Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 8

At the Mopan Mountain Pier, the starting point for sightseeing in the Li River Scenic Area.

Xia Xinran gave Ran Lin a shocked look when he saw the signs for “Pier” and “Li River”.

“Spill it, do you have a relative in the production team who gave you spoilers?” Xia Xinran asked seriously in front of the camera, making it seem like a variety show stunt.

Ran Lin was amused by this. Before he could respond, the production team hurried them onto a large tourist boat.

The boat, chartered by the production team, had a spacious indoor area on the first level and a bright, clean deck on the second.

The five men were first led to the indoor area on the first level. As soon as they sat down, the hostess re-entered the scene, glowing—

“Guilin’s landscape is said to be the best under heaven, so we chose the beautiful Li River for the first stop of The National First Love Drifting Story! From today, our heartthrobs will travel to eight locations, facing eight adventures, vowing to defend their honor as the National First Love! Who will be the landscape’s First Love in Guilin? Let’s wait and see!”

“The voting channel at the bottom of the screen is now open. Everyone can pick up their phones and shake them to interact with us!”

After the hostess finished her opening remarks and read the advertisements, she left the scene. As the main camera withdrew, the five follow-up cameras took their places. The subjects, whether composed, leisurely, bright, or playful, all shared one thing in their minds—confusion.

Not telling the guests the script indeed made things real. But the clueless guests were just as baffled.

Ran Lin was worried about how this first episode would turn out. At least for now, he hadn’t seen any highlights, neither in the production team’s planning nor in the variety show sense of the guests themselves.

In fact, he had no right to criticize others; he was just as wooden in front of the camera.

Hopefully, things would improve. As Ran Lin comforted himself with these thoughts, he was distracted by the scenery outside the window.

Along the shore were rolling green hills as the boat sailed on clear waters.

The river, not as full in winter as in summer, lacked the sparkling vitality of the warmer months but had its own distant and desolate beauty. The hills along the shore seemed covered in a light mist, creating an ethereal, mysterious feeling.

The banks were quiet, and few boats were on the river. The roaring tourist boat cut through the water, unfolding a picturesque landscape for those who cared to see.

Just a glance was enough to capture one’s attention.

“Ran Lin,” Gu Jie, who had gone up to the upper deck and was now back, called to him. “It’s your turn.”

Ran Lin came back to his senses, feeling as if he had missed the whole world. Without time to ask what was going on, he followed Gu Jie’s direction and headed to the deck alone.

Stepping out of the cabin, the river wind greeted him, slightly chilly but not too harsh.

The staff were already waiting there with a smile, and Ran Lin had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, his task was to pick one of the other four partners he thought most fit the image of a “Landscape Male God” and explain why, all while speaking to a secret camera.

The so-called secret camera was actually in a makeshift single-person booth set up on the deck with a camera inside.

From hearing the task to entering the “booth”, Ran Lin had only a few seconds to think.

The booth felt flimsy, as if the “walls” could be blown away at any moment. But to create a secretive atmosphere, the production team and staff outside were very quiet, leaving Ran Lin alone with the sounds of the wind and the river.

Lowering his eyes, pondering for a moment, Ran Lin let out a gentle sigh and finally looked up at the camera. No, he almost pressed his face against the camera, then said word by word, very seriously, “Although I feel a bit sorry for my idol, for the title of ‘Landscape Male God’, I still have to choose Xia Xinran. The landscape is naturally distant, graceful, and subtle. Although Xia Xinran is far from subtle, ahem, when it comes to beauty, he is second to none… Uh, wait, did I say something wrong…”

“No matter what, my vote goes to Xia Xinran!”

After throwing a flirtatious look at the camera, Ran Lin left the booth satisfied. He wasn’t sure how well he did, but he had done his best.

The boat passed various unique rock formations and peaks, eventually arriving at the Guanyan Pier. During the journey, apart from the booth interviews, there were no substantial segments for interaction. Everyone just enjoyed the scenery, the wind and showed off their good looks.

At the entrance to Guanyan, the five men lined up again. The hostess finally announced the results of the first round of voting for the Landscape Male God—Ran Lin voted for Xia Xinran, Xia Xinran for Lu Yiyao, Lu Yiyao for Gu Jie, Gu Jie for Zhang Beichen, and Zhang Beichen for Lu Yiyao.

Lu Yiyao received two votes, Xia Xinran, Zhang Beichen, and Gu Jie one each, and Ran Lin none.

When the hostess announced Lu Yiyao’s two votes, Ran Lin had a bad feeling, which was confirmed. In front of the camera, he could only jokingly self-deprecate, “I’m so handsome. How can you guys not see it…”

His four companions laughed along perfunctorily, without much sincerity.

The hostess then announced the real highlight of the day—The Guanyan Adventure!

Guanyan, a historic underground cave, had always attracted visitors. The cave had three levels and five chambers, with the two upper levels being dry caves and the lowest level housing an underground river. The caves were interconnected in a complex manner, and even with a map, one could easily get lost without a guide.

The five celebrities were given hand-drawn cartoon maps, marked with fifty badges.

Collecting badges was the ultimate goal of the Guanyan Adventure. They had four hours, and whoever collected the most badges would have a special privilege in a segment the next day.

However, the order of entering the cave was based on the votes received on the boat. This meant Lu Yiyao, with the most votes, would enter first and have the full four hours. The others, each with one vote, would only enter half an hour later, meaning they had only 3.5 hours to collect badges.

Ran Lin, with no votes, would enter last and have only three hours.

How much difference could one hour make in collecting badges? Ran Lin didn’t know.

In fact, Ran Lin didn’t really care about how many badges he could collect.

But with the other partners already inside the cave and only he left waiting at the entrance, the bearded cameraman Sun Ge insisted on filming his lonely situation from every angle. The thought alone was disheartening.

The five men, not yet well-acquainted—excluding Xia Xinran and Zhang Beichen, who also behaved almost like strangers—had instinctively made their choices, resulting in no one voting for him.

Ran Lin was no longer concerned about how viewers would react to this segment. He felt genuinely disheartened from a personal standpoint in his interactions with others.

“Oh my God, is this the map?” Xia Xinran exclaimed in shock upon seeing the “Pier” and “Li River” signs, and after Lu Yiyao had just disappeared into the cave. He held up the hand-drawn map to his camera. “Audience friends, please take a look. This is the map the production team gave us. Compared to this, the Beijing subway map is just a doodle!”

At first, Ran Lin and the others didn’t react much, but by the end of his statement, they all burst into laughter. Xia Xinran’s comparison was so vivid, considering the complex and winding map of Guanyan with fifty badge locations marked on it.

“Alright,” Gu Jie quickly regained his composure, saying seriously, “Instead of complaining, we should study the route.”

Xia Xinran had an epiphany. “Right, we have four people here—more brains are better. Let’s analyze this together!”

Gu Jie felt defeated, realizing that Xia Xinran seemed to have forgotten the adventure’s purpose was to compete for the title of Landscape Male God, which meant they were competitors, not collaborators.

But Xia Xinran had already spread the hand-drawn map on the ground, beckoning everyone over. “What are you waiting for, come here.”

Ran Lin smiled and was the first to respond. Zhang Beichen and Gu Jie followed with some hesitation.

Even so, Gu Jie was somewhat resistant. “It’s not quite right for us to discuss together when Lu Yiyao entered alone. He’s ahead with a full 4 hours.”

Xia Xinran sighed heavily, his face exuding a “you’re too young” kind of benevolence. “Don’t worry, he won’t blame us. He surely understands a principle better than any of us here: the higher the popularity, the greater the responsibility.”

With limited space on the map, it was a challenge for the planners to clearly depict the main routes inside the cave, the badge hiding spots, and the pathways. Fortunately, with four people and eight eyes, they managed to categorize the map within about ten minutes. Attractions, badges, and routes were all sorted.

No matter how clear the map was, it was just theoretical, so they ended the discussion feeling somewhat prepared. The rest depended on their performance inside the cave.

With ten minutes left until Gu, Zhang, and Xia’s departure, the three of them had nothing to do. One sat silently on Ran Lin’s left, studying the map; another sat on his right, looking out at the river, and one paced in front of him, interacting with his camera and the future audience.

Ran Lin had just chosen a clean spot to sit, not intending to stay long since the ground was cold in winter. But for some reason, all three of the one-vote party gathered around him.

He wondered if he had unknowingly picked a spot with good Feng Shui.

“Hey, why did you vote for me?” Having interacted with future fans, Xia Xinran suddenly squatted down close to Ran Lin, looking at him with wide, serious eyes.

Xia Xinran’s beauty wasn’t feminine but rather childlike. So, combined with his straightforward nature, he might come off as brash at first, but over time, his simplicity became relaxing.

“Because I think you’re even more beautiful than the landscape,” Ran Lin exaggeratedly yet seriously said, creating a comedic effect. But Xia Xinran loved being praised for his looks, regardless of whether it was serious or joking.

Like now, his face lit up. “So you’ve become my fan now?”

Ran Lin grinned and nodded hastily. “Yeah, yeah.”

Xia Xinran then bluntly asked, “So, do you like me or Lu Yiyao more?”

Ran Lin, caught off guard by his direct challenge, took a moment before replying, “That depends on who collects more badges.”

Xia Xinran dramatically turned to his camera with a serious face. “Lu Yiyao, watch out. I’m going all out to win over a true love fan!”

Ran Lin couldn’t hold back his laughter. He could already imagine the subtitles in post-production—[Crisis among the Male God Group, A Fierce Battle for Fans!]

Gu Jie watched the entire scene but couldn’t really grasp the point. Logically, he understood that this segment would probably have a good effect on the variety show, given Ran Lin’s reaction. But emotionally, he couldn’t relate to such interactions.

