At eight o’clock in the evening, a video clip of Wu Man and Zhui Ye in an intimate embrace was released online.

The video was posted by the official account of the film *Spring Night*, clarifying that the recently circulated candid video was actually footage from this shoot, maliciously edited by someone with ulterior motives who deliberately leaked the material and defamed the actors. They stated they would strictly investigate the source of the leak.

At the same time, Wu Man’s studio official account also reposted this Weibo post, stating they would pursue litigation for defamation against those who continued to spread rumors about Wu Man.

As for Zhui Ye, he personally reposted it with a succinct message: “*Spring Night* is just that steamy. Stay tuned.”

The online crowd was collectively astounded.

Anonymous forum hot post—”Absolutely brilliant, I command all box office flop art films to immediately come observe and learn *Spring Night*’s marketing tactics.”

Thread content: The most audacious part is Zhui Ye’s repost of that Weibo. This is definitely self-promotion. This tactic is really too successful. Everyone around me is now saying they’ll buy tickets to see *Spring Night* when it comes out.

1L: My mind is blown. I feel like I’ve been played. If this isn’t self-promotion, I’ll do a handstand and eat shit.

2L: Who’s the publicity director? You’re a goddamn genius.jpg

3L: Newbie question—are the sex scenes in the movie really all real? I’m dumbfounded.

4L: As far as I know, only *Spring Night*…

5L: Has Wang Cheng gone crazy? Has he become so obsessed with winning awards that he’s forcing actors to actually do it?

6L: Think our Director Wang doesn’t have fans? Don’t randomly throw blame! i-Wang, quickly assemble! How do you know the two lead actors didn’t get into the mood and couldn’t control themselves when sparks flew?

7L: Actually, that’s quite possible. Didn’t Zhui Ye say in his Cannes interview that he does everything for real? I think there’s an eighty percent chance he proposed acting it this way.

8L: Is it really worth it? Sacrificing so much for filming?

9L: Otherwise, how could he win Best Actor at such a young age? I also watched *Defeated King*. He acted really well in it. If he can produce actual results, I think it doesn’t matter. I quite respect that. @Ji Zhou, can’t even do a kiss without using camera tricks—useless!

10L: Don’t forget WM also used camera tricks for everything before, okay? In ten years, not a single real kiss scene. But when she does go real, it’s a full-on sex scene. Who wouldn’t say that’s badass?

11L: Damn, are these two really not dating? I don’t believe it. The atmosphere in that sex scene was too sensual, yet it also felt very warm. How should I put it—it just felt very loving.

12L: You’re overthinking it. It’s completely a filming issue. That stolen leaked material looked nauseating with no atmosphere at all. Can only say Wang Cheng is still Wang Cheng. Thumbs up!

13L: Stop blowing smoke with borrowed money. If *Spring Night* can’t win Cannes with this, it would be truly embarrassing.

14L: This child is stunned!! I’ve been shipping this pair for a year and a half, starving to the point of gnawing tree bark!! How could this happen! Ah!! My CP really had sex!! OMG!! They did it behind our backs but don’t even follow each other on Weibo!! CQL is talking about you two!! They really did it, crying so hard.

*

After the video was released, Wu Man specifically dragged Yu Jiaze out of her blocked list.

She took screenshots of several extremely provocative shots and sent them to Yu Jiaze.

“[Shy] Thank you for helping us come up with this marketing tactic.”

Yu Jiaze almost instantly sent a call request.

Wu Man unhurriedly tossed her phone aside, letting it ring annoyingly like an irritating alarm clock. She leisurely cut a plate of fruit, inserted toothpicks, and carried it from the kitchen back to the living room. Seeing the phone still stubbornly making noise, she finally magnanimously pressed accept.

From the other end came Yu Jiaze’s measured applause.

He was suppressing some kind of violent anger, making his voice sound very strange.

“Well done. That move was truly beautifully executed.”

“Still not as good as yours though.”

“I already showed mercy.” Yu Jiaze said sinisterly, “I didn’t make you actually film a video, just fabricated one. I was still soft-hearted toward you, little bird.”

