CH 61

At home, Wen Li didn't want to maintain any noble and glamorous image. Besides, there was no one else at home now, so what did it matter if things got a little cheesy?

She liked Song Yan and was willing to set aside her pride and say things that even she couldn't stand to please him.

Compared to Wen Li, who was still a beginner in terms of sweet talk, Song Yan's skills were on a higher level.

Wen Li looked up, pretending to be innocent, "Hmm? What does it mean to be easy to coax?"

A faint smile played at the corner of Song Yan's lips.

"It means praising your clever tricks," he supplemented slowly, "And admitting defeat."

Being pleased, Wen Li became proud again. Song Yan really understood her weaknesses. He just needs to flatter her.

The two locked eyes, staring at each other, and there was a brief silence for a few seconds.

Without saying a word, the atmosphere became delicate through the exchange of their eyes.

Wen Li cleared her throat and said with a serious tone, "This is nothing. I have even more clever tricks. Do you want to experience them?"

Suppressing his fluctuating emotions, he let out a hoarse and weak voice from his throat, "Yes, let's go to the bedroom?"

The cunning yet clumsy fisherman placed the fishing hook right in front of him, and Song Yan almost instinctively bit onto the hook. In the process, he inadvertently dragged the fisherman into the deep, mysterious waters that hid beneath his eyes.

Having just returned home and not yet turned on the air conditioning, the living room was so quiet that even their breathing could be heard clearly. Although he deliberately lowered his voice, Wen Li could hear it clearly. In addition, there was a very subtle electric buzzing sound.

After shooting so many episodes, the two in the living room quickly recognized it as the faint noise coming from the remotely adjusted audio equipment. It seemed that while increasing the audio range, the echo reduction function was also turned on.

Wen Li quickly looked in the direction of the cameras in the living room.

Sure enough, those few wicked little lights were on, and the camera in the direction she was staring at nervously changed its position.

"..."

"..."

After a deathly silence, Song Yan, who couldn't quite figure out the variety show tricks, spoke wearily and helplessly.

"...The cameras are still on?"

Wen Li, a frequent guest on variety shows, was obviously not as easily fooled as Song Yan. She was like a student caught in an early love affair by the headmaster or a stray cat caught sneaking around at midnight. Her fur stood on end, and her tone was filled with extreme anger, trembling with hints of guilt and embarrassment she couldn't hide.

"You're the most dedicated production team on your station this year, but it won't be me who exposes the hidden truth behind your show, 'In This World With You'!"

Then she angrily turned off all the equipment manually.

The screen went black, and the staff member who was eating takeout touched his nose, regretting his foolish act of adjusting the audio equipment because he thought that Song Yan's voice was too low and couldn't be picked up. He couldn't resist tweaking the audio equipment.

After finishing the takeout, a colleague from Team A called him and said that all the staff members from Teams A to D had agreed to have a late-night feast together. They asked him to turn off the equipment and join them.

"What? Why didn't you say earlier? I've already eaten my fill."

"It was a last-minute decision. It's rare for all four teams to gather together. Hey, are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. I have good news to report to Director Yan."

His colleague kindly reminded him over the phone, "Director Yan is not in a good mood tonight. He's sitting alone in the corner drinking. It's better if you don't go near him."

"Huh? What's wrong with Director Yan?"

His colleague sighed, "What else could it be? It's because of those two artists that our Team A is responsible for."

He didn't quite understand, but he quickly packed up the equipment and rushed over to the location his colleague had sent him on WeChat.

——

Yan Zhengkui was indeed quite hurt tonight.

He was drinking and hiccupping while complaining to the assistant director, "I'm almost fifty years old, it's the first time I've encountered two adults who are more difficult to deal with than my high school son. These two have been in the industry for years, and to make it to the top, they must have decent emotional intelligence. But let me tell you, dealing with them when filing these six episodes has genuinely pushed me to experience menopause ahead of time."

The assistant director didn't know what to say. The show's ratings were good and each episode reached enough trending topics. The two guests mentioned by Director Yan were the biggest topic generator for their second season. At first, the production team invited them solely based on their popularity and their potential as a fan-favorite couple. During their meeting with the leaders, the leaders were aware of their situation and set the minimum requirement for them: even if they acted and pretended to be a loving couple on the show, as long as they didn't turn the couple variety show into a breakup variety show, it would be fine.

Who would have thought that after shooting six episodes, the process seemed to deviate from the script each time, but the results were often surprising.

Director Yan was not satisfied, but he didn't know what he was not satisfied with.

The assistant director believed that the reason Director Yan cared so much about Song Yan and Wen Li was because he had developed feelings for these two people and hoped they could go further on the show. That's the reason he paid extra attention to them.

At this moment, someone at the table called for Xiao Zhao from Team A, who was on duty today.

