I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Unfortunately, that kind of thing won't happen to Chen Ya, that straight-laced bastard.

However, her words caused Jia Yi to misunderstand her meaning.

He thought Jiang Xinhai meant that he was unhappy that Chen Liang hadn't attended the meeting.

"Empress Jiang, some people are a bit arrogant and may not take these 'worldly' activities seriously. Please don't take it to heart. However, we younger generation here are also very talented, but we are more humble."

Jia Yi thought he had spoken very well. On the surface, it seemed like he was explaining for Chen Liang, but he also subtly praised everyone present.

In reality, his flattery backfired spectacularly. He himself was completely unaware of it.

Jiang Xinhai looked the person who had spoken up at him up and down, and asked, "Who are you...?"

"...I am Jia Yi."

"Oh, oh... Jia Yi." Jiang Xinhai nodded repeatedly, indicating that he had remembered.

Yu Xiaoxiao asked, "Empress Jiang, do you know Jia Yi?"

Jiang Xinhai said it very eloquently: "We didn't know each other before."

"Have you heard of him before? He's a very talented songwriter!" Yu Xiaoxiao chimed in, praising him.

Jiang Xinhai remained calm and said, "I think I've heard of it."

"..."

If Jiang Xinhai simply says "I've heard of it," then the conversation will be very easy.

But she said, "I think I've heard of it."

...That's a bit tricky.

Jia Yi felt like crying.

They were still thinking about the topic of the second creation within reach, but it turns out Jiang Xinhai still doesn't know his name!

He Su, standing to the side, chuckled and asked, "Empress Jiang, do you usually watch our programs?"

“Look, I’ve been watching!” Jiang Xinhai said immediately.

"How many contestants do you remember?" He Su asked.

"Uh……"

This stumped Jiang Xinhai. After a long pause, he finally managed to utter, "Chen Liang."

In the live stream chat, the chat erupted in laughter:

"He Su always brings up things that are hard to talk about. Jiang Tianhou said she had seen the program but was just being polite, but he really started digging into it."

"Empress Jiang wasn't being polite, was she? She must have watched this show, otherwise how could she have called out the name 'Chen Liang'?"

"It feels like Jiang Tianhou's goal is very clear; she's definitely after Chen Liang."

“No problem. She also said on Weibo that she became interested in the show after listening to ‘I Remember’.”

……

He Su chuckled dryly and said, "...Besides Chen Liang, which of the three contestants who are active on stage have left the deepest impression on you?"

He Su hadn't expected things to turn out this way, and he desperately tried to give Jiang Xinhai a way out, hoping to save face for the others.

Jiang Xinhai's gaze fell on Qin Yunshang, as if he had grasped a lifeline:

"Oh right, and Yunshang'er too, I have a very deep impression of her as well."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and He Su then asked, "Really? What impressed you most about her?"

Jiang Xinhai said, "She sang Chen Liang's 'I Remember'."

Everyone: "..."

I can see that.

Jiang Xinhai can't stop talking about Chen Liang!

……

The group chatted for a while longer, and fortunately, Jiang Xinhai maintained her goddess persona and didn't completely turn into Chen Liang's simp.

After the meeting, when Jiang Xinhai was alone and no one was paying attention, Guo Xiaoran called out to her.

"Empress Jiang".

Jiang Xinhai turned around and said, "You are... Guo Xiaoran, right?"

“Yes, yes,” Guo Xiaoran said with a big smile, “I wrote ‘I Really Miss You’.”

"Oh..." Jiang Xinhai hadn't actually heard that song before. "Did you need something from me?"

In the adult world, there isn't much room for impulsive actions; everyone has their own agenda.

Jia Yi's enthusiasm for Jiang Xinhai was purposeful. He had already been eliminated from the show and just wanted to use Jiang Xinhai to generate one last trending topic and salvage the losses from the variety show.

Guo Xiaoran certainly had her own agenda.

“I see you seem quite interested in Chen Liang,” Guo Xiaoran said with a smile. “It’s a pity he’s not here today.”

Upon hearing Chen Liang's name, Jiang Xinhai's interest was piqued, and he asked, "What, are you acquainted with him?"

Guo Xiaoran shook his head: "I'm not familiar with him. The more I get to know him, the more I feel there are many mysteries surrounding him. That's how I feel."

Jiang Xinhai was delighted and said, "You think so too?"

"Ok?"

"Uh, what I mean is, do you think there are many mysteries surrounding Chen Liang?" Jiang Xinhai quickly tried to explain.

“Yes,” Guo Xiaoran nodded, “For example, last time I went out drinking with Chen Liang, I was shocked to find out that he was also connected with the Japanese Yakuza.”

"The underworld?"

Guo Xiaoran looked inscrutable, which piqued Jiang Xinhai's interest.

Guo Xiaoran still has the final competition to go, and Jiang Xinhai is a judge for the final. Her opinion will significantly influence the final result.

