Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

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The courtesy shown to this extent, it's either a sure deal or heading straight to the nuptial chamber.

"Alright, I'll think about it," Xu Qingyan said, "Don't overthink it, just have a good sleep. There's no one in the show who can beat you; I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

"Mhm, thank you." Pei Muchan hung up the phone.

Inside the car.

Xu Qingyan stared at the dashboard lights in the car, and couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.

In his memory, she rarely got this angry.

Pei Muchan never fought for anything, not even getting anxious during the album competition with Lin Wanzhou in the past two years, and now she even asked for his help.

Did the show crew say something? To make Pei Muchan say things like, "I want to take first place and then quit the competition!!!" was indeed strange.

Back home.

The house was empty and it was too late to stay up working, so he sent a few messages back to Pei Muchan, chatted for a bit, then too tired, he went to wash up and sleep.

The next day, Xu Qingyan got up very early.

His mind was still a bit foggy as he sat down to write something, then realized after a few minutes that he needed a computer. But he only had a laptop, which was in his studio.

So he took out his phone and, following an online guide, mindlessly bought a set of equipment.

After getting everything set up, he continued writing, the process of transcribing music wasn't complicated—determining the key, the chords, the basic rhythm. For someone with a good musical sense, there was no need to learn it.

Unfortunately, Xu Qingyan's talent was only above average, and it took him a month or two of high-intensity practice to become more adept.

He had to start recording "I Am the Singer King" in a week, and he needed to transcribe the scores of two songs within two days. He had prepared in advance, so time wasn't too tight.

Just last night, he was still considering changing the song, wanting to create something more explosive, to show off a little. But before going to bed, he suddenly saw the light—it was just a singing competition show, after all.

The production team had the final say, and in the end, they would decide who to eliminate.

Joining their show, knowing that after the revamp they valued gimmicks and ratings, although he said he wanted to take first place... but why work to death for it, earning money for whom? Cut the crap.

To put it bluntly, he had led Pei Muchan and Lin Wanzhou to both champion and runner-up titles, and it was still unclear whether he could even break even in the end.

If it was obvious that someone was being promoted while another was being suppressed, and Lin Wanzhou had outperformed Jiang Jingsheng while Pei Muchan had outperformed Jiang Jingsheng yet again, even with fair competition, the financiers might become restless.

Just take first place, and any more votes would be a waste. Why not save the good songs for the albums? Does the lousy show crew also deserve a piece of the pie?

Stop the nonsense, they think they deserve to benefit off my boss Pei?

One of these days, he would arrange a Love Story for Pei Muchan, let all the songs for the show explode, directly topping the new song charts. They still want to promote someone? To hell with that!

Let it go to hell, Allah sand them!

At five-thirty in the morning, Xu Qingyan mumbled names from the crew's family tree while he rushed his work, muttering to himself.

"Damn, I love you too much, boss Pei."

By seven o'clock, he arrived at the studio, and at ten fifteen, Xu Qingyan sent the score for "Riding a White Horse" to Pei Muchan. Then he found a small blanket, hid in the composing room, turned on the air conditioning, and went to sleep.

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In the office, Pei Muchan looked at the score on the computer, slightly lost in thought.

She had asked him just yesterday, and he was still saying something about not having a shadow of a score. Then in the afternoon, he went to see little sister Lin, and after returning, he came up with it?

She didn't know if it was little sister Lin's merit or if it was written for herself.

She was so lost in thought that she lowered her head and gently bit her lip.

She had been too impulsive yesterday. The show crew was talking too harshly, driving too hard a bargain. It was as if they were reluctant to let her continue recording, like they were generously giving her a chance to be rediscovered.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, which led to an impromptu call to Xu Qingyan.

It was odd how half her anger dissipated the moment the call connected. Yet she didn't want to repeat the crew's harsh words to him, and so she blurted out that heated declaration to take first place.

She had put up with worse before, had heard harsher words, but she always let it go in one ear and out the other, never letting it get to her head. Why did it seem to be coming back to haunt her now?

