Chapter 81

Chapter 81

"I don't think I need to worry about your on-site reactions anymore," Qí Wéi said, looking smug as she held her laptop, reviewing the data. "At first, I thought the film's publicity team contacted you privately to get you to post the sunflowers. I even praised Yáng Zhèngyì for having such a brilliant team this time compared to before. But it turns out, this idea was all yours on the spot."

"That's amazing," Qí Wéi sighed.

The video was actually captured by a camera that hadn’t been removed yet, originally intended for behind-the-scenes footage. It lacked camera techniques, lighting, and even several shots were out of focus. The publicity team just added a simple filter and did a quick edit before posting it. A 30-second video, its purpose was only to build hype for the wrap-up promotion. However, the views across multiple major platforms far surpassed the beautifully crafted trailer video they had worked on for a week.

Three platforms, trending in the top three. And Qí Wéi hadn’t spent a single penny. This was all genuine heat.

Ān Yě’s ability to shine alone in a crowd was exceptional.

"Yán Wàn really underestimated you," Qí Wéi sighed deeply.

Some people are just born stars, the visual focal point in a crowd. Even the angle of their hair being blown by the wind has a story.

Yán Wàn had suppressed all these traits in Ān Yě, leaving everyone with only a vague silhouette of her, hiding the brightest light in her.

Ān Yě had been suppressed for so many years, but once she relaxed a little, her unique charm started to spill out. She was ethereal.

It might not be appropriate to describe a female star like this, but Ān Yě, at only twenty-eight, truly had this aura. Looking across the entertainment industry, she couldn’t find another star who gave her the same feeling.

It wasn't about being untouched by the world, but about standing independently within it.

She was like a pearl, buried for ten years, finally beginning to break free from its shell.

The wrap-up party was held in Bái Gǎng City. Ān Yě was pulled by Qí Wéi for a brief interview. After removing her makeup and changing into everyday clothes, Chí Tuò, the lawyer who had helped the film secure its financing, was also on the guest list. So, the group squeezed into the shuttle, full of excitement, heading to Bái Gǎng City.

After assigning some chores to the assistant, Lán Yīfāng had started scheduling Ān Yě’s upcoming projects. She was now holding a stack of scripts for initial screening, and yesterday she received a new laptop, which was quite a novelty. Today, she was typing with her fingers arched, typing like she was conducting a ballet performance.

The young girl, still unaware of the complexities of life, fantasized about herself working overtime at the airport, filled with aspiration.

Qí Wéi was busy with the wrap-up promotion and upcoming variety show marketing. Her phone and computer were constantly in use.

Chí Tuò sat beside her, making a call. In his briefcase was a sunflower, his left arm extended casually over the back of Ān Yě’s chair. His expression was relaxed, but his tone was very professional and calm. "Yes, from now on, all the copyright development and rights protection in China will be handled by Jīn Dǐng."

His tone was firm, with just a hint of pride stemming from his strong professional knowledge, perfectly balanced.

Ān Yě glanced at him.

She realized that this person had completely mastered his professional persona. When he needed to soften, he was more courteous than anyone, and when he needed to be assertive, every word he spoke left no room for rebuttal.

Just a few minutes ago, when she was scrolling through the comments on Weibo, she had seen him post a comment saying "Happy wrap-up, baby [heart heart]" in the midst of a flood of "wifey" and "kisses and hugs" comments, standing out for being particularly understated, so it didn’t make it to the first page. Ān Yě only found his ID after flipping through a few pages.

He had never called her "baby."

In real life, calling her that felt too sweet and cheesy, and on the internet, it didn’t have enough impact. But he was so attached to this term that he rarely made it to the top comments.

Ān Yě lowered her head, unable to resist liking his comment under the post "Qū Xiàng Xiàng Tiān Gē" to boost its visibility. She used her main account, but after liking it, she feared it was too obvious and quickly liked a few other comments that seemed more neutral, ones that didn’t call her "wifey."

She didn’t want to disrupt Chí Tuò’s position as a mid-level executive, after all, he had mentioned several times how proud he was of being selected through his abilities, something he practically wanted to write into his resume.

When doing these things, she didn’t avoid Chí Tuò. She felt like his call sounded like a major project, and he probably didn’t have time to peek at her screen.

In his professional mode, Chí Tuò was dressed in a suit. In her mind, she didn’t associate him with the childish guy at home, indulging Old Bai by letting him hatch eggs with his phone.

So when her phone was suddenly snatched away, she was startled and let out a little "Ah."A few people in the front row quickly turned around.

Ān Yě closed her mouth, her expression calm.

Chí Tuò was even more composed, still on the phone, not looking forward at all.

So, the people in the front row turned back to face forward in unison.

Ān Yě waited until everyone turned back before she turned her head, reaching out to grab her phone back.

Chí Tuò, in front of her, slipped the phone into his trouser pocket and mouthed, "Wait."

Ān Yě glared at him.

He reached out and pinched her earlobe, briefly touching it.

Chí Tuò wouldn’t make any overly intimate gestures in front of others, and Ān Yě knew why. When they were young, Chí Tuò’s neighbor, a teenage punk, had a girlfriend. He liked to do intimate things in public, and when the girl didn’t want to, he would force her. It left a very bad impression. Ān Yě felt that it was very disrespectful, and they had talked about it twice. Later, when Chí Tuò saw that couple, he would always take Ān Yě to walk around them.

So, when there was a third person, even a kiss on the lips would be done stealthily, in a visual blind spot.

Just like now.

Ān Yě didn’t like to show too much affection in front of others either. For her, social interactions and private feelings were separate.

