Butterflies Fly Over Winter Chapter 9
byChapter 9 People’s Hearts Change Easily
[Wait, everyone stop, I need to take a screenshot]
[I’m telling you, from this angle, Xi Ai is absolutely killing me ahhh]
[Is it possible that this angle is actually Chu Yiqi’s perspective?]
[…Xi Ai, you scheming woman, how are the pure Aiye fans supposed to hold their heads up?]
Xi Ai didn’t look at the bullet comments, but she acted innocent—though only toward Meng Yike: “Captain, what’s going on? That’s not professional at all.”
Chu Yiqi tilted her head, looking at Xi Ai with even more confusion than Meng Yike: Wait, what do you mean professional or not?
Meng Yike gave a snort of laughter: “…You know that when someone is speechless to the extreme, they actually start laughing, right?”
“Oh.” Xi Ai lowered her head and laughed.
Meng Yike: …Forget it.
Su Luojian’s voice finally rang out: “Right, let’s use a phone to project the screen. And Yiqi, turn around. What’s with facing sideways?”
“I’m not! Most of the time I’m facing forward!” Chu Yiqi’s voice suddenly dropped halfway through, ending in a tiny mumble.
I was, at least until Xi Ai started bothering me!
[You are not! At most, you spend half the time facing us!! The other half is spent facing Xi Ai or looking sideways!!]
Xi Ai kept adding fuel to the fire: “That’s right. The Qiuye fans haven’t seen you in such a long time!”
Chu Yiqi turned her head again, staring at Xi Ai: “I have not! Aside from the concerts, I usually do livestreams!”
“Mm, twice a month. And it’s been a month since the last one.”
“Well, there are vlogs and photo spreads.” Chu Yiqi took a few deep breaths, trying her best to remain calm.
Xi Ai knew when to stop: “Fair enough.”
Chu Yiqi turned back to the camera, but she was clearly speechless, thinking to herself: I must have been possessed to believe your nonsense. You’re clearly saying ‘I don’t care’ and ‘Sure, whatever you say.’
For a split second, she even imagined an image: Xi Ai wearing a wronged, innocent expression that said, ‘What’s wrong? Bite me.’
Chu Yiqi: “…” I’m going crazy too.
“Fine, I’ll keep looking at the camera now, okay?”
Xi Ai opened her mouth to say: “Then why don’t you look at me instead?”
The words reached the tip of her tongue but took several detours before she managed to pull them back: “Okay.”
[Although… but… this time I’m siding with Xiao Ai.]
[Thank you, Xiao Ai (~^o^~) ]
[Aww, this emoticon is so cute. I’m claiming it as a cultural heritage, it’s mine!]
[? Wait, sister, you?]
While Meng Yike was picking the projection settings, Nie Chuiying naturally cued Chu Yiqi, pulling her toward Xi Ai’s side: “Exactly, Yiqi should show her face more. Come on, Xi Ai! Let our Yiqi sit here!”
Xi Ai looked up at Nie Chuiying, who was staring down at her. Regardless of anything else, she tried to clear her name first: “…This isn’t the center position, is it?”
“Don’t worry about that, the view is good here.” Nie Chuiying kept shooting meaningful looks at Xi Ai.
Xi Ai blinked, suddenly realizing what Nie Chuiying meant. After a moment of suppressed laughter, Xi Ai resignedly picked up her little butterfly plushie and ran over to Chu Yiqi’s original spot.
“Our seating hasn’t changed in a long time, has it?” Shi Yunshan said.
Yu Nianxi waved her hand and generously shared one of her taro-filled mochi with Shi Yunshan: “Out with the old, in with the new.”
Shi Yunshan: “What ‘old’ and ‘new’ are you talking about?”
Yu Nianxi choked for a moment before saying dismissively, “I don’t know. I already said it anyway.”
Meng Yike finally finished the setup. She sat down and silently swiped Yu Nianxi’s chocolate.
Yu Nianxi clutched her bag of chips: “No problem.”
Meng Yike: “…Thanks.”
[Hahaha Nie Chuiying is so clingy, love it love it]
[Who exactly said Ai Ai was the group tyrant?]
[She’s restrained herself a lot, little sister. I suggest you watch the old group variety shows. Pick any one at random.]
[Saying it again, the Ke-Xi pair is also great!]