The apple Wu Man had just swallowed came back up with stomach acid. This person, even now, still packaged harm as tenderness, shamelessly slaughtering at will.

“Are you disappointed? That I wasn’t condemned by everyone as you expected, forced to grovel back and beg for your mercy? Sorry to disappoint, but you’ll never see that scene again in your lifetime.” Wu Man narrowed her eyes, aimed the fruit core in her hand at the trash bin, threw it from a distance, and accurately landed it in the trash. “Instead of coming here to make snide remarks, why don’t you check out the current online sentiment?”

Calculating the time, Zhui Ye should have already given the contents of her USB drive to New Orbit. The public opinion shift would happen in these next few minutes.

Yu Jiaze’s breathing hitched slightly, half intrigued, half dangerous as he asked: “Little bird, you’ve learned to bite?”

“Did you really think I was hopelessly stupid? That I’d choose to openly leave you without preparing a backup plan? I know your temperament too well… But I still respected you. I respected the kindness you showed me over the years. I didn’t want to make it this ruthlessly final.” Wu Man paused, calming her emotions before continuing, “What I’m releasing now is just a warning. I haven’t released the massive dual contracts yet. Otherwise, with such a huge hole in tax evasion, Yu Star would be severely wounded, wouldn’t it?”

A violent crash came from the other end of the phone.

Wu Man calmly held the phone farther away: “My demand is very simple—you go your way, I’ll go mine. Yu Jiaze, please listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“—Don’t fucking bother me again.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, Wu Man decisively hung up and blocked the number and WeChat again.

*

After blocking Yu Jiaze, Wu Man adjusted her mood before video calling Zhui Ye.

He was now pinned at the top of her WeChat. Back when she added him again, afraid of Yu Jiaze, she had obviously changed his contact name to: Spring Night Colleague.

Later she forgot to change it back, and it remained that way until now.

Looking at this ridiculous contact name now, Wu Man found it rather amusing and decided not to change it.

So this “Spring Night Colleague” answered the video call a few seconds later, immediately seeing Wu Man’s amused face on screen.

As a result, he also started laughing foolishly along with her.

Zhui Ye was currently sitting in his van. He had just returned from New Orbit and had to rush back to the set without stopping. The neon lights from outside still penetrated through the black car window, hitting his face and exposing his silly expression.

Neither of them spoke, just staring at each other through the screen nonsensically.

Finally, Wu Man was the first to speak: “I just completely blocked Yu Jiaze.”

He instantly changed his expression like a Sichuan opera face-change: “I really want to suggest WeChat add a ‘pulverize’ function. Just blocking isn’t satisfying enough.” His brow furrowed tightly. “This person is too shameless. Who knows what disgusting things he’ll do after this is over.”

“He won’t.” Wu Man shook her head with certainty. “He’s a businessman. He can’t bear to lose the sunk costs he invested in me—he’s unwilling to accept it. But if this continues, my warning to him will exceed the sunk costs already invested. He won’t recover anything, and it won’t be worth it just for the momentary satisfaction of revenge. Even if he really wants mutual destruction, he has to consider his father. Now that the company has such big news, his father can’t possibly not know.”

Wu Man lazily reclined on the sofa, confidently saying: “Yu Jiaze’s biggest weakness is his father. He fears him.”

“But I still can’t feel at ease…” Zhui Ye, hearing her logical analysis, said, “Why don’t I come back now?”

“What use would staying for a night or two be? You should focus on filming. Taking sudden leave to come out was already very willful. Don’t forget this is a co-production that even Director Si values highly.”

Zhui Ye rubbed his brow, letting out a soft sigh: “I know. But once I go back, it’ll probably be another two months.”

“Two months? How could it be so fast?”

He seemed a bit annoyed at his slip of the tongue, stammering: “I had the coordinator adjust the schedule to concentrate my scenes earlier.”

Wu Man seriously counted on her fingers for a while: “That still wouldn’t be enough, would it?”

