Chapter 55

Yan Xi looked calmly at the woman in front of her, suddenly smiling: "Yes."

Wei Xiaoman's expression changed drastically. After a long pause, she lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

"I accept your apology. Is there anything else you want to say?" Yan Xi smiled politely. "I still need to go have dinner with my colleagues. If you block me like this, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it to them."

Wei Xiaoman's lips trembled, and she silently stepped aside.

Yan Xi was surprised by how easily Wei Xiaoman complied and looked at her a little longer. Back then, she never expected Wei Xiaoman would do something so despicable, and now she didn't expect her to suddenly show up to see her.

The events from back then were so ugly, and it was clear they wouldn't have the joyful reunion of old friends. Why would Wei Xiaoman go to such lengths to meet her? For people like them, it would be best to each live their own lives and never cross paths again.

Yan Xi took a step forward and then looked back. Wei Xiaoman was still standing there, her nails painted bright red, her hands pale like paper, skin clinging to her bones, and even the veins were visible.

In Yan Xi's memory, Wei Xiaoman had been very sweet-looking. Though her skin was pale, it had a healthy flush to it, and she wasn't this thin.

Looking at Wei Xiaoman's bright red lips, Yan Xi felt a strange, indescribable feeling in her heart.

After dinner with her colleagues, she officially recognized Zhang Hao as her teacher. Yan Xi drove home. After taking a shower, she opened her computer. Normally, her class group chat was quiet, but this time, there were many messages. She opened it and started scrolling through the chat, only to find that Wei Xiaoman was getting married. The groom was a younger student from the year below them, and he was from the capital, so the wedding ceremony would be held at a hotel in the capital.

She noticed that neither Tao Ru nor Yang Min were discussing attending the wedding. Sighing, she opened her WeChat friends group and typed, "Are you two going to Wei Xiaoman's wedding?"

Xiao Ru: Not going.

Min Min: Not going, no money for the gift.

Da He: You two aren't asleep yet?

Xiao Ru: The night's just getting started, what sleep?

Yan Xi saw that the two quickly changed the topic to good-looking men and women. She understood that they didn't want to upset her, so they were being clear about their stance. Smiling, she typed a message in the group.

Da He: You two like any handsome men or beautiful women? I work at the TV station, and if I happen to meet them, I'll shamelessly ask for a few autographs for you.

Xiao Ru: Not particularly, but the male lead in the show "Nine Heavens Legend" is quite handsome. I think his name is Xu Xiaosheng. If you meet him, could you get me an autograph?

Da He: Xu Xiaosheng? Not really familiar, but I'll ask for you.

Yan Xi, who had been struggling to find a topic to chat with Yuan Yi, thought it would be reasonable to ask him to help her inquire about Xu Xiaosheng.

Just as Yuan Yi finished dealing with the files in his inbox, Yan Xi's phone rang.

"Yan Xiao Xi, not sleeping this late?"

"Who? Xu Xiaosheng... I don't know him."

"Since you're asking me, I'll help you ask Qiao Sheng," Yuan Yi closed the door to his study and listened to the woman on the other end of the line talk on and on about meeting a teacher, and how she accidentally wore the same outfit as a celebrity, but the other person's clothes didn't look as good as her own jacket.

Yuan Yi used to find women's chatter boring, but now he realized that when some women chatted, it could still be quite cute.

One spoke, the other listened, occasionally teasing each other, and before they knew it, over half an hour had passed. After hanging up the phone, Yuan Yi was stunned for a while before he remembered the favor Yan Xi had asked of him.

"Yi Ge," Xu Qiaosheng had just finished filming a night scene and was about to lie down in the nanny car when he received Yuan Yi's call.

"Xu Xiaosheng, that 28th-tier small celebrity? I don't know him. What drama is he in?"

"What?"

"Brother, my dear cousin, the male lead of Nine Heavens Legend isn't named Xu Xiaosheng, it's Xu Qiaosheng—your cousin, me," Xu Qiaosheng said, clearly irritated. "So, what do you need from me?"

"A signed photo? Who wants it, is it my second cousin-in-law?" Xu Qiaosheng suddenly became interested. "Next time, if my second cousin-in-law wants my signed photo, she can just tell me. I'll sign ten pictures, no problem."

"I remember your birthday is coming up," Yuan Yi said, enjoying the sound of "second cousin-in-law." "I've ordered a car for you, it'll be here in half a month. Consider it your birthday gift from me."

