Chapter 9: Socially Anxious Star 09
“!!!!!”
Guagua!!!
Jiang Yi snapped her head up. A pair of clear, round almond eyes filled with utter shock and disbelief.
She looked even more like a frightened little bunny now—ears perked up, remaining completely motionless, and carefully paying attention to the movements of others.
It really is her.
Pei Wusi couldn’t help curving his lips into a smile.
Seeing him smile made Jiang Yi feel a bit flustered.
Guagua was her childhood nickname, known only to those closest to her. After her maternal grandfather passed away, no one had called her by that nickname anymore.
Jiang Yi stared unblinkingly at Pei Wusi, her throat so tense it felt slightly dry.
“What did you just say…”
Pei Wusi reined in a bit of his smile. Seeing Jiang Yi’s dull and tense appearance, the explanation that was originally on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down.
“I said guagua—the weather is so hot, do you want to eat some guagua?”
“…Oh.”
Jiang Yi let out a sigh of relief and nodded hesitantly. So that was the guagua he meant.
“I’ll eat it.”
After responding, Jiang Yi couldn’t help looking up at Pei Wusi again.
Who knew he actually used reduplicated words?
It was quite a contrast to his image.
Jiang Yi followed behind Pei Wusi. After a good while, she thought slowly to herself:
A bit cute.
With Pei Wusi leading the way, Jiang Yi successfully arrived at the supermarket.
She first bought a bunch of lollipops and decorative ribbons before turning to the fruit section.
Jiang Yi picked out a few fruits she wanted to eat, then turned her head to see Pei Wusi talking on the phone with someone, seemingly his manager.
“Also, this one, and this one.”
Taking advantage of his inattention, Jiang Yi’s finger quickly tapped on two large watermelons, and she promptly checked out.
The supermarket provided excellent service, offering home delivery.
Jiang Yi filled in the address, and as soon as she turned around, she saw Pei Wusi walking over to her.
His brows were slightly knitted as he looked at the two large, whole watermelons Jiang Yi had bought.
“All bought?”
Jiang Yi nodded. She wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to start, so she could only watch as Pei Wusi pointed his finger at the two large watermelons.
Looking at her gestures, Pei Wusi was momentarily caught between laughter and tears.
“Wasn’t it supposed to be my treat?”
he asked.
Jiang Yi hid her hands behind her back, peeked at his slightly knitted brows, and lowered her head again.
“Um… that’s to thank you for guiding the way.”
Pei Wusi quickly smoothed out his tightly knitted brows. By now, he had also picked up on Jiang Yi’s little rabbit trait—timid and afraid of strangers.
“Alright.”
He nodded, dwelling no further on the matter.
“Then let’s head back?”
Jiang Yi nodded, stepping back half a pace to follow behind him.
When they returned to the villa, everyone was still in their rooms.
Jiang Yi left the watermelons outside, placed a phone call to Jiang Kong, and then quickly carried the things she bought into the small garden, disappearing from sight in no time.
When Jiang Kong came downstairs and spotted Pei Wusi beside the two large watermelons, he was slightly surprised.
“Brother Pei, why are you here too?”
“Coincidence.”
Pei Wusi kept it concise and to the point.
Jiang Kong nodded, looked left and right, and subconsciously asked, “Where’s my sister?”
“She went to the garden.”
Jiang Kong nodded without asking further, and subsequently, with Pei Wusi’s help, carried the two large watermelons to the dining room to chill them first.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yi, who had slipped quickly into the garden, made a point of taking paths where no one was around. However, after walking only a few steps, she heard an argument break out behind a nearby rockery.
“…Are you trying to anger me to death?!”
It was Director Shen Ping’s voice.
Jiang Yi’s footsteps paused, freezing on the spot, unsure of what to do.
“Dad, I’m already an adult; I have my own thoughts and desires.”
Immediately following, Shen Xiangcheng’s voice came through.
“Your thoughts, your thoughts are just to go against me, aren’t they?! I told you to study directing, but you insisted on performing opera; I can’t stand that Jiang Kong, yet you just have to help him out!”
Director Shen Ping’s voice raised another notch.
“Dad, online comments aren’t necessarily trustworthy, and you know that better than I do. Besides… performing Chinese opera is my dream…”
Without waiting for him to finish, Shen Ping interrupted him, “Dream, dream! What kind of future is there in that?! How many times have you taken the stage to perform over the past six months? If it weren’t for the family savings I built up for you, would you even be able to survive?!”
