168: Chapter 168 Emma! It smells so good!

Dusk was falling.

Lu Li sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding a purloined teddy bear in his arms, his fingers swiping casually across the phone screen.

Anyway, Shen Qingxue didn't need this bear right now, so what harm was there in him holding it for a while?

At this moment, Shen Qingxue walked out of the kitchen carrying two cups of hot tea.

She placed one of the cups in front of Lu Li, held the other herself, and sat down opposite him.

Seeing the teddy bear held in Lu Li's arms, the corners of her mouth twitched instinctively, but unexpectedly she didn't stop him and tacitly allowed it.

"Still looking at the comments?"

"Mhm."

Suddenly feeling playful, Lu Li turned the phone screen toward her.

"Look at this one, it's cracking me up."

Shen Qingxue lowered her head to look, and it was a trending comment.

[Lu Li, if you dare to stand up "east wind breaks" as well, then I will write a song too, and then turn the matter of you buying sanitary napkins in the middle of the night into a song and post it online!]

The tips of Shen Qingxue's ears turned slightly red as she pushed the phone back.

"Boring."

She somewhat suspected that Lu Li was deliberately teasing her with this matter, but unfortunately she couldn't find any evidence, so she could only let it go.

"How is this boring? Look at how interesting this batch of netizens is."

Lu Li chuckled twice, completely unbothered by being the "protagonist of the event".

Shen Qingxue gave him an exasperated glare.

How could this guy push his luck so much! Shameless!

After some banter, Lu Li's expression gradually turned serious.

"Right, what time is the new song from Starlight Entertainment supposed to be released?"

"Tomorrow night at seven."

Shen Qingxue picked up her teacup, took a sip, and spoke in a flat tone.

"Judging by your look, you haven't been paying attention to the news again. They moved it forward, and it's even an hour earlier than ours."

Lu Li immediately raised an eyebrow.

"Oh my, are they trying to jump the gun?"

"It's normal. They aren't fools; they definitely want to seize the initiative and harvest the first wave of popularity. By the time our song comes out, public opinion will have already fermented for an hour."

She paused for a moment and continued.

"Besides, if the quality of their song is indeed good, the preconception effect will be very obvious."

Lu Li leaned back against the sofa, resting his hands behind his head as he thought.

"Then what if the quality of their song is no good?"

"That's even simpler."

The corners of Shen Qingxue's mouth curved up slightly.

"If the song released first is of poor quality, it will instead lower netizens' expectations for subsequent traditional style songs. When our song comes out then, the contrast will be even more obvious."

Lu Li analyzed it simply.

How should he put it... there are pros and cons.

But regardless, for them, the cons definitely outweighed the pros, because all current assumptions were built on the premise that the other party's song quality was poor.

"Whoa, that's indeed a bit troublesome, but... a good melody can conquer everything."

Shen Qingxue nodded; she thought so too.

The two chatted for a while longer, after which Lu Li picked up his phone, opened Douyin, and searched for the newcomer Lin Zhihan's account.

The followers didn't seem to be many, only about a million, which was completely out of Shen Qingxue's league.

However, the pinned preview video on Lin Zhihan's profile page had already broken three million likes, with hundreds of thousands of comments.

These figures were quite exaggerated and could not be underestimated anywhere.

"Why does this data feel a bit fake?"

Lu Li frowned.

"I guess it was bought."

Shen Qingxue's tone was certain.

"It's Starlight Entertainment's routine operation: buying a wave of data to create momentum before releasing a new song, giving passersby the illusion that the song is very popular."

"I've experienced it before too. Whether it's releasing songs or variety show previews, they always buy traffic for promotion first. This is basically the default standard in the entertainment industry."

Lu Li smacked his lips.

Spending money to push traffic for everything—tsk tsk tsk, it's great to be rich.

"Then should we buy some too?"

"No need."

Shen Qingxue glanced at him and suddenly teased.

"Our data is real, why would we artificially boost it? Besides, can you even afford it with that tiny bit of money of yours? Just buy a thirty-yuan Douyin promotional boost instead."

The corners of Lu Li's mouth twitched instinctively. These words were too blunt and a bit heartbreaking, old bro.

"That's true."

A moment later, Shen Qingxue suddenly put down her phone and tilted her head to look at Lu Li.

"Let's go, accompany me to practice songs for a bit?"

Lu Li was leaning against the sofa; upon hearing this, his whole body shrank back into the sofa.

"Ah? Still practicing? I've already recorded an entire "red dust inn" today, my throat is almost smoking, let me rest for a bit."

He wore a reluctant expression and wanted to bargain a bit more.

"Just for a little while."

Shen Qingxue's tone was flat, but she had already stood up from the sofa and walked over to his side.

Lu Li shook his head, quickly raising the teddy bear to block his face, and spoke unyieldingly.

"I won't practice, even if beaten to death I won't practice! Today, even if I die right here, jump down from here! Die outside! I still won't practice songs!"

The living room fell silent for a second.

Just as Lu Li felt whether his words were a bit too harsh...

The next second, Lu Li felt the teddy bear blocking his face being gently tugged.

Then he moved the bear down a bit, revealing a pair of cautious eyes.

Shen Qingxue stood in front of him with her head lowered, both hands pinching the teddy bear's ears and pulling it aside.

Her expression... how should he put it.

It was still that cold and aloof look, but between her brows there was a trace of something indescribable.

It looked like grievance, and also like... acting spoiled?

"Accompany me to practice songs, won't you."

Her voice was much softer than usual, carrying a hint of a soft, lingering ending tone that was extremely alluring.

"Is that okay..."

Lu Li was completely dumbfounded.

He stared at Shen Qingxue for three seconds, question marks constantly popping up in his mind.

What the fuck.

What is this situation? Did the sun rise from the west?

"Um, are... are you okay?"

Lu Li instinctively reached out to check her forehead.

Shen Qingxue tilted her head to dodge, but her hand didn't let go of the teddy bear's ears, holding onto them just like that with her head lowered, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

"I'm just asking if you're going or not."

Her voice was still very soft, but her tone carried a hint of petty grievance.

Lu Li opened his mouth, then closed it.

He found that he suddenly couldn't say the two words "not going".

It wasn't because Shen Qingxue's words had much persuasiveness, but rather her appearance like this...

He simply couldn't refuse.

Holy shit! Let alone him, even if it were replaced by any of the Yuyans in front of the screen, they wouldn't be able to refuse at all, right?

"Fine, fine, fine, going, going, going, must go! Today even if I die, I will die on the road of practicing songs!"

Lu Li put the teddy bear aside, stood up from the sofa, put his hands on his hips, with a gaze so resolute it seemed ready to...

But then again.

"Are you trying to pull a honey trap on me?"

Lu Li gave her a weird look.

Shen Qingxue raised her head, glanced at him, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly as she actually looked a bit smug.

"Then just say whether it works or not."

Her tone was righteous and confident, without the slightest guilty conscience of being exposed.

Lu Li was choked up for a moment, stared at her for two seconds, and then let out a "tsk".

"It works, it works, alright? You're amazing, Your Elderliness has got me pegged."

Shen Qingxue didn't reply and turned to walk toward the equipment area, her steps subconsciously becoming much lighter.

Seeing this, Lu Li rubbed his hands together and quickly followed.

Not long after...

"Oh my! So good!"

Spirit and smell, the ultimate enjoyment.