Chapter 34

Lin Zhinan laughed all the way to the airport, finally concluding, “This is actually a perfect demonstration of one truth.”

Zhao Yu rested her chin on her hand, feeling down. “What truth?”

Lin Zhinan suppressed her grin. “Distance creates beauty. So, male gods are only meant to live on TV. Once you get up close, of course the illusion shatters.”

Zhao Yu thought to herself: It’s not about TV or not—it’s the mistake of her younger self, viewing him through an 800-meter-thick fan filter!

Lin Zhinan laughed for a while, then eagerly shoved her phone in front of Zhao Yu. “But your stage collaboration was amazing! I recorded it. Look—you both had such killer stage presence! Especially that move where you touched his chest—so hot! Hey, what did Shen Junyi’s pecs feel like?”

Zhao Yu’s fingers twitched, instantly recalling the physical contact she’d deliberately tried to forget onstage. Her ears felt like they were on fire. “Put it away, put it away! I’m going to sleep—don’t bother me!”

Lin Zhinan pursed her lips and chuckled softly, not bothering to call her out on her easily-flustered heart.

Since the schedule wasn’t announced, the airport was quiet with no fans picking them up. The three days of filming had been tiring. Zhao Yu slept the whole way, arriving in Beijing past midnight.

Han Shuang had successfully negotiated the milk endorsement deal. They were set to sign the contract at the company tomorrow.

Jiang Lei and Zhao Kangning had returned to Sichuan last month—they had their own work and lives and couldn’t stay in Beijing with their daughter forever. But compared to when she’d been drifting in Korea, they felt much more at ease.

It was late, so Lin Zhinan stayed over. The next morning, after breakfast, they headed to the company together.

Han Shuang was waiting by the elevator. She smiled as soon as she saw Zhao Yu and asked about the filming. Hearing that she’d been paired with Shen Junyi, she looked a little uneasy. “You kept your distance, right?”

Zhao Yu had tried to keep her distance, but Shen Junyi kept clinging to her with zero social awareness. She couldn’t say for sure how the final edit would look.

Han Shuang saw the hesitation in her eyes and sighed, a little helplessly. “Alright, I’ll talk to the production team and see if we can preview the final cut. Xiao Yu, it’s not that I’m being overly cautious—look at that female celebrity who got entangled in a dating rumor with Huo Xi. She got dragged through the mud. These top stars are untouchable. Yes, they bring buzz, but with your talent, you don’t need to go the ‘black-and-red’ route. We’re playing the long game.”

Zhao Yu nodded and changed the subject. “Has the endorsement contract come through?”

At the mention of the endorsement, Han Shuang beamed and linked arms with her as they walked to the office. “It came last night. This is your first endorsement since coming back. It’s not as high-end as the luxury brands you had in Korea, but you know—right now we’re focused on building national recognition.”

Chun Su was a milk brand she’d drunk since childhood—a classic, long-standing domestic label. Han Shuang had put in considerable effort to land it.

Zhao Yu spent ten minutes reviewing the contract, confirmed everything was correct, and signed it. The ad shoot was scheduled for next week. In a few days, she’d be filming the second episode of The Thorny Path, and in the meantime, there were two interview appearances.

Her schedule was packed. Han Shuang sent the signed contract back to the brand, then slid two documents over with a smile. “Here are two scripts. Want to take a look?”

Zhao Yu flipped through them—both were modern idol dramas. She wasn’t particularly interested. “I’m not really looking to get into acting right now. How are the performance talks going?”

She had an unwavering passion for the stage.

Han Shuang wasn’t surprised. She put the scripts away and smiled. “We’re in talks. Your first domestic performance can’t just be some random gig. Next month is the Shining Girls finale—we’re in discussions with Qiyi to have you as a guest performer.”

Shining Girls was the hottest girl group survival show in China this year. The contestants hadn’t even debuted yet and were already all over the internet. The finale would be livestreamed with huge viewership. If Zhao Yu could perform there, it would be the perfect opportunity to prove her skills to a domestic audience.

Muyi had put real thought into their performance resources, and Zhao Yu trusted them.

She signed the contract and went home. Lin Zhinan wasn’t her personal assistant—she was aiming for a career in artist management, so on days when Zhao Yu had no schedule, she stayed at the company to study.

