Chapter 11

“What are you doing?” Xu Chaomu asked, confused.

Ji Changyin arched a brow at her. “He’s your diehard fan. I’m posting a picture to make him mad.”

Xu Chaomu paused, then quickly remembered Wei Jingbo showing up at the rehearsal room the other day. Her brows drew together.

“He’s always worried I’m going to bully you, too.” Ji Changyin sounded exasperated. Seeing Xu Chaomu lost in thought, she leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Have I bullied you?”

Xu Chaomu was silent for a few seconds. “I’m not close to him.”

She covered her mic. “I don’t like him either.”

“I know.” Ji Changyin sounded casual. “I don’t like him either.”

Xu Chaomu gave her a skeptical look. The meaning was obvious.

“I really don’t like him anymore. I was blind before, and then my eyesight suddenly came back.”

Xu Chaomu: “…”

“Come on. We have another practice room to visit.” Xu Chaomu adjusted her mic.

Nothing else happened after that. Everyone seemed to get along just fine.

After they’d seen all the trainees, Ji Changyin rubbed her neck. “So now we just wait for the evaluations, right?”

“Right.” Xu Chaomu nodded.

“Want to have dinner together?”

“Sure.” Xu Chaomu checked the time.

The production team had picked a fairly remote location. To get a decent meal, they would have had to drive into town. In the end, they were both too lazy, so they ate at the training base instead.

Xu Chaomu had a vegetable salad for dinner. Ji Changyin had a feast.

“You’re only eating that?”

“Eating too much makes you gain weight.” Xu Chaomu never said anything, but Ji Changyin could tell she was eyeing the food on her plate.

“Why not have some fish? Fish won’t make you gain weight.”

Xu Chaomu thought it over for thirty seconds, then shook her head. “No. If I have one piece, I’ll want another. If I eat too much, I’ll gain weight.”

Then she lowered her head and started eating her greens with a blank expression, looking almost miserable. She didn’t look up again, determined not to glance at Ji Changyin.

Ji Changyin couldn’t help laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” Xu Chaomu wiped her mouth after finishing her meal.

“I just realized you’re kind of cute.”

Xu Chaomu pressed her lips together. “Not many people say that about me.”

“Maybe they don’t have the eyes to see it.” Ji Changyin had finished too and set down her chopsticks.

Xu Chaomu glanced at Ji Changyin’s plate. “Aren’t you worried about gaining weight?”

“I don’t gain weight.” Ji Changyin said it, then winked at Xu Chaomu.

Xu Chaomu: “…”

“I’ve just realized you’re kind of asking for a punch.”

Ji Changyin chuckled, and the two of them headed back together after dinner.

“Oh, right. We might be working together again.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m playing the second female lead in Beauty Runs Wild.”

“Oh.” Xu Chaomu nodded. “That’s good.”

Ji Changyin was pleased with Xu Chaomu’s response. She was already looking forward to seeing Wei Jingbo’s face when he found out.

When she got back to her room, she saw that the one person who never messaged her first had sent her thirty messages.

Sheesh. The author really made the male lead obsessed with another woman.

[Wei Jingbo: ???]

[Wei Jingbo: Could you please stay away from Xu Chaomu?]

[Ji Changyin: Who are you to her? :)]

[Ji Changyin: And who are you to me? You sure have a lot to say.]

[Ji Changyin: If you have something important to discuss from now on, call me.]

After sending that, Ji Changyin deleted him.

Wei Jingbo sent a question mark. Then he saw the bright red exclamation mark.

He froze.

For a full minute, Wei Jingbo couldn’t process what had happened, or even how he felt.

He was shocked, then giddy, then a little sad, and finally angry.

She actually dared to delete him?

He took a deep breath and tossed his phone aside.

After deleting Wei Jingbo, Ji Changyin felt refreshed.

She’d wanted to do that for a while.

The theme-song evaluation determined the trainees’ positions in the music video. Just as she’d expected, Qiao Tingxi got the center spot.

After filming wrapped, Ji Changyin headed straight to the airport. She was flying to a neighboring city to appear as a guest relationship mentor on the popular dating show Heartbeats in Love. The first season had featured celebrities, while the second featured ordinary people.

When Ji Changyin had chosen the show, Zhao Xi had thought she was dreaming. Even after the contract was signed, she still seemed stunned.

The news that Ji Changyin would be joining the show had already leaked online, but no one believed it.

Heartbeats in Love was supposedly a dating show, though it didn’t really count. At its core, it was a lifestyle show with four men and four women, and the guests had to guess who liked whom.

Ji Changyin got to the hotel, ate dinner, and went straight to bed. Filming started at two the next afternoon. They’d be watching prerecorded clips of the contestants spending time together, and she arrived at one because she still needed to get her makeup done.

The staff had known Ji Changyin was coming, but when they saw her, they still looked startled.

After all, everyone knew Ji Changyin had pursued Wei Jingbo so openly that the whole world had heard about it—and she hadn’t even won him over. She didn’t exactly seem like someone who belonged on a dating show as a relationship mentor.

Ji Changyin ignored the curious looks from the people around her.

The recording began. Since it was a dating show, the studio had been decorated in pink, and Ji Changyin felt uncomfortable just sitting there.

She took her seat and waited until they prompted her to introduce herself before she put on a smile.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Ji Changyin.” She smiled brightly at the camera.

Her main reason for joining the show was to shake off the image the public had of her and start fresh.

“Welcome, Teacher Ji. What made you want to join this show?”

Ji Changyin thought for a moment. “Maybe because I have quite a bit of experience with unrequited love?”

The others looked surprised. Before Ji Changyin arrived, the production team had told them not to bring it up in case it upset her. None of them had expected her to mention it herself.

“Why are you all staring at me? It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Liking someone isn’t shameful. Everyone has their own way of doing it. Some people choose to care for someone quietly. Others are bold enough to express their feelings and pursue the person they like.

“I don’t like him anymore, but I don’t regret anything I did. It was still an important part of my life. If I fall for someone else in the future, I’ll still go after them boldly—though I’ll do it differently.

“And let me tell you this from experience: chasing someone while throwing away your dignity doesn’t work. But even if you keep chasing, eventually you get tired, because you can’t tell whether you really like the person or you’re just hung up on the idea of them.”

Ji Changyin took a sip of tea, poised and composed.