"Wanna bet?"

These two words were like magic, striking Tang Tang's heart.

She looked at the man before her; he was clearly smiling, yet his gaze was like an X-ray.

It saw through her hesitation, her longing, and her unwillingness with absolute clarity.

She remembered the wretchedness of being harassed by drunks while busking in back alleys.

She remembered the days of eating instant noodles for two months just to buy a second-hand speaker.

She remembered the despair of practicing in front of a mirror for countless late nights, yet never even touching a decent stage.

She had nothing; her only stake was herself.

"I'll sign." Tang Tang picked up the pen and wrote her name at the end of the contract, stroke by stroke.

Her handwriting was a bit shaky, but it was forceful, as if she were carving all her determination onto the paper.

The next day, before the "artistic life" Tang Tang had imagined could begin, she first encountered the "hell dungeon."

Inside the practice room of Xian Dong Wo Xin Studio.

Lu Zhixian had changed.

The handsome guy who sat cross-legged drinking cola yesterday had vanished, replaced by a cold-faced "devil instructor" holding a stopwatch.

"Plank position, keep smiling, begin."

Tang Tang lay flat on the yoga mat, her body taut in a straight line, as she struggled to squeeze out a sweet smile.

A minute passed, her arms began to shake, and fine beads of sweat broke out on her forehead.

"Your smile isn't sweet enough; did you use artificial sweetener?" Lu Zhixian's voice came from above, devoid of any warmth.

"Tighten your core! Your butt is sagging! Do you want to face your audience with your butt?"

"Lift the left corner of your mouth a bit more. Is that a smile or a facial nerve disorder?"

Tang Tang gritted her teeth, feeling her facial muscles twitching as frantically as her abs.

Jiang Cheng and Su Qing held their water cups, peeking through the door, terrified by what they saw.

"Teacher Lu... has he been possessed?" Jiang Cheng whispered.

"He looked human enough yesterday, so why does he look like the King of Hell today?"

Su Qing nodded with a solemn expression.

"I feel like every word he says is like a knife, flying toward Tang Tang with a 'whoosh'."

Five minutes later, Lu Zhixian called a halt.

Tang Tang instantly collapsed onto the mat, sweat covering her face, without even the strength to cry.

This was... artistic guidance?

This is a goddamn selection site for the Three Hundred Spartans!

After the painful physical training came even more painful dance lessons.

Lu Zhixian played a piece of sheet music and a melody for her.

The song was titled "love you."

The melody was very catchy and the lyrics were playful, but the dance moves... were hard to describe.

Tang Tang gestured uncoordinatedly in front of the mirror; no matter how she looked at it, it seemed like she was doing morning calisthenics.

"Stop." Lu Zhixian finally couldn't watch any longer.

He took off his jacket and tossed it casually onto the sofa, revealing a simple white T-shirt underneath. His slender figure was fully visible, especially those long legs.

"Watch closely, I'm only teaching this once."

The music started.

The next second, the water cups in Jiang Cheng's and Su Qing's hands almost fell to the floor.

They saw the 185cm tall Lu Zhixian moving his body flexibly to the upbeat rhythm.

He made a heart shape with his hands by his cheeks, tilted his head, winked, and gave a brilliant smile.

Every movement hit the beat perfectly, flowing like water with an unforced sense of youthfulness.

That massive sense of contrast was enough to shatter one's eyeballs.

A man who could write 'the former you' and make middle-aged people cry their eyes out was currently performing a dance with explosive sweetness.

And... he danced more precisely and looked better than any girl group member!

Jiang Cheng's jaw nearly dislocated as he stared blankly at Lu Zhixian, feeling his worldview take an unprecedented hit.

Is... is this even logical?

When the song ended, Lu Zhixian wasn't red-faced or out of breath; he just picked up a towel and wiped away non-existent sweat.

He looked at the three petrified people and raised an eyebrow: "Is it hard?"

Tang Tang's mind was a complete blank.

She finally understood the weight of the "artistic guidance" in that contract.

Over the next few days, Tang Tang fell into an even deeper bottleneck.

She could mimic every one of Lu Zhixian's movements, but when she danced, it was always missing a certain flavor.

It was like a glass of plain water—bland and soulless.

