Gu Lan'an was taken aback by his cold tone, and she looked at Zhao Ye, who rarely smiled at her but had never scolded her before, with confusion. Then she remembered that he had been reborn and had only just met Zhao Ye. It was too abrupt of her to act that way. She quickly let go of him, frantically wiped her face, calmed herself down quickly, and apologized, "King Zhao, I'm sorry. I've always admired you, and now that I see you, I'm just too excited and couldn't control myself."

"Nothing's wrong." Zhao

"Let go of me," Zhao Ye reflexively flung him away. Due to the protection of his good friend Lin Xuan and his own distant attitude towards entering the entertainment industry, few people dared to touch him. But now, this person repeatedly violated his taboos, causing him to react somewhat excessively.

Gu Lan'an stumbled back after being dumped, looking at Zhao Ye in surprise, furrowing his brows. In his previous life, he didn't have early contact with Zhao Ye, so he wasn't aware of the stark difference between him now and when they got together later on. For example, he had no idea that Zhao Ye hated being touched by others. Now, he couldn't even touch Zhao Ye, so how could he get closer to him? Gu Lan'an couldn't help but drift into deep thought.

Gu Lanan was momentarily startled, and as the night resumed its normal state, she straightened the clothes that had been tugged on. Politely and distantly, she said, "I'm sorry, but I don't like it when people touch me. Do you have something you need?"

Gu Lan'an snapped back to reality because of his words, but was once again stunned by the question. He had only said that earlier because he didn't want Zhao Ye to leave. It was just a slip of the tongue in a moment of anxiety. Now, he had nothing to say to him. Should he tell him that he was reborn? He would probably be considered mentally ill. Thinking about his rebirth, Gu Lan'an's eyes brightened. He remembered the words he said before jumping off the building in his previous life. He grinned and blurted out the words in his heart, as if whispering to a lover, "Zhao Ye, I kept you here because I wanted to tell you that I fell in love with you at first sight." Although this statement might sound false in this life, Gu Lan'an had indeed fallen for Zhao Ye the moment he saw him coming towards the light in his previous life. But at that time, he was insecure and felt unworthy of him, so he never revealed his feelings and planned to wait until he reached a position equal to Zhao Ye's before confessing. However, he never expected to keep postponing it until death. Saying this now, although he had lost the shyness he had back then, he was still nervous.

Zhao Ye was taken aback by his tone, which only worsened her already unfavorable impression of him. In the entertainment industry, when contestants suddenly develop a liking for judges before the competition, it can only mean one thing - they want to make them their financial backers.

"I won't accept any sort of loss-making deal." Muttering those words, Zhao Ye didn't even look at Gu Lan'an as he casually walked away with his hands in his pockets.

"Huh?" Gu Lan'an was at a loss for words by his response. Her heartfelt confession was misunderstood as a hint for her to be taken advantage of. But thinking about it, her own behavior just now was indeed quite strange, and this was the only reason that could explain it. With this realization, Gu Lan'an felt much more at ease and looked at Zhao Ye, who kept his distance, with a smile. She took a deep breath and loudly said, "Zhao Ye, I'm telling you that I fell in love with you at first sight, not because I want to climb the social ladder through you, but because I want to imply that I like you and I want to pursue you."

Zhao Ye's footsteps halted at the mention of "喜欢" (love/like). Many people had claimed to like him before - his parents, fans, movie lovers, celebrities - the list was endless. However, no one had ever meant it sincerely; they all had ulterior motives. With a sigh, Zhao Ye shook his head lightly, raised his head, and continued walking forward with an indifferent expression. He had lost faith in the word "喜欢" (like/love); he would never believe in it again.