Divorce Is An Absolute Must! - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Room

◎You pick. Go on, I dare you.◎

After Li Lan and Zhu Qing exchanged brief pleasantries with them, the cameras followed Qi Yao and his group to the living room to interact. Li Lan held back Zhu Qing, who was about to follow them. “Let’s go upstairs and take a look.”

Zhu Qing was confused. “Huh? Didn’t we spray insecticide in the room?”

Li Lan immediately changed her reason. “Then let’s go outside and look at fireflies.”

The word “fireflies” instantly caught Zhu Qing’s attention, and she happily followed Li Lan out the door.

Yu Ling glanced at them as they left. Zhu Qing noticed her expression, and before the follow-up producer could catch up, she whispered, “Is it really okay for us to just leave like this?”

Li Lan slowly walked forward with her arms crossed over her stomach, looking up at the moon. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“We should stay in the living room and talk to them, greet them, and welcome them. We could also introduce the house to them since we arrived early and have already explored it. We could share our experience.”

Li Lan put her hands on Zhu Qing’s shoulders and made her turn around and look up. “Look.”

A milky-white moon, as smooth as jade and perfectly white, hung in the sky above them.

“The moon is looking at us,” Li Lan said, stretching. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Zhu Qing was captivated by the moon, her eyes wide. This moon was completely different from the mottled and yellow moon in the city.

Li Lan stood shoulder to shoulder with her. The night wind in the mountains was cool. The two of them stood in the night wind, looking at the moon, and the scene was beautiful.

“It’s enough for us to just enjoy the scenery,” Li Lan said.

Zhu Qing looked up for a while, then turned her head to look at Li Lan, breaking the beautiful moment.

“Let’s go back,” Zhu Qing said pitifully.

Li Lan asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I think I got bitten by mosquitoes,” Zhu Qing said with a bitter look on her face. “I just saw a few mosquitoes fly off me.”

Li Lan was stunned. “Aren’t you wearing long sleeves and long pants?”

“It’s no use. The clothes only block the scent, so mosquitoes don’t notice the human. But once they notice you, they’ll bite you through the clothes,” Zhu Qing said, and she felt an itchiness coming on. She rubbed her arm. “Let’s go. I’m so itchy.”

The camera crew, who had just followed them out, saw Li Lan and Zhu Qing frantically rushing back.

Li Lan pulled Zhu Qing back to the room. The smell of the insecticide hadn’t completely dissipated, but that was a good thing because there were no mosquitoes. Li Lan said to the staff, “Hurry up and come in. I’m closing the door.”

The staff’s slow, dragging pace at the door instantly sped up.

Inside the room, Zhu Qing had already taken off her jacket and rolled up her pants. There were noticeable red welts on the outside of her upper arms, forearms, and shins. It was clear the bites were from very venomous insects.

In addition, Zhu Qing still had scrapes on her legs from the last time in the bathroom. Although they had almost healed thanks to Li Lan’s careful care of changing the dressing twice a day, they were still very obvious on Zhu Qing’s fair skin.

“Don’t scratch,” Li Lan grabbed Zhu Qing’s wrist. “I’ll go get some medicine.”

Zhu Qing was in a lot of pain and whimpered, “I never want to look at the moon again.”

Li Lan came over with the ointment, crouched down in front of Zhu Qing, and said in a low voice, “I didn’t think it through. Bugs are poisonous at night. You must spray bug repellent before going out. No, you should just not go out at night anymore.”

The ointment was something Qian Chu had bought beforehand. It was very effective at relieving the itchiness. Once Zhu Qing felt comfortable, she became her lively self again and lifted her leg. “It’s not your fault. I’m just a mosquito magnet. You didn’t get bitten at all.”

Zhu Qing was prone to mosquito bites. When she was a child, if she went out with other kids, she was always the one who got bitten.

She had such a good relationship with Qian Cancan that Zhu Qing once suspected it was because she attracted mosquitoes. When Qian Cancan was with other people, she would always get bitten, but when she was with Zhu Qing, she never got bitten.

“I have a special physique, you see,” Zhu Qing said with a little pride. “You didn’t get bitten when you went out with me, so you could say it’s all thanks to me.”

Li Lan wasn’t happy that she hadn’t been bitten by mosquitoes. She said with annoyance, “I wanted to take you to see fireflies. If we had gone, it would have been awful for you.”

If the mosquitoes were this venomous in the yard, they would probably have eaten Zhu Qing alive in the wilderness.

Zhu Qing blinked, pulled down her sleeves and pants, and smiled sweetly. “I’m actually very happy.”

Li Lan’s brows were furrowed, and she looked like she was facing a great enemy. Her eyes were still on Zhu Qing’s arms and legs. “Hmm?”

“You’re worried about me. If I had run out and gotten bitten all over, you would have scolded me. No, you’ve never been upset with me, so you would have been sad… right?” Zhu Qing originally wanted to comfort Li Lan, but when she said it out loud, she realized she didn’t know what Li Lan’s reaction would be.

