After that, she went quiet. Until Chi Yan's captain assigned him a fire safety livestream—with her as his partner. Chi Yan wasn't thrilled and messaged her: "Zhu Yue, can you stop this?" He told me it was her usual trick. As a kid, she'd deliberately score zeros to get him to tutor her, only for him to find out she knew it all. Wasted his summers. Zhu Yue paused, then laughed. "Senior, you're overthinking. This is just a platform assignment, and it happened to be you." She's an influencer with a decent following, so it might've been a coincidence. I wasn't worried about Chi Yan doing anything out of line. I hugged his neck. "Go, it's for work." Even if she had a plan, she'd just get schooled by him again. The livestream was on the fire station's official account. The moment it started, the chat exploded with people calling Chi Yan "husband." "Wow, my husband's so hot!" "Babe, what are you doing on screen? Come home!" "Husband, we're out of baby formula. Grab some on your way back." In one minute, I gained 300 rivals. No way was I letting that slide. I joined the chat: "Quick question, can I pick up a boyfriend in this livestream?" Chi Yan stared at the screen for two seconds and smiled. Everyone thought he was shy, but I knew he saw my comment. He sent me a private message: kiss.jpg. Zhu Yue, noticing his smile, said, "Still so shy, haha, blushing at a little tease." She was insinuating something. But Chi Yan's smile vanished when she spoke, and he launched into serious fire safety tips. "If an oil pan catches fire, use a metal or wooden lid to cover it. A glass lid could explode." The chat stayed lively, demanding hands-on lessons. Bored at home, I joined the fun. Chi Yan looked at the camera sternly. "Study hard. I'll quiz you." That shut everyone up. People started studying, some even sending him three pages of notes. The learning vibe was intense. Then Zhu Yue announced, "Next up, rapid-fire Q&A." Chi Yan would ask fire safety questions, and she'd answer. Wrong answers meant small penalties. He picked up the prepared questions. "If you're in a hotel fire with one wet towel and one smoke mask, how do you use them?" Zhu Yue paused, then laughed. "The towel, of course. But with you around, I don't need either." She smiled brightly at him. "I know you'd protect me like when we were kids." She'd been dropping hints about their "history" the whole time. The chat went wild. "No way, my husband has a girlfriend?" "Childhood sweethearts? This is straight out of a rom-com." "Am I the only one who doesn't see couple vibes?" Chi Yan's face darkened. After a moment, he said, "Saving lives and property is our duty, not about personal feelings. Also, not choosing could lead to smoke inhalation and suffocation." Seeing him upset, Zhu Yue opened her mouth but didn't dare continue. Back home, Chi Yan grumbled. "I don't know what she's playing at. We rehearsed the script, but she went off-book. Half her fire safety answers were wrong. What if she misleads people? And ‘protect her like when we were kids'? Ha, I'd save a dog stuck in a tree. It's got nothing to do with childhood." I tried so hard not to laugh that my face turned red. He glanced at me. "Laugh if you want. Don't choke, or I'll have to give you CPR." "Chi Yan, you better watch how you talk to me," I said, sitting up and patting my thigh. "You're so patient explaining stuff to everyone else, but you can't be gentle with me? Am I not your baby anymore?" "You watched the livestream?" He caught the key point, smirking. "Alright, let's say we're in a hotel fire with one dust mask. What do you do?" I knew he was testing me. Problem is, I didn't know the answer. So I went for flattery. "I'd give it to you, darling. I know you'd save me." Gotta smooth his feathers first to avoid trouble later. If he made me do a dozen quizzes, I'd be toast. He ate it up, pulling me into his arms. "Babe, I'm touched you trust me, but—" I looked up. He continued, "Hotels usually have two masks, so you don't need to make that sacrifice." Well, damn. He set me up. Seeing his smug look, I kicked him in annoyance and stormed off. He chased after me, hoisting me over his shoulder. Yes, over his shoulder.
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