"Thank you, Yi Ge, you really are my closest brother." Xu Qiaosheng immediately forgot that Yuan Yi didn't remember which drama he was in earlier and gratefully thanked him. He turned to his agent, eyes shining, "Wasn't the director asking me to reshoot a scene earlier? Let's go, I'll go do it again."

Agent: ?

After getting the signed photo for Yan Xi, Yuan Yi was scrolling through his contact list and couldn't resist sending Yan Xi a message.

If she was asleep, it wouldn't disturb her rest.

Not long after the message was sent, Yan Xi replied.

Yan Single Dog: O(∩_∩)O Thank you!

Yuan Yi found the smiley face made with punctuation symbols to be irresistibly cute. He then replied in a serious tone.

[No need to thank.]

"Sigh," Yan Xi rolled on her bed and sent a message in the friends' group.

Da He: Got the signed photos, will give them to you in a few days.

Xiao Ru: Da He, you're the most beautiful river in my heart.

Da He: With all this gratitude, why don't you help me with an idea? I need your wisdom.

Min Min: Sure, go ahead.

Da He: How do I get the "grass by the nest" into my mouth?

Xiao Ru: I think the first thing is to determine if he likes you or not. If he's into you, go for it, don't hesitate. But if he's not interested, just back off. Pursuing someone who isn't into you will just lead to pain, even if you end up together. The best outcome is that you want the "grass by the nest," and it hops right into your mouth, waiting for you to take a bite.

The "grass by the nest" hopping into your mouth...

Yan Xi touched her face. If that's the case, then it wouldn't be so bad.

At 11 PM, the people who liked watching TV had already turned it off and gone to bed, and those who were still awake were either on their phones or computers. So, during this time, shows like Things Around Us went online on the Beijing Satellite Channel almost unnoticed. Even though the Things Around Us Weibo public account and Yan Xi's own Weibo account announced the good news, not even the official Beijing TV Weibo mentioned it.

Xiaomi, an online writer, was used to staying up late and waiting for takeout. That night, she was struggling with inspiration and couldn't come up with the right plot. She slumped on the couch, eating snacks while turning on the TV.

Late-night TV content usually consisted of insignificant shows or low-viewership dramas. She flipped through the channels, stopping when she got to the Beijing TV channel. It wasn't that she was particularly loyal to the channel, but she found the female host's voice very pleasant, and it made her feel better while eating sunflower seeds.

She didn't expect that, just casually watching, she would actually find it somewhat interesting. The show featured six people of all ages—men, women, old and young—with different lifestyles and daily interactions. Sometimes, the show would edit together the actions of all six during the same time period, and the contrasts were particularly striking.

"Every day, different people wake up to their own lives. There are differences in gender, income, and achievements, but one thing is the same: everyone has 24 hours in a day. Time does not speed up for the young, nor slow down for the elderly."

"In the early morning, the sunlight spreads across the land. Grandpa Yao is already dressed, has finished his breakfast, and is driving his old companion, the electric tricycle, to work in the fields."

"For a ten-year-old, the morning study session is a battle against the bed. Xiao Lin puts on his oversized, durable school uniform, grabs the breakfast prepared by his family, and squeezes onto the bus."

The oversized and durable school uniform... the program team really knows how to make fun of it. The uniform is ugly, thick, and ill-fitting. Aside from being oversized and durable, it doesn't have much going for it. The female host's quick reflexes as she steals a seat for the filming subject were quite impressive, and she even shamelessly took half of someone's bread.

I've never seen such a shameless host, stealing a breakfast from a ten-year-old. Fortunately, she had a bit of a conscience and bought the child a mousse cake after getting off the bus, interviewing him while waiting for him to finish the cake.

As the program continued, she noticed that there were several guests featured in this episode. The host filmed with three of them. She wasn't sure if it was because she favored the female host, but she felt that the footage of these three guests was particularly interesting.

When the program reached lunchtime and was nearing its end, Xiaomi realized that this was the first episode and it hadn't finished airing yet. She felt a bit regretful and couldn't help but post a Weibo message.

Big Cat Doesn't Eat Rice V: "Never thought I'd watch an entire lifestyle show from a certain station. I must have some serious taste problems. The host's style is so unique, it's like an extravagant outlier among a sea of pure and simple shows."

She is a fairly well-known online writer. As soon as she posted the Weibo, someone asked her what the program was. She enthusiastically recommended it, saying that such an interesting program and such an interesting host deserved more attention.

