rsvt_09

Lu Shutong, having calmed down, headed back out.

Mu Qi started tidying up her things in the room. She took the two tarot books out of her canvas bag and set them on the nightstand, planning to read a little and learn a little each night, pairing perfectly with her foresight ability.

She could already picture her shop going viral across the country.

Just as she finished tidying, she heard a startled cry from outside.

It was Lu Shutong's voice.

Mu Qi and Su Zhizhi rushed out at the sound.

"Can't you watch where you're going!"

Soup had splashed all over Lu Shutong, the hem of her blue short-sleeve top and her jeans soaked through.

Yu Ran'er fumbled to grab some tissues and started dabbing at her clothes, but Lu Shutong dodged away, shooting her a sharp look, "I bet you did that on purpose." Then she stormed upstairs in a huff.

Cui Ran and Mu He, sitting on the sofa, both looked a little lost watching the scene unfold.

Su Zhizhi went upstairs after Lu Shutong. Yu Ran'er stood rooted in place, not knowing what to do. Luo Xiangxun went to grab the cleaning supplies and wiped up the mess on the floor.

Mu Qi walked over to the sofa and glanced at Mu He and Cui Ran, both of whom shook their heads.

They had no idea what had happened either.

Mu Qi: "......" Weren't they just sitting in the living room? How did they not even know what had gone on?

"Ran'er, come here." Seeing Yu Ran'er still standing there blankly, watching Luo Xiangxun mop the floor, Mu Qi called her over.

"Sister Mu Qi, I really didn't do it on purpose." Yu Ran'er's small face scrunched up with hurt as she sat down beside Mu Qi, "Sister Shutong is so fierce, she's had it out for me since earlier."

Cui Ran was pouring drinks and handed a cup to Mu Qi. Mu Qi took it and passed it along to Yu Ran'er.

Yu Ran'er accepted it, murmured a quiet thank-you, and took a small sip with her head down, looking rather well-behaved in the moment.

"Shutong's easy to get along with, there's no way she'd have it out for you, just go apologize to her later and it'll blow over." Mu Qi coaxed. It wasn't a good sign for things to turn unpleasant between everyone on the very first day, especially with a whole month of living together still ahead.

"Okay." Yu Ran'er nodded. Mu Qi thought the matter was settled and breathed an inward sigh of relief. But before she could even properly relax, Yu Ran'er added, "But it was her who started it, she was already being so fierce with me the moment I arrived."

"Uh..." Mu Qi was at a loss for words.

Yu Ran'er's definition of "fierce" apparently didn't match everyone else's.

Mu He chimed in from the side, "That's just how Shutong is, don't take it to heart."

Mu Qi shot him a glance.

He'd only met Lu Shutong a handful of times, and yet he was already so certain about declaring what her personality was like.

"Okay, Brother Mu He." Yu Ran'er said with a smile, "Of course I won't take it to heart, I'm very big-hearted about these things."

Yu Ran'er seemed to snap right back to full energy. She set her drink down on the table and darted off toward the kitchen, "Let me help, Brother Xiangxun."

The sudden burst of her saccharine, coquettish tone sent a chill of goosebumps up Mu Qi's arms. She rubbed at her arm, she'd never seen anyone switch moods that fast before.

Yu Ran'er should really consider going into acting down the line, she clearly had a talent for it.

"Here, have an iced cola, cool off a bit." Cui Ran poured her a fresh drink, "Don't worry, they're not little kids anymore."

Mu Qi took the cola, her hand accidentally brushing against his fingers, and she quickly pulled back, "Thanks..."

"I think I've seen you somewhere before."

"Me?" Mu Qi pointed at herself, "Having Best Actor Cui recognize me, that's truly an honor."

"No need to call me that, it feels too distant. Just call me Brother Ran. I'm probably the oldest one here."

Mu He studied Cui Ran's face carefully from the side, "But Brother Ran, just looking at your face, I would've guessed you were still in high school."

Mu Qi's mouth twitched.

Talk about shameless flattery.

Just from his face alone, anyone could tell Cui Ran was at least twenty-five or twenty-six.

If you're going to suck up to him, might as well just say he looks like he's still in elementary school.

Cui Ran was caught off guard by the sudden, over-the-top flattery, frozen in stunned silence for several seconds.

Made sense, really, a man pushing thirty being told he looked like a high schooler, hard to say whether that was a compliment or an insult.

"Brother Ran, why aren't you saying anything?" Mu He asked, noticing the two of them both giving him rather strange looks.

Mu Qi couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, "High schooler? That's hilarious."

"I'd say I'm still quite a ways off from being a high schooler." The moment Mu Qi's laughter rang out, Cui Ran, looking embarrassed, rubbed at his temple.

"Has Luo Xiangxun just been busy in the kitchen this whole time?" Mu Qi glanced toward the kitchen, where Yu Ran'er and Luo Xiangxun stood with their backs to everyone, chatting about something.

"Yeah, I think Xiangxun might actually be into Yu Ran'er." Mu He chewed on his straw, he was drinking a bottled cola, "Didn't we just help Yu Ran'er move her luggage? And then I heard she hadn't eaten yet, so he went downstairs."

Cui Ran added, "There were some noodles left over from before."

"I know, but he went straight down to heat up noodles and soup for them himself, what a genuinely good man, down-to-earth, a man of few words but never slacking on actually doing things, and he can cook too, oh my god..." Mu He clutched at his chest, looking swoony.

"Wow, so romantic." Mu Qi said.

"Huh?"

"Isn't that the next thing you were going to say?"

Mu He: "Well, not exactly... but anyway, are we really going to let Xiangxun do all the cooking from now on?"

