Chapter 24 Gratitude of an Ungrateful Female Lead 24 She Was a Breeze That Had Passed Through the Human World

Little Xie Yu was practically an angel. He ate well, slept well, never made a fuss, and seemed to grow bigger by the day.

Before long, he had filled out, like an irresistibly lovable milk mochi.

Every time Auntie Xie held him, she never wanted to let go.

Just looking at him was enough to lift anyone’s mood.

Zhou He had also filled out a little along with him.

She didn’t know whether it was because she’d recovered especially well during postpartum confinement, or simply because after putting on a bit of weight, her skin had become softer and more delicate.

Whenever she looked in the mirror, she felt like her skin now was even better than it had been when she was in her teens.

When Xie Yu turned three months old, Auntie Xie went back home, so the novice parents had no choice but to take care of him themselves. It took them quite a while of scrambling before they finally got the hang of things.

Xie Lingge had already started a new treatment plan. When Zhou He went to the hospital to visit her, she had no choice but to bring the little one along.

Fortunately, he wasn’t shy around strangers at all. His dark eyes darted around as he looked at everything with curiosity.

At the hospital.

“Bouquet Girlfriend… Hey, miss, wait… the young lady up front holding the baby, wait a second…”

Zhou He heard someone calling from behind for quite a while. It was only when she heard him mention someone holding a baby that she stopped. Was he calling her?

Behind her, a young man with a crossbody bag squeezed his way out from the crowd lined up to get medicine and stopped in front of Zhou He.

Zhou He said, “Were you calling me?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I was.” The young man said apologetically, “Sorry, I don’t know your name, so I could only call you that.”

“Is something the matter?”

The young man seemed to realize only then. “Oh, right, look at me, seriously.”

“Let me introduce myself. My name is You Jia. You don’t know me, but I recognized you right away. Last year, I filmed that video of you holding flowers and picking up your boyfriend at the high-speed rail station. It got really popular on the short video platform. Later, your boyfriend contacted me and got the original footage. I don’t know if you still remember?”

As he spoke, he extended his right hand. But before Zhou He could shake it, Little Xie Yu intercepted it midway. The little guy wasn’t shy at all. With his plump little hand, dimples on the back of it, he grabbed You Jia’s index finger and gave it a shake.

He even smiled at him, his pink gums showing just the tiniest points of baby teeth.

You Jia instantly looked completely melted by the cuteness.

“Hello there~ You’re so adorable, little guy. You’re this young and already know how to shake hands? That’s so polite, isn’t it?” He turned to Zhou He. “This is…?”

“My son,” Zhou He said with satisfaction.

“Congratulations, congratulations. I didn’t expect you two to bear fruit so quickly. That video of you two still gets likes and comments even now. You even had a nickname, Bouquet Girlfriend.” Then, belatedly, he added, “Ah, I’m being too talkative, aren’t I? I’ve taken up so much of your time. There’s nothing really, I just happened to see you and wanted to come say hello. I hope your whole family stays happy together.”

“Thank you.” Zhou He took hold of her son’s hand and taught him to cup his fists in greeting. “Come on, let’s thank big brother.”

Blessings from strangers were always especially precious.

She hadn’t expected that a chance encounter with someone she’d only met in passing could still leave such an impression on him.

When Zhou He got to the hospital room, she even told Xie Lingge about it.

Of course, the focus of her story was Little Xie Yu’s glorious feat of shaking hands on someone else’s behalf.

Super polite~

Now Little Xie Yu was the family’s lucky charm. Everywhere he went, people competed to hold him. He himself was lovable too, always smiling.

“Hee hee hee hee hee…” Whenever the little one laughed, even the hospital room seemed to brighten considerably.

The other patients and family members in the room all smiled as they looked at him.

Zhou He thought running into You Jia today had just been a minor episode, but unexpectedly, she ran into him again in the hallway on this floor.

You Jia was surprised too. “Hey, little guy, we meet again!”

Little Xie Yu seemed to remember this person who had shaken hands with him. This time, when he saw him, he even reached out on his own and babbled excitedly.

Flattered, You Jia quickly extended his index finger for him to grab.

