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

Shu Zi's breathing became completely disordered. Her fingers clenched the fabric of his chest, her fingertips turning slightly white, but she did not push him away.

After a long while, he finally relaxed, raised his head slightly, and looked at the mark he had left behind, a satisfied smile curving his lips.

On that fair skin, a red mark was slowly emerging, like a plum blossom petal fallen on the snow.

Shu Zi turned her head away from him, her ears burning red, her chest still heaving.

Gu Yan looked at it for a moment, and then buried it again.

After a long while, he finally stepped back slightly, his voice low and languid with satisfaction: "Nuonuo..."

-

Shu Zi suddenly opened her eyes, stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, and then slowly sat up.

Her face flushed red, and she looked down at herself, feeling like she was about to turn red.

She grabbed a pillow and threw it off the bed, gritting her teeth as she cursed, "Gu Yan, you're a real menace!"

She sat on the edge of the bed for a while, touched her burning face with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and then got out of bed and went into the bathroom to wash her face.

The cool water splashed on my face, finally calming down the heat a bit.

She looked up at her reflection in the mirror, her face still slightly flushed. She pursed her lips, wiped her face, lay back down on the bed, and began to silently recite the Heart-Cleansing Mantra.

On the other side, the photographer stood in a dead end and dialed Yu Shize's number again.

A few seconds later, a steady, mechanical female voice came from the receiver: "Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."

He refused to believe it and dialed Fang Yutong's number again. The mechanic apologized to him once more, her tone even gentler than before.

Photographer: "..."

He glanced down at the camera he was carrying, then looked up at the wall in front of him.

After a moment of silence, he faced the camera and said in an extremely calm tone:

"Dear viewers, I have good news and bad news."

"The good news is that I think I'll have a lot of material to cover today; the bad news is that I lost track of my guest."

He paused, then added, "Two."

After saying that, he put down the camera, squatted down by the roadside, and started sending messages to Director Liu.

The message was concise, consisting of only a few lines:

"Director Liu, I think I've lost them. There were two forks in the road, and I chose one, but when I got to the end, it was a dead end. I'm turning back now, and I can't get through to them on the phone."

After sending the message, he squatted down and waited for a while until his phone vibrated.

Director Liu's reply consisted of only one word:

"try to find!!!!!!!"

The photographer stared at the word and the string of exclamation marks for two seconds, took a deep breath, stood up, picked up his equipment, and walked forward.

He came to another fork in the road, stopped, glanced back and forth between the two roads, then closed his eyes, raised his finger and tapped it twice in the air.

Commanding troops, riding horses into battle, those with money drink, those without get out! Egg!

He opened his eyes and resignedly hurried after the path he had chosen.

Photographer: This is so hard!

Good news: Lots of footage. Bad news: The footage consists of a wall and my back view.

[Photographer: Calling out the troops is my last act of defiance]

[I suggest the production team equip the cameramen with a BeiDou satellite navigation system, or even a dog would do.]

[Hahahaha, I suspect the photographer is already writing his resignation letter in his head right now!]

On the other side, Fang Yutong and Yu Shize walked out from the exit of another alley.

Fang Yutong stopped and looked at Yu Shize after confirming that no one was around: "What is it?"

While in the car, Yu Shize told her to find a secluded place because he had something to say.

Yu Shize looked at her, remained silent for two seconds, and then said, "You pushed Su Yanhuan down."

Fang Yutong paused for a moment, met his gaze, and said calmly without the slightest hesitation, "I didn't."

Yu Shize didn't reply. He took out his phone from his pocket, opened a video, and turned the screen towards her.

The night before last, the night of the power outage, Yu Shize happened to be out making a phone call to Zhao Qihang. Before he could even dial the number, he saw Fang Yutong come out as well.

Because of the power outage, and because he was standing at the other end of the corridor, Fang Yutong didn't see him.

He followed her and found that Su Yanhuan had suddenly come out as well. Fang Yutong seemed to be stunned for a moment, and then followed behind her.

He sensed something was wrong with Fang Yutong, so he turned on his phone's video recording function and recorded this video.

The scene was dark, but it was clear that it was a corridor on the second floor of the villa.

In the video, Su Yanhuan appears at the stairwell, followed by Fang Yutong. Then, Fang Yutong can be seen moving closer to Su Yanhuan as she goes downstairs.

The video was short. After it finished playing, Yu Shize put down his phone and looked at her.

When Fang Yutong saw the video, a hint of panic flashed in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.

She looked up at Yu Shize, the warmth in her gaze gradually fading, her tone cold:

"What? What do you want to do? Call the police and have me arrested?"

Yu Shize's lips moved slightly as he looked at her, his gaze complex.

He was silent for a few seconds, then his voice lowered, carrying a hint of unspoken bitterness:

"Tongtong, what happened to you?"

Fang Yutong sneered, "What are you pretending to be so high and mighty for?"

Yu Shize was stunned for a moment.

Fang Yutong looked at him, her tone laced with undisguised sarcasm: "And how much better are you than me?"

Yu Shize frowned: "What do you mean?"

Fang Yutong tilted her head slightly and glanced at him indifferently:

"Do you think your role in 'Under the Bright Moon' came legitimately? You replaced a pre-selected auditionee and used underhanded tactics to force the original actor out. Do you really think nobody knows about these things?"

Yu Shize's face darkened: "You investigated me."

Fang Yutong chuckled, neither confirming nor denying, but simply looking at him with a calm tone:

"So, neither of us is clean, so let's not judge each other. If this gets out, your secrets won't be kept either."

After saying that, she didn't look at him again and turned to walk out first.

Yu Shize stood still for two seconds, then followed.

On the other side, after a difficult decision and a long trek, the photographer finally decided to give up on self-rescue and prepare to go back for help.

He carried the equipment, dejected, and returned the way he came, already thinking about how to explain to Director Liu the whole process of losing two grown men.

He even had a title in mind: "On how two adults can disappear into thin air in an alley."

Then he turned around and saw Fang Yutong and Yu Shize sitting face to face at a small table in front of the rice noodle shop on the street corner, each with a bowl of noodles in front of them, eating with their heads down.

It seems like a peaceful and idyllic time.

Photographer: "..."