Shifting the blame eastward
She and Xi Ai had taken a break and went on a cruise to go out to sea. It was an auction day, and Chu Yiqi saw a piece of calligraphy. She sat up straight and examined it carefully.
"You want to buy that one?"
"Um."
Xi Ai asked with a smile, "Why?" Chu Yiqi gave Xi Ai a reproachful look.
These kinds of people are so annoying; they know the answer but still insist on asking.
"You don't care?" Chu Yiqi withdrew his gaze and replied indifferently.
Xi Ai didn't ask any questions, but simply said, "Why don't you change it? If you really give him calligraphy and paintings, the old man will think you look down on him."
Perhaps it was because Xi Ai spoke too much Cantonese in her daily life, or perhaps it was because Xi Ai's tone was too frivolous, making it impossible to distinguish between truth and falsehood, but in any case, Chu Yiqi did not believe it.
"Why?" Chu Yiqi asked, and then added, "You're not allowed to talk nonsense."
"No, we don't have that."
Xi Ai leaned closer to Chu Yiqi, almost whispering, "He does like calligraphy and painting, but... he can criticize his own handwriting eight hundred times over, but he'll get angry if you say even half a word."
"Nonsense." Chu Yiqi wasn't used to such intimate gestures in public, so she turned slightly to the side and said, "Grandpa... your handwriting is so beautiful."
Xi Ai noticed Chu Yiqi's form of address, chuckled to herself for a moment, and said, "Just an example. He's quite funny, anyway, trust me, if you give him calligraphy or paintings, he'll think you're implying that his calligraphy is bad."
Chu Yiqi stared intently at Xi Ai, hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to trust her.
"Well...we'll talk about it later."
"Shall we go for a walk?"
"OK."
So after they returned, they ordered a string of agarwood beads and went to the temple to have them blessed by the abbot.
I don't know if it worked, but anyway, Chu Yiqi gave it to the old man on his birthday, and the latter was quite happy.
Perhaps everything in the dream was too perfect, not like reality, so Chu wanted to wake himself up and avoid withdrawal symptoms after overdose.
Next time, I'll dream a little more.
She sat up and clicked the button. Her laptop battery was dead, but Chu Yiqi still managed to see a few messages first.
From her parents.
Feeling a bit annoyed, Chu Yiqi simply stood up and went to the kitchen to get a bottle of light wine.
It's green grape and jasmine flavored again.
Just as she turned her head, she noticed that Xi Ai had come downstairs at some point and was leaning against the wall a few steps away, looking at her with a half-smile, then at the wine in her hand.
Finally, Xi Ai turned her gaze back to Chu Yiqi's face and asked her, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Chu Yiqi remained silent, gazing at him without speaking, nor could he reveal that it was because of a dream.
—Sisi's dream was too wonderful, so when she opened her eyes, she saw chicken feathers flying everywhere, and she was so depressed that she thought, "Why did I have to sleep?"
So Chu Yiqi asked in return, "Just finished working?"
"Almost there." Xi Ai let Chu Yiqi off the hook and took a bottle of slightly intoxicating liquor herself. She then went to the side, opened the cap, took out a bottle of warmed milk, and handed it to Chu Yiqi.
Xi Ai said, "Now that you're all back, stop being like Nadia and the others, drinking alcohol when you can't sleep."
Chu Yiqi felt that Xi Ai was implying something, but he didn't speculate wildly, so he just accepted the gift dryly and said, "Thank you. Don't blame Nadia, she knows what kind of person she is."
Xi Ai chuckled, put away the wine that Chu Yiqi had, and said, "Then I must be a very self-aware person."
"By the way, how come you..."
How did you reconcile with milk?
"I just came down to put the bowl of watermelon on, and I saw that you hadn't turned off the light." Xi Ai said frankly, putting down the bowl of hot water with one hand and opening the tab with the other.
Chu Yiqi felt the heat transfer, and the chill he had just felt upon seeing the message was also banished.
"Thanks."
This person is always like this; they seem to care about nothing, but they always prepare a lot of things in advance.
All composure comes from prior preparation.
