Wen Liang put his arm around Chen Die’s waist, maintaining a righteous appearance despite holding beauty in his arms, and nodded to everyone: “Chen Die has troubled you all. I’ll take her back now.”

Huang Sheng was the first to speak: “Sure, CEO Wen, please take her back. Be careful on the way.”

After Wen Liang left, Zeng Liya finally let out a long breath, still unable to recover from the shock: “Director Huang… Chen Die and CEO Wen aren’t already together, are they?”

“They probably have been for some time.”

Zeng Liya slapped the table: “She never mentioned it to us!”

Huang Sheng smiled: “Maybe she was worried you’d all focus too much on her love life. Someone so excellent naturally has some pride and wants to prove herself.”

Zeng Liya still found it hard to accept: “She’s too good at keeping secrets!” After saying this, she turned to look at Xue Mu, “…”

She kindly patted Xue Mu’s shoulder: “Brother, are you still conscious?”

Xue Mu didn’t know if he was conscious or not. The scene just now had been a nuclear-level shock. After a moment of clarity, his head was now splitting with pain.

He leaned back against the chair, raising his hand to cover his forehead, lamenting: “I don’t remember anything anymore.”

Everyone didn’t take the drunken confession of a 20-year-old youth too seriously. Seeing his reaction, they immediately burst into laughter in perfect unison, which eased the awkwardness.

Riding the elevator down.

Chen Die became very insecure when drunk, instinctively knowing who was safe to follow. She was now tightly pinching Wen Liang’s sleeve, sticking close to him step by step, like a clingy little animal.

At the entrance, Wen Liang lowered his eyes to look at Chen Die.

She looked almost asleep, her cheeks flushed, eyes half-closed, thick curled eyelashes casting a layer of arc-shaped shadows and her lips crimson.

Wen Liang looked at her for a while, then took off his suit jacket and draped it over Chen Die.

“Arms,” he said.

Chen Die didn’t respond.

Wen Liang then called her in a low voice: “Lingling.”

Only then did she slowly obey, slipping her hand through his sleeve.

Wen Liang adjusted the clothes for her. The suit jacket on Chen Die reached mid-thigh, almost like a dress.

Chen Die put her hands in his suit pockets, felt something, and took it out to look—a cigarette box and lighter. She slowly put them back and looked up at Wen Liang.

The young girl’s eyes were moist, with redness extending below her eyes, looking pitifully cute.

It stirred both protective and destructive instincts.

Wen Liang stared at her for a moment, then bent down, buttoned up the suit, and pulled up the hood of her inner garment.

The hood was large, hanging down in front to cover half her face, encompassing Chen Die’s eyes as well.

Chen Die lowered her head, allowing Wen Liang to lead her out by the hand. However, after just a few steps, Chen Die encountered trouble at the stairs—she couldn’t even walk in a straight line, let alone manage the stairs.

Afraid she might fall, Wen Liang stepped down one stair and bent over: “Get on.”

Chen Die paused, then slowly climbed onto Wen Liang’s back, her arms around his neck.

“Am I light?” Chen Die asked by his ear.

Wen Liang thought of her earlier behavior and felt annoyed, snorting and deliberately saying: “Heavy.”

As a result, the next second Chen Die suddenly hooked her arms around his neck and leaned backward, shouting: “You! Are! Lying!”

Wen Liang was caught off guard and almost choked from her grip. He slapped her bottom: “Behave yourself.”

Chen Die then whimpered with a mixture of grievance and coquettishness as she embraced him again, finally being obedient and still.

Wen Liang opened the car door, threw her into the passenger seat, and fearing she might act up during the ride, fastened her seatbelt.

Fortunately, Chen Die didn’t make a fuss along the way, sitting quietly with her face turned to one side. He wasn’t sure if she had fallen asleep.

The car drove into the western suburb villa. Wen Liang got out and went around to open the passenger door, only to find Chen Die wasn’t asleep but was drooping her eyelids, looking quite melancholic. She looked up at him and let out a serious sigh.

Wen Liang tilted her chin up and asked with amusement: “What are you sighing about?”

Chen Die shook her head pitifully.

Wen Liang just assumed the drunk was creating her drama and squatted down in front of her again.

