"Who are you chatting with? You're smiling so happily," Dai Ying asked.
Li Xun grinned. "Cao Shiyu, the actress who plays Chang Yu. She said she's really grateful to me and wants to treat me to dinner!"
"No wonder you're grinning like a creep," Dai Ying said. "A gorgeous woman's invited you to dinner!"
"Creep? I don't think so. I'm clearly handsome and charming," Li Xun said, unfazed.
Dai Ying curled her lip. "Shameless!"
"Thanks, thanks!" Li Xun said with a grin.
Dai Ying stared at him. "Hey, man, I called you shameless!"
Li Xun said proudly, "I heard you. But isn't there an old saying? 'A young man who isn't shameless has wasted his youth!'"
"It's 'A young man who isn't romantic has wasted his youth!'" Dai Ying corrected him.
Li Xun said solemnly, "Isn't 'romantic' just a more elegant way of saying 'shameless'?"
Dai Ying couldn't be bothered to argue with him, but after a while, she couldn't help asking, "Hey, so are you going?"
Li Xun grinned. "Of course! Why wouldn't I go if a gorgeous woman's treating me?"
Dai Ying gave a noncommittal "Oh" and said nothing more.
"If there's nothing else, boss, I'll head back now. I should change clothes, anyway," Li Xun said, standing up.
"Go on, then," Dai Ying said impatiently.
Li Xun was about to leave when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and answered.
"Hello, Aunt Liu!"
"Li Xun, come over for dinner tonight. I'm making your favorite, chopped chili fish head."
"Aunt Liu, tonight..."
"What is it? Are you busy tonight?"
"No... no, I'm free. I'll definitely be there!"
After hanging up, Li Xun glanced at Dai Ying.
"Was that my mom?" Dai Ying asked.
Li Xun nodded.
Dai Ying smiled. "It's fine. Go ahead. I'll tell my mom tonight that something came up and you couldn't make it. Just don't disappoint that gorgeous woman!"
Li Xun nodded.
Seeing him do so, a flare of anger rose in Dai Ying.
Just then, Li Xun received a WeChat voice message and tapped it to play.
"Then it's a date! I'll book us a table right away."
The voice was very gentle and sweet.
Li Xun held down the voice-message button and replied, "Sorry, my girlfriend's mom just called and invited me over for dinner, so let's do it another day!"
Dai Ying's heart skipped a beat. She froze for a moment, then said, "No, go ahead. We couldn't possibly live with ourselves if we got in the way of your big moment!"
Another voice message came through WeChat.
"So you have a girlfriend, screenwriter Li! You're so talented, so I'm sure your girlfriend must be impressive too. Is she in the entertainment industry? Maybe I know her. Would you mind telling me who she is?"
Li Xun looked at Dai Ying.
Her heart thumped wildly despite herself.
Li Xun held down the voice-message button and replied, "You don't know her. My girlfriend's surname is Jia. It might be an unlucky name, but she's really beautiful."
The corners of Dai Ying's mouth flickered upward for an instant.
After a while, when she saw that Li Xun had stopped chatting with the other woman, she asked, "Why aren't you going after all?"
Li Xun looked puzzled. "You said not to disappoint that gorgeous woman!"
Dai Ying was baffled. "I did! I told you to hurry up and go, so you wouldn't disappoint her. So why are you still—"
She suddenly realized what was going on.
I meant Cao Shiyu, but he thought I meant myself?
Her face began to heat up, as if she'd just had a drink.
At the same time, she thought, He can go see whoever he wants. I'm not going to be disappointed. We're only pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend to fool my parents!
Li Xun simply came back and sat down. "Your mom makes me all this delicious food every day. I bet even you, her own daughter, don't get treated this well."
Dai Ying smiled. "Get this straight: my mom only makes you all that food because she thinks you're my boyfriend. Let's see if she still gives you the time of day after we break up tomorrow."
Li Xun nodded. "That's true. But your mom likes me so much. If we break up, I'm worried your parents won't be able to take it."
Dai Ying rolled her eyes. "I've never met anyone as full of himself as you!"
Just then, Li Xun's phone rang again.
It was singer Zheng Yuji.
"Hello, Ms. Zheng. What made you call me?"
"Screenwriter Li, it's nothing serious. The Spring Festival Gala's production team rejected 'As Long As There Is You.' They said there were too many love songs and the themes were repetitive, so one had to go. Since it's your song, I thought I should let you know."
Li Xun frowned when he heard that.
It all went back to half a month ago.