[Please, do you know how I remembered the Cauchy inequality back in the day? It was because of those two!]
Xi Ai was too lazy to defend her shattered reputation, but after a moment of hesitation, she still said: “It’s just been a while since we’ve seen each other, so my skills are a bit rusty.”
The group burst into laughter. Yu Nianxi covered her mouth and looked up at the ceiling, trying hard to swallow the juice she had just sipped, but she clearly failed.
“You’re crazy! ‘Business skills are rusty,’ hahahahaha.”
[I’m going to die laughing. Someone please convince me they really became famous for their talent and not as a comedy troupe!]
[Can’t help you there. Honestly, I think the first time For 8 went viral was because of that legendary photo of Final Review.]
[True, hahaha. Our Final Review is just that powerful, viral even before debut.]
Seeing this, the expressions of all six girls shifted for a brief, fleeting moment.
Speaking of which, that set of photos really had an incredible atmosphere.
The setting was from that time Chu Yiqi and Xi Ai went out for barbecue.
The warm yellow lights of the old city district fell from behind them like scattered silk clouds, draping over the two people sitting opposite each other.
They had slipped out together before they could even change out of their performance outfits. Thus, in several of the photos, Chu Yiqi was wearing a white dress with an irregular trailing hem draped to one side. There were no ornaments in her braided hair, only a few pearl clips that were gilded by the streetlights. Opposite her, Xi Ai was in a long black dress, slowly taking off her gloves while chatting idly with the person across from her.
From time to time, Xi Ai would urge Chu Yiqi to try something else, or try to persuade her to eat more…
When persuasion failed, she would pick up a skewer without chili and bring it to Chu Yiqi’s lips with a beaming smile.
Chu Yiqi would lean back with a frown, but in the end, she would still take it.
Later, the wind picked up at some point. Xi Ai looked at Chu Yiqi’s dress, her brow furrowing slightly. She took off her jacket and draped it over Chu Yiqi’s legs.
Chu Yiqi was clearly stunned for a moment. Xi Ai, sensing this keenly, laughed and made a joke to pull her attention back: “Don’t worry, this one isn’t the same brand as the last one. It’s fine even if you spill some oil on it.”
Chu Yiqi wore an expression that said ‘As if I’d believe your nonsense,’ and said as calmly as possible: “Mhm, I believe you. How many tens of thousands did this one cost?”
Xi Ai blinked, not expecting Chu Yiqi to be so direct. She propped her hands on the table and suddenly laughed, saying, “I don’t know, but it’s really fine.”
Chu Yiqi didn’t take the jacket off and continued eating the barbecue.
In the end, the jacket stayed on Chu Yiqi. Just as they were about to leave, Xi Ai instinctively looked around. The corners of her mouth, which had been curled up, suddenly flattened. She paid the bill and pulled Chu Yiqi along as she ran.
Chu Yiqi also noticed the person taking photos and followed without a word.
But this unexpectedly led to the most important photo—
Xi Ai was pulling Chu Yiqi toward the light. Only their blurred profiles were captured, but the lines were beautiful, and the streetlights served as a perfect finishing touch.
Chu Yiqi was hurriedly clutching the collar to steady Xi Ai’s jacket, one hand being pulled along, not yet having time to turn around. Though it was a rushed moment, a smile had already surfaced in her eyes before she even realized it.
Xi Ai leaned back on her elbows against the edge of the table, occasionally turning her head to snatch some of Yu Nianxi’s snacks.
Yu Nianxi slapped Xi Ai’s hand: “That was the last piece! It’s mine!”
Xi Ai pouted and withdrew her hand.
[What kind of elementary school duo is this?]
[This Yuni fan has already gotten the same taro-filled snacks. I’m ten thousand steps ahead of you all!!!]
[Link, link, link! She’s really making me hungry.]
Chu Yiqi, holding a mango-filled mochi, spoke up slowly: “Nixi, you know… for your own good, eat fewer snacks and watch your calories.”
Yu Nianxi immediately jumped up to retaliate against Chu Yiqi, but she was held back by Xi Ai and Meng Yike, one on each side.
However, their motives were slightly different—one was pure favoritism, while the other was for the harmony of the entire team.
Comparing it like this makes me look so biased.
