After finishing this round, Mu Qiu thought that if she had her phone with her, her step count on social dia today would definitely be the highest.
A minimum of thirty thousand steps, the king makes an appearance.
Guan Yu sat across from her, mocking her, "Today, you’re just like that scumbag who capsized, either on the way to deceive soone or on the way to explain yourself."
And she still has the nerve to say that Shi Yuhuai and Cheng Zhirang’s identities are like scumbags.
Mu Qiu retorted, "Better than you, who deceived Li Yang into forming an alliance but got exposed by within five minutes and then chased and beaten for ten."
Guan Yu: "......"
"Enough," Li Yang and Shu Ran, as the aggrieved party, stepped in to calm the confrontation between the two, "You two are about the sa, neither of you should call the other a third rate."
Mu Qiu & Guan Yu: "......"
The scores (grudges) have been settled, whatever could be understood has been, and everyone quieted down and started to wait.
The exam has been passed, and the ranking is out, yet the program team has not announced the end of the ga.
Everyone now knows there’s a plot twist, but no one can say exactly what it is, so they can only wait here, staring at each other.
After waiting for about ten minutes, soone couldn’t stand it anymore.
Guan Yu dragged a chair over, sat by the cara, and insisted on chatting with the staff.
Shu Ran surprisingly tead up with Mu Qiu to find sothing to eat.
Cheng Zhirang and Li Yang agreed to go to the restroom, while Shi Yuhuai moved the scaffolding under the bamboo.
Everyone was like on a half-ti break, doing their own thing.
Mu Qiu didn’t expect Shu Ran to invite her to eat sothing together.
Even though she had eaten only a few dates since morning and was already hungry, Shu Ran asking her to sneak off and eat... it was quite flattering.
An artist like Shu Ran, guarded by assistants on the show, definitely had a lot of delicious food prepared when going without food for so long.
Mu Qiu thought, alright, that’s reasonable, and she was more than willing.
Unexpectedly, Shu Ran took her out of the academy and brazenly sneaked into the temporary staff break room, bumping right into staff coming out from inside.
The staff looked at them, puzzled, "You guys...?"
Shouldn’t you be live streaming outside?!
Shu Ran made a quiet gesture and softly asked, "Is there anything to eat here?"
"...Yes."
The staff led them into the break room, transitioning from bewildered to excited.
Inside, there were two more staff, one male and two females, all not very old. Seeing them, they pocketed their phones and pushed a pile of snacks on the table toward them.
Shu Ran picked and only took a sugar-free whole grain bread.
Everyone knew she ate little to maintain her figure, so the staff wasn’t surprised. After she finished, they asked Mu Qiu, "Should I get you a bag to carry?"
Mu Qiu: "......Well, thank you."
She actually wanted to say she didn’t need much, but when offered a bag, she felt—how could she refuse such a heartfelt gesture?!
The staff took out a pink picnic plastic bag for her.
It’s the kind with drawstring, which tightens and can be used as a simple backpack, often seen on elderly travelers at the bus station.
They even opened it and held it for her, "Feel free to pack it."
Mu Qiu saw calendar photos of Cheng Zhirang and Li Yang on the table, took two boxes of yogurt biscuits, and said, "I’ll take these back for Brother Cheng and Li Yang."
The two female staff got so excited their eyes lit up, and one even tiptoed, pointing to guide her.
"Take that oat and sweet potato biscuit, Brother Cheng seems to like it."
"Sure," Mu Qiu imdiately grabbed two boxes and then so other items, "This is for Brother Huai, this for Sister Guan Yu, can I have a bag of purple sweet potato strips?"
"No problem, take whatever you want!"
With their help, Mu Qiu carefully selected a bag of snacks and sneaked back with Shu Ran.
Skirting around the temporary staff break room, there was a small ventilation space between two erected temporary tents, where staff would often go to take a break when free.
As they passed by, Cheng Zhirang was standing in the opening on the phone.
They both turned their heads at the sa ti, seeing each other as they passed.
Cheng Zhirang smiled at her from a distance, and Mu Qiu wavered between going to him or walking away, and decided to just leave.
This was during the show, who knows where caras might be hidden or if soone was filming them, she didn’t want to take the risk.
But not everyone thought the sa way.
Shu Ran, very "considerately," walked straight ahead, whispering, "I’ll just use the washroom, I’ll wait for you over there."
Then, she walked ahead of her.
Mu Qiu: ...No wonder she’s the sensible socialite of the entertainnt circle, truly understanding.
Now, not wanting to disturb Cheng Zhirang, she had to go over.
She sighed and walked toward Cheng Zhirang with the pink bag, he looked at her, smiling warmly, waiting for her to approach.
No idea who he was on the phone with, after standing there for half a minute, he politely said sothing over the phone and hung up.
"What’s that you’re holding?" he asked.
Mu Qiu hugged the bag in her arms, opened the drawstring to show him.
"Snacks from the staff in the break room. Your fans specifically asked to bring you the oat sweet potato biscuits."
He glanced, lowering his voice to ask, "Brought specifically for ?"
"Yes."
"Thank you, in return," he pulled sothing from his suit pocket, "I brought you sothing too."
"?" Mu Qiu was curious, "What is it?"
Cheng Zhirang opened his palm to reveal a green date.
Mu Qiu rembered this green date, the only one with a hint of red, which she had given to him on purpose.
She looked up at him, "You didn’t eat it?"
Cheng Zhirang moved the date closer to her, "They all had two, you should have two too."
He had noticed that when it ca to the end, she only left one date for herself in the bag.
This wasn’t a big deal, not even a matter, just a date, she had eaten quite a few already before.
But such a small matter, he rembered and thought to give her the sa treatnt as others.
Mu Qiu pressed her lips, held the date, and smiled at him.
"Are all gentle thirty-year-old uncles so good at making girls happy?"
"Are you happy?"
"Happy, very happy, who wouldn’t be happy being thought of?"
"As long as you’re happy," Cheng Zhirang stroked her cheek, "What you give others is fairness, what you give is partiality, it’s only polite to return the favor, my partiality is yours too."
Mu Qiu looked at him, gently tilted her head, and kissed his palm.
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