Human joys and sorrows are not shared.
Xie Guanyan heard the girl's question.
Even in a dream, he would surely respond.
His stiffened body was about to rise.
But the girl on stage looked at him and said, "You don’t need to stand up, and you don’t need to answer me right now."
"I don’t want you to feel pressured by this moment or swayed by the emotions of the crowd."
"The dance dedicated to you, the surprise—it was all my own choice, because I value my feelings for you and I value you. You don’t need to feel any obligation."
"I know you love watching The Ballad of Mulan. I wanted to strike your heart in one move, but more than that, I want your answer to be one you’ve thought through carefully, not a momentary impulse."
"I don’t know how you view love, but in my heart, the most ideal relationship is like my parents—they were each other’s first love, and they’ll be each other’s last."
"I’ll be leaving Jingbei for a week. I hope you’ll give me your answer when I return."
The radiant girl in red and black armor bowed deeply to the audience. "Thank you all for witnessing my confession. See you at the next performance!"
The audience was left reeling, one shock after another.
The first shock came from Lin Mo’s dance.
The second, from her confession.
The third, from her words.
"Wuwuwu! Lin Mo is just too sweet and perfect!"
"Sophia, give me your script to act out!"
"From now on, my name is Sophia!"
Lin Mo hadn’t been nervous during her performance.
But confessing had left her forehead damp with sweat.
Zhao Ziling gave her a thumbs-up as she came offstage. "To hold out for a week before hearing the answer—you’re the best!"
Lin Mo wiped her brow, feeling the relief of finally unburdening herself after days of tension.
"I’m heading to Jiangcheng later to film a variety show for a week. They’ll take our phones, so it doesn’t matter whether we’re together or not—we won’t see or talk to each other anyway."
"But the main reason is the shadow Gu Jingchuan left. I agreed to his confession partly because of the grand fireworks and the atmosphere, and it led to endless regrets."
Zhao Ziling understood.
Lin Mo didn’t want Xie Guanyan to repeat her mistake.
"But why didn’t you use his real name?"
Lin Mo walked toward the backstage, explaining, "Everyone in Jingbei knows him. I didn’t want to pressure him or turn him into gossip fodder."
"He’s only ever given interviews to a few financial magazines and never appeared in public otherwise. He definitely doesn’t like being the subject of idle chatter."
Zhao Ziling felt a pang of envy. "Damn it! What good deeds did Xie Guanyan do in his past life to deserve your affection?"
Lin Mo grinned. "He’s done plenty of charity in this lifetime. He’s earned it!"
Backstage, Lin Mo hugged Xu Yali, who wore an elegant dark qipao.
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Xu Yali quickly deduced that "Sophia" must be Xie Guanyan’s alias.
She smiled gracefully. "A good confession, but during the fifth section, one of your fingers was curled thirty degrees too low."
Lin Mo: "..."
Her scalp prickled, and she nodded obediently like a schoolgirl. "Understood, Teacher. I’ll pay attention next time."
Zhao Ziling tensed up.
Xu Yali was usually lenient, but when it came to performances, she missed no detail.
She braced herself for criticism.
Xu Yali glanced at her. "You did well today, except—"
Zhao Ziling’s heart leaped into her throat.
"—your ex-husband is here."
Zhao Ziling’s mind went blank. "What? He’s here? Where?"
Xu Yali: "In the lounge."
Zhao Ziling exhaled. "At least he didn’t watch from the front. He would’ve lost his temper."
Xu Yali chuckled. "Oh, he did. Someone knocked him out and dragged him backstage."
Zhao Ziling: "..."
She turned to Lin Mo.
Lin Mo blinked. "I did it. Zhao Zixin, Shen Ji’an, and the blond guy carried him back."
Suddenly, Zhao Ziling no longer envied Xie Guanyan.
She, too, was loved by Lin Mo!
Zhao Ziling went to the lounge to find Huo Tingshen.
Meanwhile, Lin Mo quickly texted the "Buddha of Jingbei."
