@SweetOrangeTV: Tonight at 8:00 PM in the Sweet Melon livestream room #XuShuyanLinYiLivestream# The “Pear Blossom Simmered in Snow” duo is here! Get your high school stories ready, and you might get picked!
“Looking forward to The Notes’ one and only visual and main vocal! Physical album pre-orders surpassed one hundred million! New song’s listening index hit three hundred percent within twenty-four hours! The up-and-coming actress, Lin Yi!”
“Looking forward to The Notes’ powerhouse rapper! Solo magazine sales in a league of their own! The youngest mentor on a talent show! The ceiling for female idols in domestic entertainment! A talented singer-songwriter! The new-generation actress, Xu Shuyan!”
“I don’t know what to say, but seeing all the achievements our moms have listed makes me feel like Yan Zhi You Yi is a match made in heaven!”
“Get lost!”
…
The livestream had been scheduled long ago, and the production team’s promotional staff had already gone over the rundown with Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi. They had specifically rented a room near the company and decorated it to look like a high school classroom. There were two desks piled with textbooks, and the blackboard in the background was decorated with a unique design.
Lin Yi wore a school uniform jacket, its long sleeves hiding her hands. Her ponytail was tied high, and under a thin fringe of bangs, her pretty, clean face was revealed. She looked fresh and bright, like a campus goddess stepping out from the sound of summer cicadas.
Xu Shuyan, on the other hand, had rolled up the cuffs of her uniform, revealing slender, pale wrists adorned with a red string. Her long, curly hair was left down, floating in the air. Standing to Lin Yi’s left, her queenly aura was on full display.
After the final set of promotional photos was taken and they had recorded a promotional VCR for Shen Mandong’s upcoming movie, Lin Yi and Xu Shuyan finally got a chance to rest.
“There’s still half an hour until the livestream starts.” An assistant handed them two cups of coffee. “Do you want to go back to the dressing room?”
Lin Yi waved her hand. “No need. We can just sit here and get used to the environment.”
Xu Shuyan took a sip of coffee and frowned. “Bitter.”
Lin Yi naturally tore open a sugar packet and handed it to her. “I forgot to tell them you wanted extra sugar. Add some, but don’t make it too sweet, or you might get pimples.”
“I know.” Xu Shuyan subconsciously wanted to pinch Lin Yi’s cheek, but she quickly retracted her hand when she saw the camera recording behind-the-scenes footage. She cleared her throat to cover it up and said, “Want to get hot pot after the livestream?”
Lin Yi’s eyes widened slightly. “Hot pot? Are you sure you can handle it?”
Xu Shuyan was displeased. “What’s wrong with that? Don’t look down on me, Lin Yi! I’ve been to… uh, you even took me to that old, established place, and I couldn’t handle it. You think I’d be scared of S City’s hot pot?”
Lin Yi smiled. “Alright, then let’s get the nine-square grid!”
Xu Shuyan: “…Let’s just get the yin-yang pot.”
Lin Yi: “Oh?”
Xu Shuyan: “I mainly want to drink some soup.”
She even nodded as she spoke. “Don’t you like tomato soup?”
Lin Yi played along. “I do.”
Xu Shuyan let out a quiet sigh of relief. “See? Isn’t that perfect?”
“You’re so good at being difficult, Yanyan.” Lin Yi rested her head on the desk, half her face buried in her arms. She looked up, her big eyes blinking, a teasing smile hidden within them. “After all that, aren’t you just scared of the spice?”
In that instant, Xu Shuyan suddenly had an illusion, as if she had returned to her high school days, and Lin Yi was her deskmate.
The surroundings were so noisy—staff members making final preparations for the livestream, fans flooding the chat with comments, and two assistants whispering beside them.
But the small space that belonged only to them felt completely separate.
It was as if they were enclosed in a giant bubble, all the clamor sealed outside. Her world contained only the Lin Yi before her—the clean, pretty Lin Yi with her hair in a ponytail.
