Chapter 26

Huan Yan Winter Snow Evening (11)

Chapter 26

Why is it suddenly not appropriate?

Mu He didn’t immediately understand the detour in her thoughts—why did his words sound like jealousy?

No, that’s not right. He’s not her boyfriend, so why would he be jealous?

Her mind twisted and turned, gradually becoming clear. Could it be because earlier she said he was even more handsome than the Movie King, and now she was saying the Movie King was so much more handsome… maybe jealousy isn’t only for couples. Friends can feel it too.

Besides him, she didn’t have other close male friends. Putting herself in his shoes—if he spoke about another woman being so wonderful in front of her, how would she feel?

Mu He lowered his head guiltily: “Xi Heng, I was wrong.”

From a viewpoint Mu He couldn’t see, Huo Si Heng slightly tugged at the corner of his lips in a smile, then restrained it, speaking seriously and magnanimously: “Don’t let it happen again.”

Mu He couldn’t help but wonder—if in the future he had a girlfriend, would he also make her ginger and brown sugar water?

Would he take care of her when she had a fever?

Would he treat his girlfriend better than he treated her?

They would hug, kiss, do many intimate things…

Putting herself in another’s place, even if she had a boyfriend in the future, he would still hold a special place in her heart, although she knew this thought was selfish.

Mu He was emotionally a blank slate; she still hadn’t figured out what Xi Heng meant to her.

Was he family, a dependency born from possessiveness, or purely… love?

Who could tell her the answer?

After recording most of the day, exhausted and downhearted, Mu He said goodnight to Xi Heng and went to her room to sleep.

Her mind surged, tossing and turning, the more she tried to sleep, the harder it became.

At times she thought of Xi Heng, at other times another figure occupied her thoughts.

After the recording of The Great Challenge of Wisdom and Courage, Qin Zhi’s mother—or more accurately, her stepmother—came to pick her up.

This wasn’t Mu He’s first time seeing Mrs. Qin. During filming with Qin Zhi in the same group, she had glimpsed her from afar twice.

Mrs. Qin was dignified and beautiful; every gesture radiated the elegance of high society. No one knew she came from a remote mountain area, and even fewer knew that twenty-two years ago, she had abandoned her own biological daughter…

Mu He thought her heart would remain unaffected, but seeing Mrs. Qin smile so gently, almost obsequiously, at her stepdaughter Qin Zhi, she felt a fleeting sadness—like a drop of ink in clear water, disappearing instantly.

Resentment?

Hatred?

For the woman who gave birth to you but didn’t want you?

Her father had never taught her these emotions, nor how to forgive or show mercy. He only told her, “Yang Yang, you must live happily.”

She thought that what she had lost had, in fact, already been compensated in another way.

So she felt no resentment, no hatred, and needed no forgiveness.

Mu He fell asleep late. The next day she reported to the crew as usual. After filming Xi Yin stealing the South Sea Pearl to save Emperor Jun, causing floods and suffering, and then being imprisoned in the celestial prison, half a month had passed after removing the dragonbone segments.

By Friday night, The Great Challenge of Wisdom and Courage was about to air.

Mu He forwarded the official Weibo post. Fans had already learned from leaks that she would be on the show and expressed excitement. Soon, she noticed she and Lin Xi Yu were trending—an ordinary promotional tactic by the production team.

Fortunately, the Movie King’s fans were as gentle as he was; the comment section was harmonious, allowing Mu He to relax slightly.

As eight o’clock approached, the show was about to start. She didn’t dare watch alone and couldn’t care if the Movie King was inside—it might stir old feelings—so she went to get Xi Heng, saying, “It’s my first variety show, very significant.”

Huo Si Heng saw right through her pretense, said nothing, and sat beside her, long legs casually crossed, relaxed.

Mu He sat cross-legged on the sofa: “It’s starting.”

Only then did his gaze shift from her to the big screen.

After the host introduced the special guests, the eight drew lots, dividing into four groups. Comments streamed rapidly: “Ahhhh the production team is playing reverse! I thought the male god would be with Mu He!”

#TrendingDeceivedMeSeries#

What else could one do but keep watching?