Li Xun hadn't worked with Zheng Yuji much. They'd only collaborated when recording the ending theme for Young Bao Qingtian, "As Long As There Is You," and they'd barely seen each other since.
Half a month ago, she'd called him to say that the Spring Festival Gala's production team had approached her. They wanted her and Li Xun to perform "As Long As There Is You" at the gala, and she was inviting him to join her.
At the time, Li Xun had been writing scripts, working with the production crew, and later helping with the editing. He'd had a mountain of work to get through. The Spring Festival Gala wasn't like an ordinary performance; it required endless rehearsals. And there was no guarantee that being part of the rehearsals meant they'd make it onto the final program. So in the end, Li Xun had turned down the production team's invitation.
But Zheng Yuji hadn't wanted to give up. The gala's influence had waned in recent years, but even a skinny camel was bigger than a horse. For a singer, appearing on the Spring Festival Gala was a tremendous honor. So, after getting the okay from both Li Xun and the production team, Zheng Yuji had invited singer Han Qing to perform with her.
She hadn't expected the song to be cut after all.
Li Xun could tell how disappointed she was, so he offered a few words of comfort.
"Zheng Yuji?" Dai Ying asked quietly.
Li Xun nodded.
Dai Ying muttered, "I didn't realize you had such a way with women."
Li Xun coughed twice, then tried to comfort the woman on the other end of the call. "If it was cut, it was cut. Look on the bright side: they don't pay you to sing at the gala, so you're better off doing commercial gigs. Your booking fee must be at least 500,000 now, right, Ms. Zheng? I'd say getting cut is a good thing. It's like you just made 500,000 for nothing!"
"Screenwriter Li, you make it sound so easy. All my relatives—my aunts, uncles, and cousins—know I was going to be on the Spring Festival Gala. Now that I've been cut at the last minute, I can't face going home for the New Year."
"Look on the bright side. Since you can't be at the gala, you can have New Year's Eve dinner at home with your parents and watch it together. As the saying goes, 'What you lose in the west, you gain in the east.'"
"I suppose that's all I can do. By the way, Screenwriter Li, I heard that you wrote the lyrics and music for 'Unburdened Heart' and 'As Long As There Is You' in less than a day. I know stories like that can get exaggerated, but there's no denying your talent."
Li Xun laughed. "You mean I wrote 'Unburdened Heart' and 'As Long As There Is You' in one day? Is that what people are saying now?"
"Yes. I have no idea where that story started."
Li Xun was silent for a moment, then said, "That's why you shouldn't believe rumors. I wrote both songs in less than an hour. How did that turn into a whole day?"
Dai Ying suddenly turned to stare at Li Xun.
What could possibly make a man this shameless?
There was a long silence on the other end of the call, as if Zheng Yuji needed a while to process Li Xun's shameless claim. Then she continued, "The deputy director who invited me felt terrible when my performance was cut at the last minute. He told me that if I could find a song that was just as good as 'As Long As There Is You,' he might be able to try to get me back on the program. The theme should fit the New Year, though—not love. Something about family, a father's love, or a mother's love would be best."
"So I was wondering if I could ask you to write another song, Screenwriter Li. Of course, as long as it's good, we can discuss the price."
"As Long As There Is You" had been rejected by the Spring Festival Gala's production team. It wasn't Li Xun's performance, but it was still his song.
Li Xun said, "There are only a few days left before the New Year. Even if you get the song, you'll still have to learn it, rehearse, and get the production team's approval—"
Zheng Yuji knew she was asking a lot, so she hurriedly said, "You're right, Screenwriter Li. I got carried away and didn't think it through. I'm sorry to bother you."
Li Xun replied, "Have you misunderstood me? I mean, since time is so tight, I'll have to work fast. Just wait a little. I'll write it now and send you the new song as soon as I'm done. That way you can get started rehearsing and contact the production team for approval."
A mansion in the capital.
After hanging up, Zheng Yuji looked completely bewildered.
"Wait a little, and he'll send it over?"
"Is he writing a song or copying one?"
"Doesn't sound very reliable, does he?"
Her manager, Xie Mei, said, "I told you we should find a well-known songwriter from the industry. Why look for a screenwriter? Isn't this just grasping at straws? I told you it wouldn't work, but you wouldn't listen!"
Zheng Yuji laughed helplessly. "When we recorded together, he seemed perfectly normal. Who would've thought..."
"Forget it. I'll look for someone else," Xie Mei said.
Zheng Yuji nodded helplessly.
As for Li Xun's suggestion that they wait until tonight for him to send over the song, neither of them took it seriously.
Writing a song wasn't that easy, was it?
Before you continue