"Of course not." Mu Qi swirled the ice in her cup, "Once everyone's gathered tonight, we'll start assigning tasks to each person."

Dinner would be handled by the production team, apparently they'd hired a well-known chef specifically to welcome the guests with a lavish meal. But starting tomorrow, they'd have to handle their own meals, though the production team would occasionally throw in some small perks.

Mu He sat down next to Mu Qi and asked her, "Mu Qi, how old are you?"

Mu Qi nearly spat out her cola, "What are you trying to pull?"

"You seem pretty young-looking, but the way you carry yourself is really mature, kind of like my sister. Are you actually older than you look, but with a baby face?"

Mu Qi gave him a look, "Can you read what's written in my eyes right now?"

"What?"

"Deep, profound exasperation."

But Mu He wasn't giving up that easily, "I'm genuinely curious, though."

"Come on, you've voiced characters for so many otome games, don't you know it's rude to ask a girl her age? Classmate Mu He."

"Fair enough." Mu He immediately shut his mouth.

"Though I'll admit the mature way I carry myself, that's just proof I'm a fine, upstanding adult." Mu Qi flicked her bangs back, "I happen to be Bailei Media's resident workaholic, excellent work ethic and all, you can go ask around if you don't believe me."

"What? Scummy Media?"

"Are you hard of hearing or something?" Mu Qi flung the pillow beside her at him, and Mu He caught it with a laugh.

Mu He reminded her a bit of those immature boys back in school who always liked to tease her, Mu Qi didn't dislike him, but he did wear her out a little.

"I take back what I just said, you're not mature at all," Mu He teased.

"I saw your Weibo." Cui Ran was scrolling on his phone and said to Mu Qi.

"What? Let me see." Mu He got up, and as he passed by Mu Qi, deliberately stepped on her foot. It was just a joke, not much force behind it, but it still left a black smudge on her white slipper.

Mu Qi hurled the pillow right back at Mu He, "Mu He!"

"You two really get along, huh." Cui Ran teased, picking the pillow up off the floor.

"That's just your imagination." Mu Qi slumped back on the sofa and downed the rest of her cola in one go.

Mu He glanced at Cui Ran's phone and started searching for Mu Qi on Weibo, "Whoa, Classmate Mu Qi. A million followers, not bad, not bad, though still not as many as me."

"Don't follow me, the show's still under confidentiality."

"Huh? Who said anything about following you?" Mu He stuck his tongue out at her, making a face.

Mu Qi's hand tightened around her glass cup, trembling slightly.

With that bratty attitude of his, he really did remind her of the troublemaker kid next door back home.

"You're a model too?"

Mu He scrolled through the ads she'd done.

"Makeup, clothing, product reviews. You've covered a lot of ground."

"Not as much ground as you," Mu Qi deflected.

Not that it mattered anyway, she wasn't planning to keep doing any of that once her contracts expired. She'd only ever done it to get a foothold in the entertainment circle in the first place, but now that she'd finally, against all odds, landed a real chance to break into that world, the memory of her sudden death in her past life suddenly resurfaced in her mind.

Nah, forget it, forget it.

Work could never matter more than her own life.

"What are you two talking about? Looks like you're having fun." Yu Ran'er carried the bowl of noodles over and set it on the dining table, glancing over at them.

"Guess what she does for a living." Mu He pointed at Mu Qi, winking at Yu Ran'er.

Yu Ran'er walked up to them and bent down, looking closely at Mu Qi.

Her sudden closeness left Mu Qi feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Let me guess..." It didn't take Yu Ran'er long at all, "Beauty blogger."

"Half right. Blogger, yes, but she does beauty, clothing, and product reviews, like home goods and skincare, plus she's a model too."

Mu Qi clapped her hands together and gave Mu He a thumbs up, "Thanks for the rundown."

"Want to know how I guessed? Because your eye makeup is done so well." Yu Ran'er lightly touched Mu Qi's eyelashes.

Mu Qi shifted her head back slightly, "I can teach you sometime, if you'd like, that's my area of expertise."

Luo Xiangxun came out of the kitchen, untying his apron and setting it on a dining chair.

"Oh, right, Brother Xiangxun." Seeing Luo Xiangxun come out, Yu Ran'er dug a piece of chocolate out of her bag and held it out to him, "Sorry to make you cook another bowl."

"It's fine." Luo Xiangxun accepted the chocolate and sat down on the sofa.

As he sat, Mu He patted his thigh, and Luo Xiangxun looked over at him.

He met Mu He's mischievous, grinning eyes.

His eyebrows twitched up and down, unclear what he was trying to convey.

Luo Xiangxun: "......" He glanced at Mu He, then down at the chocolate in his own hand, then held it out to him.

Mu He leaned away in distaste, "Why would I want your chocolate?"

Luo Xiangxun: "?"

Yu Ran'er glanced upstairs, suddenly remembering something, "Oh right, I need to bring the other bowl up to Brother Di Jing."

"No need, just wait for him to come down, he'll come down on his own once he's hungry." Cui Ran advised, "You go ahead and eat first."

A sound came from nearby, footsteps descending the stairs.

Di Jing came down slowly, hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie sweatpants. As he descended, he adjusted his collar, the whole motion unhurried and relaxed, an utterly ordinary gesture that somehow still managed to look effortlessly cool.

"What?"

Facing the sudden intense attention from downstairs, Di Jing asked.

"You're just too handsome, Brother Di Jing." Mu He blurted out, speaking his mind as always.

He pointed toward Yu Ran'er.

"Perfect timing, your junior labelmate was just about to head up to find you."

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