Seeing Mu He paired with another woman, Huo Si Heng raised an eyebrow, finally intrigued enough to continue watching.

Once grouped, standing in pairs, Ai Qing reached out to Mu He: “Pleasure working with you.” They hugged. Then it was Mu He’s close-up. With boyfriend-level protectiveness, he said: “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Mu He indignantly pointed at the screen: “I felt her hand tremble. I thought she was nervous, but it turned out…”

With the godlike perspective, the audience knew that Ai Qing, the beloved team favorite, would fully subvert her image in this episode, receiving the villain script. They felt sympathy for the clueless Mu He while laughing:

“Poor Miss Mu He hahaha!”

“Mu Yangyang, you’re protecting the villain—does your teammate know?”

“Forget teammates, she doesn’t even know she’s protecting a villain herself 233333”

The eight warriors officially began the mission to save the Fruit King.

The camera first focused on Movie King Lin Xi Yu and Qin Zhi. Standing by the ancient well, they used collected incantations to summon the guardian deity, discovering the secret of why the witch put the entire kingdom to sleep…

Next were Qi Ge and Ye Ming. Having ranked last in previous rounds, they lacked crucial clues and aimlessly wandered. Qi Ge, a veteran variety show player, humorously carried the entertainment value.

Then, the national little brother and Yan Duo Duo. They struggled mightily to find a watermelon hanging from a tree, later marked with a large question mark to guide the audience’s attention.

Finally, the part that pierced Mu He’s heart arrived. She and Ai Qing entered the pavilion, searching for clues in vain. Ai Qing encouraged her to eat a banana, which triggered a prompt from the director: “The king’s head and fingers have been found.”

Simultaneously, Ai Qing’s earpiece transmitted: “A warrior ate the king’s fingers. Side quest triggered. The witch has been awakened.”

The audience gaped, comments flying:

“Holy crap, going this big!”

“OMG what did I just see?! She actually ate the king’s fingers hahaha!”

“King’s fingers: What did I do wrong? Why did they eat me?”

“The directors must have planned this! They only gave the hint after she ate it hahaha!”

“Don’t underestimate little Ai Qing. She may look small, but playing a villain, she’s full of mischief.”

“@Mu He hahaha, the way you obediently ate the banana like a clueless innocent is hilarious.”

“The witch is awakened—are you scared or not?”

Scared to death…

Mu He angrily covered her face.

Huo Si Heng turned his head to look at her, a faint glimmer seemingly hidden in his deep eyes.

After finishing with the other six guests, the camera returned. Two girls approached the cabin.

Mu He shivered uncontrollably, wrapping the blanket tightly, still feeling afraid. She secretly glanced at the man beside her, wanting to hold his hand for courage.

Two fingers just poked out, but recalling something, she retracted them.

However, before fully retreating under the blanket, a wave of warmth covered her hand, and it was enveloped in his dry palm. Her heart skipped a beat.

Beside her, she heard his low chuckle: “Still not bigger than a grain of rice.”

Warm breath brushed her ear, tickling and tingling. Mu He felt her earlobe heat up: “Who… is so timid?”

He lowered his voice further, almost a whisper: “Shall I let go?”

No, no, no!

Mu He firmly clasped his hand back.

Huo Si Heng’s smile deepened.

On the screen, the director team secretly instructed Ai Qing through the earpiece: “Take her in.”

However, Ai Qing, that little trickster, didn’t follow the script. She used a roundabout strategy: oh, it looks so spooky, she’s scared, better not go in.

The naive and sweet Mu He bravely stepped forward: “The most dangerous places often hold the most unexpected surprises.”

Ai Qing secretly gave the camera a scheming grin.

Comments: “Scared, scared, the little white rabbit is going into the wolf’s den.”

“There must be something scary in the cabin! What could it be?”

“Holy crap, that doll is way too realistic!”

“If it were me, I’d definitely pee myself on the spot!”

The audience held their breath, smiling, as they watched Mu He, trembling from fright, boldly communicate with the doll. In a short time, she found the secret room, unlocked the wooden box, and retrieved the cloth doll.

! What about the preview that promised she’d cry in a panic from fear?

