Chapter 152: Loving Without Reciprocation? Ha!

After allowing herself a few days of complete relaxation, Ye Fangfei returned to work. Today, she was summoned to the headquarters of Huaxuan Music for a meeting.

This exclusive meeting for Ye Fangfei caused quite a stir within the company because the top executives were all turning out in full force. Frightened by this, the employees on duty that day worked extra hard, hardly daring to breathe too loudly.

Ye Fangfei arrived at the company accompanied by her manager, Tang Tang, and immediately drew the attention of every employee the moment she stepped through the doors.

Walking beside her, Tang Tang briefly updated her on her upcoming work schedule.

"The E's Bazaar fashion magazine cover shoot... are you planning to do this? If you're not interested, I can turn it down," Tang Tang said, glancing sideways to gauge her reaction.

Ye Fangfei yawned, her eyes welling with tears. Having spent the past few days lazing around at home, having to get up at the crack of dawn today had thrown her biological clock completely out of whack.

"Another E's Bazaar shoot? Who is it with? Why do they keep booking me for these gigs?" Ye Fangfei complained.

"We didn't book this one. That reality show you participated in before, *Exes*, where you and Lu Zhou won the Best Chemistry CP award—do you remember? This is a promotional activity provided by the show's production team," Tang Tang explained. "If you don't want to go, shall I cancel it?"

With that, Tang Tang picked up her pen, ready to cross the project off her schedule.

Prompted by Tang Tang, Ye Fangfei finally recalled the backstory. She hesitated for a few seconds before giving a faint, consenting hum.

Hearing this, Tang Tang raised her gaze to shoot her a look, then decisively and neatly drew a line through the E's Bazaar photography project with her black ballpoint pen.

Ye Fangfei pushed open the doors to the meeting room, immediately seeing that all the company executives were already seated.

She swept her gaze over the people inside, her slender brows lifting slightly. "What's going on? Such a full turnout..."

Inside the room sat Huaxuan Music founder Xie Yonggang, Executive Vice President of Artist Strategy Tan Jinghua, Executive Vice President of Records He Dong, Music Director Li Ruixiang, and others.

Seeing this lineup gave Ye Fangfei an instant headache, and she had a hunch this was definitely not going to be a routine meeting.

She pulled out a chair and sat down, with Tang Tang taking a seat beside her.

"You've had a few days to rest. Is your state of mind back?" Xie Yonggang asked, smiling as he looked at her.

Ye Fangfei nodded and asked, "So, what are you all conspiring against me for this time?"

Tan Jinghua smiled and took over the conversation. "During your participation in this show, we discovered that you unlocked a new skill we'd been hoping you'd master for a long time. Today, we just want to chat with you about your future development plans."

Ye Fangfei had guessed roughly what this was about before coming. She arched an eyebrow and said, "When it comes to planning, Jinghua-jie, chatting with me alone would have been more than enough. Why mobilize so many people? You aren't trying to pull some psychological pressure tactic on me, are you? I'm telling you in advance, that trick doesn't work on me."

Xie Yonggang: "..."
Tan Jinghua: "..."
He Dong: "..."
Li Ruixiang: "..."

"Since when has applying pressure ever worked on you?" Xie Yonggang said with a smile. "I came to the meeting because I haven't seen you in a while and wanted to check on how you're doing. He Dong and Ruixiang are here to give you a rational and objective analysis of the current state of the music market."

Ye Fangfei let out an "oh," too lazy to expose him, and cooperated just enough to say, "Alright, let's hear it then. What's the new plan?"

"Fangfei, looking at the overall trends of the music market, your development momentum is actually showing signs of a gradual slowdown. To put it seriously, your growth bottleneck period is probably approaching," Music Director Li Ruixiang stated with a completely solemn expression.

"We've always wanted to further and drastically expand your influence in the music market—both domestically and internationally. That has always been the direction we want to work toward."

"Therefore, we never want you to be too easily satisfied with the status quo. We hope you can be a bit more ambitious and break through the obstacles limiting your further development."

Executive Vice President of Records He Dong chimed in next: "Fangfei, given your potential, your development shouldn't stop here. Everyone has witnessed your immense capability. If you can incorporate elements that appeal to the general public into your music, you will definitely break through to a new phenomenal level."

Ye Fangfei listened quietly without interrupting, her expression serious.

"Actually, we didn't really want you to participate in that exes variety show earlier, thinking it wouldn't do any good for your personal development other than bringing you some tabloid fame," Tan Jinghua said, introducing a plot twist. "But after watching the show, we realized it wasn't entirely devoid of benefits as we originally thought."

"You've been back in the country for so many days now; you must have been online, right? Then you should know how much shock the adapted version of *Wishful Post-it Note* that you and Lu Zhou sang for the fans on the show caused?"

"Of course, it also gave the few of us sitting here a huge shock. Ye Fangfei could actually sing such sweet love songs, and deliver them with such an atmospheric vibe."

