Both black and white

The group practiced Tai Chi back and forth in the living room for a long time, and also played some dirty psychological tactics. Chu Yiqi, whether from spending too much time with the psychologist or from having a special talent, was surprisingly adept at these tactics.

In the end, Yu Nianxi voted for Shi Yunshan and Meng Yike, and then, due to personal grudges, added Xi Ai as well.

Surprisingly, two of them were correct.

"Look, what kind of strength is that?" Yu Nianxi smiled brightly, her little tiger tooth faintly visible.

One of the real culprits, Meng Yike, smiled and said, "Whether it's a personal grudge or a genuine deduction, you know for sure."

"Personal grudges are something I'm good at too."

After a back-and-forth struggle, Shi Yunshan, Nie Chuiying, and Meng Yike were voted out due to a lower number of votes.

What a perfect collaboration.

Only when the victims remained conscious and identified the perpetrators, such as Yu Nianxi and Meng Yike, did they succeed.

The next few days were much easier, so Chu Yiqi and Xi Ai took some time to return to the Xi residence.

I also went to pick out some tea leaves at noon.

Junshan Silver Needle Tea.

As soon as they met, Nian Zhaoyi ran over and hugged Chu Yiqi.

"Long time no see."

Xi Ai stood between them, half-jokingly angry: "Haven't we been together longer?"

“It’s different.” Nian Zhaoyi made up a very fake excuse for herself. “It’s just that I dreamed about you because we haven’t seen each other for a long time.”

Xi Ai remained noncommittal and handed over the gift for Nian Zhaoyi.

"This is the one I couldn't get before."

"Really?" Xi Ai's words sounded perfectly normal, but they were incredibly infuriating. "I don't know, the brand gave them to me."

"It's all your fault, you stole Zhao Yi's share." Chu Yiqi decisively betrayed them, helping Nian Zhao Yi to harm Xi Ai.

Xi Ai had nothing to say, so she had no choice but to shut up.

Xi Yuchuan glanced at Xi Ai, then at Chu Yiqi, but ultimately remained silent. He lowered his eyes, pulled out Nian Zhaoyi's chair, and even placed a cushion under it.

Xi Ai acted as if nothing was wrong, purely watching the show, and couldn't help but laugh no matter how she looked at it.

Chu Yiqi and Xi Yuchuan didn't communicate much, but Chu Yiqi knew what Nian Zhaoyi was thinking. She found their atmosphere particularly strange, subtle, like a business marriage mixed with a touch of warmth.

I don't know if it was involuntary or just a habit.

She held back again and again, but still didn't ask Xi Ai. She just sat quietly and asked, "Where is Grandpa?"

“Grandpa was taking a walk outside and is just on his way back,” Nian Zhaoyi explained.

Xi Ai clasped her hands together and rested her head on them: "Then why did you call me over so early?"

"Golden five minutes, what do you know?"

Xi Ai scoffed: "You keep all your energy at home."

How could that be?

Chu Yiqi added casually to Xi Ai, "It's just targeting you, don't overthink it."

"..."

Seeing that Xi Ai was about to speak, Xi Yuchuan preemptively said, "Shh—otherwise I'll tell Grandpa about all those messy things you did the year before last and last year."

Xi Ai rubbed her nose. She had been held hostage by this matter for so long that she had wanted to give up, but today, Chu Yiqi happened to be there.

*

In the two weeks following Chu Yiqi's departure, Xi Ai had already finished most of her busy work, and surprisingly went abroad to go on a cruise with Mu Jinran and his group in Mu Jinran's cruise ship.

Miss Xi generously gave herself a week-long vacation, spending three days at sea, which meant she won at cards for all three days.

Then we went to a private island and went deep-sea diving and surfing, pushing ourselves to the limit—as if we were about to die.

Mu wanted to make a phone call, but she didn't think anyone could persuade her otherwise.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, it's just a little boring."

Mu is now silent.

Xi Ai has always been like this, seemingly impeccable, but in reality, she just keeps her emotions bottled up, letting herself hover around the tipping point, and then she gets used to it after a while.

He later became enraged and spoke without restraint: "Xi'ai, you're just as bad as Chu Yiqi. You both should get Serena to do some psychological counseling."