The guy had gone silent after saying he’d deal with Shen Sizhan.
Soon, Shen Sizhan messaged her, saying he had urgent business and couldn’t meet.
[How did you get Third Brother to leave?]
Shen Yihan: [Not worth mentioning. Be careful on your trip, Sis. If anything happens, have Zhang Nan contact me immediately.]
Zhang Nan was his secretary. Unsure about letting his sister travel alone, he’d assigned Zhang Nan to accompany her.
They’d been to the slums together before and were familiar with each other.
After replying, Shen Yihan set his phone down, spinning the Buddhist beads around his wrist.
He stared at the ceiling, his cold eyes tinged with resignation.
Shen Sizhan walked in, masked and capped. "Second Brother, the paperwork’s done. The surgery’s scheduled for tomorrow morning!"
Yes, the "Buddha of Jingbei" had called Shen Sizhan, claiming his hemorrhoids were killing him and begging for a hospital trip.
He’d added, "Don’t tell Sis—I don’t want her to worry."
Shen Sizhan had scoffed. "Serves you right for being too proud to ask for toilet paper!"
Shen Yihan swallowed his bitterness.
He swore to himself—if Xie Guanyan ever made his sister unhappy, he’d make him pay.
The theater gradually emptied as the audience dispersed, buzzing with chatter.
Only one man in a white suit remained seated, unmoving.
"Sir, the show’s over. We need to clean up," a janitor said.
Xie Guanyan snapped out of his daze.
Adjusting his glasses with a single finger, he finally tore his gaze from the stage.
Only then did he realize how strange this "dream" was.
He’d dared to dream of Lin Mo confessing—yet she hadn’t used his real name.
That didn’t make sense.
A realization struck him. His body trembled, fingers going numb.
This wasn’t a dream.
It wasn’t a dream at all!
He grabbed his phone, ready to text Lin Mo.
No need to wait a week.
He could tell her now, with absolute certainty—
He loved her!!!
But as he unlocked his phone, he saw her message:
[Xie Guanyan, think it over. I want to hear your answer in person when I return.]
His breathing grew ragged.
With shaking fingers, he opened his assistant Jin Yang’s chat.
[Find out which variety show Lin Mo is joining.]
The message sent.
Then, delayed but overwhelming, euphoria crashed over him like a tidal wave.
Dizziness swallowed his consciousness.
The janitor gasped. "Sir! Sir! Are you okay? You’ve fainted!"
The next day, in Jiangcheng.
A black Mercedes van pulled up to a villa.
The door opened.
First, a pair of long, well-defined legs stepped out.
Then, a striking face framed by silver hair, a blue earring glinting in the sunlight.
Li Huanyu, who had arrived early, stood and greeted him warmly. "Hello, I’m Li Huanyu."
Shen Sizhan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh."
This woman was Gu Jingchuan’s rumored girlfriend and had also interacted with his second brother.
Shen Sizhan didn’t have a good impression of her.
Li Huanyu frowned and sat back down on the sofa.
Shen Sizhan truly lived up to his reputation as a controversial top star—completely unafraid of backlash.
The live broadcast had already begun.
But he needed to get one thing straight: he wasn’t the biggest name on this variety show.
Gu Jingchuan was.
And Gu Jingchuan had joined this show to publicly announce their relationship!
Then a Black man appeared.
Li Huanyu smiled and greeted him, "Emperor Gu."
Hearing the name, Shen Sizhan looked up lazily and remarked, "Oh? Emperor Gu, have you started using dark soy sauce for skincare lately?"
Gu Jingchuan was mortified. "I got tanned from filming!"
"Hello, everyone! I’m Jiang Wan."
A cheerful voice broke the awkward atmosphere.
At that moment, the director stepped in and announced, "Our lineup for this program has changed from the initial announcement. Now, let’s welcome our civilian participant, Lin Mo."
Everyone on set widened their eyes in unison and asked, "Who?"