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She pinched her fingers, forcing herself to perk up.

Looking up at the computer, she carefully went over the music score once again, inadvertently becoming lost in thought. She didn't know how long he had been writing, the piece was completed, so why hasn't he appeared yet?

She looked over the music score three times, forgetting it thrice.

Lying back, she realized she had not absorbed anything, her heart heavy. She wasn't particularly angry; after spending a whole night, her anger had mostly dissipated. Strangely enough, her interest in the song seemed to have faded as well.

It wasn't that she had lost heart, it was just that there was always a sequence to things. She wanted to see what he was doing, seeing him immersed in the music studio since early in the morning, she didn't have the heart to disturb him.

Thinking this, she found herself at the door of the music studio.

The door wasn't locked, Pei Muchan gently knocked, but there was no response from inside. Curious, she wondered whether he had stepped out and turned the doorknob to push open the door.

The music studio's curtains were drawn, blocking out the light. The air conditioner was humming, a bit chilly.

Xu Qingyan was sleeping deeply, three chairs pushed together with his entire body wrapped in a gray blanket.

Standing at the door, Pei Muchan felt a bit at a loss and was about to leave. Suddenly, she realized this was the first time she had seen Xu Qingyan asleep, without a sound.

"Could he be breathless?" A ridiculous thought jumped into her mind suddenly.

As the thought emerged, news of sudden death and stroke flooded her mind uncontrollably. Looking at Xu Qingyan lying there so quietly, motionless, she became slightly panicked.

After a moment's hesitation, she held her breath and tiptoed over to him.

She dropped to her knees beside the chair, extending a slender white finger. Shaking nervously, she cautiously placed it under his nose.

Only when she felt the warm breath on her fingertip did she gently exhale a sigh of relief.

She felt childish and a bit embarrassed.

Just as she was about to stealthily withdraw her finger while he was still asleep, she realized, all of a sudden, that Xu Qingyan was awake—or not quite awake, his eyes half-open.

Catching a glimpse through a narrow slit, his eyes moved slightly, as if they saw her.

Suddenly, Pei Muchan's pupils dilated, and her face turned bright red.

Ah!!! Why now of all times! It was truly mortifying. She desperately wanted to run away, but her heart was racing so fast that her body couldn't move.

Gulping down saliva, the rouge on her face had spread to her neck, visibly covered with a shade of red.

She wanted to say something, but couldn't even make a sound.

Xu Qingyan was half-asleep, his eyelashes obscuring his vision, making it as unclear as if he were dreaming. Suddenly, he saw Pei Muchan's face, thinking it was part of a dream.

His mind told him that he had gone to sleep after working through the score today. Why was Pei Muchan so close to him? Was he dreaming about the scene on the plane from the other day again?

Honestly, he was too dedicated, fully committed to contributing to Boss Pei from morning till night.

Xu Qingyan was extremely sleepy, instinctively feeling this had to be a dream. Speaking in a dream seemed to take more effort than in reality, so he put in a bit more strength.

Pei Muchan was completely frozen, silently hoping he was still asleep, praying to herself. Unfortunately, Xu Qingyan's weak voice broke through, shattering her illusion.

"Pei... Boss~"

This address as 'boss' nearly scared her soul away. Saddened in her heart, she realized he was awake. This wouldn't do, she would have to find a way to make him forget this incident later.

She was about to speak, to find a somewhat normal excuse.

Not with, "I was checking if you were dead," "You look frightening while sleeping," "I'm worried about you." Such abrupt, inappropriate reasons.

Before she could speak, however, it was Xu Qingyan's murmuring that sounded first, weak and with a few unclear words in the middle.

"I really (damn) love you so much."

"Huh?" Pei Muchan's pupils shook violently, her mind went blank, her heart leaped sky-high in an instant.

By the time she regained her senses, Xu Qingyan had already turned over slightly and fallen back to sleep, his eyelids shut, breathing evenly.

In the dim music studio, only the sound of the air conditioner remained, whirring away.