Seeing that they had no intention of questioning him, Gu Chen calmly drifted away, carrying his tea to a table outside the veranda to continue reading.

Downstairs in the living room, a piano was set up for everyone to use. Yu Xingzhou sat down directly and couldn’t resist playing through the entire piece. Afterward, he said with a subtle expression, “Qingyue, was this piece written for me?”

Lu Qingyue coughed awkwardly. He glanced up at the sky, realizing he probably wouldn’t have shown this piece if not for the current situation. He got carried away for a moment and forgot.

But he still staunchly defended himself, “Who said it was written for you! I was just casually practicing!” Despite his slightly flushed ears, he was quite convincing.

Yu Xingzhou didn’t press further and simply replied calmly, “Oh, you played it well.”

This response completely threw Lu Qingyue off from continuing his defense.

With the piece played out, both those present and the audience in the live broadcast could more intuitively appreciate the intricacies of the composition.

[Ha ha ha, this piece is strangely sweet, really seems like something you’d write for Xiao Yu.]

[I can’t believe it, Yueyue, you’ve been hiding this skill?]

[Awesome, really awesome! Who would’ve thought we’d hear such a great piece on a marriage and dating variety show.]

Although that mysterious person improved that small section wonderfully, the overall brilliance of the composition cannot be separated from its foundation. Moreover, they only made subtle adjustments, maintaining the original tone and style.

However, in a way, this also highlights the ingenuity of the editor. They respected the original style and intent while adding a finishing touch to enhance it.

Because the camera zoomed in on the score, all viewers could see: “I don’t see much change in this section of the score, most of it looks the same.”

[Only those who understand can truly appreciate it. The editor’s skill level is several levels above.]

[This editor is indeed amazing. After all, when it comes to music like this, even when helping someone else, strong personal style can easily emerge. Yet this person simply helped Lu genuinely.]

[One amazing thing is, they managed to consider that this piece was written by Lu for Xiao Yu, adjusting a few notes to better fit this theme.]

[Isn’t this overanalyzing? But I admit, this person is really talented.]

[So who on earth is it? How can such a prominent contribution not have anyone stepping forward?]

[Quick, quick, quick! Solve the case! I want to know this person’s name by the end of today. Step up and save the Chinese music scene!]

After listening to the piece, everyone present tried to figure it out through process of elimination. They couldn’t quite pinpoint who it might be.

[We’ve gone through everyone: Lin Lin and her husband, Mu Yunting and his wife, Jiang Jiang and her boyfriend, Professors Kong and Yu. That leaves Qingqing and the two foreigners from H country.]

[Qingqing doesn’t seem like a composer, and those two H-country folks always have that arrogant ‘look down on everyone’ attitude. I don’t believe they’d be this humble.]

[Wait a minute, are you forgetting Mr. Gu and Mr. Qiao?]

[Because 1 minute and 58 seconds and 1 minute and 57 seconds are too short, not many people saw them. There are still people asking today: ‘Who is Mr. Gu?’]

[No, Mr. Gu may be mysterious, but he and Mr. Qiao are big shots who clearly wouldn’t compose.]

Lu Qingyue felt that among those he had asked, someone must not have admitted to making the changes. He looked at Lin Yisu again and joked, “Teacher Lin, with your high piano skills, could it be you who made the changes and stayed humble?”

Lin Yisu chuckled and replied, “I was napping with Xiao Yuan at noon.”

Glancing at the sheet of paper, she said, “Look, there are words written on the manuscript. We can compare the handwriting to find out who wrote it.”

Lu Qingyue clapped his hands, saying, “Great idea!” But after some thought, he added, “But comparing handwriting might offend someone, don’t you think?”

Mu Yunting chimed in, “Actually, it shouldn’t be a problem. We’ve all signed autographs for fans before, and they know our handwriting.”

Just then, Du Ruiqing returned from outside and, upon hearing the discussion, calmly stated, “It wasn’t me. I don’t know how to compose music; I only know how to act…”

However, he also seemed interested in the matter, saying, “Let’s see the handwriting. I’m curious to know who’s so talented.”

So everyone casually wrote a few words, or pulled out notebooks with previous handwriting samples, and after comparing them one by one, they found that none matched.

Du Ruiqing suggested, “Mr. Gu is outside on the veranda reading a book. I saw him taking notes in his book. We can go check on him.”

Although Lu Qingyue thought it unlikely to be Mr. Gu, he agreed to just take a quick look at the confirmation. The camera followed him to the door, onto the veranda, capturing the elegant English classical furniture, delicate bone china cups holding tea, and from bottom to top, focusing on the young man’s handmade leather shoes, trousers, white shirt… and then it paused at his Adam’s apple.

【Ah, can’t you just film Mr. Gu completely?!】

【He really has such presence! Such taste! Elegant! Truly elegant!】

【Production team, I’m asking you, dare you raise the camera up another 15 degrees!】

The camera captures a young man with crossed knees, a book resting on them. He diligently writes and draws with a Montblanc pen on the pages.

【In this day and age, there are still people handwriting their study notes, so retro, haha!】

【Although Mr. Gu doesn’t have much screen time, it seems like he’s often seen reading. Curious what he reads every day, never even seen with a phone.】

【Cultural person, cultural person, any book recommendations?】

Since Du Ruiqing mentioned that Mr. Gu was taking notes, Lu Qingyue walked over directly and asked, “Mr. Gu, what are you reading? Can I take a look?”

Du Ruiqing’s lips curled slightly with a hint of amusement, seemingly waiting for Gu Chen to reveal something unexpected.