Seeing he couldn’t hide it, he honestly admitted: “I voluntarily added another four hours each day.”

“…Filming twelve hours a day, are you trying to kill yourself?”

Including makeup and styling time, there would barely be enough rest for the whole day.

…This person was too willful.

Zhui Ye shrank his neck, as if her glare was right in front of him.

“I just wanted to come back early to see you, just in time for spring.” He adjusted his sitting position, leaning sideways against the chair back. The phone screen shook, and when it returned, it showed his face from a low angle, but even this tricky angle was pleasing to the eye.

This position made him very relaxed. His other hand pillowed his face as he continued murmuring with slightly narrowed eyes: “By then, the cherry blossoms at Meguro River will bloom again. This time, let’s go see them together? We’ll bring two bottles of sake, spread out a blanket, and sit there enjoying the blossoms.”

As he spoke, he yawned.

He had rushed back after just finishing filming at the set, helped her strategize, cleaned up the mess, then went to New Orbit to release information. Only now did he have a moment to catch his breath, but soon he’d have to throw himself back into filming with little time to rest.

Hearing his yawn, Wu Man felt her nose sting.

It seemed that after being with him, she had become so fragile, wanting to cry at the drop of a hat. But not because she was sad.

Zhui Ye suddenly noticed the phone screen go black. Thinking the signal was bad and they’d been disconnected, the slight drowsiness he’d just felt immediately vanished. He anxiously leaned closer to look, discovering time was still moving forward.

“Sister, can you hear me?”

Just when he thought it was frozen, Wu Man’s muffled voice came through.

“Mm, I just want to chat like this for a while.” She had flipped the phone face down.

“Are you angry with me?” Zhui Ye stared dryly at the black screen. “…I promise I won’t work so hard next time.”

Wu Man gave another short “mm,” then said: “I’m not angry.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Both sides fell silent. In the video, there was only the sound of car engines passing each other, occasionally interrupted by arrogant motorcycles roaring through the streets, unexpectedly breaking the quiet night with thunderous noise.

Zhui Ye immediately asked her: “Did that sound scare you?”

Wu Man lay on the sofa, her face pressed against her arm. She couldn’t help thinking how unfair this person was. Her tears had just subsided a bit, but with his one question of concern, they came flooding back.

She was so far away from that sound—if anyone was scared, it should be him who was so close.

Yet his instinctive concern was for her.

“…No.”

Hearing her tone, Zhui Ye finally relaxed.

“I’m almost at the airport.”

“Mm, should I hang up then?”

“You’re so heartless!” Zhui Ye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I meant, since you’re not angry anymore, let me see you.”

His voice was sticky, like a puppy extending its paw to playfully scratch at her heart.

Wu Man pulled out a tissue to wipe her face before reappearing on camera, but still kept some distance, afraid he’d notice something.

“Safe travels. Once you’re on set, focus on filming. See you in two months.”

“So Sister will just be busy with studio matters for these two months?”

“Pretty much.”

They chatted a while longer about their respective trivial plans. The car slowly entered Capital International Airport. Zhui Ye glanced out the window: “I have to go.”

Wu Man nodded: “You hang up.”

He leaned close to the camera, tilted his cheek, and pointed: “Give me a kiss.”

Wu Man rolled her eyes: “There are still people in the car. Have you no shame?”

“Just one kiss.”

Wu Man ruthlessly ended the video call.

The next moment, this Spring Night Colleague sent over a picture of Xiao Huang with drooping ears.

Wu Man curled up on the sofa, laughing out loud at the emoji.

She turned on the beauty filter, took a selfie making a “mwah” kissing face, and impulsively sent it to him.

But less than thirty seconds later she regretted it and quickly recalled the message.

“???”

“What did you recall?”

“[Xiao Huang rolling].gif”

Zhui Ye sent three messages in rapid succession, but Wu Man was determined not to let him see. She deleted the photo from her album and silently booked a flight to his location in a few days.

Whether kissing through video or in photos—it was all meaningless.

She wanted to deliver in person, a scorching hot kiss.