Chapter 60: Participating in a dating reality show should be mandatory...

It was all his provocation.

That damn provocation.

But the string of reason was snapped by the rage that surged to his scalp.

The moment their lips met, Sheng Yi clearly heard the snapping sound of stepping into a trap.

She's too lazy to care anymore.

It's just a game, what's there for her to be afraid of?

It was a swift and decisive strike. Before Wen Shili could react, Sheng Yi quickly pulled up her mask, opened the car door, and jumped out.

The hallway lights flickered on one by one as she ran, and the only sound in the entire space was her disordered breathing.

Sheng Yi ran up to the third floor in one breath before daring to concentrate on listening to the sounds behind her.

The hallway was quiet. She leaned forward slightly and noticed that the car door was also closed.

Sheng Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and as she turned her head, she unexpectedly looked into a pair of deep eyes.

Wen Shili, dressed in black, stood in the shadows beside the tree, blending seamlessly into the night, like a patient hunter who had been lying in wait for a long time, ready to revel in the joy of a decisive strike the moment his prey lowered its guard.

As if burned, Sheng Yi recoiled and ran home without looking back.

My roommates were already asleep by now. A small light was left on in the living room for anyone coming home late. Sheng Yi quietly changed into her slippers and crouched down to walk to the window.

Wen Shili remained standing in the same spot, looking up for a while, then looked down and took out his phone, pressing some buttons.

Sheng Yi realized something. Sure enough, the next second, her phone rang in her pocket.

"You've got guts."

*Pfft.* Sheng Yi simply couldn't imagine how such a gentle person could type out this word through gritted teeth.

Why didn't you do this earlier?

Unfortunately, it was the middle of the night, and there was no one to share her joy of victory. Of course, it wasn't something she could easily tell anyone.

She casually tied her hair up, humming a song as she walked towards the bathroom.

When she came out after taking a shower, Wen Shili's car was still parked in the same spot.

She covered her mouth and yawned, then ignored it.

I slept soundly through the night, but was awakened the next day by Jingjing banging on the door.

She reached for her phone and glanced at it; it was just past seven. Feeling dizzy, Sheng Yi stumbled back, "Why are you here so early?"

Jingjing shoved the phone in front of her and read it to her word by word, "Didn't you say that I should come pick you up as early as possible tomorrow?"

And the message was sent at 1 a.m. Surely he wasn't talking in his sleep.

Sheng Yi: "..."

That's true, but it's not fully light yet.

She lay back down, clutching the blanket, but after a couple of seconds, as if pricked by a needle, she sat up abruptly, patted her face, and tried to clear her head.

"Yes, yes, that's right. Could you pack my bag for me? I'm going to wash up." She lifted the covers and walked out.

Jingjing watched as she bustled about in such a hurry that, in less than twenty minutes, the two of them got into the car to go to the airport.

Why do I have this feeling that we're about to flee?

That evening, news of Sheng Yi's guest appearance in a period film spread online.

While everyone was busy verifying the authenticity of the leak, Sheng Yi was being pulled by the director's hand. "Thank you so much. Without you, my film would have been a complete flop."

The actor she had arranged with suddenly backed out; she had only mentioned it casually when she saw Sheng Yi's post a couple of days ago.

To be honest, I didn't have much hope, but to my surprise, Sheng Yi agreed and came over as quickly as possible.

Unlike the director's excitement, Cao Jun, observing his artist's unpredictable expression, remained silent to the side.

Over the past six months, he went from being observant and cautious to walking on thin ice to getting used to it. His emotional journey is so long it could fill a book... If they continue to act so mysteriously next year, it would be a shame not to give him a big red envelope during the Lunar New Year for all the brain cells he's lost.

But seriously, it's just a cameo role in a movie, right? Is it really necessary to make such a fuss?

Of course not.

This was a job that had been arranged long ago, so how can you say you're avoiding him?

Wen Shili tensed his jaw as he looked at the woman on the screen, standing with her fellow actors, smiling broadly.

Make sure he doesn't catch you.

Sheng Yi has been very busy lately.

The period drama was already halfway through its run, and the lead actress's acting skills were widely praised, creating a ratings frenzy at the end of the year. Even the minor supporting actors benefited from the success, with her and Wu Simin experiencing a slight increase in popularity.

After watching the show, the screenwriter had a sudden inspiration and added several scenes for her. What was originally planned to be filmed in three days ended up taking five days to complete.

Filming period dramas in winter is much more comfortable than in summer. Since the screenwriter thinks highly of her, there's no need for her to be pretentious.

At the same time, new cooperation offers came in for discussion. Sheng Yi took a look and accepted almost all of them that were available to him.

After the shoot, she went directly to a neighboring city to attend a brand event.

Because of the short distance, they chose to travel by high-speed rail. This was Sheng Yi's first time here; in fact, celebrities rarely come here, and the public's curiosity about them is incredibly strong. The event venue was packed to capacity, and the hashtag #EncounteringShengYi# unexpectedly trended on social media.

After that, Sheng Yi participated in several offline events, and her studio's Weibo account was flooded with newly released photos almost every day.

Fans are watching the studio's IP positioning being constantly changed and are clamoring for more!

After running around non-stop for more than half a month, the last shoot ended, and the streets were filled with red. Sheng Yi parted ways with Jing Jing at the airport and boarded a flight to Ancheng.

After landing and turning my phone back on, I found several new messages already on it.

The task blogger, who was temporarily inserted into the task, logged into the account with great enthusiasm, copied, pasted, and posted the content.

Wen Shili glanced at the constantly changing location and chuckled casually.

This woman is really tough.

