Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

Xu Qingyan didn't linger in the backyard for long and left immediately after saying those words.

Arriving in the living room, he glanced at his phone which was fully charged, displaying half-past two in the afternoon. He casually played with his phone in the living room until three o'clock before messaging Pei Muchan.

"Awake?"

The message had just been sent when the top immediately displayed, "The other party is typing..." followed by a buzz.

"I'm awake." Embark on new adventures with m-vl-em,pyr

"Shall I come up to find you now?"

"Mhm."

After pocketing his phone, Xu Qingyan walked towards the stairs. Since the start of the last romance reality show, every step he took was accompanied by rapid flashbacks of everything that had happened.

Initially, Xu Qingyan hadn't paid any attention to Pei Muchan; he just thought this woman was rather peculiar. He had understood a principle since the age of twelve: those who come forward of their own accord never have good intentions.

Later, he discovered that this woman didn't seem to harbor any ill will, and as they gradually got to know each other, he found her to be quite interesting, but that was all.

It wasn't until this morning when he was sending her back to her room and received that phone call from Ji Chen that he instinctively realized this might be an opportunity.

In that brief instant, he reacted. There truly wasn't much time to think, much less to consider whether his actions would seem offensive.

The only thought in his mind was to seize the opportunity to bridge the distance. So, he did it instinctively, and the results weren't too bad.

As for the consequences, he hadn't thought about them.

Having struggled on his own for many years, Xu Qingyan had his own set of simple rules of thumb for many matters—for example, whether an action was more beneficial than harmful, or vice versa.

He knew full well that Pei Muchan wouldn't blame him for taking initiative; she would only worry about him being targeted for retaliation. Consequently, the distance between them would naturally narrow.

This wasn't about playing the hero to save the damsel; it was about taking an aggressive risk together.

To put it plainly, he needed this relationship and hoped to establish a bond with Pei Muchan that went beyond the confines of the show, a more solid relationship of mutual benefit. Whether as friends or collaborators, it didn't matter.

Therefore, he would use every trick in the book to seize this opportunity. No matter what consequences arose halfway through, even if things turned sour, it wouldn't matter.

He had nothing to lose and no way back, nothing was too risky for him to gamble on.

The world had dealt him painful kisses, and he punched back twice as hard.

Youth should be vibrant and passionate, overcoming all obstacles and moving forward with determination. He didn't dare to claim he was still youthful, just a man struggling to get by, holding a passport for the deceitful, floating through the turbulent sea of an unpredictable fate.

Outside the room.

Xu Qingyan halted his steps and knocked on the door three times.

There was a moment of silence inside the room before restrained footsteps could be heard after three seconds, and the door opened with a click.

Pei Muchan had changed into a new set of clothes: a warm yellow knitted sweater over a tight white shirt, and light blue jeans.

He glanced and noticed Pei Muchan had put on a pair of earrings at some point; a kind he recognized as beyond his purchasing power.

"Cough, come in first," she said, stepping back.

"Oh, okay." Xu Qingyan, who knew when to exercise restraint, tidied up his clothes before entering, even though he had been here earlier in the morning.

Passing by her, Xu Qingyan caught a whiff of a faint scent of perfume.

The two of them arrived at the living room sofa where Pei Muchan had already prepared tea, placed on the glass coffee table.

"Please, have a seat."

"Sure." He picked a spot on the sofa to sit, then looked up to find Pei Muchan holding a guitar, seemingly out of nowhere.

Seeing his puzzled look, Pei Muchan immediately felt a bit uneasy and hurriedly began to explain.

"I borrowed the guitar from the staff; they happened to have one."

"Alright," Xu Qingyan didn't bother with whether the guitar was borrowed or bought, anyway, he'd listen to her, "What are we doing now, Teacher Pei?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Muchan blinked her eyes, pressed her lower lip hard, and nearly couldn't maintain her composure.

"Let's start with some basic music theory knowledge first, and see how far you've gotten with your self-study."

Ten minutes later, she was dumbfounded.

"So... you actually don't know anything?"

"I can read a bit of the guitar tablature," he emphasized, which was actually a quick study from a small website.

"That counts as knowing a little bit; at least you know how to keep a beat," Pei Muchan let out a gentle sigh, almost ready to kneel to him, "You really are honest."

"I said I was only a little interested, and indeed it's just that little bit."

"Yeah."

Pei Muchan: "...."

"Forget it, I'll just self-study," Xu Qingyan made a move to get up, intending to leave.

"Don't you dare!" Pei Muchan stepped in front of him, not letting him get up, "The classes you've been watching are not as professional as my teaching and can easily lead you astray."

At that, Xu Qingyan almost laughed, but he held it in.

Not going was never an option, he had no interest in watching those lengthy eight-hour online courses. He could barely last twenty minutes before feeling sleepy; where could be more comfortable than being personally taught by a diva?

"Won't that be very troublesome for you?" He paused, looking up with a hesitant expression, "The show is still being filmed, and normally you don't have much rest time."

"Considering that, I can't really teach you much, but I can give you some simple and rough music theory lessons."

"That works," Pei Muchan nodded, took the guitar over, and said, "We don't have much time, let's dive straight into hands-on practice, learning while teaching."

"As for music theory, I'll mention it as we go along, and within an hour you should have a preliminary understanding of it."

Xu Qingyan said "okay" and obediently nodded.

The crisp sound of the guitar rose as Pei Muchan played a short intro, which was from an interlude of a song on her album. Then she began explaining it one by one before letting Xu Qingyan try to imitate it.

It wasn't his first time handling a guitar; he had dabbled with it in high school before his family had their crisis.

Back then he didn't understand music theory, just blindly followed along with a thirty-minute video tutorial, but only managed to learn a third of it before he couldn't keep it up. Afterward, the guitar gathered dust in a corner.

Touching the guitar again after so many years, his skills were as subpar as ever. However, after practicing a few times, he slowly retrieved a bit of the feel for it, roughly equivalent to the level of a newcomer with six hours of practice.

Stumbling and halting, he barely replicated the intro that Pei Muchan taught. As for how it sounded, by the solemn expression on Pei Muchan's face, even without her saying anything, he could guess.

"How was it?"

"Not bad," she looked away, holding back a breath she didn't exhale for fear of denting Xu Qingyan's confidence.

Pei Muchan took a tactical sip of tea, moistened her throat, and glanced at the time again.

"We have half an hour left; I'll teach you how to create your own intro. It may be a mess, but the most important thing is to play the melody you feel is right in your heart."

"Hmm."

About ten minutes later, after a half-day's lesson, Pei Muchan handed the guitar back to Xu Qingyan, encouraging him.

"Don't be afraid, boldly play the melody you want."

Xu Qingyan thought for a moment and responded with an "okay."

Drawing from his memory of songs, his left hand pressed down on the fourth fret of the second string, his right hand gently strummed the strings, and a classic and soothing melody unfolded from his fingertips, "4323..." (Qing Tian)