He somewhat regretted signing up for this reality show. For someone like him who preferred not to talk much in daily life, participating in a reality show was almost masochistic.

Zhang Beichen had been deeply engrossed in studying the map even after the group discussion had ended, so engrossed that he was oblivious to the drama unfolding just a few steps away.

Xia Xinran, seemingly fond of picking fights with him, came over right after hamming it up for the camera and bluntly asked, “Why didn’t you vote for Ran Lin? If you had, all four of us could have entered the cave together!”

Zhang Beichen, caught off guard, instinctively retorted, “Didn’t you also vote for Lu Yiyao?”

His tone was a bit sharp, clearly a direct and genuine reaction—both he and Xia Xinran had voted for Lu Yiyao, so why was one blaming the other?

Xia Xinran, however, had his own logic. “But you’re familiar with Ran Lin, right? Didn’t you both record the theme song together?”

Zhang Beichen was speechless at this point. After a while, he glanced awkwardly at Ran Lin.

Ran Lin felt black lines covering him. It seemed like he was being blamed for something he hadn’t done.

“If it were me, I would’ve also voted for Lu Yiyao.” Ran Lin quickly tried to smooth things over. “Who wouldn’t vote for Lu Yiyao as the Landscape Male God over me without feeling guilty?”

Xia Xinran was confused. “But you clearly voted for me, didn’t you?”

Ran Lin believed Xia Xinran didn’t catch the hint that he was trying to steer the conversation away from a sensitive topic. So he decided not to bother anymore and let the situation unravel.

“Actually, I voted for you out of sentiment. I was worried that if you got zero votes, you couldn’t handle it and would lose confidence in your stunning beauty.”

“…Ran Lin!!!”

“My becoming your fan is true.”

“True, my ass— aaahhh!”

Watching Xia Xinran’s meltdown was truly entertaining. He was genuinely upset, with most of his words needing to be censored. Yet, it didn’t make the situation awkward.

Instead, everyone was enjoying his rant, like watching a child who couldn’t have candy throw a tantrum.

Not every kind of genuine emotion was likable. But Xia Xinran’s frankness, unguarded mouth, lack of malice, and a bit of vulnerability made up his unique charm. There were times when he was annoying, but more often, he was endearing.

Meanwhile, Lu Yiyao, who had been in the cave for nearly half an hour, stood at the small dock of the underground river on the lowest level of the three-layer cave, hesitating.

After all this time, he had only collected two badges. He had followed the map diligently, but it seemed either the map was wrong or he misunderstood it. Either way, he was fed up!

Wasn’t the show supposed to be about reality? Fine. The real Lu Yiyao just wanted to enjoy a leisurely trip!

Lu Yiyao had never been taken on a trip when he was a child as his parents were always busy; then he went abroad for middle school, always returning to China during holidays for additional education; later, during college, he had a falling out with his father, who wanted him to study business, and had to work part-time due to reduced financial support, leaving no opportunity for travel; and finally, after entering the entertainment industry, he was so busy he couldn’t even find time to complete his credits, let alone travel.

So, part of the reason he signed up for this reality show was his fondness for the “travel element” in the program’s plan.

But the experience turned out to be entirely different. Constant camera presence made him overthink everything, worrying about what to say and do, unlike acting according to a script. This required improvisation.

Well, he decided to improvise.

Let others collect the badges; he was going to thoroughly enjoy the stunning karst landscape.

“Slow down, step here, right.” On the small boat at the underground river dock, the boatman carefully helped Lu Yiyao and the cameraman aboard, ensuring their stability.

“Sit tight!” Amidst the roaring water, the boatman called out and set sail.

As the boat slowly moved away from the dock, heading deeper, Lu Yiyao put down the hand-drawn map and stretched out without caring about the camera.

He suddenly noticed a familiar logo and, curious, picked up a box with the program’s logo from under the boatman’s feet.

Opening it, he found a badge inside.

Lu Yiyao was astonished. He set the badge aside and picked up the map again.

If he remembered correctly, there were no badges marked at the underground river on the map!

Three minutes later, Lu Yiyao discovered the problem. What he had thought to be the underground river was actually the sightseeing car path, and what he had believed to be the sightseeing car path was, in fact, the walking dry path. The actual underground river was where he had thought the walking path was.

Either the map was drawn incorrectly, or I misunderstood it.

Now it seemed, it was the former. The artistic quality of the hand-drawn map was soul-elevating, but the whimsical placement of the landmark names could drive someone with OCD to madness.

According to the revised understanding of the map, after getting this badge, there was no need to waste more time exploring the underground river, as there were no more badges along that route. There must be another one overlooked near the dock.

Thinking this, Lu Yiyao abandoned his previous resignation and got serious again, politely saying, “Excuse me, could you please take me back to the dock?”

“What?” The sound of the water was too loud, and the boatman didn’t hear him clearly.

Lu Yiyao had to shout, “I want to go back to the dock—”

The boatman finally heard him. “No—”

Lu Yiyao: “…Why?!”

The boatman didn’t reply but instead bent down to pick up a prop board that Lu Yiyao had overlooked, which was placed under the original badge box, and held it up high.

Lu Yiyao looked closely. In the colorful light, playful and clear calligraphy characters were visible:

[The path you choose, even if in tears, must be completed! — The Production Team]

Lu Yiyao stared blankly at the prop board, suddenly wanting to ask, ‘Who am I? Where is this? What am I doing?’

The episode’s planning was a mess, the prop preparation was dubious, and they were professional in playing tricks on the guests.

Hong Jie, how did you manage to pick this show out of so many glamorous and beautiful reality show proposals for me? 

Is the director your relative…?

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 7

In addition to featuring five National Boyfriends, <National First Love Drifting Story> had another gimmick: absolutely no script for the stars. Every segment and itinerary were controlled by the production team, and the celebrities were kept in the dark. It was a purely authentic reality show, showcasing celebrities in their natural state.

The official promotional slogan was:

The most unpredictable journey!

The most bizarre challenges!

The most authentic reactions!

The most interesting encounters!

You decide who is the ultimate National Boyfriend!

Any reality show daring to brand themselves as “authentic” these days was truly brave.

Because reality shows did have scripts, and they were always sent to the celebrities. The more earnest and confident production teams only outline the process, segments, and desired end results in the script, such as competition, unity, inspiration, humor, etc., leaving the rest to the celebrities’ improvisation. Other production teams’ scripts might even specify what reactions certain celebrities should have at certain moments, what props they should receive, etc.

With the former type of script, the final outcome retained at least 30% “authenticity”. With the latter, it was essentially just a “show.”

Regardless of the type, these details weren’t usually highlighted. They’d rather have the audience forget the existence of “reality show scripts” and even subtly create an “unscripted, on-the-spot authenticity” in post-production.

However, <National First Love Drifting Story> broke the norm by openly telling the audience they were doing it for real. The same attitude applied to their contracted celebrity guests: if you can’t handle it, don’t come.

Only XX Satellite TV dared to do this. They were always at the forefront of the conversation, making a killing.

Ran Lin truly didn’t receive a script. The production team only informed him about the local weather, around 10°C, and advised him to wear comfortable, warm athletic clothing.

Then, under Wang Xi’s guidance, accompanied by Liu Wanwan, his first-ever personal assistant newly appointed by the company, Ran Lin set off. Liu Wanwan, originally a company administrator, had volunteered for the role after seeing an internal job posting.

Seeing her apple-red cheeks, Ran Lin was worried she might ask for another autograph.

Filming began with him packing at home. It was Ran Lin’s first time being followed so closely by a camera, making him nervous. By the time he realized what he had said, he was already on the plane.

When the production team’s driver picked him up from the airport and brought him to a hotel in Guilin, it was already 8:30 p.m. Gu Jie and Xia Xinran’s flights were even later. Zhang Beichen and Lu Yiyao had already arrived, especially the latter, who had come a day earlier at his own expense for a day of leisure in the city. Of course, that day wasn’t filmed.

The director and production team warmly welcomed Ran Lin, chatting with him and Wang Xi, but their conversation boiled down to one message: Relax and enjoy, haha!

The director was ambitious, but Ran Lin couldn’t relax amidst his laughter.

Wang Xi and Liu Wanwan shared a room, and Ran Lin had his own. The hotel’s air conditioning was warm; he couldn’t even wear his fleece hoodie and had to switch to a T-shirt.

The cameraman didn’t seem to be resting yet, and Ran Lin wondered if he could ask him how long he planned to keep filming. There was a difference between having eaten pork and having seen a pig run*.

*Idiom used to describe people who haven’t personally experienced things but have heard about them, seen them, and have some understanding.

Ran Lin, who had never been under such close surveillance, felt quite pressured.

Considering the cameraman’s hard work, Ran Lin felt he couldn’t just sit around idly. Otherwise, the footage would just be of him staring blankly, which would be difficult to edit later. After some thought, Ran Lin decided to go greet his “partners” ahead of time.

When Zhang Beichen opened the door and saw him, he was quite surprised but quickly welcomed Ran Lin warmly.

For some reason, there was no camera following Zhang Beichen. Ran Lin guessed that Zhang Beichen might have arrived early, and enough footage of him had already been captured.

Being on camera, everyone was somewhat reserved. So, apart from initially discussing the theme song—their only common topic—the conversation was mostly just small talk with occasional awkward pauses. Soon, Ran Lin couldn’t sit still any longer and excused himself.

He originally didn’t want to visit Lu Yiyao. Since it was awkward with Zhang Beichen, it would only be more so with Lu Yiyao.

But before leaving his room, he had already told the following camera that he was going to meet his partners in advance. Having met one and skipping the other would seem odd and could attract criticism.

