Name: Candy Delivered on Schedule
Author: Liang Ci

Synopsis

The next story is "The One Who Throws Herself at You." Click through to my column to go straight there. Please add it to your reading list, QwQ. The blurb is below this one. Scroll down to see it!

[Complete]

Also known as "What It's Like When Your Idol Relentlessly Pursues You"

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After being kept on the shelf for three years, Luan Yuan finally got a lucky break: she landed a chance to act alongside her idol, award-winning actor Yan Chengli. She was so thrilled that she barely slept for three days and nights.

She'd heard that Yan Chengli's ideal girlfriend was the elegant, refined sort of socialite who never had to lift a finger, so Luan Yuan decided to use this opportunity to dress herself up like a special judge at Paris Fashion Week's China event and make a good impression on her idol.

The first time she met Yan Chengli after landing the role was at the movie audition. Luan Yuan wore a little Gucci dress she'd bought with half a year's savings, but honestly, she wasn't even sure Yan Chengli had noticed her.

The second time she met him was while she was going over lines with the other actors. She wore her treasured Serge Lutens perfume, but all she got from Yan Chengli was a polite nod.

The third time was on her way to meet the director. She wore Guerlain lip tint in M25, the shade that best suited her complexion, but all she got was a distant smile from Yan Chengli.

And the fourth time she met Yan Chengli... While the cast and crew were packing up, Luan Yuan hurriedly took off her makeup and sneaked into the back courtyard to eat the large serving of luosifen her manager had brought her. That bowl of luosifen was scalding, spicy, and intensely fragrant, and she would never forget it for the rest of her life.

Yan Chengli, passing by by chance: "..."

Luan Yuan, whose plan to pass herself off as a goddess had fallen apart overnight: "..."

At that moment, Luan Yuan thought she might as well dive headfirst into the luosifen soup and drown herself. Then the great actor Yan suddenly spoke to her.

"I've got half a jin of crayfish hidden away. Want to share?"

[Bonus Scene]

Word around town was that the aloof, chaste, refined Yan Chengli had finally gotten himself a mysterious girlfriend. Overnight, everyone started guessing who this mystery woman was, and who had turned their virtuous, reserved idol into such a heartbreaker, shattering the dreams of countless female fans!

[The night the rumor spread]

Yan Chengli: Boss, don't you think we should make it public?

Luan Yuan: Aren't you worried your fans will say things like I'm not good enough for you? That would really hurt.

Yan Chengli: It's fine. It's not as if I've only been unworthy of you for a day or two.

Luan Yuan: ??? [She silently kept the words, "Actually, I meant they'd say I'm not good enough for you," to herself.]

Seeing her reaction, Yan Chengli smiled and kissed the utterly bewildered Luan Yuan on the lips. Then he leaned close to her ear and murmured, "Let them try."

[Read at your own risk]

1. Mutual pining

2. Everyday romance, with showbiz elements, sweet and swoony

3. No real-life inspirations or references

4. More to come if I think of anything

-----Upcoming story: "The One Who Throws Herself at You" blurb------

* I've never been the kind of person to make the first move, but after meeting you, throwing myself at you seems surprisingly easy.

Tao Rong met Luo Qiuxu on the night she and Zhou Shang decided to break up.

That was the first time Tao Rong had ever gone wild at a flashy nightclub. The first time she'd decided to turn over a new leaf and completely let go of her feelings for the scumbag Zhou Shang. The first time she'd gotten so drunk she passed out and lost all sense of time and place. And, even more incredibly, the first time she'd openly rented a room with a handsome man so devastatingly attractive she fell for him at first sight.

In the literal sense of renting a room.

That's right, they didn't do anything. They just rented a room.

But Tao Rong didn't know that.

From the moment she opened her eyes and saw a stack of money on the bedside table, along with a note that read [Be careful on your way back], Tao Rong felt like she'd been tainted.

But when Tao Rong returned to school, disheveled and unkempt, she discovered that the cool, handsome, chaste heartthrob was none other than Luo Qiuxu, the internationally renowned male musician the academy had reportedly paid a fortune to bring in for a solo concert. Tao Rong wanted to shoot herself on the spot.

You've got to be kidding me!

Thankfully, the great musician didn't seem to have a very good memory. After their unforgettable night, it was as if he'd forgotten Tao Rong completely, without a trace.

Only then could Tao Rong relax and dutifully rehearse with the orchestra in preparation for Luo Qiuxu's solo performance.

But it wasn't until that night that Tao Rong suddenly realized she'd made everything sound far too simple.

The man before her had a pair of cool eyes that seemed to speak.

"If I hadn't come to find you, were you planning to go your whole life without speaking to me?"

Tao Rong listened to Luo Qiuxu's gentle, tender voice and watched his mischievous smile. Little by little, every word he said made her heart itch.

Tao Rong: "I... I already had someone return the five hundred yuan to you!"

Luo Qiuxu smiled and tilted his head. "I don't want the money."

Tao Rong: "Then what do you want?"

Luo Qiuxu: "I want you."

Tao Rong: "?"

Luo Qiuxu: "Come keep me company while I practice in the music room."

Tao Rong: "??"