After Lin Wan and Fu Shen finally relented, Fu Yi pestered them for a piece of land.
A large piece of land.
Aside from their main estate, the Fu family owned shops all over Yangzhou and even held vacant plots and houses in reserve. Fu Yi occasionally wondered if the nouveau riche of the upper world were ever truly this wealthy. Compared to her previous life, the wealth gap in this lower world was staggeringly severe.
In short, a venue for the romance variety show was secured. Located in the southeast of Yangzhou, the main house spanned several hundred square meters. It was nestled against mountains and near water, offering a pleasant and exceptionally quiet environment.
The Fu family had left this land idle for two reasons: they had too much land to manage, and it was located far from the center of Yangzhou, bordering the outskirts. This distance made it less ideal for traditional business development. Since it was vacant, Fu Yi didn’t have to put much effort into asking Lin Wan and Fu Shen for it.
After releasing the promotional video, Fu Yi spent her remaining days “raising her rabbit” at home. Half a month later, she received a message from Shen Yiyi.
Fu Yi had to admit that Shen Yiyi’s efficiency was impressive. Once all the large and small administrative matters were prepared, the grand romance variety show produced by the Fu family underwent another wave of promotion in Yangzhou.
While the promotional effect could never match the scale of the upper world, Fu Yi checked the view count of her last video and found it passably acceptable.
Before departing for the show, Fu Yi released the final video she had recorded at home.
The initial footage was blurry, only faintly showing a person lying on a bed. As the camera moved from a distance to a close-up, the image gradually sharpened.
Recognizing the person in the video, Ye Xunshu froze and looked at Fu Yi, who was watching the video with great interest beside her.
Fu Yi glanced back at her and teased, “Xunshu’s sleeping face is so beautiful, I almost regret letting you participate in a romance show.”
Ye Xunshu gave a huff. “When did Sister Fu Yi take this secret footage?”
Fu Yi didn’t answer. Her eyes remained glued to the water mirror as she said lazily, “You will know if you keep watching.”
Ye Xunshu had no choice but to continue watching. However, the subsequent scenes turned her face bright red.
In the video, Fu Yi had placed the water mirror at an angle that captured both of them. Fu Yi first gave a slight smile to the “camera,” then reached out to gently tap Ye Xunshu’s cheek.
Ye Xunshu gripped her sleeve, realizing that this video was being watched by all of Yangzhou today. She murmured, “Sister Fu Yi didn’t do anything to Xunshu.”
“I did.” Fu Yi looked at her, pressing a finger to her own lips with a smile. “I kissed you.”
“!”
Ye Xunshu turned her face back to the mirror and indeed saw the Fu Yi in the video slowly leaning toward her sleeping self. At that moment, her recorded self seemed to sense something, frowned, rolled over, and left Fu Yi with nothing but her back.
Seeing this, the video version of Fu Yi didn’t give up. Instead, she leaned her whole body down, closing the distance between them. Her cascading long hair slid down the side, perfectly obscuring the point where they met.
The video ended there. In truth, nothing inappropriate was shown, but as they would say in the upper world, it certainly “hooked the audience’s interest.”
“Sister!” Ye Xunshu covered her face, looking at Fu Yi in shock. “Sister k-k-kissed…”
“It wasn’t the first time.” Fu Yi found Ye Xunshu’s bashful expression incredibly cute, so her tone grew even more languid. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Ye Xunshu with a deep, contemplative gaze, enunciating each word: “It was… very… sweet.”
Ye Xunshu’s face flushed a deep crimson instantly.
Fu Yi named the romance variety show The Myriad Gravities of Infatuation, or Gravity for short.
After that last video went out, those already interested in the show exploded with excitement, and even those previously uninterested joined the fray. When it came to “spilling the tea,” Fu Yi had a firm grasp on the audience.
For the conservative people of this world, the “tea” that generated the most interest was inevitably Alphas and Omegas being affectionate in public, or someone’s little Omega cheating with another’s Alpha.
Gravity had initially launched with the theme of “Freedom of Love.” Now that Fu Yi had released this video, people began to speculate on her true intentions. She publicly showed off her affection for her own Omega while simultaneously joining a romance show to mingle with others.
If that wasn’t a scumbag Alpha move, what was?
But this was exactly the effect Fu Yi wanted. Using herself to attract traffic made even Shen Yiyi sigh, “You really have a way.”
Fu Yi scratched her head, a bit embarrassed. “It’s nothing, haha.”
Indeed, it was largely thanks to the original owner’s foul reputation; otherwise, she couldn’t have centered the limelight on herself so easily.
“But Fu Yi, are you really taking your sister-in-law to that place?” Before departure, Shen Yiyi expressed some concern. “To be honest, even though you seem different lately, knowing you for years makes me wonder. Once you’re there, can you really resist provoking others?”
Fu Yi shot her a glare.
Shen Yiyi gave a dry laugh. Although she was a Beta, she could feel the murderous intent in that glare even through a wall. “I—I’ll head out first. It’s still early, so take your time.”
She practically fled in a panic.
Fu Yi continued to wait for Ye Xunshu. Watching Shen Yiyi run off, she let out a heavy sigh. Shen Yiyi was the original owner’s childhood friend, yet this friend wouldn’t even give her a “backdoor” look at the other guests’ information, claiming it had to be kept secret.
Even though she was the host!
