Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

Women's moods are fickle, changing with the slightest breeze.

The car entered the tech park, just past the gate.

Pei Muchan suddenly took the initiative and said, "You remember that singer competition show I mentioned? How about you think it over and fly to Jianye with me next week?"

"I'm going too?" Xu Qingyan hesitated.

It wasn't for any other reason, but he knew that Lin Wanzhou would also be on that show. Moreover, as far as he could tell, Pei Muchan seemed unaware of this news.

She usually browsed her phone, not to check Weibo, but to play some small games or watch dance videos.

Yet Xu Qingyan had never seen her dance and was skeptical about it.

"The show promises to reimburse the assistant's expenses, as you know," Pei Muchan said, her eyes lowered, hitting his weak spot accurately, "I don't have an assistant, so I'd have to give up on that extra reimbursement."

"How can that be! That's too wasteful!" he exploded.

He braked to smoothly park the car next to the studio and turned to look at Pei Muchan in the passenger seat.

He saw her eyes curved in amusement, a hint of laughter hiding within. His reflection in her black pupils shrank slightly; he couldn't quite identify the feeling, but he just found it beautiful.

So, he blurted it out plainly.

"You're very beautiful."

Pei Muchan froze for a few seconds, her eyes flickering rapidly, taking two seconds to recover. It seemed she had never encountered such a forthright and unembellished compliment before.

In an instant, her cheeks turned a thorough red. Along with her earlobes—blushing like velvety peaches on a tree— the redness rapidly spread to the base of her neck.

"Cough cough, why are you looking at me?"

"Just because."

"You..." Pei Muchan choked, nearly suffocated by his abruptness.

She thought if there were an award for the most annoying person on earth, Xu Qingyan would definitely rank in the 'Top Twelve Most Infuriating'. She really wanted to punch him. It wasn't for no reason that he was still single.

But he wasn't wrong; indeed, he was idle.

However, by the time the two reached the second floor, she suddenly pressed her lips together in a silent laugh, no matter what, Xu Qingyan had effectively agreed to go to Jianye.

The excuse she gave herself was... there were many things to do on the show, and she needed someone to help. But since she didn't have an assistant, Xu Qingyan had to fill in.

A month ago, she could still sense that roughness about Xu Qingyan, like a stray dog wandering the streets, occasionally displaying instances of cunning and ferocity.

But now, the roughness about Xu Qingyan had weakened significantly.

She watched as Xu Qingyan grew visibly at the speed of a sponge, crazily absorbing the nutrients and moisture around him. In a month's time, he had rapidly mastered composition and music theory.

Although he was not yet proficient, the merits outweighed the flaws.

Xu Qingyan's temperament had also undergone a slight change, with much of the hostility gone. He was already stable in his emotions, now even more like an unfathomably deep lake.

"You know, 'I Am the Song King' is a highly professional competition show. Over the past couple of years, many talented singers have participated in this program," she said.

Walking in front, Xu Qingyan had just entered the office when he heard this and turned around.

"So, this is a contest where singers prove their worth?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Pei Muchan said, her footsteps light as she passed through the glass door, "But singing for a couple of rounds isn't enough to prove oneself; beating a bunch of singer-songwriters, now that's impressive."

"Then let's go for it," Xu Qingyan slouched back in his chair, yawning as he stretched to grab a draft from the table, "you're already awesome."

"Not awesome enough, far from it," she said.

"How far off?"

"About this high," Pei Muchan gestured with her hand, raising it above her head.

Xu Qingyan leaned back casually in his chair, closed the draft, and stared at her for a while, gauging the height she indicated to be about the same as his own.

"An entire me?"

Pei Muchan suddenly retracted her hand like she'd touched something hot.

"No, not that."

"Oh~ I see," he responded casually.

"It's not that, don't get the wrong idea!" Pei Muchan blushed, "I mean my singing... Although your songs are indeed very good, singing ability is also very important..."

"Oh."

"What do you mean, 'oh'? I'm serious!"

"Nothing, just 'oh'," Xu Qingyan said innocently, pulling out his phone and lowering his head to think about today's work plan.

Life is meant for working; even if the sky falls, work comes first. As for online criticism, he didn't give it much thought; he didn't live off his looks, so he would deal with it after work.

"Ah!!!"

Pei Muchan was both embarrassed and angry, unsure of the nonsense she was spouting, while also nearly getting a heartache from him, which was as good as her heart racing.

She sat at her workstation ruminating silently, and seeing that Xu Qingyan genuinely had no reaction, she eventually calmed down. After some thought, she wrote down four characters.

Prudence in words and actions!

The huge black exclamation mark was like a giant rest symbol, signaling that the two had called a truce.

She hugged her chest and stared at those awkward characters for a while, then suddenly said.

"Draft the contract for the song 'Late Marriage' this morning, using the same template as last time, just changing the amount and the distribution. How much do you intend to charge? You can ask for a bit more."

Hearing her bring up work, Xu Qingyan also became serious, and after pondering for a while said.

"Keep the distribution the same; I'll just take twenty percent, but the deposit can be as low as a hundred thousand."

Upon hearing this, Pei Muchan was stunned for a while, then she stood up bewildered and asked.

"Why?"

Other lyricists and composers started with lower rates when they were unknown, then as their fame rose, so did their prices.