Trending topic alert: The mysterious fan site administrator of a top celebrity has been exposed.

However, when Zhou Ai obediently finished dressing and turned around, ready to wait for Chu Yi to praise her, she found that Chu Yi, who had just been standing in front of her, had disappeared.

Just then, the village chief walked over with a cigarette case, a simple, grateful smile on his face. He patted Zhou Ai's arm and said, "Young man, thank you so much for today! You've worked hard! Here, have a smoke to relax?"

Zhou Ai smiled politely and waved her hand in refusal: "Thank you, village chief, but I'm sorry, I don't smoke."

A kind-looking old woman walked over shakily, carrying a bowl of steaming ginger soup, and handed it to Zhou Ai: "Good child, you've been caught in the rain, quickly drink a bowl of ginger soup to warm yourself up, don't catch a cold!"

Zhou Ai felt a warmth in her heart and quickly bent down to accept the bowl of ginger soup with both hands: "Thank you, Grandma."

He had just straightened up, ready to take a sip of hot ginger soup, when he looked up and saw Chu Yi carrying a bowl of ginger soup into the warehouse, seemingly searching for something.

Their eyes met unexpectedly once again in the air.

Chu Yi's gaze unconsciously fell on the bowl of steaming ginger soup in Zhou Ai's hand, then glanced at the old woman smiling at Zhou Ai. His steps, which were about to move in this direction, stopped almost imperceptibly. His eyes flickered, and then, as if he had changed his mind, he turned around expressionlessly and walked towards another deserted corner of the warehouse.

Zhou Ai was taken aback by his obvious avoidance of her, and then her displeasure and competitive spirit resurfaced.

"Hey—Teacher Chu!" he called out, forgetting all about drinking the ginger soup, and strode after her with the bowl in hand.

The warehouse was crowded and noisy, but Zhou Ai, being tall and long-legged, caught up with Chu Yi in a few steps and grabbed his wrist.

Chu Yi was forced to stop and turned to look at him, her brows furrowing slightly: "What are you doing?"

Zhou Ai held up the bowl of ginger soup the old woman had given her, then pointed to the bowl in Chu Yi's hand and asked matter-of-factly, "Dr. Chu, who are you planning to give this bowl to?"

As soon as Zhou Ai finished speaking, which carried a clear questioning tone, Chu Yi raised her eyelids and let her gaze drift past Zhou Ai's shoulder to the diligent photographer behind him, who was still carrying his equipment and trying to capture footage even in this chaotic environment.

He spoke in a flat, even somewhat matter-of-fact tone, handing over the steaming bowl of ginger soup, his intention clear: "Give it to him."

The photographer, suddenly called out: "…………"

He looked at the ginger soup handed to him, and felt the sharp, almost freezing gaze that Zhou Ai suddenly shot over him. He felt that the bowl of ginger soup was too hot to handle, and he didn't know whether to take it or not. He stood there frozen, and cold sweat was about to pour down his face.

Zhou Ai's gaze swept across the bowl of ginger soup like a knife before returning to Chu Yi's face, a barely perceptible hint of anger and rivalry flashing deep in her eyes.

He suddenly reached out, not to take the bowl Chu Yi was handing to the photographer, but to stuff the bowl of ginger soup that the old woman had given him into Chu Yi's empty hand, and at the same time, he "snatched" the bowl of ginger soup that Chu Yi was originally going to give to the photographer.

Their movements were so fast that no one could react in time.

"Then I'll trade with you." Zhou Ai's tone was firm, carrying an air of unyielding authority, as if this wasn't just a bowl of ginger soup, but some crucial token.

He held the bowl of ginger soup that originally belonged to Chu Yi as if declaring ownership.

Chu Yi stared blankly at the bowl of ginger soup that had been forcibly shoved into his hand. Before he could say anything, Zhou Ai tilted his head back and gulped down a large mouthful of the ginger soup that had been "exchanged" from him. Then he gave him a provocative look.

His eyes seemed to say: Look, I drank it.

Chu Yi was speechless for a moment... He felt that Zhou Ai's behavior was sometimes really... childish.

At this moment, he looked at the photographer who was still standing there dumbfounded with his hands empty, and then at the bowl of ginger soup that Zhou Ai had already drunk, and sighed, as if he was too lazy to get entangled in such a boring matter any longer.

He reached out and naturally took the heavy camera from the photographer's shoulder, saying, "I'll hold it for you for a bit, you drink first."