Go to sleep early, goodnight.
Xi Ai turned around and uttered these words very softly.
Chu Yiqi took another cherry tomato, which Xi Ai had brought back.
"Good night," Chu Yiqi replied after walking several steps away.
Good night, good night.
I had a good night's sleep.
It's as if Sisley's "Goodnight" has some kind of magic, like a spell.
Or rather, a blessing.
Chu Yiqi held the milk and stood by the kitchen door for a while, her gaze seemingly focused on the wall lamp, yet also seemingly scattered.
They dispersed and looked back to a long time ago.
Perhaps it was the argument about whether the barbecue was spicy or not this afternoon that made her suddenly remember that she and Xi Ai always had some strange interactions when they went out to eat.
After the waiters left, Xi Ai took off her mask, fanned herself, and smelled the fish. It was pickled cabbage and spicy fish.
Then she looked at the tomato soup in front of Chu Yiqi with ill intent.
Chu Yiqi watched her warily, carefully and cautiously moving the small pot a little closer to herself.
"Okay, Teacher Chu, wait for me a moment."
"Hmm." Chu Yiqi scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and the scattered white steam obscured his vision, making even his decorative glasses look blurry.
Xi Ai put her phone aside, reached out, and took off Chu Yiqi's glasses, finally allowing Chu Yiqi to see the person behind him.
Xi Ai looked at her with a smile and said, "Can I borrow it for a bit?"
"No, you can't."
Xi Ai pushed her fogged-up glasses back up and said, "Then, Miss Chu Yiqi, shall we clink glasses—and spoons?"
"Okay, hurry up and record."
"Okay."
Xi Ai's mischief was not going to stop, so after touching the spoon, she maliciously poured half a spoonful of soup into Chu Yiqi's bowl.
Chu Yiqi looked up instantly, and her actions were far faster than her thoughts—she almost without hesitation poured a spoonful of clear soup into Xi Ai's bowl.
The two women looked at each other in bewilderment, and Xi Ai quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Teacher Chu, please scoop that little bit of red soup back from your bowl!"
Chu Yiqi was flustered, yet remarkably clear-headed. With exceptional clarity, he gave the extra spoonfuls of clear soup to Xi Ai.
“
It seems incredibly naive now.
But that seemed to be the period when Chu Yiqi was least burdened and most carefree.
The next morning, Xi Ai was still the first one to get up, though it's possible that she simply didn't have the option of sleeping at all.
While yawning, Xi Ai went downstairs to make a cup of coffee. She even had a latte art idea in mind. But when she got to the coffee machine, she found that not only was there no latte art, but the coffee had also completely disappeared.
Xi Ai pursed her lips and clicked her tongue softly. She suspected someone who had gone upstairs without any reason, but the person was not there and she had no one to question.
Xi Ai walked to the wine cabinet, thinking that she might as well brew some red wine first, and then she saw the sticky notes on the wine cabinet.
Sure enough, there was a beautiful gradient butterfly and neat, regular script: "No prize: guess who took the coffee; Prize: guess where the coffee is hiding."
Xi Ai looked calm, clearly having been through a lot and being exceptionally experienced.
For a fleeting moment, Xi Ai even considered that Chu Yiqi might have his assistant, Xiao He, take the coffee away, or that Lina might help hide it—they were both clearly capable of colluding with Chu Yiqi.
With a cold expression, Xi Ai decisively gave up the wine and coffee and chose the passion fruit from the refrigerator.
Lina and Chu Yiqi came in together; the latter had clearly been there earlier and then went for a run.
Looks like you had a good rest yesterday.
Xi Ai knew Chu Yiqi's habits very well—when he was in a bad mood, he would go to sleep, and when he was rested, he would go for a morning run.
Sis was on a work call, so Lina greeted Sis silently by pointing to the camera.
Xi Ai waved her hand, then shook her head, indicating that it was fine if it wasn't closed. She walked to the side, her gaze unconsciously falling on Chu Yiqi, then looking away.
Perhaps because their relationship had changed, Chu Yiqi was not as composed as she had been in the past, so she quickly pretended to look away casually.
