Chapter 51
For the entire afternoon, Xia Linxia barely acknowledged Ji Fengxue. She couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong, but she simply didn't want to face her. Whenever Ji Fengxue looked at her, Xia Linxia would glare back with a scowl. Eventually, even Ji Fengxue stopped looking at her.
Excellent.
During dinner, Xue Hui served soup to Song Wanyi, and Tang Yuande placed food onto Fang Qiushuang's plate. Xia Linxia ate with her head down. After waiting for a long time and no one serving her, she couldn't help but secretly kick Ji Fengxue under the table.
Song Wanyi blinked. "Linxia, why did you kick me?"
"No! I didn't kick you, it was Lao Ji!" Xia Linxia exclaimed.
"Really?" Song Wanyi asked uncertainly.
"It was me," Ji Fengxue took the blame. "I was going to kick Xia Xia, but I accidentally hit the wrong target."
Song Wanyi smiled meaningfully. "Why were you going to kick Xia Xia?"
Ji Fengxue pouted pitifully. "She wasn't serving me food."
Xia Linxia's pupils dilated in shock. She looked at Ji Fengxue in disbelief, her double chin almost falling off.
Song Wanyi reprimanded her mercilessly. "Xia Xia, quickly serve Teacher Ji! Have you forgotten how she helped us with the game?"
"..."
Xia Linxia gritted her teeth, picked up a piece of lettuce, and placed it in Ji Fengxue's bowl. "Eat more vegetables, Film Empress."
The words "Film Empress" were almost spat out through gritted teeth.
"Thank you, darling," Ji Fengxue slowly ate the lettuce.
Darling?!
Xia Linxia felt as if she had been struck by lightning, leaving her charred inside and out. Although she usually called Ji Fengxue "darling" herself, hearing it from Ji Fengxue's mouth at that moment was indescribably, unspeakably cheesy!
Alas, it was all retribution. And this retribution was coming faster and more frequently.
Ji Fengxue: "Darling, go wash the dishes."
Ji Fengxue: "Baby, tidy up your things."
Ji Fengxue: "Darling, don't look at me like that. You really should be sleeping. No gaming."
Ji Fengxue: "Little treasure, sleep."
Xia Linxia could bear it no longer. "I'm going all out tonight, Little Snowflake!!!"
She rushed into the room and leaped onto Ji Fengxue's back. Ji Fengxue promptly fell onto the bed. The bed trembled slightly.
After a scream, Xia Linxia immediately flipped over and sat on top of Ji Fengxue, pinching her nose. "Let's see what happens when you call me that! You'll suffocate!"
Ji Fengxue mimicked Xia Linxia's earlier action, opening her mouth to bite her hand. Xia Linxia quickly withdrew her hand, looking at her indignantly. "Alright, you're learning fast. How about this?"
She grabbed a nearby pillow and covered Ji Fengxue's face. Half a minute later, Ji Fengxue stopped moving.
Xia Linxia froze, quickly threw the pillow aside, and saw Ji Fengxue looking at her with her eyes open, her eyebrows curved. Ji Fengxue seemed unfazed by her little actions, which made Xia Linxia feel a pang of shame.
She rolled over and lay down beside Ji Fengxue, turning off the light to sleep. After a long while, she asked in the darkness, "Are you asleep?"
"No."
"Insomnia?"
"Mm."
Xia Linxia shifted, resisting the urge to snuggle closer, and asked, "Why are you having insomnia?"
"I forgot. By the time I realized, it was already quite serious."
Xia Linxia sighed. She looked so normal during the day, but what had she gone through to suffer alone at night?
After thinking for a moment, she said, "I can't sleep either. I'll keep you company and chat."
"Really?" Ji Fengxue asked, turning her head.
"Really." Xia Linxia made a difficult decision to stay up with her.
"You don't have to keep me company."
"What do you mean?" Xia Linxia was stunned. She heard the rustling of the bed, and then Ji Fengxue turned on the desk lamp, took a notebook, and threw it at her.
"If you can't sleep, get up and memorize the script."
"..." Xia Linxia looked at her in disbelief. "Heavens! Are you a devil?"
"Hurry up and memorize it," Ji Fengxue leaned against the headboard. "I watched some of your previous dramas these past few days. Your line delivery is far from adequate, and your foundation isn't even solid. How can you be a leading actress?"
Xia Linxia: "Wuwu."
"Didn't you ask me to teach you acting?" Ji Fengxue righteously patted the script. "Do you know how many people are watching you for this role? If you fail, your burden will be the heaviest and the blackest."
Xia Linxia: "Wuwuwu."
"First, recite all the character's lines for me."
In the adjacent room, Fang Qiushuang got up to drink water. It was the same familiar night and the same familiar scene. As she passed Xia Linxia and Ji Fengxue's room, she couldn't help but overhear their conversation again.
Ji Fengxue: "Again."
Xia Linxia: "Nooo, wuwu."
Ji Fengxue: "No, again."