However, this time after waiting a while, Chen Die didn’t climb onto his back. Wen Liang turned his head, slightly frowning, urging her: “Come on.”

Chen Die shook her head, very considerately: “I’m too heavy.”

Wen Liang laughed: “Not heavy, come on.”

“But you just said I was heavy. I’ll crush you.”

“You won’t.” Wen Liang waited a bit longer, but Chen Die still stood motionless.

He lost patience and directly pulled her legs over. Chen Die squealed, reflexively wrapping her arms around his neck.

Wen Liang lifted Chen Die onto his back, supporting her with one hand, locked the car door, and walked toward the entrance.

After a few steps, Chen Die suddenly leaned close to his ear, sighed again, and said: “Wen Liang Ge.”

Wen Liang’s footsteps abruptly halted. He turned his head: “What did you call me?”

“Wen Liang Ge.” Chen Die obediently called him again, her head buried in the side of his neck, her slightly messy hair also curling around Wen Liang’s neck, her voice muffled. “Why don’t you like me?”

Wen Liang laughed: “Do you know how old you are now?”

Chen Die didn’t answer, absorbed in her world, and repeated: “Why don’t you like me?”

Wen Liang wasn’t good at expressing emotions. That “I love you” before had already been extremely precious, and now he didn’t want to make a sappy confession to this drunk.

He entered the door code, put Chen Die down, helped her into slippers, and then crouched in front of her, looking up.

The young girl’s eyes were red as if she was genuinely upset.

She lowered her head, pouting: “Why can you always be so detached? I was always thinking of excuses to message you when I was at school, but you never seemed to think about me.”

Others drink to drown their sorrows.

Chen Die was different—when drunk, her thoughts traveled back to her high school days.

“Why did I have to meet you at 16? This way, you’ll always see me as just a little kid.”

“So many boys at school wrote me love letters. I deliberately left them on the living room table, but you didn’t care at all, didn’t even glance at them. So many people liked me, except you.”

“If it had been a few years later when I was in college, you wouldn’t have treated me like a child.”

“I’m so beautiful, you would have fallen for me.”

Wen Liang looked at her, laughed hoarsely, and said: “I’ve already fallen for you now.”

Chen Die didn’t speak, still immersed in her own melancholic emotions.

Wen Liang took off his suit jacket from her, tossed it onto the sofa, and directly carried her upstairs, kicking open the bedroom door.

He sat on the bed still holding her, letting Chen Die sit on his lap.

“Wen Liang Ge.” Chen Die circled his neck, leaning against his chest.

“Hmm?”

“Can you not get married?”

Wen Liang adjusted her arm to change position, letting Chen Die straddle his lap while he leaned back, supporting himself with his hands on the bed. He smiled rakishly: “I can’t.”

Chen Die’s heart sank, instantly filled with sourness: “Then after you get married, will I have to move out of here? Otherwise… your girlfriend would be unhappy.”

Before she could say much more, tears fell.

Wen Liang was stunned and stopped teasing her. He kissed away her tears and asked softly: “No need to move out. Will you marry me?”

Chen Die widened her eyes, stunned: “…Wen Liang Ge?”

“I am your husband.”

Wen Liang raised his hands to cup her face, his fingertips rubbing her cheeks, enunciating each word: “I’m very angry today.”

“My Lingling doesn’t listen at all.”

“Too beautiful and too excellent, too many people covet you. When I’m not around, you dare to drink so much, and get so close to others.”

Chen Die, immersed in her unrequited high school crush era, clearly couldn’t understand his words. She looked at him bewilderedly, as if hearing gibberish.

“I’m not so detached either. I don’t want to see other men liking you, not even a glance is okay.” Wen Liang pecked at her lips, his movements light and slow, controlled yet tender. He said hoarsely, “You belong to me.”

Chen Die blankly accepted his kisses.

The alcohol made her mind work slowly.

In her younger years, she had deliberately let Wen Liang see those love letters more than once.

She had been like a vain little kid who loved showing off how much others liked her, displaying schoolbags full of love letters to Wen Liang.

She had even gone to bars with friends, deliberately wearing more mature clothes, pretending to be familiar with the burning sensation of alcohol, and trying everything to appear mature enough.

