Xu Yu didn’t tell Yun Jie that he had sent it to Su Yuanjiu, nor did he dare ask Su Yuanjiu if he had commented. He also did not dare to imagine that Su Yuanjiu had found people to comment on his behalf.
“Maybe it’s really good, and people just like it,” Yun Jie suggested.
Xu Yu agreed.
Yun Jie added, “Your song is really good. I played it for my friends yesterday, and they said the more they listened, the more they liked it. You just need more exposure. Once the show airs, people will probably come looking for it.”
When they mentioned the show, Yun Jie and Xu Yu exchanged a knowing look and smiled wryly.
The JSS advertisement this season was a compilation of several segments. Although there were supporting roles, they didn’t need to shoot together, so Xu Yu was the only one at the seaside today.
Xu Yu had memorized the necessary content long ago. No acting skills were needed for the advertisement; he just followed the director’s instructions, and the rest was up to the photographer.
In the final scene, Xu Yu stands on the beach, one hand in his pocket, looking up with his eyes closed. His other hand shielded his eyes from the sun as he made a slow, grasping motion in the air.
“OK!” the director called out. “Good job.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Yun Jie, holding an umbrella, rushed over and shaded Xu Yu’s head.
Yun Jie asked, “It’s a bit hot at noon. Are you hot?”
Xu Yu nodded, “Yes.”
Yun Jie said, “When we finish here, I will take you for some ice cream.”
Xu Yu laughed. “Are you coaxing a child?”
Yun Jie inquired, “Do you want some?
Xu Yu responded, “Yes.”
Yun Jie raised an eyebrow, “I’ll get you strawberry flavor.”
Xu Yu shook his head, “Yun Jie, strawberry flavor and strawberries are two different things.”
Yun Jie was puzzled. “Really?”
Xu Yu explained, “I enjoy eating strawberries but dislike the strawberry flavor.”
With nothing else to do, they returned to the company with the team, returned the clothes, confirmed the time and location of the next day’s shoot, and then Yun Jie and Xu Yu departed.
In the hallway, Xu Yu cast an instinctive glance in another direction before quickly looking away.
“It really does avoid meeting the employees downstairs,” Yun Jie suddenly said.
Xu Yu asked, “What?”
Yun Jie whispered, “Mr. Awkward, isn’t it?”
With so many people passing by, Xu Yu thought Yun Jie’s nickname was amusing.
Xu Yu replied, “Yes, yes.”
Yun Jie laughed. “Don’t be so sensitive. I don’t bring him up every time just to talk about you.”
Xu Yu replied, “You better not.”
Yun Jie teased, “Do you hope I am or not?”
Xu Yu hummed lightly. “I don’t want to play word games with you.”
Yun Jie laughed even more. “Why do you get so cute every time I mention him?”
Xu Yu retorted, “I’m not cute.”
Yun Jie said, “Okay, okay.”
In the elevator, Xu Yu, still curious, couldn’t help but ask, “Why? What’s with me and Su… What’s with him? Why are you so fixated on it?”
Yun Jie laughed, letting out an “oh dear” sound: “I don’t really know why either. How should I put it? Haha,” Yun Jie couldn’t quite explain. “Just ignore me. It’s one of those things we do for fun; we ship when the mood strikes.”
Xu Yu responded with an “oh”: “I didn’t intend to.”
Yun Jie laughed. “I was the first one to ship you two.”
Xu Yu smiled. “That’s quite impressive,” he paused to add, “not just the first, but the only one.”
Yun Jie sighed. “You never know, there might be more in the future.”
Xu Yu didn’t bother to reply.
Yun Jie chuckled to herself: “I’ll tone it down; try not to bring it up as much. I’ll restrain myself.”
Xu Yu remained silent.
What Yun Jie said about avoiding encounters with the downstairs employees was accurate. With separate doors, a private elevator, and a private parking lot, Su Yuanjiu managed to avoid a lot of trouble during his time at the company.
When his vlog became popular, many fans lingered around the JSS building, but none had ever managed to catch a glimpse of Su Yuanjiu.
Busy as he was, even when Su Yuanjiu returned to Lin City, he used a private route. This route was unknown even to many internal JSS employees.
As Xu Yu was leaving through one door, Su Yuanjiu was stepping out of an elevator through another. His assistant, Lai Ming, was with him, and they were heading out on business.
In the car, Su Yuanjiu opened his email and called out to Lai Ming.
Lai Ming asked, “What’s up, Mr. Su?”
Su Yuanjiu inquired, “Is Xu Yu filming an advertisement today?”
Lai Ming nodded: “Today and tomorrow.”
Su Yuanjiu asked. “When is today’s shoot?”
“The morning session is already done.” Lai Ming replied.
Su Yuanjiu nodded and tilted his chin slightly. “Connect my phone to the Bluetooth.”
As the car moved, the windows rolled up, and the Bluetooth connected. Su Yuanjiu played a song on his phone. Just from the intro, Lai Ming knew whose song it was.
After the first few seconds of the intro, a deep, magnetic male voice began singing, slowly and leisurely, as if telling a story.
“Old Zhao,” Su Yuanjiu called out to the driver after listening for a minute.
Old Zhao responded, “Yes, Mr. Su?”
Su Yuanjiu asked, “Do you know whose song this is?”
Old Zhao swallowed hard, focusing on the road ahead and trying to think. Lai Ming subtly signaled him to look at the screen, but Old Zhao didn’t catch on.
