Chu Yueyi was well aware that the show's interactions would attract "CP fans" (fans who support a romantic pairing), but when she actually discovered their stronghold, her feelings were complex. She had an inexplicable urge to explain, almost blurting out "It's not what you think!" However, she ultimately took a deep breath and swallowed her words.
Chu Yueyi: Relax, relax. This just proves the work is going well.
Chu Yueyi closed the "Moonlight Science Club" page and scrolled through the comments on the official "Heart-Fluttering Promise" blog. She noticed fewer viewers insisting that she and Shi Guanghua were unfamiliar with each other, and no one was saying their interactions were awkward anymore. The results were quite significant.
The Moonlight(Yue-Guang) Group and the Whistling(Hu-Xiao) Group now had similar popularity, but the "Moonlight Science Club" was more active than the other fan site, attracting new fans like a snowball effect. Chu Yueyi recalled their recent reply, gently referring to her as a "new classmate," and instantly understood its charm.
Chu Yueyi: Is this what they call 'fans following their idols'? Even the CP site maintains a professional attitude.
As Chu Yueyi was seriously reading the comments after the show's update, Li You noticed the incoming call on the phone on the table and reminded her, "Yueyi, you have a phone call."
Chu Yueyi was startled. She put down her laptop and picked up her phone. Seeing the name on the screen, she raised an eyebrow slightly and answered casually, "Hello, Mama's good boy. What's up?"
"Stop taking advantage of me!" Zou Qian immediately protested. After a pause, he continued, "I'll be appearing on your and Brother Shi's show next episode. Just giving you a heads up."
"Mm-hmm, okay, got it," Chu Yueyi responded perfunctorily, already aware that Zou Qian was the special guest.
Hearing Chu Yueyi's lazy tone, Zou Qian felt increasingly confused about Shi Guanghua's infatuation. He couldn't see anything special about her and complained, "Is that the attitude you're going with?"
Chu Yueyi replied coolly, "What else? The director said you're a mutual friend of ours. I'm quite curious how the public got that misconception. We're not really friends, are we?"
Zou Qian raised an eyebrow, "Hey, that's going too far..."
Chu Yueyi: "Definitely not friends. It's purely a mother-son relationship."
Zou Qian: "..." You Shi Guanghua fans must have something wrong with your heads!
Zou Qian angrily retorted, "Of course we're not friends. I'm only coming because of Brother Shi!"
Chu Yueyi was used to Zou Qian's boisterous attitude. They indeed couldn't be considered friends. They had met years ago on set, co-starring in a period drama as childhood sweethearts with budding feelings in a subplot. It was one of Chu Yueyi's worst work memories.
Zou Qian had debuted as a trainee and later developed into a multi-talented performer, inevitably stepping into the acting world. However, the acting skills of domestic singing and dancing idols were notoriously poor. Due to a lack of systematic and professional training, they often left behind many awkward performances in their early stages.
As Zou Qian's co-star in his first drama, Chu Yueyi was nearly at her wit's end working with him. Despite racking her brains to guide him, she was constantly frustrated by his inferior acting. Known for her good temper on set, this was the first time she had exploded at a male actor in private, berating Zou Qian for a long time!
In Zou Qian's own words, "She scolded me like I was her son. Even my own mother wasn't that harsh." Of course, the aftermath of Chu Yueyi's outburst was not bad. Under immense pressure, Zou Qian improved rapidly, barely managing to deliver a passable performance.
Zou Qian was one of the few people who had seen Chu Yueyi's true face. Since then, they had nothing to hide from each other and dropped all pretenses of being idols. Having received Chu Yueyi's help in his first drama, he naturally didn't reveal the disparity between her appearance and her true nature, but he knew well her stubborn dedication to her work.
"If there's nothing else, let's hang up," Chu Yueyi said casually. "Phone bills are expensive, you know."
Zou Qian gritted his teeth, "Good! Bye!"
Chu Yueyi hung up the phone and put it aside.