Reluctantly, he continued to find Lu Yiyao. However, it was his assistant who opened the door.

The assistant didn’t seem too surprised to see Ran Lin, but hesitated upon seeing the camera, then whispered, “Lu Ge is asleep. He was out all day yesterday and is quite tired.”

Ran Lin really wanted to ask why the assistant was still there if Lu Yiyao was asleep, but he held back.

Lu Yiyao’s tactic wasn’t very clever. Or maybe he didn’t intend to hide his “rejection” of Ran Lin.

Although a bit embarrassed, Ran Lin could understand Lu Yiyao’s feelings. He also felt relieved that Lu Yiyao didn’t want to see him. Otherwise, in front of the camera, he couldn’t outright say he was sorry for leeching off Lu Yiyao’s popularity. Meeting would only add to the awkwardness.

The assistant closed the door gently, but it still made a sound. After hesitating, to avoid the atmosphere being too dry, Ran Lin turned to the camera and made a light comment, “Looks like I won’t get to see my idol until tomorrow. What a shame.”

The cameraman finally seemed satisfied. As soon as Ran Lin returned to his room, the cameraman turned off his equipment and stood at the door with a simple smile, saying, “Have a good rest.”

Ran Lin was relieved and quickly grabbed an unopened bottle of water from the table to offer him, saying, “Thanks for your hard work.”

The burly, bearded cameraman suddenly became shy, quickly waving his hand. “No need. I have some in my room.”

Ran Lin didn’t insist and said, “Then you should rest well too, Sun Ge. Tomorrow might be like competing in a decathlon.”

Sun Ge was amused by the comparison. “It won’t be that bad.”

Ran Lin paused, then narrowed his eyes and asked out of the blue, “Sun Ge, do you know the script?”

The cameraman was taken aback, suddenly burping in surprise.

Ran Lin felt a bit guilty but also wanted to laugh, quickly changing the subject. “I was just asking randomly. Even if you did know, I wouldn’t want you to make a mistake. You should go rest.”

The cameraman nearly fled.

Ran Lin regretted it a bit, feeling like he had bullied an honest person.

On one hand, Ran Lin was relieved to end the day’s filming. On the other hand, Lu Yiyao was still mired in gloom over being disturbed.

He had been worried that Ran Lin would come to seek him out after his arrival. And indeed, Ran Lin did come.

But that wasn’t a big deal.

Since the airing of “Yun Zhang”, Lu Yiyao had quickly become a favorite among fans. Many colleagues he knew but had barely interacted with in the past two years started sending congratulatory messages and creating an impression of close friendship in interviews, on Weibo, and at fashion events.

Lu Yiyao usually turned a blind eye to these actions. He wouldn’t go out of his way to embarrass anyone, and even if he encountered them face-to-face and wasn’t happy about it, he would still play along.

But Ran Lin was an exception. The actions of others were predictable, and the results were estimable. At worst, it meant having one more fake friend. Everyone was busy anyway, so there wasn’t much need for interaction.

But Ran Lin was always full of surprises. In Lu Yiyao’s heart, there was an inexplicable fear of the unpredictable future.

His mind and body both resisted being in the same space as Ran Lin. Even if an encounter was inevitable, he wished it could be delayed as long as possible.

“Lu Ge.” The assistant couldn’t stand it any longer. “You’ve been staring at that screenshot for several days. Why bother? I know you’re angry, but the original post has been deleted. Don’t trouble yourself over it.”

Sitting cross-legged on the bed with no sign of sleepiness, Lu Yiyao pondered for a long time before finally putting his phone back on the bedside table and telling his assistant, “You should go back and rest too.”

The assistant was relieved to hear this and quickly left for the standard room arranged by the production team.

As the door closed, Lu Yiyao picked up his phone again, placing it on the bed in front of him. The screen still showed the screenshot saved in the gallery.

It was a Weibo screenshot of a girl named “Curly Curly Eyelashes”.

The post was filled with excited howls of “Ahhhhhhhh”, and one had to strain to make out the words. “I got my idol’s autograph today.”

Then there was a picture of a postcard with the message: [I love Lu Yiyao! – Ran Lin.]

As the assistant said, the original post had been deleted, and there was no need for Lu Yiyao to keep looking at the screenshot. But…

Lu Yiyao placed his hands on his knees, glanced at the screenshot, and took a deep breath as if the phone in front of him wasn’t a device but a martial arts manual.

Tomorrow, he would have to film shoulder-to-shoulder with Ran Lin. He had to be vigilant against any underhanded tactics from him.

So, it wasn’t that he was looking at the screenshot to disgust himself. He was etching those words into his mind—”constant vigilance”.

What was inevitable would come. It was like those two people in a math problem in school, one leaving from point A and the other from point B. Whether they were moving towards each other, away from each other, one fast and one slow, or vice versa, they were destined to meet. Then, you’d be asked how long it would take for them to meet or at which point they would meet.

The hotel lobby was the point where Ran Lin and Lu Yiyao would meet.

At 7 a.m. Beijing time, the five celebrities, who had coincidentally ordered breakfast to their rooms, gathered in the hotel lobby for the first time.

In front of the cameras, they lined up, exchanging polite greetings that seemed warm but were actually distant.

Lu Yiyao stood in the center, with Xia Xinran and Gu Jie on either side of him, while Ran Lin and Zhang Beichen were on the outer ends. The arrangement appeared casual but was actually based on their popularity.

During the handshake, Ran Lin barely touched Lu Yiyao before the latter quickly pulled away.

To the camera, it might have looked like a handshake, though not a warm one, but definitely polite and friendly. However, Ran Lin knew that there wasn’t any actual contact, and Lu Yiyao didn’t even make eye contact with him.

Ran Lin felt disheartened. Lu Yiyao clearly wasn’t indifferent, and it seemed a grudge had been formed.

Just as he thought about returning to his original spot, Xia Xinran suddenly pulled him back next to Lu Yiyao, then quickly moved to Ran Lin’s spot, swapping their positions. This left Ran Lin standing next to Lu Yiyao.

“You probably wanted to stand here, right? Haha,” Xia Xinran joked narrowly, with a mischievous look on his face. He wore a long red down jacket, making him look tall and beautiful.

Describing a man as beautiful might seem odd, but it perfectly suited Xia Xinran. His face was one that many girls would envy: fair, delicate, softer than most men but with more vigor than most women—a natural beauty.

Facing Xia Xinran’s prank, Lu Yiyao could only frown, and Ran Lin, seeing the teasing in his eyes, could only feel helpless.

Xia Xinran, not content with just that, leaned over Ran Lin and asked Lu Yiyao, “Did you see that Weibo post? Ran Lin’s confession to you?”

Lu Yiyao internally cursed Xia Xinran a hundred times but maintained a handsome smile on his face, asking naturally, “What Weibo?”

Xia Xinran, thinking Lu Yiyao genuinely didn’t know, blinked and explained clearly, “The one where he signed an autograph for a fan and also wrote ‘I love Lu Yiyao’. It went viral. Haven’t you seen it?”

Lu Yiyao feigned surprise as if hearing it for the first time, looking at Ran Lin. Ran Lin felt sure Lu Yiyao had seen it but was just playing along. “That was really embarrassing. I’ll explain it to you later.”

Lu Yiyao appeared unsatisfied but decided to let it go, saying, “Alright then.”

Ran Lin smiled graciously at his “idol”.

Of course, the promised explanation in the future would never happen. Both of them disliked their own actions.

The “idol” looked at the distant blue sky, thinking, ‘Lu Yiyao, when did you become so hypocritical?‘

The “fan” looked at the ground, thinking, ‘Ran Lin, can’t you ever speak the truth?‘

Xia Xinran’s mischief didn’t create the expected waves and seemed disappointed. Just when he was about to say something else, the usually quiet Gu Jie suddenly said, “Today, we just happen to represent five colors.”

Everyone looked at him, clueless. Gu Jie wasn’t particularly eloquent, but he spoke firmly. “Green, yellow, red, white, black.”

Only then did everyone realize Gu Jie was referring to their outfits. Xia Xinran wore a bright red down jacket, Zhang Beichen a bright yellow short cotton jacket, Lu Yiyao a green windbreaker, Ran Lin a white short down jacket, and Gu Jie a black leather biker jacket.

Five people, five colors. All in casual wear, the hardest to pull off was Lu Yiyao’s, whose bright green color stood out everywhere, impossible to lose in a crowd, and the outdoor windbreaker lacked any shape. Yet, he wore it with style.

It was a natural ease and composure radiating from his bones, more casual than Xia Xinran’s flamboyance, gentler than Gu Jie’s indifference. As if he was truly there for a holiday, even if slightly awkward in front of the camera, he stayed true to himself.

“So, what’s the significance of these five colors?” Xia Xinran understood that Gu Jie was talking about their clothes but still didn’t grasp the meaning.

Gu Jie slightly leaned forward from the group and explained, “In ancient times, these five colors were considered fundamental. Basically, these five colors could be used to create all other colors.”

Xia Xinran tilted his head. “So?”

Gu Jie looked at him quietly, his masculine face exuding peace and serenity.

Xia Xinran waited for two minutes, finally realizing that Gu Jie had finished speaking.

A gust of wind whistled through the revolving doors, chilling the hotel lobby. The atmosphere turned incredibly cold.

Ran Lin wanted to facepalm. Better yet, he wished the cameraman would turn off the equipment and let them all huddle in a corner for a while.

Finally, even the director couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He had originally wanted the female host to wait a bit longer, giving the guests more time to interact, especially Lu Yiyao and Ran Lin, who had such heated topics to discuss. However, the five of them had managed to turn the conversation into a frozen wasteland.

