Song had just finished filming and boarded the van when he suddenly heard Yu in the front passenger seat scoff disdainfully.
Yu was his manager, as well as someone Zhiqiu had assigned to keep an eye on him.
Song had always kept a distant relationship with Yu and rarely bothered to engage with him. However, Yu, seemingly oblivious to Song's indifference, loved to chatter incessantly. Sure enough, before Song could ask, Yu had already begun explaining the reason for his earlier sneer.
"Zoe is really seizing the opportunity to rise now. Look at that trending topic—'How beautiful she looks without makeup?' What a joke! I wonder where she had her face done!"
Yu's biting tone piqued Song's curiosity.
"What trending topic?"
Song asked casually but didn't expect Yu to give a fair answer. He pulled out his phone to check the trending list himself.
A twelve-second clip of Zoe appeared before his eyes.
He froze, his heartbeat skipping a beat.
To be honest, Song had seen countless beautiful women in the entertainment industry, some of whom had tried to cozy up to him, and others who blatantly threw themselves at him.
Zoe's smile in the video wasn't the kind that would stand out as breathtakingly gorgeous. It wasn't meant to steal the spotlight.
Yet sometimes, an emotional impact struck like a chance encounter.
Sitting in the van, Song watched the clip and clearly felt his heart stir once again.
He couldn't call it strange, inexplicable, or even sudden.
Song had already held some fondness for Zoe; otherwise, he wouldn't have helped her or allowed her to ride on his popularity multiple times before.
But none of those previous interactions compared to the emotional wave brought on by this one brief moment.
His tongue tingled slightly as he realized his own shallow nature—truth be told, he was part of the "appearance matters" club.
Other beautiful women simply hadn't touched that special place in his heart.
Yu continued rambling about his anger and disdain for Zoe and her team, but Song tuned it all out.
He opened his chat with Zoe on WeChat, typed a message, deleted it, and retyped it again…
His fingertips tingled slightly as if he were nervous—a reaction akin to a lovestruck teenager.
Song couldn't help but laugh at himself, amused by his overreaction, by this unexpected person and an equally unexpected trending topic that had made his heart race.
"Damn that Cupid's arrow," he thought.
After much hesitation, Song finally composed a message that appeared perfectly casual:
"Just finished work. Saw you're trending again—didn't expect you to look so pretty without makeup."
The slightly dismissive tone was how he usually spoke. Song knew himself well.
However, after sending the message, Zoe didn't reply for quite some time.
Song checked the time. It was still early. Could she have gone to sleep already?
That didn't seem likely. When did celebrities ever sleep this early?
"Song, did you hear what I just said?"
Yu's disgruntled voice brought Song's wandering thoughts back to reality.
"Huh?" Song looked up at Yu, confused. He hadn't heard a word Yu had said earlier.
Yu sighed. "I said we have lunch tomorrow with Liang, the general manager of Yuehai Net. Don't forget."
Liang was responsible for the "Wenxin" project at Yuehai Net. He had a close relationship with Zhiqiu, which was why the major project had been handed to him as the lead producer, with Zhiqiu serving as a co-producer.
Of course, they wouldn't handle the day-to-day production.
Since it was related to "Wenxin," Song naturally nodded.
"You have no idea how many people are eyeing this project. I get dozens of calls daily from people begging for a role. Even Qingqing called, asking if there were any roles left for her—even a supporting one."
Song replied, "Just reject her."
"Reject her outright? Not even considering it? She's pretty popular right now."
"No matter how popular she is, she's not as popular as me."
Yu smirked but didn't argue.
When it came to the female lead, Song had already compromised by agreeing to Su taking the role. He wasn't about to make further concessions for any other major roles.
Everyone wanted a piece of this lucrative production, but Song made his position clear from the start.
This project was his.
No one else should dream of interfering.
If it weren't for Su's backing from Yuehai Net and the influence of her benefactor convincing Zhiqiu, Su wouldn't have even been on Song's consideration list.
Still, as a top-tier celebrity, Song knew he couldn't dictate everything.
He had to compromise on some things to secure others he wanted, such as the choice of director.
Yu hadn't mentioned the outcome of his meeting with Director Jiang, but Song didn't put much stock in Yu's efforts. He knew both Zhiqiu and Yu leaned toward Liang Hengjun.
Until Song could persuade Director Jiang, he couldn't let Zhiqiu or Yu catch wind of his plans and sabotage him.
A decoy was necessary.
Song picked up his phone again, frowning as he noticed Zoe still hadn't responded to his message.
Could she really have gone to bed?
Meanwhile, Zoe hadn't gone to bed but was watching a movie with Lan.
She had her phone on silent and didn't notice that someone on the other end was growing restless over her lack of response.
Zoe and Lan often watched movies together, analyzing themes and performances, but this tradition had been interrupted by a recent rift between them.
Tonight, they had resumed it.
After the movie ended, Zoe and Lan turned to each other and smiled.
"So boring."
"So cliché."
They spoke in unison, prompting another shared laugh.
"Classic chick flick—meet-cute, fall in love, misunderstanding, reconciliation, happy ending," Zoe sighed. "I shouldn't have expected much from it."
"But the box office is huge. Sometimes clichés mean accessibility—it's easier to resonate with most audiences," Lan commented objectively.
"Real love doesn't work that way," Zoe said. "Anyone who's truly loved wouldn't believe these stories."
Lan asked, "Zoe, have you ever been in love?"
"No."
"Then why do you talk like an expert?" Lan rolled her eyes.
Zoe huffed. "Plenty of kids cry their eyes out over stories like Romeo and Juliet. Love doesn't need firsthand experience to be understood."
"But you're an actress. Someday, you'll have to play a love story."
"I..." Zoe suddenly realized something and turned to Lan. "What are you trying to imply?"
"I think Song has feelings for you," Lan said.