Chapter 21

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Chapter 21: Title

These past two days, Song Yutian seemed like a completely different person. Whether it was her personality or her attitude toward him, the changes were so drastic that they completely defied Gu Feng’s understanding.

This strange shift had been troubling Gu Feng, leaving him utterly perplexed.

However, the reason he had just thought of now perfectly explained why all of this was happening.

Song Yutian was in a relationship. Or rather, had she found a new target? (Reworded for better flow: Or had she found a new target?)

In short, there had to be another man involved.

The more Gu Feng thought about it, the more convinced he became. He looked at Song Yutian with a "So that’s how it is" expression.

Song Yutian: "…Hmm?"

Song Yutian had been focused on her phone when she suddenly heard someone speaking nearby. She turned to Gu Feng with a puzzled look.

Gu Feng suddenly felt a fresh wave of regret.

Just moments ago, he thought he had finally figured out something that had been troubling him for two whole days. In his relief, he blurted out the question without thinking, completely forgetting that they were still live-streaming.

Only now did he realize that his words might have been broadcast word for word through the microphone to countless viewers.

Gu Feng’s regret didn’t stem from concern that publicly asking such a question might negatively impact the actress.

Rather, such a query severely undermined his image. He was a business elite, not some gossip-obsessed man fixated on others’ romantic lives.

But denying it would only make him look more suspicious.

Seeing Gu Feng’s hesitant look, Song Yutian raised an eyebrow. "What’s wrong? What did you want to ask earlier?"

Clenching his teeth, Gu Feng repeated, "I asked—are you dating someone?"

"…Hmm?" A long questioning hum followed as Song Yutian frowned. "Are you drunk?"

Gu Feng paused, then looked at Song Yutian as if she were speaking nonsense.

"There’s no wine on this table at all."

Song Yutian shot him the same look back. "Then what on earth made you hallucinate like that just now?"

Gu Feng: "…"

Exhausted from a day of physical labor, Gu Feng had no energy left to carefully consider the thoughts of an audience with every word. He simply blurted out whatever came to mind.

"I saw you grinning like an idiot at your phone earlier. If it’s not a relationship, what else could it be?"

Gu Feng had deliberately chosen his words—he’d originally wanted to say, "You clearly found a new target again."

Song Yutian’s expression shifted—first to confusion, then to speechlessness.

"In your eyes, is romance the only thing that pleases a woman?"

Gu Feng dismissed it with a shrug. "What else could it be?"

"Of course, it’s—" Song Yutian looked at him like he was a fool. "Money."

She pushed her phone slightly to the left on the table and lowered her hand, letting Gu Feng see the text message:

[XX Bank: Your account has received a deposit of RMB 8,000.00 at 18:00.]

Gu Feng wore a shocked expression, hovering between speech and silence.

He opened his mouth slightly, closed it, then couldn’t help but ask, "This is—?"

How dare she so brazenly flaunt money deposited by her sponsor?

And… just eight thousand? He, Gu Feng, could easily give her eighty thousand—or even more!

Gu Feng completely failed to realize that, as the son of Gu Group’s chairman, he’d encountered countless women like this. So why was he feeling such indignation this time? Why was he even comparing himself?

Song Yutian first frowned in confusion at Gu Feng’s expression, then realized he had misunderstood.

Rolling her eyes internally, she slowly enunciated three words: "Pro.ject. fee."

Gu Feng: "…"

Gu Feng: "You were laughing so happily earlier just because this small payment came through?"

Song Yutian retorted, "What else?"

Gu Feng was left speechless.

Then he realized there was actually a flicker of joy—and even relief—blossoming in his heart.

Perhaps it was because Song Yutian hadn’t found a new target so quickly, reassuring him that his charm was still intact.

After a moment, Gu Feng forcibly suppressed this secret pleasure and coldly spat out two words: "Shallow."

