AAUMOBIP C25

by berry

Chapter 25

If one were to ask what felt different about sleeping in the same room, in the same bed, with Yun Jingqiu compared to before—

It was that the things they had only been able to do through video calls before, they could now do face-to-face.

Liu He’s body felt sore, and after complaining a few words, he refused to continue. He quickly rinsed the foam off his body, left the bathroom, and abandoned Yun Jingqiu alone inside.

He truly hadn’t been able to resist Yun Jingqiu’s persistent coaxing and soft entanglement, agreeing at last to bathe with him in a mandarin-duck bath【1】.

But he hadn’t planned on ending up sore!

Although he knew that something was bound to happen if they bathed together, what actually happened had never once crossed Liu He’s imagination.

Liu He burrowed into the blanket, and his exhausted body quickly overcame him with sleepiness.

His “stockpile”【2】 had already been wholly exhausted.

Even in an unfamiliar bed, he was able to fall asleep quickly.

From outside the bathroom, Yun Jingqiu called out: “Xiao He.”

No response. The blanket only bulged with a lump.

He walked over and poked the lump, but Xiao He didn’t move.

He had fallen asleep.

Yun Jingqiu chuckled softly, and while slowly toweling his hair dry, he didn’t bother with the hair dryer. Once half-dry, he sat down beside the bed with his phone, drafting and then posting on Weibo.

【Yun Jingqiu: Tonight I received a huge surprise. Someone secretly came to find me but was discovered by me—his pitiful look made me want to tease him a little more~

And a homemade dinner filled with love ❤️

[Photo][Photo]】

The photos were of the dinner Liu He had cooked.

【So “sister-in-law” personally cooked that meal? Yun-ge, you’re so blessed!】

【Looks super delicious (cross that out, it does look good)!】

【Can it still be a “surprise” if you discovered it early? Yun-ge, what a buzzkill. Go make sister-in-law happy!】

【Hahaha I still remember Yun-ge’s pitiful face when he had to return to City A some time ago—he even spammed Weibo with multiple posts.】

……

There really were a lot of people who stayed up late.

Yun Jingqiu picked some comments to reply to, then skimmed through some fanfiction while his hair finished drying. Finally, he climbed into the blankets, cuddled close to Xiao He, and continued scrolling.

Truly, netizens were wonderful—their fan works were amazing.

He was reading fanfiction about himself and Xiao He. Even though the fans didn’t know the real name of their “male sister-in-law,” they instead referred to him as Yun Sao【3】 as a stand-in.

Midway through sleep, Liu He felt something cool clutching against him.

He shrunk away, only for that cold thing to wrap around him even tighter, as though he were being smothered by a chilled slime creature.

Half-dreaming, half-awake, he felt as though he had been transported into a fantasy world, trapped inside a slime’s gelatinous body, unable to move.

Soon, however, the slime’s temperature rose, warming up, making it feel as though his body was soaking in a hot spring.

Liu He was lulled and numbed by the warm sensation, and while swaddled by the “slime’s” heat, sank into a heavy, dream-laden sleep.

In his dream he even thought: this slime felt kind of hard.

Liu He wore a mask, a white baseball cap pulled low to cover his eyes.

“Let’s go.” Yun Jingqiu opened the car door, inviting him inside.

Liu He climbed in first and greeted the driver, Song Zhiyuan: “Good morning, Brother Song.”

Song Zhiyuan grinned broadly: “Good morning, sister-in-law. There’s breakfast in the back seat. Help yourself—but don’t give any to Yun-ge.

Yun-ge’s meals are bland and tasteless, and absolutely awful.”

“You know it tastes bad yet you still prepare it for me? What did you give Xiao He?” Yun Jingqiu muttered irritably, leaning over to look.

Liu He’s breakfast was two steamed meat buns, a cup of soybean milk, and a jianbing (savory flatbread with sauce)【4】.

Yun Jingqiu opened his own breakfast—a salad, unsurprisingly with little-to-no dressing.

Sure enough, it was awful.

“Xiao He, give me just a bite. Just one bite.” Yun Jingqiu pleaded.

Pulling down his mask, Liu He smiled and sneakily offered him a piece of the jianbing. His mouth, however, still said, “Brother Song told me this isn’t your breakfast. You’re not allowed to eat it.”

Blissfully, Yun Jingqiu devoured the piece of jianbing. The rich seasoning overwhelmed his taste buds—he hadn’t eaten anything so flavorful in a long time.

