A Love Letter Written to You - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

 

Bo Xin opened the envelope, glanced at the card inside, and then put it back into the envelope without writing anything.

 

On the other side, Ji Yu had already taken the card back from Leng Ying, asked the production team for a pen, and began writing intently, determined to fill the blank card.

 

Leng Ying thought for a moment and also began writing on her card — she wrote a short piece of sheet music. After finishing, the two of them exchanged cards.

 

“No surprise at all from Teacher Ying’s group…”
“I want something spicy—can’t we switch partners? Can’t we?! Say something, Pan!!”
“Qiandao Yu and Sheng Jian Bao exchanged cards too.”
“Even if they didn’t, they wouldn’t really have anyone else to exchange with.”
“It’s fine. Looks like things aren’t going so well for Ren Meng’s group…”

 

Indeed, Leng Ying and Ji Yu were enjoying the drama on-site.

 

Bo Xin tucked her envelope and card into her pocket. “I’m abstaining.”

 

Ji Yu leaned back in her chair dramatically. “Whoa.”

 

Leng Ying laughed and whispered, “Didn’t you say before we came that you were going to act more aloof?”

 

“Nothing’s more delicious than drama.” Ji Yu was about to go on when she caught a glimpse of Ren Meng walking toward them. She immediately felt something was off and asked warily, “What’s she doing?”

 

“LMAO Ji General caught in the act of gossiping at home.”
“What did Ren Meng write on her card?! Where’s the camera angle?! Show us!!”
“Pan, you really don’t know how to run a live stream. Can’t even set up more camera angles for this kind of moment? I’m so disappointed!”

 

Ren Meng stopped in front of Leng Ying and placed the envelope with her card on the table. “I’m giving my friendship card to Leng Ying.”

 

“YES YES YES I LOVE THIS”
“So juicy. Love to watch this unfold.”

 

Leng Ying looked up and met her gaze calmly, giving a small nod but not taking the envelope. Ren Meng didn’t mind. She placed the envelope down and left.

 

Ji Yu’s expression dropped, her brows furrowing.

 

“Ji General—”
“Ji General wants to call the police.”
“: Hello, 911? Someone’s trying to steal my girl.”
“LOL”

 

Director Pan, looking quite pleased, clapped his hands. “Alright, everyone, that’s the end of today’s shoot. You can all head back to your rooms, get some rest, and recharge for tomorrow’s challenge.”

 

The livestream ended.

 

The main crew packed up and left, only the follow-cam operators remained. The atmosphere around the dinner table turned a little quiet. Qiandao Yu pulled Sheng Jian Bao up. “We’ll head back first. Teachers, have a good rest.”

 

Once they left, Bo Xin also stood up to leave, with Ren Meng following behind her.

 

Ji Yu tilted her head. “Shall we go too?”

 

Leng Ying agreed, and as she stood, she casually picked up the envelope Ren Meng had left on the table.

 

Ji Yu was shocked. “You’re taking it?!”

 

“Can’t just leave it lying around,” Leng Ying said. “I was always going to vote for you anyway.”

 

Ji Yu grumbled, “Fine…”

 

Under the moonlight, they returned to their room. The moment they got in, Ji Yu immediately asked, “What did she write on the card?”

 

Leng Ying handed her the card generously. There was nothing she wouldn’t show Ji Yu.

 

Ji Yu glanced down and frowned in confusion. “Isn’t this the title of your song?”

 

“It is,” Leng Ying nodded. “That was the first song she bought from me. It ended up being quite popular, brought me a lot of commissions later.”

 

Ji Yu sniffed. “I suppose that’s something to thank her for.”

 

But…

 

“But giving her friendship card to you? No sense of boundaries at all!”

 

Leng Ying smiled, playfully teasing, “If I were friends with her instead, would you try to be the third wheel?”

 

Ji Yu: “?”

 

“Hesitating even a second is disrespectful to me,” Ji Yu said, a bit annoyed. “Ying Ying, how can you even suggest that!”

 

“Because there’s no such thing as ‘what if’ in this world,” Leng Ying replied with a soft smile, putting Ren Meng’s card away and tapping Ji Yu on the head with the envelope. “It’s a clean relationship—just business.”

 

Ji Yu said firmly, “Of course I trust you.”

 

“She only wrote the song title after Bo Xin said she was abstaining,” Leng Ying added with a quiet laugh. “So I wasn’t her first… second… whatever choice. I don’t care. Can’t compare to us, right?”

 

“Obviously!” Ji Yu nodded hard. Leng Ying couldn’t help it — she reached out and tousled Ji Yu’s bright golden ponytail. “Alright, I’m going to shower.”

 

As Leng Ying went into the bathroom, Ji Yu sorted the leftover food they’d brought back and organized it neatly into the fridge. Then she spotted the envelope Leng Ying had casually left on the counter. With a little snort, she stuffed it under a potted plant.

 

Out of sight, out of mind √

 

When Leng Ying came out of the bathroom and saw the envelope had mysteriously vanished from the table, she didn’t say a word.

 

Seeing that Leng Ying had no comment, Ji Yu was delighted and skipped off to take her own shower.

 

…

 

The next day, they were rudely awakened bright and early.

 

At 7 AM, the show’s alarm blared like thunder.

 

Ji Yu was yawning, being half-dragged by Leng Ying to the central plaza.

 

There, the crew had carefully prepared breakfast.

 

But… you had to complete a task to get any?

 

Director Pan tried to sound reassuring. “Today’s breakfast game is really simple. I’ll say a word, and everyone has to draw it. Whoever draws it the best gets to choose their breakfast first.”

 

The breakfast was laid out on a table to the side — only enough for four people.

