Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

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"Do you want me to take you home to rest tonight?"

"Where are you going?"

Pei Muchan's heart was racing, slowly led by the atmosphere, but also felt she was being somewhat bold, as if ever since she returned to Xinghai in the afternoon, she had been.....

"I have a dinner appointment with Lin Chuan, I wrote a song for him. Will you go?" he asked opportunistically.

"If you're discussing business, what would I be doing there?" Pei Muchan asked, somewhat bemused.

"It's okay, not really discussing business, just a song I promised him before," Xu Qingyan waved off, "I feel like I'm lacking something by myself, maybe Boss Pei can help me check it over?"

"If you come with me, I'll take you home afterwards."

Pei Muchan was stunned for a moment, part of her curious about the song he had written. On the other hand, her heart trembled uncontrollably when she heard him say something was missing.

After she went home, she felt empty, as if something was missing.

After hesitating for a few seconds, she said.

"....Okay."

As night fell.

Lin Wanzhou and Qi Ting arrived at Xinghai, their luggage not much, each pushing a suitcase forward. Amidst the dense crowd, they seemed inconspicuous.

She was looking down at her phone, led forward by Qi Ting.

"Sister Zhou Zhou, Teacher Xu said he would invite us to dinner tomorrow," Qi Ting reminded.

"Mhm."
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She made an acknowledging sound, her eyes fixed on the phone screen, on a short video. It captured a scene of Pei Muchan in the "Riding a White Horse" music video, set to a traditional-style BGM.

The title read, "Ancient Beauty, a Thousand-Year Gaze." The video had two hundred thousand likes and five thousand comments; she clicked in to see that almost all the comments were complimentary.

"Sister Pei looks so beautiful in ancient costume, truly an ancient beauty."

"This cover is too beautiful, the costume and settings are well done. This hairstyle, these clothes, absolutely stunning, you can tell there was a true art director."

"Such longing eyes, contemporary period dramas can't compare to this imagery!"

Lin Wanzhou watched for a while, impassively swiping away. She couldn't say what exactly made her unhappy, but felt like she was growing farther and farther from him.

As she was thinking, a message suddenly popped up on her phone.

"Back at Xinghai?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'm a bit tied up tonight, otherwise I would have come to pick you up." Xu Qingyan sent several messages, "Qi Ting said you are off tomorrow, shall we all go out for dinner tonight?"

"Okay, tomorrow." Lin Wanzhou replied, and seeing that he had something to do tonight, her thoughts drifted.

Something to do tonight, could it be...

Buzz, an image was sent over, followed by another message.

"I have a dinner business meeting with Lin Chuan tonight, won't disturb your rest, see you tomorrow."

She stared at the message for a while, her mood improving suddenly. Her lips curved slightly as she sent back a "See you tomorrow."

...

Lin Chuan hadn't expected Pei Muchan to come as well, tall and slender, with light makeup on her face. Standing next to Xu Qingyan, she showed no signs of overshadowing the host.

Her skin was as white as snow, her hair black as ink, and she seemed perfectly content to play a supporting role.

The manager, catching sight of Pei Muchan, felt a sudden buzz in his mind. He had planned to push the price down a notch, then offer a sincere price as a favor.

But who could have predicted that Xu Qingyan would bring Pei Muchan along?

The small tricks of using relationships were at most good for confusing newcomers. Playing mind games in front of someone like Pei Muchan, who had been in the industry for six or seven years, seemed a bit insincere.

Leaving aside whether or not they could clinch the deal for the song, it would be inappropriate to be discovered by Lin Chuan.

After some thought, the manager decided to speak less. He let Lin Chuan do the talking, even if it meant spending more money, but at least it wouldn't offend anyone.

Since opening the studio, although financially they were much better off than when Lin Chuan was on his own, most of their money was still invested in stage rights and album production.

A flower cannot bloom for a hundred days, and Lin Chuan needed to maintain his on-screen presence, otherwise, he might be forgotten by the audience after a while. Or else, he needed to produce a hit song that resonates deeply with the audience.

As long as a singer appears, even if it's just their voice, they would immediately be connected to that work.

"Good evening."

"Good evening." Xu Qingyan greeted and introduced Pei Muchan who was beside him, "I brought my boss along to scrounge a meal, hope you don't mind?"

Lin Chuan smiled, "Of course not, good evening Sister Pei."

"Hello." She smiled back.

The four of them settled at the dining table, and the main dishes were served one after another.

The whole time, only Xu Qingyan and Lin Chuan talked, while Pei Muchan kept her head down to eat, seemingly there just to eat for free. The manager across from them was frustrated, wanting to speak but not daring to.

It's easy to mess things up by being too clever.

"Brother Xu, that MV you shot recently went viral, didn't it?" Lin Chuan said, "I was also blown away the first time I saw it, it left a deep impression."

"Cough, no need to flatter me privately, it's not to that high a level." Xu Qingyan waved his hand, "I'm just building on the experience of others, taking it one step further."

"It's really good, otherwise it wouldn't have exploded like that." Lin Chuan said, "Have you seen that short video? There are now several 'Riding a White Horse' edit videos."

"I've seen it, it went viral before, but the impact wasn't that big. Now it's just gone viral again on Douhai."

Lin Chuan nodded, "That's true for MVs, since people rarely put much thought into them nowadays. Their impact is indeed limited."

The two continued chatting, and eventually the topic turned to "Big Fish."

"I really like that song. I fell in love with it the moment I heard it," Lin Chuan spoke slowly, his hands propped on the table, his tone unusually sincere.

"I hope Brother Xu will sell me the song, no matter the price, as long as I can afford it."

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