Li You, who had been listening to the conversation, mused thoughtfully, "No wonder you and Zou Qian still have CP fans. You do act differently when talking to him."
Chu Yueyi looked completely bewildered: "?"
Chu Yueyi couldn't help but rub her temples: "Sister You, please don't suddenly tell ghost stories. I can't handle it."
Li You: "You two played a couple in a drama years ago. Isn't it normal for some people to ship you?"
Chu Yueyi's eyelid twitched slightly: "Childhood friends who never even confessed their feelings can be considered a couple?"
Chu Yueyi still remembered the plot from back then. Her character and Zou Qian's never actually got together, it was more of a vague 'more than friends, less than lovers' situation. Moreover, it was just a subplot in the TV series, not even the main storyline.
Li You: "But you had quite a few interactions during interviews. People love to pick up on that kind of sugar."
"You mean mutual roasting, right?" Chu Yueyi couldn't help but quip. Then, remembering the "Moonlight Science Club," she resigned herself, "Fine, fine. Let them ship. As long as they're happy!"
Chu Yueyi: Making customers happy is a working person's duty.
The filming of the third episode of "Heart-Fluttering Promise" arrived as scheduled. This time, the production team set up a home-like scene, aiming to create a warm atmosphere of entertaining friends at home. Of course, the variety show couldn't expose the guests' real addresses, and it wasn't appropriate to film at Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua's actual homes, so they relied on set design to achieve the effect.
Inside the house, sunlight streamed through floor-to-ceiling windows into the spacious living room, where a sofa and soft carpet were placed in the center. A huge LED TV screen dominated one wall, with various game consoles arranged beneath it, ready to be connected for play.
In the corner, an open kitchen looked quite impressive, with pots and pans polished to a shine, neatly stacked by the sink. Opening the double-door refrigerator revealed an abundance of ingredients, with fruits and vegetables looking vibrant and fresh.
Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua arrived at the set first to prepare. Chu Yueyi opened the refrigerator door to check the ingredients and couldn't help but doubt, "Are these really the vegetables we picked? Can they still be eaten after being stored for so long?"
The two episodes weren't filmed consecutively, and quite some time had passed.
Shi Guanghua walked over and scanned the contents, "It looks like they've added some fresh ones. I guess the ones we picked earlier weren't in good condition anymore."
Hearing this, Chu Yueyi crouched down and started searching earnestly, "Let me see where the ones we picked are. We must make sure Zou Qian eats ingredients full of our sincerity."
She mischievously thought, it's not about eating vegetables, it's about eating the sentiment. Why bother about freshness?
Shi Guanghua hesitated, "...Weren't we going to order takeout?"
Chu Yueyi: "Then let's just find the fruits!" As long as it doesn't upset his stomach, it's fine.
Shi Guanghua: "..."
Chu Yueyi took out the fruits to wash them and used her phone to order pizza delivery. She then went to the living room to look through the game cards, considering what they could play later.
Shi Guanghua was busy in the kitchen, seemingly preparing to cook. Chu Yueyi curiously approached him and watched as he actually took out the cabbage they had picked. She hesitated, "I've already ordered pizza."
Chu Yueyi: And are we really going to cook with vegetables meant for feeding rabbits?
Shi Guanghua: "It's fine, I'll just make something simple."
Chu Yueyi nodded understandingly, thinking to herself that her colleague was quite adept at slacking off, clearly becoming more and more savvy. True slacking is appearing busy while actually using easy methods to alleviate work stress – a philosophy of life, so to speak.
Surprisingly, Shi Guanghua's food preparation movements were quite skillful. He seemed to cook at home often, which was completely at odds with his appearance. However, Chu Yueyi remembered that he was a Cancer and had lived overseas before, which explained why he had leveled up his cooking skills.
A moment later, Chu Yueyi's pizza delivery arrived on time, and the special guest Zou Qian also appeared, carrying fruit.
