The Last Cup of Coffee
[Don’t be ridiculous… He’s an eighteenth-tier nobody too, an actor who’s best at putting on a show in front of the camera.]
[Exactly. You people are so easy to sway with a pretty face. He can make coffee? Hahaha!]
[Who doesn’t know Ji Ziyi’s a vain jerk? He’d love to bring back slavery and play emperor while everyone else waited on him!]
[He really is that full of himself. Makes my blood boil. All he’s got is a pretty face. Inside, he’s rotten to the core…]
The camera followed Ji Ziyi into the cabin’s kitchen. It was fully equipped, but there wasn’t any finished or half-prepared coffee. The bag of coffee beans hadn’t even been opened. It was obvious Ji Ziyi would have to make it all himself, step by step.
Ji Ziyi opened the fridge first and found the ice maker. He was just about to boil some water when he turned and bumped his forehead against the camera lens, leaving a faint red mark.
The cameraman boy was partly to blame for not stepping back in time. He’d had time to react. He kept apologizing to Ji Ziyi, flustered, while the livestream audience watched the camera suddenly tilt sharply downward. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought he’d thrown it on the floor.
Ji Ziyi had only bumped it lightly. He said he was fine, helped the boy lift the camera back up, then went to boil the water.
The camera stayed trained on his back.
The viewers guessed that Ji Ziyi must have accidentally bumped into the lens, and the bullet comments flew by.
[Ahem… The cameraman boy got so distracted by that face he forgot what he was doing, huh…]
[The camera barely moved just now, like it was glued to his face. You know exactly what we’re here to see!]
[Can we get a shot of the cameraman boy too? I bet he’s making the same lovestruck face I am, hehe…]
The livestream interface had different camera angles viewers could switch between. One showed the three guest couples outside, chatting, but most people were watching Ji Ziyi, so his camera had the biggest audience for now.
Ji Ziyi started grinding the beans and filtering the grounds, again and again. His movements were practiced and unhurried.
The cameraman boy filmed his hands for a while, then found himself turning the camera back to Ji Ziyi’s face. Ji Ziyi smiled sheepishly at the lens, then suddenly remembered this was a livestream and he ought to say something to the viewers.
“Hello, everyone.” He had no idea what else to say, so he simply went over a few tips for making coffee and demonstrated as he talked.
[I’m dying. He really seems to be trying to teach me how to do it.]
[Hahaha, he explained everything in such detail, but I didn’t absorb a word. I was too busy looking at his face… P.S. His voice is so gentle.]
Some of the viewers who’d tuned in hoping to see him make a fool of himself had nothing left to say, and quietly stopped commenting.
The coffee was made to suit each person’s taste, with milk and sugar added as requested. Then a production assistant carried it outside. The moment Ji Ziyi stepped out, the guests who’d been sitting there all stood up at once for some reason, their eyes fixed on his face.
Zhu Lin took her coffee first and praised it after a sip. She gave Ji Ziyi a sidelong look and asked, “How old are you?”
Ji Ziyi blinked. “Twenty-two…”
Then all the guests seemed eager to come over and talk to him. Ji Ziyi had thought they disliked the original body, so he’d planned to keep quiet. He hadn’t expected them to be so friendly, and felt he’d have a hard time handling them all. He smiled, then went back inside.
[I’m dead. They’re just like me. At first they were treating Ji Ziyi like a joke, but now they’re kind of won over…]
[All I can say is, this show is entirely about looks. No standards whatsoever. So shallow.]
[To the person above: What else would the entertainment industry care about if not looks? I opened the livestream screenshot page you sent me, and it’s full of close-ups of Ji Ziyi. Huh? So this is what being deep in the closet looks like?]
[Hahahaha, we all watch the livestream and talk shit, then somehow end up meeting in the super topic, right?]
[Did anyone notice the non-celebrity guy’s expression just now? He looked completely transfixed by Ji Ziyi…]
[To the person above: What a load of crap! Those two non-celebrity guys are a real couple, okay? This is ridiculous.]
Ji Ziyi went back into the cabin and called over the two little boys. He handed each of them a freshly frozen mini milk popsicle, and they sat outside on the cabin’s porch to eat.
The little boy from the non-celebrity couple, whose nickname was Bubu, licked his popsicle and asked Fu Yanchi, “Is that your daddy?”
Little Fu’s mouth drooped. He took a bite of his popsicle and shook his head.
“He looks like that…” Bubu furrowed his little brows, trying to remember. “Flower… flower… the one from the cartoon…”
“Fairy Flower!” Bubu finally remembered and shouted excitedly in his squeaky baby voice.
Xiaochi glanced into the cabin with his round eyes, keeping quiet. Then, in a tiny voice, he muttered under his breath, “He’s not…”
[What are those two little rascals whispering about? I can’t hear them.]
[Haha, I heard Bubu say Ji Ziyi looks like Fairy Flower. I’m dying.]
[Bubu really has no idea how dangerous the world is. He’s been bought off with a popsicle!]
Just then, the director started stirring things up again. He smiled at Ji Ziyi and said, “Looks like we’re still missing a cup of coffee.”
“Huh?” Ji Ziyi had counted everyone when he made the coffee. He couldn’t have missed anyone.
The director grinned mischievously. “You forgot one person! Hahaha. Oh, newlyweds…”
Ji Ziyi realized he meant Fu Li’s cup.
He’d thought Fu Li wasn’t coming, but from what the director said, he must be almost there…
Without a word, Ji Ziyi started making the last cup. The camera stayed on the cup in his hands as the director kept bringing up Fu Li and their recent marriage. It made Ji Ziyi’s ears turn bright red, and he grew even quieter.
[Baby, why are you blushing? Don’t tell me you really like your husband…]
[I don’t approve of this marriage, sob]
[You casual fans are out of your minds. That’s Fu Li, the youngest film emperor! Ji Ziyi isn’t fit to lace his shoes, okay?]
[I’m dying laughing. Casual fans have some nerve. Haven’t you noticed Fu Li still hasn’t shown up? It’s obvious he doesn’t want to see him.]
[Heh, an eighteenth-tier foot-washing maid, and you actually take him seriously…]
The bullet comments seized the opportunity, and a flood of mockery and insults covered the livestream.
“Everyone’s saying the two of you are so close,” the director said, deliberately egging him on as if he hadn’t seen the comments. “I’m sure this cup is going to be something special.”
Ji Ziyi had no choice but to pour in the milk foam and use a toothpick to draw a little heart with a curled-up tail.
As they were talking, a deep, rich male voice suddenly came from outside the cabin. Then the wooden floor creaked.
* * *
Fu Li exchanged a brief greeting with the guests under the canopy, then the production crew sent him into the cabin.
He’d been forced to come on the show, and it showed in his expression. His sharply defined face was blank, as if covered in frost.
As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, a slender figure turned around and held out an arm at the same time. “Your coffee.”
Fu Li stopped breathing.
His first thought was: Damn, is this guy’s face even real?