Only after talking did they find out he was here visiting someone. When he learned that Xie Lingge was also hospitalized here, he enthusiastically brought some things to visit her as well.

Then, when Zhou He came again a few days later, she discovered that he was still there. He was actually sitting in front of Lingge’s hospital bed reading online jokes to her.

Only later did Zhou He learn that You Jia had been coming every day these past few days, and that he and Xie Lingge got along surprisingly well.

When he saw Zhou He again, You Jia’s eyes lit up as he stared at her. It made her feel prickly all over.

Xie Lingge said, “Sister-in-law, You Jia’s been waiting for you the whole time.”

“What is he waiting for me for?”

You Jia said, “Sister-in-law, I want to interview you and film a video. You absolutely have to agree.”

Zhou He raised an eyebrow. They hadn’t seen each other for just a few days, and even the form of address had changed?

She looked at You Jia, then at Xie Lingge.

You Jia said, “After hearing Lingge tell me about it, I finally realized that you’re not only somebody else’s girlfriend, you’re somebody else’s sister-in-law too. It’s just too moving. It would’ve been enough if you’d only decisively sold your house to save your younger sister, but you even sold your bags and jewelry. A topic this full of positive energy has to be shared so everyone can know that there’s love in this world.”

Zhou He laughed at his choice of words.

You Jia continued to persuade her. “I’ve already interviewed Lingge and Auntie. The only things left are material from you personally and from big brother.”

Was the whole family really going to appear together in perfect formation?

Xie Lingge looked at her eagerly, hands clasped together in a pleading gesture. Her attitude couldn’t have been clearer.

Xu Meijuan didn’t understand short videos, but given how she bragged everywhere about having such a wonderful daughter-in-law, not even sparing the hospital janitors, the moment she learned that short videos could let even more people know how good her daughter-in-law was, she supported the idea with both hands.

Caught between laughter and tears, Zhou He declined tactfully. “What’s there to film about this? Besides, I’m not comfortable in front of a camera. I might not even be able to speak clearly. Let’s forget it, but thank you all the same.”

The one at the train station had been an accidental recording, so that was one thing. But filming again this time felt too deliberate to her. It felt like she was selling her misery, and she wasn’t used to that.

At those words, Xie Lingge pouted, her disappointment written all over her face.

You Jia also tried to persuade her. “Think about it again, sister-in-law. You have no idea how many people online like you. They definitely want to know how you and big brother are doing now too. I’ve even thought of the title already. It’ll be called A Match Made in Heaven, Human Worth.”

Zhou He still didn’t agree.

Unexpectedly, when they couldn’t persuade Zhou He, they went to persuade Xie Qingjia instead, asking him to act as a lobbyist.

Zhou He said, “You actually agreed?”

Xie Qingjia could take this matter or leave it, but he wasn’t opposed to the interview and video You Jia had suggested.

“I think there’s no need to blow this out of proportion. Actually, it’s kind of like you writing stories. It’s also a way of recording our life and our experiences. The stories you write are from the angle we experience ourselves, while short videos are us through someone else’s eyes.”

What Xie Qingjia said in that last sentence did move Zhou He a little.

He added, “Actually, you can think of it as a little documentary segment of our lives. When we’re old and pull it out to watch again, it’ll definitely be especially interesting.”

Alright then, Zhou He didn’t care about the other reasons. But Xie Qingjia’s way of looking at it was just ridiculously appealing.

Her heart was racing. This man had successfully talked her into it.

–

Eucalyptus Leaves was a very active lifestyle account on the KuaiDou¹ platform. The content posted there was varied, but he always managed to dig up things that made people smile knowingly. The videos were not posted very frequently, but every time one was uploaded, the views and engagement were very high.

He had a fixed and active fan base, and the visible follower count on the front end showed more than six million.

The blogger’s profile description was quite interesting. He wrote: I passed through the human world and recorded a stunning fleeting glimpse.

Friday, 8 p.m.

Eucalyptus Leaf’s account updated.

The title of the new video was: Do You Still Remember the Bouquet Girlfriend at the Train Station? Other People’s Love Stories Always Remind Me That Life Is Worth Living.

The cover showed the four bold words “Life Is Worth Living,” paired with a wedding photo.

