Ensemble Tides
Even though they had agreed in advance that they wouldn't be able to meet if something came up, Chu Yiqi always rushed back, even if it was just for a quick meeting before leaving again.
Even though they've been separated for two years, they haven't been completely out of touch. They always send each other birthday wishes and greeting cards right on time for every holiday.
Like that year's Dragon Boat Festival, Chu Yiqi was recording a program in another city, and Xi Ai was in the north of the city, and somehow she caught a cold.
So they all said they shouldn't meet anymore.
But when Xi Ai looked up at her computer that evening, ready to take her medicine, she heard the door open.
A moment later, through the orange-yellow light, she saw Chu Yiqi standing at the door, her shawl half-taken off.
After a moment of silence, Chu Yiqi spoke in a flat tone, yet subtly conveying an unfriendly tone: "So this is how Teacher Xi says goodnight?"
"Why did you come back?" Xi Ai immediately changed the subject and stepped forward to take the gift box from Chu Yiqi's hand.
"I've brought you some zongzi for Dragon Boat Festival."
"We're recording again tomorrow, why are you so tired?" Xi Ai's voice was slightly nasal and weak.
It sounds like she's being coquettish.
Chu Yiqi glanced at her, then changed her shoes: "Are you unhappy?"
"No," Xi Ai said, leaning forward to kiss Chu Yiqi's cheek, her lips touching his.
Chu Yiqi took a half step back, as if angry, and said, "Don't infect me."
Xi Ai paused for a moment: "I didn't mean to hide it from you, it's just..."
"Can't you take a little more care of yourself?"
Xi Ai quieted down, but then reached out her hand, looking vulnerable and pitiful, as if she needed a hug.
Looking into those eyes, Chu Yiqi still couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh. He could only hug Xi Ai and ask her if she hadn't taken her medicine yet.
So Xi Ai clung to her, following her every step, until the Chinese medicine was heated up before it was finished.
Two remarkably similar sentences were pulled from my memory, and they sounded like the same words Chu Yiqi had repeated a few days earlier.
Xi Ai looked at Chu Yiqi, who was already asleep, lowered her eyes, and gently squeezed Chu Yiqi's hand.
She couldn't explain why she subconsciously wanted someone to be with her during the holidays, nor could she understand how Chu Yiqi could see through her thoughts when she had never mentioned it before.
In fact, Chu Yiqi couldn't say for sure either; she wasn't certain.
At that moment, she saw Xi Ai sitting alone by the window. Outside the French windows of Lanxie, the moonlight was hazy, and the lights in the garden were reflected on the lake, like the dim lights. Chu Yiqi was holding a glass of milk, and that person was sitting there with her back to her, lost in thought.
For a fleeting moment, she actually felt that Xi Ai seemed lonely.
That day happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Chu Yiqi felt that at least on meaningful holidays, she should spend time with Xi Ai.
In a sense, Chu Yiqi was putting herself in Xi Ai's shoes, but coincidentally, she always managed to touch a soft spot hidden beneath Xi Ai's thoughtful and appropriate demeanor.
Whether intentional or not, after all this time, apart from family members, only Chu Yiqi has managed to do it.
Only Chu Yiqi, standing beside that solitary figure, said to her, "We are four people now, my dear."
Only Chu Yiqi, when she tried to appear calm, turned off the lights, and across the passage of time, took the child's hand and said, "If you really miss me, then cry for a bit, and I can cover for you."
In conclusion, Chu Yiqi's evaluation of Xi Ai was exceptionally fair—a person who was groomed as an heir, always put the well-being of others first, considering those around her and those she cared about before herself.
If you treat yourself like a precisely operating instrument, you're bound to overcorrect.
When Xi Ai woke up, Chu Yiqi had already gone downstairs. As if possessed, Xi Ai took out a bracelet from the bag she was carrying.
The day before they were supposed to break up, Chu Yiqi told her, "I want to change my bracelet and wear it for a while, is that okay?"
Xi Ai then took the string of heart-shaped beads and handed the butterfly in her hand to Chu Yiqi.
—It turns out I had planned this all along, knowing I was going to leave, so I left myself a memento.
