Zhi Jiu frowned, wondering if he’d been too hard on Mu Fu. But he said what was really on his mind: “This place is super slick. One wrong step and you could really fall. When I saw you almost slip earlier, my heart nearly stopped.”
Seeing how worried he looked, Mu Fu’s earlier anger melted away. Her heart felt warm and fuzzy. “Got it, I’ll be more careful. I’m just so tired today… my legs feel sore and weak.”
After she put on the soft robe a staff member handed her, Zhi Jiu’s voice turned serious again. “Come on, I’ll carry you upstairs.”
As he spoke, he crouched down in front of her.
“Really?” she asked, surprised.
He nodded, “Yep.”
Mu Fu smiled a little and easily climbed onto his back.
Neither of them hung around by the pool. They went straight upstairs.
……
Zhi Jiu gently put Mu Fu down on her bed, but she stayed on his back, clearly not ready to let go.
“A-Fu, we’re here,” he said softly, with a helpless but sweet tone.
“No, I want to stay like this a little longer.”
Zhi Jiu immediately understood and chuckled.
“Aren’t you going to shower? We just came from the pool, you know.”
“Oh! I totally forgot. I can’t… I feel all sticky now!”
Thank goodness he reminded her—she had almost skipped it. She quickly got off him and rushed to the bathroom.
As she ran, she called out, “A-Jiu, I’m gonna wash up first!”
Zhi Jiu watched her with a smile, warmth in his eyes.
They had dinner sent up by the hotel staff. After such a tiring afternoon, neither of them felt like moving. With no plans for the evening from the show, Mu Fu just wanted to chill in the room. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.
Zhi Jiu didn’t go anywhere either. He stayed right where Mu Fu was.
Mu Fu didn’t want Zhi Jiu to get bored, so she asked him to watch the show she’d been in. She hadn’t even seen it herself yet.
She’d brought her laptop on this trip. Even though Darling, Let’s Get Married was a variety show, she couldn’t just ignore her other work. Sister Liu, her manager, wouldn’t let her.
Now was the perfect time to catch up on her laptop.
“A-Jiu, come watch with me,” she called out, patting the empty spot on the couch next to her. “This show came out a while ago, and I haven’t had time to see it yet.”
The show was called “Little Lemon,” a sweet but slightly dramatic teen romance. It was a low-budget show, and Mu Fu played the second female lead. Her character was the male lead’s childhood friend, secretly in love with him. She was always by his side, but he only saw her as a sister. Eventually, he fell for another girl who didn’t seem special in any way. Mu Fu’s character was heartbroken and couldn’t let go. She went a little crazy and tried to mess things up for the other girl. Of course, the male lead eventually found out and got back at her. He exposed her plans, gave her a taste of her own medicine, and sent her overseas, never to return.
Yeah, the story was over-the-top and totally unrealistic—but that’s how she got the part. With a small budget, they couldn’t afford famous actors, so she got the role.
“Sure,” Zhi Jiu said, sitting down next to her. He glanced at the screen and added quietly, “I haven’t seen it either.”
In truth, ever since he met Mu Fu, he had secretly watched the whole show from start to finish.
He gently pulled her into his arms, resting his chin lightly on her head. Mu Fu naturally snuggled closer and got comfy beside him.
The episode was at the point where Mu Fu’s character had just found out the male lead liked someone else and was now trying to scare the other girl.
Mu Fu couldn’t help but ask, “If you found out the person you liked had feelings for someone else… what would you do? Would you still keep liking her?”
“I would,” Zhi Jiu replied right away. “I couldn’t bring myself to let her go. I used to think that if someone didn’t like me back, I’d just quietly wish them well. But now… even if she doesn’t like me, I’d hold onto her. I wouldn’t give up.”
Mu Fu’s heart melted at his words. “Do you think the second female lead’s actions were too mean? I mean, when she was trying to frame the other girl—do you think she was just being evil?”
For some reason, seeing her character do such awful things on screen always made her want to ask Zhi Jiu how he felt about it.
Maybe that’s just how people are when they first fall in love—unsure, always wondering. They want to test things, to see if their partner can accept even their worst sides… but at the same time, they just want to be loved no matter what.
Zhi Jiu gently patted Mu Fu’s head, smiling. “If it were me, I’d do it even better than her. So perfectly, you’d never even find out,” he said with a laugh.
He didn’t mind being sneaky if it was for her. If Mu Fu ever fell for someone else, he would do everything he could to win her back.
He pulled her closer, holding her tight. “I won’t give you a chance to fall for anyone else.”
Mu Fu’s eyes crinkled, her smile curving like a crescent moon. She hugged him back, feeling just as warm.
The two sat there in a quiet hug.
The air around them felt soft, peaceful, and complete.