“…Dad…”
Shen Xiangcheng’s voice weakened. He coughed twice, his voice lowering a bit further.
“I can support myself.”
“Then are you not going to get married?…”
Snapping back to her senses, Jiang Yi slowly backed away. The voices she could hear gradually grew fainter, until she switched to another path and could no longer hear them at all, letting out a long, deep sigh of relief.
The garden was very large. Although she took a slight detour, Jiang Yi still successfully reached her destination.
Setting her things down, she knelt on a soft cushion and began decorating the small woven bamboo baskets she had crafted that morning.
Over by the park, there was a Children’s Day performance scheduled for this afternoon, so these small Children’s Day flower baskets should sell quite well.
Decorating a single small flower basket took very little time, but there was a large quantity.
By the time Jiang Yi finished them all, it was nearly 2:50 PM.
She found a box, arranged the small flower baskets one by one inside, packed them up, and only then sent a message to Jiang Kong.
Jiang Kong was currently in the dining room slicing watermelon. Most people had woken up and come downstairs around 2:30 PM one after another.
At this moment, they were all sharing and eating watermelon together.
Luo Jiajin came downstairs a step later, instantly letting out a pleasantly surprised laugh upon seeing the watermelon. “Where did this watermelon come from?”
“It smells so sweet.”
The sweet aroma of watermelon drifted through the air—refreshing and juicy—dispelling the muggy afternoon heat.
“We bought it. Teacher Luo, come have a slice.”
Jiang Kong handed a freshly sliced piece of watermelon to Luo Jiajin.
After expressing her thanks, Luo Jiajin took the watermelon, turned her head, and noticed Shen Ping and Shen Xiangcheng sitting dryly amidst the group of watermelon-eating people.
Neither of them was eating watermelon. Though sitting together, the atmosphere between them was visibly silent to the naked eye.
“Director Shen is…”
Luo Jiajin lowered her voice slightly to inquire.
Jiang Kong shook his head, indicating he didn’t know, nor did he say much.
Coincidentally, his phone rang with a special message notification chime.
Opening it for a look, Jiang Kong’s lips instantly curved into a smile.
“My sister is calling for me.”
He looked toward Pei Wusi. “Brother Pei, I’ll go over to find my sister first and be back in a bit.”
Pei Wusi nodded. Just as he was about to ask if he should bring a slice of watermelon over, he saw Jiang Kong adeptly pull half a sealed watermelon out of the fridge, stick a spoon into it, and jog toward the garden full of joy.
A few minutes later, Jiang Kong returned carrying a cardboard box.
“Brother Pei, I want to discuss something with you.”
…
When the livestream room opened once more, netizens saw Jiang Kong leaning close to Pei Wusi’s side, whispering something to him.
The howls of anticipation for the stream’s reopening had barely appeared when they were swiftly interrupted by a wave of question marks.
【???????????】
【??????????????】
【Suffocating.】
【AAAAAH, am I not awake yet? Jiang Kong, get out!】
【Heh, he’s literally blocking Old Pei’s camera shot completely. I don’t believe this isn’t deliberate.】
【Please, Jiang Kong, stay far away from Old Pei, OK?】
【Why is he so obsessed with clout-chasing? I thought I misunderstood him this morning.】
【The show crew didn’t allow everyone to gather together this morning, so he didn’t find the chance.】
【Umm… Wait, I’m new here, isn’t this just normal chatting?】
【The person above is still too young.】
【Can Pei fans stop screaming mindlessly? Every single one of you gets full marks for making up stories based on pictures!】
【Are Kong fans planning to reap the benefits while playing innocent now? Isn’t the one blocking Hubby’s camera shot right now Jiang Kong?】
…
Jiang Yi scooped out a spoonful of watermelon and silently chose to block the bullet comments.
She didn’t understand.
Jiang Kong and Pei Wusi didn’t chat for long. Before long, Jiang Kong pushed the box beside him over to Pei Wusi.
Pei Wusi opened the box for a look, nodded, and said something to Jiang Kong.
However, neither of them was wearing a mic, so their voices couldn’t be heard clearly.
In truth, Pei Wusi was praising these flower baskets for looking nice.
Jiang Kong smiled and nodded, then took a beautiful small flower basket out of the box and set it aside.
“This is the one my sister made specifically for me.”
Delighted, Jiang Kong closed the cardboard box and cradled the small flower basket in his hands once more.
