Lin Yan glanced at the cactus and began typing.

[Lin Yan: Did you help delete the press release?]

[Lu Jin: Yep. You’re welcome.]

[Lin Yan: Thank you.]

[Lin Yan: …]

Lin Yan intended to end the conversation but then saw another message from the other side.

[Lu Jin: Although I say this a lot, does your manager usually consider your opinions?]

[Lin Yan: I handle most of the work myself.]

[Lu Jin: For things like today, it’s better to avoid it.]

[Lin Yan: Yeah, I know.]

[Lu Jin: I’ve already looked into who leaked the information. Should have results soon.]

Lin Yan replied with an “Okay.”

Since entering the industry, Lin Yan only cared about whether his acting was good or not, disregarding everything else.

He had seen some negative press releases about him before but didn’t bother about them and wasn’t interested in dealing with them.

However, in this industry, ignoring these things might lead to trouble knocking at your door, and it could potentially affect other people as well.

This was the first time someone had helped him.

Lin Yan picked up his phone, intending to find a suitable gift for Lu Jin as a token of gratitude.

Just when he was about to open the orange software, Lin Yan saw the Weibo next to him and remembered that he had forgotten something.

He logged onto Weibo and followed Lu Jin.

He didn’t interact with Lu Jin and simply went offline.

People who have been following Lin Yan’s news: “…”

Suddenly they believed Lin Yan’s idea that he didn’t want to hug his thighs. This reaction was a little too indifferent to his thighs.

…

During breaks from variety show filming, Lin Yan had other work to do.

Today, he had a magazine photoshoot. Sitting in the dressing room, he waited for the makeup session, choosing a horror movie to watch.

Yang Shu approached and covered his chest, taking a step back. “Can’t you watch something harmonious in public?”

Lin Yan retorted, “Blaming others when you’re scared yourself?”

Yang Shu: “…”

Yang Shu stood on the other side of him, and didn’t speak until he couldn’t see Lin Yan’s screen: “Recently, we received a lot of invitations for school dramas.”

Lin Yan glanced at him through the mirror, “Why is it a school drama?”

Yang Shu explained, “Your video edits with school settings have been the most popular. Little Strawberry made a hugely-viewed campus idol drama edit. Many people are asking you to do one.”

Lin Yan stayed silent for a couple of seconds. “Why are you so excited about it?”

Yang Shu replied earnestly, “To be honest with you, after watching those videos, I’ve fallen for it. I’m now hanging out in the Red Sunset CP fanbase, actively contributing and participating.”

Lin Yan glanced at him. “If you’re that free, you might as well start writing your self-critique.”

Yang Shu: “Huh?”

Lin Yan sneered: “I think you caused me trouble because you were too distracted by eating candy, didn’t you?”

Yang Shu: “…”

Yang Shu weakly said, “If I told you I genuinely didn’t do it on purpose, would you believe me?”

Lin Yan raised his chin, gesturing toward the nearby table. “Start writing, then.”

Yang Shu dared not speak, bending over the table to write his self-critique.

He wrote down the words “self-critique,” feeling a bit dazed. He hadn’t written something like this since leaving his student days. It was unexpected to experience it again even after starting to work.

By the time Lin Yan finished the magazine photoshoot, Yang Shu had completed his self-critique.

He presented it with both hands, causing the crew members to look over suspiciously, wondering if he was delivering a love letter.

Lin Yan took the self-critique and prepared to change clothes.

Yang Shu asked, “Aren’t you going to read it?”

Lin Yan replied, “No need.”

Yang Shu questioned, “Why not? I spent quite a while writing it.”

Lin Yan said harshly, “To make you feel bad.”

Yang Shu: “…”

After that, Lin Yan had no more work for the day. He removed his makeup, changed his clothes, and was ready to go home.

Soft and soothing instrumental music played in the car.

Suddenly, Yang Shu said, “Xiao Hu should be finishing her vacation soon, right?”

Lin Yan replied, “Yeah.”

Xiao Hu was Lin Yan’s assistant. A while ago, her family member fell seriously ill, so she took a leave to visit them.

Lin Yan wasn’t too busy lately, so he allowed her to go.

These days, Lin Yan had been looking at a few drama scripts. Big production sets were tight on time, making it difficult to spare two days a week for variety shows.

Some of the smaller productions were also quite unstable. Two of the productions even lost their investors, causing the starting date to be uncertain.

Among the invitations he received for drama roles, the scripts weren’t great and had too many flaws.

Lin Yan was going to collect some more information on his own and go to the audition.

As he was lost in thought, Lin Yan absentmindedly tapped on the icons of apps on his phone screen.

When he opened Weibo, he was about to close it but remembered Yang Shu mentioning the CP hashtag.

With nothing better to do in the car, Lin Yan switched to his alternate account and searched for the “Red Sunset CP” hashtag.

The hashtag was bustling with activity. There were pictures, brief explanations of how people got into the ship, videos, and short articles.

Lin Yan went through the posts one by one, trying to figure out what the fans were discussing.

He was actually quite surprised by the popularity of his CP with Lu Jin. Deciding to take a look at what the audience was so obsessed with, he hoped it might help him better understand romantic scenes.

And then…

Netizen A: I think Lin Yan might actually have a crush on Lu Jin. I slowed down this GIF, Lin Lin sneakily glanced at Lu Lu, he seemed shy, then turned his head away.

Lin Yan: Isn’t this just 0.1 seconds?

Netizen B: Mr. Lu really loves to cling to his wife, even holding a balloon to stick with his wife~

Lin Yan: Isn’t this just a misplaced image?