“Hello, National First Loves. I’m Bai Rong, and I’ll be with you every step of your journey! I bet the fangirls in front of their TVs have already blacklisted me, but for the sake of our idols, I’m willing to take the plunge! Without further ado, I’m sure our idols are most curious about what we have planned for today and the challenges awaiting them…”

The lively hostess said this, then suddenly turned to face the camera.

“I declare here that everything that follows is unknown to our National First Loves. Like everyone else, I’m very curious to see their performances… National First Love Drifting Story, go!”

With the hostess’s lead, the atmosphere finally improved a bit. The five men, led by the hostess, exited the hotel and entered the large seven-seater SUV provided by a sponsor, waiting at the door.

One driver, one cameraman, and the temporarily taskless hostess got into the production team’s car, leaving one seat for each of the five men.

“Aren’t they even going to tell us where we’re going?” Xia Xinran, sitting behind the driver and the most indifferent to the camera, was the most talkative.

Lu Yiyao, sitting behind the co-driver’s seat, kept a gap between him and Xia Xinran.

“You’ll know when we get there,” he said, patience being something he never lacked.

“You really are something. Twenty years old with the patience of an eighty-year-old,” Xia Xinran teased and then turned to the three men in the back. “Hey, aren’t you guys curious at all?”

Zhang Beichen smiled good-naturedly. “It’s more interesting not knowing.”

Xia Xinran rolled his eyes, clearly not impressed.

Ran Lin was surprised. With his back to the camera, Xia Xinran didn’t bother to hide his disdainful attitude. He suddenly remembered that Zhang Beichen and Xia Xinran were from the same company, yet since the beginning, they had barely interacted, almost like strangers.

Zhang Beichen, seemingly used to this, naturally ignored the look, his expression unchanged.

Unaware of these undercurrents, Gu Jie only heard Xia Xinran’s question after Zhang Beichen’s response, “Aren’t you curious?”

Gu Jie replied simply, “No.”

Xia Xinran regretted asking him, even more so than asking Zhang Beichen.

“You can’t be the same as those two, right?” The curious Xia Xinran finally turned to the most transparent person.

Ran Lin, not wanting to leave him empty-handed, thoughtfully analyzed and cautiously shared his guess, “We might be going to the pier.”

Xia Xinran wondered why his answer was so specific. “Why?”

Ran Lin hesitated. Just giving an answer was one thing; if his analysis turned out to be wrong, that would be embarrassing.

Growing impatient, Xia Xinran urgently called out, “Linghu?”

This caught Ran Lin off guard. He was unsure if it was intentional or accidental.

It seemed this was unintentional. Xian Xinran’s expression changed when he realized his slip-up, quickly explaining, “I’ve seen videos of your character online recently. Your ancient costume looks really good. It’s memorable!”

Ran Lin was amused and conflicted. He disliked Xia Xinran’s attitude towards Zhang Beichen but found him to be a straightforward person without much guile, unsure what to make of this interesting character.

“Explain why you think we’re going to the pier?” Xia Xinran brought back the main topic after the digression.

Ran Lin thought since he had joined this supposedly most authentic and realistic reality show, he might as well speak his mind. If he was wrong, then so be it. “When you travel to Guilin, how can you not see the landscape? And to see the landscape, how can you not cruise on the Li River?”

Xia Xinran blinked blankly, swallowing his follow-up question.

This was because he knew nothing about Guilin, and if he let his curiosity get the better of him, his next question might embarrassingly reveal his ignorance about what the Li River was. Clearly, his present “colleague” had done his homework. Although Xia Xinran wasn’t the brightest, he knew better than to keep asking and risk exposing his lack of knowledge or making a fool of himself. So he chose to pretend to understand and keep his lack of knowledge to himself.

Ran Lin realized from Xia Xinran’s expression that he didn’t understand, but kindly didn’t point it out.

Lu Yiyao, who had been sitting upright, looking straight ahead, suddenly turned back. Ran Lin was caught off guard and met his gaze directly.

It was their second eye contact since the airport incident, and this time, Lu Yiyao initiated it.

With his handsome eyebrows slightly raised and a look in his peach blossom eyes that was anything but friendly, as if he disliked Ran Lin showing off his intelligence, he said, “Don’t be so certain. What if you’re wrong and get embarrassed?”

Ran Lin looked back at him intently, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Then I’ll just act cute.”

A moment of silence followed, with only their gazes locked in wordless conversation.

Finally, Lu Yiyao calmly withdrew his gaze, sitting upright again, chin up, looking forward. He resolved to delete that retweeted post about the airport misunderstanding when he got back!

How hard is it to maintain a good public image?

Lu Yiyao thought it depended on one’s definition of “hard”.

For him, it was like enduring a bleeding heart while still having to smile and act cute. In the end, this even became a dark joke used against him by others. Yet, he still had to maintain a composed and strong facade. This was already pushing the limits of how harshly he could treat himself.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 6

Ran Lin received the contract for the reality show in November, and the filming was set to begin in January, leaving him only two months to prepare.

During these sixty days, besides taking time out to record the theme song for the show, he devoted the rest of his time to fitness training.

According to Wang Xi, he could be the National Little Brother, National Boyfriend, or even the National Husband, but first and foremost, he was a male celebrity. Even if his face was as beautiful as Daji*, his body shouldn’t be weak once the clothes come off.

*A famous figure in Chinese mythology and folklore, often portrayed as a fox spirit who takes on the form of a beautiful woman. She’s said to be the favorite concubine of King Zhou of Shang, the last ruler of the Shang dynasty. Her malevolent influence supposedly led King Zhou into a life of depravity and cruelty, which eventually contributed to the downfall of the Shang dynasty.

Ran Lin was too thin. Although he still had the grace of a young man, there was a certain slightness to his frame.

Wang Xi’s fitness plan for him was to gain some muscle appropriately. The overall image was still to maintain a bright youthful look, not needing bulging biceps or clearly defined abs, but rather a toned and healthy physique.

Ran Lin was obedient, so although it was hard work, he found a sense of achievement in seeing his body and fitness improve in the sweat.

The day he recorded the theme song happened to be Christmas Eve. Recording theme songs usually involved each person singing individually and then combining the recordings later, which saved time and effort and didn’t require coordinating the schedules of all the guests on the same day.

Lu Yiyao, Gu Jie, and Xia Xinran had already recorded separately.

Only he and Zhang Beichen were left.

Zhang Beichen’s TV drama crew had been rushing their schedule and hadn’t given him time off until the day before Christmas Eve. He came hurriedly the next day—if any later, the program’s final promotion wouldn’t be able to air as scheduled.

Ran Lin had the most flexible schedule of all the guests, so he had been waiting for the production team’s arrangement. Probably to save effort, the team didn’t want to record just for him on a separate day, so they waited until Zhang Beichen could come and informed Ran Lin to join on the same day. This way, they only had to set up the equipment once, which was cost-effective and efficient.

Ran Lin had no objections and rushed over early that morning.

The recording studio wasn’t ready yet, which displeased Wang Xi, but she still waited with Ran Lin. About two hours later, everything was prepared, and Zhang Beichen also arrived.

“I’m really sorry for being late. We just finished the drama shoot last night, and I’m quite exhausted. Sorry, sorry.”

Zhang Beichen’s agent, Wu Xuefeng, was a kindly middle-aged man in his forties, known affectionately as Wu Ge. He wasn’t tall, was slightly overweight, had a round face, and wore gold-rimmed glasses. He was often seen smiling with colleagues and the media, rarely showing a stern face.

Zhang Beichen followed behind him, bundled in a down jacket and silent, but his face bore a constant apologetic smile. Everyone could see that the face under his cap was genuinely fatigued, even affecting his handsome looks. He was clearly not well-rested.

His first act upon arrival was to apologize, and objectively speaking, they hadn’t actually delayed the production team—the recording studio had just been set up. So the staff laughed it off and moved on.

The recording engineer hurried the stars to start. Ran Lin didn’t have time to chat with Zhang Beichen and was quickly ushered into the recording booth.

Part of the recording booth footage would be used in the music video and behind-the-scenes clips. Since it was for recording a theme song, not acting or show-making, overly dramatic styling was avoided, so both of their outfits were quite casual.

“I heard you arrived two hours early. Sorry to have kept you waiting so long.”

Just as Ran Lin was about to put on his headphones, he heard a gentle, magnetic voice beside him.

Zhang Beichen’s first words to him were an apology.

Ran Lin turned in surprise, taking a serious look at his partner for the first time.

Zhang Beichen was handsome and tall—taller than Ran Lin’s 180 cm—probably at least 184 cm. He has a sunny disposition, much like the charismatic and popular basketball team captain in college, who inspires many with his youthful vigor, passionately plays, and leads his team forward with enthusiasm and brotherhood.

“No, I came early.” Ran Lin quickly shook his head, meaningfully adding, “You know, my schedule is quite… flexible.”

Zhang Beichen paused, then realized Ran Lin was self-deprecating and laughed, his attitude more relaxed. “I saw what happened at the airport on the internet. It was pretty funny.”

Ran Lin was embarrassed, wishing he could erase that part of his history with correction fluid. “Can we skip this part…”

Zhang Beichen was amused by the pitiful look in his eyes and couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The recording engineer couldn’t stand it anymore and reminded them from the microphone. “Handsome guys, let’s get started.”

After they put on their headphones, the intro music began.

Who would sing which part of the song was a matter for post-production. During the recording, Zhang Beichen sang the A section, Ran Lin the B section, and then they sang the chorus together.

Ran Lin was known as the singing king of his college’s external department, performing solo every year at the annual event and participating in various campus singing competitions. Although not a professional singer, he definitely had a voice that could perk up ears.

