Chapter 41: His Heart Stirred Again After Twelve Years

Jiang Yingru, seemingly having heard something Sang Zhiyi said, naturally leaned over, moving closer to Sang Zhiyi, and also raised a hand to point at the words in the book.

This scene was so familiar that, in a daze, Lou Yanchen felt as if he had returned to twelve years ago, the day he first met Jiang Yingru.

Jiang Yingru came from a famous scholarly family in A City.

The relationship between her family and the wealthy Lou family was not particularly close, but they were not entirely unconnected.

It was an autumn afternoon.

Lou Yanchen, still in middle school, had accompanied his parents to the Jiang residence to visit Jiang Yingru’s parents.

The Jiang family home had a sizable courtyard, with a grapevine planted in one corner.

The first thing Lou Yanchen saw as he stepped through the Jiang family gate was Jiang Yingru reading under the grape trellis.

Jiang Yingru was only sixteen at the time.

She had the same waist-length black hair as she did now, wearing a very plain shirt and a solid-colored long skirt, sitting quietly on a wooden chair.

Early autumn, the vines were still lush and green, and the grapes had only just begun to show a deep purple hue.

Warm sunlight shone down, with a few rays filtering through the gaps in the vine, casting mottled shadows on Jiang Yingru’s slender figure.

Jiang Yingru sat relaxed, her legs crossed, leaning slightly against the back of the chair.

She looked down at the book in her hands, her expression focused and content, an unconscious smile at the corners of her mouth.

Serene and beautiful.

For a moment, Lou Yanchen was stunned speechless.

Jiang Yingru was so absorbed that she didn’t notice the group of people, including Lou Yanchen, at the courtyard gate.

It was only when her parents greeted the guests and called out, “Yingru,” that she emerged from her own world.

In that instant, Jiang Yingru looked up and glanced toward them in surprise.

That image later appeared in Lou Yanchen’s dreams many times.

It was the first time Lou Yanchen felt as if his heart had been struck by something.

It was also the first time he had witnessed with his own eyes what it meant to be “poetic.”

—The book in Jiang Yingru’s hands was exactly Three Hundred Song Ci Poems.

Even after so many years, Lou Yanchen still clearly remembered that Three Hundred Song Ci Poems had a brown cover, printed with simple landscape paintings, and in the center of the cover, five characters were written vertically in black running script.

No different from the Three Hundred Song Ci Poems he now saw in Sang Zhiyi and Jiang Yingru’s hands.

It was exactly the same edition.

It was because of this first encounter that Lou Yanchen had fallen for Jiang Yingru.

Over countless sleepless nights, Jiang Yingru gradually became the unattainable first love of Lou Yanchen’s dreams.

And now, the image from twelve years ago vaguely overlapped before Lou Yanchen’s eyes.

Watching Sang Zhiyi and Jiang Yingru discussing together so intimately, the last lingering thought in his heart of regarding Sang Zhiyi as Jiang Yingru’s substitute finally dissipated like smoke.

Even if they shared a resemblance in appearance, they were ultimately two different people.

And both were women he could fall for.

Lou Yanchen’s gaze darkened.

In that case, why couldn’t he have both?

Jiang Yingru was the first love he had hidden in his heart for years, the wife he had long decided upon.

He would marry her properly into the Lou family.

Sang Zhiyi was his newly acquired cinnabar mole.

She could be his secret lover, offering a different kind of charm and temperament, bringing a flavor distinct from his wife.

Why couldn’t he take both the white moonlight and the cinnabar mole for himself?

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford two women.

Conveniently, Jiang Yingru and Sang Zhiyi were so close; surely they wouldn’t have conflicts with each other.

So perfect.

He had thought it through.

On Lou Yanchen’s face finally appeared the first truly satisfied smile since he had joined this dating show, Love of a Limited Season.

The live stream audience soon noticed this as well.

[Holy shit, has the sun risen from the west?!

President Lou actually smiled!]

[I remember at the zoo entrance last episode, President Lou’s expression was less bad, but there was still no trace of a smile!]

[I thought Lou Yanchen didn’t even have the muscles for smiling…

Was he smiling just now because of Jiang Yingru and Ren Xiaoqian?]

[I knew it!

There must be a reason why President Lou suddenly joined this dating show!]

[Is this a sugar moment between President Lou and the mermaid sister, or between President Lou and Sister Yingru?!]

Jiang Yingru, focused on discussing the page of poetry with Sang Zhiyi, had not noticed Lou Yanchen’s arrival.

Sang Zhiyi, however, was more perceptive.

When she cast a glance in that direction, she caught Lou Yanchen’s faint smile.

In the original plot development, Lou Yanchen had revealed to Jiang Yingru, long after their marriage, the reason for his youthful love at first sight, but his account was not detailed.

At the very least, Sang Zhiyi had no idea what was so special about the copy of Three Hundred Song Ci Poems in her hands now.

Thus, Sang Zhiyi had no way of knowing why Lou Yanchen was smiling so disgustingly.

Yes, Sang Zhiyi only felt that the scumbag’s smile made her nauseous.

But none of that mattered.