She even thought she heard the school bell ring, as if in the next second, Lin Yi would grab her hand and they would sprint to the snack shop, ending up squatting by the cafeteria entrance eating popsicles, watching their classmates run freely on the sports field, sweating under the sweltering summer sun of their youth.
…What a shame.
Xu Shuyan’s fingers tightened around her coffee cup. It was such a shame, she thought. She and Lin Yi had met so early, yet they had still missed out on each other’s high school years. And although they were in the same department and dorm in college, their schedules meant they had very little time to enjoy university life.
“Xu Shuyan?” Seeing her dazed, Lin Yi waved a hand in front of her eyes. “Are you mad? Okay, my bad. We’ll get the yin-yang pot, alright? I like drinking—”
Before she could finish, Xu Shuyan grabbed her hand.
Xu Shuyan’s unfocused gaze gradually sharpened, landing on their joined hands, which were being faithfully recorded by the camera. She slowly lowered their hands and then asked Lin Yi, “You like drinking it too?”
Lin Yi hummed in agreement.
Xu Shuyan looked at her for a moment, then suddenly lowered her head and fiddled with her phone. Lin Yi’s phone, in her pocket, vibrated. She looked at Xu Shuyan quizzically. Xu Shuyan lifted her chin slightly, confirming she was the one who sent it.
Sending messages when they were face-to-face? It must be something that couldn’t be said on camera.
Wife (mine): You love me so much, baby.
Wife (mine): 【SmugSmile.jpg】
Lin Yi: “…”
She knew it! It really couldn’t be broadcast!
Lin Yi replied: Yeah, I love you so much.
Then she turned the tables: So how are you going to repay me?
And continued with her conditions: How about you shower me with compliments for two minutes straight during the livestream later?
Wife (mine): I can do five minutes.
Lin Yi: …I’m afraid your fans will tear me to shreds.
Wife (mine): They will wish us well ^^
Lin Yi: Seriously, what were you spacing out about just now?
Wife (mine): Thinking about some regrets. That we couldn’t be together in high school, like Le Li and Ruan Tang.
Lin Yi: I actually had a dream about that before.
Lin Yi told Xu Shuyan about the dream where they had grown up together. She felt a small sense of relief in her heart. Perhaps it was the telepathy between lovers, but she was happy that Xu Shuyan shared the same regret.
They would cherish the present even more, to make up for the time they hadn’t spent together.
Ten minutes before the livestream, the makeup artists did a final touch-up, ensuring they would look their best. Diagonally across from their desks, a large screen outside the camera’s view showed the livestream room, which was not yet live. Waiting fans had already flooded the screen with comments.
[Aaaah! Has it started? Has it started? I’m ready! Ready for the duo livestream!]
[Shipping Yan Zhi You Yi is such a blessing!]
[Back when Yan Zhi You Yi had their Schrödinger’s BE, I cried my eyes out every day, thinking this little couple was destined for separate paths and would never get back together. Who would have thought, after such a short time, they’d give me another duo livestream.]
[Who’s staying up all night, looping “Not Lovers” and crying over someone else’s love story? It’s me, this little fool.]
[Heh, for all we know, Yan Zhi You Yi were probably sleeping soundly in each other’s arms at that time…]
[Ahhhh it’s starting! Oh my god! I feel like I’m back in high school, everyone! Why didn’t I have such pretty classmates in high school? Sob sob sob, my daughter! My beautiful daughter!]
[What daughter? Wife! Sob sob sob, wife!]
[??? Who are you calling wife? Her wife is sitting right next to her!]
[Can’t I join in [poking fingers together shyly]]
“Hello, everyone!” Xu Shuyan waved at the camera with a smile. “I’m Xu Shuyan from The Notes.”
“Hello everyone~” Lin Yi sat up straight, her arms crossed on the desk. She raised one hand like a model student and introduced herself formally, “I’m Lin Yi from The Notes!”
After their introductions, there was a moment of silence.
Lin Yi and Xu Shuyan looked at each other and simultaneously broke into laughter. Lin Yi said, “Why are you looking at me? It’s your line. Go on.”
