Chapter Thirty Benefits of Fluff

  (Three more episodes are finished. Hope everyone can give more support, those who haven't collected it yet please collect it, and if you have any recommendations please throw a few, of course throwing all is the best.)

  Choi Soo-young was half-kneeling on the ground, with her center of gravity fully supported by her arms. When Lee Choo sneezed, her hand covering her face accidentally touched Choi's elbow pit, causing her tightly stretched arm to suddenly bend (don't believe me, try it yourself). Her center of gravity collapsed, and Choi immediately fell forward, and originally her face was facing Lee's...

  Fortunately, since Li Qiu had just turned his head to sneeze, Cui Xiuying's lips, which had just eaten barbecue and still had oil stains on them, only left a mark on the corner of his mouth. The greasy oil stain slid into Li Qiu's mouth under the pressure of lip against lip, sticking to the tip of his tongue, and the fragrance of the meat continuously stimulated his taste buds. "The meat I roasted is this delicious!"

  Choi Soo-young's eyes widened, and she hastily scrambled to her feet, returning to the spot where she had been standing earlier. Her hands covered her lips, which now had only half the oil stain. The sun had already completely set, leaving behind only the remnants of its glow on the evening clouds. The clouds were a deep shade of crimson, and Choi Soo-young's hair, tied up in two ponytails, fluttered in the gentle breeze that was picking up. Her cheeks were as red as the clouds on the western horizon. "I kissed him again... no, this time I really kissed him..."

  Li Qiu sat up, her right hand touching the oil stain on the corner of her mouth, gazing at Cui Xiuying's back as the sunset was divided into two parts by her tall figure. Li Qiu brushed aside her bangs that fell across her forehead with the gentle evening breeze, staring intently at this back view. Even after spending a night with Boa, he hadn't blushed except for feeling awkward the next morning. This time, his face turned red, although the flush from being roasted by the charcoal fire earlier had yet to fade. "Does...does this count as a kiss, our first kiss?"

  Two people, in the same gust of wind, holding onto their rugged thoughts, unmoving, like two stone statues, unchanged for eternity. The atmosphere between them had become awkward again, one turned away, the other stared, only the gradually rising evening breeze swayed...

  "You..." Li Qiu wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say. This was completely unexpected, just like when you're drinking water and suddenly choke; or like a calm lake surface that suddenly produces a bubble, or a small fish jumping out of the water, disrupting the tranquility.

  Cui Xiuying's mood was calm and peaceful, she turned around, standing still in the evening glow, her lively eyes gazing at Li Qiu who sat on the ground, "You..."

  "Xiu Ying, I've already barbecued the meat, come down and eat!" As expected, people who ruin the mood always appear at the most critical moment. Before Cui Xiu Ying could even speak, from the small platform below, Gao Cheng Gang, who was barbecuing, let out his characteristic beast-like roar, which spread upwards, dispersing the wind that had been blowing and the atmosphere that had been lingering.

  When Li Qiu heard Gao Chenggang's shout, he was stunned for a moment, stood up, patted the dust on his back, smiled at Cui Xiuying who was about to speak, first stepped down from the small platform, and returned to the charcoal fire, continuing to endure the scorching heat of the charcoal. Perhaps, he also needed this scorching heat of the charcoal.

  "It's really good, this meat. No wonder you two have been fighting over it." Li Qiu took the blackened meat skewer handed to him by Gao Cheng, and took a bite. The charred meat was like charcoal, its smoky flavor constantly assaulting his mouth, but his taste buds still lingered on the clear, savory meat flavor that had flowed from Cui Xiuying's lips earlier.

  "Although it's very dark outside, it should still be edible inside, right? How is it, Li Qiu, does it taste good?" Gao Chenggang didn't dare to eat the meat he had roasted himself. Just by looking at its appearance, he knew that if he ate it, his stomach would ache for sure.

  The last few strings of meat, except for Li Qiu eating one string, all let Gao Chenggang burn and char. Cui Xiuying suddenly scolded Gao Chenggang loudly on the small platform, just because of these few strings of burnt meat, but her eyes kept glancing at Li Qiu who was extinguishing the fire and cleaning up the trash beside her. On the way down the mountain, Cui Xiuying seemed to be in a hurry, and under the glow of the sunset, the three quickly descended the mountain and returned to the farmhouse where Jin Minhe was staying.

