Lin Wanwan cried her eyes out. Her tears fell onto the chest of Chen Zhi's black cashmere coat, leaving a small dark stain.
"You said you couldn't make it... You lied to me..."
"It's a surprise. If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore."
Chen Zhi reached out and rubbed her head, his movements incredibly natural.
Dozens of people backstage watched this scene, even their breathing growing light.
Taylor stood to the side, arms crossed, wearing an expression of someone enjoying a good show. She muttered to Jeffrey in English, "I told you, it's a love story."
Jeffrey replied expressionlessly, "A very expensive love story."
Director Wang stood three steps away, feeling like his career was somewhat over.
He had filmed hundreds of variety shows in his life; what kind of storms hadn't he seen?
But at this moment, there was only one thought in his mind: What on earth did I just say?
"She got here through fan votes."
"There's a gap in singing skills."
"It's not very appropriate to bring a newcomer."
These words were about the girlfriend of the "CEO's assistant" standing right in front of him.
And this "CEO's assistant" had brought Taylor Swift with him.
He had brought an astronomical investment.
Director Wang really wanted to slap himself twice right now.
Old Zhou was already winking frantically from the side. The meaning was simple: apologize, now.
"Um, Mr... Mr. Chen."
Director Wang squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying.
Chen Zhi didn't look at him.
He lowered his head to help Lin Wanwan wipe the tears from her face, then took a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed it over.
"Why are you crying? Your makeup is ruined."
"I didn't put on makeup!" Lin Wanwan sobbed as she lifted her head, her nose red. "The show's makeup artist just applied a base and ran off. They never came back."
As soon as these words came out, Director Wang's face turned even paler.
Chen Zhi didn't reply, but he glanced at Director Wang.
There was no particular emotion in that glance, but Director Wang felt a cold sweat instantly run down his back.
Taylor, however, spoke first.
She walked up to Lin Wanwan, bent down, and closely examined the girl with red eyes.
"You're even prettier in person."
Taylor's tone was very sincere.
She had seen too many young singers who lived on photo editing and filters, but the girl in front of her, bare-faced and without even full makeup, had genuinely clean and beautiful features.
Lin Wanwan understood, froze for a moment, and then reflexively replied in English.
"Thank you... I'm your biggest fan..."
Halfway through her sentence, her voice choked up, and the string of English fan declarations she had prepared for ten years got stuck in her throat.
Taylor smiled and took the initiative to reach out her hand.
Lin Wanwan grasped it blankly, her hands trembling.
This feeling was too surreal.
When she was twelve, she bought a genuine Taylor album, pasted the poster on her bedroom ceiling, and made a wish to that face every night before going to bed: I want to be a singer in the future, and I want to stand on the biggest stage.
Six years had passed.
She was standing backstage at the finals of "Singer," holding her idol's hand.
"Alright, alright, stop crying. If you keep crying and your eyes swell up, how are you going to perform tonight?" Chen Zhi stuffed the tissues into her hands.
Lin Wanwan turned to look at him, tears welling up again.
"How on earth did you do it..."
"Money is all it takes."
Chen Zhi said it casually.
Lin Wanwan smiled through her tears and slapped his arm. "Can you be serious for one second!"
Su Man finally snapped out of her daze.
She held onto the vanity table next to her, took a deep breath, exhaled, and took another deep breath.
Taylor Swift.
It was really Taylor Swift.
A living person standing right in front of her artist.
The person Chen Zhi had said over the phone he was going to invite.
Su Man's brain was working in overdrive—
A college freshman had invited the world's most popular female singer to be a guest performer for his girlfriend on a variety show.
This amount of money would at least be...
She didn't dare to calculate further.
"Mr. Chen."
Director Wang finally bit the bullet and spoke again, his voice much lower than before.
"What happened just now was a slip of the tongue. Our directing team has always thought highly of Lin Wanwan. She has made huge progress from the auditions to now, and she is a major surprise for our show."
"Director Wang," Chen Zhi turned around.
"Yes, yes, please speak."
"There's no need to discuss the duet pairing anymore."
Chen Zhi's tone was conversational, without a hint of anger.
"Ms. Taylor singing a duet with Lin Wanwan is clearly written in the contract."
Director Wang opened his mouth.
He subconsciously glanced over at Zhou Chengyu's side.