He had practiced the theme song so much that he knew it by heart, playing it on loop in the gym until even his coach begged for mercy, suggesting he use headphones with better sound insulation.

So as soon as the music started, Ran Lin was in the zone, his voice clean and warm, occasionally using subtle breath control.

This pleasantly surprised the entire recording team, who became much more positive in their attitude towards him.

In contrast, Zhang Beichen’s raw voice caused some frowns. Whether it was due to lack of rest or a natural lack of musical talent, his voice was strained, with high notes either breaking or failing to come out at all. Worse, he kept getting the lyrics wrong.

After several attempts, the recording engineer called a halt.

The plan had been to record them together in one go, but it turned out better to let Ran Lin sing solo first, then coach Zhang Beichen later.

By midday, Zhang Beichen was visibly struggling, and the recording team was disheartened.

Wang Xi sat there the whole morning without saying a word, her face growing darker and darker.

Ran Lin glanced over and prayed fervently, hoping she wouldn’t explode, even if it meant she remained as unapproachable as an ice sculpture.

The tense atmosphere persisted until the arrival of a large order of takeout—Wu Xuefeng had taken the initiative to order lunch and afternoon tea for everyone. Of course, he was paying for it.

Clay pot rice, shrimp dumplings, shumai, steamed spare ribs… All grievances seemed to vanish in the harmonious atmosphere akin to a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant.

The smell of coffee and sight of egg tarts made Zhang Beichen’s off-key singing seem more forgivable.

Before the recording team could resume, Ran Lin first approached Zhang Beichen, who was sitting dejectedly in a corner, and began to guide him empathetically.

“For the highest note in the chorus, ‘There’s light in the distance,’ you don’t have to strain your real voice to hit the pitch. The more you worry about reaching it, the more likely you are to make a mistake. Just sing it normally, even if it’s a few notes lower.”

Zhang Beichen was confused. “Wouldn’t that be off-key?”

Ran Lin glanced at the recording team, still engrossed in their meal, and then quietly said, “As long as you sing out, don’t get the lyrics wrong, don’t worry about being off-key. They can fix it, and it will sound good after mixing.”

Zhang Beichen still looked uneasy. He had never seriously recorded a song before. Even during his audition show, he performed street dance and only rapped during group performances, so he wasn’t familiar with these tricks.

“Don’t worry. I don’t hit every note perfectly either. They all need some post-processing.” Ran Lin reassured him and added, “You’re just nervous, focusing too much on that one line, and then messing up the rest. Just relax and let the lyrics flow smoothly, and it will be fine.”

Zhang Beichen seemed persuaded. “Really, it’s okay?”

“Yeah.” Ran Lin patted his shoulder, then chuckled softly. “You think when they mix our chorus with those of the other three, it will blend seamlessly? Besides pitch, there’s rhythm and enunciation. Not just that high note, even other parts won’t be perfectly in sync. It will obviously sound like a quintet.”

Zhang Beichen visualized this “harmonious” future scene and relaxed.

“Thanks,” he said, getting up to stretch and prepare to eat his neglected lunch.

Ran Lin, who had already finished eating, held his milk tea and smiled brightly. “I should thank you. It’s really good.”

After Zhang Beichen walked away, Wang Xi came and sat next to Ran Lin, half-smiling. “I didn’t realize you were such a good Samaritan.”

Ran Lin sensed that Wang Xi was in a bad mood, as if waiting for someone to set off her thunderous wrath, so he just chuckled awkwardly, not daring to add to the conversation.

Wang Xi glanced at him and didn’t pursue the matter further.

Ran Lin turned his face to the wall, silently praying for someone to take this sister away.

The afternoon recording session went very smoothly, and the recording engineer was surprised by the change in Zhang Beichen’s performance. Without any need for his coaching, Zhang Beichen seemed to have shed a great burden. His voice was no longer strained, and the lyrics were correct. Although he went off-key on the highest notes, there were no voice breaks or losses, and the issues were entirely within the scope of what could be fixed with post-production techniques. This improvement was truly heartening and brought a sense of relief.

They finished early, before four o’clock. Before leaving, Zhang Beichen proactively added Ran Lin on WeChat.

This was the first artist, other than Dream Without Limits, to actively add Ran Lin on social media.

During his previous film shoots, he had to take the initiative to add the lead actors, but even after adding them, there was little interaction, and sometimes he was even blocked from viewing their Moments, which was quite disheartening.

Having established a good relationship with one-fourth of his future collaborators, Ran Lin saw this as a positive start.

Leaving the recording studio, Wang Xi’s tense demeanor finally showed urgency, urging the driver to hurry to the company.

Ran Lin couldn’t recall any other tasks that needed to be completed at the company today, but he didn’t ask and just quietly followed along.

Upon returning to the company, they learned that Han Ze had been waiting in Wang Xi’s office for most of the day, and his mood wasn’t good.

Ran Lin then understood that Wang Xi’s low spirits all day had nothing to do with his recording efficiency. In fact, her mind might not have been in the recording studio at all. From the moment she was informed that Han Ze was waiting, she had already mentally returned to Dream Without Limits.

One star was at the peak of his popularity, the other’s future uncertain, both sharing the same agent. It was clear who needed more immediate attention.

Ran Lin understood this.

But human emotions were complex, and it was hard not to feel let down.

Wang Xi entered her office and first closed the blinds. What happened inside remained unknown to outsiders.

Ran Lin took out a packet of instant soymilk powder from his bag, found a paper cup in the pantry, and mixed it with hot water.

The aroma of soy milk was limited, but enough to relax Ran Lin.

The door to the pantry was gently pushed open, and a young girl tiptoed in.

Ran Lin thought she wanted to make coffee and moved aside for her.

Unexpectedly, the girl closed the door and walked straight up to him, her cheeks reddening as she approached, eventually turning as red as a bright apple.

“Um… I really love your portrayal of Linghu Xiaodao. Could you give me an autograph?” She blurted out, too shy to lift her head, extending a pen and a blank postcard.

Ran Lin took it, curious, and flipped it over to see Linghu Xiaodao’s photo from the drama.

When did his character get merchandise?

“I-I really like it, so I had it custom-made online!” she explained immediately, seeing his hesitation.

Ran Lin felt the girl looked familiar—certainly not a new employee. If she worked here daily, she wouldn’t have waited so long for an autograph.

The only explanation was that she was a new fan, not a new employee.

Meeting a new fan in person was a different experience from gaining followers online. The former was much more impactful and real.

Ran Lin knew it was silly, but he was thrilled, almost wanting to spin around in joy. Of course, he had to maintain his image in front of a fan, so he picked up the pen, trying hard not to smile too broadly. “Just an autograph, no blessings?”

The girl, eagerly awaiting, was taken aback by his question. “Ah?”

Ran Lin’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “Besides the autograph, don’t you want me to write something else?”

The girl lit up in disbelief. “Really?”

Ran Lin nodded. “Of course.”

She continued, “Anything?”

Ran Lin joked, “Except curses.”

The girl was amused and finally mustered the courage to say, “I want you to write ‘I love Lu Yiyao’!”

Ran Lin: “…”

Girl: “Aren’t you his die-hard fan?”

Ran Lin: “Yeah!”

Once a public image was established, it was like water poured out—it couldn’t be taken back.

In the evening, Wang Xi and Han Ze finally came out of the office. It was evident that they had reached some sort of agreement, as both seemed in a much better mood.

Seeing Ran Lin still waiting, Wang Xi was initially surprised, then apologized unusually. “Sorry for forgetting about you. There’s nothing else here. You can go back. Remember to work out on time tomorrow.”

Ran Lin felt a mix of frustration and resignation.

That night, the girl posted on Weibo. Although it was from an anonymous account, it still attracted over three thousand comments.

Initially, it was the fans of the CP who were excited. But gradually, a large number of Lu Yiyao’s fans joined in.

Compared to the restraint shown during the initial airport misunderstanding and the video of Yun Zhang and Linghu Xiaodao, Lu Yiyao’s fans seemed to have lost all their composure with this real-life CP, unleashing various complaints and insults. The girl was so frightened that she soon deleted the Weibo post, and the minor controversy subsided.

However, Ran Lin, who had witnessed everything, felt a growing unease.

Finally, on January 10, just before the recording, the reality show’s production team dropped a bombshell—they released the theme song and unveiled the mysterious fifth guest!

All five male celebrities retweeted the show’s Weibo post, but they hadn’t started any interactions with each other yet.

That night, Ran Lin’s Weibo followers increased by tens of thousands. However, among the thousands of new comments, about 70% were from Lu Yiyao’s fans, criticizing him for riding on the coattails of popularity and others mocking him for not deserving the title of National First Love. The remaining 30% were divided between those taking a wait-and-see approach and those staunchly supporting the CP, passionately defending it.

On January 15^th, amid high expectations and mixed reviews, the first episode of the show was recorded in Guilin, amidst a whirlwind of discussion.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 5

For every skilled Daoist, there’s a demon a zhang higher*.

*As virtue rises one foot, vice rises ten (道高一尺，魔高一丈) It’s a proverb often used to suggest that when good increases, evil increases even more in response. Note: A zhang is 3.33 meters.

Lu Yiyao, with minimal effort, harvested all the heat that had been painstakingly generated for Ran Lin.

It’s like you exhaust yourself swinging a shovel and hoe to fry a pot of sugar-coated chestnuts, only to have someone else easily scoop them up for just a few cents when they’re done.

The charm of the airport incident originally revolved around Lu Yiyao. If Ran Lin were replaced by some other low-tier actor, nobody would care. Thus, when Ran Lin’s proactive @ raised expectations to their peak, Lu Yiyao’s response became the brilliant climax of this event.