The only two times she had made a mistake since losing her memory, she didn’t remember Li Lan’s reaction when she was drunk, but Li Lan had prepared delicious food to help her stomach the next day, so she probably hadn’t made Li Lan angry. The second time, she was embarrassed in front of her for wearing the wrong clothes and accidentally scraped her knee. Although it healed quickly, Li Lan still didn’t scold her. She just gave her medicine and took good care of her.

Li Lan looked at Zhu Qing speechlessly. “Do you see me as some kind of cruel and heartless person?”

Zhu Qing said with a smile, “Then just give me a smile.”

Li Lan really couldn’t bring herself to smile, but seeing Zhu Qing’s appearance, she reached out and touched her head, giving a faint smile. “Mm.”

Although she smiled, Li Lan’s mood remained low.

She was a person with extremely high standards for herself. The fact that she had taken Zhu Qing out and let her get bitten by mosquitoes might seem funny to outsiders, but it annoyed her a lot.

At that moment, they heard voices outside.

It was Qi Yao and Yu Ling’s turn to choose a room. The room Li Lan and Zhu Qing were in was next to the stairs, so they could hear the footsteps of the two of them going upstairs to check out the rooms.

Not long after, they heard Qi Yao excitedly walk down the stairs and say to Yu Ling, “I’ve checked them out. The two upstairs are pretty good. One of them is a gaming room with a super cool setup. I like that one.”

Yu Ling didn’t answer. A moment later, the two of them walked to the front of their room.

“Teacher Li, are you asleep?” Yu Ling knocked on the door.

Ten seconds later, Li Lan opened the door. “Not yet.”

Qi Yao was talking to Yu Ling about choosing a room, but she turned around and knocked on Li Lan’s door. Qi Yao followed behind her, and out of the camera’s sight, he rolled his eyes, a little impatient.

Yu Ling looked inside the room and said with a smile, “We’re choosing a room. We don’t know which one to pick yet. Did Teacher Li choose this room?”

Zhu Qing also came out and said on her own, “I chose it. I like the patio.”

Yu Ling glanced at her, then at Li Lan. Seeing that Li Lan didn’t intend to add anything, she smiled. “Oh really? It looks very nice.”

Qi Yao said, “You like this room?”

Yu Ling’s face stiffened, and then she forced a smile. “Someone already chose it.”

“You can always switch,” Qi Yao said casually. After saying that, he glanced inside the room again, and it seemed like he wasn’t very impressed. He said on his own, “Let’s just pick one upstairs. Did you hear what I said? There’s a gaming room upstairs.”

Yu Ling’s smile almost couldn’t hold up. “…Okay, let’s look around again.”

Qi Yao frowned. “What else is there to look at? There are only three rooms left. We could draw lots, but we still have to clean up the room, and it’s already so late.”

Yu Ling looked at Li Lan with a troubled expression, as if she wanted to say something but held back.

Li Lan had already turned around and said softly to Zhu Qing, “Go inside. There are mosquitoes outside. You just got bitten, so don’t get itchy again.”

Zhu Qing waved her hand. “It’s fine. I sprayed mosquito repellent.”

Yu Ling said in surprise, “There are mosquitoes? What should I do? I didn’t bring any insecticide.”

Zhu Qing was even more surprised than Yu Ling. “You didn’t bring any insecticide? Did your assistant and manager not make any plans for you? There are definitely a lot of mosquitoes in the mountains. Did the production crew bring any? I saw the director and his team spraying something just now. Why don’t you go and ask them?”

Yu Ling was silent for a few seconds and then smiled. “Then I’ll go and ask the production crew.”

Yu Ling didn’t say anything else and left with Qi Yao.

Later, they heard from the production crew that the two of them had still chosen a downstairs room.

Today’s filming was over. At night, they closed the door, and Li Lan covered the cameras and turned off the microphones. She walked to the bed.

There was a large bed and a wooden mat in the room. Zhu Qing had already washed up, changed into her pajamas, and was lying in bed. Li Lan’s eyes went from her to the wooden mat and stopped for two seconds before she walked over to it.

Zhu Qing turned over. She hadn’t slept well on the plane, and the bumpy ride had made her drowsy. When she heard Li Lan’s voice, she was about to tell her to go to sleep early, but then she saw Li Lan take a blanket and go to the wooden mat, intending to sleep separately from her. Her sleepiness instantly disappeared.

“Are you going to sleep there?” Zhu Qing sat up.

Li Lan told her to lie down. “Mm.”

Zhu Qing didn’t understand. The bed was so big that three people could sleep on it, so why would Li Lan go to the wooden mat? “You’re not sleeping with me?”

This time, Li Lan was silent for a long time. It was a while before she heard her voice from the other end of the room. “No.”

Zhu Qing lay back down in bed, feeling stuffy. She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t.

She didn’t know how to describe the feeling, as if in the last moment, the two of them were getting along well, but no one knew when this facade of peace would be shattered.

Li Lan wanted to sleep separately from her.

Why would a normal person sleep separately from another person?

There was only one possibility, which was that they weren’t close.

Even close friends wouldn’t mind sleeping on a large bed together in such difficult circumstances.

That’s right. Li Lan did mind.

Li Lan was deliberately keeping her distance from her. Everything in front of the camera was an act.