Xi Ai almost laughed, and then she actually snorted, which startled the assistant opposite her.
Mingming Chu Yiqi was quite good at putting on an act with other people after she came back, but whenever she was with Xi Ai, she always broke down, like a bad student being questioned by the teacher, her particularly clumsy acting skills were exposed.
Chu Yiqi's eyelid twitched slightly, and she quickly reassured herself, "Believe in science, reject superstition. It's just a slight eyelid twitch; nothing serious is happening."
The woman on the other end of the phone was still discussing the arrangements for the next two days when she suddenly heard a very familiar name: "Shi Yunshan!"
Nie Chuiying's shout startled Xi Ai, who almost dropped the laptop she had just closed.
"It's okay, bye-bye-bye."
As Shi Yunshan poured water, she lifted her eyelids and looked upstairs: "What's wrong, ancestor?"
"Where is my box of matcha cookies?"
Shi Yunshan pointed to herself incredulously: "You're asking me? Do you think it's funny?"
"But I do remember putting it on the small table in the practice room." Nie Chuiying's confidence was clearly waning.
"You've got it wrong."
Nie Chuiying walked downstairs and looked at Shi Yunshan, "Impossible..."
"Okay, don't blame me yet. I'm looking for where I put that string of agarwood yesterday."
"team leader!"
When they heard Yu Nianxi calling for help again, Chu Yiqi and Xi Ai were both numb. They looked at each other with different expressions.
One is asking, "This isn't you?"
Another person countered, "Isn't this something someone like you would do?"
"But I forgot where I put my Bluetooth earphones."
“Bluetooth earphones are the hardest to find. I’m the team leader, not a babysitter,” Meng Yike replied.
"...Let's see."
Once everyone had gathered in the living room, Lina finally revealed a shocking secret in a mysterious manner.
"Today's lucky ones are among you! Everyone's missing something, right? The item is in the yard, or in the common area of the living room, kitchen, or balcony."
"That area is huge..."
"Couldn't you be a little nicer to me, gentle and beautiful Lina?"
"Don't worry, you might actually find a clue if you're lucky." Lina chuckled and announced the start of the game in a very formulaic way, "So now, everyone, please begin your treasure hunt to find the lost part of yourself. Don't forget to find the undercover agents, and more than one."
"...Is it you?" Yu Nianxi immediately turned to Xi Ai.
Xi Ai pointed to herself, then to Yu Nianxi, and after a long silence, said, "Please look at the coffee machine."
Chu Yiqi silently rubbed a small butterfly on her little fingernail nail.
Xi Ai glanced at her, but didn't expose anything. Instead, she shifted the blame: "I still think this kind of disguised role suits Miss Shi better."
Xi Ai made a pointed remark, and Shi Yunshan choked, pushing the spinning wheel back: "You're no less impressive, don't be modest."
"Come on, you two. Isn't the captain more suited to this kind of thing?" Chu Yiqi started spouting nonsense and muddying the waters.
"Me?" Meng Yike couldn't believe it, not knowing whether she couldn't believe the fire had reached her or that the fire came from Chu Yiqi.
"Could it be me?" Yu Nianxi retorted. "Please DM me where your earphones are. What's the difference between not having earphones and not having ears?"
"Are you a headphone enthusiast?"
“The difference is between partial deafness and complete deafness.” Xi Ai walked in front of the camera and spoke in a low voice, which was not a whisper, “Today’s topic—revealing who the hidden thief is.”
After Chu Yiqi finished criticizing Yu Nianxi, he stood leisurely to the side and then casually replied, "Today's headline: Shocking! For 8 was collectively stolen. Who is the hidden hand in the shadows?"
"The Invisible Hand—who's behind this?" Nie Chuiying answered with a grin, then silently took her phone out of her bag, put it behind her back, and nudged Shi Yunshan.
Upon receiving Nie Chuiying's signal, Shi Yunshan lowered her eyes without making a sound, quickly logged out of her Weibo account, switched Nie Chuiying back to her own account, and also changed the inexplicable WeChat nickname.
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