Unintentionally, the memory of that day at the hotel, where they had played newlyweds, surfaced in her mind.
No, she couldn’t afford to get distracted—this was something to take seriously!
With that thought, her delicate face hardened, her gaze unwavering and determined as she said earnestly, “Actually, that Couple Umbrella isn’t the kind of umbrella you’re thinking of right now—the usual one we carry.”
Jiang Xiao was momentarily stunned. Not the kind he was thinking of? Then what kind was it?
“How should I put it… it’s for couples who want to do that sort of thing but don’t want kids, and then…”
Song Qiuyu bit her lip, her neck flushed as she spoke.
Each word came out as if squeezing toothpaste from a tube, while her mind raced to choose the right terms.
Jiang Xiao’s eyes widened slightly, looking at her in surprise.
In fact, after they played the newlywed couple at the hotel, he had used deepseek to check, and he already knew the Couple Umbrella wasn’t an ordinary umbrella.
Maybe he should have just told Song Qiuyu outright so she wouldn’t have to struggle explaining.
But seeing her so determined, he felt he shouldn’t interrupt, nor could he.
“And then?”
Jiang Xiao tilted his head, wearing an expression desperate for knowledge.
“Then, it’s like this…” Song Qiuyu took a deep breath and went all in, lifting one pale hand and curling four fingers.
Jiang Xiao watched her quietly as she raised her other small hand.
With a serious tone, like a strict teacher giving a lecture, she mimed putting a tiny umbrella over the empty space.
“This is what the Couple Umbrella really means. Do you understand now?”
Jiang Xiao choked for a moment, staring unblinkingly at her flushed face, the redness spreading all the way down past her neck—
Including that small red mole.
That red mole was no longer swollen.
“Did you get hit twice?”
Song Qiuyu shot Jiang Xiao a glare, embarrassed enough to want to stomp her foot.
Hearing this, Jiang Xiao’s lips twitched but quickly shut tight. Then, looking a bit helpless, he licked his upper lip and shook his head slightly.
“No, not deaf.”
But then a curious thought crossed his mind, and he asked casually, “But Song Qiuyu, you look pretty experienced—have you used it?”
That question caught Song Qiuyu off guard.
She wavered between answering honestly and bluffing.
In the end, she chose honest bluff.
“Not yet.”
Song Qiuyu’s face turned even redder. “But, sooner or later, I’ll get to use it.” As soon as she said it, she regretted it.
She instinctively put on a brave face.
After all, she was female now, and if she used it, she’d have to be the one…
“Is that so.”
Seeing her reaction, Jiang Xiao guessed right away. His hands clenched slightly, his heartbeat accelerating.
Looking at her like that, he felt anxious and dry-mouthed. Without realizing it, the corner of his mouth twitched into a slight smile, but before it could fully form, he hastily suppressed it.
What was he doing, actually feeling happy over something like this?
It was wrong, very wrong.
This had to be the heavens punishing him for all the things he shouldn’t have done to Song Qiuyu. That was why he was being tormented like this.
And Xi’er—he felt guilty toward her too.
“Wait, Jiang Xiao, your reaction isn’t right!”
Song Qiuyu seemed to realize she’d been tricked, her pretty apricot eyes wide and round.
“How isn’t it right?”
Jiang Xiao swallowed nervously.
“Did you already know?” Otherwise, how could you be so calm?
“Alright, I did check.” Jiang Xiao sighed, giving up the act and confessing.
“Uh…”
Song Qiuyu was caught off guard, not expecting him to confess so quickly, but then thinking about it, since it was Jiang Xiao, she felt a bit relieved.
She scratched the back of her heated neck with a small hand and stammered, “Forget it, since you already know, this matter’s easier to handle. Let’s go back.”
“Mm.”
Jiang Xiao lowered his eyes, not daring to look up.
Song Qiuyu was the first to turn and enter the room. At the same time, she took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself.
After a few steps, she didn’t hear footsteps behind her, so she looked back.
