You look good

"Did you remember everything I just said?" Tang Yizhu asked as he turned on his turn signal and pulled over at the intersection near the residential area.

Xu Luolu cursed countless times in her mind, but said sincerely, "Absolutely, just wait for my outline." This person had definitely planned to trick her long ago and had even deceived her through her desperate pleas.

"Alright, you can go back now."

"Oh." Xu Luoluo unbuckled her seatbelt and prepared to get out of the car, but after thinking for a moment, she couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going back?"

Tang Yizhuo glanced at her expressionlessly, and Xu Luoluo wisely shut her mouth, turned around, got out of the car, and closed the door in one smooth motion.

The car started quickly. Xu Luoluo took a few steps and then stopped, turning her head to look at the speeding silver-gray sports car. She shook her head, gripped her bag's shoulder strap tightly, and started walking back. She seemed to have been a bit too nosy and careless.

As she approached the entrance to the building, she stopped and turned to walk in another direction.

The residential complex is large, built around a lake. To allow residents to enjoy the lake view as much as possible, a deck-like tree-lined path is laid around the lake, with wrought-iron chandeliers illuminating the path at intervals, the light bright yet soft. When her mind is a little troubled, she likes to take a walk along this long tree-lined path. Every now and then, a few people stroll or jog along the path. The night breeze carries the slightly salty air from the lake, caressing her face, and the wooden planks under her feet make a rhythmic clattering sound. All of this blends together in a strange harmony.

As she walked, her heart gradually calmed down, and she began to truly enjoy the night air.

She heard running sounds behind her, which slowed down as they approached, and a cool voice called out, "Xu Luoluo?"

Xu Luoluo turned around unexpectedly and saw Su Ze in sportswear. She was a little surprised, but still managed a smile: "It's me!"

Under the soft moonlight, Su Ze stared at her intently. Although she quickly concealed it, he couldn't ignore the fleeting look of brokenness and confusion in her eyes, an expression he was once most familiar with.

After traveling together for a while, Xu Luoluo felt even more confused and had no intention of saying anything more to Su Ze. She turned to look at him and said, "I'm going back now."

"Let's go together then." Su Ze replied almost unconsciously, and then slowly walked home with her. It wasn't that he had suddenly developed feelings for Xu Luoluo, but seeing this woman, who was usually like a tough flower, so vulnerable today... he just thought he was being kind and wanted to take her home safely.

"See you tomorrow." Xu Luoluo wasn't in the mood to tease him tonight, so she waved and opened the door to go home.

"Okay." Su Ze also entered the room, but suddenly remembered that he hadn't completed his target mileage for the day.

Xu Luoluo had no idea that she had unintentionally disrupted someone's decade-long running habit; otherwise, she probably would have opened a beer to celebrate her first victory. Instead, she simply went home, quickly took a shower, changed into soft pajamas, and snuggled into bed, falling into a deep sleep.

A few hours later, Tang Yizhuo's car slowly drove into the residential area. It seemed that the whole world had fallen into a deep sleep in the middle of the night, with only a few windows in the dark buildings letting out a sliver of light.

He gazed at the scattered lights outside the car window, sat quietly, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, leaned back in his seat, and slowly exhaled a few smoke rings. But after only a few puffs, he frowned, stubbed out the cigarette, and the pack in his hand crumbled into pieces with his force. He casually tossed the crumpled cigarette pack into the trash can outside the window, stepped on the gas, and drove the car into the garage.

The days after submitting the manuscript flew by, and before she knew it, it was the weekend. Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a torrential downpour ensued. The group of girlfriends who had planned to go shopping together all tacitly stayed home. Xu Luoluo, wrapped in a blanket, leaned against the bed watching a movie, also trying to find inspiration for her new game outline. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her phone screen constantly flashing. Reluctantly, she paused the movie, picked up her phone, and saw dozens of unread messages.

The two latest ones are from Zuo Zuo, a familiar agent.

"Lolo, I have some amazing news for you! 'Left and Right Men' is a huge hit!"

"A lot of people want your contact information, probably because they want to commission articles. If you want to take on these projects, I'll recommend you to them."

Scrolling down further, you'll see congratulations from people in the industry, as well as inquiries about whether she'll take on new scripts.

"Left and Right Men" was a drama she wrote before, which she heard was recently released on various online drama platforms. Judging by the time, it should have finished airing soon. With so many people coming to congratulate her, it seems the drama really became a hit? She became a little curious, so she put down her phone and opened her computer's browser.

When she saw the view count was in the hundreds of millions, her eyes widened in disbelief. She then opened the review website; the number of reviews was in the tens of thousands, and the ratings were extremely high. This… it really was a huge hit!

When the scene she had dreamt of countless times actually appeared, she suddenly felt it was somewhat unreal. Therefore, her first reaction was not to scream, but to pinch herself hard before she could finally let out a cry of pain.

She picked up her phone and quickly sent Tang Yizhuo a link, aloofly not saying anything more.

This strength needs no words to explain.

Still not satisfied after posting, he jumped out of bed, ran out the door, and rushed to the opposite door to knock: "Su Ze! Su Ze!"

Su Ze quickly opened the door, looked down at her, and asked a question.