 

Leng Ying: “Team battle?”

 

Director Pan smiled cheerfully: “Individual battle.”

 

Ji Yu leaned closer to Leng Ying and whispered, “It’s okay, I’ll pick the biggest portion later and share it with you.”

 

Leng Ying: “……”

 

“My drawing skills aren’t too bad, right?” Ji Yu said.

 

Leng Ying gave a reassuring pat on her shoulder and looked around at the other guests and crew. “But our Teacher Ji is even better at drawing than me.”

 

Qiandao Yu asked excitedly, “Did Teacher Ji study art?”

 

“No,” Ji Yu denied. “But my current work is somewhat related — I do some illustration.”

 

“I see!” Qiandao Yu said seriously, “There’s no mercy when it comes to breakfast, Teacher Ji. I’m a professional art student~ You better be ready!”

 

Ji Yu raised an eyebrow. “Bring it on.”

 

Director Pan smiled mysteriously and had the crew hand out the drawing boards. “Alright, I’ll give the prompts now. You’ll each have 30 seconds to draw.”

 

Qiandao Yu was shocked. “Thirty seconds?! That’s just doodling!”

 

Director Pan chuckled, “Exactly. Breakfast gets cold if we wait too long, and we don’t want you to go hungry. It’s a quick game!”

 

Qiandao Yu sighed, “I’m doomed. I suck at doodles.”

 

“Here’s the first prompt: The village chief’s little black cat.”

 

Ren Meng: “What?”

 

Director Pan signaled the crew to start the timer. “The village chief’s little black cat. Maybe some of you saw it around the village yesterday.”

 

Sheng Jian Bao grumbled, “Can I just draw a black cat…”

 

Director Pan didn’t reply — he just called time when the countdown hit zero.

 

All six of them flipped their drawing boards for Director Pan to judge.

 

A crew member came over holding high-resolution, 360-degree reference photos of the actual black cat for comparison.

 

Bo Xin questioned, “Director, since this cat is real, shouldn’t it be the judge?”

 

Qiandao Yu agreed, “Exactly! Bring the cat over, let it choose the four winners. Saves everyone time!”

 

Director Pan: “Alright, alright. Bring in our new judge.”

 

A crew member went off with a tray of fragrant crispy dried fish.

 

A few minutes later, the little black cat was carried over in her arms, laying obediently in her arms, then lazily jumped down to inspect the six masterpieces laid out before it.

 

Director Pan waved the fish in front of the cat. “Pick four drawings, and you’ll get some yummy fish~~”

 

Leng Ying was looking at Ji Yu’s drawing. Ji Yu had kept it very simple — just a black outline filled in — but the black cat looked lively and agile on the page. She’d even added a background — the shape of a rooftop.

 

Leng Ying smiled, “That’s right. We did see the little black cat there yesterday.”

 

Indeed, they’d been lucky to spot it once in the village — the cat had strutted proudly along a rooftop, patrolling its territory, unaware of the two women watching below.

 

But now it noticed.

 

The black cat left its first paw print on Ji Yu’s drawing.

 

Then it padded over and stamped prints on the drawings of Qiandao Yu, Bo Xin, and Sheng Jian Bao.

 

Seeing this, Ji Yu manually added a paw print to Leng Ying’s drawing.

 

The black cat, still nearby, tilted its head and came over to press another paw print next to Ji Yu’s fake one.

 

Director Pan coughed. “That’s the fifth one — doesn’t count, okay?”

 

Ji Yu didn’t care. She immediately asked Director Pan for an extra bowl.

 

Director Pan: “That’s not really appropriate…”

 

“What’s inappropriate about it?” Ji Yu said, completely confident. “I just like eating from more bowls. Worst case, I’ll wash them myself.”

 

“Exactly,” Qiandao Yu chimed in. “I want a few extra sets of utensils too.”

 

In the end, all six of them shared the breakfast that was originally prepared for four.

 

The portions the production team had prepared were generous anyway — more than enough.

 

After breakfast, Director Pan brought out a large spinning wheel divided into four equal parts. “Today, you’ll be focusing on learning traditional village crafts. We’ve contacted four local experts, each representing a different type of handicraft. Your teams will choose your activity using this wheel!”

 

Bo Xin asked, “Do we just spin it?”

 

“No no no—” Director Pan gestured for the crew to bring over some darts. “You’ll be throwing darts! Each team sends one person to throw. Whichever craft you hit, that’s your project.”

 

“In order of arrival…” Leng Ying recalled their walk to the breakfast area and said to Ji Yu, “We were the first ones here.”

 

Ji Yu rolled up her sleeves, eager. “Let me do it!”

 

Leng Ying smiled warmly. “Of course you should.”

 

Ji Yu asked, “Which of the four crafts would you most like to do?”

 

Off to the side, Qiandao Yu teased, “Wait, Teacher Ji — are you saying whatever craft Leng Ying wants, you’re going to hit that one?”

 

Qiandao Yu still felt awkward calling their names directly — it felt weird to say “sister” or “miss” considering their ages. There was an odd intuition behind it…

 

Ji Yu looked at her with approval and lifted her chin. “Of course!”

 

Leng Ying smiled and explained, “Teacher Ji is actually pretty good at darts.”

 

“I trained overseas,” Ji Yu added. Then she asked Leng Ying again, “Which one do you want?”

 

Honestly, Leng Ying was fine with any of them. But she knew that “anything” wasn’t the answer Ji Yu wanted to hear. After thinking a moment, she picked the one that looked the most appealing: “Bamboo weaving.”

 

“Great!”

 

Ji Yu was full of energy. She grabbed a dart, stepped behind the white line marked by the crew, timed her throw—and let the dart fly!