Xia Linxia: "I can't, I can't anymore. I'm all drained, not a drop left!"
"Again!"
"Wuwuwuwu, I hate you!"
Fang Qiushuang's steps faltered as she went downstairs, her old face flushing red again.
The next morning, Xia Linxia and Ji Fengxue overslept.
Tang Yuande, having finished his walk, was about to knock on their door to wake them when Fang Qiushuang, who was passing by, stopped him. "It's so early. What's wrong with letting them rest a bit longer? Go eat your breakfast."
After the recording of this season's variety show concluded, Xia Linxia returned home and underwent a baptism. It was from Xiang Huaimeng.
Her agent earnestly instructed her to make good use of her current contract-couple status, get closer to Ji Fengxue, and learn how to act properly, aiming to shed her "vase" title with this role.
Xia Linxia retorted, "What's wrong with being a vase? Can just anyone be a vase?"
"Are you going or not? Are you going or not?" Xiang Huaimeng grabbed her ear.
"Yes, yes, I'll go, okay!" Xia Linxia desperately protected her ear, picked up the gift she had prepared, and went to visit.
Ji Fengxue had just finished exercising, her hair tied in a high ponytail, looking energetic. "Come in. Is this a gift for me?"
"Here, Huaimeng insisted I bring it. She said I'd be taking advantage without showing gratitude." Xia Linxia rubbed her still red and swollen ear.
Ji Fengxue smiled, changed into loungewear, and came out to give her lessons.
For the next few days, apart from sleeping, Xia Linxia practically stayed at Ji Fengxue's place. Every day was spent memorizing lines, lines, lines, giving her a sense of returning to high school and being called upon by teachers to recite.
But this Teacher Ji was different from her previous teachers.
Gentle, like a spring breeze, polite – these were impossible!
Teacher Ji was a devil!
"She made me run on the treadmill while reciting lines. If I made a mistake, she'd increase the speed, and if I missed a sentence, she'd add time. Can you understand my pain?" Xia Linxia complained to Xiang Huaimeng.
"Not only that, she also watched my old dramas and criticized my acting as worthless right in front of me!"
"My mind and body have suffered immense torture. She's practically a walking hell! And yet, she still dares to smile at me!"
"Do you know how terrifying that is? It's like the last bit of kindness shown to a prisoner before their execution. Then, snap, I'm gone."
After complaining to Xiang Huaimeng for half an hour, Xiang Huaimeng only asked, "Do you think it's effective?"
Xia Linxia faltered.
It was effective, of course. Running and reciting lines simultaneously made her more focused and urgent, and it also improved her breath control, making her intonation, pauses, and transitions more natural and effective. After understanding her terrible acting skills in all aspects, she went back to carefully watch Ji Fengxue's movies. She stayed up late, unable to sleep, and even called Ji Fengxue in the middle of the night to express her condolences.
"Ahhh, Lao Ji, you died! Why did you die in the end?! Why is this drama so trash? Give me back my tears, wuwuwu!"
Ji Fengxue: "..."
Moreover, after each day's practice, Ji Fengxue would make dinner for her and give her a single piece of candy before she left.
Even so, she still complained to Xiang Huaimeng, "I even gained a pound! The food at her place is too good, I can't handle it."
Under the high-intensity training of these past few days, Xia Linxia's feelings towards Ji Fengxue were incredibly complex. She felt a mixture of respect and resentment towards her as a teacher, and admiration and curiosity towards her as an idol. In short, it was a jumble of emotions.
Amidst these tangled emotions, the final recording of "Love, This Little Thing" finally arrived.
The production crew came to pick them up and handed them a task card, asking them to write down their wishes for their significant other. Xia Linxia, who wouldn't even make a wish on her birthday, only learned from the crew that the wish was for the other person to fulfill it for them.
"Can I ask discreetly, did you get Ji Fengxue's list?" she asked the follower.
"Not yet. It will be announced together after we reach the villa."
"Then you haven't peeked at what she wrote?" Xia Linxia was persistent. "Did she list a whole string of things? Or does she want a big diamond from East Africa or a great white shark from the West Sea or something?"
The staff refused to disclose anything.
"You guys aren't supervising at all. What if she wants the stars and the moon? Do I have to climb a ladder to pick them for her?" she muttered, carrying her suitcase downstairs. After getting into the car, she realized Ji Fengxue wasn't with them this time. "Where's Lao Ji? Why didn't she come to pick her up?"
"She had something at home, so she went back to her hometown last night," the follower said. "She's coming directly from her hometown. Did she not tell you about this?"
"No."
"She probably didn't want you to worry."
Xia Linxia frowned slightly. She had dinner at Ji Fengxue's place just last night, so did she only find out about the family emergency after she left?
She called Ji Fengxue, but no one answered. Upon arriving at the villa, she discovered she was the earliest. After tidying her things, she lay on the sofa playing with her phone out of boredom. After a while, she went to the courtyard and looked expectantly down the road, unable to sit still.
