My cousin asked me to go to Wuha, and Hanikezi stuck to me.

"Great! I want to be on your team this time!"

Chen Yi stared at the line of text on the screen for five seconds, his fingers hovering over the keyboard for a moment, before finally typing out only three words.

"We'll see."

Hanikezi replied instantly with a dissatisfied emoji, captioned "You're just giving me the runaround again."

Chen Yi locked the screen, threw the phone on the table, and stopped looking at it.

Two days later, in Hengdian Ancient Town.

When Chen Yi got out of the van, the first person to greet him was Xiao Zhao, the executive director of the program, whose attitude was completely different from last time.

"Brother Yi is here! The dressing room is this way, the stylist is already waiting!" Xiao Zhao bent over and led the way, walking so fast he almost tripped on the steps.

During the recording of the last episode, this Xiao Zhao couldn't even remember his name and called him "Teacher Chen's cousin" the whole time.

Chen Yi followed him into the dressing room, where two styling options were already prepared in front of three mirrors, and the makeup artist and hairstylist surrounded him at the same time.

"Brother Yi, what do you think of this traditional Chinese style look? The designer worked overnight to create it." The makeup artist held up a modified Hanfu.

"Any set will do." Chen Yi sat down in the dressing chair.

The makeup artist smiled ingratiatingly and began applying powder to his face. Footsteps and laughter came from outside the door, growing closer and closer.

The door to the dressing room was pushed open from the outside, and Chen Chichi poked half his head in.

"Is my cousin here?"

He saw Chen Yi sitting in the dressing chair being served by three people, and his expression froze for a moment.

"Last time you came, there wasn't even a private dressing room. You just wiped your face on the folding chair next to me." Chen Chichi's tone was so sour it could drip water.

"That's because I wasn't worth much last time," Chen Yi said expressionlessly. "Now I am."

"Your mouth will get you into trouble sooner or later." Chen Chichi walked in and plopped down on the sofa next to him. "Deng Chao and Lu Han are already here, just waiting for you to come out."

"What's the rush? Recording doesn't start until 10 o'clock."

"They're not waiting to record, they're waiting to see you and Hani on screen together!" Chen Chichi rolled his eyes. "That old bastard Deng Chao has been saying in the group chat since yesterday that he'll be your audience today."

Chen Yi didn't respond. The makeup artist swept the last stroke on his brow bone, then stepped back two steps to examine him closely.

"It's done, Yi-ge."

Chen Yi stood up and changed into a modified Chinese style outfit: a black stand-up collar jacket with dark patterns, paired with matching trousers, and a silver-gray woven belt around his waist.

The three staff members in the dressing room stopped what they were doing and stared at him.

Chen Chichi jumped up from the sofa.

"I've really messed up. Sending you into this industry is like giving myself my biggest competitor." Chen Chichi pointed at Chen Yi in the mirror. "If you go out dressed like this, I'll be standing next to you as your shoe-bearer."

"You were just here to carry my shoes."

"Chen Yi!"

The two walked out of the dressing room and along the bluestone path toward the main recording venue. Along the way, all the staff looked back at Chen Yi. Some took out their phones to take pictures, while others whispered to their colleagues.

The main venue was a renovated ancient stage, with guest seats set up in front of it. Deng Chao and Lu Han were already sitting there drinking tea.

Deng Chao was the first to look up and see Chen Yi, and his teacup paused for a moment.

"The frequent visitor to the trending topics is here!" Deng Chao stood up, patted Chen Yi on the shoulder, and looked him up and down. "This look is great. I suspect that Lao Wang is filming you as the male lead."

Lu Han also stood up and added with a smile.

"Brother Yi, to tell you the truth, after the last episode aired, the number of views for your guitar-playing cut was higher than all my solo shots combined."

"I'm really sorry," Chen Yi said without any apology.

"Your apology has no sincerity at all!" Lu Han said with a laugh.

Chen Chichi squeezed in from behind, looking resentful.

"I personally served my competitor to him and even handed him the knife and fork."

The entire staff burst into laughter.

Old Wang peeked out from behind the monitor, saw Chen Yi, and quickly walked over.

"Chen Yi! You have to give it your all this time!" Old Wang patted his arm, his voice brimming with barely concealed excitement. "The viewership numbers for last episode were phenomenal! The platform is demanding that this episode surpass it!"

"Old Wang, has my appearance fee gone up?" Chen Yi asked.

"It's gone up! It's gone up fivefold!" Old Wang waved his hand.

"Only five times?"

"You're just like your cousin!" Old Wang said angrily, turning around and leaving.

Chen Yi sat down in the guest section, and Deng Chao leaned over and lowered his voice.

"Honey hasn't arrived yet, probably in the dressing room." Deng Chao winked. "Bro, was that beach walk last time scripted or real?"

"What script? What script do you need to walk?" Chen Yi picked up the teacup in front of him.

"Don't pretend with me, there are 30 million people on the internet watching you two flirting." Deng Chao chuckled.

Chen Yi ignored him and took a sip of tea.

A commotion arose from the direction of the venue entrance, and the staff all turned to look in that direction. Chen Yi caught a glimpse of a figure wearing a red traditional Chinese dress walking quickly towards them.

Hanikezi.

She wore a full face of makeup today, her long hair was braided into a side braid and hung over her shoulder, and the red color made her look extremely bright and beautiful.

As soon as she entered, she skipped over everyone else and precisely locked her gaze on Chen Yi in the guest seats.

He quickened his pace, almost jogging over.

Chen Chichi reached out to greet her, but she walked right past him, while Deng Chao laughed so hard he almost fell over.

Hanikezi stopped in front of Chen Yi, slightly out of breath, unable to suppress the smile in her eyes.

"You're not allowed to leave me this time."

These words clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

The indicator light on the microphone boom was lit in red. Director Lao Wang sat up abruptly behind the monitor. He turned to look at the editor next to him, and the two exchanged a knowing glance—this episode's CP footage was enough to edit three episodes of iconic scenes.