Chapter 684: Chapter 683: We’re Already at the Stage of Having Meals and Strolling While Chatting

The dusk is different from both day and night; during this transition period, if you only use your eyes, it seems as if everything begins to blur.

The white smoke rising from the chimney is blurry, the shadows of familiar houses are blurry, and the outlines of mountains and rivers in the distance are also blurry. This blurring amplifies both panic and awe.

So, it is essential to pair it with calls and the fragrance that follows the drifting white smoke, allowing one to regain a sense of reality.

Mu Qiu doesn’t often write farming or reality-oriented stories, but she has a fondness for this kind of realistic landscape description.

It’s like lying back on a recliner, sipping warm tea, in a sense of undisturbed comfort after a fulfilling meal.

Her eyelids slowly closed and opened again as she turned to quietly look at the ruins to the right of the awning.

The ruins lying dormant beyond the lively fireworks had only a relatively clear outline, but they appeared much more menacing than during the day.

"The crew has tidied up almost everything, let’s head back to the hotel."

Cheng Zhirang nudged Mu Qiu and then said to the others, "Li Yang is about to fall asleep."

As soon as Li Yang was mentioned, the dozing Li Yang immediately woke up.

"Huh? Are we going back to the hotel?"

The others stood up.

"Yeah, your head is about to fall to the ground from nodding off."

Li Yang scratched his head, stood up, and stretched lazily, saying, "I am a bit sleepy. Aren’t you guys tired?"

"Tired, so a stroll back to sleep it is."

Walking back to the hotel at this hour counts as a post-dinner stroll.

The crew was still doing the final clean-up, and the manager was already standing by the car, originally intending to suggest they take the car back, but as soon as they all stepped out of the awning, a photographer carrying a camera followed them.

They probably wanted to shoot some exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.

The manager and assistant had to leave first.

A full meal followed by a stroll, chatting in the evening breeze, is a very ordinary, very happy thing.

Mu Qiu thought that the people present should all gradually feel that the group who were initially strangers and awkward in the pilot now have become accustomed to one another.

Even when there’s no topic, they can chat easily, their relationship no longer just "performing friendliness in front of the camera," but naturally close after spending time together.

The group variety the director initially wanted to create might really be succeeding.

...

Mu Qiu felt completely relaxed after a satisfying shower.

With a facial mask on and drying her hair, while Zhao Yu was busy voting daily for Su Yan, lying on the bed already playing on her phone.

The hairdryer buzzed for five or six minutes without stopping, and Mu Qiu’s arm started to tire.

Her hair was voluminous and not easy to dry. Even after it was seventy percent dry, she needed to add hair oil and use a fine-tooth comb to smooth it while continuing to blow-dry, a rather intricate process.

By the time she finished blow-drying, the mask was ready to come off. After tidying up in the bathroom, she came out to find Zhao Yu already asleep on her stomach on the bed.

Her chin resting on the pillow, hair in a mess, the phone had dropped on her nose.

Mu Qiu sat on the bed beside her, speaking softly yet effectively.

"Su Yan is in second place."

Zhao Yu, still in her prone sleeping posture, immediately raised her head, bleary-eyed, instinctively reaching for her phone to check.

"No way! How can my Yan Shen be second?! Surely there’s a place I missed voting!"

Mu Qiu, already used to it, sat at the bedside massaging her calves, saying, "Your persistent spirit is truly moving. Just like scholars who used to study relentlessly, you, Zhao Yu, are the queen of online voting."

Zhao Yu sat up, patted her face to wake up, and continued her voting endeavor.

"Voting is all about perseverance. It’s like your writing. Skip a day, and you don’t feel like doing it anymore. Plus, I’ve already clocked over a thousand days of voting. There’s absolutely, absolutely no way I’m missing even a single day."

"Vote away, why drag me into it?"

"Don’t you realize how long it’s been since you’ve written? Half a year ago, you asked me to scold you awake because you didn’t want to write, and now, how long has it been? Love affairs are affecting your dedication to work."

Mu Qiu took off her shoes, leaned against the headboard, and smacked her lips, "Tsk, perhaps this is the allure of beauty. A gentle embrace makes one not want to be sensible."

Zhao Yu rolled her eyes dramatically.

"You just have no resistance to good-looking men, and coincidentally, found the best-looking one. If it were anyone else, you might rather buy lifelong insurance and grow old alone."

Just as she finished speaking, the sound of coins clinking from her phone suddenly echoed.

"My stocks have gone up again!"

Mu Qiu raised an eyebrow, "What stocks were you lucky enough to hit? You couldn’t even win a ’get another bottle’ from ten scratch cards before."

Zhao Yu was busy chatting with the person advising on stocks, not even looking up, she answered, "Bought Changtong."

"...Damn, why didn’t I think of that? I need to go buy some too."

So in a night when everyone else was exhausted and ready for bed, two disheveled women in a certain room struggled against sleepiness to study buying Changtong stocks.

So engrossed were they that even when one of the women’s boyfriend messaged, she ignored it, swiping away the pop-up chat and continued frowning over stocks.

Cheng Zhirang thought, Mu Qiu didn’t respond to his message, she must have already slept, so he didn’t disturb her further and after a few calls went to bed himself.

The next morning, when delivering breakfast, he saw a representative of dark circles coming out of the room next door.

Too sleepy to keep her eyes open, she took the breakfast and was ready to go back to sleep.

A mumbled "Morning, Brother Cheng" in who knows what language, completely unclear to him, he guessed just from the intonation.

He didn’t have the heart to clear her head, so he gently patted her head, softly said, "Go back to sleep, it’s in the thermal box. Depart at ten."

Mu Qiu nodded absently and shut the door with a click.

If Cheng Zhirang had been even a little closer, his nose would’ve been in danger.

The hallways were still quiet, no movement from other rooms, probably all still sleeping.

A moment later, Cheng Zhirang stared at the room number on the door, smiled, turned back to his room, and planned to lie back down.

For celebrities, being nocturnal isn’t a bad thing, it’s normal. Filming or recording shows until the early hours, then sleeping until afternoon is not uncommon.

Mu Qiu just happened to be someone who could sleep well, so the whole floor remained silent until ten o’clock.

Cheng Zhirang went out of his room a second time, still no sign of movement outside.

He sighed, went to the manager and crew, informing them to delay the departure time a bit further.

Delay until when?

Who knows, until they wake up I guess.

And this wait lasted until two in the afternoon.

Everyone was well-rested, enjoyed a delightful lunch, and only after that did they go downstairs to find their managers, fully geared up.

Mu Qiu dragged Zhao Yu, said goodbye to the others, put on a mask, and got into Cheng Zhirang’s car.

Assistant Liang was driving, Cheng Zhirang was in the passenger seat, and Chen Song wasn’t there.

The man with an exceptional profile in the front turned back and asked, "Where are we headed?"

Mu Qiu replied with excitement, "To my place. We plan to go to Disney today, need to get our gear first."