Director Yan raised his head with an expression of "I knew it" and sneered at the assistant director, "Having someone on duty there is simply a waste of manpower and camera batteries."

However, Xiao Zhao voluntarily approached and said something mysterious to Director Yan.

The private room in the late-night restaurant was lively, with several teams toasting each other. The director, who had been wearing a gloomy face, suddenly shouted, "What! You caught it?!"

The room instantly fell silent, and everyone turned their gaze towards the director.

Then came a voice filled with deep regret, "You, why did you mess with the equipment? Well, forget it. Having something is better than having nothing."

Everyone looked at each other. The director suddenly stood up, full of spirit, a red glow on his face, with a wide grin reaching his ears, and raised his glass to everyone.

"To everyone's hard work! Let's have a toast! Tonight, let's drink until we're all drunk and won't go home hahaha!"

"..."

The director seemed to be schizophrenic today, probably due to the high work pressure recently.

No one dared to ask, but with so many people present, even if the director had a mental breakdown, they could control the situation, so there was no problem.

——

An exciting Saturday was fast approaching.

As usual, on Thursday, the official Weibo account of [In This World With You] released the trailers of the four couples.

But this time, the order of releasing the trailers was different from previous times. They first released the trailer of the intern couple, Yan Zhun and Qi Sihan, followed by the Qiu Hong couple, and then the Ding Lebo couple.

After the trailers of the three couples were released, there was no further activity on the official Weibo account.

The comment section of the account started to get restless.

「Hello? Where's the trailer for Salt Grain?」

「Are you even daring enough to delay the release of the most popular BG CP trailer? Do you believe that the fans of this CP will bombard you within minutes?」

「Is it possible that you can't even make a thirty-second trailer for this episode?」

「Dad is disappointed. Dad is going to unfollow.」

The army of CP fans were urging for updates and it soon flooded the comments section, but the official Weibo account remained silent.

As a result, the army of CP fans, which initially used threats, turned into begging.

「Even if you can't make a thirty-second trailer, can't you make a twenty-second or ten-second one? Even if it's just a photo with background music, let me enjoy the beauty of the Salt Grain couple, please.」

「Fine, I won't complain about short trailers anymore in the future. Is that okay?」

「I just watched the finale of the acting awards program last week and didn't come to see you. Do we have to be like this? As an extraordinary variety show, can't you be more generous?」

「I feel like a desperate woman waiting for a reply from a scumbag boyfriend.」

「Salt Grain Dad, please update soon.」

「Do I really have to kneel down and beg you? Fine! Please!! #kneels#」

Lowering their stance in urging for updates proved to be effective as the official Weibo account responded to the top comment.

「There's already a trailer ready, but the guests requested the program to remove some scenes, so the editing team had to work overtime to make adjustments. It will be released later. 」

「What scenes are being removed? Why do they want to remove them?」

「Everyone, calm down. Do you still remember the trailer for the first episode? The removed scenes caused a huge speculation frenzy.」

「Wow, do you have such a masterstroke? @Song Yan @Wen Litchi」

「Do you have hearts made of stone, not giving us the sugar?」

「Don't remove it, don't remove it, don't remove it!!!! Release it!! If they dare to bully you, I'll be the first fan to unfollow!! @Editing Team」

「Unfollowed and criticized +1」

「Don't be afraid, Editing Team. The Salt Grain CP fans are your solid backing! Boldly release it!」

After a long struggle, the long-awaited trailer of the Salt Grain couple of the sixth episode of [In This World With You] finally arrived.

Looking at the duration, it was one minute long.

As soon as they clicked on it, the barrage of floating comments flooded the screen.

「Miracle!」

「Did I misread it, or does the progress bar show 1 minute!!」

「You're all so excited over just one minute? Can't you stay calm? Ahhh, damn it, let's sing for our country!」

「I'm sad because my boyfriend didn't get to see the trailer of Salt Grain Couple. Just one minute of it got me so excited.」

「Huh? Something seems off with the girl above.」

「The loyal girl is willing to trade ten minutes of her boyfriend's time for a ten-minute Salt Grain Couple trailer.」

「No need, no need. The girl in front, it's not necessary.」

「This loyal girl would also trade... Oh, wait, never mind, I don't have a boyfriend.」

In the past, subtitles would be added in the later stages to meet the duration of the trailer. However, due to the fleeting thirty seconds, before viewers could even react to the extension of the later stages, the thirty seconds were over. But today's episode took a different approach. There were no subtitles or flashy background text, just a direct shot of the Salt Grain Couple returning home.

At this moment, a line of round cartoon characters appeared considerately at the bottom of the screen, providing a hint:

「Two people just returned home from a live broadcast.」

「Where is the amazing post-production for Salt Grains?」

「Every week, Dad stays in front of the TV, contributing to your viewership ratings. And you treat my Beauty and my Sanli with such shabby post-production?」

「What about the sweet background music? What about the pink special effects filter? If other kids have them, Salt Grains should have them too!」

「Did the production team not pay the post-production staff this month? They seem to be slacking off.」

However, shortly after, as the screen followed Wen Li's sudden pounce, the barrage that was previously skeptical took a complete one-hundred-eighty-degree turn.

