The event concluded successfully after an hour.
Under the protection of staff, Pei Yu left the mall and got into the car to return to the hotel for some rest; she still had work in the evening.
“Sister Zhou Jing,” Pei Yu called out.
Zhou Jing, who was reviewing the schedule, immediately put down her phone. “What is it?”
Pei Yu asked gently, “What time is the evening event?”
“8:00 PM,” Zhou Jing replied, having just checked. “You’ll attend for about two hours, then stay the night at the hotel. We have to head out early tomorrow morning again. It’s a pretty tight schedule.”
Pei Yu looked at the time. There were still several hours before the evening event. “I think I’ll practice my dance for a bit since I have a few hours.”
Back when Guan Tong was managing her, the plan for the 70-million-follower milestone was just a simple livestream to chat with fans. However, Pei Yu had her own ideas; she wanted to perform a dance, but Guan Tong had refused to allow it. Being afraid of Guan Tong, Pei Yu hadn’t pushed the issue.
However, she had already been practicing in the company’s dance studio. Even after Guan Tong said no, Pei Yu didn’t give up; she returned to the studio to keep practicing, mostly to give herself something to do.
Unexpectedly, some staff members were in the studio at the time. While they were chatting, they saw Pei Yu dancing and recorded it, posting it to the internet using a burner account.
That video caused quite a stir. Fans assumed it was the official 70-million-follower benefit and flooded Weibo with posts and comments. The hype reached absurd levels, and even industry insiders were looking forward to it.
When Guan Tong saw the news, she assumed Pei Yu had leaked the video herself. She had stormed over to Pei Yu and given her a vicious verbal lashing in front of everyone—the kind of scolding so harsh that bystanders found it hard to listen to. Yet, no one dared to speak up; they could only watch with clenched fists.
Guan Tong had done her shouting, but seeing the massive engagement—and remembering that Pei Yu’s fans were already dissatisfied with her—she felt a twinge of fear. She had seen comments from fans saying that if Guan Tong interfered again, they would find her home, investigate her criminal record, and send her to jail for life.
Terrified, she finally followed the fans’ wishes and officially added Pei Yu’s dance to the milestone rewards. Only then did the matter settle.
After arriving at the hotel, the two got out of the car. Pei Yu entered the building wearing a mask and a hat to avoid recognition.
“Are you hungry?” Zhou Jing asked, looking at a message on her phone. “I can order you a healthy, low-fat meal.”
“No need,” Pei Yu shook her head. “I’ll have to eat something at the evening event anyway, so I won’t eat now.” She wasn’t actually hungry.
Zhou Jing sighed. “Teacher Pei, it’s not that I’m trying to nag you, but President Shen just messaged me. She’s worried about your health and told me to make sure you eat.”
President Shen really is paying attention to Teacher Pei, Zhou Jing thought. Rumors always said their marriage was a disaster, and Zhou Jing had seen glimpses of it herself in the past. But it seemed that seeing isn’t always believing; you have to experience it for yourself.
Pei Yu tilted her head, her eyes dropping slightly. “What else… did she say?”
Zhou Jing simply opened her chat log and showed her. “President Shen didn’t say much else. Just told me to take good care of you and insisted you eat well—that you shouldn’t skip meals just for your figure.”
“Mhm,” Pei Yu replied softly. Although she acted indifferent on the surface, she slowly tightened her grip on her own phone.
The elevator stopped at their floor, and they stepped out. Zhou Jing escorted Pei Yu to her room. “Get some rest. Message me if you need anything; I’m on call.”
“Thank you,” Pei Yu said sincerely.
“It’s nothing,” Zhou Jing waved her off and went to her own room next door.
Once inside, Pei Yu closed the door and instinctively picked up her phone to open WeChat. She had over a hundred unread messages from group chats and private contacts. Looking at her chat list, she saw a red notification dot next to the contact she had previously muted.
She walked further into the room and tapped the thread.
Shen Luoxi: I saw the news. You look very beautiful today. Shen Luoxi: Make sure you eat well. Shen Luoxi: The mall event looked like a success.
The three messages had been sent sporadically over the last few hours. She seemed genuinely concerned. Pei Yu locked her phone without replying to a single one.
She had brought her dance clothes and shoes for this trip. She pulled them from her suitcase, changed, and found a clear space in the room. She tied her long hair up.
Her follower count was only a few tens of thousands away from 70 million. To reach the goal sooner, fans had begun urging each other in the community to create alt accounts to follow her, hoping to break the record within three days. Some entertainment reporters claimed Pei Yu’s fans were acting as their own “water army” (paid posters), which was a rare sight in fan circles. The fan response was simple: “Fans are busy; mind your own business.”
Just as Pei Yu finished her warm-up and prepared to start the practice video, her phone buzzed. Someone had sent a WeChat message.
Usually, Pei Yu would reply to messages as they came, but she often found that by the time she finished chatting, she had wasted hours and hadn’t touched her scripts or work. Since then, she had changed her habit: work first, reply later.
She practiced for a solid hour until she was breathless and collapsed onto the floor. She was already very familiar with the choreography, but practice makes perfect. A single day without practice could lead to mistakes, so she had to keep it up until the actual recording.
While resting, she grabbed her phone. Panting, she opened it and froze when she saw the top WeChat ID. It was from Shen Luoxi.
Since Pei Yu had intentionally ignored the previous messages, she had assumed the woman wouldn’t send any more. She grabbed a tissue to wipe her sweat and opened the app.
Shen Luoxi: Zhou Jing said you’re back at the hotel. You have another event tonight—are you resting?
Pei Yu finished wiping her sweat and typed a one-handed reply: No. I’m practicing a dance. I’ll shower and rest in a bit.
Practicing a dance?
Sitting in the library, Shen Luoxi saw the message and remembered the teaser video she had dug up earlier in the fan community. Was she practicing that?
Shen Luoxi: The 70-million-follower reward? Pei Yu: Yes.
Shen Luoxi never used to care about these things, Pei Yu thought. Why is she asking so much lately? Is it really just because her personality changed?
Shen Luoxi, wearing her baseball cap, typed back: I saw the video. You dance quite well. Pei Yu’s reply was mechanical: Mhm.
It was completely devoid of emotion. Yet, Shen Luoxi was delighted. A reply was better than no reply. Given the history between them, Pei Yu had every reason to ignore her completely, yet here the female lead was, actually responding.
“Pei Yu,” Shen Luoxi whispered her name with a sense of deep satisfaction. She finally understood why the female lead of the novel was so captivating. She truly was a magnet.