For a full nineteen days, the location changed again and again, but the person never set foot in the territory of S City again.

They take advantage of you and run away? There's no such thing as a free lunch.

The day after returning home, her high school classmates organized a small gathering, and Sheng Yi went with Wang Ying to join in the fun.

It was actually a routine small gathering, but she rarely went home before. It was only after attending Wang Ying's wedding that the class monitor managed to contact her. Knowing that she was coming back this year, he urged her three times and begged her to do him the honor of attending.

When classmates use this word, it's hard to refuse such a warm invitation.

Throughout the entire meal, Sheng Yi stayed close to Wang Ying, but people kept steering the conversation toward her.

If Sheng Yi was just an unknown working person in the entertainment industry before, this year, when people are bragging, they can't help but mention, "You know Sheng Yi, right? She's in the same class as me."

Regardless of how others perceived her, she spoke impeccably in all social situations. Fortunately, Wang Ying was very adept at handling such occasions and managed to get by with Sheng Yi.

After the meal, Wang Ying drove her home, saying apologetically, "Let's not go next time."

Sheng Yi smiled and said, "You can do as usual." As for her, it's uncertain whether she'll be able to go home then.

Wang Ying has lived in Ancheng for a long time, and there are times when she needs to maintain her network of classmates.

There were many things that couldn't be said at the dinner table, so Wang Ying took her hand and asked about a widely circulated rumor, "Did you really accept that dating reality show on Hunan TV?"

"Huh?" Sheng Yi had almost forgotten about this.

Seeing her reaction, Wang Ying had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on. "I've seen them on these kinds of shows before, and they always have a lot of weird stuff going on."

She's encountered quite a few people who use the guise of love to climb over others and advance their own careers. She's genuinely afraid that Shengyi will be led astray.

I remember many years ago, during a late-night chat in the dorm, someone asked, if you had to choose between someone you like and someone who likes you, how would you choose?

She was young then and determined to find someone she liked, so she put in a lot of effort to follow in Feng Shu's footsteps.

Sheng Yi was different from her; she insisted from beginning to end that she should only look for someone she liked.

"I like him, and he's good to me. If not, then forget it."

Determined yet free-spirited.

But back then, when I couldn't have what I wanted, I couldn't make such a clean decision.

So many years have passed, and life's trials have taught her that many things cannot be achieved simply through hard work and sincerity. But she is still willing, just as she was years ago, to believe that her friend will get what she wants.

"No need to rush."

Sheng Yi knew her good intentions, "Yes, I'll share any good news with you."

A class reunion had drained Sheng Yi of her energy. She felt like a fully charged battery that was now critically low on power.

I lay on the sofa for a long time, scrolling through my phone aimlessly, switching between several apps, but I didn't see anything interesting.

She sighed and sat up from the sofa.

Just then, my phone vibrated. I opened it, and in the chat window, there was a link that someone had just shared:

"Three key characteristics of a 'sea king' (a person who is prone to infidelity) – honest people should keep their eyes peeled!"

What kind of nerve is that?

Sheng Yi turned off her phone and, taking advantage of the free time, went to visit all the interesting places nearby with her girlfriends, updating her WeChat Moments frequently.

Of course, it's the kind that's visible only to friends.

Newly opened shops on the street, renovated buildings, strolling around the park with friends...

Those fleeting desires to share resurfaced during this holiday.

Cao Jun seemed to be quite relaxed during the holiday. Whenever she updated her social media, he would like her posts, whether it was early or late.

Upon receiving the latest like notification, Sheng Yi thought for a moment, then switched to the chat window and asked him, "So free? How about we meet up after the holiday?"

Sheng Yi waited for two minutes, but there was still no response from the other end.

Twenty minutes later, I received a tearful plea from Cao Jun's main account: "Sister, I've been waiting in line for so many, many, many more since the holiday... Please let me go."

Sheng Yi raised an eyebrow slightly, and after a long pause, replied with an "Oh".

The statutory holiday is eight days, and Sheng Yi had to return on the sixth day. Lao Qian shared his itinerary with her and, at the end, asked her for her opinion on the variety show.

Sheng Yi had actually rejected him many times, both openly and secretly, but until the very last moment, Lao Qian still held onto a sliver of hope, expecting her to change her mind.

Sheng Yi had no idea how much of a benefit the production team had given him. He sighed inwardly and casually made up an excuse, "Shouldn't you have to be single to participate in a dating reality show?"

Old Qian: "Huh?"

Sheng Yi didn't explain much, only repeating the same sentence again—"Let's cancel it."

The plane landed at 2 p.m. Sheng Yi declined Lao Qian's offer to pick her up. As she walked out of the airport, she found someone already waiting there.

"This way, please."

Sheng Yi didn't ask any more questions and followed behind the other person to a black car parked at the door.

The driver opened the car door for her, and Sheng Yi bent down halfway and saw the person sitting inside the car.

Wen Shili leaned back lazily in his chair, glanced at her, and patted the seat next to him, saying, "Get in the car."

Sheng Yi lowered her eyes, and with a soft click, the car door closed behind her.

The two had not been in contact since their last separation. Occasionally, she would receive messages from Wen Shili, which she pretended to ignore, but he seemed to enjoy it.

From initial accusations to subsequent forwarding bots, in a short period of time, the two's chat boxes were filled with boring links such as "How to identify if a woman is a player, did you guess these characteristics correctly?", "Three signs of a scumbag woman", and "How to cultivate a sense of responsibility".

Sheng Yi had a premonition the moment Cao Jun inquired about her schedule. Seeing the screen full of unread messages, she still replied truthfully.

There was a distance between them, but she could feel the gaze that was constantly fixed on her.