Whether they were fans or just passersby, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Then, either screaming until their voices were hoarse or laughing with great enthusiasm, they eagerly rushed to comment under Lu Yiyao’s Weibo, sharing the thoughts and feelings they had been brewing all day.

By the time Lu Yiyao posted his Weibo, Ran Lin had already been sent back to his dorm apartment.

In reality, he spent the entire day in the company’s meeting room doing just one thing—posting that Weibo tagging Lu Yiyao. The rest of the time was spent waiting for Lu Yiyao’s response.

But Lu Yiyao was too calm, so by four in the afternoon, Wang Xi, having other matters to attend to, let him go after giving some instructions.

There were three things Wang Xi instructed. The amount of information was quite large, but seemingly sure that he would understand, she stated them succinctly:

“First, for the near future, all Weibo-related actions must wait for company instructions; no free play or self-expression allowed. Second, tomorrow the company will arrange for you to visit Han Ze’s drama set. There will be a short interview by a gossip entertainment program also visiting. The airport incident will surely be brought up, so you better prepare in advance. Third, I will take over your scheduling. I might not be able to attend to you daily like Kang Hui, but we don’t need to be like family. Just remember, I can make you famous.”

What’s the relationship between an artist and their agent?

If the artist is famous enough, then the agent serves them.

But if the agent is more famous and has better resources and connections in the circle, then unfortunately, they’re here to lead you towards prosperity. If they tell you to plant rice, you better bend down and get to it.

“Have you seen Weibo?” At 6:02 PM, just two minutes after Lu Yiyao’s Weibo was posted, Wang Xi called.

Ran Lin was in the shower at the critical stage—hair washing. Fortunately, his phone was on the washstand, so despite the awkward situation with foam on his head, he still managed to pull back the shower curtain and answer the call, putting it on speaker.

“Not yet, Xi Jie. What’s up?”

“Lu Yiyao replied.”

“Really? How did he reply?”

“Aren’t you going to check yourself?”

“…”

“Are you in the bathroom?”

Ran Lin was startled. His first reaction was to grab the shower curtain to cover his lower body, then he looked up at the black and white ceiling of the bathroom, as if somewhere in those eerie squares had a hidden surveillance camera beneath them.

“You sound echoey. It’s obviously a closed space.” Wang Xi seemed to imagine his frantic actions from the sound of the shower curtain, her voice carrying a rare hint of amusement. “He interacted with your Weibo post, very cleverly done. You can check it. No need to reply to him. That would be superfluous. But remember to follow him.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Ran Lin wiped a clear path on the foggy mirror.

In the limited space of the mirror, a young man with messy hair from shampoo appeared. Bright eyes, white teeth, youthful energy, somewhere between a boy and a man, with a face full of collagen, past the baby fat but not yet maturely chiseled. Handsome and enduring.

“You can only fool little girls.” Ran Lin poked at the harmless face in the mirror. “Lu Yiyao probably wants to curse your entire family tree now.”

After quickly rinsing his hair and hastily finishing with the shower gel, Ran Lin then rolled back onto his bed with his phone.

Taking a deep breath, with the reverence of reading some important document or a great work, he clicked into Lu Yiyao’s Weibo.

Lu Yiyao’s public demeanor was within Ran Lin’s expectations, but his approach was even more brilliant than Ran Lin had anticipated.

Truly worthy of being a star who could grip both popularity and reputation.

Whether this attitude was Lu Yiyao’s own or his team’s suggestion, it was the most beautiful response.

From the replies under Lu Yiyao’s Weibo, it was clear to see that, aside from fans sending hearts, there was a stream of people turning into fans.

Ran Lin let out a soft sigh, somewhat wishfully thinking that since Lu Yiyao agreed or was willing to post such a Weibo, maybe he wasn’t so opposed to being used for popularity…

[😲 God Lu’s acting skills showcased in the mall. Yun Zhang’s angry soul returns!! [Second-hand video]]

“…and will never, ever, forgive you!”

Why did he impulsively click on this fan-taken video?

Why let him see that the video’s filming time was this very afternoon?

Why, long after the drama had finished shooting, could Lu Yiyao’s acting still be so genuine and immediate?

That night, Ran Lin dreamt about these questions.

In his dreams, the temporary stage in the mall had an extra person who looked and was built just like him. Lu Yiyao’s explosive line was no longer directed at the fans below, but at the person on stage with him.

Later, it seemed like Lu Yiyao wanted to get physical, but the host, sensing trouble, immediately made a joke.

Then Ran Lin woke up, frightened, and couldn’t fall back asleep.

—On this quiet autumn night, Ran Lin, an 18th-tier male star, made a wish that he would never cross paths with Lu Yiyao in this lifetime.

The visit to Han Ze’s drama set went smoothly. Although Han Ze was indifferent to him privately, he displayed unity and friendship in front of the camera, as expected of artists from the same company.

Sure enough, the moment the gossip entertainment reporter saw Ran Lin, they perked up, almost eager to interview him thoroughly about the airport incident.

Fortunately, Wang Xi intervened in time and pulled him away. Otherwise, most of the scenes he prepared for might not have been sufficient.

However, what ultimately appeared in the entertainment program was a somewhat shy and inexperienced young man regarding the airport incident. Far from being arrogant, he sincerely expressed his apologies for the trouble he caused Lu Yiyao.

The interview aired two days later. By then, the fervor over the airport incident had significantly cooled, but the lingering interest remained. Thus, Ran Lin gained a substantial number of new fans and followers.

On the day the program aired, Lu Yiyao responded to his follow—by mutually following each other on Weibo.

Mutual following was precisely the development the company hoped for, much like Lu Yiyao’s previous response, which the company also welcomed.

But for some reason, Ran Lin always found the timing of Lu Yiyao’s actions intriguing.

For example, his response to the Weibo post came after a whole day of the incident fermenting and after Lu Yiyao had recited lines at the mall.

And then, like this time, when the interview aired and the discussion, which had been dying down, revived again.

The timing of Lu Yiyao’s choices seemed like… he was using these actions to express his attitude. And Ran Lin always felt that the clearer Lu Yiyao’s response, the more it indicated that his emotions were fluctuating intensely, even though there was no basis for such a deduction.

The broadcast of the interview and mutual following on Weibo weren’t the end. That evening, a renowned two-dimension artist released a CP video of Yun Zhang x Linghu Xiaodao.

Linghu Xiaodao was the most handsome ancient costume character Ran Lin had ever played, among all his male roles. Although the drama’s viewership was abysmal from start to finish, and even the TV station was reluctant to rerun it, Linghu Xiaodao became the cherished character for a small group of two-dimension fangirls.

Needless to say, Yun Zhang had already become the husband of countless fangirls.

What was even more fatal, the video was excellently produced, combining clips of Yun Zhang and Linghu Xiaodao into a heart-wrenching, fanservice MV. From editing to soundtrack, it was seamless and fluent, making the four-minute video almost more exciting than the two original works.

People in the industry could tell it was professionally made.

Although many top fans create videos for their beloved characters, the timing of this release, right after mutual following and immediately being shared by various marketing accounts, was quite suggestive.

Of course, the melon*-eaters didn’t care about such nuances.

*Term used for gossip/rumors. Melon eaters/eating melons, refers to people who are consuming gossip without taking any sides or expressing any particular opinions.

Especially a wave of fangirls, instantly fired up by the video, were charmed to death.

Yun Zhang and Linghu Xiaodao rapidly ascended the hot search list.

The two parties involved didn’t respond further or interact.

But after all, the loving fangirls were a group capable of conjuring an 80-episode idol drama from a simple mutual follow. Thus, the CP hype, riding on the wave of the airport incident, blew even stronger and farther.

A month later, Ran Lin, who had appeared on several small-scale notices, received a contract for the reality show <National First Love Drifting Story>.

<National First Love Drifting Story> was a star-studded travel, adventure, survival, and challenge reality show heavily invested in by XX Satellite TV.

Judging from the planning alone, it seemed unfocused, a bit of a mishmash, unlike other shows where the focus was clear from the name—be it parenting, puzzle solving, singing, or labor. Even pure travel shows had their selling points—beautiful scenery plus celebrities. Audiences could easily choose what interests them.

But the cast of this show was its distinguishing feature—Lu Yiyao + Zhang Beichen + Xia Xinran + Gu Jie + ?.

These four names were among the brightest new generation in the entertainment industry.

The oldest, Gu Jie, was twenty-five, and the youngest, Xia Xinran, twenty-two. Although there were younger stars in the industry, either their popularity didn’t match up or their image didn’t fit the show’s planning.

More importantly, all five had achieved fame at a young age and had been touted as the “National First Love*” by their companies.

*Term in the entertainment industry referring to stars who capture the hearts of the public with their charming, fresh, and innocent image, reminiscent of one’s first love. Generally, these celebrities are youthful, attractive, and possess certain innocence or purity traits.

Lu Yiyao, needless to say, debuted in a youth campus movie adapted from a novel. Although he was still a sophomore at a university in the UK at the time, he took advantage of the holiday to return to China to play a supporting male role. As soon as the film was released, it achieved good box office results. Coupled with the “acting contrast” provided by the leading actors, Lu Yiyao, who had studied drama and performance at the University of Manchester for less than two years, unexpectedly gained the most popularity and successfully entered the entertainment industry. Of course, later on, because he spent most of his time filming in China, he eventually dropped out of university. Consequently, his management company soon stopped marketing him as a scholarly idol. However, his incomplete college education was still modestly listed in his Baidu Encyclopedia educational background section.