Zhao Yu didn’t need a personal assistant anyway. The company had hired a nutritionist for her, handling all three meals. She’d always been strict about her figure and rarely ate junk.

After lunch, the nutritionist left with the trash. Zhao Yu exercised for an hour to burn calories, showered, and flopped onto the sofa. She picked up her phone to scroll through news—but her fingers, ignoring her brain, opened King of Glory instead.

She checked her friends list first: Shen Junyi wasn’t online. Good.

She relaxed significantly. After a moment’s thought, she grabbed her laptop and looked up beginner guides while comparing them to her phone.

She was reading about how different heroes needed different rune setups when a game invite suddenly popped up on her home screen.

She accepted on reflex, and once in the lobby, realized it was Xia Yuan. A little speaker icon blinked, and Xia Yuan’s excited voice came through: “Xiao Yu, what are you doing? Wanna play?”

Zhao Yu turned on her mic. “I just started playing, I’m not very good. Still reading guides.”

Xia Yuan said, “Guides? You’ll learn faster by playing. I’ll teach you!”

So they queued for a match.

As the game started, Xia Yuan taught her hero skills, item builds, and what each piece of equipment did—thorough, patient, and enthusiastic.

Aside from the tutorial, this was Zhao Yu’s first real game. She was all over the place, feeding the enemy in creative ways. A teammate complained a couple of times, and Xia Yuan immediately shot back.

“Who do you think you are, playing casuals with that attitude?”

“She’s practicing—you want her to do ranked?”

“Focus on your own game, busybody!”

Zhao Yu felt like she’d opened a whole new world.

Xia Yuan was genuinely skilled, but unfortunately, Zhao Yu died so many times that she fed the enemy team enough gold to snowball, and they ended up losing. Zhao Yu felt bad. “Sorry, I was so bad.”

Xia Yuan immediately said, “It’s not your fault! The teammates were terrible! Xiao Yu, how did that hero feel? If you didn’t like it, we can try a different one next round.”

Why were people so different?

Looking at Xia Yuan, then thinking about Shen Junyi, her mood took a nosedive.

She played with Xia Yuan all afternoon and finally got a good grasp of the game’s mechanics and flow. It was way more complicated than Candy Crush, but she felt that with enough practice, becoming a pro was only a matter of time!

In the evening, the nutritionist delivered dinner. Zhao Yu was about to log off when Xia Yuan said, in an unfinished tone, “Let me know on WeChat next time you’re free to play. I’m always available!”

Zhao Yu couldn’t help laughing. “As a popular idol, shouldn’t you be busier than that?”

Xia Yuan sounded a little shy. “I can always make time to play with you. So it’s a deal, okay?”

Zhao Yu smiled and agreed. After exiting the lobby, she claimed two chest rewards and was about to log off when she saw Shen Junyi’s avatar light up in her friends list.

In just one day, his rank had fallen from Diamond 2 to Platinum 4. Who knew what had happened. Zhao Yu didn’t dare look too closely—she quickly logged out.

During dinner, she registered a QQ dummy account. After her evening shower, lying in bed, she logged into the game with her QQ. Sure enough, her friends list was blissfully empty. Recalling everything Xia Yuan had taught her, she clenched her fist.

Once she got good on her alt, she’d go back to WeChat and show Shen Junyi what was what!

So over the next few days, whenever she wasn’t working, Zhao Yu was roaming the King of Glory arena, demonstrating—in full 360-degree high definition—every possible way for a hero to die.

Suddenly, she understood a little better why Shen Junyi was so bad at the game. QAQ

This game was so damn hard!

She couldn’t even beat bots. She didn’t want to live anymore. QAQ

While she was being tortured by the game, the second episode of The Thorny Path arrived. This time, filming was in Chongqing. As they say, Sichuan and Chongqing are family—the moment Zhao Yu arrived, she felt right at home.

This schedule had been announced, and the Chongqing fan club organized a welcome. When she came out, she saw Yu Meiren fans with pink light signs waiting outside, packed layers deep.

A tall, thin guy stood in the front row, shouting in authentic Chongqing dialect with all his might: “Zhao Yu ei! You’re so skinny! Eat more! Try our hotpot!”

