Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Pei Chuzhi was equally surprised.

But she was, after all, an actress, and her expression management was first-rate. After hearing this, she didn’t show much emotion, only glanced at the electronic calendar on the conference table.

Mm, today wasn’t April Fool’s Day.

The only remaining possibility…

Xing Ye had gone crazy?

Otherwise, with his status, why would he think of hyping things up with an eighteenth-tier like her?

Pei Chuzhi pressed down the question marks in her head and tried to look at the opposite side calmly.

Xing Ye happened to be looking at her too.

The fluorescent light enveloped him. His sword-like brows and starry eyes were rendered with deeper contours. His thin lips under the tall nose bridge were pressed tightly, as if suppressing some impatient emotion.

He wasn’t the delicate, harmless type of pretty boy, but another sharper and more flamboyant kind of appearance.

And when his gaze looked over without concealment, as his chin slightly lifted, the line of his neck naturally stretched, making the shape of his Adam’s apple even clearer.

Very cool, and very alpha.

Highly recognizable among the younger generation of actors.

Pei Chuzhi had to admit his looks indeed possessed fatal attraction.

No wonder young girls were fascinated by him to the point of losing their minds.

Of course, most importantly, he looked clear-headed right now, which meant Song Shiqing’s proposal was not nonsense.

Song Shiqing was someone who had seen big scenes. He glanced at Tang Dong, who was hurriedly wiping water stains, and didn’t fuss over the small embarrassment: “Of course, this falls under the category of commercial cooperation. The specific details need further discussion later. But no matter what, I need everyone to keep this confidential from unrelated people.”

His request was not excessive.

After all, they couldn’t show affection wildly in front of the media, only for relatives and friends to go online and expose that everything was fake.

Pei Chuzhi and Tang Dong nodded together.

Song Shiqing was satisfied with their cooperation and added: “Additionally, there’s another aspect I’m concerned about. Since you’ll be contractual lovers, we’ll definitely arrange some interactions including dates.”

His gaze swept over Pei Chuzhi first, then Xing Ye, reminding them both, “Don’t turn the fake into real, otherwise it’ll be hard to clean up later.”

Before Pei Chuzhi could speak, Xing Ye curled his lips slightly, as if he had heard a joke.

When he smiled, the arrogance in his bones emerged.

The next second, his lazy tone sounded in the meeting room: “Turn fake into real? Impossible.”

Pei Chuzhi: “…”

Although she also had no intention of falling in love with Xing Ye, why did that tone inexplicably make her angry?

Time was tight. After the preliminary cooperation intention was reached, Tang Dong and Song Shiqing went to another meeting room with relevant departments to discuss contract details, planning to come up with a feasible plan as soon as possible.

The two involved parties left behind, Pei Chuzhi and Xing Ye, instead sat idly in the meeting room.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward.

It was like two young people who didn’t know each other, pulled to a restaurant by elders for a blind date, and the introducer leaving behind the line “You young people have common topics, chat more,” before abandoning them.

Pei Chuzhi kept in mind an actor’s self-cultivation. She thought that since they hadn’t officially started hyping yet, and this wasn’t a public setting, she consciously didn’t try to build rapport with Xing Ye, maintaining silence with a calm face.

Although deep inside, she was in a fierce internal battle.

One little person propped her chin, eyes full of hearts: “To be fair, Xing Ye is quite handsome, and he’s so famous. Being able to have a scandal with him is a huge pie falling from the sky!”

Another little person squatted in the corner drawing circles with black lines on her face: “Hype a CP with a Best Actor, am I worthy? I’m not worthy. I must be crazy to agree to this proposal.”

After struggling for a while, Pei Chuzhi took out her phone, wanting to distract herself.

Unexpectedly, just as she unlocked the screen and tapped into Weibo, the person across the table spoke.

Xing Ye lowered his voice: “I advise you not to go online right now.”

Pei Chuzhi froze, and her phone lagged at the same time.

She still lacked practical experience. In a moment of carelessness, she forgot she was at the center of the storm.

By the time she reacted and wanted to close the app, the program happened to run smoothly again, causing her to accidentally tap into the private message interface.

After only a quick glance, Pei Chuzhi quickly closed Weibo.

They were all there to scold her.

Just as Tang Dong predicted, it was only a matter of time before netizens recognized Pei Chuzhi. This batch of netizens had excellent investigative abilities, using their sharp eyes to find her out of the sea of people.

Those unbearable insults seemed to be traced in the darkest ink. One glance etched them into her mind.

Although Pei Chuzhi had a seductive, enchanting face, in the end she was just a young girl who had only recently graduated from university. Even though she had seen more than ordinary people in the entertainment industry, she was far from invincible.

Right now, she felt quite distressed from being scolded.

Pei Chuzhi brushed her hair to hide her emotions. After taking several deep breaths to adjust, she took out the variety show script she needed to record tomorrow from her backpack.

A faint gaze occasionally swept over from across the table.

Xing Ye was looking at her.

A few minutes later, Pei Chuzhi slowly raised her head: “Teacher Xing, do you have something to say?”

“You’re still calling me Teacher Xing?”