[Xu Shuyan! Please let me see your face!]
[Yeah! Why are you looking at her! Do you need to look at your wife to feel confident!]
[Xu Shuyan: I can’t live without my wife anyway.]
“Fine. My line.” Xu Shuyan turned back good-naturedly. “Today’s livestream is to chat with everyone, to talk about the hit drama Sweet Orange. You’ve all seen it, right?”
She looked at the comments and nodded. “Xiao Yi and I play a pair of high school cou…” The word “couple” was about to slip out, but she caught it at the last second, swallowed it back, and replaced it with: “Good friends.”
Comments: ???
Couple! You were going to say couple, weren’t you!
“In the drama, I melted Yanyan’s icy heart with love as warm as a spring breeze,” Lin Yi said earnestly. “Are you still in touch with your high school friends? If you have any touching stories, you can send them to us through private messages. We’ll pick the ten most moving ones and send out gifts!”
[What good friends! Do you think I haven’t seen the drama? You’re clearly a young couple in love!]
[‘Love as warm as a spring breeze’! It was clearly a secret, unspoken crush. Lin Yi, don’t tell me you’ve been secretly in love with Xu Shuyan all this time and still haven’t confessed? Be bolder! The pretty older sister is yours!]
[That’s not right. Based on the battles between their moms, it was Xu Shuyan who had a crush on Lin Yi.]
[Stop fighting, stop fighting. Listen to me, Yan Zhi You Yi is passionately in love right now. All the evidence is at @YanZhiYouYiLoveBot. Feel free to debunk it. If you can’t, then just admit Yan Zhi You Yi is real!]
[Whoa! Xu Shuyan is singing! It sounds so good! What song is this?]
[The Whale Who Became a Lonely Island]
[I can’t believe I’ve never heard this song Lin Yi is singing. Why does it have the same tune as the one Xu Shuyan sang?]
The song Xu Shuyan sang during the livestream was one she and Lin Yi had chosen together. The one Lin Yi chose was its companion song, titled Nightingale. It shared the same melody but had different lyrics, with every line responding to the song about the lonely whale. It was a small, meaningful gesture, a subtle way to tell the audience that Le Li and Ruan Tang were a couple.
[…I found the song Lin Yi sang. It’s actually the CP song for The Whale Who Became a Lonely Island. Even a song has a CP now, everyone! Who’s feeling emotional?]
[My god, what a romantic response!]
“I love your shoulders / Love the scars on your back / Love how you tremble when I kiss them…” As Lin Yi sang with emotion, she turned to look at Xu Shuyan. “My eight years of spring and autumn have been sung to their end / It’s hard to stay and admire this endless sky with you…”
[You are the whale who became a lonely island, and I am the nightingale flying in the boundless sky. I have seen so many, many sights, and finally, I rest on your back in the vast ocean. I sing for you, sing of all the sights you have never seen, sing of all the feelings we have never experienced. This tiny, lonely boat on your back is my entire universe.]
[The lonely whale and the nightingale, they’re so romantic and perfect for each other, sob sob sob.]
After the two songs, the livestream was nearing its end. A staff member off-camera held up a sign, reminding them to play one more game before finishing. The game was in a box to their left.
They had already gone over this part of the rundown. Lin Yi naturally picked up the box and said, “Singing was a bit tiring. How about we play a game to rest a bit?”
Xu Shuyan asked, “What game?”
Lin Yi pushed the box toward her. “You draw one. Whatever you pick, we’ll play.”
Xu Shuyan narrowed her eyes. “There aren’t any tricks, are there?”
“Can’t you have a little faith in me?” Lin Yi put her hands on her hips. “Do I look like someone who would play tricks? Besides, remember to download the national anti-fraud app!”
Xu Shuyan gave her a thumbs-up.
Then, she drew a glass marble from the box. Inside the marble was a small slip of paper. Xu Shuyan didn’t dare to look. She unfolded the paper, facing it toward Lin Yi, and said, “Go on, read it out loud for the camera.”