The photographer, feeling like he'd been granted a pardon, quickly took the bowl of ginger soup that Zhou Ai had just "switched" to, but which Chu Yi had now gestured for him to have. He thanked her profusely, lowered his head, and sipped it slowly, trying to minimize his presence.

Chu Yi, on the other hand, dutifully picked up the camera, and the lens instinctively aimed at the most valuable subject in front of him: Zhou Ai.

Zhou Ai was holding the bowl of ginger soup she had "exchanged" from Chu Yi, and took another sip. The spicy, scalding liquid slid down her throat, dispelling some of the chill.

As if sensing the camera's focus, he slowly raised his head, his gaze unwavering, looking directly into the dark lens.

The viewfinder was instantly filled with his flawless, still-damp face.

His wet, silver-gray hair was messy and unruly, but his eyes were unusually bright and sharp, as if they could pierce through the cold glass lenses and see straight into the person behind the camera.

A trace of ginger soup might still linger at the corner of Zhou Ai's mouth, adding a touch of wild sexiness.

He stared directly at Chu Yi through the camera lens.

Chu Yi, standing behind the camera, clearly received that gaze through the viewfinder.

In that instant, it was as if all the noise and rain in the surrounding warehouse disappeared, leaving only the pair of eyes in the viewfinder focused intently on "oneself".

This wasn't the first time the two had experienced this silent eye contact, but... when their gazes met again through the viewfinder...

What is unavoidable is always—

Chu Yi's heartbeat.

A heartbeat that can't be faked.

I avoided eye contact, but my heart kept pounding.

Zhou Ai even blinked very slowly, then faced the camera and slightly curled the corners of her lips into a smile that carried a hint of lazy smugness and an indescribable depth of meaning.

Chu Yi tightened his grip on the camera almost imperceptibly, stabilizing the lens without moving it away.

Their gazes met through the cold machine, completing a subtle connection in full view of everyone.

Then, the photographer, who had just finished his ginger soup, cautiously spoke up, "Um, Professor Chu, thank you, but let me do it..."

Chu Yi seemed to snap out of her daze, hastily handing the camera back to the photographer and looking away.

Zhou Ai also withdrew his gaze, and finished the last bit of ginger soup in his bowl with a good mood, as if he had won the silent contest just now.

Holding a loudspeaker, the village chief repeatedly thanked everyone involved in the harvest, especially the program crew and guests, his simple words filled with sincere gratitude: "Thank you all so much today! Thank you! Thank you so much! Otherwise, these corn crops would have been ruined!"

The assistant director quickly called out to everyone, "Alright, alright, everyone's worked hard! Go back and change into dry clothes, drink some hot water, and don't catch a cold! Hurry up!"

The crowd began to disperse noisily, each heading back to their lodgings.

Chu Yi looked down at himself. The lower half and shoulders of his black hoodie were soaked through, the color clinging to his body in patches of light and dark, making him feel very uncomfortable. He rolled up the wet cuffs a few times, revealing half of his fair, slender, and well-defined forearms.

He glanced down at his trousers; the light blue jeans were splattered with mud, looking utterly disheveled.

Chu Yi frowned slightly, disliking the sticky and damp feeling. She lowered her head, quickened her pace, and headed towards the stilted house, wanting to get back as soon as possible to take a hot shower and change into clean clothes.

He hadn't gone far when he heard familiar, unhurried footsteps behind him.

He didn't need to turn around; he knew who it was.

Zhou Ai caught up with him in a few steps and walked alongside him. Zhou Ai's jacket was waterproof, but his silver hair was still wet. He didn't seem to care at all, and even seemed to be in a good mood.

The two of them went from walking one in front of the other to walking side by side, silently along the wet village road washed by the rain.

Behind them, two photographers diligently followed, their lenses tacitly focused on the two men who were also soaking wet, yet whose backs remained upright and striking.

The two photographers exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with a complex mix of "you know what I mean" and "this footage is amazing," before quickly and knowingly looking away and focusing on their subjects.

One is a top influencer with a powerful aura who inexplicably follows Dr. Chu, and the other is a doctor who seems aloof but always causes top influencers to behave abnormally.

Even without sound, this scene is full of a story.

The air in the mountain village was exceptionally fresh after the rain, carrying the fragrance of earth and vegetation. The setting sun struggled to peek through layers of dark clouds, casting long shadows of the two people on the slippery stone path.