“It seems that’s not going to work. I have to go back to work.” Xi Ai looked at Mu Jin for a while and said, “I’ve always felt that there are no normal people among our group.”

"..."

On the last day of the holiday, Xi Ai went to have a photoshoot. It was different from her usual style, light and understated. Her eyes were too beautiful, but her gaze never really had a focal point. It was like the eye of a typhoon, forcing everyone who looked at her to follow the eye of the storm. If you weren't careful, you would be forced to experience a storm – which was quite unpleasant.

When Xi Yuchuan sensed something was wrong and finally had a moment to spare, he quickly reminded her, "Xi Ai, give yourself a break. If you keep doing this, the old man will have to take care of you."

Grandpa Xi had always been worried about Xi Ai's personality, but he had never been able to do anything about it until Xi Ai went to the hospital for intravenous nutrition and finally found out about it.

“Xi’ai, I’ve always wondered if it was the right choice to let you get involved in family matters so early.”

Xi Ai raised her head. In fact, she thought she had gotten over those emotions, but she had gotten used to the intensity of the work and felt that she didn't need to change it.

She also knew that Xi Yuchuan had kept many things from her, so the old man only knew that she had been going to the hospital non-stop for the past two weeks.

"Grandpa, why think like that? This was just an accident."

"Yeah?"

"I promise, it won't happen again... there won't be a next time." Xi Ai's innocent act was quite convincing.

But Mr. Xi obviously didn't believe it, so he sent the housekeeper to Xi Ai in order to indirectly supervise her to make her behave more normally.

*

Xi Ai suddenly remembered the accident that happened during the deep dive, and a feeling of suffocation welled up inside her. She blinked, put her index finger to her lips, and then made up an excuse to lie to Chu Yiqi: "Wasn't that back-to-back time too tiring? Don't talk anymore."

Xi Yuchuan was just like Xi Ai in his tendency to huff at people. He looked at Xi Ai with disdain, snorted, and then shut up.

After all, he was still a little guilty.

The siblings are involved in both legal and illegal activities.

Xi Yuchuan helped Xi Ai keep things from the old man, so he could certainly help Chu Yiqi keep some things from Xi Ai as well.

He glanced at Nian Zhaoyi; the tacit understanding between the two, honed over years of conflict, proved invaluable, and they reached a consensus with a mere glance.

Nian Zhaoyi thought that must have been the first time he had seen Chu Yiqi so crazy.

*

It's unclear which Chu Yiqi it was, but on that day, Chu Yiqi surprisingly went out to go racing.

Even under his racing suit, Chu Yiqi still appeared slender, but he exuded a strange, mad energy.

Chu Yiqi learned racing from a coach in an episode a long time ago, and later often went out driving with Xi Ai and a group of good friends.

In that season, the weather was unpredictable, and a sudden downpour occurred.

Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. Her vision blurred, but in that moment she saw the white light of a lighthouse in the distance.

Chu Yiqi's tongue swept across a tiger tooth, tasting the blood.

On the dashboard, various data points jumped wildly. Rainwater formed tiny eddies on the rear wing. Chu Yiqi could even feel the rear wheels slipping in the puddles, like walking on a tightrope over a cliff edge.

The most dangerous bend of Silverstone Circuit was right in front of him, but Chu Yiqi estimated that at his speed and in this weather, the risk was quite high.

After a fraction of a second of hesitation, Chu Yiqi slammed his right foot down—but not on the brake, but on the accelerator.

The engine roared, as if all of Chu Yiqi's unspoken emotions had found an outlet, and she suddenly felt a sense of relief. The tachometer needle plunged into the red zone, the race car hurtled towards the bend, and the rear wing sliced ​​through the rain, splashing water everywhere.

Chu Yiqi stared intently ahead, making a series of tiny, precise adjustments, as if in a desperate attempt to survive or a reckless gamble. She felt the four tires teetering on the edge of losing traction, the whole car sliding as if on ice.

A drift around the corner.

Chu Yiqi stopped at the finish line but didn't get off the bus for a long time. Her bracelet had been ringing continuously, and she didn't know if it had triggered the limit and reported it to Nadia.

