Chapter Thirty-Six: The Beloved Goddess Turns to Advertising

"Chen Nian?" Gong Yu repeated the name.

"Is there really no one else?" Just a week ago, he had personally issued the statement announcing Chen Nian’s withdrawal from "The New Voice." Bringing him back now would be admitting he was wrong.

Mo Fan shook his head. "Chen Nian’s strength is obvious to everyone. Besides, he was chosen by the netizens’ vote. He’s not even an artist from our company, so even if he loses, it doesn’t matter."

"So inviting Chen Nian right now is the best choice."

Gong Yu fell silent, pondering deeply.

After a moment, Gong Yu slapped the table, as if making up his mind.

"Fine! For 'The New Voice,' for the sake of our music scene, I’ll swallow my pride and invite Chen Nian back!"

"The issue isn’t whether you want to invite Chen Nian, but whether he’ll agree to come." At that moment, Zhou Lu, who had been quietly sitting in the corner, spoke up.

Gong Yu glared at her fiercely, and Zhou Lu immediately lowered her head.

"Zhou Lu, you get along well with Chen Nian. I’m putting this matter in your hands. No matter what, you must get him back for me!"

"Huh? Me?" Zhou Lu was stunned, pointing at herself in confusion.

Early the next morning, Chen Nian opened his door to find a familiar figure sleeping soundly against the wall.

He frowned slightly, crouched down, and put a finger beneath the girl's nose. After confirming she was still breathing, he gently shook her shoulder.

"Don’t move." Wei Xi pouted sleepily, pushing away Chen Nian’s hand.

Chen Nian smiled helplessly. "Hey, hey, hey Xi, wake up—it’s already noon."

Wei Xi heard him, rubbed her eyes, and finally awoke from her dreams.

"Chen... Chen Nian? Why are you here?" Wei Xi, still groggy, asked blankly.

"Shouldn’t I be asking you that?"

"Ah! Quick, tell me, who is your master?"

Chen Nian couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

"You slept here last night?"

"Mm." Wei Xi nodded, her stomach growling audibly.

"Hungry?" Chen Nian smiled.

"Mm." She nodded again.

"Come in." Chen Nian stood and walked inside the house. Wei Xi got up and followed him.

"You live here?" Seeing Chen Nian’s house, Wei Xi was taken aback.

"What’s wrong?" Chen Nian asked as he started the stove.

"With your writing skills, you should be wealthy. Why not get a better house?"

"I’ve told you before, writing is just a hobby. I never intended to make a living from it."

"Oh." Wei Xi nodded, not probing further.

Maybe this was what adults called "hiding in plain sight." She couldn’t really understand it anyway.

Soon, Chen Nian served two bowls of noodle soup.

"Try it. It's just plain broth noodles—I didn’t have time to go to the market this morning. Don’t be picky."

Wei Xi was already famished; the thought of being picky never crossed her mind. After thanking Chen Nian, she picked up the bowl and ate heartily.

"Mm!" With the first bite, her eyes widened.

Though it was just ordinary noodles in broth, it tasted even better than the dishes prepared by the five-star chef at her home.

In just a few minutes, Wei Xi polished off the entire bowl, soup and all.

"Burp!" She patted her round belly, burping without a care for appearances.

"With your cooking skills, even if you couldn’t write, you’d still make a fortune."

Chen Nian looked at her and laughed again.

At that moment, the door was knocked.

Thinking it was Luo Xiaoyi coming to see him, Chen Nian stood up and opened the door.

When he saw the girl standing outside, his brow furrowed, and his expression immediately darkened.

"Chen... Chen Nian." Lin Xinrou looked up at him, her voice full of grievance.

Bang!

Without a second thought, Chen Nian slammed the door shut.

"Who was that?" Wei Xi, startled by the commotion, asked curiously.

"Advertising sales," Chen Nian replied without hesitation.

"Oh." Wei Xi nodded. Salespeople were indeed annoying.

Knock, knock, knock!

This time, the door was knocked again, and Chen Nian’s face turned grim.

"Let me." Wei Xi jumped up from her chair, strode to the door, and opened it.

Seeing Lin Xinrou at the doorway, Wei Xi paused for a moment.

Huh? Since when did advertising sales require such good looks?

Lin Xinrou was equally surprised to see a girl open the door.

"Who are you?" Looking at the girl whose looks and figure rivaled her own, Lin Xinrou abandoned her earlier pitiful demeanor and raised her aura by eight degrees.

Wei Xi, born into a scholarly family in the capital, couldn’t possibly be intimidated by a celebrity like Lin Xinrou.

She simply thought that salespeople had become quite arrogant these days.

"What product are you selling?" Wei Xi asked directly.

"What?" Lin Xinrou was stunned, her expression turning even more confused.

Wei Xi frowned. "Your service attitude is lacking. Never mind, whatever you’re selling, we don’t want it. Please leave." She waved her hand, preparing to close the door.

"Wait!" Lin Xinrou quickly reached out to block the door.

"You don’t know me?" She pointed at herself in disbelief.

She was Lin Xinrou, a leading female singer in Chinese pop music—how could anyone not know her?

"Of course." Wei Xi nodded sincerely. "Advertising sales, right? We don’t need anything. Please leave now."

Chen Nian, standing in the living room, was red-faced from holding back laughter, nearly bursting.

Wei Xi finished speaking and closed the door.

Lin Xinrou, shut out for the second time, turned red with anger. As she was about to knock for the third time, she suddenly noticed someone beside her.

Turning around, she saw Zhou Lu, who had somehow appeared, covering her face and laughing so hard her cheeks were flushed.

They had debuted around the same time and even competed for the "National Goddess" title at the peak of their careers. Their relationship was always strained—so much so that they didn’t even pretend in front of cameras.

Seeing Lin Xinrou notice her, Zhou Lu dropped the pretense. "Ms. Lin, is the music industry so tough now that you’re switching to advertising sales?"

"Well, it’s true—it’s hard to make it without a signature hit. But Ms. Lin, you’re the queen of tailoring and copying. I’m sure something like this isn’t too difficult for you, right?"

"You!" Lin Xinrou was furious but at a loss for words. In the end, she could only turn and leave.