The Intoxicating Summer Romance Variety Show, Bai Yin adamantly refused to sign.
Chen Huaixiao knew of this girl's stubborn personality. What she wanted, she would obtain by hook or by crook, and no setbacks would make her give up.
He could compromise on everything, but on major matters concerning her future, Chen Huaixiao would not compromise.
The two were at an impasse.
On the final day of the contract deadline, Chen Huaixiao placed the contract in front of her again and said in a businesslike tone: "Bai Yin, as a company artiste, you must comply with the company's arrangements, otherwise there will be penalties. This matter...surely your agent explained it clearly when you first signed on."
Bai Yin sat on a lazy sofa painting her toenails. "Money can be earned again, but life only comes once," she airily responded.
"..."
Chen Huaixiao, with his ruthless business acumen, was actually rendered speechless in the face of Bai Yin's blasé attitude.
He knew that Bai Yin did not respond well to coercion. They both had stubborn temperaments. One of them had to be the first to compromise.
Chen Huaixiao sat down on the carpet next to Bai Yin's sofa and took the nail polish from her hands. Gently, he began painting her toenails. "Ah Yin, I've already promised the other party. You wouldn't want me to break my word, would you?"
He gently persuaded her, "We'll have our child, just a few years later. Don't be impatient."
What Bai Yin hated most was Chen Huaixiao speaking to her in this gentle, soothing manner, as if she was the arch-villain for not agreeing to his request.
But she still kept her rationality and did not let this old fox's tender trap beguile her.
She pushed Chen Huaixiao's hand away. "I can participate, no problem. You're the boss. What you say goes."
"Then I'll have them come over to sign the contract."
"But after The Intoxicating Summer Romance show, we'll start preparing to have a child."
"..."
Chen Huaixiao heavily put down the nail polish and said, "You'd exploit anything, even our child, for your own gain."
"Yes, I'm that kind of person," Bai Yin said recklessly. "I can exploit our child too. I don't care."
"What about me then?" Chen Huaixiao's eyes dimmed slightly. "Will there come a day you can exploit me too?"
Hearing the icy tone in the man's questioning, Bai Yin felt stifled.
They had agreed to never misunderstand each other again, yet he was asking her this.
Bai Yin tightly grasped Chen Huaixiao's sleeve, forcing back the sourness welling up in her nose. "You know clearly that I'm not doing this for personal gain. Why are you saying such hurtful things?"
Chen Huaixiao knew he had spoken out of turn and regretted it immensely. He held her hand again and apologized, "I'm sorry, Ah Yin. If you don't want to participate, then don't. Don't be upset."
Bai Yin sniffled. "Then you won't ask me to pay penalties for breach of contract?"
"No need."
"Ok!"
Bai Yin pushed him away and sauntered out of the study swinging the nail polish. "A man's word is as weighty as nine cauldrons, Lord Chen."
Watching as she left, Chen Huaixiao rubbed his nose in irritation.
He had lost count of how many times he had fallen for this.
*
That morning, Bai Yin called Sun Lili.
"You don't have to persuade him on my behalf. I won't be going. The old man clearly doesn't want me to gain too much limelight. If I keep showing my face before him, it'd seem like I'm deliberately provoking him."
"But you're Bai Yin! Since when did Bai Yin care about what others thought?"
Bai Yin fell silent for a moment.
In the past, when it was for her own sake, she did as she pleased, heedless of how others saw her.
But now, it concerned Chen Huaixiao's interests. Bai Yin found it hard to convince herself to simply follow her heart.
"Alright, I won't force you if you don't want to come, but..."
She paused before continuing, "President Chen really put in a lot of effort this time. After getting the invitation from The Intoxicating Summer Romance show, he watched all the footage, edited and unedited, from the previous season. Only after confirming it would benefit your career did he finalize the contract. Today is the deadline. If you don't show up, it'd really be letting him down after all he's done for you."
...
Xingxing Media headquarters, CEO office.
Facing the executive director who had come to personally extend the invitation, Chen Huaixiao eventually declined with regret.