Contrary to his expectations, Gu Chen was completely open about it. He confidently picked up the book and even displayed it in front of the camera, saying, “This.”

On the cover was written: “From Beginner to Master: Masters Teach You Stock Trading – Secrets to Earning Millions Annually.”

【???】

【Ahahaha??? Is the big shot really reading this?】

【I was curious about what masterpiece Mr. Gu was reading, haha. Isn’t this book a bit unexpected?】

【Quickly checked it out, rating on certain site: 3.7. Is Mr. Gu serious about this? Somewhat disillusioned.】

【Someone actually used this book to learn stock trading and ended up with huge losses, almost went to smash the publishing house, haha.】

Du Ruiqing’s smile deepened. Did Gu Chen think he was reading something profound? People without substance, even if they read every day, couldn’t fake it.

“Oh.” Lu Qingyue wasn’t particularly interested in this. It was just a casual question, and he didn’t even care about the book’s title. He quickly moved closer to Gu Chen and asked, “Can I take a look at your study notes then?”

【Writing study notes for a book like this? Not necessary at all.】

【I really don’t believe there’s anything worthwhile in there.】

【Hahaha Xiao Lu, what’s the name of that book? You want to learn everything. Don’t make excuses—you might go bankrupt later, haha.】

Lu Qingyue looked at the words on the book. Although he didn’t understand them, it didn’t stop him from exclaiming, “Wow, Mr. Gu, your handwriting is really nice.”

But Lu Qingyue quickly became disheartened again. The handwriting in the book was completely different from that on the manuscript, and handwriting reflects the person. These two styles were clearly not from the same person.

As Lu Qingyue reacted, the camera adjusted accordingly, zooming in to capture the two pages in detail.

However, Gu Chen interrupted, “Xiao Lu, are you done looking?”

Lu Qingyue nodded disappointedly, “Yes, I’m done.” Sigh, another person ruled out. Although he hadn’t expected it to be Gu Chen in the first place, he still wondered who it could be.

Hearing Lu Qingyue was done, Gu Chen closed the book and signaled the camera to stop filming.

【Huh? It flashed by in just a second? Are they trying to prevent us from seeing it? How did it close so quickly?】

【Even Mr. Gu gets embarrassed sometimes? Looks like showing off backfired~~~】

【Not even half a second, but I managed to snap a screenshot in time. Let’s see what the big shot notes down while reading this kind of book~】

【Screenshot taken +1~ But it’s a bit blurry, just a quick glimpse.】

【Don’t worry, I’ll use my high-tech frame-by-frame analysis.】

【I just have to ask, why are you all so idle?】

Someone actually managed to process the blurred image into a clear picture, but what’s visible on those two pages are countless crossed-out sentences, with revisions and annotations made in between.

【?】

【?】

【? Wait, why can’t I understand it suddenly?】

【Uh-oh, uh-oh, I can’t understand it, but this feels like a sophisticated flavor. I feel like I’m about to be proven wrong.】

【Can we get a finance professional in here?】

【Finance grad student reporting in~】

【Wow! Mr. Gu actually revising this junk book??? What leisure and extravagance!】

【Wow! Amazing! Textbook-level revisions!!!】

【Professional! Truly professional! How could this crappy little book, be graced by the pen of an industry giant!!!】

【I heard that when this book came out, it earned several million from selling the copyright to novices, right? I suggest you quickly spend a million to buy the rights from Mr. Gu, and have him revise it for you. It feels like you could earn tens of millions more.】

【I can’t stop laughing. Although I’m not sure what’s so amazing about it, I imagine the industry heavyweight Mr. Gu, recording a program with the team, bored, casually picking up a book from the villa shelf, and seeing the content… He must have felt so speechless, hahaha.】

【Guessing Mr. Gu’s expression while reading: subway, elderly, cellphone.】

【It’s amazing but Mr. Gu is so adorable, haha. He probably hasn’t seen such an outrageous book before, and he’s actually sitting there with a pen, meticulously editing every word for them, haha.】

【Laughing so hard. Almost every sentence in this kind of book is made up. By the time Mr. Gu finishes editing it word by word, he might feel like he could earn tens of millions himself.】

【Such books are probably the kind that TV crews buy by weight to fill the shelves at the villa, thinking no one really reads them seriously.】

Gu Chen actually finds this kind of thing boring. He’s read most good books and doesn’t particularly want to read anything else, so he just casually writes. Seeing the cover is enough for him, and he puts it away because he doesn’t want to add unnecessary drama to his life as a bystander. It’s fine for people to think he’s a bit clueless in this regard; he’s just a foolish bystander after all.

But he didn’t expect that in less than a second of the camera panning past, it would spark a whole discussion again.

Du Ruiqing felt his idea was brilliant. He picked up his phone to sneak a peek: “…”

His smile gradually disappeared.

What on earth! Went wrong?!

Qiao Kunping glanced at Du Ruiqing and said, “Why are you secretly keeping an eye on Mr. Gu again?”

Du Ruiqing: “…”

Seeing the disappointed Lu Qingyue, the audience suddenly thought of something: 【Yueyuezi, weren’t you going to study Mr. Gu’s reading notes just now? Hurry up and study them!】

【Hahaha, hurry up, hurry up, borrow them to benefit the fans. If you learn this, maybe you can really make a million a year from stock trading, hahaha.】【It turns out that Little Lu choosing Mr. Gu for “extra lessons” was spot on! You can learn so much from every aspect!】

【Hey hey, have you all forgotten this is a romance variety show? Why are we suddenly talking about learning stock trading, haha? Why are you telling Little Lu to go learn everything?】

【Laughing so hard, you can learn everything from this show, except romance, right?】