Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

As noon approached, the morning's field trip came to a temporary end.

Shen Weimin glanced at his watch and closed the folder.

"Let's go, I'll take you to the staff cafeteria for a quick bite."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yu immediately perked up and leaned over to ask in a low voice.

"Director Shen, does the cafeteria have braised pork?"

"Fried liver is fine too, I'm really not picky."

Shen Weimin glanced at him sideways.

"What are you thinking? This is the Forbidden City, not Qianmen Snack Street."

"Just regular home-style dishes, all you can eat."

Fang Yu felt a little regretful, but only for two seconds.

"Alright, if you're full, then I've won."

"After all, it's the royal palace canteen; everything you eat is imbued with the dragon's aura."

Shen Weimin ignored him and turned to leave.

……

The staff canteen of the Palace Museum.

To be honest, it was completely different from what Fang Yu had imagined.

There were no carved beams and painted rafters, no imperial chefs, and no octagonal tables made of golden nanmu wood or bowls and plates made of Jun ware blue and white porcelain.

It was just an ordinary stainless steel dining table, with a queue in front of the food window, the plates clattering, not much different from the school cafeteria when he was in school.

The group consisted mostly of Palace Museum staff in work uniforms—restorers, researchers, security personnel, and administrative staff, with various name tags hanging around their necks.

The appearance of the two big stars, Fang Yu and Liu Yifei, still caused a small commotion.

Several young female researchers glanced at it several times.

But the people here are very disciplined.

No one crowded around for autographs, and no one took out their phone to take pictures.

At most, he'd whisper in a colleague's ear, "Is it so-and-so...?"

Then continue queuing for food.

……

The food was simple, but it smelled wonderful.

The braised pork belly is stewed until tender and flavorful, the scrambled eggs with tomatoes are golden in color, the stir-fried seasonal vegetables are bright green and refreshing, and the Mapo tofu is fresh, fragrant, and slightly spicy. Served with a large bowl of steaming hot seaweed and egg drop soup, you can eat as much rice as you like.

Fang Yu's long-awaited braised pork dish naturally failed to materialize.

But he didn't mind, quickly filled a large plate, found a seat by the window, and as soon as he sat down, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of the plate.

Liu Yifei sat down opposite him with her own portion, and was completely dumbfounded when she saw what he did.

What are you doing?

"Checking in."

Fang Yu didn't even look up, his fingers clicking rapidly on the screen.

"This is the Palace Museum staff canteen. Count how many celebrities in the entire Chinese entertainment industry can sneak in and eat here for free!"

"How could I not post it on WeChat Moments? It would be a disservice to my hard-earned access pass."

He even wrote the copy in the blink of an eye.

"Masters in the Forbidden City...the canteen next door serves dry food."

"Done, sending!"

Liu Yifei burst out laughing when she saw his smug look, as if he had gotten a great deal.

After he said that, this ordinary meal suddenly seemed to have a unique and impressive feel to it.

Liu Yifei hesitated for a moment, looking at Fang Yu's photo and then at the exquisitely prepared food on her plate.

Then, he quietly took out his phone and took a picture of his plate.

Ok.

The composition is perfect, and the lighting is superb.

……

After dinner, Shen Weimin had an important meeting and couldn't keep an eye on them any longer.

Before leaving, he handed Fang Yu and the other person over to a young assistant beside him.

"Xiao Zhang, take them around again this afternoon, but be careful."

After saying those four words, Shen Weimin paused for a moment.

Their gazes fell on Fang Yu.

At this moment, Fang Yu was holding a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup, tilting his head back and slurping it down loudly, looking completely satisfied.

The way Shen Weimin looked at him was no different from looking at a time bomb.

"Especially him, keep a close eye on him."

Xiao Zhang immediately stood at attention.

"Don't worry, Director Shen! I guarantee the mission will be accomplished!"

Shen Weimin then picked up his thermos and quickly left the cafeteria.

……

The afternoon field trip continued in the vicinity of the Western Six Palaces.

Fang Yu and Liu Yifei followed Xiao Zhang to see the details of several palaces under renovation. Fang Yu would occasionally stop to write a few words in his sketchbook or type a few fragmented sentences in his phone's memo app.

Liu Yifei didn't bother him.

She simply walked quietly beside him, occasionally stealing a glance when he stopped to write.

Around 5 p.m., the day's field trip came to a successful end.

When the two emerged from Shenwu Gate, the sky over the capital was already tinged with an orange-red sunset.

Fang Yu stretched.

"Let's go back and treat ourselves."

"Where to?"

"The convenience store downstairs from your house."

Liu Yifei sighed, "...Couldn't we have gone somewhere with even a little bit of class?"

"There's no oden in places with class," Fang Yu replied confidently.

Liu Yifei was speechless for half a second.

Then he nodded.

"Okay, I'll also buy two bags of potato chips."

……

7 PM.

Liu Yifei's home, East Fourth Ring Road.

The living room lights were set softly, and outside the floor-to-ceiling windows were the lights of countless homes in Beijing.

The night breeze in March was still a bit chilly, but the heating inside was just right.

The two of them snuggled up on the large sofa, looking like an ordinary young couple.

The coffee table was covered with the spoils the two had bought from the convenience store downstairs.

Oden, fried chicken nuggets, potato chips, and two bottles of sugar-free cola with their respective brand ambassadors' images printed on them.

No movies tonight, and no work-related conversations.

The tablet's screen was projected directly onto the large TV in the living room.

On the screen, a huge program logo exploded in sync with dynamic sound effects.

"Idol New Generation".

World premiere, initial rating live.

I said…

Liu Yifei tore open a bag of original flavor potato chips, popped a chip into her mouth, crunched it, and then turned her head to look at Fang Yu.

"Why are you suddenly interested in boy band auditions?"

She tilted her head, her eyes filled with obvious confusion.

"You don't even bother to check your own trending topics."

In Liu Yifei's mind, Fang Yu had always kept his distance from fan-related things like data, traffic, and voting.

When you can afford to slack off, never actively engage in business.

It's a bit unusual that he actually suggested watching the trainee audition livestream today.

"Just browsing."

Fang Yu stuffed a piece of fried chicken into his mouth and mumbled:

"It's good to know the market trends, see what kind of things young people like these days, and keep up with the times so as not to be left behind."

Liu Yifei said "Oh," but her eyes were still full of doubt.

She always felt that something was off about Fang Yu, especially that faint, mysterious smile at the corner of his mouth.

……

at the same time.

Hangzhou, thousands of miles away.

On the set of "Idol New Generation".

In a corner of the waiting area that the camera couldn't reach.

Cai Kun, a trainee from Xingyao Entertainment, was sitting at the end of a row of benches with his teammates.

As they watched the diverse performances on stage and listened to the unedited, authentic sound effects, their palms were sweaty.

"Brother Kun, I...I'm a little panicked."

The teammate next to him swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly.

"This live stream didn't have any auto-tuning. If someone sings off-key later, it'll be like public execution..."

Cai Kun took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He looked down, carefully adjusted the gray thin straps of his specially chosen overalls, and then patted his teammate's shoulder heavily.

"Don't panic."

"Brother Yu said he'll be watching us on TV and cheering us on!"

Upon hearing this, the teammate next to him widened his eyes instantly, looking at him with an expression that seemed to say, "Dude, are you running a fever?"

"???"

You actually believe that?

How could someone like Brother Yu, who dominates the charts and can even go to the Forbidden City for research, have the interest to sit in front of the TV and watch the competition between these two small fry?