Jiang Xiao was still standing there, as if lost in thought.
“Jiang Xiao?”
Song Qiuyu asked, puzzled.
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
Jiang Xiao snapped out of it.
Even if no one mentioned it, Song Qiuyu wasn’t blind—she naturally noticed something was off with Jiang Xiao. She habitually looked for reasons within herself, or more accurately, within her younger self.
Oh no, it couldn’t be because of Shen Xi again…
Could it be that the keyword “couple” set off a landmine? No, they’d mentioned those words before without Jiang Xiao reacting this strongly…
Song Qiuyu was utterly baffled.
That Haki Xiao better not be getting himself tangled up again and dragging her into some big mess like on the first night of the National Day holiday!
Her heart couldn’t handle that.
After some mild debate, they finally decided to take this first pot of gold.
After all, Song Qiuyu wasn’t opposed—what were the others complaining about?
The sponsor’s product was too specialized though, so to smoothly integrate the Couple Umbrella into the short video, they had to put real effort into the script.
First of all, even if it was product placement, the video quality couldn’t drop.
“Lao Song, put that unbeatable brain of yours to work and come up with something!”
After racking his brains for a while, Xie Zhuran gave up thinking decisively.
Song Qiuyu pondered for a moment.
“I think we should start from the umbrella’s features, like ‘safety.’”
“Makes sense.”
Xie Zhuran nodded seriously, analyzing Song Qiuyu’s idea. “You mean, we shoot a film?”
At this, Song Qiuyu froze for a moment, then looked at her roommates with a pitying expression, as if they were mentally challenged. Only Haki Xie could actually say such a thing!
“Idiot.”
Lin An sighed deeply.
But Xie Zhuran’s words made Song Qiuyu realize something.
Could it be that Jiang Xiao’s computer was really completely clean, with no study materials at all?
Highly likely.
But…
As an adult male, how could he have no learning materials? He probably didn’t even know how to find resources.
Now that she thought about it, no wonder his mind was full of that kind of stuff…
Even drinking could almost get him executed on the spot.
Turns out he just didn’t watch enough.
A guy like that would never hold his head high in male circles, but someone as excellent as her had a whole 8 terabytes of resources.
Song Qiuyu was proud.
As a good brother, friend, and roommate, she believed in sharing good stuff—she had all kinds, every XP could be satisfied.
Big cars, small cars, rocking cars, all kinds of toys—there was always one Jiang Xiao would like.
Unfortunately, all that 8T of data was on her desktop at home, so she couldn’t give it to Jiang Xiao before winter break.
There were still over two months until then.
Once winter break started, she’d find a way to share with Jiang Xiao.
Maybe by sending him some links to lewd websites through a burner account, along with some manga readers.
Jiang Xiao didn’t know Song Qiuyu was already planning winter break surprises for him.
He just watched her still-flushed neck and the slight movement of her Adam’s apple.
“So, what are we shooting?”
Jiang Xiao asked.
“Shooting…”
Song Qiuyu was caught off guard.
“I have an idea.”
Xie Zhuran’s eyes lit up as he raised a finger.
“How about we shoot a Couple Umbrella version of the White Snake Legend?”
“?”
All three roommates looked at him with question marks.
“Think about it—Xu Xian lent Lady White an umbrella, and we’re promoting an umbrella too. Xu Xian and Lady White were a couple, and our umbrella is for couples.”
Xie Zhuran grinned mischievously. “Though the script will need a serious overhaul.”
“Kind of makes sense.”
Song Qiuyu pondered. “But there’s the issue of props…”
“As for props, we probably don’t need to worry too much. Once the script is finalized, we can talk to the sponsor—they’ll likely provide support.”
Lin An chimed in, “If worse comes to worst, we have the Drama Club as a fallback.”
“Alright.”
Song Qiuyu’s eyes immediately brightened.
They’d already milked the Drama Club hard for the last three short videos, but after so much, the club president started complaining and insisted they join the club.
So, to keep cashing in, the four of them cheerfully became Drama Club members.