At this, everyone in the meeting room broke into smiles.

Ye Fangfei, however, did not smile. Lu Zhou being brought up again caught her slightly off guard, though it wasn't entirely unexpected.

Tan Jinghua's voice immediately followed. "Is it because your vocal business sense has improved once again? In our view, no. It's because you can now truly experience the kind of emotion embedded in the songs. That in itself is a breakthrough."

She smiled warmly at Ye Fangfei and said with gratification, "You have no idea how excited the few of us were when we found out about this; we couldn't even sleep."

"Boss Xie even made an executive decision on the spot back then, willing to pay a heavy price to sign Lu Zhou into Huaxuan, just to have him further assist you in unlocking a new breakthrough."

Saying this, Tan Jinghua smiled regretfully and added, "Of course, in the end, it's a pity that he didn't want to join Huaxuan, so that plan fell through."

"However, I don't think this will affect your upcoming development, because you've already stepped past the very step you used to repulse the most. Moving forward, it certainly won't be an issue anymore."

Ye Fangfei crossed her legs and listened in silence as they tossed ideas back and forth.

At that moment, the large screen in the meeting room suddenly lit up. He Dong picked up a remote control and opened a video.

On the screen was a close-up of Ye Fangfei and Lu Zhou collaborating on *Wishful Post-it Note* during the show.

It was the first time she was watching her own interaction state with Lu Zhou on the show from the perspective of an audience member.

That woman on screen—showing a fleeting look of bashfulness at a certain second, her eyes dodging to avoid direct eye contact, while still singing sweet love songs—was actually her.

Ye Fangfei found it all so unfamiliar.

Because she knew very well in her heart that she hadn't put on a single ounce of acting on that stage; the version captured by the camera was her true self at that moment.

No wonder her circle of best friends had all tried to give her love lessons the moment she returned.

A trace of awkwardness flashed across Ye Fangfei's face, but she quickly feigned composure, smoothing away every trace of a giveaway on her face.

"Did you notice? Your emotions have changed," Tan Jinghua said, her tone hard to suppress of excitement. After watching the video, a glowing, doting auntie smile even lingered in the corners of her eyes.

Ye Fangfei replied with an expressionless face, "I was acting. Didn't you guys notice?"

Tan Jinghua: "..."
Hearing this, the corners of Xie Yonggang's mouth twitched. "Acting???"

Ye Fangfei continued to put up a front and hummed dismissively. "Of course, I admit that by participating in this show, my vocal delivery and emotional sense for love songs have indeed improved a lot."

"It's a romance reality show after all; the atmosphere is so strong. In that kind of environment, it's very easy to grope for the corresponding feelings. Even before this stage, when I sang *Seorita*, there were already changes. Didn't you guys notice?"

Ye Fangfei looked around the room, raising an eyebrow as she asked.

He Dong: "Seorita? Your emotional grasp was indeed not bad at the time, but it still felt like something was missing; it relied more on technique. However, your dancing back then managed to cover up that flaw."

Ye Fangfei: "..."

Li Ruixiang: "If I remember correctly, *Seorita* was also sung together with Lu Zhou? So Lu Zhou is the trigger that helps you master your emotions?"

Ye Fangfei: "..."

Hearing this, Xie Yonggang cleared his throat, leaned forward slightly toward Ye Fangfei, and asked, "Fangfei, you aren't secretly dating Lu Zhou behind our backs, are you?"

Ye Fangfei raised her slender brows. "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

Xie Yonggang shrugged and said, "Judging from the past, certainly not, but... people change, right?"

Ye Fangfei raised a hand to press against her forehead and asked, "So the lot of you pulled this stunt early in the morning, sitting here taking turns setting traps for me, just to try and persuade me to break into the love song market again, right?"

"Why ever not? Look, you already possess the basic conditions, so why don't we just give it a try!" Tan Jinghua raised a finger to point at the screen and said.

"I'll think about it." After weighing her options for a moment, Ye Fangfei gave this reply.

Xie Yonggang, Tan Jinghua, He Dong, and Li Ruixiang exchanged glances, their eyes hiding undisguised surprise.

"I'll think about it" meant she had already compromised significantly! Breaking through the rest later on shouldn't be too big a problem!

He Dong excitedly said, "I'll contact the Prince of Love Songs right away and have him personally write one for you! It'll be custom-made just for you!"

Ye Fangfei immediately felt a headache coming on. "Dong-ge, I only said I'd *think* about it. Why are you rushing to write songs?"

"Write the song first, keeping it strictly to the style you like. You can listen to it first, and if there are no problems, we'll use it to test the waters with your very first love song album!" He Dong continued his offensive.

Ye Fangfei: "..."

Li Ruixiang chimed in: "I agree with this approach. It's quite good. Fangfei, can you first tell us if there's any specific style you particularly want?"

Ye Fangfei's gaze swept over the paused video on the projector screen, and under a sudden impulse, she replied, "Not that kind."

