Heartbeat - Chapter 14

Meanwhile, the livestream chat was flooding with comments:

Ahhh, Shen Xun served soup to Su Jianyue! She only served Su Jianyue!

Zhao Qifei’s eyes are practically popping out of his head! LOL! Too bad our Xunxun doesn’t like male Alphas.

Xiao Yueliang eats so heartily! She hasn’t changed a bit since she was a kid. Someone make a comparison pic of her eating now and when she was little—it’d be so cute!

Seriously, Su Jianyue eats a ton but still has such a great figure. Can she share her secret?

I want to know too! +1!

Su Jianyue was completely unaware that her eating habits were being discussed online. After finishing her meal, she turned to Shen Xun beside her and said, “I’m so full.”

“Finished eating? Let’s go for a walk,” Shen Xun suggested, noticing Su Jianyue had eaten quite a bit and wanting to prevent her from feeling too stuffed.

Zhao Qifei chimed in, “Great idea! Why don’t we all go for a walk together? Yu Lin, want to join us?”

Zhao Qifei noticed Yu Lin’s apparent desire to spend more time with Su Jianyue. He decided to invite Yu Lin along, though his primary motive was to get closer to Shen Xun. However, going alone would seem too obvious, so inviting another person made it seem more natural.

Yu Lin nodded slightly. “Alright, let’s all go for a walk together.”

Shen Xun’s expression remained neutral as she glanced coolly at Zhao Qifei, mentally adding him to her list of grievances. It’s all his fault for meddling and ruining my alone time with my sister.

The group headed out of the villa. The villa’s grounds were quite spacious, with a small garden in the back.

Su Jianyue stayed close to Shen Xun’s side. Shen Xun glanced at the little dog beside her and asked softly, “Are you hot?”

Su Jianyue shook her head, took Shen Xun’s wrist, and led her to a shady spot in the backyard. Pointing to a patch of flowers nearby, she said, “Sister, look! The villa’s little garden is so pretty. When we get back, I want to make one at home too.”

Shen Xun chuckled and nodded. “Sure, why not? Your backyard garden is empty anyway. With the pool in front, a little garden in the back would be perfect.”

“Mmm, what a pity! We had to turn in our phones. Otherwise, I’d take a picture to show Mom and Mommy,” Su Jianyue murmured, leaning close to Shen Xun.

“Don’t worry, we can take photos when we leave. The production team won’t really keep our phones,” Shen Xun said with a smile.

“Mmm.”

As the two discussed the flowers and plants in the backyard, Zhao Qifei found it difficult to join the conversation. Though he was a high school teacher, he came from an ordinary family. He still had hundreds of thousands of yuan left to pay on the mortgage for his eighty-square-meter apartment. Seeing Su Jianyue’s privileged background, he felt a pang of envy.

“I really envy Teacher Su. Having a backyard with flowers and plants… those of us who work for a living can only grow them in pots at home,” Zhao Qifei said with a smile, but his words carried an undercurrent of bitterness.

“It’s not a big deal,” Su Jianyue replied. “It’s mostly because my moms worked so hard when they were younger. That’s why my sister and I have such a good life now. I love them so much!” As she spoke, she winked at the camera and casually made a heart sign with her fingers.

The live stream’s chat instantly flooded with comments.

Ahhh, our baby is so cute!

Waaah, I’m so jealous of Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing! I want such an obedient and adorable little one too!

Our baby is so articulate! Mommy’s heart is melting.

Kisses, hugs, and piggyback rides! Our little moon is the cutest baby ever, and she’ll stay that way even when she grows up!

Has anyone else noticed how weird Zhao Qifei’s been acting? He’s giving off such a strange, passive-aggressive vibe.

Exactly! I thought Shen Xun and Su Jianyue were just going for a walk together, but he insisted on tagging along and even dragged Yu Lin with him.

Meanwhile, Zhao Qifei had expected Su Jianyue to get angry, or at the very least, to frown. Instead, she responded so smoothly that it made him look like the one who had spoken out of turn.

