Chapter 197

Warner rented Sun Yanzi a simple four-bedroom, two-living-room apartment in Beijing, roughly 160 square meters, with a decor style nearly identical to the one Warner had rented for Zhou Yi in Taiwan—Nordic style.

Or rather, it was a copy of the futuristic Nordic style he himself had installed in Taiwan.

Zhou Yi even spotted some small furniture pieces that had appeared in her music videos, like a spherical sofa.

"You're not that poor, are you? Even stealing free stuff from Warner? How much of your royalty did they cut?"

Because he'd been busy filming for "Fashion Harper" and promoting to maintain "Jiangnan"'s ranking, this was Zhou Yi's first visit to her home since she moved out of the hotel.

The moment he walked in, he got two big surprises in a row.

"You don't understand—if I don't take these, Chen Zeshan will just resell them secondhand or give them away."

Sun Yanzi, wearing a beige short-sleeve shirt and blue jeans, stood barefoot on the floor and said firmly, "Might as well buy them cheaply—they work just fine."

"What about that kite?"

Zhou Yi nodded toward the framed painting hanging on the living room wall.

"Can't I just look up at it when I miss home?"

Sun Yanzi brought Zhou Yi a glass of water and noticed the opaque bag he'd been holding in his left hand. "What's this?"

"Guess."

"Fine, don't tell me."

"Mid-Autumn gift."

"...?"

Sun Yanzi's expression visibly froze. Seeing this, Zhou Yi smiled and pulled a gift box out of the opaque plastic bag: "I don't know how you celebrate Mid-Autumn in Singapore, but today in China is definitely Mid-Autumn Festival—just happens to coincide with National Day."

"If I got the timing wrong, just pretend you didn't see it."

As Sun Yanzi reached out with both hands, surprised, Zhou Yi added, "Or consider this just a gift I brought when visiting."

"In my hometown, you never show up at someone's house empty-handed."

After her surprise, Sun Yanzi's happiness was obvious. "Then what should I say? According to your hometown custom—thank you, or Happy National Day? Happy Mid-Autumn? Do I need to give a return gift?"

"Just don't poison me."

Sun Yanzi set the mooncake box aside and reached for the opaque white bag Zhou Yi placed on the table—but the sudden, heavy drop into her palms nearly made her drop it—

?!

Why is it so heavy?!

Huh?

More stuff inside?

"What's this?"

"Ma Jia You—specialty from Shangrao. Everyone in my hometown gives this as a holiday gift. You've probably never tried it." Zhou Yi leaned back against the sofa, grinning widely as he watched Sun Yanzi nearly drop the two Ma Jia You fruits.

"Do people in your hometown always bring this much when visiting?"

Sun Yanzi pulled the two Ma Jia You fruits from the bag, slapped her forehead, and said in disbelief.

"Get used to it. What's for lunch today?"

Zhou Yi, completely at ease, curled up on the pink spherical sofa and asked, "I haven't eaten breakfast—I'm starving."

"... Uh, stir-fried pork with chili?"

Still examining the Ma Jia You, Sun Yanzi blinked and ventured, "How about some Singapore-style modified Chinese dishes? Okay?"

"You can cook that? Then why don't I smell any chili?"

Contrary to what a spice-lover would expect, Zhou Yi looked suspicious.

"It hasn't started yet, haha! Sit down, watch TV, watch TV—I'll go cook." Determined to prove herself, Sun Yanzi shoved the TV remote into his hands, then ran barefoot back to her bedroom, and moments later came sprinting into the kitchen wearing a pair of pink rabbit slippers—

She grinned at Zhou Yi as she passed the living room, then slammed the kitchen door shut.

"..."

Why did she laugh?

Zhou Yi was baffled by the grin she gave just before entering the kitchen.

But then his attention was pulled by the sound coming from the TV—

"You might not know this, but our Jielun is actually a very shy boy. Before the show, he asked me, 'He Laoshi, can I sing more and talk less...'"

Beneath Hunan TV's logo, a rerun of "Happy Camp" showed Zhou Jielun's first appearance—

Same familiar baseball cap, same familiar silence—barely three words out of him—while He Jiong carried the entire show with his chatter.

Zhou Yi couldn't help laughing.

When he sang "Indian Old Turtle Dove," you wouldn't believe it—the lyrics were the exact phrases Zhou Jielun said most often on "Happy Camp."

If I were He Jiong, I'd have collapsed long ago.

Luckily, He Jiong had been prepped in advance, systematically prepared topics to keep the atmosphere lively, barely avoiding an awkward silence.

"Jielun, the public says you and Zhou Yi are very close, even calling you the 'Double Zhou.' Is your relationship really as close as rumors claim?"

"Uh, it's not that special. To be honest, Zhou Yi and I... if you really count it, we've been through life and death together."

When talking about Zhou Yi, Zhou Jielun finally wore the brightest smile he'd shown since the recording began: "We knew each other before we debuted. Back then, Sun Yanzi hadn't debuted either."

"We even grilled together once—but Zhou Yi's grilling skills were terrible. His egg fried rice, though? Absolutely delicious."

Zhou Yi, sitting comfortably in Sun Yanzi's home, had been enjoying the show—until he heard this and froze.

What's that supposed to mean?

What do you mean my grilling skills are terrible?

Isn't it enough if it's cooked?

"Of course it's not enough if it's just cooked!"

Inside the sealed kitchen, Sun Yanzi was frantically tending to the stove as Chen Zeshan's frustrated, exasperated voice came through the phone—

"Yanzi, why not just heat it up in the microwave? Re-frying fish is too hard for you."

"No, he can cook—he'll definitely notice."

Looking at the cold, exquisite dishes on the stove, Sun Yanzi tilted her head to pin the phone between ear and shoulder, then used both hands to tackle the hardest task: frying the fish.

"But you'll be at it till the end of time this way."

"It's not that bad—today's a holiday, neither he nor I have work."

"Who told you Zhou Yi has the day off? His schedule is packed today—I don't even know why Qian Jiang let him go..."

On the other end of the phone, Chen Zeshan's rambling made Sun Yanzi freeze in place.

(End of Chapter)