She asked hesitantly, "Your brother didn't put up a fight?"
"Oh, getting him in line was a piece of cake. Don't worry, he won't pull any funny business this time." Chu Yu's relaxed, confident voice came through.
Some of the joy of impending success rose in Zhang Yue's heart, too. She quickly nodded. "Then I'll go stake out President Meng's office door. Come straight to me when you get here."
After hanging up, Zhang Yue headed straight to the eighth floor to wait outside President Meng's office.
Twenty minutes later, an understated minivan slowly pulled into Starry Sky Entertainment's underground parking garage.
Chu Yu and her brother took the express elevator to the eighth floor. The moment they stepped out, they spotted Zhang Yue.
"Over here, over here." She started waving to the siblings.
Chu Chen knew Zhang Yue and instinctively walked toward her. Only then did he begin to vaguely sense that something seemed off.
But before he could think it through, Zhang Yue enthusiastically interrupted him. "Little brother! You've gotten even more handsome lately. There must be plenty of girls at school who like you, right?"
Chu Chen gave two awkward coughs and volunteered an explanation. "School doesn't allow dating."
Even more delighted, Zhang Yue patted Chu Chen on the shoulder. "Not bad! You're much more obedient than your sister. You have no idea what she was like when she was younger..."
She was only halfway through when Chu Yu's piercing gaze swept over her, making her hastily shut her mouth.
Chu Chen, however, glanced over with interest and pressed, "What was she like when she was younger?"
"Nothing, nothing." With a sheepish smile, Zhang Yue pushed open the office door and motioned for Chu Chen to enter. "Come on, let's sign the contract first."
And just like that, through coaxing and trickery, Chu Chen was made to sign up for a reality show with the utterly ridiculous-sounding name "Sisters and Brothers Charge Ahead."
After signing, he stood there in silence for a long time, pen still in hand.
Beside him, Chu Yu and Zhang Yue hugged each other and started spinning around, their faces alight with joy.
"Oh yeah!"
"Long live victory!"
Chu Chen, who finally realized he seemed to have been duped: "..."
Liar!
Chu Chen glared fiercely at Chu Yu, but when he remembered that he had agreed to all this himself, he had no way to argue back. He could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
In the end, Chu Chen turned and left, seething with resentment.
As Chu Chen's tall, straight-backed figure gradually disappeared from view, Zhang Yue came to her senses and gave Chu Yu a curious glance.
"Say, are you really not planning to let your brother enter the entertainment industry? With what he's got going for him, he'd shoot to fame in no time."
Back when Zhang Yue first met Chu Chen, his finely sculpted, handsome face had truly stunned her, sending her girlish heart into overdrive.
It was only because she had seen Chu Chen more often lately that she could maintain a little composure.
Chu Yu rolled her eyes at her. "Don't go setting your sights on him. He's not suited to the foul, murky atmosphere of the entertainment industry. Having him do a variety show is already the limit."
"Oh? I couldn't tell you cared so much about your brother."
"Who cares about him? I'm worried he'd get trampled to death before he'd even spent a few days in the entertainment industry, okay?"
Zhang Yue wore an expression that said, "I don't believe you." "Keep acting tough."
By the time Chu Yu finished her meeting at the company and went over her upcoming schedule, it was already evening.
She returned to the villa with her handbag over her shoulder and found the living room empty.
Normally, Chu Chen should have been back from running wild by now.
Chu Yu put down her bag and looked at a servant. "Chu Chen isn't back yet?"
The servant pointed toward the dressing room on the second floor and said quietly, "The young master went straight to the dressing room when he came home. He's been there all afternoon, keeping the door shut and not letting us disturb him."
A peculiar expression appeared on Chu Yu's face, too.
He spent all afternoon in the dressing room?
Two minutes later, Chu Yu stood outside the dressing room and raised her hand to knock. "Hello? Anyone there?"
Sure enough, there was no response, but Chu Yu still caught the faint rustling from inside.
"Oh, if there's no one here, I'll kick the door down."
Barely a few seconds after she finished speaking, Chu Chen opened the door, revealing a face as black as the bottom of a pot.
"What do you want now!"
Chu Yu ignored him and walked into the dressing room as though she owned the place, surveying her surroundings like a leader on an inspection tour.
The hangers, which had still been perfectly neat and orderly that morning, now looked as though they had been plundered, strewn all over the floor. Designer clothes lay piled haphazardly on the ground in complete disarray.
Only a handful of suits in refined, fresh styles hung on the rack in the middle. They were presumably his carefully selected favorites.
Chu Yu's eyes shifted before she looked up hesitantly. "Have you been trying on clothes all afternoon?"
Chu Chen lifted his chin defiantly. "Can't I? Are you the only one allowed to do skincare, put on makeup, and try on clothes at home every day?"
"It's not that you can't, it's just..." A teasing look suddenly appeared on Chu Yu's face. "You haven't suddenly gone this crazy trying on clothes because you're going on the show with me, have you?"
Chu Chen instantly stiffened and immediately retorted, "I have not!"
She had thought Chu Chen would be fiercely opposed to appearing on the show, but from the look of things, he was actually quite excited about it.
It seemed she wouldn't need to give him any counseling for the time being, either.
Chu Yu gave him an "I understand" look, then pointed at the row of haute couture suits hanging in the middle. "Good taste. These really do suit you."
With that, Chu Yu left the dressing room in high spirits, her hands clasped behind her back and not a care weighing on her.
Chu Chen's gaze fell on the suits she had praised. After a long while, he suddenly gave a haughty little huff.
Of course I have good taste.
Time hurried by, and soon the day came to film the variety show "Sisters and Brothers Charge Ahead."