Xi Ai silently compared herself to Meng Yike and gave herself a bit of silent comfort: People only have so much mental energy; how can anyone take care of everything?
Meng Yike is more capable and mature, while I’m still young—I’m a whole year younger than her!!!
Meng Yike frowned, her nose itching. She turned around and sneezed: “You can’t win the argument, and you can’t win a fight against the two… against Yiqi. Wait, I’m holding you back and you’re still scolding me?”
Yu Nianxi’s anger suddenly shifted as she stared at Meng Yike: “Don’t slander me! It’ll snow in late July at this rate! Yiqi! You weren’t like this before!”
Chu Yiqi’s eyes were wide, the light in them shimmering. She chewed a few times, swallowed the mochi, and said: “People change.”
[Hahaha, poor Nixi. Aww, come here and let me give you a kiss.]
[The person above is dreaming so loud I can hear it from here!]
[Ugh, that familiar ‘Naimi’ nickname, who understands? It was Yu Nianxi’s first nickname, and Yiqi gave it to her.]
[Who gets it? Yu Nianxi is so funny, every nickname is related to food. It fits her too well.]
[That ‘people change’ line is a bit of a knife. Yiqi used to be so gentle and calm, even more stable than Meng Yike.]
“Hey, hey, wait, is our Captain a descriptive adjective now?” Xi Ai tried hard to bring back the atmosphere.
Chu Yiqi also gave a very light laugh. She didn’t want to make the vibe between them too awkward, so she said with a hint of a smile: “Is there a problem with calling her our most emotionally stable and thoughtful sister, Teacher Xi?”
Xi Ai didn’t expect Chu Yiqi to pick up her lead. But on second thought, logically speaking, the two of them had been secretly lovey-dovey in front of the cameras two years ago. Now, even though they had been apart for two years, suddenly not saying a word to each other would make it look even more like they had something to hide.
Given Chu Yiqi’s intent to avoid suspicion, she naturally wouldn’t want that to happen.
So, talking occasionally was good, no matter what was said.
At least that way, to outsiders, it would look like: ‘They haven’t seen each other in a while, so they’re a bit distant, but the relationship is still normal.’
Their acting skills were getting more polished by the day…
Xi Ai smiled and said, “No such thing. No spreading rumors.”
“Fine, I’ll stand with whoever offers the higher price.” Chu Yiqi beckoned with her hand, her expression neutral, but her gaze remained fixed on Xi Ai.
Xi Ai looked at Meng Yike, who gave her a ‘none of my business’ look. Xi Ai was satisfied and said, “Then you should stand with her.”
[Hahaha, the familiar formula. I feel at peace now.]
[Exactly. Slacking off at work to watch this was worth it. Totally worth it.]
Yu Nianxi, whose anger had been forcibly and naturally suppressed, said: “…Wait, I baked cookies.”
“Are they burnt?” Shi Yunshan joined the conversation to show she was listening and not slacking off.
Yu Nianxi waved her hand as she ran off: “No!”
Nie Chuiying was actually secretly slacking off. Her gaze occasionally dropped below the table, her mind wandering while wearing her headphones—it wasn’t often they had a moment without other people around, just a few cameras set up, so she had to have some fun.
She said, “If Taro Paste says they aren’t, then they aren’t.”
Shi Yunshan leaned slightly to the side, whispering to Nie Chuiying without moving her lips: “Were you even listening? How far have you gotten in that fanfiction?”
Nie Chuiying wanted to laugh, but since she was on camera, she had to keep reminding herself this was an important occasion. She raised her hand to cover her mouth: “To the part where a ‘white moonlight’ character appears between them, but they’re actually a pretty powerful wingman.”
“If you take away the ‘white moonlight’ part, isn’t that just like you?” Shi Yunshan asked with a smirk.
“They’re more capable than me.”
[Hey, hey, what are those two over there talking about? Don’t think just because you’re my favorites that you can isolate me from my other favorites!]
[Hahahaha, what do you mean ‘yours’! (I’m used to the intensity of Final Review, I can ship anything now) So sweet, love it!]
“They’re cueing you!”
“They’re cueing my exterior; my heart has always been right here.” Shi Yunshan was perfectly open about it, refusing to take the blame Nie Chuiying tried to shift onto her.
Nie Chuiying laughed helplessly: “You certainly draw a clear line, don’t you?”