Zhou Chengyu stood in front of the vanity mirror, his hands in his suit pockets, his expression having changed from initial disdain to stiffness.
The manager next to him was frantically making phone calls. His voice was kept very low, but a few words could be faintly heard: "Huayu," "change the plan," "immediately," "Taylor was intercepted."
Director Wang swallowed hard.
It would definitely be hard to explain things to Huayu.
But the person in front of him...
He once again glanced at the Rolls-Royce Phantom parked downstairs behind Chen Zhi, and then at the two towering American bodyguards beside Taylor.
The scale of the investor was obvious at a glance.
"No problem!" Director Wang decisively picked a side. "The duet combination of Ms. Taylor and Lin Wanwan is absolutely the biggest highlight of this season! I'll have the directing team adjust the stage blocking right away!"
He turned his head and roared at the assistant director, "Xiao Liu! Rearrange the appearance order! Move Lin Wanwan to the very end! The finale!"
Holding a walkie-talkie, Xiao Liu looked at Director Wang in bewilderment, then looked over at Zhou Chengyu's side, hesitating for a moment.
"Didn't you hear me? I said the finale!"
Xiao Liu shivered and quickly ran off.
Zhou Chengyu's manager hung up the phone and walked briskly to Director Wang's side, his face livid.
"Director Wang, we agreed that Chengyu would be the finale."
"That was decided before." Director Wang laughed it off. "But the situation has changed now, hasn't it? Ms. Taylor came from afar, and we need to show the etiquette of a great nation, right? An international superstar as the finale will double the ratings, which benefits everyone."
The manager wanted to say something else, but Old Zhou tugged at him from behind.
Old Zhou leaned into the manager's ear and whispered something with a suppressed voice.
The manager's face went from livid to deathly pale.
He took a look at Chen Zhi, swallowed hard, and without saying a word, turned and walked away.
Zhou Chengyu didn't move the entire time.
He stood in front of that large mirror, looking at the young man reflected in it.
Wearing a black cashmere coat, with the world's most popular female singer standing beside him, and a ridiculously beautiful Chinese girl holding his other arm.
The three of them were talking and laughing, the scene as harmonious as a fashion blockbuster.
Zhou Chengyu's fists clenched in his pockets, then loosened.
The backstage returned to its normal operating rhythm.
The production team began adjusting the run of show, the lighting crew was called over to redo the technical sync for Taylor's stage, and the security plan was being urgently updated.
Chen Zhi pulled Lin Wanwan into a corner and spoke to her in a low voice.
"Just keep tonight's situation to yourself, and perform normally on stage. Taylor's team has already decided on the duet song, so go over and rehearse it with her in a bit."
"What song?"
"One she wrote for you."
Lin Wanwan froze again.
"Wrote... for me?"
"Yeah. Your boyfriend's company's AI helped out a bit, but she personally revised the melody and lyrics."
Chen Zhi paused.
"You deserve the best stage."
Lin Wanwan bit her lower lip, trying hard to hold back her tears.
She took a deep breath and nodded vigorously.
"Don't worry, I won't let you down."
"When have you ever let me down?"
Chen Zhi patted her shoulder, gesturing for her to go find Taylor to go over the song.
Lin Wanwan ran a couple of steps, then turned back.
"Chen Zhi!"
"Hmm?"
"Don't leave tonight. Wait for me backstage, okay? I want you to be the first person I see when I finish singing and come off the stage."
Chen Zhi smiled. "It's not a kindergarten talent show, is that really necessary?"
Lin Wanwan didn't care, just staring at him stubbornly.
"Alright, I'll wait for you."
Only then did Lin Wanwan run off with a smile, her ponytail swinging back and forth behind her.
Su Man had walked up beside Chen Zhi at some point without him noticing.
She stood there, her lips moving several times before she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"Chen Zhi, what exactly... do you do?"
"I told you, I'm an executive assistant."
Su Man stared at him for two seconds.
"An executive assistant can invite Taylor Swift?"
Chen Zhi didn't answer, just smiled at her.
Su Man took a deep breath.
"Forget it, I won't ask." She brushed her hair back. "No matter who you are, for what happened today, I owe you a massive favor."
"No need." Chen Zhi dropped his smile, watching Lin Wanwan's retreating figure as she ran to find Taylor. "She's my girlfriend. As long as she's happy, that's all that matters."
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