She breathed a sigh of relief. In the moment when her life was hanging in the balance, she had never been so grateful that she had broken up with Xi Ai.

But all I could think about was Sis.

Chu Yiqi finally couldn't resist anymore and slumped onto the steering wheel, watching tears fall one by one through her open eyes.

Nadia called as expected, but Chu Yiqi didn't answer. She remained lying down, perhaps because she was too nervous earlier and was only now belatedly realizing her fear. She couldn't even muster the strength to pick up her phone.

After waiting for a long time, Chu Yiqi finally felt a little more real of being alive and called Nadia back.

"Oh, Little Cake, are you alright?"

"What's the new nickname today?" Chu Yiqi raised her hand, looking at her trembling hand, and tried her best to keep her voice steady. "It's nothing, it's with Hei Man."

Nadia almost couldn't catch her breath: "Oh, honey..."

"Shall I come pick you up?"

Chu Yiqi quickly refused: "I drove."

The staff brought an umbrella, but Chu Yiqi was too lazy to take it. After getting a little wet, his trembling hands actually improved a bit. However, Nian Zhaoyi and the others soon found out about this. Because Xi Yuchuan and Nadia had shares in Hei Man, it was inevitable that there would be special care from "the boss's ex-girlfriend" and "the boss's best friend".

However, after some discussion, Xi Yuchuan and the others actually reached a consensus to keep it a secret from Xi Ai.

*

After a meal where everyone had their own secrets, Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi left in a hurry—because later they had a segment where they would watch the preview of the group's variety show together.

The living room of the villa was noisy and chaotic.

Hi hi hi long time no see.

Chu Yiqi walked behind, carrying the cake: "Does a day apart feel like three autumns?"

"It's been two years since we last met." Xi Ai placed the pastries on the table, paused slightly after speaking, and it was unclear whether she meant it intentionally or unintentionally.

Chu Yiqi paused, a nameless stinging pain shooting through his fingertips. He glanced at Xi Ai, then acted as if nothing had happened, obliviously untying the ribbon.

"Wow, thank you so much, Qiqi!"

Xi Ai glanced at her, and Yu Nianxi shut up again, then changed her words: "Thank you, Sister Xi Ai."

"Okay, you're welcome." Xi Ai then relayed the message to Chu Yiqi, "Did you hear that, Sister Yiqi?"

“...I heard you, little Xi’ai.”

"Alright, kids, let's start playing now."

"Yes, Captain."

Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi's seats were once again inexplicably left empty together due to the four people being paired up.

They had no choice but to sit side by side.

It seems the team's editing was too good, making Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi's initial awkwardness and disorientation seem much more normal.

It was like friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time, speechless for a moment, but their actions couldn't stop their affection.

The preview is only forty minutes long, and that includes songs recorded last month.

It's true what they say, birds of a feather flock together. Even with two people missing, the bickering was just as bad.

Yu Nianxi leaned closer to Meng Yike and asked, "What is this?"

"Completely overwhelmed." Meng Yike didn't even look up, rambling on and on with nonsensical puns.

"Huh?" Yu Nianxi was taken aback.

Yu Nianxi didn't need to think much; Meng Yike filled in the blanks for her, speaking in a casual tone and with an unusually impactful manner: "Sichuan pepper goose."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Yu Nianxi found her voice: "Where's the goose heart?"

Why are you cursing at me?

"I'm asking you."

The two stared at each other, creating an extremely absurd atmosphere.

"..."

“Oh, no heart.” Meng Yike shrugged and continued talking nonsense.

"Meng Yike, I'm really angry."

Meng Yike smiled and handed a piece of sesame candy to Yu Nianxi, trying to salvage the situation: "Okay, baby."

Goodbye, baby.

Nie Chuiying remarked sarcastically from the side, "You guys are so pretentious."

Then Shi Yunshan covered his mouth, and Meng Yike and Yu Nianxi replied in unison, "Don't worry about it."

Shi Yunshan promptly picked out a piece of sushi, fed it to Nie Chuiying, and sealed the opening immediately.

It tastes like crab meat and shrimp paste.

"Please settle personal grudges off-camera and continue to whitewash the situation." Shi Yunshan plays the role of a false neutral party, but in reality, she is completely on Nie Chuiying's side.