Chapter Twenty-Five: Xiang Youran in Pursuit

Bai Yang opened his mouth, then closed it again, swallowing the question he’d meant to ask—“Should we steer the comments?”—back down. It didn’t matter; their assistant director would handle it.

“Director! Director, something’s wrong!” The follow-shot director rushed over yet again.

Bai Yang glared, his eyes wide. “What’s wrong? Give me some good news for once!”

The director slammed to a halt. “Oh, oh, right. Good news.”

Bai Yang’s brows were drawn, his tone icy. “Out with it. What’s going on?”

The follow-shot director put on an innocent face and shifted sideways, revealing Xiang Youran, who looked utterly drained.

At that moment, Xiang Youran was being supported by Chen Cheng, her complexion pale, clearly not in good shape.

“What happened to you now?” Bai Yang saw her and a sense of foreboding swept through his heart.

“Director, I need to go to the hospital.”

“You ate those undercooked broad beans too?”

Xiang Youran nodded blankly. “Yes, how did you know?”

Bai Yang couldn’t bear to open his eyes. Eyes closed, he slapped the assistant director, who was still focused on steering the online commentary. “Stop worrying about the comments and hurry up—go after them!”

The assistant director, stung by Bai Yang’s slap, was annoyed and stood up abruptly. “Go after them? With what? Take a look around—do you see any cars in this little village?”

“The only two vehicles we had, you sent out to buy supplies!” He stood there, arms akimbo, beard bristling, glaring at Bai Yang with an expression that practically said, “Go on, finish me off if you dare.”

Bai Yang’s fingers trembled with rage, his lips quivering as he pointed. “You! You’re completely unreliable!”

With that, Bai Yang spun on his heel and strode off, as though he’d made some sort of resolution.

When he reappeared, he was riding a pink electric scooter, a helmet perched on his head.

He stopped in front of Xiang Youran, the scooter gleaming, and handed her the helmet.

“Come on, get on! I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Xiang Youran stared at the helmet in her arms, hesitating.

The assistant director, watching the two, couldn’t help but smile, but still fulfilled his duty, urging Xiang Youran, “Go on, get up there. Otherwise, you’re the one who’ll suffer.”

Hearing his laughter, the director couldn’t help but join in. “Lao Liu, are you insane? What’s so funny, hahahaha!”

“You’re one to talk—you’re laughing too, hahahaha!”

The two stood laughing in the middle of the street.

Xiang Youran: …What the hell are they laughing at?

Though she cursed them inwardly, her hands moved quickly, fastening the helmet on herself.

Without hesitation, she climbed onto Bai Yang’s scooter.

If she delayed any longer, she felt those two men would laugh until sunset.

[How are these seasoned actors still breaking character, hahaha]
[I knew something was missing—turns out it was Xiang Youran not getting on the scooter!]
[Wait, is Bai Yang really that poor? He’s stuck with an electric scooter?]
[You don’t understand—the scooter isn’t restricted by traffic rules. Bai Yang’s doing this for Xiang Youran’s sake.]
[Did you laugh when you said that, upstairs…?]

Once Xiang Youran was seated, Bai Yang twisted the throttle.

“Go, go, go, let’s hit the road~~”

From a distance, the assistant director could still be heard singing, “Black coffee, how strong is the taste~”

Xiang Youran ducked her head as low as possible, terrified of being recognized.

Meanwhile, in the ambulance—

Yu Tang sat slumped, head low, drifting in and out of sleep.

Xie Yi sat beside her, carefully guiding her head onto his shoulder, a satisfied smile curling at his lips.

Zhou Zi Heng witnessed the scene and, for some reason, felt a faint discomfort.

His gaze lingered on the camera in Xie Yi’s hands.

He pursed his lips and asked softly, “Do you like Yu Tang?”

Shen Tianshi, who had been napping like Yu Tang, snapped awake at the mention of her name.

He blinked groggily. “What? What happened to Little Tang?!”

[Oh my god, what a dramatic topic—am I even allowed to listen to this?]
[Our Tianshi truly loves Yu Tang; the moment her name is mentioned, he’s alert.]
[Zhou Zi Heng must be doing this on purpose…]
[Intentional or not, I’m curious how Xie Yi will answer.]

Seeing that Shen Tianshi’s commotion was about to wake Yu Tang, Xie Yi’s expression darkened, and he reached out to lightly smack Shen Tianshi’s head.

Shen Tianshi immediately drifted back to sleep.

Zhou Zi Heng watched all this: …Ah, youth—the ability to sleep on command.

Once Shen Tianshi was out again, Xie Yi finally answered Zhou Zi Heng’s question.

His voice was soft. “Yu Tang is very beautiful, and she’s great at completing tasks. Don’t you like her? Wouldn’t you want to be paired with her?”

Zhou Zi Heng couldn’t help a slight snort at Xie Yi’s words.

As expected, children are children.

He spoke with inadvertent arrogance. “I’ve known her for a long time.”

“She wasn’t this capable back then.”

Zhou Zi Heng still didn’t understand how Yu Tang could have changed so much, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to brag.

Xie Yi gave him a strange look, not sure what Zhou Zi Heng was getting at.

“Oh.”

After that, silence settled in.

[…Wait, what does Zhou Zi Heng mean by this?]
[I don’t get this move either—has he just gotten too comfortable in the entertainment circle?]
[Zhou Zi Heng, do you still remember Xiang Youran who accompanied you through hardship by the lake?]
[But seriously, am I the only one curious what ‘knowing her early’ is all about?]
[God, I really want to see what their scene looks like now, Xie Yi, did you hear me? Turn on the camera!]
[I want to see, did you hear? I said I want to see! Hello, I want to see!]

Soon after, the ambulance pulled up before the hospital, gleaming in the afternoon light.

As the vehicle stopped, Yu Tang woke up, blinking drowsily and hopping out with the others.

Xie Yi watched anxiously, hand ready to catch her at any moment.

The group followed the doctor inside.

By the time Zhou Zi Heng and Shen Tianshi had IV drips attached, Bai Yang finally arrived, panting, with Xiang Youran—who was rolling her eyes from the bumpy ride—in tow.

The three sat in a row, getting their IVs, a scene that was quickly snapped by passersby and posted online.

Meanwhile, in the president’s office of Radiance Entertainment, the largest media company in China—

Pei Shang was watching a replay of the live broadcast of “Little Matters of Love.”

He hadn’t kept up with domestic variety shows for quite some time—was it really this advanced now?

At that moment, the broadcast was showing Jiang Wu Yang carrying Shen Tianshi while picking lotus roots in the mud.

Pei Shang was laughing so hard he couldn’t straighten up.

Was this girl really that strong? Fascinating.

If this dating show was so entertaining, maybe he should consider sending Zhong Yi on it for fun.

Pei Shang was still chuckling when the office door suddenly swung open.

He didn’t even look up. “Shi Qi, you’re here. Come over and tell me—if I recruit this girl for Radiance, could she become my cash cow?”

At the door, a young man strode in wearing a black shirt unbuttoned to the collarbone, his features sharp and refined.

His gaze fell on Pei Shang’s phone.

When he saw Yu Tang picking corn with a follower trailing behind her, Shi Qi’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

Then, remembering something, his lips straightened again.

His voice was icy. “I don’t think much of her.”