"President Chen, please take another look at our proposal."
The director was still unwilling to give up and strongly urged, "The celebrities we've invited this season are all well-known husband and wife couples in the industry. The theme is mature men and women who have been married for years, rekindling the feelings of first love. I'm certain such a theme will surpass the youthful thrills brought about by the young couples last season. It will draw the audience in even more. Please reconsider, President Chen."
"I'm sorry, my wife is unwilling..."
Before Chen Huaixiao could finish speaking, Bai Yin suddenly entered the room. "President Chen, since this is a couple's romance show, why didn't you ask me to sign the contract too?"
Though slightly surprised, the tacit understanding between husband and wife still held. Chen Huaixiao immediately rose to usher her in. "My assistant already informed you."
He led Bai Yin to sit on the sofa and placed the contract before her. Taking out a black lacquered pen from his bag, he put it by her hand. "Take a look first."
The director sized up Bai Yin sitting opposite him and felt relieved when he saw her reading the contract word for word.
It looked like...it was a done deal.
After going through the contract and finding no major issues, Bai Yin decisively signed her name and passed it to Chen Huaixiao.
Chen Huaixiao also signed his name next to hers.
The satisfied director took his leave, but before Chen Huaixiao could speak, Bai Yin preempted him. "It's a couple's romance show. Why didn't you ask me to sign the contract too?"
Chen Huaixiao knew this girl would give him a way out. Her willingness to compromise naturally had nothing to do with the lucrative fees involved.
He saw through it but did not expose her motives. "No problem," he readily agreed.
Bai Yin gave him an annoyed look. "I'm not giving up on the child. You'd better be mentally prepared."
Chen Huaixiao smiled faintly. "Then I hope Ah Yin is prepared for failure too. I still hold the power over whether we'll have this child."
"Fine, we'll have a platonic marriage then."
That gave Chen Huaixiao pause, but ultimately, reason triumphed over desire.
He nodded calmly, meaningfully stating, "I'm not a lustful man. You can't threaten me with this."
Bai Yin rolled her eyes.
Something's not right with you.
...
Soon after, a small crew from The Intoxicating Summer Romance show arrived at Bai Yin and Chen Huaixiao's home. They were there to film their living environment first, to be used as a trailer and promotional clip.
On the first day the crew arrived, Bai Yin and Chen Huaixiao's interactions left the host confused.
When they interviewed the other couples, the couples portrayed happy, blissful relationships.
Their interactions were full of over-the-top sweetness.
But when interviewing this celebrity couple, the two gave bizarrely similar responses that left even the experienced host unsure how to continue the conversation:
Bai Yin: "Ours is a marriage of convenience. I was supposed to marry someone else, but he snatched me halfway. To be honest, it was an abduction. I'm also confused why he did that."
Chen Huaixiao: "Of course it was for business and financial reasons. What else could it be?"
Bai Yin: "You could say our relationship after marriage is not just bad but completely devoid of any feelings."
Chen Huaixiao: "It was a marriage based on mutual benefit after all. How could there be any real feelings?"
Bai Yin: "A sham marriage. Friends with benefits."
Chen Huaixiao: "Not even friends with benefits now. We sleep separately. It's a platonic marriage currently."
Bai Yin: "My purpose in joining this show is simple - for the exposure. Fans hoping to see us being lovey-dovey will be sorely disappointed."
Chen Huaixiao: "I'm here for corporate image. Love is impossible."
...
The director had just seen the clips of the actor couple feeding each other affectionately. Then he turned to this plastic couple blatantly dismissing and rejecting each other.
In all his years directing romance shows, he had never seen such a straightforward couple. This was unbelievable.
However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Controversy leads to talking points, and for a quarrelsome celebrity couple who constantly pick at each other, they will undoubtedly become the biggest talking point of this year's Summer Romance.
He was already looking forward to it.
...
A few days later, Bai Yin and Chen Huaixiao entered the group to film the reality show.
Three celebrity couples were invited as guests, including the actor couple - Zhang Duo and Lin Qianxi. This couple has a very positive on-screen image and is considered a model couple in the industry, setting an example of mutual respect.