Xi Ai curved her lips into a smile, then casually tightened the ties of her pajamas before heading downstairs.
As soon as I reached the stairs, I saw three people sitting in the living room. There was a violin on the table, a plain white cello next to it leaning against the sofa, and sheet music already placed on the pink crystal piano by the French windows.
Chu Yiqi put down his bow, and the three of them looked up at the same time, their faces clearly smiling, but the situation looked anything but friendly.
Xi Ai’s “Morning” was stuck in her throat. She turned around to go back, but she couldn’t get the words “I have to go to a meeting” out.
Shen Lanjin called out to her, "Shiny, come down quickly, the sheet music is all ready."
"I don't know how," Xi Ai tried to play cute to get away with it.
Chu Yiqi silently adjusted the recording to document Miss Xi's failed attempt to escape.
"What you studied was written by me, 'Moonlight Tide'."
"But Grandma, don't you think my pajamas just don't suit that rose quartz?"
"How could that be, Shiny? You were wearing this pink Song Dynasty-style pajama set today, it suits you perfectly."
"..."
Chu Yiqi smiled slightly and continued to add fuel to the fire: "That's right, come on, we're just missing you."
Xi Ai resigned herself to her fate and went downstairs.
It's always been like this; every time we go on vacation together, there's bound to be a duet every day.
It started with just Xi Ai, then changed to including Chu Yiqi, then changed to Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi arriving at different times, and finally, it became just the two of them together.
After sitting down, Xi Ai glanced at the sheet music. This main melody was played by the piano. After exchanging a glance with Chu Yiqi, Xi Ai started playing without saying a word.
He behaves so badly because he knows the rules of his family well—once the main theme starts, you can't stop him, and if you can't keep up or make a mistake, you have to fix it yourself.
The cello followed with a backing note. Shen Lanjin didn't need to join in for the time being, but just smiled and remained silent. Only Cheng Suhuai glared at Xi Ai and improvised two bars, which finally made it less abrupt.
Xi Ai was still inexperienced and mispronounced a word in the middle, but she changed the rest of the word without changing her expression. Chu Yiqi, however, laughed and followed Xi Ai's pronunciation to correct it.
After several years of working together, the two of them made changes in a remarkably similar way, which made them seem a bit more inspired.
The score only showed a portion of it, so when the last note was played, the dumplings were just cooked.
What kind of filling is this?
"Corn and shiitake mushrooms." Chu Yiqi slapped away Xi Ai's hand that was about to lift the lid, but paused for a moment when she saw the bracelet. Finally, she withdrew her hand, picked up the chopsticks, and said, "Get a handkerchief to put on it."
Okay.
Xi Ai glanced at the second compartment and muttered, "It's cabbage filling, which doesn't have the right to be used as dumplings."
As soon as she finished speaking, Chu Yiqi quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late, and he couldn't stop her from saying the last three words.
Even that couldn't stop Shen Lanjin from hitting Xi Ai on the shoulder with her chopsticks.
So when Xi Ai was actually acting coquettishly, Chu Yiqi didn't have time to pull her hand back, and a bit of lipstick touched her palm, leaving a cherry-colored stain.
After lowering his eyes for a moment, Chu Yiqi calmly withdrew his hand and turned around.
Shen Lanjin: "Still there cursing the cabbage filling."
"I just miss my grandma's fake anger a little bit."
Xi Ai's face is exceptionally beautiful, bearing a resemblance to both her parents. When she wants to feign innocence and get away with it, few can resist.
Chu Yiqi laughed and said to her, "Don't believe this Xi Ai, she's just pretending."
“Look at her, such a well-known reputation.” Shen Lanjin glanced at Chu Yiqi, then suddenly laughed and changed the subject, “I told you you should ignore her, and you even specially prepared corn and shrimp for her.”
Chu Yiqi didn't respond, but silently picked up his chopsticks and put the dumplings on the plate.
Xi Ai, however, was quite interested, and while busy with her work, she sidled up to Shen Lanjin. The composer, while applying a face mask to himself, directed the violinist to fetch vinegar.