It truly was delicious!

“Really not possible? Please give me a little more,” Yun Jingqiu begged, still acting.

Song Zhiyuan had enough and scolded: “Yun-ge, don’t take advantage of sister-in-law’s soft nature. Brother Wang said clearly you can’t eat it.”

“Tsk.” Yun Jingqiu clicked his tongue but secretly chewed down another piece given to him by Liu He, swallowing with satisfaction. “Fine, I’ll eat grass, okay?”

Peering in through the rearview mirror, Song Zhiyuan saw Yun Jingqiu nibbling at his salad, and nodded, content.

He hadn’t caught Yun Jingqiu sneaking food.

Yun Jingqiu, knowing he couldn’t push it too far, stopped after eating only two pieces of jianbing.

Since Song Zhiyuan had prepared quite a bit, Liu He couldn’t finish all of it anyway. In the end, he secretly slipped half a meat bun to Yun Jingqiu.

Upon tasting carbs, Yun Jingqiu nearly ascended out of happiness on the spot.

He even drank half of Liu He’s soybean milk.

Letting Yun-ge share some of the portions, Liu He finished breakfast feeling overly full.

Later, they both idly played on their phones.

Yun Jingqiu used Liu He as his human pillow.

“Sister-in-law, we’re here. Mask on,” Song Zhiyuan reminded.

Liu He pulled his mask back up and adjusted himself, leaving only a pair of guileless, innocent eyes visible.

Yun Jingqiu got out of the car first.

There were some fans outside the film set’s entrance.

The reporters hadn’t even bothered to lift their cameras yet—it wasn’t like seeing an actor enter the studio was unusual; they saw it almost every day.

But then they saw Yun Jingqiu still standing at the car door, reaching a hand inside.

Sensing gossip in the air, the reporters recalled Yun Jingqiu’s Weibo post from the night before, and in an instant raised their cameras to capture the big scoop.

Embarrassed, Liu He reluctantly placed his hand in Yun Jingqiu’s, letting himself be led out.

Even without lifting his head, he could feel the burning gazes all around.

It was terribly embarrassing.

“Don’t be shy,” Yun Jingqiu said, planting a kiss on his hat-covered head, then adjusting his cap. “Nobody outside is allowed in.”

He kept hold of Liu He’s hand as they entered the filming site.

The reporters frantically checked the photos they had just taken.

But from every angle, Yun Jingqiu’s lover’s face couldn’t be seen at all.

Only a glimpse of mask and cap, his slim build, height about 1.8 meters, clear male—nothing else discernible.

Back when news had first leaked out that Yun Jingqiu’s partner was a man, it was already explosive enough.

But without photographs, no one knew whether he was fat, thin, tall, or short.

Now that they had a photo at last—though the face was still unseen—it was enough to thrill the reporters.

Inside the lot, plenty of staff members also looked curiously at Liu He.

Liu He had never before faced so much attention, and he clenched Yun Jingqiu’s hand.

“Yun-ge…” Liu He whispered, asking for help.

“I’ll take you to the break room,” Yun Jingqiu said, basking in their gazes like a cat with its tail high. If he did have a tail, it would have been swaying wildly at that moment.

Look—just how adorable his Xiao He was. And he belonged to him.

Deliberately, Yun Jingqiu led Liu He on a route that passed right by the director and screenwriter, letting all of them get a look, before finally bringing Liu He into his lounge.

“The makeup artist is caught up for a moment and will come later. You get yourself ready first,” Song Zhiyuan said.

Yun Jingqiu began changing into his costume. The rest would be left to the stylists and makeup artist.

Taking advantage of his free time, Yun Jingqiu chatted with Liu He: “Checked Weibo yet? You made it to the trending list?”

Liu He glanced at him: “Not that fast. It’s not a big deal. Don’t always be thinking about trending.”

“Not yet?” Yun Jingqiu frowned. “Have I lost my heat already?”

He had trended when he got injured, again when someone sabotaged him, once more on his birthday, and again when his lover’s gender was exposed.

With so many consecutive trending tags, Yun Jingqiu rather thought of himself as quite popular these days.

Or maybe those journalists just weren’t very good?

“Good morning Yun-laoshi【5】, sorry for being a bit late. I’ll get your styling done right away.” The young makeup artist entered, greeting him cheerfully.

Yun Jingqiu nodded: “Thank you for the trouble.”