Zou Qian had styled himself for the day. He looked handsome in casual clothes, going for a fashionable 'visiting a friend' look. As soon as he entered the room, he smelled the aroma of food in the air and said boisterously, "Brother Shi knows me best, he knows exactly what I want to eat!"
For some reason, Chu Yueyi always found Zou Qian irritating. She questioned, "Can you really tell what dish is being cooked just from the smell?"
Chu Yueyi had just helped Shi Guanghua prepare the ingredients, but she had only glanced at them hurriedly and hadn't seen all the ingredients, so she still didn't know exactly what delicacy he was planning to cook.
Zou Qian confidently said, "If you don't believe me, let's make a bet right now. I guarantee it's pork and cabbage stew with glass noodles!"
Faced with Zou Qian's provocation, Chu Yueyi naturally wouldn't back down easily.
The two walked towards the open kitchen together. Shi Guanghua had been standing by the stove watching the pot. Hearing their sudden bet, he hesitated slightly, but eventually slowly lifted the lid. The aroma of Northeastern cuisine wafted out, seemingly spreading throughout the entire room.
Zou Qian raised his eyebrows smugly, "See? I told you, Shi and I are totally in sync."
Chu Yueyi felt slightly annoyed. She knew they had a good relationship, but she simply didn't want to see Zou Qian's smug expression. She couldn't help but glance at Shi Guanghua, secretly thinking that he hadn't actually mentioned what dishes Zou Qian liked.
Shi Guanghua had gone straight to pick cabbage in the garden, without saying he was going to cook Zou Qian's favorite dish. Chu Yueyi had no idea about Zou Qian's tastes, so she naturally lacked information when making the bet.
Shi Guanghua had never seen her with such an expression before. She pressed her lips together, looking a bit awkward and restrained, with a hint of reproach in her eyes. She had the air of a small animal that had fallen but refused to admit defeat, glancing at him sideways as if wanting to say something but holding back.
Of course, Chu Yueyi wasn't really angry. She just didn't like losing the bet, especially to Zou Qian.
Seeing this, Shi Guanghua was taken aback. He had never been good at explaining things to people, so he simply lifted the lid of another pot, revealing a fresh shrimp stew inside: "I also made something you like."
In the pot, fresh large shrimp were curled and red, with a layer of fresh vegetables underneath, exuding a homey aroma.
Zou Qian: "?"
Chu Yueyi was equally surprised that her subtle expression had been noticed by him, and even more surprised by Shi Guanghua's sudden words. She stared at the shrimp stew in a daze: "Huh?"
Shi Guanghua reassured her: "There's something for everyone."
Chu Yueyi felt his words sounded like he was comforting a child, especially with Zou Qian standing nearby, which made her feel oddly embarrassed. She looked around and noticed that Shi Guanghua had prepared two dishes, and couldn't help but mutter, "Didn't we say we'd just make something simple..."
Shi Guanghua: "These go well with the pizza."
Chu Yueyi pondered for a moment, then looked up at him and gently probed, "You've made dishes we like, but what do you like to eat?"
The two dishes were favorites of Zou Qian and Chu Yueyi, but nothing seemed to be Shi Guanghua's preference. She usually couldn't tell what Shi Guanghua's taste preferences were, except for the seafood fried rice from their first meeting. He had never shown enthusiasm for any food during meals.
Seeing her staring directly at him, Shi Guanghua hastily lowered his gaze and pondered, "I... I'm fine with anything..."
Chu Yueyi pressed on: "Come on, tell us!"
Seeing them chatting as if he wasn't there, with Chu Yueyi's eager questioning attitude and Shi Guanghua's softer-than-usual tone, Zou Qian felt completely out of place in the room's atmosphere. He suddenly felt the sting of being a single dog watching a couple, and couldn't help but interrupt, "Enough, enough! I'm still here, you know. Show some restraint!"
Zou Qian couldn't help but glance at the directors in the corner, complaining, "You invited me to this kind of show? Is this how you treat people?"
Zou Qian: Turns out I'm the clown here!