  At night, the summer starry sky, the Milky Way has taken shape, a bustling sky, a small stream flows through. After a simple dinner and a bath, Li Qiu sat under the eaves of her house, gazing at the vast expanse of stars, her thoughts drifting to the west, across the sea strait to Korea.

  "Sister, nights like this always make me think of you." In Lee Chul's memory, Lee Hyori had already been completely deified, and even though she had once driven him away, Lee Chul still felt the same way about her.

  "Sister, I'm telling you, today... I think I kissed Soo-young. It was an accident, but it was my first kiss... the feeling..." Little did Lee Chul know that his first kiss had already been stolen by his sister, Lee Hyori, on the night she chased him away...

  In another house, Choi Soo-young, who had just finished bathing, also came out. Her loose T-shirt and casual pants couldn't hide her tall figure at all, even though she was only thirteen years old, with a flat chest and straight back; her hair wasn't tied in pigtails, but hung down straight, looking very refreshing.

  "Brother Autumn." Cui Xiuying pulled all her hair to the right, hanging it over her right shoulder, and sat down beside Li Qiu. The evening breeze blew by, dispersing the fragrance that emanated from her body.

  "Su-young, aren't you sleeping yet?" It's strange, after a girl takes a bath, the scent of her body wash becomes very strong. Boa is like that, and Choi Su-young is also like that.

  "Hurry up, today, you said, tomorrow you're not going back to Tokyo with us?"

  "Uh-huh, Uncle Min-he said that I should stay with Grandma Shan for a week and maybe learn something from her."

  "Oh, a week is so long! A week later, will you be back in Tokyo?"

  "Yeah, probably will, go to sleep then."

  "I will miss you...the dishes you cook."

  "I knew you'd be hungry, it's late, we went hiking today, you must be exhausted, get some rest." Thinking of today, Li Qiu thought of that kiss-like but not quite a kiss contact, the flesh scent still lingered on his taste buds, refusing to dissipate.

  "Oh, well, goodnight." As soon as Li Qiu mentioned today's mountain climbing, Cui Xiang immediately became flustered. That unexpected first kiss of hers was gone just like that. Just as she stood up, a shooting star suddenly streaked across the dazzling sky above her head and vanished in an instant.

  "Brother Chiu, just now there was a shooting star, quick, make a wish!" Cui Xiuying saw the shooting star streak across and immediately excitedly pulled up Li Qiu who was sitting beside her. Then with hands clasped together, she devoutly said in front of her heart, "I hope I'm not flat-chested, Brother Chiu will always make delicious food for me to eat..."

  Li Qiu stood beside Choi Soo-young, feeling really pressured. His height only reached Choi's earlobe, a full half-head shorter. Such a difference would make any boy feel self-conscious, and standing like that would be unnatural for any of them. So Li Qiu naturally lowered his head, gazing at Choi's slender legs. "Soo-young's legs are really beautiful!"

  "I hope I can grow taller and also stand on stage..."

  Just as the two closed their eyes to make a wish, another shooting star with a long tail streaked across the night sky and vanished.

  ……

  This farmhouse is a family-style farm, consisting of many small houses connected together. The owner of this farmhouse also often entertains tourists visiting the village. There are many guest rooms, and this time three were allocated to Jin Min-he - Choi Soo-young one room, Gao Chenggang one room, Jin Min-he and Li Qiu one room.

  "Xiao Qiu, for this one week, try your best to satisfy Grandma Yamaguchi and follow her to learn. For you, she is your future!"

  "I'll try hard, but I still want to be a performer, standing on the stage." With that said, Li Qiu wrapped herself in her blanket, turned sideways, and lay down with her back to Kim Min-hee, preparing to sleep.

  "Little Autumn, you..." Kim Min-hek really couldn't understand. Knowing he had a fear of the stage, knowing his voice wasn't good, and knowing how hard it was to stand on stage, why couldn't he just focus on being behind-the-scenes? Was it all just so he could be on the same stage as his sister, Lee Hyori?

  "Hyori..." Kim Min-heok let out a sigh in his heart, covered himself with the blanket, and gazed at Lee Choo's back, letting out another sigh.

  ……