Lin Yi glanced at it. “Tell an embarrassing story from high school.”
She rubbed her hands together excitedly, cupped one hand to her ear in a listening gesture, and said, “Come on, come on, Xu Shuyan. Tell everyone.”
Xu Shuyan gave her a helpless look and asked the audience, “Do you all really want to hear it?”
Comments: Yes!
Xu Shuyan looked even more helpless. “This will ruin my image.”
Comments: We love you no matter what!
“You love me no matter what?” Xu Shuyan glanced sideways at Lin Yi, questioning slowly, “Really?”
[Who are you asking? Xu Shuyan, I’m asking you, who are you asking!]
[I really do! Lin Yi doesn’t love you! Don’t look at her!]
[What embarrassing side of you hasn’t your wife seen? She already loves you to death, you think she’s afraid of a little embarrassing story?]
“Alright,” Xu Shuyan said. “I’ll tell it, then. You’ve definitely never heard this one. Xiao Yi was there for this too—” Xu Shuyan looked at Lin Yi, who was mouthing, What story? You’re dead if you expose me. She lowered her head and smiled. “It was when I ran away from home in high school…”
Lin Yi breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, that story?”
Xu Shuyan retorted, “Which one did you think it was?”
Lin Yi was speechless.
She wasn’t close with Xu Shuyan in high school and didn’t have many memories with her. But it was possible Xu Shuyan had unilaterally interacted with her and done something embarrassing without her knowledge. If she revealed it now, who could Lin Yi complain to?
“Go on,” Lin Yi urged her. “Hurry up, the fans are getting impatient.”
[…Is this an embarrassing story? Or is this the story of how she met her wife? Wow, Xu Shuyan knew how to fool people at such a young age? She actually tricked Lin Yi into thinking she had started training at the company early!]
[What do you mean, tricked? Lin Yi misunderstood on her own, okay?]
[Such a cute meeting, such a cute couple, such a fated beginning!]
That night, #XuShuyanTrickedLinYi#, #XuShuyanLinYiLonelyWhaleNightingale#, and #XuShuyanLinYiDuoLivestream# all trended on the hot search list one after another. Although the two were currently top-tier in popularity, their fanbases had a poor reputation with the general public. Many rival fans came to the trending topics to mock them, only to be crushed by the combined forces of their individual fans and CP fans. It was a lively scene of reporting trolls, blacklisting haters, and promoting their idols.
Meanwhile, Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi’s hot pot dinner for two had turned into a four-person meal at the dorm.
Zhou Shichen and Yan Qi had both arrived in S City.
“Not exactly at the same time,” Yan Qi said, dropping a beef ball into the spicy side of the pot. “Shichen’s flight landed at 8:20 PM, no delays. Mine arrived at 9:30. She waited for me at the airport for an hour.”
Zhou Shichen tied on an apron and shrugged. “It was only an hour.”
Yan Qi said, “A lot can be done in an hour.”
Zhou Shichen readily agreed with that. “That’s why I spent the time in the VIP lounge watching all the CP videos I’d saved up. I even read a fanfic.”
Lin Yi’s expression darkened. “It wasn’t about me and Xu Shuyan, was it?”
“No, no,” Zhou Shichen waved her hand. “I’ve been shipping a CP from the girl group Pink lately. The main vocal and the main dancer. Two cute, sweet girls. They’re so healing together!”
Xu Shuyan looked at her with disdain. “Your loyalty changes so fast, doesn’t it?”
“You don’t understand me!” Zhou Shichen bit her chopsticks, indignant. “This is called buying multiple properties. As long as I move fast enough, my houses will never collapse.”
Yan Qi said, “I understand.”
She explained to Lin Yi and Xu Shuyan, “The opposite of a sunk cost is cutting your losses in time.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?” Xu Shuyan put a piece of shrimp paste in Lin Yi’s bowl. “Just invest in Yan Zhi You Yi. I guarantee your house will never collapse.”
Zhou Shichen muttered, “But I need some novelty, too.”