Zhao Yu nearly laughed herself to death right there at the airport. She turned and gave him an OK sign. “Got it!”

By the time she got to the hotel, the other guests had already arrived. Zhao Yu dropped off her luggage and went to meet them.

As she entered the tea room, she heard Xia Yuan asking Shen Junyi, “Junyi Ge, how does your rank keep jumping around like that? Weren’t you a King two days ago? How are you back to Platinum today?”

Shen Junyi kept a straight face. “Bad teammates.”

Xia Yuan: “Then why did you reject my invite the other day and say you weren’t yourself?”

Shen Junyi glared at him, annoyed. “You’re so bad at the game, who’d want to play with you!”

Xia Yuan had a knowing, don’t-call-me-out expression. He turned and saw Zhao Yu walk in, immediately perking up. “Xiao Yu, you’re here!”

But Zheng Wanyi beat him to it, lunging over and clinging to Zhao Yu’s arm. “Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu! Let’s team up this episode!”

Zhao Yu laughed and patted the head nuzzling against her shoulder. She greeted everyone else first, then turned to her. “Isn’t it decided by drawing lots?”

Zheng Wanyi said happily, “I asked the director—no drawing this time! Maybe it’s self-selected teams. Let’s agree to be partners now, okay?”

Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow. “Deal.”

Xia Yuan: “I’m just over here holding my ticket to love.”

Shen Junyi glanced up at the laughing group, then went back to fiddling with his runes.

After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Early the next morning, before the sun was fully up, the eight guests were jolted awake by piercing, terrifying music blasting from speakers in their rooms.

There were no staff, just automated cameras. The wake-up music was straight out of a horror movie, making the three female guests scream.

Cursing the production team for being inhuman, they scrambled out of bed to find the ringing phone hidden somewhere in the room.

Zhao Yu, however, was calm. She’d earned the nickname “Zhao the Bold.” The phone was tucked behind a sofa cushion. She pulled it out, turned off the music, and saw the day’s mission on the lock screen wallpaper.

– This episode’s theme: The Path of Decryption. This is an individual challenge. You may use props to steal other players’ stage resources. Find clues and solve puzzles to advance. The first to reach the next checkpoint will have priority in choosing props and resources. Good luck.

She opened the gallery—there was a map with a red dot marked at a place called “Haunted Vine Chamber.” That was clearly their destination.

Since it was an individual challenge with the ability to steal from others, competition this episode would be fierce. As soon as Zhao Yu stepped out, she ran into Shen Junyi, who was on the same floor.

He’d dyed his hair back to black, a cap turned backwards pressing it flat against his ears, with a few strands poking out from under the brim like defiant little antennae—ridiculously cute.

Every time she saw him, her heart skipped half a beat.

Their eyes met, and she immediately looked away, hurrying to press the elevator button.

Shen Junyi let out a lazy whistle, ambling over behind her with a grin. “This episode’s individual. Want to form an alliance? I promise I won’t touch you.”

Zhao Yu refused flatly. “No.”

The elevator doors dinged open. Just as she was about to step in, Shen Junyi suddenly reached out and blocked the door with his arm—that lean, muscular limb barring her way. She turned to meet his smug expression. “No alliance, no entry!”

Her newly patched-up filter shattered again on the spot!

Zhao Yu was so mad she wanted to stomp on his foot.

With cameras rolling and knowing Han Shuang was already worried about their excessive interaction last episode, Zhao Yu didn’t want to give the editors more material. She simply ducked under his arm and slipped past him.

Shen Junyi looked disappointed that he hadn’t stopped her, pouted, and followed her into the elevator. After pressing the button for the first floor, the doors slid shut. He adjusted his messy hair in the mirrored wall of the elevator, asking as he fixed it, “Zhao Yu, I’ll give you one more chance. Want to ally with me?”

Zhao Yu was furious at his arrogant tone. “No! Ask again and I’ll block you!”

Shen Junyi’s hand paused. He turned and gave her a sinister look.

Zhao Yu leaned back, wary. “What are you doing?!”

He smiled darkly, like a cringe, edgy villain. “Then you’re dead meat today.”

Zhao Yu: “…………”

Forget it. She couldn’t love him anymore.

Just let it all burn.