Xie Yonggang, Tan Jinghua, He Dong, and Li Ruixiang all turned their heads to look at the screen in unison: "???"

He Dong understood in a second, then snapped his fingers. "Understood! No sweet stuff, then how about we go with unrequited love where you can't have each other!"

Ye Fangfei raised an eyebrow: "???"

Under the meeting table, Xie Yonggang kicked He Dong.

He Dong quickly cleared his throat and said with a hearty laugh, "Just kidding... Rest assured, we'll definitely design the song's difficulty to be much more sophisticated than that one, and write the emotions in every aspect to your satisfaction."

After much tossing and turning, the brainwashing strategy meeting finally came to an end.

As Ye Fangfei walked out of the meeting room and walked a short distance, she turned to Tang Tang and said, "That E's Bazaar cover shoot—let's take it after all."

Tang Tang abruptly stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening slightly as she let out an "Ah?"

"That project requires a dual photo shoot, meaning it will be shot together with Lu Zhou... Are you sure you want to take it?"

Ye Fangfei put on her sunglasses, stepped out of the company doors, and tossed out a single sentence: "Sure."

Unrequited love?
Hoh, her damned sense of possessiveness had been inexplicably hooked.

Getting into the van, Ye Fangfei headed to her next work venue.

Along the way, the driver played music inside the car—a love song with a strong summer flavor.

*“All summer long, I want to travel the world with you.”*
*“The mountain roads wind around, just like the adventure of love.”*
*“Your smiling face is my only snack.”*
...

Listening to this song, for some reason, Ye Fangfei's mind involuntarily conjured up the happy moments of her and Lu Zhou spending time together while traveling in Country M.

Leaning back against the car seat, Ye Fangfei swayed slightly to the music. Listening, she unconsciously began to hum a few bars of the melody.

Seeing this, the assistant beside her seemed to think she was in a good mood and couldn't help smiling as she looked at her, saying, "I really like this song and even went out of my way to learn it. But I found it so hard to sing; I sound terrible singing it myself. A cappella without accompaniment is practically a live broadcast car crash."

Hearing this, Ye Fangfei turned to look at her assistant and gave a gentle smile.

"This style of melodic rap was never easy to sing in the first place. Plus, falsetto accounts for a very high proportion. True-to-falsetto transitions, falsetto dropping into a weak mix—this is a song that requires technique. Without professional foundation, you can't sing out his flavor."

"You can adapt the singing method to suit yourself." Ye Fangfei explained to her assistant why she ended up with a car crash when singing it.

The assistant gave a half-understanding "Oh" and smiled, saying, "No wonder."

A sudden notion popped into Ye Fangfei's mind. She used her phone to search for the song online, put on her headphones, and listened to it repeatedly until she was familiar with it. Since the ride to work was quite boring, she simply practiced the song.

By the time she arrived at the workplace, she was basically able to sing it without errors.

After finishing half a day of work, on her way home, she continued to take out the song and practice singing it.

When she finished singing, Ye Fangfei asked her assistant, "What did you hear?"

The assistant looked bewildered: "What did I hear? Just... a song..."

Ye Fangfei: "Do you think what I just sang sounded good?"

Without missing a beat, the assistant said, "It sounded good!"

Ye Fangfei pressed further: "What made it sound good?"

The assistant was stumped this time. Rack her brain as she might, she thought hard before smiling brightly and saying, "Just... great technique! The falsetto was sung really well! Um... your vocal cords are amazing, in short... Even without accompaniment, you sang so well. Your vocal skills are just utterly divine! A million times better than how I sing!"

Ye Fangfei sweatdropped: "You really know how to butter people up."

The assistant flushed with deep embarrassment, letting out a nervous, "Heh. Uh, I actually can't tell where it sounds good; I just purely think it sounds nice."

Ye Fangfei: "Did you catch the taste of summer love in it?"

The assistant blinked, tried to recall, but couldn't quite remember. Ambiguously, she replied, "Seemed like it?"

Ye Fangfei: "..."

Since she was a non-professional, Ye Fangfei figured asking her was a waste of time, so she sang it one more time, recording this version with her mobile phone.

After finishing, she opened Wetalk. Initially, she wanted to pull up He Dong's chat window to send it to him, asking if her emotional grasp of the song was correct, but on second thought, she suddenly stopped herself.

Then she exited He Dong's chat window, pulled up Lu Zhou's chat window instead, and after a moment of silence, she still sent the recorded version over.

Ye Fangfei: [Give me some feedback. How do you think it sounds?]

After sending the message, she waited quietly for a reply.

However, until she arrived home, she still hadn't received a reply from Lu Zhou. A strange emotion quietly welled up in Ye Fangfei's heart.

It was that kind of feeling... she was actually unhappy because her message hadn't been answered in time? And besides being unhappy, she was even looking forward to his answer?

Ye Fangfei looked up at the sky and thought to herself: How interesting.