Lin Yi sighed. “What a heartless shipping machine!”
Zhou Shichen took it as a compliment. “Hee hee.” She then looked at Yan Qi. “That sunk cost thing you mentioned, can you explain it to me in detail?”
“When we get back to the room, if you’re interested, you can use my account to listen,” Yan Qi said. “First, let’s talk about the group variety show the day after tomorrow.”
This year’s season of The Notes’ group variety show, Girls’ Wonderland, had started with Yan Qi and would end with Lin Yi. Each member got two episodes, for a total of ten. It had started airing irregularly in mid-October, and Zhou Shichen’s episodes had just finished broadcasting.
Lin Yi had watched that episode. She saw the beautiful long shots and close-ups when they were watching the sunrise, heard the wishes they made, and saw the look in Xu Shuyan’s eyes as she watched Lin Yi looking at Chen Yuan.
Fans had edited that clip, and it looked like a poster for a movie.
Although there were still four episodes left to air, the year was almost over. The company had discussed with the platform to fix a regular broadcast schedule and air the remaining episodes all at once. Therefore, they had to rush to finish filming the final episode before the end of the year.
“What’s there to talk about?” Lin Yi poured a glass of cola. “Your episodes were all planned without the other members knowing. I have to give you a surprise. Don’t even think about getting anything out of me.”
Yan Qi pursed her lips. “Then at least tell me, is there anything beyond my capabilities?”
Her inexperience with children last time was all caught on camera, but she could still redeem herself on another variety show. If she was faced with something else she couldn’t do this time, her schedule for the first half of next year was already full. She wouldn’t even have time to prove herself.
Lin Yi promised, “Absolutely not. It’s just some normal games.”
Zhou Shichen let out a sound of dismay. “I thought it would be normal. But now that you’ve said that, I have a bad feeling. Tell me, are we in S City?”
“We’re right here in S City!” Lin Yi held up three fingers. “Trust me, it’s the last episode. I’m not going to take you on an adventure to a deserted island!”
Yan Qi: “…”
Was that a stray bullet?
Lin Yi: “And of course I won’t take you on a road trip through the great northwest!”
Zhou Shichen: “…”
An arrow to the knee.
Lin Yi: “And I definitely won’t make you take care of a baby!”
Xu Shuyan: “…”
Why was she throwing shade at her own family when she got ruthless?
She shot Lin Yi a look. “Are you saying that out of all the plans, you only liked the one Yuanyuan planned?”
Lin Yi quickly waved her hands. “I didn’t say that!”
She then added, a little embarrassed, “But if I had to pick a favorite, it would definitely be Yuanyuan’s episode.”
Xu Shuyan was not happy. “Why?”
Lin Yi caught Zhou Shichen’s gossipy gaze out of the corner of her eye. She tugged on Xu Shuyan’s clothes and said, “I’ll tell you when we get back.”
Xu Shuyan wouldn’t have it. “Tell me now.”
So annoying.
Xu Shuyan thought that while Lin Yi probably wasn’t still hung up on Chen Yuan, she couldn’t stop the bubbles of jealousy from rising. She wouldn’t be able to eat until she heard Lin Yi’s explanation.
Zhou Shichen joined in. “Tell us, tell us! Don’t be so stingy. Let me get my fix.”
Lin Yi was exasperated. “Didn’t you move on to shipping those two cuties from the rival group?”
Zhou Shichen gave her a look that said, You just don’t get it. “Yan Zhi You Yi is my forever mansion. I’m already at the front door. It would be a disservice to my identity as a shipping machine if I didn’t come in for a taste.”
Lin Yi: “…”
She sighed. “Fine, you want me to say it? I’ll say it.”
Lin Yi said to Xu Shuyan, “Because you looked so beautiful in a wedding dress. It was the first time I saw you in one, and it was breathtaking. I hated that my vocabulary was so poor, I couldn’t describe how stunning you were. I just felt that if this person asked for the stars in the sky, I would pluck them down for her.”