"Who knows? Yiqi came just as we woke up, and brought dumpling wrappers." Shen Lanjin took a small piece of cucumber from Xi Ai and continued talking, "We wanted to call you, but Yiqi said you worked overtime yesterday and wanted you to sleep in a little longer."
"Really? Chu Yiqi likes me the most."
Chu Yiqi couldn't stand the two of them talking so fast, so he stuffed a cookie he had baked that morning into Xi Ai's mouth, trying to shut her up.
"Go get the bowl quickly."
"oh."
The dumplings were served when Grandpa Xi, who had just finished his morning exercise—a walk—came directly over after receiving the news.
After dinner, it was time for Xi Ai to reply to work messages. Without trying to hide it from anyone, Old Master Xi asked her directly, "Did you set this up?"
Xi Ai looked helpless, but when she saw Chu Yiqi slowly peeling a pomelo while smiling, all her annoyance vanished, and she simply said, "Am I really that vicious in your eyes?"
"You're not a good person either."
Chu Yiqi nodded silently, twirling a grapefruit peel between her fingers. It was a very boring task, usually the aunt would peel it for her, but Chu Yiqi still liked to do it herself, slowly and carefully peeling off a whole grapefruit peel as if it were a "work of art".
On Xi Ai's desk, there used to be a bunch of flowers wrapped in grapefruit peels. Valuable pearls were removed to serve as flower stamens, and enamel-inlaid jewelry was always replaced with green leaves as embellishments.
When Chu Yiqi had the time, he could make her a string of flower vines and hang it down from the corner of the table.
Thinking this, Xi Ai deliberately broke off a small half of the pomelo, disrupting Chu Yiqi's carefully arranged platter.
Chu Yiqi clicked his tongue, shoved the remaining half of the pomelo into Xi Ai's hands, and said, "Fix this blunder yourself."
Xi Ai laughed and steered the conversation back on track, adopting an attitude of innocence, saying, "Although Xi Yan's team has always had a plan B in private, these kinds of projects are very time-consuming, so there's no need to set a trap like this."
When discussing official business, they never deliberately avoided Chu Yiqi, so Chu Yiqi was always pulled in halfway through to insert some conversations that did not involve confidential matters.
So Chu Yiqi replied casually, "Is this another underhanded trick of yours that's even more profitable for you?"
"Shh-"
How can you say something like this so openly and honestly?
Xi Ai coughed and said, "Really, I assure you, it was just that Nian Chu mentioned it once, and I've had a team following the data flow ever since. Who knew they would be so unscrupulous..."
"So you'll turn the tables and take things to the extreme?" Old Master Xi sneered.
"It doesn't really count."
After a few words of explanation, Chu Yiqi, no longer worried about anyone delaying the project, finally finished setting up the platter.
A pale blue porcelain plate, adorned with several small flowers, with stems and leaves strung together in the middle, slightly abstract yet undeniably beautiful.
Xi Ai reached out to disrupt Chu Yiqi's perfect work, and jumped to choose what Chu Yiqi considered to be the most perfect petal.
Chu Yiqi gritted her teeth inwardly: "I'm really angry."
"Hehe, my work can't be interrupted."
After whispering in his ear, Xi Ai continued righteously, "I received a warning about the abnormal data stream the moment he deleted the data, and I made a backup. But I waited for a while, and I didn't expect them to make such a big fuss, and even bite back."
"Do you still remember how important this project is?" Old Master Xi tapped the table and said, "If you make a mistake, how will you make up for it?"
"At least one move ahead?"
"What about next time?"
Chu Yiqi observed Xi Ai's expression but didn't detect any displeasure; she simply listened calmly.
“I know you’ve calculated everything meticulously, but that also means you’re playing with fire at every step. I’ve already had them modify the system again.”
"Can."
Xi Ai spent the morning at the company and saw that their group chat had already started discussing the first episode of Chu Yiqi's variety show.
The production team was quite efficient; the recording from three days ago was broadcast last night. However, everyone was busy, so we only started watching it together this morning.
[Sobbing: I just got a new skill in level 17.]
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The well-modified racing motorcycle had just settled down and Chu Yiqi had just taken off his helmet. He held it in one arm and casually ran his hand through his hair.
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