Zhang Beichen and Xia Xinran, 23 and 22, respectively, rose to fame four years ago in a talent show called <You Are Still Young>. At the time, countless girls dreamed of being their girlfriends.

Zhang Beichen, with his sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, was dashing, while Xia Xinran, with red lips and white teeth, was delicate and pretty. Both stunning and handsome, they impressed in subsequent film and television works. To this day, people have gradually forgotten their idol show origins but still remember their “youthful boyfriend” images.

Gu Jie was the most distinct among them—the epitome of hormonal appeal.

He became famous at twenty with an ancient detective drama, playing a taciturn but highly skilled young martial artist. Initially burdened with deep vengeance, he later clears his family’s name and avenges them with the help of the male lead, becoming the lead detective’s loyal hound.

That drama made both the male lead and him famous, especially Gu Jie, who initially received unfavorable reviews—his looks were only average in the demanding idol drama environment, and he had a slightly dark complexion and an odd appearance, perhaps having offended the makeup artist. But later, thanks to his heart-wrenching romance with the second female lead, he rebounded.

And in a scene near the end, the screenwriter showcased his physique.

Only then did people realize, “Holy shit, he’s thin in clothes but muscular without! Totally different from the frail, flowery young men outside!” He exuded raw, sexual masculinity!

That’s just human nature. When someone dislikes you, even your beauty appears ugly, and when they like you, even your ugliness seems handsome.

Besides, Gu Jie wasn’t ugly. After the TV series ended and he attended various promotions, he adopted a clean and dashing style. Gradually, no one thought he wasn’t handsome anymore. Everyone felt he was irresistibly charming, the kind whose mere glance could “impregnate”.

There were five guests, but only four names. During the initial promotion of the show, the fifth guest was represented by the silhouette of a killer from the “Conan” series, a move Ran Lin thought was just a gimmick by the production team.

It wasn’t until Wang Xi handed him the contract that he realized the star the production team had in mind was still considering and hadn’t given a final word, forcing them to wait.

Now that the star had declined due to scheduling conflicts, only they knew the real reasons. Wang Xi finally managed to secure this opportunity for Ran Lin.

Partly due to Wang Xi’s efforts and partly due to luck.

In terms of fame, appearing on the show with these four was a step up for Ran Lin. The production aimed to present the “National First Love”, a concept not so easy to personify. There were many popular stars, but few could claim the title of “National First Love”, be available, and not demand exorbitant fees. After much deliberation, they settled on Ran Lin, whose recent popularity was intertwined with Lu Yiyao.

Although his fame might be somewhat inflated, he was affordable. The price Wang Xi negotiated for his participation in this reality show was a bargain for the production team.

One wanted to rise on the heat of the moment, the other sought the best value for a smooth production. Once they negotiated, it was a perfect match.

“The terms are a bit strict but not excessive. We’re the ones asking, so some compromise is necessary,” Wang Xi said nonchalantly as Ran Lin scrutinized the contract.

Ran Lin blinked, returning to the present. In fact, Wang Xi had misunderstood him; although he was pondering over the contract, his mind was occupied with someone else.

Putting down the contract, Ran Lin looked worriedly at Wang Xi. “Are you sure… he will accept my participation?”

The person Ran Lin hoped never to encounter again—not only might they meet, but they would also be shoulder to shoulder on a rough journey.

Ran Lin was now embarrassed to even think of the other’s name, fearing the gods might record another sin against him.

Wang Xi thought he had a serious question. Hearing this, she smiled. “He signed the contract last month. He won’t break it for you. Besides…” Her makeup-perfect face showed a familiar trace of sarcasm. “His status isn’t high enough to influence the production team’s decisions.”

Ran Lin had nothing more to say.

Actually, he wanted to ask if he could avoid participating, or at least join a different show, and not always be associated with the same person.

But he knew there was no need to ask.

Just looking at the lineup, he knew this variety show would be a hot topic. Wang Xi must have worked hard to secure this opportunity. Missing out on this would mean losing a rare chance.

Shanghai, in a dressing room at a magazine cover photo shoot.

After the stylist finished Lu Yiyao’s makeup and left his agent Yao Hong brought hot news, which shocked Lu Yiyao…

“Ran Lin is the fifth person?!”

And infuriated him.

“I’ve tolerated the fake CP hype but is he planning to exploit me forever?!”

In the makeup room, only Lu Yiyao and Yao Hong remained, but the former still kept his voice as low as possible, expressing his vehement feelings through gritted teeth.

Hong Jie gently patted her artist’s shoulder, a light touch with a calming effect. “He’s affordable and can fit the ‘National First Love’ theme.”

Yao Hong’s voice, as plain and kind as her personality, gradually calmed Lu Yiyao. However, he still found the claim of Ran Lin fitting the show’s theme laughable. “Him, a National First Love?”

Lu Yiyao was naturally charismatic; even his angry expressions were charming.

Fortunately, Yao Hong’s son was already in high school, so managing Lu Yiyao was like taking care of a child, with patience and tolerance.

However, Yao Hong’s ability to bring Lu Yiyao to his current status indicates that she wasn’t a pushover. Unlike Wang Xi’s assertive and flamboyant style, Yao Hong possessed a combination of softness and firmness, handling matters with more tact and thoroughness.

Seeing Yao Hong scrolling through her phone, Lu Yiyao curiously asked, “Hong Jie…”

After a moment, she handed him the phone.

It was an entertainment news article from two years ago, the kind written out of desperation for lack of topics— [If there’s a first love, it must look like you: Ran Lin, the most handsome boy in a white shirt in history.]

The content was negligible, full of clichés.

But the accompanying picture was intriguing. Sunset, playground, horizontal bars, a boy in a white shirt.

“See? Fits the first love theme, right?” Yao Hong teased seeing how engrossed Lu Yiyao was.

Lu Yiyao returned the phone, pondering for a while before commenting, “He’s aged well.”

The boy by the playground and the “fake fan” at the airport, except for their clothes, were indistinguishable.

It was a face forgotten by time, forever young.

“Stop thinking about it and prepare well.” Yao Hong knew Lu Yiyao had accepted reality but still needed time to let go. “This is your first variety show. It’s very important.”

Lu Yiyao, however, struggled in his thoughts one last time. “Is there really no way out?”

Yao Hong looked into his eyes, saying softly but firmly, “One day in the future, you will be a true superstar. Then, everyone who wants to stand by your side will need your consent.”

Lu Yiyao was momentarily speechless.

The photography assistant came in to notify the start of the second set.

Lu Yiyao nodded and followed him out.

He was distracted during the second part of the shoot, only gradually focusing after several reminders from the photographer.

He was pondering Yao Hong’s words.

He wasn’t questioning their validity but wondering if that future was what he truly wanted.

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Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 4

There would never be a hot search on Weibo without a reason.

Even if the onlookers were idle, what was the chance that tens of thousands of them were typing the same keyword in the search bar at the same time? Even twins aren’t that in sync!

So, it wasn’t the masses who created the hot search, but some mysterious force that put it there first, and then you followed the trend, becoming one of those hundreds of thousands, even millions, of searches.

Lu Yiyao’s team had done this kind of thing too.

Especially during the time when the reputation of <Ten Years of Rainy Night> wasn’t particularly good, even him drinking black coffee could make the hot search. The omnipresent articles praising his explosive acting skills seemed to be everywhere online, as if his team wished to portray him as the only saving grace of this drama, making him feel somewhat guilty and question Hong Jie if this might be going too far.

But before his own studio’s PR team could stop, the producers, not wanting to sit idly by, furiously invested in publicity, determined to stir up popularity to compensate for the lackluster reputation.

So, Lu Yiyao, just after drinking black coffee, started to show off his love with the female lead in the hot search.

In all honesty, the female lead had a boyfriend who was a behind the scenes wealthy man crazy about his wife. Therefore, after the drama finished shooting, apart from public promotions, he never even exchanged phone numbers or WeChat with the female lead, let alone something like “Lu Yiyao admits XXX is his standard for choosing a partner”, which was obviously a ridiculously fake headline.

But there was no choice.

The rights to the name “Lu Yiyao” in the hot search no longer belonged to him. It belonged to the management team, to the drama producers. Thus, this name had a doll dress-up game, wearing hot pants today and a dress tomorrow.

The only difference was that the hot searches created by the management team could be about Lu Yiyao’s real life or his drama character, while those created by the drama producers always came with the tag of the character Yun Zhang.

So, the combination of Ran Lin + Lu Yiyao suddenly appearing in the hot search made Lu Yiyao extremely angry.

No matter how much his own team promoted him, they would never bind someone else to him without permission—that was the red line Lu Yiyao set for his PR team.

Yao Hong once tactfully advised him, saying that being too upright in the entertainment industry was fatal. The onlookers didn’t care about your stance. What they saw most directly was that this star was very active, always in the news, while that one was always silent, probably flopped.

But Lu Yiyao didn’t think this was being too upright.

If he were really so high-minded, he wouldn’t have cooperated with appearing on the hot search for every little thing, even managing to act in a crying scene without eye drops, thus becoming a sensation in announcements for his genuine performance without artificial aids.

But hyping himself up was one thing.

Exploiting others was another.

This was Lu Yiyao’s principle, unrelated to whether he was a star or not.

So, he was angry, not just because he was frustrated at being exploited, but more so at his own foolishness and annoyance.

It was all tricks, through and through.

From the moment Ran Lin chose to appear at the airport wearing that baseball uniform that made him ten years younger, the trickery had already begun.

Don’t mention anything about coincidences or misunderstandings.

How could it be such a coincidence that, among so many fans at the airport, only one light board fell? How come, among all the airport staff, only this eighteen-tier star cared about the environment? Why did he stand at the exit in a daze after picking up the light board? The timing of the airport surveillance leak was just so coincidental? The gossip marketers were so idle to do video post-production themselves?