It was only now that Zhu Qing realized she was on a dating show.

Even though it was disguised as a travel show, it was essentially a dating show.

Li Lan needed a partner on screen, and Zhu Qing was the person who was cooperating with the act. At night, when the cameras were off, Li Lan didn’t need to pretend to be her partner anymore.

Zhu Qing turned over restlessly, feeling annoyed.

Maybe the sound of her turning over was too loud and lasted for too long. Half an hour later, Li Lan said, “Can’t sleep?”

Zhu Qing kicked her legs and said unhappily, “I can’t.”

Li Lan said softly, “Is it because you’re itchy?”

Zhu Qing pouted in the darkness. She thought, “You know what’s wrong.” But out loud, she said coldly, “I’m not itchy. I’m just annoyed.”

Li Lan stopped talking, and Zhu Qing didn’t provoke her anymore.

Zhu Qing wasn’t a child. This kind of thing wouldn’t really affect her. It just made her feel a little down and bothered, but not enough to cause a scene. She could only endure it silently.

Maybe Li Lan just liked the wooden mat?

Maybe Li Lan just wanted to be by the window?

Zhu Qing tossed and turned, thinking for a while, and finally managed to talk herself into a better mood. She initiated a conversation. “What do you think of Qi Yao and Yu Ling?”

Zhu Qing was talking about serious matters. Li Lan thought about it seriously and said in a low voice, “Young. In every way, they’re young.”

Zhu Qing turned her head, looked at Li Lan’s silhouette in the darkness, and said softly, “I’m also young.”

Li Lan seemed to let out a small laugh. “It’s different. You have a sense of propriety. You wouldn’t want the room upstairs.”

Zhu Qing felt pretty good inside, but she still said modestly, “If that’s all it takes to have propriety, then it’s too easy to have. There are still two other couples who haven’t arrived yet, a middle-aged pair of film emperor and empress, and an older pair of national first-class actors. There’s no rule about ‘whoever comes first gets to pick.’ Their reputations are all solid. Putting aside respecting the elderly and cherishing the young, just based on their seniority, they should be the ones to choose first.”

Li Lan nodded and then said suddenly, “Yu Ling knows that too.”

Zhu Qing thought of Yu Ling and said with emotion, “I like the way she looks. She’s so beautiful, like a white lotus coming out of the water. When she doesn’t smile, she has a very cool and distant vibe. That kind of face is the most attractive.”

Li Lan said coolly, “Looks aren’t always a reflection of the heart. Don’t be so quick to judge people.”

Zhu Qing said, “I know. She came to ask about our room today, didn’t she? She probably figured out why we chose this room, but she really didn’t like the one with the rooster. But thankfully, they still chose that room later. I wonder if Yu Ling reminded Qi Yao or if the production crew told them.”

Li Lan thought about it and said softly, “It’s possible. Both Qi Yao and Yu Ling have people who want to promote them. They won’t be allowed to make such a rookie mistake. This kind of footage won’t be easily cut.”

Zhu Qing was stunned and quickly said, “Then do you have someone to promote you? Will the footage of us acting silly be broadcast?”

A bad feeling crept into her heart.

Zhu Qing had known for a long time that the middle-aged and elderly couples were heavyweights. The current trend on the internet was to respect the elderly and cherish the young. As long as they didn’t cause too much trouble, the production crew would basically not use them as a stepping stone.

So, the young couple had someone to promote them, and the elderly and middle-aged couples had their own seniority to protect them. That left only her and Li Lan!

There was another moment of silence from Li Lan.

“I didn’t act silly.”

Zhu Qing said, “You’re still separating yourself from me. The more I think about it, the more I believe it. Otherwise, why would they only make you ride the ox cart? Are they going to play a prank on us tomorrow?”

Li Lan said with certainty, “No. Go to sleep.”

How could Zhu Qing sleep? She said in a low voice, “I’m going to be careful with what I say and do tomorrow. No, I’m going to be silent unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“You really don’t have to,” Li Lan said in a deep voice. “The production team won’t do that.”

Zhu Qing squirmed a little and wiggled half a meter towards Li Lan under the covers. “Why? You don’t have anyone to promote you.”

Li Lan sighed slightly. “Qi Yao and Yu Ling are signed with a company. I have my own studio. I don’t need anyone to promote me. My various jobs are all collaborations…”

This was a lot to say. It was already very late, and they had to get up early tomorrow to find food because the production team hadn’t provided them with any ingredients.

Li Lan stopped talking and said concisely, “In short, I have someone.”

Only then did Zhu Qing feel at ease and slowly wiggled back.

Soon, Zhu Qing was fast asleep. Her sleeping position was not good, and her slightly heavy breathing was clearly audible in the quiet night.

Li Lan, however, was wide awake, not feeling sleepy at all.

She remembered Zhu Qing’s description of Yu Ling’s appearance.

A white lotus coming out of the water.

A white lotus had both the sweetness of a flower and a high-class, distant feel. She had both, which gave her a contradictory attractiveness.

This feeling was somewhat familiar, stirring up many dusty old memories for Li Lan.