"I..."
Ye Qingzhou's Adam's apple bobbed again.
He still held the chocolate stick between his teeth, making his words a little muffled. "Should I... keep going?"
Chu Ci gave a nasal hum of assent.
Ye Qingzhou carefully took another bite of the chocolate stick.
Now only three centimeters remained between their lips.
Three centimeters was a distance at which the slightest lapse could bring their lips together.
Chu Ci's eyelashes trembled even more. He could even feel Ye Qingzhou's breaths slowly washing over his neck, which made him feel uncomfortable all over.
Chu Ci was a germaphobe.
He disliked socializing. Even when he had been a general in the interstellar era and needed to go into battle, he had always maintained a suitable distance from his soldiers. He was particularly fussy about smells. Although the interstellar soldiers showered every day, Chu Ci still disliked coming into contact with them.
That was why Chu Ci rarely got this close to anyone.
He could even clearly see Ye Qingzhou's tender smile.
In a situation like this... how could Ye Qingzhou still smile?
Chu Ci was rather puzzled.
Logically speaking, they were merely being forced to complete the production team's task. Chu Ci had also seen the faint flush spreading over Ye Qingzhou's earlobes, neck, and cheeks, which meant Ye Qingzhou was even more shy and at a loss than he was. In a situation like this, shouldn't Ye Qingzhou have been nervous? Yet why were those peach blossom eyes filled with smiles?
[Look at Ye Qingzhou's eyes!!!]
[So much affection... it feels like he's looking at his lover.]
[Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci definitely knew each other before this! Eyes don't lie. He smiles every time he looks into Chu Ci's eyes.]
[I ship them so hard, I ship them so hard, I ship them so hard!]
[I don't want to ship them either, but his gaze is so tender.]
[Ye Qingzhou's behavior really moves me. His ears are red with embarrassment, yet he still works up the courage to look straight into the other person's eyes, proving how open and undisguised his love is.]
[Aaaaaah! This girl nailed it! That's exactly what makes Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci so shippable!!!]
The official Weibo account for Let's Fall in Love kept gaining followers.
The hashtags #Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci's push and pull#, #Now this is a dating show for adults#, and #Just how sweet are Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci# also began appearing on Weibo one after another.
Of these, #Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci's push and pull# attracted the most attention. It had originally ranked forty-fifth on the trending searches, but with more and more people discussing it, sharing livestream screenshots, and making posts, it rose to fifth place in just ten minutes.
At a glance, all ten of the top trending searches were about Let's Fall in Love.
#Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci's candy wrapper kiss#
#Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci's couple chemistry#
#Ye Qingzhou makes a surprise appearance on Let's Fall in Love#
#Let's Fall in Love skill cards#
#Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci's push and pull#
Watching the discussions about Let's Fall in Love on Weibo, the director could not hide his smile. This was the first time he had personally experienced just how powerful a top star's draw could be.
"Good, good, good. Good, good, good..."
The director, who had been regretting inviting Chu Ci onto this episode not long ago, now found everything about him pleasing. Ever since the names "Ye Qingzhou" and "Chu Ci" had appeared together on Weibo's trending searches, the smile had never left his eyes. He grinned from ear to ear. "Chu Ci really is Let's Fall in Love's lucky star..."
Although the production team owed this enormous surge in traffic to Ye Qingzhou, the director had heard some of the rumors in the entertainment industry and knew that Ye Qingzhou strongly resisted being paired up with anyone as a CP. If his partner today had been a female guest, he could not possibly have been this cooperative.
The director had spent enough time in the entertainment industry to know how to read people. The way Ye Qingzhou looked at Chu Ci was far too intimate, as though he were looking at someone from his past whom he had not seen for a long time.
"Someone from his past" might not have been quite accurate. After all, the director would rather have used "lover" to describe the way Ye Qingzhou looked at Chu Ci.
To verify his suspicions, he contacted Lu Qi, who had been unable to attend the recording because something had come up. Sure enough, the truth was just as the director had expected.
Lu Qi had cleared her schedule for today long ago. Before this, she and Ye Qingzhou had never even met in person. Ye Qingzhou's manager had suddenly called her, saying they were willing to trade a good script for a chance to appear on Let's Fall in Love.
Lu Qi had agreed.
It was not that the script had particularly moved her, but rather that she wanted to use the opportunity to build a connection with Ye Qingzhou.
After all, in the entertainment industry, Ye Qingzhou was walking traffic.
After hanging up, the director briefly pieced together Ye Qingzhou's behavior on the show and what Lu Qi had told him, finally reaching a conclusion.
Ye Qingzhou had joined the variety show specifically for Chu Ci.
Although it sounded absurd, outrageous, and unbelievable... that really was the truth.
According to Lu Qi, Ye Qingzhou's manager had called her the night before the recording, and she had agreed to their request.
If Ye Qingzhou had really come for the variety show Let's Fall in Love itself, he could easily have contacted the director in advance, allowing him to prepare more thoroughly. But Ye Qingzhou had not.
He had not called the director ahead of time to tell him he would be appearing on Let's Fall in Love, choosing instead to make a surprise appearance.
The director had initially failed to understand why Ye Qingzhou would do this, but after seeing the atmosphere between him and Chu Ci, he suddenly understood.
The reason Ye Qingzhou had chosen to replace Lu Qi as a surprise guest was to catch the production team off guard.
If the director had known in advance that Ye Qingzhou would be joining Let's Fall in Love, he would certainly have replaced Chu Ci, who had a poor reputation, poor acting skills, and no notable works, then invited a higher-profile actress whose status matched Ye Qingzhou's.
And once Ye Qingzhou's appearance on Let's Fall in Love was confirmed, the appearance fees that worried the director most would no longer have been a problem. After all, "Ye Qingzhou," "dating show," and "debut appearance" were all hot keywords. Countless actresses in the entertainment industry wanted to promote a CP pairing with Ye Qingzhou. Even if the director offered them no appearance fee, they would still have fought to take part in the recording.
A surprise guest was different.
By the time Ye Qingzhou arrived at the filming location, Let's Fall in Love had already begun recording. It was too late for the director to find a female guest at such short notice. Of the six guests, four were men and two were women, which meant two of the male guests would be paired together.
In fact, when Ye Qingzhou had taken the initiative to address Chu Ci as "Teacher Chu," the director had already vaguely sensed that something was off.