I want to look at you.

That evening, there was neither a banquet nor a dinner gathering. Chen Liwan had gone out to visit a friend, leaving Chen Ruowen alone in the hotel. On her laptop, the first episode’s edited sample, just delivered by Zhang Jiang, played in the background, but Chen Ruowen’s expression was far from pleased.

Zhang Jiang had, with some effort, grasped her requirements; the edit was a distilled, highlights-only version. Even so, Chen Ruowen remained dissatisfied. The quality was passable, but if they hoped for the show to go viral with just this… it still seemed insufficient.

Was it really, as Zhang Jiang claimed, that popularity depended solely on luck?

Suddenly, her phone’s screen lit up. Chen Ruowen glanced at it casually, and the stern frown that had just creased her brow softened instantly, like rain melting into a spring breeze.

“What are you doing?”

The message was from Bai Jinyan. Now that she thought about it, since arriving in North City, she’d only phoned Bai Jinyan once—on the first day, just to let him know she was safe. With the recent chaos of the talent show, she’d been so busy she’d nearly forgotten about him. It dawned on her that almost a week had passed without any contact between them.

So instead of replying by text, she simply called him on video.

The phone rang for quite a while before it was answered. Bai Jinyan’s pale, slender face appeared on her screen.

“What’s the matter?” His voice was a bit hoarse, as if he was making an effort to keep it low.

Chen Ruowen snorted softly. He’d messaged her first, yet he was the one asking what was wrong.

She peered at the inky darkness behind him on the screen, curiosity piqued. “What are you doing? Why is it so dark over there?”

Bai Jinyan glanced back, then turned his phone’s camera toward the faint patch of light on the ceiling, only to shift it back before she could complain.

“I’m in evening study. The corridor lighting is bad.”

“Oh, right, you still have to attend night study.” Chen Ruowen responded dully.

“Mm. When are you coming home?” Bai Jinyan walked a few steps toward the stairwell and put on his earphones.

Sure enough, the next moment he heard Chen Ruowen’s familiar teasing.

“What, you miss me?”

Bai Jinyan instinctively glanced around, but his expression remained perfectly composed.

“You’ve missed too many classes. You even skipped the autumn unified exams. That’s not good.”

Chen Ruowen yawned, her reply faint and listless. “You know as well as I do, those exams mean nothing to me. Besides, I’m swamped here—I can’t get away.”

“No wonder…” Bai Jinyan paused, but didn’t finish his thought. He changed the topic as if he hadn’t spoken at all. “What’s Uncle Chen got you doing? I thought you were just sightseeing in North City.”

“What’s there to sightsee in North City?” Chen Ruowen replied carelessly, then launched into a tirade she’d been holding in for days. “I spend the days watching competitions at the venue, then have to review rough cuts in the hotel at night. There’s always some dinner or banquet to attend, and whenever I finally get a break, I have to tag along with my dad to meet people and network. I’m sick of it!”

Hearing her familiar complaints, Bai Jinyan chuckled quietly. He gazed at her face on the screen, but the emotion in his eyes couldn’t reach her through the camera.

“I’ve sent you all the recent exam papers to your email. Look them over when you have time. I’ve marked the hard questions and common mistakes—memorize those sections. I’ll quiz you when you get back.”

Chen Ruowen’s lips parted, and her face instantly fell.

“Hey, Bai Jinyan, don’t you have any sympathy? I’m already exhausted, and you want me to do test papers? Don’t tell me you messaged me just to remind me about this boring stuff?”

Bai Jinyan responded with a soft “Mm.”

“Well, it’s not easy making double sets of notes for you.”

Chen Ruowen was at a loss for words.

She wanted to complain—but these were notes Bai Jinyan had made especially for her! Yet if she didn’t complain, the giddy excitement she’d felt upon getting his message would go to waste.

“I thought it was because you missed me. Guess I was happy for nothing.”

This time, Bai Jinyan didn’t reply. He glanced back over his shoulder, then lowered his voice, still calm but noticeably gentle. “I have to get back to class. We’ll talk later.”

“No!” She’d finally gotten him on the phone, and now he wanted to leave after a few reminders about test papers?

Bai Jinyan didn’t seem surprised by her insistence. He patiently explained, “I really can’t be out long—it’s class time.”

Class, always class!

As if she didn’t know there were no teachers supervising evening study anyway!

A rich kid so obsessed with diligent study—what was he thinking? Couldn’t he find something more interesting to do?

“You can go back to class, but you can’t hang up on me.” In the end, Chen Ruowen compromised.

Bai Jinyan sounded helpless. “How can I answer you during class?”

“I don’t care. Just leave your earphones in—you don’t have to talk. I’ve already backed down, can’t you do the same?”

He considered. “I’ll call you back with audio in a bit.”

“No, video.” Chen Ruowen’s tone was unwavering, with a hint of barely perceptible shyness. “I want to see you.”

Bai Jinyan wasn’t sure how he’d ended up agreeing to such a ridiculous demand, but when Chen Ruowen uttered those words—“I want to see you”—it felt like fireworks exploded beside his ears, leaving his mind blank and his senses in disarray.

She waited quite a while before the screen lit up again. Bai Jinyan had propped his phone in front of a pile of workbooks, the front camera capturing his face from an unflattering angle, along with half a fluorescent lamp on the ceiling stealing the spotlight.

“Move your phone to the left, the light is blinding,” she instructed.

He did as she asked.

“Bai Jinyan, hold it a bit higher. This angle is terrible—you look awful.”

“Then I’m hanging up,” he said, voice low and unreadable.

“No! Move it a bit more! Yes, that’s better, just a little higher… Switch to portrait mode, just film yourself—I don’t want to see those messy people around you… Ew, who’s that ugly guy behind you? Don’t film him… Why is he getting closer?”

Bai Jinyan turned at her words and saw a monkey-faced boy crowding behind him, making exaggerated faces.

“Well, well, Jinyan, you’re on video surveillance during night study just to report your whereabouts? Sister Wen sure keeps a close eye on you!”

Bai Jinyan quickly hit the lock button, yanked out his earphones, and, ignoring Chen Ruowen’s protests, shoved his phone into his pocket. For the first time, a suspicious blush crept across his pale cheeks.

“You’re mistaken.”