Liu He sat off to the side, watching.

This was Yun Jingqiu’s personal makeup artist, not someone from the crew.

She worked quickly, affixing a wig to him, tidying his hairstyle, and then applying makeup.

Under the makeup artist’s brush, Yun Jingqiu’s already striking features sharpened and grew more imposing, filled with aggressive charisma.

It was clearly still Yun Jingqiu, still the same face—but the aura was entirely different. His face appeared even more cutting.

Just makeup alone could transform someone so drastically.

Though Liu He had seen this look once before, witnessing it again still left him astonished.

In awe, Liu He exclaimed: “That’s amazing.”

Pleased by the praise, Yun Jingqiu raised his brows ever so slightly.

“Stay still, Yun-laoshi, or your eyebrows will be ruined,” the makeup artist scolded lightly.

His face immediately settled into a stiff, blank expression again.

The finished look was one of decay and desolation, with dust on his face, his hair tousled, and even two withered strands of yellow grass stuck atop his head.

Surveying her own handiwork, the makeup artist nodded in satisfaction: “That’s good.”

Then, catching sight of the unexpected extra in the dressing room, she teasingly asked: “Yun-laoshi, is that your partner?”

Yun Jingqiu proudly confirmed: “Yes, this is my partner. Last night he snuck over to surprise me, cooked me dinner, and today came especially to accompany me on set.”

Stop exposing me already!

Liu He squirmed uncomfortably under the weight of his blatant announcement.

And why even answer the makeup artist’s casual teasing!

But as Yun Jingqiu’s personal makeup artist, she was close to him already. She said with a nod: “You’re so lucky. My boyfriend can’t cook at all—we always just order takeout.”

“How should I address sister-in-law?” the makeup artist asked.

“Liu He. Just call me Xiao He,” Liu He responded.

Since she was one of Yun Jingqiu’s trusted people, sharing his name wasn’t a problem.

“What a great name! Xiao He, you really have good taste. What made you fall for our Yun-laoshi?” The makeup artist’s eyes lit up.

Liu He answered candidly: “He pestered me relentlessly.”

“Bwahahaha—” The makeup artist burst out laughing.

Yun Jingqiu sighed helplessly: “Xiao He, give me some face.”

But truthfully, relentless pestering was exactly what it had been.

Back when Liu He had saved him in a game, Yun Jingqiu had clung to him doggedly until, bit by bit, they grew into partners.

“Next time someone asks, just say we’re mutually in love, alright?”

As the group chuckled together, a knock came on the door. Crew staff called Yun Jingqiu to set.

He looked at Liu He, asking: “Want to watch?”

Liu He nodded: “Sure. I’ll go with Brother Song.”

If he went out with Yun Jingqiu himself, it would draw too much attention.

Since he’d never watched actors filming a scene live, he was really curious.

Yun Jingqiu headed out first. Song Zhiyuan gathered up some things they might need later and took Liu He with him.

“You wander endless paths, only to sully yourself hiding in such a filthy place? Where is your integrity?” The black-robed swordsman held his blade, eyes lowered as he glared at the red-robed swordsman huddled in the corner.

Those lines…

Weren’t they the very same lines Yun Jingqiu had asked him to practice with before?

When Liu He had recited them, they came out stiff and lifeless.

But delivered by a professional actor, the words bore instant magnetism.

“Integrity?” The red-robed swordsman lifted his head toward his counterpart. Even in such a filthy place, he would not let go of his sword.

Yet the sharpness once shining in his eyes was gone. He had lost everything. Only despair and ruin remained.

A swordsman with no strength left to wield his blade.

Footnotes:

Mandarin-duck bath (鸳鸯浴) – A romantic/erotic phrase meaning bathing together as a couple, referencing the eternal-pair symbolism of mandarin ducks.
“Stockpile” (存粮) – Euphemism here referring to his “energy/essence,” i.e., he was completely physically exhausted after intimacy.
Yun Sao (云嫂) – Fans nicknaming Liu He as “Yun’s wife” (嫂子 = sister-in-law/wife of elder brother). Here it’s gender-neutral teasing, essentially “Mrs. Yun,” though his male identity is known.
Jianbing (煎饼) – A common Chinese street breakfast pancake, savory, often filled with egg, sauce, scallions, etc.
Yun-laoshi (云老师) – A polite/formal way to address an actor, “Teacher Yun,” a common honorific in the Chinese entertainment industry.