After waiting for a long time, she wandered around the house out of boredom until she heard the sound of a car. She quickly ran out, only to find it was Tang Yuande and Fang Qiushuang.
"Sister Shuang, you're here!" she greeted them enthusiastically, and the three of them went inside for tea.
Xia Linxia, in a fit of energy, went to clean. Half an hour later, she heard a car honk and immediately ran out again, staring intently at the car door. Then, Song Wanyi ran out. "Wow! Linxia, are you here to pick me up?"
The two sisters hugged and jumped for a moment. Song Wanyi asked, "Where's Teacher Ji?"
Xia Linxia immediately drooped. "She had something, she's not here yet."
Song Wanyi put her arm around her and led her inside. "Was it serious?"
"I don't know. I can't reach her." Xia Linxia sighed imperceptibly.
"Then it should be nothing serious. If something were wrong, she would definitely tell you," Song Wanyi pushed her onto the sofa. "Don't worry."
With most of the people gathered, the director naturally had to go through the process and read out the wish lists of the five people present, one by one.
Song Wanyi wished for a romantic wedding, and Xue Hui wanted more pocket money. As soon as their wishes were read, they started bickering.
Tang Yuande wished for Fang Qiushuang to be gentler with him on a daily basis, while Fang Qiushuang wished to eat a meal cooked by him. The old couple smiled at each other.
Then, Xia Linxia's wish was read—
She wished for Ji Fengxue to make her delicious cakes, give her compliments, give her massages, feed her, peel shrimp and melon seeds for her, wash her feet—
In short, it was "A Day in the Life of Ji the Maid."
After all, there was no rule stating only one wish.
Perfect.
[Emotionless wishing machine]
[Hahaha, I knew it wouldn't be that simple. Xia Linxia's behavior is gradually getting out of control.]
[I will call these silly actions—Xia Linxia's behavior.]
[I suspect this is how Fairy Ji was brought down to earth. The beautiful, tragic, world-shattering romance I imagined is impossible. It must have been Xia Linxia's coquetry, cuteness, and iron fist that forced the fairy to wash her feet!]
[Love in a Foot Washing City?]
[One day, the great star Xia Linxia walked into a decadent foot washing city, only to have a pure and untainted beauty catch her eye. Her heart fluttered uncontrollably, and she pushed the woman against the wall, kissing her fiercely, and said with a charming smile: Woman, you're going to wash my feet today.]
[Pass the pen! I love this plot!]
The "Love in a Foot Washing City" plot on the bullet screen was gradually spiraling out of control, but the people in the live broadcast room were completely unaffected. The director read out over a dozen wishes in one go, and the people present burst into laughter. If they had known they could list so many wishes, they would not have been so stingy as to write only one!
Xia Linxia also laughed, but as she laughed, she felt a sense of emptiness. She had written so many wishes, but the person who would fulfill them was not present.
So lonely.
The director announced that the filming budget would be expanded as a wish fund for everyone, and they could get reimbursed by the production team.
The other four people sprang into action, but Xia Linxia sat in her seat, contemplating life.
Laughter and conversations came from the rooms, but she only found it noisy.
So, she quietly picked up a broom and went to sweep the courtyard again.
[Xia Linxia looks so dejected, but I'm laughing so hard hahaha.]
[Without Teacher Ji, Xia Linxia is like a frosted eggplant.]
[Xia Linxia has become a stone waiting for her wife.]
[Calling Fairy Ji, your baby is wilting!]
[The first day without Fairy Ji, I miss her.]
"Little cabbage, yellow in the field~" Xia Linxia listlessly swung the broom, occasionally glancing at the roadside.
"Linxia, come help me with something," Song Wanyi called from inside the house.
"Coming." She put down the broom and had just reached the doorway. Hearing a car stop outside, she immediately turned around, her heart leaping, fearing another disappointment.
The car door opened from the inside, and a slender leg emerged. Then, Ji Fengxue got out of the car, looking at her and smiling. "So diligent. You even know how to clean by yourself."
Xia Linxia's heart leaped with joy. She quickly ran towards Ji Fengxue, threw herself into her arms, and hugged her neck, asking, "Is your family okay?"
"They're fine. Just a cold. I wasn't at ease, so I went back to check."
It was hot outside, but the two of them didn't feel hot hugging in the bright sun. Ji Fengxue was reluctant to remind her, but this hug was enough to relieve her fatigue from the entire night.
It was as if she had rushed back from a long journey, just for this hug.
After learning that there was no major issue, Xia Linxia let go with relief and proactively helped Ji Fengxue carry her suitcase, asking, "We have a mission now. Be honest, what did you write as your wish!"
"Guess."
Soon, Xia Linxia knew the answer.
The director handed Ji Fengxue's wish card to her. Xia Linxia looked up at Ji Fengxue, who was greeting Song Wanyi and the others in the second-floor corridor. Then, she opened the card. There was only one wish on it.
—I hope Xia Linxia will always be radiant.
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