When Pei Wusi first looked, he had noticed this small flower basket at a single glance.
For no other reason than that this small flower basket was the largest and prettiest one.
It was special enough that anyone could tell at a glance it had been specially prepared.
Luo Xia, having finished her watermelon, leaned over with curiosity, “Is this handmade?”
“Can I have a look?”
Jiang Kong nodded, handing it over carefully.
Luo Xia took it carefully as well, examining it earnestly before returning it.
“It’s very pretty.”
Jiang Kong’s mouth instantly split into a wide grin as he repeated, “It’s my Children’s Day gift from my sister.”
Luo Xia was wearing a mic. Because she was close, Jiang Kong’s voice was captured as well.
【I was so anxious, turns out they were chatting about this!】
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHA look at Jiang Kong’s worthless-looking smile!】
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHA if you didn’t know better, you’d think he was holding a deed to a house】
【A Children’s Day flower basket! And lollipops too! I actually want one too】
【So his sister actually knows how to make flower baskets, that’s really awesome! Where’s Sister? Why haven’t we seen her?】
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHA why does Kongkong feel so silly and goofy?】
【Is a trashy flower basket even worth showing off? Must have never seen good things before, huh?】
【Heh, sour grapes because you can’t eat them. Pei fans have really had enough.】
【Are you Kong fans out of your minds? Stop pinning labels on people randomly, is everything done by us?】
…
The livestream chat, which hadn’t been peaceful for even two seconds, broke into an argument once again. Within a few minutes, traffic was diverted as the livestream split into separate rooms once more.
In the afternoon, Jiang Kong still went to the hotel alone, dressed in a sharp suit, and served as a wedding emcee for another round.
The atmosphere was exceptionally lively, to the point where the hotel manager wished he could hold onto Jiang Kong and keep him around to host another wedding that evening.
However, around four-thirty in the afternoon, Jiang Kong still returned to the villa carrying his red envelope.
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Kongkong’s heart is flying home like an arrow!】
【Today’s Emcee Kongkong was super awesome too!】
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA today’s direction was genuinely something I didn’t expect】
【Attended two weddings virtually online!】
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA yes!】
【Kongkong is so amazing, he earned the most today!】
【I want to hire Kongkong to be my wedding emcee too】
…
During the car ride, Jiang Kong held his phone and chatted casually with the fans in the livestream room.
By the time he reached the villa, only Teacher Chang Ximing was in the living room watching TV.
Jiang Kong first went to Jiang Yi’s room and knocked on the door, but no one opened.
He went back to his own room, carefully checked the condition of the flower basket, and then began searching the entire villa for Jiang Yi.
“Teacher Chang, have you seen my sister?”
The weather was hot in the afternoon, so Teacher Chang Ximing hadn’t gone out either.
Teacher Chang Ximing shook his head, “No.”
“She’s not in her room?”
Jiang Kong shook his head, taking the follow-cam lens along to search the garden.
【She should be in the garden.】
【Could she have gone out?】
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Kongkong’s daily routine of looking for his sister】
【Can’t you just send a message or place a call directly?】
【She went to the garden at noon, you can go check again.】
…
However, Jiang Kong took almost an entire loop around the garden without spotting Jiang Yi’s figure.
He pulled out his phone and sent Jiang Yi another message.
【Sis! I’m back!】
Seeing Jiang Kong return to the living room, Chang Ximing offered a suggestion.
“Could she have gone out?”
“Probably… unlikely.”
Jiang Kong hesitated. His sister had already gone out once at noon; unless necessary, she shouldn’t be going out again this afternoon.
While speaking, Luo Jiajin and Luo Xia returned from outside.
“Teacher Luo, have you seen my sister?”
Jiang Kong inquired.
Luo Jiajin shook her head, “We just came back from outside, we didn’t see her.”
“Is something wrong?”
Luo Jiajin asked in turn.
Jiang Kong paused for a moment and shook his head.
“It’s nothing.”
“Then I’ll continue looking for her.”
Luo Jiajin was dazed for a moment, looking at Jiang Kong’s departing figure with a hint of confusion.
If nothing’s wrong, why keep looking?
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Luo Jiajin’s bewildered expression is genuinely making me fly with laughter】
【I don’t get it either, why look for her if nothing’s wrong?】
【Sister is genuinely so elusive, no one can ever find her】
【HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA wild guess: Kongkong just wants to find his sister to show off to her】
…
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