"Teacher Song, you're so cute. How did I not realize how cute you are before!"

As she spoke, she even kissed Song Yan on the chin.

...

「Is it because I've been staying up late reading explicit content, causing my prescription to rise, or were my glasses broken?」

「You're filming a variety show using body doubles?」

「Seriously, where did you find someone who looks so much like our Sanli as a stand-in?」

「Am I so desperate that I'm starting to imagine nonexistent scenes as reality?」

「That woman who looks exactly like our Sanli, who is she? I warn you, stay away from Sanli's husband! Our Sanli would never act possessive unless she had a knife to her neck! I see through your fake identity!」

「Is this a scripted skit? These can't be ad-libbed lines, right?」

...

Song Yan not only failed to realize that the person in front of him was an imposter, but he also had a face full of an enamored expression as he said, "I don't know if I'm cute or not, but I feel like I'm easy to coax."

At this point, the amazing post-production finally appeared, accompanied by an irresistibly sweet melody and Chinese subtitles.

「One plus one equals a little cutie.」

「Two plus two equals a little cutie.」

...

「Six plus six equals, mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah, a little cutie, that's Song "Little" Yan and Wen "Little" Li!」

The lengthy reflections of the barrage finally caught up with the excitement of the background music.

「Help! Is this really happening? It's not a dream?」

「I just beat up my roommate and my roommate cursed me. This isn't a dream, sisters!」

「Fuck, fuck fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!!」

「I'm laughing so hard, my chin is about to fall off. Sanli, you straight girl, how did you suddenly become so skilled?!」

「Who could have imagined that a mother of two like me, who has read countless explicit stories, would be charmed to the point of squirming in bed by a straight girl?」

「Who could have imagined that a seasoned and knowledgeable single mother like me would be so captivated by a straight girl who is so possessive of her husband?」

「I suspect that I have become a fan of two kindergarten kids.」

「So cute, so cute, wuwuwu. Mom thinks you two are both adorable to death.」

The one-minute preview ended and the trailer shot up the hot search rankings.

Not to mention the comment section of the program group's official Weibo account, which was filled with exclamations of "amazing", "superb", and "long live the program team", there were also various comments under the Weibo of the chief director Yan Zhengkui, such as "Yan Director, I love you", "The best director in the entertainment industry", and "I'm sorry for telling you to resign before, it was just me being foolish. Yan Director, you're amazing".

In the comments section of Song Yan and Wen Li, the sentiment escalated even further with comments like "Song "Little" Yan and Wen "Little" Li are a perfect match", "Alright, alright, they've kissed on the chin. The next step is mouth-to-mouth, let's take it slow", "Rounding it up, they've already done it", and "The parts that weren't cut have made me smile for three days and nights. It makes one wonder what exactly they cut actually?"

At this time, Wen Li and Song Yan were on their way to the dinner meeting with Director Qiu.

Both of them had turned off their phones, temporarily disconnected from the internet.

However, just because they were offline didn't mean everyone else had to be. Ke Bin, Song Yan's manager who was responsible for driving them to the dinner meeting, took the opportunity while waiting at a traffic light to check Weibo and glanced at the two people sitting in the backseat through the rearview mirror.

Not only was he checking, but he was also reporting the trending topics to the two people who had yielded internet access in real-time.

"Hey, 'The Cute Anthem of Song "Little" Yan and Wen "Little" Li' is the number one trending topic on Weibo right now."

Ke Bin was overjoyed and laughed while scrolling through his phone.

In just a short period of time, several trending topics exploded, frightening passersby and causing some people to turn to well-known Q&A platforms to ask questions.

「How do you view the frenzy of Song Yan and Wen Li's CP fans, who are holding massive lotteries just because of the 'one-minute preview' and 'chin kiss'?」

「Thank you for the invitation. The poster probably doesn't pay much attention to the  BG CP circle. If they were placed in another CP fandom with a proactive protagonist, it might be considered a bit crazy. But for the Salt Grain CP fans, it's a basic operation. I won't go into the details of the other reasons, but those who dabble in CP fandom understand. The poster doesn't need to delve deep either. They indeed have it tough, they may not get many happy moments in a year, so let them be happy today. Finally, I wish all the other CP fans, who read this answer, a long-lasting relationship without experiencing the kind of wait Salt Gran fans have endured for a thousand years.」

"I saw a fan asking what the video editor deleted," Ke Bin, who didn't understand the situation, curiously turned around and asked, "So, what did the video editor delete?"

Wen Li and Song Yan tacitly pretended not to hear and remained silent, preserving their dignity.