So, without her phone, she could only silently look out the window, listening to Chí Tuò beside her, chatting away with professional jargon.

Only someone who truly understood him would know that his speaking speed had picked up, and there were no more filler words between his sentences.

When they were younger, after he explained a problem to her five times, he would get into this state.

Now, he was probably just eager to hang up the phone.

Ān Yě suddenly felt like laughing.

He must have seen her like on Qū Xiàng Xiàng Tiān Gē, the disguise was gone. She couldn't see it on his face, but his actions were already flustered, hiding her phone away.

Sure enough, after hanging up, Chí Tuò didn’t speak immediately.

Ān Yě tilted her head and looked at him.

He cleared his throat, then handed her the hidden phone. It had been locked due to inactivity.

Ān Yě almost smiled but held it back, tilting her head and silently mouthing, "Baby?"

Chí Tuò’s ears turned red. He glanced at the front row. Some were working, others sleeping, and the rearview mirror angle from Mr. Chén’s seat wasn’t in this row either.

He leaned closer to Ān Yě, his voice lowered almost to a whisper, “Just... for data purposes.”

Ān Yě smiled and, while pushing his body down, bent over herself. Once they were both hidden behind the chairs, she leaned in and briefly brushed her lips against his.

They were both tall, so even though the van was quite spacious, hiding behind the seats still felt cramped, but it was thrilling.

So, after the first touch, she kissed him again.

Chí Tuò froze on the first one.

On the second one, when she tried to pull back, he grabbed the back of her head and didn’t let her escape. They shared a brief but intense kiss in the back row.Ān Yě had no resistance to Chí Tuò's sense of dominance whenever he got close to her. He bit her lower lip, and the slight sting brought a fresher sense of intimacy. Ān Yě made a light "mm" sound, and their lips and tongues tangled together.

When their lips parted, Ān Yě vaguely heard Chí Tuò sigh, flick her earlobe, and sit up straight.

Ān Yě immediately yanked him back down, pointing at her mouth. She had a light makeup on, and she was afraid her lipstick had smudged. She wanted him to check if it was obvious.

This gesture was something Chí Tuò didn’t understand. He thought he had hurt her lip earlier, so he reached out, pulled her lower lip, and checked it, shaking his head, signaling that it wasn’t broken.

Ān Yě: "..."

She could only take out her phone, activate the front camera, remove the filter, and checked. A big chunk of her lipstick was gone.

Her lipstick was still in Lán Yīfāng’s bag.

Ān Yě was a bit embarrassed and angry at that moment. She reached out and yanked Chí Tuò, who had just sat up, back down and rubbed her finger on his lips.

Sure enough, her finger was stained with lipstick. Ān Yě glared at him and showed him the red mark on her finger.

Now Chí Tuò finally understood.

Once he understood, a smile appeared in his eyes. He took a wet wipe out of his bag, first wiped the red off his lips, then handed the wipe to Ān Yě.

"What’s wrong?" Ān Yě asked, lowering her voice as if she were stealing something.

"Can’t even tell," Chí Tuò said, "Your lips are beautiful even without lipstick."

Ān Yě’s natural lip color was very faint. When she didn’t wear lipstick, they were a pale pink, almost the same color as the lipstick she had applied.

"I even picked a waterproof one for today’s wrap party," Ān Yě muttered, still irritated.

A lipstick that wouldn’t come off without makeup remover, and Chí Tuò had eaten away most of it.

She felt a bit embarrassed when she thought about it.

There were four people in front, including the driver. Even Xiǎo Yāo was there.

Especially now, after she had been sitting up, and when she looked up, she realized Qí Wéi had been looking back at them for who knows how long.

"Xiǎo Lán," Qí Wéi said to Lán Yīfāng, looking at Ān Yě very naturally, "Give Ān Lǎoshī the makeup bag. She needs to touch up her lipstick."

Still buried in script sorting and filling out forms, Lán Yīfāng mumbled a few words and handed the makeup bag to Ān Yě.

The naive little girl didn't even question why Ān Yě needed to touch up her lipstick.

Xiǎo Yāo, who was sleeping soundly by the window, smacked his lips without even opening his eyes.

Ān Yě, her face flushed, took the makeup bag.

"How about," Qí Wéi leaned back on the chair and looked at the pair of lovebirds with some worry, "When we do the variety show, we just officially announce it?"

"I think the production team will be very happy."

"Mainly, I have a feeling you two won’t be able to hide it…"

"This..." Qí Wéi extended his index and middle fingers, comparing them to the pair, then pointed at his own eyes, "It can't be hidden."

Lán Yīfāng, with her mouth half open, looked at Qí Wéi with a confused expression and replied, "But we haven't done the PR plan for the official announcement yet."

It's too late. Tomorrow night they need to record the video of packing their bags before departure.In order to avoid the fact that the two of them were living together, Qí Wéi even helped Ān Yě rent a suburban villa to record the video.

"Ah..." Qí Wéi was helpless with the naive Lán Yīfāng, patting her confused head, "I was just saying that."

"Go back and review the PR plan carefully," Qí Wéi instructed the two of them. "But from my perspective, it’s fine to announce it directly on the show. PR plans, you just need to make one, and it’ll be fine. But it might be trending on the hot search for a while, which is beneficial to the studio."

"No." Ān Yě firmly rejected with a single word.

She didn’t want to show off her affection in front of others.

She had heard that couples who show off their love never last long.

She didn’t want that.

She was quite superstitious right now.

She even thought about asking for a love fortune slip at the temple when recording the variety show.