Sang Zhiyi withdrew her cold, disdainful gaze and continued chatting with Jiang Yingru.

She hoped Lou Yanchen could still smile after this episode’s filming was over.

After all, Zhong Yueyi was not going to stay quiet.

***

Zhong Yueyi had always had a good reputation in the industry and among fans and viewers.

She was punctual and usually arrived a bit early for any event.

But this time, Zhong Yueyi showed up to the filming set for the fourth episode of Love of a Limited Season at the very last minute.

Not to mention the others, even the usually laid-back Song Ying arrived earlier than Zhong Yueyi.

When Zhong Yueyi walked through the villa’s main door, although she greeted the other five guests with her usual cheerful smile, anyone could see just how terrible her condition was.

In just half a month, Zhong Yueyi had noticeably lost weight, and the thick makeup could not hide the haggardness on her face.

[Oh my god, what’s wrong with Zhong Yueyi?

Her complexion is even scarier than Lou Yanchen’s was at first!]

[Are you okay, Sister Yueyi?!

I haven’t heard of any new projects for her recently.

If she’s not losing weight aggressively for a role, why has she suddenly become like this?!]

[Speaking of which, it seems like Zhong Yueyi has been in hiding during this time?

No public appearances at all, completely unseen.]

[Didn’t you all know?

Someone mentioned it last episode.

Zhong Yueyi was heavily fined by Starlight recently, lost a lot of resources, and then new scandals broke out in the past few days.

She’s definitely having a hard time.]

[Holy shit, it’s a Limited Season tradition to get melons as soon as the show airs, right?

Can someone break down Zhong Yueyi’s melon for me?

What scandals?]

Zhong Yueyi’s scandals, of course, had Sang Zhiyi’s handiwork in them.

Over the past half month, Zhong Yueyi could be said to be living in dire straits.

With Sang Zhiyi’s push, the scapegoats led by Lu Yaqi, armed with solid evidence, learned that without their knowledge, they had been used as knives by Zhong Yueyi many times and had taken the fall for her on numerous occasions.

They were, of course, furious.

Especially Lu Yaqi and the few female artists who had already been kicked out by Lou Yanchen.

Having nothing left to lose, they had no reason to fear those with shoes on.

Knowing who had brought them to their current state, they naturally sought justice for themselves.

Many artists still at Starlight, upon receiving the news, also responded and created a commotion right at Starlight’s building.

As Sang Zhiyi had precisely calculated, these people who had once been incited and directed by Zhong Yueyi from behind the scenes could now be used and agitated by her.

Individually, these people had little influence in the entertainment industry.

If they had any background or connections, they wouldn’t have sat on the bench for a year or two without finding other opportunities.

But they were not fighting alone.

Once their numbers grew, the impact they could make was considerable.

Sang Zhiyi very thoughtfully helped to the end, amplifying the voices of these people so they traveled farther and wider.

Those who didn’t follow the entertainment industry might still be unclear about what had happened, but those who paid attention to celebrity gossip, who paid attention to Zhong Yueyi and Starlight, knew more or less that a joint complaint from artists at the same company accused Zhong Yueyi of bullying and framing them.

As for the specifics of how she bullied and framed them, the truth was not yet entirely clear.

Many of Zhong Yueyi’s fans believed it was all slander from haters, and the news had not yet spread widely.

But Zhong Yueyi’s image as the kind, reliable big sister had been deeply cracked.

Caught almost entirely off guard, Zhong Yueyi was hit by this series of calamities.

Lu Yaqi and those insignificant players she had never considered important suddenly went mad, refusing to let go until they had torn a piece of flesh from her.

Lou Yanchen, already biased against Zhong Yueyi, only made matters worse.

Zhong Yueyi not only found herself forced onto the bench but also had to face betrayal from former so-called friends and those who kicked her while she was down.

After all, Zhong Yueyi was the top female artist at Starlight.

Entertainment industry resources were limited; with one less Zhong Yueyi, others could have more.

Suddenly, Zhong Yueyi was beset on all sides.

Once all six guests had arrived, the production team of Love of a Limited Season announced this episode’s activity.

Unlike the previous three episodes, where activities were mostly held elsewhere, this episode’s setting was within the villa’s garden itself.

The production team staff also revealed that there would be a segment where the guests would be assigned rooms on the villa’s second floor to rest.

[!!

Four episodes!

Four whole episodes!

We’re finally going to find out what’s on the second floor?!]

[Key word: assigned rooms!

How will they be assigned?!

My CP soul is igniting!]

[Oh?

This episode’s changes are so big.

It feels like a different show from the first three…

But the Limited Season production team loves stirring up trouble, so suddenly doing this isn’t that strange [doge].]

The production team’s departure from their usual style also caught the attention of the guests on set.

Song Ying raised an eyebrow, looking very interested.

Zhong Yueyi showed a perfect amount of surprise.

“Eh?”

Then, Zhong Yueyi cast an extremely subtle glance in Sang Zhiyi’s direction.

There was undisguised hatred in her eyes.

Zhong Yueyi wasn’t stupid.

How could she not guess who had caused the various upheavals she had been facing?

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