Chapter 56

Shen Juanyi seriously reflected on it and concluded that this wasn’t his problem.

It was all Zhao Yu’s fault — her waist was too famous. It was only human nature to be curious and want to touch it. Given the chance, who wouldn’t want to feel the waist of a literal enchantress? Right.

Right, my ass, Xia Yuan would’ve said.

He directly sent a voice call to Zhao Yu.

The phone buzzing on the floor jolted Zhao Yu awake. For a split second upon opening her eyes, she had no idea where she even was.

Then sensation slowly returned — she caught the scent of distinctly masculine pheromones, realized what position she was in, and shot upright like a sprung coil.

Beside her, Shen Juanyi was grinning with his head tilted.

Red marks from his shoulder were pressed into her right cheek, and her eyes held that dazed look of someone just roused from deep sleep. She actually looked kind of cute. Shen Juanyi laughed. “You drooled.”

Zhao Yu’s pupils dilated instantly. She instinctively raised a hand to wipe the corner of her mouth and sniffled.

Shen Juanyi’s grin widened. “Just kidding — hahahahaha—”

Zhao Yu was so furious she wanted to lunge at him and strangle him. She shot him a death glare, then crawled over on all fours to pick up the phone. Xia Yuan answered and immediately said, “Jie, if you’re tired, just go home and sleep!”

Shen Juanyi yelled from the side, “You called just to say that?!”

Xia Yuan’s voice was full of righteous indignation. “Yes! I just don’t want to see some people take advantage and then act all smug about it!”

After a bit of banter, Zhao Yu hung up. She checked the time — past ten at night already. She turned to Shen Juanyi. “What time’s your flight tomorrow?”

“Six-thirty in the morning.”

Zhao Yu was surprised. “Then you’ll have to get up at four-something?” She thought for a moment, then picked up her jacket from the floor. “Let’s call it here. Go home and sleep.”

Shen Juanyi grabbed the sleeve of her jacket. “Don’t go — let’s run it two more times. We haven’t nailed that last part yet.”

Zhao Yu looked at him, speechless. “If we run it again, are you gonna sleep at all tonight?”

He pushed himself up off the floor with one hand, swept his sweat-damp hair back to reveal his bare forehead. “Doesn’t matter if I sleep or not. We’re young — young and vigorous. Staying up late is nothing.”

Zhao Yu scoffed. “Almost thirty and still calling yourself young.”

“Haven’t you heard? A man at thirty is as strong as a tiger.”

He flexed his arm muscle at her.

Zhao Yu made a face of pure disgust. She’d rather just practice twice more than waste time bickering with him. She walked over and turned the speakers back on. They ran through it a few more times, polished that last section, and finally wrapped up close to midnight.

This was only the preliminary rehearsal — the tracks and choreography were set. After the official announcement and ticket sales, they’d do more detailed run-throughs to lock in costumes, props, and stage design. Then, right before the concert, there’d be the final full dress rehearsal.

Though spring had returned to the earth, the nights still carried a chill. The moment they stepped out of the rehearsal room, their sweat-soaked clothes clung coldly to their skin. Zhao Yu rubbed her arms and jogged over to call the elevator. As she waited, a jacket came flying down over her head.

Zhao Yu yanked it off in a couple of tugs and turned to glare at him.

Shen Juanyi was now in just a black T-shirt, a cap flipped backward on his head, looking as irreverent as could be. “Just wear it.”

She threw it back at him. “It stinks!”

He threw it back at her. “What stink? That’s the smell of a real man!”

A draft swept through the hallway. Zhao Yu shivered and, without another word, put the jacket on. She glanced at the guy now standing there in just a T-shirt. “Aren’t you cold?”

The big golden retriever puffed out his chest with pride. “Have you ever seen a man afraid of the cold?”

Zhao Yu paused. “My dad.”

Shen Juanyi: “…………” He scratched his nose sheepishly. “Well… tell Uncle to take care of himself, then.”

……

Their respective assistants had driven over to pick them up, the cars parked side by side. Zhao Yu took off the jacket and handed it back to him after getting in. “I’m off. See you next time.”

Shen Juanyi grinned and waved at her. “Keep it. Wash it and give it back next time.” He pulled open his car door, then suddenly thought of something and turned back to call out, “Zhao Yu—”

She rolled down the window.

He said, “Don’t push yourself too hard with the dancing. You’re already amazing.”

Before Zhao Yu could even process the concern behind those words, he added, “You’re not getting any younger either. Your body can’t take it.”

Zhao Yu angrily wadded his jacket into a ball and hurled it out the window at him. “Piss off!”

The car sped away, leaving him a trail of exhaust. Shen Juanyi clicked his tongue, turned, and got into his own car. His assistant, Xiao Shi (who was a huge fan of Zhao Yu), looked at him with a mournful expression. “If you care about her, why do you always have to tease our Xiao Yu…”

Shen Juanyi leaned back in his seat. “I see her and I just wanna rile her up. Maybe because—” He paused, turned to look at his assistant, and smacked him on the head. “None of your damn business! Drive!”