“Can someone tell me, how did she figure out the password?”

“That question must’ve needed advanced mathematics to solve, right?”

“If there really is no script, I can only say, she analyzed three sets of passwords so quickly—her mental calculation is insanely good!”

“Unknowingly impressive! She is definitely not just a simple innocent white-sweetie!”

After successfully retrieving the apple, the director team indicated the king’s heart had been found. The cameraman zoomed in on her stunned expression, and the audience burst out laughing: haha, you thought finding the heart would end the game?

Naive! You probably don’t realize that eating the king’s fingers awakened the evil witch, right?

No, in the show, she really didn’t know…

The two exited the cabin and reached a log bridge. At this moment, the audience noticed Ai Qing had stepped out of frame with a smile. Reappearing behind Mu He was a woman in black with a ghostly white face and red lips…

Mu He knew nothing of this. She carefully shielded Ai Qing, voice trembling: “Don’t be afraid.”

Comments: “Holy crap!”

“Forgive me for laughing, this is going to scare the guest to death!”

“No idea what to say, so I’ll laugh first.”

“Miss, look back hahaha.”

A caption appeared at the bottom right corner: “Due to a warrior mistakenly eating the king’s fingers, taboo was violated, the evil witch has been awakened, the game continues.”

Everyone saw Mu He anxiously turn back, holding their breath for her reaction. Unfortunately, there was no close-up—only her frantically shaking off the extra actor’s hand and running—

“Ahhhhhhh…”

Everyone’s ears were assaulted by an unprecedented high-pitched scream.

Mu He ran ten meters before being caught. Her bright, beautiful eyes shimmered with tears: “D-don’t come over here…”

The extra actor coldly approached: “I’m coming, so what will you do?”

People heard Mu He cry out: “I… I’ll scream! Ahhhh help…”

Comments flew like snowflakes: “So weak, helpless, pitiful.”

“High-decibel warning again!”

“I calculated—just her ‘ah’ lasted 32 seconds at such high quality. Such lung capacity wasted if not used for singing.”

The director team gave another tip: only by finding the purest 【Yangmei Heart】 could the witch be killed.

Mu He, focused only on running, didn’t hear the tip. She ran wildly to the back hill. Sheep grazing leisurely were startled and bleated away…

A red-glowing, exquisite wooden box slowly appeared on the ground.

Mu He didn’t see it and kept running.

Director team: “?”

Their carefully designed gag was so easily bypassed?

Audience: “?!”

“Could it be… could it be… maybe that box contains the 【Yangmei Heart】?!”

“Hahaha, what a lucky accident, a fluke success!”

“Witch: I don’t even know how I died.”

“Would love to interview the director’s current mood…”

The director team urgently notified the warriors: “Mu He successfully found the 【Yangmei Heart】, the witch is dead.”

Exhausted from running, Mu He finally met Lin Xi Yu and Qin Zhi: “Quick, run! The witch is coming!”

Lin Xi Yu blocked her with amusement: “The witch is dead.”

Unable to move, Mu He darted behind him, only after a moment realizing: “Dead?!”

Lin Xi Yu puzzled: “Didn’t you find the Yangmei Heart and kill her?”

Mu He was even more puzzled: “What’s the Yangmei Heart?”

After Lin Xi Yu explained briefly, Mu He found it incredible: “Surviving a great disaster, must have good fortune after.”

Lin Xi Yu smiled, looking at her with softness: “Mm, makes sense.”

Off-screen, Huo Si Heng’s smile deepened, his gaze becoming particularly dark and profound, as if hiding danger.

After the witch was killed, the king’s resurrection faced a major problem—Mu He had eaten his fingers. Even if he came back to life, he would be incomplete. For the Fruit King, missing two fingers meant losing three souls and seven spirits.

What could be done?

According to game rules, if the king could not be resurrected, the warriors would also be affected, falling into eternal slumber.

Failure would result in harsh punishment.

Fortunately, the production team had some conscience. Previously, Lin Xi Yu’s group had obtained a time-travel card guided by the guardian deity. Mu He used it to go back and successfully obtained the complete banana bunch.

The king revived. Challenge succeeded!