This afternoon, she stopped once again because she couldn't catch the feeling, sitting on the floor in frustration.

Lu Zhixian didn't scold her; he just walked up to her and handed her a bottle of water.

"Do you know what you're missing?"

Tang Tang shook her head.

"You aren't dancing; you are falling in love with the camera," Lu Zhixian said, hitting the nail on the head.

"Imagine it as that boy you have a crush on. Your gaze, your smile, every little movement—they are all meant to attract him, to tell him how cute you are."

Falling in love with the camera?

Tang Tang was stunned.

In her mind, she suddenly thought of that boy from the class next door in high school, the one who liked wearing white shirts and was great at basketball.

She used to pretend to pass by the basketball court just to get an extra look at him.

Seeing him score, she would secretly cheer along with everyone else.

Seeing his Adam's apple move when he drank water, her heart would inexplicably race and her face would flush.

That green, heart-fluttering feeling...

Lu Zhixian turned on the music and stepped aside: "Try again, show me."

Tang Tang stood up, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

When the melody played again, she opened her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her gaze had changed.

It was no longer hollow mimicry, but carried a hint of shyness, a hint of joy, and a hint of unhideable affection.

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly—not a standard smile, but the kind of heartfelt, silly sweetness one has when thinking of a loved one.

When she made that heart gesture with her hands, it was no longer a stiff pose for a photo, but like a young girl gathering all her courage to make a clumsy yet sincere confession.

She was no longer Tang Tang the dancer.

She was that girl in the heat of love, the sweetest girl in the world.

In the practice room, Jiang Cheng and Su Qing were both dazed.

A satisfied smile finally appeared on Lu Zhixian's face.

This piece of unpolished jade had been carved by him until it shone.

The song recording went exceptionally smoothly.

Before the official release, Lu Zhixian planned the first wave of hype.

He found Su Qing.

"Use your short video account to post something."

Su Qing's fanbase consisted mainly of young women, the core force for leading trends.

Half an hour later, Su Qing's account updated with a fifteen-second video.

In the video, Tang Tang wore a simple white T-shirt and a high ponytail, dancing the chorus of "love you" in the practice room.

There was no fancy styling or complex camerawork; the image was as clean as a blank sheet of paper.

But Tang Tang's smile and gaze were like a piece of sugar dropped into a lake, instantly rippling out circles of sweetness.

The video caption was simple:

[#Love You Heart Dance Challenge# Who can be sweeter than her?]

As soon as the video was posted, the comment section exploded.

"Holy crap! Who is this girl! Her smile is melting my heart!"

"This dance is so cute! I've already started learning it, but I ended up tripping over my own feet."

"Where did Sister Su Qing dig up this treasure! Make her debut quickly!"

Relying on Su Qing's own popularity and the addictive, brainwashing nature of the dance moves, the video quickly spread across the platform.

Some sharp-nosed influencers from the dance and beauty sectors immediately followed the trend and mimicked it, causing the heat of the #Love You Heart Dance Challenge# topic to climb steadily.

However, just as the buzz was fermenting and everything was heading in the best direction...

A famous sharp-tongued music critic, "Music Judge," suddenly reposted Lu Zhixian's "something sweet" update from a few days ago on Weibo.

And added a paragraph of extreme mockery:

"From the rock-and-roll spirit of 'the former you' to sinking into a cheap pop song, I don't know whether to call this the fall of a genius or a complete bow to capital. When a creator begins to cater to the market, his artistic life comes to an end. Waiting for the year's biggest joke to play out."

One stone stirred up a thousand waves.

This Weibo post instantly ignited public opinion.

Countless music fans and onlookers flooded the comment section.

"The Judge is right! If Lu Zhixian really makes cheap pop, I'll be the first to un-fan!"

"Don't be so hasty above, the song isn't out yet. What if it's another masterpiece?"

"Masterpiece? You call a jumping heart dance a masterpiece? Don't make me sick."

"Rock is dead, sweet girls shall rise? I really can't understand this world anymore."

Before the song was even released, a war over "musical style" had already quietly begun on the internet.

Countless eyes were waiting to see how Lu Zhixian and his "sweetheart" would become the biggest joke of the year.