Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

September 7, 11:53 PM.

In the elevator, Xu Qingyan's face was devoid of emotion. Watching the numbers inside the elevator rapidly decline like a countdown, at this hour he ought to have been getting ready to wash up.

Exiting the lobby of the building on the first floor, it had just rained. The roads in the residential area were deserted, and the streetlights were dim.

Three minutes later, Xu Qingyan saw her car parked by the roadside, its tires on the wet pavement.

Pei Muchan sat in the driver's seat, wearing a black mask that revealed only her attractive eyes.

She was draped in a coffee-colored trench coat, her hair casually tied up, as she turned her head and quietly stared at him for a while. Xu Qingyan had the impression, perhaps mistakenly, that he saw a hint of grievance in her eyes.

"Not happy to see me?"

"No, I was just about to go to bed," Xu Qingyan walked around to the other side and opened the driver's door, "I'll drive. The underground garage is at the west gate."

"Okay," Pei Muchan got up, unbuckled her seatbelt, and moved to the passenger seat.

Once he got into the car, Xu Qingyan smelled a familiar, cold fragrance. The scent wasn't overpowering, like the frozen scent beneath the winter ice, cold and bland.

"What did the show's production team say? Did you ask?" she queried.

"I asked, Director Chen is probably a bit occupied right now." He turned the steering wheel with calmness, as the road under the dim lights of the residential buildings stretched before them, "He asked me if there was solid proof in the post."

"I told him it's half true, half false. He rushed me then hung up."

At these words, Pei Muchan turned to glance at him and saw the corners of his mouth tilted upwards. She pursed her lips.

"You still find this funny?"

Of course, he did. With his money collected and all the scolding accepted. The show had been live for a week, edited and aired for two episodes, and had been exposed twice.

No matter what, he had done his best, and the topic had completely topped the chart.

The rest was up to the production team's fate. After investing so much money and employing so many people, they surely couldn't be outdone by a few nobodies, right?

What if they couldn't cope? Well, they'd have to deal with it in their own cool way.

As for the major show, unless there was a real name report to the Internet Complaints Office. But Xu Qingyan hadn't committed arson or murder; the matter wasn't settled, there was no actual loss.

"What can I do then, prove my innocence?" Xu Qingyan chuckled lightly, stealing a glance at Pei Muchan through the rearview mirror, which caused her to turn away.

"Anyway... you should make some response, right? Send out a lawyer's letter." She also had little experience with these things, always avoiding trouble not related to singing.

"It's too late now, we'll see tomorrow. I don't want to call the police at 2:30 in the morning." Xu Qingyan slowed down as the entrance to the underground garage neared.

With a turn of the steering wheel, the car smoothly entered the residential garage.

The complex where he lived was fairly average, its main advantage being its newness. The garage ramp was narrow. As he passed the lift gate, he accidentally made eye contact with the daydreaming security guard who was staring at Pei Muchan.

After passing the duty booth, he remarked casually.

"I've noticed, a mask can't hide a pretty face."

At his words, Pei Muchan paused, turned to stare at him, but then said nothing more. Her eyes blinked, revealing a fleeting dissatisfaction that went unnoticed.

After parking the car, the two didn't speak much, until they stood side by side in the deserted negative first floor, waiting for the elevator.

"I plan to buy the cover rights from Lin Wanzhou, to use on the show for the sing-off next week." Pei Muchan suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence, "What do you think?"

"Hmm? That could work," he hesitated for a moment, frowning slightly, "but after all 'What I Miss' has just been released, taking it to the sing-off as a cover might not have a great effect."

"Yes, there's a disdain chain in a sing-off. Original works definitely have an advantage over covers." She nodded, just as the elevator arrived and the doors opened with a ding.

She stepped inside, her footsteps quiet and soft.

Xu Qingyan noticed the white cotton socks and sports shoes she wore and was momentarily taken aback. He remembered that she had clearly been wearing high heels earlier in the evening, and the black stockings were also gone.

She hadn't gone out after taking a shower, had she?

"Then why not just go with an original song?" he asked quietly, "Hasn't 'Already Quiet' been copyrighted? Releasing the song first and then promoting it through the contest wouldn't be bad."

In the elevator, Xu Qingyan pressed the button for the nineteenth floor.

"Why can't I just like the song?" Pei Muchan gave him a look, unable to suppress her sentiment, "I didn't manage to buy it, so I can only do a cover."

"Well... I wrote one after I went back, and the score should be transcribed in a couple of days," Xu Qingyan said, "Do you want to give it a listen? You might like it."

"Wrote it when you went back? What do you mean by that?" Pei Muchan suddenly realized there was something she missed.

"Uh, I went back to the studio after I dropped you off tonight," he had the studio keys, and the tech park could be accessed twenty hours a day, "I thought I'd be idle anyway..."

"So, you mean to say you wrote a song in only two hours?"

"What's wrong? Isn't this the 'down-to-earth' method you taught me?" he countered, "First think it through in your mind, then slowly transcribe the music."

At that, Pei Muchan was at a loss for words.

"I did teach that, but..."

But she hadn't expected him to write a song in two hours. What kind of divine speed was this? Doesn't songwriting require refining back and forth? Don't lyricists get writer's block?

Of course, she had heard of music industry veterans hurriedly scribbling a song on a napkin or cigarette pack in a moment of inspiration, hastily penning a great song.

But! Inspiration was elusive; you couldn't just summon it on a whim every day.

Ding! The elevator doors opened.

Walking along the quiet corridor, they involuntarily lowered their voices.

"How do you manage to come up with so many songs?" she inquired.

"It's from all the pondering I did in the past, my love for music," Xu Qingyan stuck to his usual rhetoric, "Usually I can't write anything at all. In fact, I've been stuck for a long time with no ideas."