Boasting Shamelessly

"Who are you chatting with, smiling so happily?" Dai Ying asked.

Li Xun chuckled, "Cao Shiyu, the one playing Chang Yu. She said she's very grateful to me and wants to treat me to a meal!"

Dai Ying said, "No wonder you're smiling so lecherously. So a beautiful woman is treating you!"

"Lecherous? I don't think so. I'm clearly dashing and debonair!" Li Xun disagreed.

Dai Ying pouted, "Shameless!"

Li Xun laughed, "Thank you, thank you!"

Dai Ying was speechless. "Hey, big brother, I said you're shameless!"

Li Xun proudly said, "I heard you, I heard you. But isn't there an old saying, 'Youth is wasted without a bit of shamelessness'!"

"It's 'Youth is wasted without being dashing'!" Dai Ying corrected him.

Li Xun said earnestly, "Isn't 'dashing' just a more refined way of saying 'shameless'?"

Dai Ying lazily ignored him, but after a moment, she couldn't help but ask, "Hey, are you going then?"

Li Xun smiled, "Going! Of course, I'm going! Why wouldn't I go when a beautiful woman is treating me!"

Dai Ying hummed, saying nothing more.

"If that's all, boss, I'll head back to change. I need to get changed!" Li Xun stood up.

"Go, go!" Dai Ying said impatiently.

Just as Li Xun was about to leave, his phone rang. He glanced at it and answered.

"Hello, Aunt Liu!"

"Li Xun, come over for dinner tonight. I made your favorite, spicy chopped fish head."

"Aunt Liu, tonight..."

"What, you're busy tonight?"

"No... no, I'm not busy. Auntie, I'll definitely be there tonight!"

After hanging up, Li Xun glanced at Dai Ying.

Dai Ying asked, "Was that my mom?"

Li Xun nodded.

Dai Ying smiled, "It's fine, you should go. I'll tell Mom later that you suddenly have something come up and can't make it. Don't disappoint the beautiful lady!"

Li Xun nodded.

Seeing this, a surge of annoyance rose within Dai Ying.

Just then, Li Xun received a WeChat voice message and tapped it to play.

"Then it's settled, I'll go find us a table right away!"

The voice was very gentle and sweet.

Li Xun held down the voice message and said, "I'm so sorry, but my girlfriend's mother just called and invited me over for dinner. Can we reschedule?"

Dai Ying's heart skipped a beat. She froze for a moment and said, "No, you should go. If you miss your big life event, our family can't afford to take responsibility."

Another WeChat voice message came through.

"So Screenwriter Li has a girlfriend? Screenwriter Li is so outstanding, I'm sure your girlfriend must be amazing too. Is your girlfriend also in the industry? Do I know her? Would it be convenient to tell me?"

Li Xun looked at Dai Ying.

Dai Ying's heart was pounding uncontrollably.

Li Xun held down the voice message and replied, "You don't know her. My girlfriend's surname is Jia. Her surname is Jia, but she's truly beautiful."

A fleeting smile touched the corner of Dai Ying's lips.

After a while, seeing that Li Xun had stopped chatting with the other person, she asked, "Why aren't you going anymore?"

Li Xun asked in surprise, "You said not to disappoint the beautiful lady!"

Dai Ying was stunned and asked, "Yes, I did. I told you to hurry and go, not to disappoint the beautiful lady, so why aren't you going quickly...?"

As she spoke, she suddenly realized.

"The beautiful lady I was talking about was Cao Shiyu, but he thought I meant myself?"

Her face began to feel hot, as if she had just had a drink!

At the same time, she thought, He can go see whoever he wants, I won't be disappointed. We're just pretending to be a couple to fool my parents!

Li Xun simply sat back down. "You know, Auntie makes me delicious food all the time. You probably don't even get this treatment as her own daughter, do you?"

Dai Ying laughed, "You need to understand, the only reason my mom makes you delicious food is because she mistakenly thinks you're my boyfriend. See if she even talks to you tomorrow if we break up!"

Li Xun nodded. "That's true. But since your mom likes me so much, if we break up, I'm afraid the old folks won't be able to handle it!"

Dai Ying rolled her eyes. "I've never met anyone as narcissistic as you!"

Just then, Li Xun's phone rang again.

The singer Zheng Yuji called.

"Hello, Ms. Zheng, what made you think of calling me?"

The voice on the other end said, "Screenwriter Li, it's nothing else. The show As Long As There Is You was rejected by the Spring Festival Gala directing team. They said there were too many love songs, the themes were repetitive, and one needed to be eliminated! This is your song after all, so I thought I should let you know."

Li Xun frowned upon hearing this.

This matter dated back to half a month ago.