……
There was only one more shoot left for Darling, Let’s Get Married. After that, it would all be over—and Zhi Jiu was starting to dread that day. The worry and doubt he had hidden deep inside were starting to pop up again tonight.
In his eyes, Mu Fu was amazing—so talented, so bright. Now that she was popular again, there were plenty of people out there, much better than him, just waiting to swoop in.
How could he not worry?
He remembered reading something once—it said that most couples break up because they got together too easily, so they didn’t learn to value it.
He and Mu Fu had gone from strangers to lovers almost instantly. There was no long chase, no big ups and downs. Just one step, and they were together. And that was exactly what scared him.
Even though he felt deeply connected to her—felt that their hearts beat together—he also knew that anything could change before the story ended.
Zhi Jiu was good at hiding what he felt. He didn’t let any of his worries show on his face, so Mu Fu had no idea what he was thinking.
She didn’t know that, just to fall asleep with him a little earlier each night, she had skipped all the usual romantic games—the flirting, the push and pull—and given Zhi Jiu nothing but her whole heart. And somehow, that only made him feel more unsure.
……
The second day in Hainan arrived quickly.
At this moment, Mu Fu was still sleeping soundly in Zhi Jiu’s arms, her face peaceful.
Last night, after carefully covering all the cameras in the room, Zhi Jiu had quietly slipped onto her bed like a thief.
Only when she was in his arms did he finally feel truly content, as if his soul had found peace. For him, just being with Mu Fu—even without doing anything—was a kind of happiness.
After breakfast, the two of them followed the crew outside. The production team had somehow managed to get a pretty big yacht for today’s shoot.
“Here, hold my hand,” Zhi Jiu offered as he helped Mu Fu onto the boat.
Once everyone was on board, the yacht headed out toward their destination.
The crew took them to a nearby part of the ocean—an area known for snorkeling, often visited by tourists, and generally considered quite safe.
The huge blue sea stretched out forever in front of them. The water was calm, making it a perfect day for diving.
“Mr. Zhi, Ms. Mu, we’ll help you get into your gear first,” a crew member said politely.
Mu Fu nodded. “Alright.”
With the crew’s help, both of them quickly put on their snorkeling equipment.
That’s when the director spoke up. “Ms. Mu, Mr. Zhi, there’s a challenge to complete during today’s dive. The results will decide how much starting money you get for today. We only paid for yesterday’s hotel stay, so all your food, lodging, and expenses today will have to come from what you earn on this mission.”
Mu Fu had expected this. She knew the show wouldn’t let them just enjoy two carefree days without a catch. She asked, “I’m guessing we don’t have to pay for the snorkeling itself, right?”
The director replied, “No, that part’s on us. But any activities or costs after the mission? Those are on you.”
Zhi Jiu asked, “So how much money can we earn from this job?”
The director replied, “This area has a lot of special local fish. Your goal is to take pictures of the ones we tell you to. We’ll give you a list of thirty types. For every fish you successfully photograph on time, you’ll earn 300 yuan. Whether you finish or not depends on how well you two work together.”
Since both Mu Fu and Zhi Jiu were new at this—and this Hainan trip was supposed to be a fun getaway for the guests—the director wasn’t trying to make things too hard. The reward was actually pretty good.
Their hotel room alone cost 3,500 yuan per night and included three meals. The food wasn’t fancy, but when money was tight, having all meals covered was a huge relief. If they could just photograph twelve fish, they’d have enough to avoid sleeping on the streets tonight.
Naturally, Mu Fu and Zhi Jiu had thought of all this.
Right now, they were quietly talking about how to split the work.
“A-Fu, let’s split up,” Zhi Jiu suggested. “We’ll cover more ground that way. You start with these ten fish on the list, and if you finish early, come find me, and we’ll do the rest together.”
He had really wanted to stay by her side every second. But with this kind of task, he had no choice. Still, he made sure to remind her—again and again—to be careful and to call out if anything felt wrong.
Mu Fu nodded. “Okay.”
Seeing how seriously she took his words, Zhi Jiu finally relaxed—just a little.
Once their plan was set, they dove into the water and got to work.
It was still early, so the water was a bit chilly. Luckily, the sea in this area wasn’t very deep—only about one or two meters at most. Of course, the crew wouldn’t let the guests go into dangerous waters. Safety came first. A medical team was ready on the yacht.
Mu Fu held her snorkel tightly between her teeth and, with an instructor nearby, started swimming slowly with her fins.
She carefully looked at everything along the seabed. After all, how much they could spend today depended entirely on these little fish. About twenty minutes later, she finally found a match.
“I found one!” she yelled excitedly, popping up from the water to call out to Zhi Jiu.
Zhi Jiu looked at her warmly and beamed. “That’s our A-Fu—amazing as always!”
Axolotl Translations 
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