I was criticized on a dating reality show, but I retaliated and became an internet sensation.

He leaned down, lifted her chin with one hand, and supported the back of her head with the other, then lowered his head and kissed her.

Shu Zi tilted her head back and passively endured it.

At first, she managed to hold on, her fingers gripping the phone, hanging in mid-air, unsure of where to put it.

But soon her neck started to ache, and she made a muffled "uh" protest:

"My neck is sore..."

Gu Yan stopped, looked down at her, and didn't say anything.

He put his hands under her armpits and lifted her up to sit on the back of the sofa.

Suddenly, she was at the same height as him, and Shu Zi instinctively grabbed his shoulder to steady herself.

The phone somehow slipped onto the sofa cushion, and no one paid any attention to it.

His hand gripped her waist, his fingertips tightening slightly. His gaze lingered on her slightly red lips for a moment before returning to hers.

The tip of my tongue pushed open her teeth, entering her mouth, tangling with her tongue, stirring slowly and deeply.

In the quiet living room, the soft sound of water could be clearly heard.

Shu Zi's breathing became completely disordered. Her fingers slowly clenched the fabric on his shoulders, and then little by little, they wrapped around his neck.

It took him a long time before he finally stopped.

His forehead pressed against hers, his breathing heavy, still carrying the lingering scent of his breath.

Shu Zi didn't open her eyes; her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her fingers were still on his shoulder, not letting go.

Several seconds passed before she slowly opened her eyes and met his gaze, which was so close to hers.

Gu Yan didn't rush to speak, but just looked at her, his Adam's apple bobbing heavily.

He stepped back slightly, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment, then bent down, slipped his hands under her knees, and lifted her up, face to face.

Shu Zi gasped softly at his action and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him.

He carried her around and took a few steps, then sat down on the sofa, letting her straddle his lap and fall steadily into his arms.

Her eyelashes were lowered, she didn't look at him, and her ears were red.

Gu Yan didn't rush to speak. He held her waist with one hand and slid the other hand from the back of her neck to her back, his palm against her spine, and pulled her closer to him.

Shu Zi leaned forward following his force, burying her face in the crook of his neck, her breathing not yet fully calm.

His chin rested gently on the top of her head, and his palm patted her back lightly, as if soothing a kitten that hadn't completely relaxed.

She paused for a moment before speaking, her voice muffled as it came from the crook of his neck:

"Gu Yan, did you do this on purpose?"

Gu Yan chuckled softly, his chest vibrating slightly, and the sound reached her ears: "Mmm."

Shu Zi was taken aback by his quick admission and then reached out to pinch his waist.

It wasn't very forceful; it was more like a light tickle, with a hint of playful teasing.

Gu Yan was pinched by her, but instead of dodging, he tightened his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

He looked down at her, his voice carrying a lazy laugh: "Then you didn't push me away just now."

Shu Zi looked up and glared at him: "That's because I didn't realize it!"

"Yes, I was wrong."

He said that, but there was no hint of remorse in his tone.

Shu Zi turned her face away from him, "...Shameless."

Gu Yan chuckled softly, but didn't reply. After a few seconds of silence, once she had recovered, he asked:

"Who were you just texting?"

Shu Zi's breathing had become much more steady. Leaning against him, her voice was still a little soft: "Assistant Liu."

Gu Yan raised an eyebrow: "What did you find out?"

She paused for a moment, then became more serious: "I suspect that Fang Yutong pushed Huanhuan, and Yu Shize may know about it."

Gu Yan looked down at her and asked, "What do you want to do?"

Shu Zi propped herself up slightly from his embrace, reached for her phone on the sofa cushion, turned on the screen, found a recording, and pressed play.

A male and a female voice can be heard in the recording.

"Yutong, I..."

"Stop talking. I've already said it before, it's over between us."

"..."

"Yu Shize, look at yourself in the mirror. Do you even deserve it now?"

"What good would it do me to go public with you? Resources? Popularity? Money? You can't give me any of those."

"I came to this show to climb the ladder, not to date you."

"..."

"Can't you see? It's because only in this way can I get traffic and popularity."

So, stop bothering me.

After the recording finished playing, Shuzi put down her phone:

"I had Assistant Liu check it; it's not synthetic."

She paused:

"I don't know who sent this to me. I've already had someone investigate, but it seems like they're targeting Fang Yutong. As for this recording, I can make good use of it."

"Once this is made public, coupled with Liang Zihao's incident, it will be more disadvantageous for Fang Yutong, but more advantageous for Shi Ze."

"Fang Yutong might suspect that it was Yu Shizeqian, but she's quite smart and won't act rashly. So we need to add fuel to the fire before making it public."

"For example, we can send the information we found about Fang Yutong to Chairman Liang, and he will know what to do."

Her gaze fell on his collarbone, her fingers unconsciously poking at it:

"Under this kind of pressure, people don't think very carefully. Given Fang Yutong's personality, I guess they must have had that conversation somewhere they thought was private."

"So once this recording is exposed, the only person Fang Yutong can think of is Yu Shize."

"They've been together for so long, I bet Fang Yutong has some dirt on Yu Shize."

"If Fang Yutong releases the information about Yu Shize first, Yu Shize, out of a desire to go down with her, will also release any evidence that Fang Yutong pushed Huanhuan."

She paused, then added:

"If Yu Shize's love for Fang Yutong is deep, then I have nothing to say... but the possibility is slim."

Gu Yan didn't reply. He just looked at her, his gaze fixed on her lips as they opened and closed, his eyes gradually darkening.

Shu Zi was completely oblivious to the change in his gaze and continued speaking:

"But if my speculation is true, then our program will probably have to be canceled. We still have one free task card left, and we can't let that old fox Director Liu get it and waste it."

On the other side, Director Liu, who was watching a freshly released video that was sure to blow up the entire internet once it was broadcast, suddenly felt an itch in his nose and let out a super loud sneeze.

He rubbed his nose and muttered something to himself:

"Who's cursing me...?"

Without giving it much thought, he immediately shared the video with the assistant director for backup, and specifically stated that it should not be leaked for the time being.

Here, Shu Zi increased the pressure of her poke at Gu Yan's collarbone slightly, one poke at a time:

"So, no matter what the mission is tomorrow, we're taking a break!"