Yet she had never gotten the response she wanted from Wen Liang.

But now, the person she had secretly loved for so long was kissing her.

Chen Die felt a bit light-headed.

Before she could drift too far, she was pulled back by Wen Liang’s words, landing firmly on his lap.

He said by her ear: “I’ve raised you for so long, given you all my patience in this lifetime. Shouldn’t you repay me somehow?”

That sounded quite reasonable. Chen Die nodded obediently.

His eyes gradually darkened, their breaths intermingling. He could smell the faint scent of alcohol on Chen Die, and the little drunk was now squinting, looking drowsy, her cheeks flushed.

He stared at her for a moment, then suddenly kissed her lips passionately and silently.

Finally, Wen Liang said something in her ear.

Chen Die, still in the world of her drunken fantasy, instantly turned bright red at these words, finding it hard to believe they had come from her Wen Liang Ge. But the next second, Wen Liang’s actions confirmed that those shameless words were indeed spoken by her Wen Liang Ge.

The next day.

Sunlight shone through the gap in the heavy curtains, casting a long strip of light on the blanket.

Chen Die, with a hangover and excessive physical exertion, didn’t wake up until early afternoon.

The air already had the heat of summer. Chen Die’s long hair was spread out, and her neck was sweaty. She raised her hand to turn on the air conditioner, her arm across her forehead.

Wen Liang was no longer in the bedroom.

Chen Die lay in bed for a while until the sweat receded, then decided to get up and take a shower. However, as soon as her legs moved, she was frozen in place by the soreness.

What the fu*k?!?!?

Had she gone mountain climbing last night??

How could her thighs be so painful, as if they had been amputated?

“…”

Chen Die instinctively looked at the trash can beside the bed.

Sure enough.

Still vigorous Wen Liang.

Four.

Impressive.

Chen Die took quite a while before slowly moving her legs off the bed, shuffling into the bathroom in slippers.

Wen Liang had already squeezed toothpaste for her.

She didn’t know where he had gone. Chen Die hadn’t heard him get up at all. Looking around, she saw her phone on the other sofa, wondering if she should go get it to ask where he was.

Chen Die dragged her useless legs and decided against it. Better to brush her teeth first.

One advantage of Chen Die’s drinking was that even if she drank too much, she wouldn’t have a splitting headache the next day.

After brushing her teeth, she walked into the shower.

As the appropriately warm water poured down, her brain suddenly flashed with some images from the previous night.

She had been pushed from behind, pressed tightly against the glass door of the shower.

And…

What had she been saying at that time…?

Wen Liang Ge???

Why had she called Wen Liang so mushily?

Chen Die froze in place, letting the water pour down from her head. Steam filled the bathroom as her pupils slowly dilated and her expression gradually changed as memories returned.

She…

What the hell had she done?

It was bad enough to accidentally get drunk, but she had made a pitiful, heartfelt confession to Wen Liang.

And that sentence Wen Liang had whispered in her ear.

With the return of her memory, that sentence echoed in her mind again, with Wen Liang’s unique voice, a bit hoarse, with a nasal tone.

He had said, get on top, Wen Liang Ge will teach you how to feel good.

“…”

This shameless jerk had even referred to himself as “Wen Liang Ge” and… a bunch of other messy things!!

The 16-year-old Chen Die who heard this sentence had blushed furiously. Even now, the 23-year-old Chen Die recalling this sentence still blushed intensely.

However, the 23-year-old Chen Die would refuse out of embarrassment and, relying on his doting, tell this lust-filled dog of a man to get lost. But the 16-year-old Chen Die wouldn’t. Anxiously harboring her feelings, if Wen Liang wanted her to do something, she would willingly give herself to him no matter how embarrassed she felt.

So—

He had shamelessly exploited this psychology of hers and made such inhuman demands.

Could there be a more bastardly dog of a man in this world than Wen Liang?

Not only did he not feel grateful, honored, or touched by Chen Die’s expressed childhood crush on him, but he had taken advantage of her vulnerability!!

Chen Die finally understood why her legs were so sore.

In that position, it was a miracle she wasn’t completely ruined.

Chen Die was both embarrassed and angry, unable to even finish her shower. She rinsed off the soap and put her pajamas back on.

