Couldn't write it

Song Yunxing sat in the van, waiting for Xiao Nan to come out.

Through the privacy glass, Song Yunxing could see the crowd milling around the gate to the villa's courtyard. The tall Shen Yanci stood out among them.

The man exchanged a few casual words with everyone, then looked up, his dark eyes meeting Song Yunxing's with unerring accuracy.

Song Yunxing's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

This was privacy glass. How had Shen Yanci sensed him looking?

Just my imagination! Maybe he was only glancing this way!

Someone suddenly opened the trunk. Xiao Nan carried his suitcase over and loaded it inside.

Song Yunxing looked away, leaned against the seat back, and lowered his head to look at his phone.

"Song, someone left you something." Xiao Nan got into the van and handed him a lunch box.

Song Yunxing frowned deeply. Just as he was about to refuse, he caught sight of the familiar handwriting on the note.

{Accidentally made too much. You can have the leftovers.}

Song Yunxing took the lunch box and undid the clasps.

The aroma of garlic and sauce wafted up. The box was more than half full of typhoon shelter fried shrimp, and someone had thoughtfully lined the bottom with foil.

In the driver's seat, Xiao Nan's nose twitched. Swallowing involuntarily, Xiao Nan said, "Song, what smells so good? How about I test it for poison?"

Song Yunxing immediately snapped the lunch box shut and held it protectively against his chest. "No way! This is mine!"

Xiao Nan pouted, took a bite of beef jerky, then started the van and drove away from the filming location.

Song Yunxing gazed out the window. The outskirts of Yu City lacked the bustle of the city, with dense foliage all around.

Scattered streetlights illuminated the lonely road. Even with the high beams on, its end remained out of sight, as though they had set off down a road that went on forever.

Song Yunxing looked away, his fingers unconsciously stroking the pale blue sticky note...

The show's livestream had ended, but the online discussion was far from over.

The production team released the list of regular panelists, causing another stir.

Ren Chao, a well-known male host in Chinese entertainment, held master's degrees in both language studies and psychology.

Qin Jinyao, a celebrity famed for her gossip, was hailed as the ultimate queen of insider information in Chinese entertainment. She had tabs on every romance, big or small, and even a casual remark from her warranted careful consideration from fans.

Yue Hua, the first Chinese actor to win the international Blue Dragon Best Actor award, was a respected industry veteran with both talent and acting chops.

[That lineup! The True or False Lovers production team must be loaded!]

[Holy shit! I'm so hyped!]

[Yue Hua knows Shen Yanci! They're even recognized as good friends in the industry!!]

[Ren Chao knows all the guests! Qin Jinyao and Lu Ran are besties, and she's good friends with Yu Wan too!]

[They all fucking know each other! This is going to be good!]

Netizens were beside themselves with excitement, wishing they could jump straight to Thursday!

#True or False Lovers prerecorded edition guest lineup#

#Everyone knows everyone#

Suddenly, another topic quietly climbed onto the bottom of the trending list: #Mutual-Dislike CP fanfic#.

Plenty of curious casual viewers and fans clicked on it.

Inspired by Song Yunxing and Shen Yanci passing tissues to each other not long before, the fic spun the moment into an "after-dark scenario."

A mix of fluff and light smut had the horny readers howling for something more explicit.

The shippers happily enjoyed themselves in their own corner, and the story later became the most widely circulated fanfic in their ship's Super Topic community.

The online discussions continued unabated, while the carefree Song Yunxing had already drifted off to sleep...

At eight the next morning, Song Yunxing, dressed in a hoodie, yawned as he pushed open the door to the company's third-floor conference room.

A handful of people were scattered around the room. Seated at the head of the table, Meng Ruo looked up at the bleary-eyed Song Yunxing with a particularly complicated expression.

She had sent him on a dating show to clear up the rumors, yet he had gone and made his ship's Super Topic the most active one instead.

But looking at Xingxing's pretty, innocent, bewildered face, she could no longer bring herself to blame him.

If she hadn't been such a sucker for good looks, she wouldn't have stayed with Xingxing for so long.

"Morning, Meng." Song Yunxing pulled out a chair and lazily sat down beside her.

Meng Ruo exhaled and turned the laptop screen toward him. "See for yourself."

"What is it?" Song Yunxing shifted his chair closer and examined the number of posts in the ship's Super Topic. One digit, two, three... Why were there so many posts?

"A popular fanfic writer with an established following joined the Super Topic. Now yours is the most active ship community on there." Meng Ruo sighed.

"What fanfic writer?" Song Yunxing frowned.

"I'm just letting you know. Leave the fans to themselves, and pay attention to the marketing department's suggestions in a minute." Meng Ruo calmly rested her hands on her knees.

They had plenty of casual followers and shippers, but both men were top stars, so the mutual boost in traffic wasn't costing their side anything. It was just... she was a little worried that, given their current popularity, leaving the show after the second episode might prove difficult.

Song Yunxing, however, had no such worries. He picked up his phone and eagerly went to the Super Topic to search for the fic.

Meng Ruo rubbed her temples. "That's not the point. Your album is what matters most right now. The marketing team thinks..."

The door suddenly opened. Several staff members looked surprised, then hurried to greet the two of them.

Song Yunxing put down his phone and said seriously, "It's fine. Everyone, have a seat. We already had a meeting last week, so tell me what you've come up with."

Everyone exchanged glances. Finally, the marketing team leader spoke up, choosing his words carefully. "Mr. Song, the record market isn't what it used to be, and the concept for this album is too ambitious. We don't mean that in a bad way... We just suggest that you could have someone write the lyrics for a song and focus on singing it yourself."

"There are plenty of romantic love songs on the market, too. We have several singers and composers we work with, and I'm sure you know quite a few yourself. We hope you'll consider this proposal."

The staff were all earnest, planning a direction for him from a market perspective.

Song Yunxing straightened his back and let out a long sigh.

He had always known where his weaknesses lay. It was just that the market response had been good before, so he hadn't wanted to dwell on them.

His albums had always been entirely his own original work. They were a personal passion, and he wanted every song on them to come from his own inspiration.

But when it came to love, he couldn't write it.