Talking with DY (Douyin)

On the balcony, Huang Ze Jun and Yang Jia Xing took several drinks.

Yang Jia Xing shook his head and said, "Brother Jun, we might not be the ones with the biggest headache in the end."

In Yang Jia Xing's opinion, the production team should be the one with the headache.

As things stood, Tang Zhi Chu was indeed the biggest winner, but could he and Chen Si Yang really end up together? Yang Jia Xing felt that was still a question mark.

So, what was the selling point of this season's dating reality show? What if not a single couple worked out?

Thinking of this, Yang Jia Xing felt less dejected.

Even if Tang Zhi Chu and Chen Si Yang did get together, could they go the distance? It wasn't certain. Even now, Yang Jia Xing felt the gap between them was too large.

Huang Ze Jun raised the wine bottle again. Just as Yang Jia Xing was about to say he wouldn't drink anymore, he saw Zhou Yun's car.

The car was parked in the open-air parking lot not far below. The car door opened, and Tang Zhi Chu got out.

Yang Jia Xing raised his wine bottle, "Come on, Brother Jun, let's clink glasses again!"

Tang Zhi Chu could hear the piano music from inside the house even when he was still outside.

Upon entering, he saw Chen Si Yang sitting by the piano, her fingers dancing slowly on the keys.

Tang Zhi Chu didn't disturb her. Instead, he shushed Zhou Yun, who was behind him.

Zhou Yun glanced inside, then gave Tang Zhi Chu a fist bump without making a sound.

Chen Si Yang was wearing headphones and a hat, so she probably hadn't noticed Tang Zhi Chu and Zhou Yun returning.

After Chen Si Yang finished playing, she turned around and saw Tang Zhi Chu.

"Oh, you're back?"

Chen Si Yang seemed a little surprised. She checked her phone; it was only a little past eight, but there was a smile on her face.

Tang Zhi Chu leaned back on the sofa, a blanket draped over him, and said weakly, "I'm back. That was beautiful, play another song."

Chen Si Yang had just gotten up when she heard Tang Zhi Chu's words and sat back down. After a moment's thought, her fingertips landed on the keys, and the soothing piano music flowed like water.

Tang Zhi Chu watched Chen Si Yang's back for a moment before closing his eyes. He had fallen asleep.

Chen Si Yang only played half the song before getting up and heading upstairs.

A moment later, Chen Si Yang came back down with another blanket and draped it over Tang Zhi Chu's uncovered legs.

Chen Si Yang's movements were very small. She nodded with satisfaction after seeing that he was completely covered by the blankets, then took the script she had tucked under her arm.

She sat on the floor, leaning against the sofa next to Tang Zhi Chu, and began reading her script.

Behind the villa, a large RV was parked. Li Hong Zhou, the chief director of Heartbeat, sat in front of several screens.

He had his arms crossed, appearing to be deep in thought.

In one of the screens in front of him, a man was lying on the sofa while a woman sat on the floor. The scene was quiet and beautiful – the kind of image the production team most desired.

"We've communicated with Tianhe. They won't interfere whether Chen Si Yang and Tang Zhi Chu end up together or not," someone said softly.

Li Hong Zhou curled his lips. "Of course. Tang Zhi Chu is, after all, someone DY sent over. Whether they get together or not, they have their own strategies."

"But..."

Li Hong Zhou turned around. "But what?"

"Douyin's stance is actually that they don't really want Tang Zhi Chu to succeed, or rather, they don't want Tang Zhi Chu and Chen Si Yang to get together."

Li Hong Zhou paused, then took out his phone and got out of the RV.

Seeing Li Hong Zhou get out, the directors standing nearby breathed a sigh of relief. Li Hong Zhou had a notoriously short temper, and this show was his brainchild, making him even more autocratic.

But there was nothing they could do; he was simply that capable.

Outside the RV, Li Hong Zhou dialed a number.

The call was answered quickly by a mature, pleasant female voice.

"Director Li?"

"It's me. I heard you have other arrangements for Tang Zhi Chu?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end before she replied, "We didn't mean to cause you any trouble. We're surprised and curious ourselves why Tang Zhi Chu could end up with Chen Si Yang."

Li Hong Zhou turned to glance at the villa before saying, "Don't tell me you are; I'm curious too. I've done seven seasons of this show. At first, I thought Chen Si Yang would be the most troublesome, but the next day she and Tang Zhi Chu showed potential. What's even more outrageous is that the other two female guests later chose Tang Zhi Chu. In the second phase of dating, he had three dates by himself while the other two male guests were already depressed and drinking together. Where did you find this person? He looks so well-behaved and honest, yet he has so much charm?"

"Cough, cough." A cough came from the other end, as if someone had choked on something. "Cough, cough. Sorry, Director Li, are you joking?"

"Would I joke about something like this?"

"B-but from what I understand, he's a super homebody who doesn't even talk to strangers, and he's never been in a relationship."

The person on the phone paused after saying this, as if contemplating something, then continued, "Why did I send him to a dating reality show? Because I had a very accomplished music professor listen to him sing. The professor gave him high praise, but his only flaw was emotional expression. The professor said he needed life experience and maturity for that. Plus, he's a super homebody, so he definitely wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of a music show. Since you needed someone, I sent him here."

Li Hong Zhou frowned. He had seen Tang Zhi Chu's profile, which did mention that he was an extremely introverted person. Based on his performance on the show, he was introverted, but not to that extreme.

Could it be because of his family? The production team had done background checks and knew some details about Tang Zhi Chu's family situation.

However, Li Hong Zhou could hear the background noise from the woman's end of the call.

"Perhaps it's due to the changes in his family. His father's illness seems to be getting worse, so some changes are normal. Don't worry, we've already given hints in various ways, encouraging him to showcase his musical talent on the show, but... it's just not going smoothly."

"Not going smoothly? What do you mean?"

Li Hong Zhou said somewhat dejectedly, "Three female guests, one is a female celebrity, one is a gym owner, and one is an entrepreneur. They're all interested in him. In this kind of environment, what else does he need to show? There's no source of motivation! Forget it, forget it. There's still a group team-building event later, we can arrange something then."

The other party also fell silent, as if they had strayed from their original intentions, but it didn't seem like a bad thing.

"Forget it, we won't interfere anymore. Let fate decide," the other party said after a long pause.

Li Hong Zhou nodded, "Don't worry, Tang Zhi Chu is my biggest card right now. Since the recording started, we've also developed a creative direction and a specific storyline. Of course, we'll need some cooperation from you all, after all, the show is about to go live."

Li Hong Zhou actually attached quite some importance to this phone call, otherwise, he wouldn't have said so much.

Tang Zhi Chu was originally from DY, and the production team also needed DY's traffic. It was a win-win situation.

The other party seemed very worried about Tang Zhi Chu. Did they not want Tang Zhi Chu and Chen Si Yang to get together because they were afraid Tang Zhi Chu would be at a disadvantage? Or were they afraid Tianhe would make some sneaky moves?

This precisely showed that the other party valued Tang Zhi Chu greatly. This kind of attitude was a good thing for Li Hong Zhou.

"Okay, we'll communicate anytime. Thank you, Director Li."

Thanks to the brothers (Your Fatty Friend), (Vegetarian Faner), and (Seventh Squadron) for their 100-coin rewards!