Chapter 55: Pretend, Keep Pretending!

Zhang Xian was delighted to have received the new song.

This means more money! This book is exclusively available on TianTian Kan XiaoShuo, ttks. tw — super convenient, offering you error-free, non-disordered reading.

Capitalize on the momentum of "Dignity" with a breakup duology.

Perfect!

Zhang Xian immediately sent the document of "There Is a Regret Called Us" to Chu Yourong.

【Ding ding, work's here!】

Recording and producing takes time; we must get Chu Yourong to release the song before the momentum of "Dignity" fades, to seamlessly cash in.

On the other side.

After posting on Weibo, Chu Yourong felt as if a part of her heart had been hollowed out; she began frantically practicing dance, over and over again.

Her assistant, Sun Yuanyuan, who accompanied her to the rehearsal room, watched in alarm.

She sat on a sofa in the corner of the rehearsal room, quietly crunching chips, scrolling through comments on the #ChuYourongBreakup# topic.

She muttered under her breath: It feels like my boss is really broken up.

At that moment, Chu Yourong's phone suddenly chimed — it was a message from Zhang Xian.

It must be about the breakup!

Sun Yuanyuan thought quickly and rushed to call her boss: "Miss Chu, Zhang Xian sent you a message."

Chu Yourong stopped, turned, and walked to the rest area, wiping sweat as she picked up her phone. She had assumed Zhang Xian would react immediately after her Weibo post, but it had been over two hours before he replied.

What was he thinking during those two hours?

Chu Yourong opened the chat window with Zhang Xian — to her surprise, he had sent a song.

"There Is a Regret Called Us!"

Uh, this isn't about me and him, is it!!

Chu Yourong opened the song's document and read it carefully.

But as she read, her whole body went numb.

These lyrics — they cut deep!

I can't bear to let you go, yet I can't marry you.

I so desperately want to walk one more step with you.

Just thinking that someone else will spend your remaining life with you —

How could you know how much my heart aches?

I can't bear to let you go, yet I can't marry you.

There is a regret whose name is Us.

…

Zhang Xian wrote a song in two hours!

He said there is a regret called Us.

Is this an indirect confession?

Chu Yourong softly sniffled — so it's not just me who can't let go.

He feels the same.

Fake it!

Yesterday at the hot pot, he acted like nothing had happened.

Now you know how it feels to be heartbroken!

Hmph, men.

Chu Yourong's lips began to curl upward again; suddenly, she understood the joy of mutual devotion.

She opened Weibo and deleted that breakup post.

Sun Yuanyuan, who had been quietly observing her reaction, was baffled — at first, her boss had been tearfully sniffing, but a moment later, her lips curled up again, her mood seemingly improved.

In the end, she even deleted the breakup Weibo post.

What emotional journey had her boss undergone in these few minutes?

And why delete the breakup post now?

The news had been circulating online for a long time, even topping the trending lists on both Weibo and Douyin.

Deleting the post now won't help at all!

【Don't you have anything else to say?】

Chu Yourong replied to Zhang Xian — more precisely, she gave him a chance to confess. If he took the opportunity to confess, she decided she would accept him — turning the act into reality.

Although Zhang Xian had obvious flaws — he was lazy and lacked ambition —

He had talent.

Real talent. Although the quality of "There Is a Regret Called Us" seemed inferior to "Dignity," it was written in just two hours, perhaps even less.

And this song carried a strong continuity with "Dignity," like how a TV series's first season becomes a hit and the producers inevitably make a second season.

"There Is a Regret Called Us" could serve as the "second season" of "Dignity." Like most sequels, it might not match the first season's quality, yet it would still ride the first season's popularity to strong results.

So even before recording, Chu Yourong was certain this song wouldn't perform poorly.

It would definitely surpass all her previous sweet-girl-themed works.

Moreover, these blunt lyrics would strike hard at a specific audience.

For example, two people who once loved each other but couldn't be together due to various reasons — hearing this song, they couldn't help but project themselves into it.

As Chu Yourong was lost in thought, Zhang Xian replied.

【Strike while the iron's hot — record the song quickly.】

This...

Seeing Zhang Xian's reply, Chu Yourong instinctively rolled her eyes.

Keep pretending! Keep going!

I'll see how long you can keep this up.

Chu Yourong sniffed, then turned her attention back to the song "A Kind of Regret Called Us."

Although Zhang Xian's reply wasn't what she wanted to see, his words made sense—now was the time to strike while the iron was hot and get it online before the momentum of "Dignity" faded.

In today's fast-paced era, whether songs or TV dramas, most things rise quickly and fade just as fast.

"You're deleting the breakup post? Why?"

Chen Huan and Han Ziwei arrived together at the rehearsal room.

That morning, the two had returned to Rongshu Entertainment, where Chen Huan completed her handover with the old company.

Han Ziwei, meanwhile, notified the company she would not renew her contract; she had signed with Rongshu Entertainment earlier than Chu Yourong, and back then, contracts were five years—not the ten-year minimum Chu Yourong and the others later signed.

Han Ziwei's contract expired this very month, so she didn't need to go through the same trouble as Chu Yourong to break free.

Before learning that Chen Huan and Chu Yourong were joining Xianyu Music, Han Ziwei had been hesitating over whether to renew her contract.

Rongshu Entertainment was, after all, a top-tier domestic entertainment company with abundant resources—but the downsides were obvious: fierce internal competition, and securing quality resources wasn't easy; you might even end up fighting the unwritten rules like Chu Yourong did.

But once she learned that both Chu Yourong and Chen Huan were joining Xianyu Music, Han Ziwei stopped hesitating—her new company had Chen Huan, a seasoned agent; Chu Yourong, her best friend; and Zhang Xian, a genius songwriter; and no need to deal with unwritten rules.

Even if the new company had fewer resources, the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks!

Most importantly, life at Xianyu Music would be happier and freer.

So, now that Han Ziwei had officially left Rongshu Entertainment and become a member of Xianyu Music, her mood was excellent.

She teased, following Chen Huan's lead: "You're not having second thoughts, are you, Yourong?"

"Planning to turn fake drama into real life?"

Chu Yourong didn't answer. Instead, she shared the song file with the two: "Huan Jie, Weiwei, you're just in time."

"Zhang Xian sent me another song—take a look."

"Another new song?"

Han Ziwei opened her mouth in surprise—just yesterday over hotpot, she'd asked Zhang Xian for a song, and he'd said he had none.

And now, barely ten hours later, here was a song!

She quickly opened the document Chu Yourong had shared.

Same vibe—this was practically a sister song to "Dignity."

But clearly, this one was written for Chu Yourong too.

Han Ziwei felt both envy and frustration.

Sigh—I'm with Xianyu Music now too. Why can't he write me one?