Isn’t money good?

Chapter 27.1

In the end, Ji Yunnian still gave him the photos.

When Yan Shiqiu received them, he subconciously made a heart gesture at Ji Yunnian, then happily looked down to save the images.

After saving the photos, he belatedly realized what he had just done. He looked up at Ji Yunnian with an embarrassed smile, “Just a reflex, didn’t mean anything by it.”

Ji Yunnian glanced at him, “What did you think I would misunderstand?”

“True enough.” Yan Shiqiu nodded.

“What are you two talking about?” Zhao Yutong suddenly came over and asked.

She noticed Yan Shiqiu’s phone showing the text message interface and looked incredulous, “You two are actually using MMS to send photos? That’s so retro, like going back ten years.”

Yan Shiqiu smiled, “Just occasionally experiencing the traces of our era.”

Zhao Yutong laughed along, “Well, I won’t be experiencing that. We need to keep up with the times, so how about adding each other on WeChat?”

Yan Shiqiu didn’t refuse and scanned her QR code.

Zhao Yutong quickly accepted his friend request, then turned to ask Ji Yunnian, “Teacher Ji, would you mind adding me as a friend?”

Ji Yunnian politely declined, “Sorry.”

Zhao Yutong looked a bit disappointed and dejected for a while, but then recovered. She waved her hand and went to find other people.

Yan Shiqiu scraped his toe against the floor, glanced at Ji Yunnian, and said teasingly, “So unromantic?”

Ji Yunnian’s tone was flat, “We’re not familiar, what’s the point of adding each other?”

Actually, he used to add fellow cast members, but there were always some who would harbor inappropriate thoughts. He had been harassed several times, receiving explicit photos or personal videos that needed to be censored, so he no longer wanted to add people.

But there was no need to mention this part.

“So are we familiar enough?” Yan Shiqiu suddenly asked.

Ji Yunnian turned his head and met a pair of beautiful, clear eyes. The overhead lights reflected in them like scattered stars, brilliant as a galaxy.

He was stunned for a moment.

A few seconds later, he looked away, “What, do you want to add my WeChat back?”

“Not really, I just think our communication is quite expensive. One text message costs ten cents, and one MMS costs…” Yan Shiqiu forgot, so he quickly searched, then continued, “One MMS costs fifty cents. You just sent me 5 photos, totaling 2.5 yuan. Also, receiving messages is free for me, so you’re losing more money.”

Ji Yunnian: “…”

“If you want me to actively add you, just say so directly.”

Yan Shiqiu admitted frankly, “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”

Ji Yunnian looked at him with an expression of speechlessness.

Yan Shiqiu smiled and made eye contact with him.

Finally, Ji Yunnian sighed, “QR code.”

Yan Shiqiu’s mouth curved up happily as he handed over his phone. Three seconds later, Ji Yunnian’s friend request was approved.

—

At 6:50, all audience members had entered, and the host was ready.

At 7:00, the press conference officially began.

Fans from various fandoms had come to the venue, each occupying their own section without disturbing others. As soon as the host appeared, the cheering was thunderous, with the names of various artists filling the entire venue.

The loudest of all was Ji Yunnian’s name.

“Ji Yunnian! Ji Yunnian!”

Standing behind the curtain, Yan Shiqiu listened to the fans’ fervent shouting outside, his heart pounding with a long-lost surge of excitement.

He had once entered the entertainment industry to make money quickly.

Later, he had truly fallen in love with acting and began to enjoy the stage, lights, and cameras.

“I’m back.” He said to himself.

“In the future, my name will be among them too, and even louder.”

At that moment, staff came to remind them to enter. Everyone nodded and stopped what they were doing.

A minute later, the host announced loudly: “Now please welcome all the main creative staff of ‘Rivers and Mountains in Turmoil’ to walk the red carpet and come to our stage.”

Instantly, the screaming nearly lifted the auditorium’s ceiling.

Accompanied by screams, cheers, and applause, everyone walked orderly onto the red carpet. Lights and cameras focused on them as starlight fell upon them.

Ten people stood in formation on the stage.

Yan Shiqiu’s position was arranged next to Ji Yunnian, making their red and blue CP-colored outfits even more obvious and striking.

Yan Shiqiu glanced at the nearby cameras and quietly moved his feet to distance himself from Ji Yunnian, being very self-aware.

He thought he was moving subtly and inconspicuously, but he didn’t know that Ji Yunnian had glanced at him. Since Ji Yunnian was the focus, everyone in the live stream could see clearly too.

[What is Yan Shiqiu doing?]

[To answer you seriously, he’s trying to distance himself from Ji Yunnian.]

[??? Why is he being so dramatic?]

[The person above is probably an anti. How is that being dramatic? He’s clearly being careful about his reputation and has a strong survival instinct.]

[? The colors of his and Ji Yunnian’s formal wear?]

[Scheming, deliberately wearing CP colors with Teacher Ji!]

[Don’t think I don’t recognize you just because you’re using a fake account. Keep pretending to be fans like us and your artist will flop completely!]

[Your hostility is really intense. Why not just enjoy the eye candy? Yan Shiqiu looks so good in that formal wear tonight, and he looks so alluring. It’s clearly formal wear, so why does it look so seductive?]

[Both his and Fu Baiqing’s formal wear are D brand’s spring new collection, which they rarely lend out. Hengxing really put in effort.]

[Stop fighting, stop fighting. Put on your filters and take a bite before leaving?]

[Shipping shipping shipping. Does no one care that Teacher Ji’s formal wear is also D brand? New haute couture collection. Both wearing D brand clothes, that’s basically sharing a wardrobe, so sweet!]

Despite Ji’s fans constantly watching and guarding, after “Each Grain is Hard-earned” aired, the way Ji Yunnian and Yan Shiqiu interacted on the show still attracted a group of CP fans.

They kept a low profile, quietly shipping them.

In the CP group chat at that moment:

[Ahhhhhhhhhhh.]

[Wuwuwu, they match so well so well so well! I’ve said “they match well” so many times I’m sick of it.]

[Teacher Ji is really so different when he’s with Yan Shiqiu.]

[I have some insider information here. As everyone knows, D brand generally doesn’t lend formal wear to minor celebrities, and the reason they agreed to lend it this time was because Ji Yunnian spoke up for him. Anyway, I’m totally shipping them!]

[!! Sister, you’re not making this up?]

[I guarantee I’m not making it up. I personally heard D brand’s person in charge talking to her assistant in the bathroom about it. A bathroom encounter story hahaha.]

[Thank you, I’m satisfied now.]

[Let’s just keep this sugar to ourselves and not spread it outside. Without filters, Teacher Ji and Yan Shiqiu are just acquaintances. Teacher Ji is nice and casually helping out is nothing, but marketing accounts and media often act unethically.]

[Understood.]

…