Just as she angrily intended to go downstairs to confront Wen Liang, she heard his footsteps coming up.

Chen Die suddenly lost her nerve, quickly ran back to bed, pulled the blanket over half her face, and continued pretending to be asleep.

For something like this…

Confronting Wen Liang would be useless and would result in him mocking her, especially since she had nodded and agreed to his whims yesterday.

Wen Liang soon pushed the door open, walked to her side, and sat down. Chen Die felt the edge of the bed sink.

Her eyelashes trembled as she felt Wen Liang’s palm on her forehead, a bit hot.

“Lingling,” he called her.

Chen Die didn’t respond, her face red.

Wen Liang frowned slightly, then touched her face again: “Do you feel unwell? Why is your face so hot?”

“…”

You’d go away, I wouldn’t be so hot, Chen Die thought.

Wen Liang’s hand went under the blanket. As soon as he touched Chen Die’s leg, she reflexively kicked at him, the blanket covering her nose, only her eyes exposed, accusingly looking at him: “Don’t touch me.”

Wen Liang paused, then smiled: “Sore?”

“…”

He bent down, hugging her through the blanket, lowering his head so his lips touched hers, coaxing in a gentle voice: “Remembered everything?”

“You’re shameless.”

He laughed good-naturedly, then asked: “What about before that?”

“What?”

“Do you remember when I came to pick you up last night?”

Chen Die thought back.

Hmm?

Xue Mu… seemed to have confessed to her, and then she had been arm-in-arm with Xue Mu saying something…

What happened after that?

Chen Die had no recollection of how she got home.

Chen Die genuinely sighed—drinking causes trouble.

“I don’t remember,” Chen Die suddenly felt her heart race, having a bad premonition. “What happened?”

Wen Liang curved his lips, and went over to get her phone from the sofa: “It’s been ringing all night. I put it on silent for you.”

Chen Die opened it to find 99+ messages from the “A Xiao” crew group chat flooding out as she quickly scrolled up.

They were all accusing her of not telling everyone about her relationship.

And there was a video—at the time, someone had been recording, capturing the moment when Chen Die had hugged Wen Liang and kissed him. They had cut out that segment and shared it in the group for everyone to enjoy.

Early in the morning, one blow came after another.

Not only had she been tricked by Wen Liang into doing that embarrassing position, but she had also actively kissed Wen Liang in front of so many people.

It took Chen Die several minutes to accept this reality. She glanced at Wen Liang, covering her face in frustration: “Why didn’t you stop me?”

He raised an eyebrow, saying very provocatively: “You were too enthusiastic. I couldn’t block it in time.”

Chen Die didn’t want to talk to him at all.

Wen Liang got up from her, standing by the bed, looking at the wet bathroom floor behind him, then back at her: “About last night, what do you remember?”

“I won’t say.”

Wen Liang could tell from her expression what she was thinking: “Do you remember what I said to you?”

“What did you say?”

Wen Liang leaned back slightly, suddenly lowered his eyes, and smiled, frankly saying: “I like you too.”

Chen Die rested at home for a few days, then shot several advertisements and magazine covers during the period after the film wrapped.

By August, “A Xiao” was set to premiere during the National Day Golden Week.

Soon, the crew began promotional activities in various locations.

The first stop was in S City. The entire crew agreed on a time to depart, coincidentally matching with Wen Liang’s business trip abroad, so he wouldn’t have to stay home alone.

This stop was a campus promotion. Fang Ruan accompanied her. When the commercial vehicle drove into the school, it was still class time, so there were few students, but fans had already prepared support displays outside the auditorium.

Large posters of Chen Die hung from the roof, and they had made a balloon wall with her name.

“I’ll go down and say hello,” Chen Die said.

Fang Ruan nodded in agreement: “Be careful.”

Chen Die got out of the car. Those fans who were still setting up the venue were stunned for a moment before rushing over, asking for autographs and photos, which took some time before she could get to the backstage to do her makeup.

This was her first time seeing the crew again after the drunken incident.

Sure enough, as soon as she entered the makeup room, she was met with teasing and criticism.

These were easy to handle. The most awkward part was probably how to talk to Xue Mu.