To maintain his image as a refined teacher, Zhao Qifei forced a smile.

Shen Xun shot Zhao Qifei a deep look before turning to Su Jianyue. “Let’s take the back path to the front yard and head back to the villa. We can check if the production team has any afternoon plans. If not, we can rest for a while.”

“Okay!” Su Jianyue nodded obediently. She always listened to her sister; whatever Sister said, she would do.

Shen Xun and Su Jianyue walked ahead toward the front yard. Yu Lin and Zhao Qifei trailed behind, unable to interject. Yu Lin didn’t mind; after all, there were still two weeks left. No need to rush.

Zhao Qifei pretended to be nonchalant and followed the others back to the villa.

Inside, the other guests were nearly finished with lunch.

Yang Rui surveyed the group and smiled. “You can now collect your phones from me. These devices will be your companions for the next two weeks. They’ve been specially configured with only a local network, meaning you can only communicate with each other and receive messages from me. You won’t be able to send messages outside the group, nor will the phones have internet access.”

“Ah? So we’ll be cut off from the internet for two weeks?” Chen Zhibin groaned. He’d been eager to check his online reviews, but now he’d be completely in the dark.

“Indeed, you’ll be offline for two weeks,” Yang Rui confirmed. “But these phones offer more than just limited communication. You’ll discover their full capabilities later.”

Yang Rui smiled and continued, “First, create your accounts and join the group I’ve set up. I’ll post all announcements there.”

As he spoke, Yang Rui displayed a QR code for everyone to scan and join the group.

After everyone had finished setting up their accounts and joining the group chat, Yang Rui continued, “Alright, everyone’s task now is to clean up the kitchen and dining area. Our cooks have already left, so starting this afternoon, you’ll all need to prepare your own meals. Once you’re done cleaning up, you can take a short break. We’ll reconvene in the living room at 3:00 PM sharp.”

Despite Yang Rui’s instructions, no one moved to leave. Zhao Qifei and Chen Zhibin were particularly eager to show off their capabilities.

Zhao Qifei stood up and said, “I’m used to doing chores myself. You guys go rest; I can handle the cleanup here alone.”

“How could I let you do it all by yourself, Zhao-ge? I’ll help you,” Chen Zhibin quickly offered.

“Why don’t we all pitch in? It’ll be faster that way,” Ren Peng suggested.

Shen Xun considered the idea but felt it was impractical. “We still have half a month left. If everyone swarms in at once, it’ll be chaotic and disorganized. How about we divide into two groups? Each day, five people will be responsible for cooking, washing dishes, and cleaning the kitchen and dining area, while the other five take over the next day. That way, everyone gets a break, and we won’t be short on hands.”

“Good idea! Ten people crammed in here would be too crowded,” Ren Peng agreed.

“Then I’ll go help,” Ren Peng said, standing up.

Mao Ning stood up as well. “Alright, I’ll go too.”

With four people now heading over, only one spot remained. Yet no one else moved.

Su Jianyue wanted to be with Shen Xun, and Shen Xun felt the same way. Moreover, Shen Xun had a poor impression of Zhao Qifei and wanted to avoid further interaction with him.

Yu Lin glanced at the remaining group and teased Zheng Tianming, “Teacher Zheng, all the guys are going to help out today. Aren’t you going?”

“Haha, I was planning to help you tomorrow,” Zheng Tianming replied. “As the saying goes, ‘Men and women working together makes the work lighter.'” He also didn’t want to join the group today; during the initial impression selection, he had chosen Yu Lin as his neighbor, and being in this group would limit his chances to spend time with her.

But as soon as Zheng Tianming finished speaking, the atmosphere turned icy. Everyone went back to their own tasks, ignoring his attempt at conversation.

Zheng Tianming scratched the back of his neck, his toes digging into the floor as if trying to build a castle.

It was Mao Ning, already helping in the dining hall, who finally called out, “Brother Zheng, come join us! Stop resisting!”

Zheng Tianming forced an awkward smile at the others before hurrying to the dining hall.