Comments reluctantly covered the screen: “Everyone on their knees begging @Mu He to appear on the show again!”

“Beautiful appearance, super high intelligence, fun soul—even I, a woman, like her.”

“I originally wanted to watch the male god… Sorry, male god, I’ll cheat for a while.”

“She has such chemistry with the Movie King, what’s going on? There are stars in her eyes when she talks to him!”

“The queen should have a name here! The way she protects and the way she deceives, it’s like love!”

It must be said, as a special guest, Mu He’s performance in this episode was astonishing, not comedic for the sake of comedy, true to herself. Even the Movie King and the Queen were made to look like supporting roles. Qin Zhi’s presence was almost nonexistent.

Tonight’s trending topics were destined to belong entirely to Mu He.

#HeYuCP#, #AdmirationCP# chasing each other, #Mu He’sLongScream#, #Mu HeYangmeiHeart#…

Zhong Yang CP: “Step aside, the first two are mine! I’m the original match!”

Popularity surged like a tide, unstoppable. Mu He’s fans easily surpassed sixteen million, bringing another surprise—an invitation to Strawberry TV’s New Year’s Eve Gala.

The performance list had been set two months prior, but one female star scheduled for a solo dance withdrew for personal reasons. With Star Entertainment Media’s strong influence, the open slot went to Mu He.

Mu He felt conflicted: aside from acting, she had no other talents.

Piano or dance—she never had the opportunity as a child, and now catching up in time was impossible.

Tan Mian asked: “Then singing?”

Mu He modestly said: “It’s okay.”

The mountain song was sung quite well.

Ye Xi made the decision: “Then let’s sing.”

Mu He thought of the teasing comments in the show’s live stream: “The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau?”

Tan Mian chuckled, and Ye Xi shook her head, smiling.

The three of them went back and forth, and in the end, they chose “Moscow Nights.”

Ye Xi added, “Let’s add something new.”

Tan Mian suggested, “A famous song from the former Soviet Union—how about adding a melodica intro? It’ll really set the mood and feel!”

She nudged Mu He on the shoulder. “Yang Yang, the melodica is very simple.”

Mu He liked the song a lot. “Okay.”

However, after two days of torment from the music teacher and still not mastering the melodica, Mu He deeply doubted Tan Mian’s “simple.” She gave up and proposed a new idea: “How about singing a couple of lines in Russian?”

Tan Mian was delighted: “Yang Yang, you can speak Russian?”

“I can’t,” Mu He shook her head, a trace of pride in her tone. “But I have a… friend who speaks Russian really well. I can have him teach me.”

For her, there could be no better Russian teacher in the world than Xi Heng.

That evening, Mu He briefly told Xi Heng about singing “Moscow Nights” at Strawberry TV’s New Year’s Eve Gala and casually made her request to learn Russian from him.

The orange lights above quietly enveloped the man in a soft halo. He tilted his gaze, watching her without a word. After a while, he lifted the corner of his lips: “Alright.”

“However,” he added, “there’s a tuition fee.”

Mu He froze, suspecting she had misheard. They were so familiar, and yet he wanted to charge her tuition?

! That’s too much.

Huo Si Heng calmly raised his hand to fasten his cufflinks. After adjusting his cuffs, he lifted the silk cover from the record player, gently set the needle, and the melodious tune of “Moscow Nights” flowed out like running water.

He slightly bent forward, extending his hand toward her. His demeanor exuded elegance, his voice deep and magnetic: “Do I have the honor?”

Mu He’s entire attention was drawn in. The man before her posed gracefully, his beautiful peach-blossom eyes shimmering faintly, as if hiding infinite temptation, while also reflecting her image—only hers.

It was a silent, gentle capture, and she had nowhere to escape, nor did she want to.

Her mind went blank, and Mu He clearly and joyfully heard the sound of her heart stirring.

She realized she was wrong—it wasn’t possessiveness that made her like him, but liking him that made her think of possessing him.

Like—a clear spring bursting through ice, flowing freely, the mountains and fields dyed green, thousands upon thousands of flowers blooming naturally, uncontrollably.

At that moment, she was absolutely certain: she liked him.

The kind of liking a woman has for a man.