Xing Ye frowned, obviously dissatisfied with the title. He raised his hand and pointed at the script on the table. “You haven’t turned a page for half a day. How bad must the script be for you to not be able to read it?”

Pei Chuzhi pursed her lips, knowing her chaotic state of mind had been seen through.

Fortunately, Xing Ye didn’t mock her. He just said while playing with his phone: “From now on, just call me by my name.”

“…Mm.”

“Are you afraid of me?”

Pei Chuzhi paused half a beat.

Although Xing Ye did look hard to approach, he wasn’t to the point of being frightening.

At the critical moment, Pei Chuzhi suddenly remembered her “fan” persona: “How could I be afraid? You’re my idol. Being able to sit in the same room with you is already my honor.”

Xing Ye glanced at her, probably thinking she was too exaggerated.

Pei Chuzhi toned it down, making her words more convincing: “Really, I’ve watched every movie you acted in many times, so I’ve always respected you very much…”

“Respect?” Xing Ye seemed even more displeased. “Respect me like a teacher?”

“…”

It did sound a bit aging.

Pei Chuzhi corrected her wording: “Admire.”

Xing Ye snorted coldly, still not looking pleased.

Pei Chuzhi was speechless.

She hadn’t felt it in their previous few contacts, but after chatting today, she realized this person was too hard to please.

She wondered if their CP hype would go smoothly in the future.

Just as she was ranting internally, Xing Ye suddenly stood up.

Taking advantage of his long legs, he walked around the long office table in a few steps and stopped in front of Pei Chuzhi.

“No need to respect me, and no need to admire me.”

Xing Ye slowly bent down. His well-proportioned, slender forearm reached behind her to brace the back of the chair, lowering his eyes to look at her.

Pei Chuzhi subconsciously tensed up.

Backlit, when he lowered his head, his black bangs fell down, slightly covering his eyebrows.

His originally cold expression unconsciously softened a little.

It wasn’t the first time the two had been in close proximity.

But at this moment he was completely different from the wild, unrestrained character during the advertisement shoot. Being quietly gazed at by him like this gave the illusion that one could drown in his pupils.

They looked at each other silently.

Pei Chuzhi felt her ears slowly heating up, and her heartbeat uncontrollably quickening.

Xing Ye was acting opposite her, a scene themed “couple,” and at the same time reminding them of the roles they were about to play.

Realizing this, Pei Chuzhi tilted her head.

She slowly relaxed and leaned back against the chair. When she felt the shape of the back of his hand, she naturally curled her lips, then raised her face and returned him a charming glance.

Her already bright and beautiful features, with slightly parted red lips, appeared even more alluring.

When she spoke again, Pei Chuzhi was unhurried, her voice carrying a lazy tone: “I should love you.”

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

After a moment, Xing Ye laughed softly, and the gentleness in his eyes instantly returned to his usual sharpness.

As if all the ambiguous atmosphere just now had only been an acting lesson.

He straightened up, his tone quite arrogant: “Remember this state. Don’t mess up later.”

“Okay.”

Pei Chuzhi consciously adopted a professional actor’s attitude, silently memorizing the feeling just now. The gloom caused by public opinion a few minutes earlier dissipated without her noticing.

The meeting room door was pushed open at that moment.

Tang Dong and Song Shiqing came over with freshly finalized contract details for them to confirm.

After reading all the requirements, Pei Chuzhi found that overall it wasn’t particularly complicated.

Her task was to act as Xing Ye’s rumored girlfriend as a shield, so that female stars who wanted to hype scandals with him would retreat. In return, Xing Ye’s side would provide certain resources.

No matter how you looked at it, these were extremely favorable conditions for her.

Of course, the contract also imposed certain restrictions on her, such as not dating others during their cooperation, not revealing the truth to unrelated people, and not using Xing Ye’s name for hype after the contract expired.

Pei Chuzhi hadn’t planned to date recently anyway. After confirming there were no problems, she readily signed her name on the last page.

The contract period was set for two years. After two years, they would have no further ties.

But the urgent matter now was how to make use of this trending opportunity.

At this stage, they definitely couldn’t use heavy tactics immediately, so the safest method was to first clarify the truth.

That evening, Pei Chuzhi posted on Weibo:

【At two in the morning that day I couldn’t get a taxi after finishing work. Senior Xing Ye saw I was pitiful and let his assistant give me a ride. I’m very grateful for his help, and please don’t speculate anymore.】

As soon as the post was made, new comments flooded in:

【Can you have some shame? Explain clearly—how did the video spread?】

【I think the whole “couldn’t get a taxi” was arranged in advance, just waiting to scheme against him. Too bad Xing Ye helped out and got tricked instead.】

【Wildfire all keep quiet. We’re only waiting for @Xing Ye to clarify. No need to give anyone else attention.】

Aside from Xing Ye’s fans, onlookers who came to watch the drama also joked enthusiastically. Everyone’s thinking was similar—they all wanted to see in what posture she would be slapped in the face by Xing Ye.

Just as the popularity kept rising, a repost quietly appeared on Xing Ye’s homepage.

【You’re welcome. This is my honor.】

Weibo netizens: “???????”