At the start of the video, a few simple shots were used to recap the earlier “Bouquet Girlfriend” incident, with a handsome man and a beautiful woman helping viewers recall the protagonists of this video.

Then came a wedding photo, followed by a family portrait of three.

The man and woman both had very distinctive looks. It was easy to tell that the people appearing in all three scenes were the same couple. In the family photo, the child’s face had been mosaicked out, but it was still obvious that the child was a fair, chubby little darling like a New Year print baby².

Right after that came the blogger’s voice-over, explaining that he had unexpectedly run into the Bouquet Girlfriend he had filmed before, and had recorded how her life was going now.

He said, “She was the kind of girlfriend everyone envies, then later became the kind of wife everyone envies, the kind of sister-in-law everyone envies. She is a warm breeze that once swept through this world. She is Miaomiao, a pseudonym.”

The blogger briefly talked about Miaomiao getting married and having a child, her happy married life, and then the family crisis that followed, her husband’s younger sister falling ill. And everything that happened after that.

Then came interview clips with several members of this touching family.

Miaomiao’s interview was placed at the very end, and it was also the shortest.

She answered the blogger’s questions with a smile the whole time.

“Actually, I didn’t think that much about it. We’re family, after all. I just did something within my power, something I wouldn’t regret for the rest of my life. That’s all.”

“Why did I change my mind? My husband said this was a way of recording life and the journey of being alive, and I thought he was right. Getting a documentary made of myself for free actually sounds pretty nice.”

The blogger said, “So I was just a tool… I’m hurt, really hurt. I honestly didn’t see this coming…”

The video ended in laughter and joking.

At the end, on a black screen with white text, the blogger added a note and his blessing: The condition Miaomiao and her husband gave for agreeing to film this video was that the overall editing tone couldn’t be sad. They were not trying to sell misery for sympathy. Miaomiao felt that since her sister-in-law had already begun a new treatment plan and was starting to improve, then the hardest days were already behind them. She believed the future would only get better and better.

May they, like a prince and princess, live happily together forever.

Eucalyptus Leaf already had a solid fan base, and it was the weekend. As soon as the video went online, the view count surged. After just two days over the weekend, it had already racked up more than two hundred thousand likes.

The netizens really did remember the Bouquet Girlfriend from before, and they were generous with their blessings.

[I hope the younger sister recovers soon.]

[Another day of watching other people fall in love.]

[The last thing I saw was a wife-murder case, and my fear of marriage instantly went up by 100. Now I’ve seen this one, and I want to fall in love again. My fence-sitting life is such a tug-of-war.]

[I really like Miaomiao’s attitude toward life. Wishing her all the best.]

[I… originally wanted to say something sentimental too, but forget it, I just want to say this: if it’s needed, I can donate a little.]

[Donate a little +1. Protect our Miaomiao.]

…

The online comments section was buzzing with excitement.

In real life, Zhou He and Xie Qingjia weren’t exactly living in peace and quiet either.

The video made the local trending list. A lot of people who knew them had come across it, and their phones were full of messages from friends near and far checking in on them. It also directly led to more people coming to visit the patient, including complete strangers.

What made Zhou He laugh and cry even more was that some fellow patients and nurses actually came to ask the couple for photos together.

It made them feel like celebrities, which was honestly absurd.

Zhou He thought the hype around the video would fade away gradually, just like the one from the train station last time. But then one comment appeared and directly pushed this video’s popularity to a whole new level.

[Pear Blossom is Not Illiterate: Why does this plot feel kind of like the novel I’m following on Little Green City³? Even the protagonists have the same names, and the female lead’s nickname in the story is also “Miaomiao.”]

[Spring Rain replied to @Pear Blossom is Not Illiterate: You said exactly what I was thinking. Isn’t this the story by that author I’m following? We don’t even need a comparison chart⁴, it’s practically identical.]

[Wandering Crab replied to @Spring Rain: Thanks for the reminder. I made a comparison chart, see attached.]

In the image, the left side showed the plot progression of a novel on Little Green City, while the right side showed the original wording of the video’s narration.

The replies under that comment kept piling higher and higher, and the direction of the discussion veered off toward an utterly unexpected destination.

Translator’s Notes