Originally, after that day, Chen Die had wanted to send Xue Mu a message to express something, but after waiting, she didn’t see any message from him. Thinking he might also feel embarrassed and mortified, she let the matter pass.

But meeting again was still awkward.

Chen Die just nodded slightly to acknowledge him, without speaking, and then followed the makeup artist to get her makeup done.

The auditorium was large, so the makeup needed to be a bit heavier, which was time-consuming. By the time it was finished, an hour and a half had passed.

The host for the campus promotion came in.

Several Q&A and game segments required the male and female leads to cooperate, so the host came in first to go through the script with them.

Chen Die and Xue Mu sat side by side in extreme awkwardness, listening to the host explain the process.

Finally, when it was over and the host left, Chen Die took the initiative: “Um…”

Xue Mu quickly turned his head, looking terrified: “Ah!”

“…” Chen Die was also startled by him. “About last time, you don’t mind, do you? I didn’t intentionally hide my relationship from everyone, but thinking about it later might have given you the wrong impression.”

“No, no.” Xue Mu waved his hands repeatedly, the tips of his ears bright red. “Sister Chen Die, please don’t mention it anymore. It’s too embarrassing.”

Seeing his reaction, Chen Die didn’t feel awkward anymore and even laughed: “Alright, I won’t mention it.”

Putting that matter aside, the two chatted for a while, going through their lines for later.

During this line rehearsal process, a hot search topic silently and rapidly climbed to the top of the trending list.

#Fanny’s Vlog#

At first glance, it seemed unrelated to Chen Die.

Ye Chuqing was quite surprised when she saw this trending topic. She and this Fanny had met during their studies abroad.

Fanny was a self-media blogger who often shared her life and recent purchases, gaining a batch of fans in China for her extravagant sharing.

But the fan base wasn’t enough to shoot to the top of the trending list just by updating a video.

After all, this was in China.

Ye Chuqing thought Fanny must have filmed something amazing before clicking. She habitually liked it first, then clicked in to find it wasn’t some lavish, flaunting wealth video, but a regular daily life sharing.

The video began with Fanny apologizing for not having time to update her blog, and this video was about her life over the past few months.

Ye Chuqing watched the video while lying idly on her bed. She didn’t have a deep sisterly bond with Fanny, so she yawned, just planning to help increase her views.

However, before long, Ye Chuqing noticed something was off.

At six and a half minutes into the playback, when Fanny’s Vlog recorded her going to the movie theater, the comments suddenly became extremely dense, almost completely blocking the screen.

Ye Chuqing became interested and sat up to carefully read the comments.

OMG!!!! What did I just see!!!! Is that Sister Die behind her?? She looks so similar??

Shocking!!!!!

When Sister Die was recording the final season of “One Day Three Meals,” wasn’t she abroad? I think it was in the same city where F lives!!

That man’s profile… should be CEO Wen…?

What????

This must be the most absurd way for a relationship to be exposed.

Two seconds later—

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!! They kissed!!!!!!

You can’t kiss my Sister Die!!!!!! Sister Die is mine!!

Although I’m Sister Die’s fan… this mask kiss is really attractive, I approve!!

Chen Die, I’m angry!! Come out and explain!!

I think it’s CEO Wen! It looks like him!!

I declare WenDie locked!!

But this was several months ago?? Wouldn’t CEO Wen’s mother have beaten him for kissing Sister Die then?

Ye Chuqing felt dizzy from these comments, so she turned them off and dragged the progress bar back to watch again.

The camera mostly showed Fanny’s face, but there were two people not far behind her shoulder.

The one with a side profile facing the camera was Chen Die.

The man standing in front of her suddenly bent down, hooked his finger into the edge of her mask, and pulled it down to hang on Chen Die’s chin.

The two were extremely close, their noses almost touching, and then the man’s mouth moved, saying something inaudible.

Chen Die looked a bit stunned, appearing somewhat foolish in this shot.

Then, the man’s lips curled slightly, showing indulgence and doting, and he bent down to kiss Chen Die’s lips.

After watching, Ye Chuqing: “…”

Expressionlessly, she shared the link with Chen Die.

Ye Chuqing: Your first screen kiss was well-filmed [thumbs up]