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

Su Yanhuan sighed, leaned back in her wheelchair, and looked up at the ceiling:

"Okay, a total wipeout. This detective's career has suffered a major setback, especially since he was injured in the line of duty. Who would believe that?"

Jiang Yunyou added insult to injury: "You never had a professional career to begin with; you were just a temporary detective."

Su Yanhuan glared at him: "Secretary Jiang, you're fired now."

"I was appointed temporarily by you, so there's no question of dismissal."

"Then I hereby declare you temporarily dismissed."

"Does it make sense for you to fire a temporary worker?"

Director Liu's ears hurt from their noise, so he interrupted them directly:

"Stop, stop, stop! Okay, okay, game over. Everyone worked hard. Change clothes, remove makeup, and get ready to wrap up!"

"The changing area is in the hotel next door. I've already arranged rooms for everyone, one for each person. After changing, just go downstairs and get in the car, which will be waiting at the door."

"Let's have a good meal tonight and treat our brains!"

[Youbao and Huanhuan, you two should go and perform crosstalk, you're too good at it!]

I support it! Their banter provided all the laughs today. I suggest the production team give them a talk show segment.

[Director Liu: I directed a whole day's film, and at the end I still had to mediate a dispute between employees. Being a director is exhausting.]

[Hahahaha, Director Liu interrupted the spellcasting!]

Everyone was tricked by Gu Yan, but everyone had a lot of fun. This is the right way to play a murder mystery game.

[Fang Yutong: Huh? Happy? Me?]

Everyone responded and got up one after another to walk towards the door.

Shu Zi walked at the back, looking down at the message Liu Zhu had sent on her phone.

Upon reaching the hotel floor, she took her room key, followed the corridor to her room number, swiped the key, and pushed open the door.

The room lights were on.

She paused for a moment, looked up, and saw Gu Yan sitting on the sofa.

He had already changed his clothes, wearing a white shirt, his tie neatly tied, and the cuffs rolled up to his forearms, revealing a section of his wrist.

Shu Zi's gaze lingered on him for a few seconds, her hand still on the doorknob: "What are you doing here?"

Gu Yan looked up at her: "I'll wait for you."

Shu Zi said "Oh," went into the room, and closed the door behind her.

She bent down, kicked off her high heels, and walked barefoot onto the carpet to sit down in front of the dressing table.

Her figure was reflected in the mirror; she was shapely and graceful, still wearing her burgundy cheongsam, the silk flower at her temple slightly loosened, and her makeup remained exquisite.

"Why are you waiting for me?"

She took off one earring and placed it on the table, then reached out and took off the other one.

Gu Yan watched her retreating figure, his voice lowered:

"I need to go back to the company tonight."

"understood."

She took off her other earring and placed it on the table. Looking up in the mirror, she saw that he was still sitting there, his gaze fixed on her, showing no sign of leaving.

She turned around, looked at him, her gaze sweeping over him before finally settling on his face, raising an eyebrow:

"I need to change my clothes, aren't you leaving?"

Gu Yan leaned back on the sofa, his gaze fixed on her face, without moving.

Shu Zi met his gaze, remained silent for two seconds, and then suddenly chuckled softly.

She stood up, walked up to him, leaned slightly forward, and reached out to grab his tie.

She gently wrapped her fingertips around the piece of fabric, then pulled it towards herself.

She slightly raised her head, looked into his eyes, and said with a lazy smile in her voice, "Mr. Gu."

"Um."

She tilted her head, her tone soft and knowing, "Am I pretty?"

Gu Yan did not answer.

He took her hand, which was wrapped around his tie, and gently pulled her into his arms.

Shu Zi didn't struggle. She simply fell onto his lap, one hand still clutching his tie, the other hand bracing against his chest to steady herself.

The slit of her cheongsam slid open slightly with her movements, revealing glimpses of the lines of her legs.

She ignored him and just looked down at him.

Gu Yan tilted his head slightly, his gaze slowly sliding from her eyes to her lips. He paused for a moment before speaking, his voice low and husky:

"nice."

He paused, then added, "So beautiful that you don't want anyone else to see it."

Shu Zi smiled, loosened his tie, and gently lifted his chin with her fingertips.

She looked down at him, her gaze carrying a hint of nonchalant provocation, and lowered her voice:

"What should we do then? Everyone has already seen it today."

Gu Yan didn't speak, but tightened his grip on her waist.

He slowly lowered his head, his nose almost touching hers.

Shu Zi placed her hands on his chest, tilted her head slightly to look at him, and then uttered three words:

No, not for, my dear.

Gu Yan looked down at her, his gaze lingering on her lips for a moment, neither moving forward nor backward.

His voice lowered, carrying a hint of restrained hoarseness:

"Nuonuo, I've been holding back all day."

Shu Zi looked at him, a slight smile playing on her lips, her tone carrying a hint of deliberate sarcasm:

"Then you'll just have to bear with it."

Gu Yan didn't reply, but lowered his head and pressed his forehead against hers, their noses rubbing together, their breaths mingling, but he didn't actually kiss her.

He remained there, neither advancing nor retreating, as if waiting for her to relent.

Shu Zi felt a little ticklish from his rubbing and tilted her head slightly:

"It's no use trying to take advantage of me. I said I won't give it to you, and that's final."

Gu Yan didn't back away; his voice lowered even further, carrying a hint of persuasion:

"Then tell me, what do you want in return?"

Shu Zi pushed him away and bluntly uttered a few words: "I just won't give it to you!"

After saying that, she quickly got up, picked up a set of clothes, and went into the bathroom without looking back, closing the door with a "click".

Gu Yan leaned back on the sofa, glanced down at his empty arms, then looked up at the closed door, raised an eyebrow, and chuckled softly.

They've learned to flirt and then run away.

In the bathroom, Shu Zi hummed a little tune, in a good mood.

The article "Modern Women's Proactive Behavior Norms and Practical Case Analysis (with Emergency Escape Techniques for Flirting - Illustrated Edition)" that Fang Ran sent her last night was definitely not for nothing!

She was about to change out of her cheongsam when she reached for the zipper at the back of her head. She pinched the zipper pull and pulled it down, but it got stuck halfway down.

She tried to pull it up, but couldn't; she tried to pull it down, but still couldn't.

She tried again, but the zipper wouldn't budge, as if it were deliberately sticking to itself.

Shu Zi: "..."

Her smile froze on her face. She had just finished flirting with someone, and then she turned around and asked for help. This was just too, too, too... embarrassing.

Undeterred, she tugged at it a couple more times, but the zipper remained stuck, positioned between her shoulder blades, neither up nor down.

She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment in silence, closed her eyes in despair, and then spoke to the outside, her voice noticeably softer than before:

"...Gu Yan."