In addition, there was also the Heavenly King of the music industry Lu Shen and aristocratic socialite Yun Moli.
Yun Moli comes from a prominent family and was originally a fan of Lu Shen. A few years ago she succeeded in chasing her idol and captured the heart of her love. Yun Moli especially likes to post on Weibo about her sweet married life with Lu Shen, aggressively attacking Lu Shen's fangirls.
Despite this, Yun Moli comes from a wealthy family and is a dominant force in the entertainment industry, so although she lost a lot of fans, Lu Shen's resources remain very good.
On screen this couple maintains an image of the virtuous little wife and her deeply devoted heavenly king husband, because Lu Shen is always infinitely tolerant of all her coy antics.
The last couple is, of course, the recently exposed secretly married corporate couple - Chen Huaixiao and Bai Yin.
Unlike the overt displays of affection from the other two couples, these two directly stated in the trailer that their marriage is a sham marriage devoid of any feelings.
This honestly made fans feel...refreshing.
This bickering couple will probably serve as a contrast to the other two sweet couples.
...
On the first day of shooting, the production team sent shuttle buses to pick up the couples from their homes.
After the actor couple boarded, they immediately became engrossed in conversation, discussing each other's careers and future aspirations.
When actor Zhang Duo looked at his wife Lin Qianxi, his eyes were full of love, immediately feeding the audience a mouthful of dog food.
The second couple to board was Lu Shen and Yun Moli, who similarly did not disappoint.
Lu Shen carried Yun Moli’s large bags and accompanied her from behind, thoughtfully putting on motion sickness patches for her since she gets carsick.
Yun Moli leaned on Lu Shen the whole time, acting spoiled and complaining about the poor environment in the car, but Lu Shen was endlessly tolerant, softly comforting her.
Seeing the interactions between these two couples, fans reacted enthusiastically—
"Lu Shen is so affectionate! I'm so jealous of Yun Moli, wuwuwu."
"The coy socialite is also so cute! Being doted on by her husband like that."
"The actor couple are true soulmates, you can see the love in each other's eyes when they look at each other."
...
Soon, the shuttle bus stopped in front of the Shuixie Terrace Villa.
Chen Huaixiao and Bai Yin stood on opposite sides of the front door. Chen Huaixiao had a small black briefcase next to him, while Bai Yin had three white wheeled suitcases, with Tang Ka standing behind her to help with the luggage.
Bai Yin wore sunglasses and had an aloof expression, completely ignoring Chen Huaixiao.
Chen Huaixiao also did not pay any attention to her.
This opening scene formed a stark contrast to the sweet atmosphere of the other two couples—
"As expected, they have no feelings at all, clearly just a sham marriage."
"I wonder why the production team invited them."
"They're meant to contrast and highlight how sweet the other two couples are."
Tang Ka carried Bai Yin’s luggage onto the shuttle bus.
Bai Yin then headed towards the shuttle first, with Chen Huaixiao silently following behind her.
The coy socialite Yun Moli had originally been worried that Chen Huaixiao and Bai Yin would steal her sweet spotlight when she first heard they were coming, considering all the scandals surrounding them recently.
Seeing how distant they were now, seemingly devoid of any feelings, she felt somewhat reassured.
A smug expression appeared on her face. As expected, a marriage of business convenience is just that, no feelings whatsoever.
However, the moment Bai Yin boarded the shuttle, Chen Huaixiao...almost instinctively reached out to block the door for her.
Bai Yin had been hit by the door several times in the past without caring, just like she never waits for boiling water to cool before drinking it, these were just minor things in life. But Chen Huaixiao was very attentive about them.
This scene was captured perfectly by the cameraman.
"Chen Huaixiao actually does things like this? How thoughtful."
"Chairman Chen's cold image doesn't seem so cold anymore?"
"Wow, suddenly feeling the sweetness!"
"Weren't they supposed to be a sham couple?"
"To be honest, the first two couples seem a bit staged, but this pair looks very real!"
"Some feelings just can't be hidden!"