After saying it, she grew even more embarrassed and buried her face in her bowl, stuffing a cool piece of shrimp paste into her mouth. She mumbled, “I told you I’d tell you when we got back!”
She heard Xu Shuyan laugh. Her hand, which was hanging by her side, was grabbed and swayed in the air. “I don’t want the stars. I only want you.”
Lin Yi didn’t dare to look at her, only thinking that this shrimp paste was incredibly sweet.
Across from them, Zhou Shichen clicked her tongue. “This is so sweet my teeth are going to fall out!” She raised her glass. “For the fact that Yan Zhi You Yi is real, we have to have a drink! Cheers!”
The couple in question were still lost in their own shy worlds.
Yan Qi cooperatively raised her glass of plain water. “Cheers.”
The glasses clinked. Just as they were about to separate, Zhou Shichen quickly stopped Yan Qi. “Why are you drinking plain water? What about the cola I poured for you?”
“I gave it to Xiao Yi,” Yan Qi said. “I don’t drink carbonated beverages.”
Zhou Shichen asked, “Really?”
Yan Qi nodded.
The next second, the plain water was tainted by Zhou Shichen’s cola. The brown liquid sank into the clear water, its color spreading as it diluted, and soon the whole glass had changed color.
Yan Qi: “…”
Zhou Shichen regretted her mischief immediately. “My bad, Captain.”
Yan Qi stared at the glass suspended in mid-air for a moment, then took a small sip. She frowned and shook her head. “Doesn’t taste good.”
She put the glass down. “You ruined my glass of water.”
Zhou Shichen: “I’m sorry.”
The next second, her own hand felt empty. Her glass, full of cola, was suddenly in Yan Qi’s hand. Yan Qi said, “As punishment, you have to go drink a glass of plain water.”
Zhou Shichen: “…Okay.”
Filming for the group variety show planned by Lin Yi began after they had a day of rest.
It was just as Lin Yi had said—nothing more than some small games, and it started very methodically with a wake-up call. Originally, Lin Yi had wanted to handle this task herself, but after discussing it with the production team, they decided Zhou Shichen was better suited for it.
—Mainly because Yan Qi was a disciplined early riser, and Lin Yi was afraid Yan Qi would already be done with her morning workout before she even got there.
And so, at 4:50 in the morning, the production crew quietly woke a still-sleeping Zhou Shichen. She sat up groggily, scratching her messy long hair as she looked at the mission card.
She glanced sideways at Yan Qi, who was sleeping soundly in the next bed.
Her face fell, and she mouthed, “You want me to wake up the Captain? Whose idea was this? How malicious can you be? Who’s going to pay my medical bills if I get retaliated against?”
The camerawoman knew her well and typed on her phone: “Stop exaggerating. The Captain is very good-tempered.”
Zhou Shichen: “…”
What if she just didn’t want to get up right now?
But it was a prank, and the production team had told her to do it. It wasn’t her own idea, and there was video evidence. With that thought, she took the small megaphone the crew gave her, aimed it at Yan Qi’s bed, and yelled, “Time to get up! Time to get up!”
Yan Qi, who had been lying peacefully in bed, opened her eyes and shot up, stunned for two seconds before looking at the culprit.
Zhou Shichen: “Hello, Captain! Goodbye, Captain!”
With that, she scrambled out the door and went upstairs to wreak havoc on Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi. She held up a GoPro. “Hello, fans! It is now 4:58 AM, and a surprise wake-up call waits for no one. Today, I will take you on a tour of Xu Shuyan and Lin Yi’s room and wake them from their sweet dreams!”
As she spoke, she reached the door. It was unlocked. She pushed it open and went straight in. The camera followed, but it trembled violently upon seeing the scene on the bed.
Zhou Shichen: “!!!”
Was this something she was allowed to see for free?
The camera frantically panned down. Zhou Shichen turned and left, pushing the cameraman who had just reached the door back out. “Stop filming, stop filming! Even if you film this, it can’t be broadcast!”
Cameraman: “?”
What couldn’t be broadcast?!