Her initial high level of goodwill towards Chen Liang was quite disadvantageous for the other contestants.

If someone can trip up Chen Liang from behind, then of course we should act quickly, otherwise the others really won't be able to play along.

“Yes, he has connections with the Japanese Yakuza,” Guo Xiaoran said. “We were drinking together outside before, and he drank a bit too much. He got into a fight with a member of the Yakuza, and the other party called a large group of people over to make a move. But somehow he knew a Yakuza boss, so the matter was dropped.”

Jiang Xinhai stared wide-eyed and said, "Is that so?"

“Yes, I was also very surprised at the time,” Guo Xiaoran said. “I don’t know how he met me. I heard that he studied in Japan before, but I don’t know what he did during his studies.”

Guo Xiaoran misattributed the blame, attributing all the things she and Jia Yi did to Chen Liang.

He wasn't afraid of his lies being exposed—Chen Liang couldn't possibly be so close to Jiang Xinhai that they would discuss this matter, could he?

Moreover, it is well known that Jiang Xinhai's family has a good reputation. If they knew that Chen Liang had connections with the underworld, they would definitely keep their distance.

After listening, Jiang Xinhai nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. Thank you for telling me this."

Guo Xiaoran smiled and then added, "Empress Jiang may appreciate talent, but talent is not the same as character. It's best not to get too close to Chen Liang in the future. After all, you can know a person's face but not their heart, so you should still be careful."

Jiang Xinhai's lips curled into a mocking smile: "You're concerned about me?"

Guo Xiaoran smiled and said, "Of course, I'm your fan, so naturally I don't want you to get hurt."

Jiang Xinhai sneered and said, "Alright, I understand. I need to rest now."

"I'll take you back to your room."

"Need not."

After respectfully watching Jiang Xinhai leave, Guo Xiaoran clenched his fist.

He felt that his plan had been quite successful.

Judging from Jiang Xinhai's expression, he had clearly taken it to heart.

Jiang Xinhai returned to his room, took out his phone, opened Chen Ya's chat, and stared blankly into space.

After a while, she took off her coat, leaving only a thin tank top underneath, made a peace sign with her left hand, and took a selfie with the hotel as the background.

Then, she cut out a line of text from Chen Ya's chat box:

"I've come to your turf to wait for you, are you scared?"

After thinking for a moment, she deleted it, then carefully selected another line:

"You're too scared to see me, so you ran away, huh? Hmph, I've come here to catch you."

After thinking about it, she deleted it again.

When are you coming back? I miss you.

Jiang Xinhai lay sprawled on the bed, holding his phone. The cursor flickered, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally deleted the sentence.

In the end, she only sent a selfie.

Soon, Chen Ya replied:

"It's good, I love watching it, and I want to watch it again."

Jiang Xinhai raised his nose, revealing a smug expression, and typed:

"Come now and unlock more packages."

Chen Ya sent a message: "Can't come back."

Jiang Xinhai cursed Chen Ya in his heart and deleted the selfie he had just taken.

Chen Ya panicked and immediately sent a message:

"Don't take it back! This is the time when we need your emotional support. Send another one. I want to see legs."

"Climb, climb, climb." Jiang Xinhai had had enough of this guy who was never around.

But she took off her socks, put her legs together, spent a long time adjusting the focus on her phone, and snapped a picture.

She deliberately delayed for a few minutes before clicking send on the photo.

"Have mercy, I'll show you my legs, then I'll withdraw in one minute."

A minute passed, and she still hadn't retracted her message, waiting for Chen Ya's reply.

Two minutes later, Chen Ya finally replied:

"Like a sausage."

"Get out!" Jiang Xinhai angrily typed.

"They didn't say the legs looked like sausages," the other person said.

Jiang Xinhai asked in confusion, "What is that that looks like a sausage?"

"you guess?"

Jiang Xinhai guessed for a long time, his face flushed, and typed on his phone:

"Get lost!"

……

The next day, Lu Qingxuan woke everyone up early and rushed to Liu Ruying's hotel to meet her.

Today is the day Qin Yunshang made her debut performance at a livehouse in Japan.

After a minor argument with Qin Yunshang yesterday, the two people with very different personalities unexpectedly developed a mutual appreciation for each other.

She's even more determined than Xiao Qing now, insisting on seeing Qin Yunshang's concert.

According to her, Qin Yunshang highly praised Chen Liang's songs, and she wanted to see just how good they were.

The implication is that if it doesn't sound good, then they'll start criticizing.

Actually, since returning, Xiao Qing had played Qin Yunshang's "I Remember" for her. Lu Qingxuan didn't comment, because she wasn't very fond of folk songs.

It could be said that everyone else went to see Qin Yunshang, but she was the only one who went to see Chen Liang.

When the group arrived at the designated livehouse, there were more people than they had expected.

In Japan, idols and singers are two different professions; idols are idols, and singers are singers.

Singers are considered artists and are highly respected, while idols are the opposite.