Netizen C: Why did Teacher Lin buy fruits? It must be because he knew he was going to meet his husband, and he thought he might get hungry, so he bought some to feed him~~

Lin Yan’s ears burned suddenly.

He couldn’t believe it: They even managed to twist feeding monkeys into this, is there anything they won’t come up with?

“Lin Yan.”

“Lin Yan?”

Lin Yan snapped back to his senses, “What?”

Yang Shu turned his head, “You… wait, why are your ears so red?”

Lin Yan replied coldly, “It’s hot.”

Hot?

Listening to the wind howling outside, Yang Shu said in confusion, “It’s much colder today.”

Lin Yan said, “I like to feel hot when it’s getting colder.”

Yang Shu: “…”

Lin Yan pressed his lips together and asked, “Do you need something?”

Yang Shu pointed outside the window, “You’ve arrived at your home. What were you thinking about so deeply?”

“I had an epiphany,” Lin Yan said after a moment of silence.

Yang Shu was puzzled, “An epiphany about what?”

Lin Yan’s brows slightly furrowed, “I realized that my understanding of romantic scenes was inadequate. I’ve just discovered that I was missing a lot of details.”

Yang Shu let out a sigh of relief.

His relief was quite obvious, and Lin Yan paused, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Yang Shu said, “I thought you were going to become a monk.”

Lin Yan: “…”

Yang Shu: “Please continue.”

While recalling, Lin Yan spoke slowly, “For instance, if I like someone, I would think about them in everything I do.”

“Okay.”

“I would want to get close to them.”

“…Okay?”

“Even if we just brush past each other, I’d still cast a sidelong glance at him.”

“Why, though?”

“Don’t you know? It’s sugar.”

Yang Shu remained silent for a long while, “I don’t know what you’ve been reading, but please stop.”

Lin Yan: “…”

Yang Shu: “I’m afraid you won’t be able to focus on your work, ‘Film Emperor’.”

“Thump—”

The response to him was the sound of the car door closing.

The wind had messed up Lin Yan’s hair quite a bit.

He reached up and adjusted his hoodie, feeling a bit warmer.

Lin Yan contemplated the analyses from the CP fan discussions. This attention to detail was quite intriguing to him.

If he didn’t use it in the drama, what about in variety shows?

Would it create an atmosphere of being in a romantic relationship?

Facing the strong wind, Lin Yan entered his building. When the elevator reached his floor, he unexpectedly saw an elderly couple standing in the corridor next to his apartment. They seemed to be listening intently.

His movement to retrieve his key card slowed down.

The old lady saw him and said, “Young man, are you back so early on a weekday?”

Lin Yan’s face was hidden in the mask, and he replied muffledly: “Get off work early.”

The old lady responded with an “Oh”: “Getting off work early is good. The girl upstairs worked for a day and night, but when she came back, well, she suffered a burglary.”

This apartment complex was equipped with fingerprint locks, which were hard to open but also not that difficult.

Standing at his doorstep, Lin Yan could hear the distressed crying of the young girl.

It made sense; after working for so long and returning home only to face a burglary, she must be feeling miserable.

The old lady sighed and advised him once again, “Remember to lock the door properly.”

Lin Yan thanked politely: “You too.”

Seeing the elderly couple at their age, Lin Yan added, “If you need anything, you can call me.”

The old lady smiled warmly, “Oh, sure, thank you.”

Lin Yan closed the door and took off his mask.

While pressing his phone awake, he headed to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water.

The mobile phone page stays at the Red Sunset CP hashtag.

Lin Yan noticed that, somehow, he had accidentally liked a post by someone and they had uploaded a video.

It seemed he had bumped into them.

Lin Yan ruthlessly unliked the post, removing the only like on it.

A number “1” appeared in the upper right corner of his notifications, catching his eye since he was using a secondary account.

Thinking it might be some Weibo task or red packet, he clicked on it with the intention to delete—

[A Skillful Heart Thief: ?]

[No Name Don’t Look: ?]

[A Skillful Heart Thief: QUQ Why did you unlike it again? I sent you a red packet, just like it back.]

[No Name Don’t Look: Clicked by mistake.]

[No Name Don’t Look: No need for the red packet, won’t like it back.]

[A Skillful Heart Thief: Why? Are you dissatisfied with my content?]

Lin Yan’s forehead was twitching with annoyance.

He had only encountered this kind of phrasing from a certain person before.

Half a minute later.

Sitting on the couch, Lin Yan, with a cold expression, opened a video with only 20 views.

As soon as he opened it, he was stunned.

An elegant word art font rolled up from the bottom, stopping in the center and shimmering with golden light—The Most Beautiful Red Sunset!

Then followed a segment of very nostalgic background music, mellifluous and melodious.

In this background music, their pictures appeared with various effects—though somewhat blurry.

The ending was the picture of Lu Jin posting on Weibo as a white-clad angel holding his heart, and this one was the clearest.

Lin Yan didn’t know how he managed to watch it all.

He didn’t know how the other person had the courage to upload this video.

[No Name Don’t Look: Do you think it looks good?]

[A Skillful Heart Thief: Looks good! ]

[A Skillful Heart Thief: Don’t you think self-made is the best?]

[No Name Don’t Look:…]

Lin Yan thinks…

Lin Yan didn’t want to think about anything at all.

The Skillful Heart Thief was still persistently trying to convince him.

[A Skillful Heart Thief: Brother, if you give me a like today, I will give you a like back tomorrow!]

Lin Yan: “…”

Thank you, but I don’t want it.