Li Xun didn't have much contact with this Zheng Yuji. They had only collaborated once when recording the ending theme song As Long As There Is You for Young Bao Qingtian. They hadn't seen each other much since then.

Half a month ago, she had called Li Xun, saying that the Spring Festival Gala directing team had approached her, wanting her and Li Xun to sing As Long As There Is You at the gala, and she was to invite Li Xun.

At that time, Li Xun was busy writing scripts, working with the crew, and later helping with editing. It was a huge undertaking. The Spring Festival Gala wasn't like a regular performance; it required constant rehearsals. Plus, no one could guarantee that participating in rehearsals meant they would ultimately be on the show. So, Li Xun ended up declining the program team's invitation.

However, Zheng Yuji didn't want to give up. The influence of the Spring Festival Gala had been declining in recent years, but a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. As a singer, appearing on the Spring Festival Gala was undoubtedly a great honor. Therefore, after getting the consent of Li Xun and the directing team, Zheng Yuji invited singer Han Qing to perform with her.

Unexpectedly, it was still eliminated in the end.

Li Xun could tell she was very disappointed, so he comforted her a couple of times.

Dai Ying asked softly, "Zheng Yuji?"

Li Xun nodded.

Dai Ying muttered, "I didn't realize you were quite popular with the ladies!"

Li Xun coughed twice and comforted the person on the other end, "If it's eliminated, it's eliminated. Think on the bright side. Singing at the Spring Festival Gala doesn't pay anyway. It's better to participate in commercial performances. Ms. Zheng's appearance fee is at least 500,000 now, right? If you ask me, being eliminated is a good thing. Consider it earning 500,000 for free!"

The voice on the other end said, "Screenwriter Li says it so easily. Now all my relatives, my aunts and my cousins, know I'm going to be on the Spring Festival Gala. Now that it's suddenly canceled, I really don't have the face to go home for the New Year."

Li Xun said, "Look on the bright side, look on the bright side. Not being able to go on the Spring Festival Gala means you can spend the New Year's Eve dinner with your parents at home and watch the Spring Festival Gala together. This is what they call 'losing a shade of mulberry, gaining the dawn.'"

Zheng Yuji said, "That's all I can do now. By the way, Screenwriter Li, I heard that when you wrote Unburdened Heart and As Long As There Is You, the lyrics and composition combined took less than a day. Of course, I know that might be an exaggeration from the outside world, but your talent is undeniable."

Li Xun laughed, "Writing two songs, Unburdened Heart and As Long As There Is You, in less than a day? Is that what people are saying outside now?"

Zheng Yuji said, "Yes, I don't know where it came from."

Li Xun was silent for a moment and said, "So you can't believe rumors. It only took me less than an hour to write these two songs. How did it get spread around to say it took a day?"

Dai Ying glared at Li Xun fiercely.

She thought to herself, What could make a man become so shameless!

The voice on the other end was also silent for a while, perhaps digesting Li Xun's shameless words, then continued, "The associate director who invited me this time is also very embarrassed that my program was suddenly rejected. So he told me that if I could find a song with a quality no less than As Long As There Is You, and the theme of the song preferably fits the New Year theme, not love, but rather family, parental love, etc., then he could help me try again."

"So I was thinking, could I ask Screenwriter Li to compose another song? Of course, if the song quality is really good, we can discuss the price."

As Long As There Is You was actually rejected by the Spring Festival Gala program team. Although it wasn't Li Xun's program, it was Li Xun's song after all.

Li Xun said, "There's not much time left until the New Year. Even if the song is written, you still need to familiarize yourselves with it, rehearse, and get it approved by the program team—"

Zheng Yuji knew she was being a bit demanding, so she quickly said, "Screenwriter Li is right. I was too hasty and didn't think things through. I'm sorry to have bothered you, Screenwriter Li."

Li Xun replied, "Did you misunderstand something? What I mean is, since time is so tight, I might as well speed things up. You all wait a moment. I'll write it now. I'll send you the new song after I finish it, so you can also hurry up with practicing and contacting the directing team for approval."

Jing City, a mansion.

After hanging up the phone, Zheng Yuji was dumbfounded.

"Wait a moment, send it to me later?"

"Is he writing a song or copying one?"

"Why does it feel unreliable?"

Her agent, Xie Mei, also said, "I told you we should find a well-known lyricist and composer in the industry. Finding a screenwriter? Isn't that like a desperate measure? I told you it wouldn't work long ago, but you wouldn't listen!"

Zheng Yuji also gave a wry smile, "When I recorded with him, I thought he was quite normal. Who would have thought..."

Xie Mei said, "Forget it, I'll look for someone else!"

Zheng Yuji nodded helplessly.

As for Li Xun saying they should wait tonight and he would send the song later, no one took it seriously.

Writing a song, how could it be that easy?