After a couple of seconds, Old Zhao had a moment of inspiration and blurted out, “Xu Yu!”
Su Yuanjiu chuckled. “That’s right.”
Old Zhao felt a surge of joy, even clenching his fist in triumph, as happy as if he had won a jackpot.
“Is it good?” Su Yuanjiu asked again.
Old Zhao nodded eagerly. “Yes, very good.”
The city, after basking in the morning sun, grew even hotter in the afternoon. The early summer air was thick, and many people could be seen carrying their jackets.
After having ice cream, Xu Yu and Yun Jie went to the studio to discuss plans.
They had completed two songs diligently, with a few more unfinished ones still in hand. Over the years, Xu Yu would write at home during his free time, though nothing serious had come of it yet.
Besides the music, other work needed to be arranged quickly. After discussing all afternoon, they had dinner together before parting ways.
Xu Yu returned to his apartment complex. Looking up, he saw that tonight also had an orange sunset.
With nothing urgent to do, Xu Yu took his time walking along the gravel paths in the garden.
As he strolled, he touched his eyebrows and pulled out his phone. He opened the Kaoyou Network app and searched for Su Yuanjiu.
The top result was that vlog from Xie Nan. Xu Yu put on his earphones and started playing the video. As the video began, the screen opened with Su Yuanjiu in a suit walking towards the camera. At the three-second mark, Su Yuanjiu glanced at the camera.
At that moment, the screen was suddenly filled with comments like “Ahhh” and “The place where love begins.”
Xu Yu turned off the comments and watched again.
It didn’t seem staged; it appeared casually filmed. Xu Yu suspected that Su Yuanjiu had just come home from work and his cousin had started filming.
“My cousin finally had time to come home today. I begged him for several days. As soon as we finished filming this, he left. See how good I am to you all!” Xie Nan’s voice appeared, and the camera still followed Su Yuanjiu.
The scene moved to the kitchen, where ingredients were already laid out on the table. Su Yuanjiu glanced down, then looked up slightly off-camera and asked Xienan. “What are we making?”
Xu Yu paused the video and turned the comments back on.
Instantly, the screen filled with comments like “Ahhh” and “I could listen to this voice forever.”
Xie Nan replied. “Braised pork ribs.”
Su Yuanjiu looked down again and, after a moment, looked up and said, “We’re out of soy sauce.”
The scene cut to them in the car, with subtitles explaining that something unexpected happened, so they went to the supermarket to buy more ingredients.
Xie Nan’s voiceover explained. “My cousin hasn’t driven himself in a long time. He thought he’d be home for a while and let the driver go, so is this to my benefit or yours?”
The next cut showed Su Yuanjiu driving, and the screen filled with comments again, with some people calling him husband and others wanting to be in the passenger seat.
The trip to the supermarket was fast-forwarded, and within a minute, they were back in the kitchen.
Su Yuanjiu had taken off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves, revealing the prayer beads on his wrist.
The screen was filled with comments again. Xu Yu turned them off to focus on watching Su Yuanjiu make the braised pork ribs.
His technique was very practiced, and with the added subtitles, it was easy to understand. Due to the editing, within a few minutes, a plate of delicious-looking braised pork ribs was on the table.
Su Yuanjiu stood in front of the table, looked at Xienan, and said, “It’s ready.”
Xie Nan said, “Grab a piece and feed it to my fans.”
Su Yuanjiu showed a disapproving expression: “Do we really have to do this?”
Xie Nan responded, “Just do it.”
Su Yuanjiu shook his head and grabbed a tissue to wipe his hands: “I refuse.”
The scene shifted, and the subtitles explained that Su Yuanjiu started making coffee.
Hand-grinding the coffee, both of them remained silent throughout the process, with only soft background music and the sound of the machine, creating a very soothing atmosphere.
After making two cups, Su Yuanjiu handed one to Xie Nan. At that moment, Xie Nan tilted the camera, bringing the coffee towards it.
Subtitles appeared, saying, “Sweethearts, time for coffee.”
Xu Yu turned on the comments and saw everyone saying things like, “It’s mine,” “My husband made this for me,” “Ah, I drank it,” “It tastes so good,” and “So fragrant!”
Whether or not Su Yuanjiu gave Xie Nan an exasperated look, the screen gradually darkened after this subtitle, and the next scene transitioned to the sky outside, marking the end of the vlog.
Xu Yu locked his phone and put it in his pocket after watching.
He looked up at the orange sky with clusters of clouds and noticed a bird flying by.
Xu Yu watched the bird until it disappeared behind a nearby building, then looked away.
As he walked, he unconsciously ended up at the spot where he had previously run into Su Yuanjiu. Instinctively, he glanced towards the pond.
“Huh?” Xu Yu stopped in his tracks and leaned slightly to one side.
It felt like two moments were overlapping; Xu Yu found himself seeing the same person in the same place.
Su Yuanjiu saw him too, and they walked towards each other.
“What are you doing here?”
“Why is your face so red?”
They both spoke at the same time.
Xu Yu raised his hand, first touching his face with his palm and then with the back of his hand.
“The weather is a bit stuffy,” Xu Yu explained, making an excuse, and then asked Su Yuanjiu, “What are you doing here? Visiting a friend?”
Su Yuanjiu smiled and shook his head: “You might not believe it if I told you.”
Xu Yu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Su Yuanjiu said, “I’ve been living here recently.”
Xu Yu was surprised: “Really?”
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