This commercial shoot was theoretically just another chance to keep milking it.
“But if we shoot White Snake Legend, the sponsor insists that Lao Song does the product placement. Between Xu Xian and Lady White, you have to take at least one role, right?”
Xie Zhuran raised an eyebrow. Lin An knew he was being ridiculous again, but this time, he wholeheartedly supported it.
Between those two roles, it was obvious who Qiuyu should play.
“You mean Song Qiuyu should play Xu Xian?”
Jiang Xiao spoke up.
Lin An nodded in agreement.
That way, they could get Sang Tian to play Lady White.
“No way! Of course Lao Song plays Lady White!” Xie Zhuran objected.
At his words, Jiang Xiao and Lin An both fixed him with traitorous stares.
“Nope, the one doing the product placement doesn’t have to be Lady White or Xu Xian. It can be someone else!” Song Qiuyu chuckled wickedly.
“Who exactly, we’ll decide after Lao Xie finishes the script.”
“Ah? Me?”
Xie Zhuran was taken aback.
“Well, who else? You came up with the idea, so naturally you write it. How else would we know where the fun is?”
Song Qiuyu chuckled, “Of course, if you can’t do it, I’ll help. But if I write it, who I play is up to me.”
“You’re ruthless…”
Xie Zhuran accepted his fate. “Fine, you do it.”
“Deal.”
Song Qiuyu smiled victoriously.
She had no real intention of letting Lao Xie write the script—after all, this was their first commercial, so she had to take charge to start strong and impress the client for more deals in the future.
Still, Lao Xie’s idea was good. He deserved some extra credit later.
When the time came, they stopped their discussion, packed their books for class, and headed to the classroom.
The class was Director Art Introduction.
For some reason, the Mediterranean Professor always insisted that the four of them sit in the first row, every single class without exception.
After a while, the classmates had learned to consciously leave those four seats empty for them.
“There he is again. Lao Song, no more daydreaming or you won’t be able to write your script.” Xie Zhuran sighed after sitting down.
“No problem. I can write it all in my head!”
Song Qiuyu was completely unfazed, full of confidence.
Jiang Xiao quietly sat down to her left.
“Song Qiuyu.”
A soft voice came from her right—it was the female Class Monitor, Xu Tongtong.
“Hm?”
Song Qiuyu turned her head, slightly surprised.
She realized the “bad woman” who once tried to seduce Jiang Xiao, Sang Tian’s rival, was sitting right beside her…
“The new short videos you’re shooting are really impressive. The counselor told me you even got a commercial order. If I have time, I can organize some classmates to help.”
Xu Tongtong smiled gently and said, “After all, this is your first commercial. If it goes well, our class will benefit too.”
“Mm.” Song Qiuyu pondered, roughly understanding the counselor’s intentions.
As Xu Tongtong said, since this was their first commercial, the counselor was cautious.
But since it was such an important order, of course, working with familiar people would yield better results.
They weren’t really close with Xu Tongtong.
“Do you know what product we’re promoting?”
“Yes, I do.”
Xu Tongtong lowered her voice and blushed.
“Alright, if you need anything, I’ll speak up.”
Song Qiuyu smiled with narrowed eyes.
The three roommates heard that and immediately translated it to mean one thing—no water will be spilled outside.
It was like when an interviewer says, “Okay, go home and wait for notice.”
Class began, and everyone put away other thoughts and listened attentively.
Song Qiuyu listened while thinking about the script, jotting notes for both the class and the script in her notebook.
By the end of the afternoon, they had only completed a rough outline.
Since her mind was full of commercial script thoughts, Song Qiuyu completely forgot to check messages on her burner account.
She was so focused on the script while walking that she didn’t see the small car speeding toward her from nearby.
“Song Qiuyu!”
Just as she was about to be hit, Jiang Xiao shouted anxiously and yanked her away.
His long, slender fingers accidentally grabbed the wrong spot, wrinkling the hoodie across her chest.
Song Qiuyu’s body stiffened suddenly.