Fan 1: "Big Cat, I feel like this program's name sounds familiar, like I've heard it somewhere."

Fan 2: "I remember there's a program with the same name on the local channel in the capital, and there are a lot of videos of this show online. The female host looks a bit too pure and innocent, but she's really likable on the show, and her hosting skills are strong. I wonder if the capital satellite station saw how good the local version was and just copied the idea?"

Fan 3: "I watched tonight's episode too, but it wasn't about copying ideas. This program finally made it to satellite TV. When I saw it on the satellite channel, I was so happy. The host is so dedicated, and the content is really well done. But this satellite station only airs locally, so you can't watch it outside of the capital. Now that it's on satellite TV, even though it's a late-night slot, it's a huge improvement."

Xiaomi didn't expect that among her readers, there were fans of this female host. She searched online and found quite a bit of information about her.

It turns out... she's the host who was hit by the studio light during a live news broadcast?

When that news broke, Xiaomi was busy working and didn't pay much attention. She never imagined it was her.

After staying up late to watch two more episodes of Things Around Us, Xiaomi liked the female host even more. She couldn't help but post two more Weibo messages, encouraging everyone to watch the show.

Among all the various hype-driven reality shows, Things Around Us was truly special.

After only airing two episodes on satellite TV, some Weibo accounts began recommending the show, with all kinds of promotional posts and interesting video snapshots, attracting a lot of attention from netizens.

The staff at the capital satellite station were surprised to see so many online recommendations for the show. They hadn't paid for any promotion, so how did the program gain so much attention? They had allowed the show to go on air because it had garnered some attention online, and also because the female host had been involved in an accident that made national headlines. The station wanted to give her some closure, but they didn't have high hopes for a show without any stars or major buzz, so they certainly wouldn't spend money on promoting it.

Yan Xi, like the satellite station staff, was surprised by the sudden surge of praise for her show online. There's no way the show is so extraordinary that it's causing such a reaction; someone must have paid for promotion.

The program team certainly couldn't afford it, as they were poor.

The satellite station was also unlikely to be behind it; they had their own big-name variety shows to promote and wouldn't pay attention to a late-night slot. After all, her show aired at 8:30 PM on Channel 8, and the satellite station was airing it two and a half hours later, effectively replaying it.

Although her father could afford to buy promotion, he didn't have that kind of influence. Where would he even buy it?

Could it be that there was a quietly protective "Tian Luo" (a guardian) around her?

"The most important thing in a mobile game is its playability and longevity. Your concept is good, and the initial revenue might be great, but it's easy for the game to lose momentum later on," Yuan Yi said after reviewing the planning team's ideas. His fingers quickly flew over the keyboard. "I want to turn this game into an industry legend. I believe in your capabilities."

"Don't worry, Mr. Yuan, we'll definitely design the perfect plan," the head of the planning team said excitedly, watching Yuan Yi's skillful operation. "Mr. Yuan, do you play games often?"

"No, I never used to like playing games," Yuan Yi replied, finishing a simple piece of code. "From here on out, we'll need to continue working hard."

After leaving the game planning team, Yuan Yi opened his phone, checked the trending searches online, then opened his mobile banking app and transferred some money. Problems that can be solved with money are not problems.

Yan Xi's show was so good that it deserved to be discovered by more viewers.

After asking a few major Weibo accounts for information, Yan Xi learned that this might be related to Yuan Xiaoer. Yuan Xiaoer helped her with marketing promotion but didn't tell her. He was truly a "Tian Luo" (guardian) doing good deeds without expecting anything in return.

But why was he doing this? Was he helping her because of his unspoken feelings for her?

Was it possible that the "grass by the nest" was really jumping right into her mouth?

Ding ding. Her phone chat app rang. This message came from the group card feature, meaning she wasn't friends with the sender.

Liu Liu: "Yan Xi, senior, Xiaoman is seriously ill. This wedding is something I'm holding for her. Could you... attend the wedding between me and her? If you agree to come and fulfill Xiaoman's wish, I'll agree to any conditions you ask."

Upon reading this message, Yan Xi was a little dazed. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether the person was joking with her or being serious.

Dahe, I'm Xiao Xi: "Is this true?"

Liu Liu: "No one else knows. Xiaoman has been hiding it from everyone. Please, I'm begging you, help me."

Yan Xi stared blankly at her phone screen, suddenly feeling like she didn't quite recognize these words anymore.

Was this a joke?

Huh?