For the next few days, Lu Yufei didn’t receive any messages from Sister Zhang.
She wasn’t idle, though. She sold a few more unbranded clothes on Xianyu, along with an Hermès silk scarf, bringing in over 4,000 yuan.
The hardest part to bear was how hot the weather was.
The apartment Fu Qing rented was on the top floor. By afternoon, the ceiling was baked scorching hot by the sun, turning the entire room into an oven.
Several times, she opened the refrigerator door and stuck her head inside to cool off for a few seconds. When Fu Qing came back and saw her doing that, he pulled her away, saying it wasn’t safe. He also wouldn’t let her eat ice cream, saying pregnant women shouldn’t have anything too cold.
Fu Qing had once bought her a handheld mini-fan—palm-sized and USB-rechargeable.
The first time she used it, she was quite happy, holding it up and blowing air at her face for ten minutes before the wind stopped.
“The battery life on this thing is terrible.” Squatting beside the bedside table, she plugged the charging cable in and out.
Fu Qing came in after taking the laundry off the balcony and glanced at her. “Isn’t one hour of use per charge enough?”
“That’s for you. I hate the heat!” Watching him leave early and return late every day with sweat soaking through the back of his shirt, she didn’t feel like complaining anymore.
After two days, she finally couldn’t take it anymore.
Opening a shopping app, she ordered a standing floor fan, specifically picking one with reviews praising its strong airflow, set for next-day delivery.
When the express delivery arrived the next day, she called Fu Qing to remind him to pick it up on his way back.
She stayed home, cooking to wait for him.
Speaking of cooking, the kitchen was on the balcony. With no air conditioning, it was already hot, and she didn’t really want to step in there. But Fu Qing’s cooking honestly couldn’t be called good—it was merely edible, basically just cooked, a bit salty, and enough to fill you up.
After eating it for two days and losing her appetite completely, Lu Yufei finally walked into the kitchen herself one afternoon.
It took her forty minutes to make two dishes and a soup.
When she served the food on the table, Fu Qing stood by the table without sitting down.
He looked at the food, then looked at her, his eyes carrying a hint of scrutiny.
“Since when do you know how to cook?”
Lu Yufei’s heart skipped a beat.
The old Lu Yufei didn’t know how to cook. She had forgotten to maintain her persona and accidentally went OOC (out of character).
“…Learned it from watching videos,” she set down the chopsticks, trying to sound as casual as possible. “Did you really think I wanted to eat your burnt scrambled eggs every day?”
Fu Qing didn’t reply, sitting down in silence, but he finished every single dish clean.
When Fu Qing carried the fan up to the sixth floor, his T-shirt was completely soaked, clinging to his body and faintly outlining the strained muscle lines of his back.
Lu Yufei quickly grabbed the mini-fan and blew air at him.
He unpacked the cardboard box, reading the instruction manual to find the screws while turning his head to dodge the breeze from the fan. “Cool yourself.”
Squatting on the ground, he tightened the screws and assembled the base. The parts were neatly arranged, with the manual pressed under his knees.
Once assembled, he carried the fan to the bedside, plugged it in, and pressed the switch.
A strong gust of wind rushed over, blowing all of Lu Yufei’s stray hairs back.
Her eyes lit up.
“This money was well spent.”
She grabbed a plastic stool, sat directly in front of the fan, and closed her eyes to enjoy it for a good long while.
Then she opened one eye and found Fu Qing still standing nearby.
She turned on the fan’s oscillating function, swinging the airflow toward his direction.
“You should get some air too.”
“No need.”
“You just came back from outside, dripping with sweat. Will it kill you to catch some breeze?”
He didn’t speak, but he didn’t dodge either. When the fan swept toward him, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
Lu Yufei pretended not to be watching, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught his expression and quietly curved the corner of her mouth.
Later on, Fu Qing started waking up even earlier.
After finishing the morning peak-hour delivery rush, he would buy meat before the morning vegetable market closed and bring it back, putting it in the fridge.
When Lu Yufei woke up, he would accompany her to the market to buy greens.
She picked the vegetables, and he carried the bags behind her. She haggled with the vendors, and he stood nearby watching her.
Once, a vegetable vendor remarked, “Your husband is so handsome,” to which Lu Yufei replied with a straight face, “He’s just so-so.”
Behind her, Fu Qing lowered his head, the back of his ears turning bright red.
Living like a real married couple, days like this went on until Sister Zhang’s phone call came.
After hanging up, Lu Yufei sat on the edge of the bed, flipping her phone over to rest it on her lap.
Fu Qing walked out of the kitchen with a towel draped over his shoulder and asked who called.
“My manager.”
“What is it?”
“She found me a variety show, just a one-episode guest appearance.”
He took the towel off his shoulder and hung it on the hook behind the door.
“What kind of show?”
“It’s called Leisurely Inn, a slow-paced reality show where you go run a bed-and-breakfast in the mountains. They said it’s just a guest appearance, so filming won’t take too long.”
Lu Yufei’s tone suppressed a hint of excitement. “The pay is 50,000 yuan after tax. The company takes a cut, so I’ll get a bit less in hand, but at least it’s some income.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I’m telling you right now.”
The air froze for a few seconds.
Fu Qing’s jawline tightened as he lowered his voice. “You’re five months pregnant and you want to go film a variety show in the mountains? Have you thought about what will happen to the baby?”
“I’m taking it because I thought about it. This show is a slow-paced one, not an athletic variety show. There’s no running, jumping, or tasks; it’s just going into the mountains to run a B&B. Plus, it’s cooler up in the mountains—it’ll be better for the baby than lying around at home.”
“That’s not the point.” Fu Qing stepped forward. “You didn’t mention a single word of this beforehand, and suddenly you say you’re going out of town to film a show—”
“Then now that I’ve told you, do you agree?”
Lu Yufei interrupted him. He didn’t answer.
“See, you don’t agree,” Lu Yufei answered for him.
Fu Qing’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “At least we could discuss it.”
“Fine, let’s discuss it now.” Lu Yufei stood up, only to find that even standing, she barely reached his chin.
“This apartment is on the top floor. I can endure the heat, but there’s no elevator! I can barely manage climbing six floors at five months, what about when I’m seven or eight months along? You’re out delivering food every day—if anything happens to me while I’m home alone, can you make it back in time? I want to make money to change apartments, it doesn’t even need to be big. At least I could go out for a walk every day instead of being locked in this steamer all day long!”
Fu Qing fell silent.
“I’m not complaining about you.” Realizing her words might make Fu Qing uncomfortable, she softened her tone and sat back down on the bed. “I just…”
Fu Qing stood in front of her, turned his head away, and sat down on the stool.
After a long while, he finally spoke.
“I know. I’ll look into apartments again based on your requirements and try to give you the life you want.”
Lu Yufei sat on the bed, not knowing what to say.
Only the fan was oscillating, the breeze sweeping past in waves, back and forth.
The next day, when Sister Zhang sent the contract over, she attached an extra voice message.
“Let me tell you something, brace yourself. The production team might use your pregnancy as a promotional angle—to put it bluntly, using your belly as a gimmick. The comment sections won’t be pretty by then. If you can’t accept that, we can still back out now.”
After listening, Lu Yufei typed a few words and sent them back.
“It’s fine, it’s not like I’ve never been cursed at before.”
She put her phone down and saw Fu Qing coming in from the balcony with the laundry—her shirts and dresses.
Lu Yufei paused for a moment.
It looked like he was helping her pack her luggage.