37. Staccato

Even though she received a special invitation, Chen Shu Yin still went through the usual rounds of interviews.

Her outstanding appearance and impressive resume made several interviewers sing her praises repeatedly.

The compliments were so overwhelming that, despite explaining her connection with Pei Yu to the director from the very beginning, she still couldn’t help but worry—had Pei Yu pulled some strings for her behind the scenes?

She wasn’t surprised that Pei Yu would praise her. Someone as proud as him—would he really choose an average person to be his rival?

His recognition of her might just be a reflection of his recognition of himself.

Chen Shu Yin opened the chat with him and hesitated for a long time, typing and deleting, unable to bring herself to send a message.

Suddenly, a question mark popped up in the chat. Startled, her hand slipped, and she accidentally sent an emoji—a spinning bear blowing heart kisses, one she had saved from Liu Yi Ran.

Pei Yu:【?】

Notes Dancing on Trees:【[Love you~]】

Chen Shu Yin stared in disbelief at the message she had just sent.

Panic surged through her as she tried to long-press and recall it, but in her flustered state, her fingers slipped again, and she hit “delete” instead of “recall.”

“……”

She was doomed.

Pei Yu, on the other hand, remained calm.

Pei Yu:【You got selected?】

A light bulb went off in Chen Shu Yin’s mind. She decided to go with the flow—she closed her eyes and spammed the emoji section, sending over a dozen random emojis to push his message up the chat, feeling her embarrassment subside.

Just as she was about to claim it was all a slip of the hand and move on, Pei Yu’s next message sent the warmth flooding back into her face.

Pei Yu:【Got it. No need to love me so much.】

???

Chen Shu Yin mentally fired off several question marks, scrolled up in despair, and let out a small “tsk.” She had never seen someone as dumb as herself, voluntarily delivering herself on a silver platter.

She was used to chatting with Liu Yi Ran using emojis instead of words, so her emoji collection was filled with nothing but expressions of affection.

As she scrolled through, she realized—every single one of them was a love emoji…

Taking a deep breath, she let the chat sit idle for a few minutes before replying.

Notes Dancing on Trees:【It was a phone bug. You really love taking advantage of situations.】

Pei Yu:【If I can take advantage, isn’t that my skill?】

Pei Yu:【So, do you love me?】

Notes Dancing on Trees:【No.】

Pei Yu didn’t continue his shameless teasing. Instead, he took on a more serious, almost nagging tone.

Pei Yu:【The shoot will take place at Yunshan Villa. The temperature difference up the mountain is big, so bring some warm clothes. The shoot coincides with the anniversary celebration, and there will be a banquet at the winery, so bring an evening dress. Other than that, the show’s budget is limited, so you’ll have to buy your own food, but completing tasks will earn you points that can be exchanged for funds.】

Pei Yu:【Other than clothes, you don’t need to bring much—I’ll prepare the rest for you.】

Chen Shu Yin clutched her earlobe, burying her face in her arms.

They were just filming together—why was he acting like her personal butler, making sure everything was taken care of?

She sent him an angry emoji and stopped replying.

The final cast list was confirmed that day, and everyone was called in the next day to take official promotional photos.

The photo shoot took place in a private villa near the Nandu Building. There were ten cast members in total—half were celebrities, half were regular contestants.

Aside from Pei Yu, the other four actors were all newcomers from various media companies. Chen Shu Yin wasn’t familiar with them, so she sat quietly to the side, waiting for her turn.

A young male contestant sat next to her. He had a bright, sunny disposition and a smile that reminded her of a Samoyed, making him instantly approachable.

“Hi, I’m Luo Zhou.”

As he smiled at her, his expression overlapped with someone in her memory. She was momentarily dazed before he called her attention again.

“Would you mind telling me your name?”

She extended her hand and lightly touched his fingers. “Chen Shu Yin.”

Luo Zhou was naturally sociable, quickly launching into a conversation. “I noticed you at the interview. I was worried you were a staff member, but luckily, here we are again. How about we exchange contacts?”

He pulled up a QR code for her to scan. Since the shoot would last about two weeks, she had no reason to refuse. Just as she was about to scan it, someone called out—

“Pei Yu is treating everyone to coffee and BBQ after the shoot. Head over to the BBQ house next door when we’re done.”

Staff members began distributing the packaged coffee to the shooting area.

Pei Yu had always enjoyed finding excuses to treat people. Back in school, he would insist on sharing his food with her, claiming he had no appetite.

Chen Shu Yin wasn’t surprised and looked down to continue scanning Luo Zhou’s code.

Just as she raised her phone, a cool, indifferent male voice sounded behind her.

“Chen Shu Yin, I’ve been looking for you.”

She recognized his voice immediately, smirked slightly, and turned around—only to see a cup of hot cocoa being handed to her.

“It’s your turn.”

Pei Yu was holding only one cup. After giving it to her, he pulled her up by the arm and patted her shoulder lightly. “Hurry up.”

Chen Shu Yin gripped the warm cup, her lips parting as if to scold him. But seeing Luo Zhou nearby, she was afraid of people speculating about their relationship, so she held back and simply thanked him before heading to the shooting area.

Luo Zhou, still holding out his QR code, looked at Pei Yu in confusion. “Uh… hi?”

Pei Yu gave him a curt nod.

Luo Zhou sensed an odd tension in the air. He awkwardly pushed his QR code toward Pei Yu. “Wanna add each other instead?”

Pei Yu lazily pulled out his phone. “Sure. But if we add each other, then you two don’t need to.”

Luo Zhou hesitated. Pei Yu calmly elaborated,

“She and I are partners. You know what that means, right? An outsider interfering could mess up our dynamic later.”

Luo Zhou was puzzled. “They’ve already assigned partners?”

Pei Yu smirked. “Not gonna lie—she has the gift of foresight. Last night, she excitedly told me she predicted we’d be partners. So, sorry—”

He stretched his words out playfully, with zero actual remorse. He even pointed at the sky.

“Fate decided—we’re a perfect match.”

Luo Zhou choked on air.

Could he really say something like that?

——

And that was just the beginning. Pei Yu would have many more shameless moves up his sleeve.