"Oh." Song Yutian dismissed Gu Feng’s words entirely. "Mr. Gu, who grew up in luxury, naturally can’t understand ordinary people."

Though the live-stream audience couldn’t see Song Yutian’s text messages, they could roughly piece together what had happened from their conversation.

[Hahaha, so relatable! Every time my paycheck hits, I instantly feel happier too.]

[Hahahaha, I’m dying of laughter because of Sister Song!]

[Hahaha, I’m starting to believe what Sister Song said—she’s only here for the appearance fee!]

[Is this some new gold-digging persona?]

[Getting happy over a paycheck makes someone a gold-digger? Are you working for free, then?]

The first few bullet comments were all "hahaha," but gradually, some began discussing Song Yutian’s clapback at Gu Feng—

[She’s right—women don’t just need love, they need money too.]

[All girls should learn from Song Yutian—don’t be love-obsessed; earning money is the real deal.] (Added a semicolon for correct sentence structure.)

[Did Sister Song join this show just to roast men? Gu Feng and Gong Yu have already been burned.]

[Isn’t this just picking on the weak? If it were those two with more fans, would she dare?]

[Just Song’s new persona. I don’t believe she’d dare talk back to Qin Yuanzhuo or Zhong Yueli.]

There were also many viewers with unconventional focus points—

[Am I the only one curious about Song Yutian’s appearance fee?]

[Gu Feng’s expression just now was too shocked! How low exactly is Sister Song’s salary?]

[Gu Feng used the phrase "this small amount" to describe it. Is it really that little?] (Added quotation marks for clarity.)

[Gu Feng is executive-level. The "small amount" he mentioned must be different from our standards.]

[Those saying Song Yutian’s pay is low are probably overthinking it. Maybe millions are trivial sums in Mr. Gu’s eyes.]

Although viewers were enthusiastically discussing Song Yutian and Gu Feng’s conversation, others present at the scene couldn’t hear their dialogue clearly without microphone amplification.

However, after these two finished speaking, a soft chuckle came from nearby.

It was Wei Yao, sitting to the right of Song Yutian.

Wei Yao covered her mouth and chuckled for a while before saying to Song Yutian, "Yutian, I find myself liking you more and more."

"Right? Women understand women better, after all." Song Yutian raised her eyebrows with a smile, lifting her orange juice-filled wine glass. "Cheers."

Wei Yao also raised her glass. With a clink, the two women exchanged knowing smiles.

Meanwhile, Gu Feng sat on the left side, watching the two women who had suddenly started clinking glasses beside him, looking utterly bewildered.

After dinner came the interview session once again.

However, this interview differed from yesterday’s. Although two people were still interviewed as a group, this time they entered separate interview rooms.

The first to be interviewed were Gu Feng and Song Yutian. After the two were seated, the program group asked the first question:

"Did you anticipate today’s ranking beforehand?"

Gu Feng replied, "This ranking is still a bit unexpected for me. Originally, I thought I could conserve some energy during the first half of the competition, but I didn’t expect to take first place in the very first match."

Song Yutian replied, "It was within expectations. After all, I joined this competition specifically to win."

The program group asked, "How would you evaluate your teammate’s performance?"

Gu Feng replied, "Well, Song Yutian’s performance was indeed somewhat surprising. I don’t know how to put it… Maybe we could consider this her exceeding expectations? The strategy she conceived happened to be something I could help execute."

Song Yutian replied, "Gu Feng’s performance was exactly as I imagined. I’m already very happy that he could cooperate with me at his normal level."

The program group asked, "Please express in one sentence your expectations for your teammate in tomorrow’s competition."

Gu Feng replied, "I hope she can strive to continue exceeding expectations."

Song Yutian replied, "I hope he can continue to cooperate like he did today."

The interview concluded, and the two walked out of the interview room, exchanging a brief nod as they passed each other, pretending as if nothing had happened.

Only the audience knew what had truly occurred during the interview moments earlier.