Fu Yi felt a bit sulky. She was actually quite worried about the show failing. With a sensitive person following her, she felt that every part of Gravity was filled with potential pitfalls that could upset a certain “small animal.”
“Sigh…” Before even reaching the filming location, Fu Yi already felt mentally exhausted.
“Sister Fu Yi!” Ye Xunshu ran toward her. She had changed her outfit today, and her clothes were now perfectly fitted.
A few days ago, Fu Yi had taken her to the market to buy several changes of clothes. Ye Xunshu liked light colors, and Fu Yi preferred her in them as well. It made her look even more like a little rabbit.
She had done up her hair this morning, pinned with a crabapple blossom buyao (dangling hairpins). As the little rabbit ran over, the hairpin swayed with her. Fu Yi caught a glimpse and thought of the buyao Ye Xunshu wore on their wedding day.
That one was more complex and dazzling, but Fu Yi felt the little rabbit looked better with this simple elegance.
Ye Xunshu waved her hand in front of Fu Yi’s face, curious. “Why is Sister Fu Yi’s face red again?”
Fu Yi’s heart warmed. She coughed and deliberately dodged the question. “You’re here, so let’s head out.” With that, she turned and stepped into the Fu family carriage.
She didn’t even turn back to help her up.
Ye Xunshu watched as she entered the carriage without moving, then simply smiled to herself. She naturally raised her hand to touch the hairpin on her head.
“If you don’t come up, we’ll be late,” Fu Yi urged from inside.
“Coming, Sister.” Ye Xunshu withdrew her hand, boarded the carriage, and sat down beside Fu Yi.
Ye Xunshu asked, “Why aren’t Father and Mother coming to see us off?”
Fu Yi answered, “They did. But I dragged Shen Yiyi to be the director, and the camera crew was hired from the dyehouse. We haven’t recruited enough staff yet, so they had to go on ahead.”
Ye Xunshu nodded and sat upright.
Silence fell within the carriage. Fu Yi stole occasional glances at Ye Xunshu, noticing her long eyelashes, her clear eyes, and further down, those pink lips.
The memory of a soft sweetness seemed to spread in her mouth, and Fu Yi instinctively licked her teeth. Ye Xunshu was too well-behaved sitting there silently. Fu Yi couldn’t stand the quiet and finally found a topic to talk about.
“Cough… so…”
Ye Xunshu looked at her. “Yes?”
“Xunshu, regarding romance variety shows… no, I mean, freedom of love,” Fu Yi said. “What do you think of it?”
“Xunshu doesn’t understand.” Ye Xunshu gave the answer decisively, without a moment’s thought.
Fu Yi blinked.
Ye Xunshu’s fingertips tapped lightly on the side of the seat. She said briskly, “Freedom of love—anyone hearing that phrase for the first time would feel it violates ancient etiquette. Sister Fu Yi will inevitably be criticized for proposing this.”
“But Omegas must follow Alphas; that is also a rule left from ancient times.” Ye Xunshu raised her hand to touch her hairpin, lowering her eyes and whispering, “I am Sister’s person now. In the future, I will simply listen to Sister.”
Fu Yi remained silent, her eyes gazing deeply at Ye Xunshu.
Omegas follow Alphas. She only listens to me.
Fu Yi couldn’t quite describe how she felt hearing that answer. It felt repulsive, even sickening. She remembered her younger sister in the upper world saying she hated the rules of the lower world. Now she felt she could understand a little.
For an Omega living a life dictated by such thoughts, what could they ever decide for themselves?
She looked at the swaying crabapple buyao on Ye Xunshu’s head, noticing she hadn’t worn it before. She murmured, “This hairpin…”
“This is Xunshu’s dowry.” Mentioning the hairpin, Ye Xunshu tilted her head slightly, as if some words were hard to say. “Mother prepared it for Xunshu a long time ago, saying…”
“Ah!”
The carriage jolted over a bump, and Ye Xunshu suddenly fell forward.
Fu Yi only felt herself being pulled by something. After a dizzying blur, a person was sprawled on top of her. Ye Xunshu’s eyes were wide as she stared at Fu Yi, her hands tightly gripping Fu Yi’s clothes in panic.
Fu Yi realized she hadn’t fallen because of the bump.
She had been pulled down by this little rabbit.
They were in an intimate position. Ye Xunshu’s fine, soft hair was scattered on the floor, with some strands draping over Fu Yi’s neck. The person on top of her seemed to realize what had happened and struggled to climb up, but the carriage jolted again, causing Ye Xunshu to fall back into her original position—on top of Fu Yi.
“Miss, Young Madam, the road here is rough. Please sit firmly.”
Feeling the softness of the hair brushing against her neck was like a little rabbit scratching an itch with its soft fur. Fu Yi tried to help Ye Xunshu up, but before she could act, the little girl accidentally brushed against her gland.
A shiver ran through Fu Yi’s entire body. She felt as if she were facing a great enemy, her body tensing up straight. She didn’t dare move, only whispering softly, “Xunshu, are you okay?”
“Mm.”
The little rabbit sprawled on her body slowly propped herself up, her almond eyes glistening as she stared at her without blinking.
“Sister…” She pouted slightly.
Fu Yi thought the little rabbit was about to get up. Instead, the next second, she plunged back into Fu Yi’s arms, nuzzling her twice like a ball of fur. Her voice carried a heavy tone of grievance, sounding pitiful.
“My leg hurts…”