"My script is a hit!" Xu Luoluo proudly held her phone up to him, tapping the screen. "Look!"

Su Ze had just glanced at the screen when Xu Luoluo suddenly rushed up and hugged him tightly, letting out two loud shouts: "My youth, my dream, it's finally come true!"

Su Ze had just reached out his hand, and before he could pull her down, Xu Luoluo suddenly let go of him, ran back to her house like a gust of wind, and slammed the door shut.

Su Ze stood frozen at the doorway, staring at the tightly shut door opposite him and his hand hanging in mid-air. He had actually run quite fast.

He turned and closed the door, but as he did so, he caught a whiff of a fragrance that seemed to be a mixture of roses and milk. He remembered the scene of that crazy woman hugging him in her pajamas, and looked at the spot on his body where she had rubbed against him. It must have been from that moment.

Oh right, he thought he saw some keywords earlier, so he took out his phone and searched for them to see what had driven her crazy.

The data he found surprised him; this woman really was something.

Recalling how her eyes had been sparkling just moments before, and how she'd clung to him, dreaming of youth with such a silly air, Su Ze couldn't help but smile. Then, this usually fastidious person, instead of immediately showering and changing, contentedly began reading a book amidst the enticing aroma of "rose milk."

After closing the door, Xu Luoluo leaned against it, panting heavily. It was too thrilling and exciting. Although she initially rushed to knock on the door because she couldn't help but want to share her joy with someone, she later realized that the atmosphere was just too good, and it would be a disservice to Su Ze for being so cooperative if she didn't do something, so she simply hugged him first.

That kind of delicate, idealistic approach—where thoughts churn within but remain confined to theory and wishful thinking—is not for her. For Xu Luoluo, practice is the only true measure; as for the results, we'll find out soon enough.

After calming down, she went back to her room, moved her computer to the table, and prepared to reply to messages and discuss new collaborations.

The discussion lasted all afternoon, and by the end, she was completely overwhelmed. Her mind was a jumbled mess of project proposals and royalty agreements. She resigned herself to first organizing and categorizing the materials in her email, and then filtering them tomorrow.

She works during the day and usually writes at night. She doesn't write quickly, and with all the polishing and revisions, it takes her at least six months to finish one script. Screenwriters are different from actors; ultimately, they work behind the scenes. A hit drama brings industry recognition and more collaboration opportunities. The built-in popularity from a hit drama is a perk for actors, but for screenwriters, maintaining the quality of every script is crucial to establishing a foothold in the industry. Therefore, she only plans to take on one drama in the second half of the year, and the thought of forfeiting her earnings makes her heart ache.

The sudden sound of her stomach growling made Xu Luoluo realize that she hadn't eaten anything since noon and had only been kept awake by her excitement. The moment she realized she was hungry, she couldn't hold back any longer. Unable to wait for takeout, she rushed to the living room to boil water and make herself a bowl of noodles. The aroma of the pickled cabbage made her mouth water as she held the bowl.

She finally felt alive again when she slurped down her first bite of noodles. Xu Luoluo sighed contentedly, pressed the home button to turn on her phone screen, but there were no new message notifications. She locked the screen, tossed the phone aside, thought for a moment, then reached out and flipped it over so it was face down before curling up in her chair and continuing to watch the movie intently.

The heavy rain over the weekend made it so pleasant to sleep that on Monday morning, Xu Luoluo lingered in bed for five minutes at a time before reluctantly turning off the alarm. Glancing at her phone, she saw a new message silently appearing in the notification bar, sent several hours earlier.

How's the outline coming along?

They just ignored her achievements like that. Is it so hard to give someone a compliment?

Xu Luoluo pounded her chest and stamped her feet for a while, but still put on a professional attitude: "I've written a draft of the general idea, I'll send it to you later."

Tang Yizhuo replied quickly: Okay, let's talk in detail at my house tonight.

After Xu Luoluo replied with an "okay," no further messages came in. She felt a little strange about this person's sudden coldness, but couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. She didn't have time to think about it further; if she didn't get up and get ready to leave, she'd be late.

Just as she opened the door, ready to run, the door across the hall opened at the same moment. Xu Luoluo was genuinely surprised this time; had he overslept too? Looking up, she saw Su Ze, dressed in a suit and tie, walking out unhurriedly. He even nodded and greeted her, saying, "I'm driving today, wanna come along?"

"Okay." Her mouth reacted faster than her brain. As she always said, she wouldn't be Xu Luoluo if she didn't take advantage of a good deal.

Now that she didn't have to worry about being late, she began to look him over with a smile. His sharp suit accentuated his tall and handsome figure, and with his refined profile, he would be absolutely stunning if he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. As she looked at him, she nodded earnestly, admiring her own taste.

Su Ze felt a little uneasy under her gaze; that feeling of being treated like prey returned. He couldn't help but glare at her irritably: "Why are you looking at me?"

"Because you're pretty," Xu Luoluo replied without hesitation.

Her frankness left Su Ze speechless. To be told he looked "good" by a woman felt like a feather had brushed against his heart; besides annoyance, there was a strange, indescribable feeling. Su Ze suddenly felt a pang of regret. Should he have softened his heart out of pity for her, and then driven her away just to make her happy?