The night was already deep.

He barely slept a few hours at home before getting up again to head to the airport. After all, he’d only taken four days off — he had to be back on set before filming started today.

There were plenty of early-morning travelers at the airport. Shen Juanyi got recognized and photographed by passersby, landing on the tail end of the trending searches early that morning.

His fans, the Yiren, all knew their idol had been focused on filming lately and had turned down all other commitments. So why was he suddenly spotted at Beijing airport? And at such an ungodly hour?

It wasn’t until April that the mystery was solved.

Zhao Yu’s studio officially announced the ticket sale date — mid-April — and simultaneously, Shen Juanyi’s studio announced he would be a guest performer at Zhao Yu’s concert. Zhao Yu’s studio reposted with a welcome.

The two Weibo posts hit like bombs and shot straight to the top of the trending charts.

The Two Top-Tier Stars — A Century Reunion!!!

The “Three Mountains” had stood tall in the entertainment industry for years, always moving forward independently without interfering with each other. Back when Zhao Yu first returned to the country as a newcomer, her collaborative stage with Shen Juanyi on The Path of Thorns had been hailed by netizens as a “lost classic.”

After all, it was nearly impossible for these two top-tier stars to share a stage again now, and Shen Juanyi and Huo Xi — mortal rivals — were even less likely. In short, hoping to see top-tier stars join forces and blow the roof off a stage was harder than climbing to heaven — it was pure fantasy.

Who knew that fantasies could come true? The lost classic was back!!!

They were really collaborating on a stage again!!! And at a massive concert!!!

Our youth is back!!!

Who among us didn’t learn that viral male-female duet dance By back then? Zhao Yu and Shen Juanyi’s version had even been voted by short-video users as the “Lovers’ Dance” — and even in recent years, couples were still dancing it together to show off their love.

The Yiren finally understood why their idol had suddenly shown up at Beijing airport last month. They’d learned from the fan club and the studio last year that their idol would be focusing all his energy on film and television this year, with drastically reduced commercial appearances — maybe not a single stage performance all year.

Though they were disappointed, they remembered how quickly their rival had been transforming his career. They didn’t want their own idol to fall behind, so they’d thrown their full support behind the decision.

Now, this guest appearance was like a surprise gift from the heavens, making their otherwise dull and monotonous year sparkle again.

Sure, it was someone else’s concert. Sure, it was only about ten minutes. But! It was a concert-level venue, concert-level stage design and costumes, and the one-of-a-kind concert atmosphere. Rounding up, that basically meant they were attending their own brother’s concert!

Sisters! What are you waiting for? Grab those tickets!!! Unleash those decades-single demonic hand speeds! Grab them all!!! Even if it’s only ten minutes, we’re giving our brother the best fan support possible!!!

The Yumeiren (Zhao Yu’s fans), still basking in the joy of having a concert to look forward to, had no idea what was coming. Their fan forum was still celebrating and laughing like it was New Year’s, and they were proudly declaring that being able to invite another top-tier star as a guest just proved how awesome their queen was.

Until some big fan reposted a post from Shen Juanyi’s fan forum.

Yumeiren?

Whose concert is this, do you even realize?

Grab tickets? Fan support? You think we’re dead???

The scent of gunpowder began to spread.

Besides the two fanbases, a third major ticket-grabbing force wasn’t about to be left behind — the casual audience.

Zhao Yu and Shen Juanyi both had solid public appeal. One was the king of the stage, the other a fierce queen. Anyone who’d seen their performances would want to experience it live. Now, with one ticket, you could see both top-tier stars and relive your lost youth — not buying one would be like missing out on a hundred million!

The concert booking page on Damai net, which wouldn’t even go on sale until mid-April, had already surpassed one million reservations within two days.

Three major forces, all primed and ready — the competition was fierce. Every day, fans posted screenshots of their chat logs online, showing how many friends they’d roped into helping grab tickets — twenty was just the starting point.

The days passed amid heated discussion. Finally, ticket sale day arrived. Tens of thousands of netizens were poised and ready, all clicking into Damai net at the exact same time, staring down the countdown.

And then Damai net crashed.

— Loading…

— Loading…

— Load—

By the time it loaded, all tickets were gone.

Netizens: ???

Did I just… wait for nothing???

Did all you people who got tickets hack into the telecom network and steal bandwidth or what?!

Zhao Yu’s studio immediately posted: concert tickets sold out in ten seconds — setting a new record for speed. Fans and casual viewers who missed out went crying to every fan forum begging for tickets.

Shen Juanyi, still on set filming, never missed a chance to scroll through social media. He sent a message:

— Shen Juanyi: With big brother joining, tickets sold way faster, right?

— Zhao Yu: Would’ve been faster without you.

— Shen Juanyi: [If only this cute girl didn’t have a mouth.jpg]

— Zhao Yu: [All dynamic light waves reflected back at you!.jpg]