “…”

She’d said too much.

She shouldn’t have said that.

Ji Yu felt a bit regretful—if only spoken words could be retracted like unsent WeChat messages.

All she could do was agree, “Yeah.”

She didn’t dare disagree.

Otherwise, she’d feel a guilty sense of shame.

Leng Ying patted the pillow. “Let’s sleep. It’s been a long day.”

The conversation ended there.

A room for just the two of them. Microphones turned off. Cameras covered.

That conversation was something only they knew about.

Once they stepped out of that room, no one would know they had discussed Ren Meng and Bo Xin, or talked about the kind of love that exists between friends.

It was the room’s secret.

…

They slept until the evening. Leng Ying was the first to wake up.

The sunset outside painted the clouds with a warm golden hue. Glancing at the still-sleeping Ji Yu, Leng Ying quietly got up, stepped out, and received an envelope from the PD bearing the production team’s logo.

“Not surprising at all,” she muttered as she opened it.

Inside, it said they were to head to the village square to prepare tonight’s dinner.

Probably a mission?

Leng Ying guessed so and went back to the room to wake Ji Yu.

Waving the task envelope in front of Ji Yu’s sleepy face, she said, “Time to work.”

Ji Yu yawned, stumbled into the bathroom to wash her face, freshened herself up, then emerged smelling nice and leaned close to Leng Ying to peek at the mission. “What is it?”

“We’re going to the central square,” Leng Ying said. “It’s dinner time.”

Ji Yu huffed, “Dinner? If we have to play games first, it’ll be super late by the time we get to eat~”

Leng Ying asked, “Hungry?”

“I’m fine, really. I’m just worried you’ll be hungry.”

Leng Ying gave a faint smile. “When I’m rushing to finish a piece, I don’t eat or drink.”

“That’s not a good habit.” Ji Yu said seriously. “I came back this time just to supervise you and make sure you kick those bad habits.”