Zhou Ai turned her head and looked at Chu Yi's pale profile, made even more so by the rain, and her slightly pursed lips. Suddenly, she said in a low voice, seemingly out of nowhere, "That ginger soup is quite spicy."

Chu Yi didn't stop walking, her eyes fixed ahead, as if she hadn't heard anything. She simply rolled up her sleeve, revealing a section of her forearm that gleamed delicately in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Zhou Ai didn't mind and added to herself, "But it feels quite warm in the stomach after drinking it."

Chu Yi still did not respond, but Zhou Ai did not seem to need his response. She was simply enjoying the moment of tranquility after the rain, and the presence of the person beside her even in silence.

Two photographers silently captured the moment of the two walking together under the setting sun and after the rain.

Chu Yi took a hot shower, finally getting rid of the chill and stickiness on his body. He changed into clean casual clothes, carried a basin to the tap outside the stilted house, and prepared to wash his dirty clothes. Conditions in the mountains are limited; there's no washing machine, so he had to do it himself.

He was bending down to get some water when his phone rang. He took it out and saw it was his mother, Chu Ruoyin, calling. Chu Yi wiped his hands and answered the phone.

After her usual direct and straightforward greeting, Chu Ruoyin cut straight to the point, "Have you been in touch with Xie Huaiming lately? He seemed to have a pretty good impression of you after our last meeting."

Xie Huaiming? Chu Yi paused for a moment before pulling this almost forgotten name from the corner of her memory.

He only met his blind date once out of politeness.

The other party was indeed exceptional, but the two never crossed paths again after that.

"Mom, the signal is bad here in the mountains," Chu Yi mumbled, continuing to turn on the tap, trying to drown out the topic with the sound of water.

Chu Ruoyin clearly didn't believe this explanation, and her tone was tinged with dissatisfaction: "I have a signal when I call you, but you lose signal when you send a message to Xie Huaiming? Don't try to fool me."

Chu Yi sighed, reached out and turned off the running faucet, his tone tinged with helplessness and perfunctoriness: "I know, I'll contact you if I have the chance." He really didn't want to waste any more breath on this kind of thing.

"I'm just calling to remind you, don't take it lightly," Chu Ruoyin muttered a few more times.

"Okay, okay, I got it," Chu Yi replied absentmindedly, and finally managed to hang up the phone.

He had just put his phone back in his pocket and turned the tap back on when he heard a laughing voice beside him:

"Dr. Chu, do you know Xie Huaiming?"

Chu Yi was startled and turned around to see the host, Xie Mo, carrying a basin to collect water, with a curious smile on his face.

Chu Yi was somewhat surprised, but considering that they both shared the surname Xie, she asked, "Who are you...?"

"Oh, so we're somewhat related by blood," Xie Mo smiled, his tone relaxed, but his choice of words was somewhat subtle, "but... not much." He seemed unwilling to talk more about family ties.

This was the first time Chu Yi had heard someone describe blood relations like this, and she found it somewhat amusing, so she lowered her head and slightly curled the corners of her mouth.

Xie Mo filled the water container but didn't leave immediately. Instead, as if suddenly remembering something, he said, "It's quite a coincidence, actually. I received a message from Xie Huaiming a couple of days ago. He asked if I was recording a program with you."

Chu Yi paused for a moment while rubbing the clothes. Although he and Xie Huaiming had each other's contact information, they hadn't spoken since that awkward blind date.

He looked up in confusion: "Don't we have a way to contact each other? He can just message me if he needs anything."

Why bother going through all that trouble to find Xie Mo?

Hearing Chu Yi's words, Xie Mo's smile deepened, tinged with amusement: "He didn't say anything, just asked me... to take good care of you." His words were full of hidden meaning.

"Take care of me?" Chu Yi's brows furrowed immediately.

His relationship with Xie Huaiming was far from being to the point where Xie Huaiming would specifically ask someone to "take care" of him.

Chu Yi frowned, then immediately clarified, her tone clearly conveying a sense of disclaiming responsibility: "Teacher Xie, you may have misunderstood. I'm not actually that familiar with him; I've only met him once before."

They specifically emphasized "one meeting" and "not familiar with each other".

"Only met once?" Now it was Xie Mo's turn to be surprised.

He knew Xie Huaiming well; among the younger generation of the Xie family, he was known for being arrogant and aloof, and ordinary people simply couldn't catch his eye.

Why would someone care so much about Chu Yi, whom they've only met once, and even send a message to ask her to do so?