Go to hell!

Once all the accidentals were removed, it was all a trap.

The makeup artist looked at her boss, his chest heaving, burning with rage. His handsome face was frowning, and his facial muscles were as stiff as if he had been over-injected with hyaluronic acid. She wanted to comfort him, telling him not to keep it all bottled up, just curse it out.

But she knew her advice would be useless.

At the age of twelve, he was sent to a private boarding school in England, only returning to China to join the entertainment industry after dropping out of university at twenty.

The most critical eight years of personality development were spent in the thick British atmosphere.

Although Lu Yiyao himself never said it.

But everyone in the studio, including Hong Jie, could see that the mainland star was always striving to be a gentleman with good upbringing.

Lu Yiyao’s black coffee aroma didn’t reach Dream Without Limits.

At that moment, Ran Lin was sitting in the empty meeting room of the company, munching on a bun, sipping soy milk, and scrolling through Weibo.

He was summoned to the company just after ten, and he was left hanging here for almost an hour.

Other than Kang Hui’s words of “Don’t make a sound on Weibo or accidentally like anything,” he received no other instructions.

Bored to death, he could only nibble on his breakfast in this empty time nearing noon.

Had he not been interrupted, he could’ve slept till sunset in his own little nest. But now, even if he wanted to sleep, he couldn’t.

He was suddenly trending on Weibo. It was unbelievable that the company actually spent such money on him.

Even more unbelievable was how effectively they drove the topic. Starting from the “Most Awkward Pick-Up in History” to the current “Together”, the rhythm was perfectly led.

And gradually, videos from TV shows he participated in years ago started to surface. This led to another round of heated comments like “Ahhh, fresh out of water*” and “Why did he debut as a youth and is still a youth now, damn.”

*(鲜出水) Term used online to metaphorically describe someone who appears youthful and vibrant, making them “refreshing” as they have just emerged untouched. It’s basically a compliment that highlights someone’s youthful appearance and their “fresh and energetic” presence.

Step by step, methodically, it was like a textbook case of Weibo promotion.

Kang Hui couldn’t possibly have this level of operational skill.

Ran Lin narrowed his eyes, munching on his bun, brainstorming. The sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows fell on his youthful side face. His eyelashes cast beautiful arcs in the light and shadow, looking just like a campus idol.

Of course, an idol wouldn’t be eating buns in a study room.

At noon, the meeting room door was finally opened.

Ran Lin, nearly dozing off in the autumn sun, hurriedly climbed up from the table. Upon seeing the visitor, he immediately stood up straight. “Xi Jie.”

Ran Lin, though thin, was a tall guy at 1.8 meters. But in front of Wang Xi, who was 1.68 meters, his presence was instantly overshadowed.

Wang Xi, in her early forties, looked around thirty-five.

She wore a set of ash-gray professional attire, a vest over a white shirt, with cropped pants and high heels today. The vest’s waistline was perfectly cinched, accentuating her graceful waist. The shirt was classic in style with thoughtful details. The pants were slightly tapered at the hem, revealing a bit of ankle, creating a visually cohesive look with the high heels, making her legs appear long and straight.

“Sit.” Wang Xi’s attitude was so natural that it didn’t seem like this was her first direct conversation with Ran Lin, but more like a boss wanting to talk to an employee. After saying this, she went around to the other side of the large conference table and sat down first.

Ran Lin hurriedly walked two steps to the right, sat down directly opposite Wang Xi, and instinctively straightened his back.

“Have you been sleeping here all morning?” Wang Xi’s voice was somewhat cold that even her joking sounded more like mockery.

Ran Lin, who usually seems very jovial and fond of jokes, actually knew very well when to be serious.

“I scrolled through Weibo for two hours, then I was afraid of accidentally liking something and disrupting the rhythm the company had worked so hard to establish for me, so I dared not to continue.”

Wang Xi slightly tilted her head, looking at Ran Lin with interest for the first time. “You are smarter than I thought.”

Ran Lin laughed awkwardly, not sure whether to respond or not, and finally just scratched his head and straightforwardly asked, “Xi Jie, just tell me whatever plans the company has.”

Wang Xi slightly lifted her eyelids. “Before, the company was cooperating with you. From now on, you need to cooperate with the company.”

Ran Lin was stunned, blinking his deer-like eyes, not quite understanding.

What did she mean by the company cooperating with him? He didn’t even dare to leave the conference room all morning except for going to the bathroom.

Wang Xi didn’t expect him to understand immediately and further explained, “What you did last night was good—great timing, and you were lucky. But in this circle, you can’t rely on luck. You need to rely on operations, understand?”

Ran Lin suddenly felt embarrassed and hurriedly said, “No, Xi Jie. Last night’s incident was an acci…”

“No need to explain to me. Whether it was a misunderstanding or intentional, it makes no difference.” Wang Xi leaned forward slightly, her sharp gaze locking onto Ran Lin. “What I care about is how to use this opportunity to make a comeback for you.”

Ran Lin nodded, not speaking further.

A “salted fish*” wasn’t qualified to talk about a comeback.

*It’s a metaphor referring to someone who wants to be lazy and has no great ambitions.

“If there’s no problem, the company will help you post a Weibo tagging Lu Yiyao. If you’re not comfortable, you can post it yourself, but the content must follow what we set. As for the follow-up interactions, let’s see how Lu Yiyao reacts.”

“…”

“Don’t understand again?”

“Can I see the draft of the Weibo post first?”

Wang Xi frowned slightly, not quite appreciating Ran Lin’s overthinking. She preferred obedient artists, who do as told, because her decisions for them were always the most efficient and beneficial.

But it was just the beginning. He would be trained eventually. At least Ran Lin had good comprehension, understanding quickly, saving her a lot of effort.

Most celebrities’ Weibo accounts were managed jointly by the artist and the company. The former would post about life and emotions, interacting with known people or other celebrities, while the latter would post edited street shots, selfies, drama stills, event photos, and all advertising promotions.

The company might suggest celebrities post seemingly high-EQ comments on hot topics, buy and sell personas, as well as how to act cute and interact with other celebrities, but rarely directly posts these kinds of personal things for them. After all, celebrities are also people who want to have their own opinions, views, and social circles.

Therefore, although the company had Ran Lin’s Weibo account password, involving Lu Yiyao, they still needed to notify him in advance.

[I really didn’t mean it 😂 @Lu Yiyao]

Ran Lin looked at the draft message Wang Xi quickly edited on her phone, feeling as if eight hundred horses were galloping through the grasslands in his heart.

If he were Lu Yiyao, seeing this Weibo post, he might first block this Ran Lin, then pull him out of the blacklist to give him a severe punishment on the level of the top ten tortures of the Qing dynasty, and then block him again!

“The video is already so hot. Just repost it and act cute. It’s no big deal,” Wang Xi said lightly.

But Ran Lin could only see two words from this draft—blatantly shameless¹.

“Can I… not tag Lu Yiyao?” Ran Lin struggled internally for a long time before bringing up this request, which was sure to be criticized.

In fact, he didn’t even want to post on Weibo, but if he said that directly, he probably wouldn’t even have a chance to discuss it.

As expected, Wang Xi’s face darkened, and her voice turned completely cold. “Not tag Lu Yiyao? Are you saying that everyone’s been busy all morning for nothing? Or do you think you’re hot enough on your own, not needing to ride on the coattails of a popular actor?”

Biting the bullet and meeting Wang Xi’s sharp gaze, Ran Lin tried to make his attitude seem neither too resistant nor too yielding. “I understand the effort the company has put into me; otherwise, with my level of obscurity, even if I were associated with Lu Yiyao, there wouldn’t be this level of discussion. But now there are already comments on Weibo accusing me of riding on his popularity. If I tag Lu Yiyao now, won’t it be too obvious?”

Wang Xi chuckled and said mockingly, “It’s already very obvious, so whether you continue to ride on his popularity or not, you can’t establish a reputation for integrity.”

The words were harsh, but Ran Lin had no time to be angry. He just hoped to minimize the severity of being blacklisted or criticized by Lu Yiyao’s fans and onlookers. “How about this, Xi Jie. I’ll post the Weibo, and I’ll tag Lu Yiyao, but I’ll edit the content myself. Once it’s done, I’ll show it to you, and if you approve, then I’ll post it.”

Wang Xi looked at him for a long time, searching for any signs of cunning or ulterior motives, but there seemed to be none. It was just a sincere negotiation.

“Okay.” Since he agreed to tag Lu Yiyao so readily, she let it slide.

But—

Wang Xi’s fingernails, painted with nude polish, lightly tapped on the dark wooden table, making her words deliberate. “You only get one chance to turn things around. If you miss it, even God can’t make you popular.”

Ran Lin smiled and said nothing.

Perhaps because he had never been truly popular, he no longer had a strong desire for fame. But he wanted to act, and if being famous meant getting roles, then he’d play by the rules this time.

It was just that he felt a bit sorry for Lu Yiyao.

Five minutes later, Wang Xi, looking at the Weibo draft on Ran Lin’s phone, raised her beautifully shaped eyebrows.

She didn’t look at Ran Lin, but there was rare approval in her eyes as she looked at the phone screen, and her voice turned from cloudy to sunny. “Actually, even if you posted according to my draft, Lu Yiyao wouldn’t publicly confront you. Getting on the hot search without spending a penny, his PR team would be too happy to care. Moreover, he needs to continue playing the role of Mr. Nice Guy. But your version now is more likely to garner sympathy…” Towards the end, Wang Xi finally looked up and gave him a genuine smile. “You’re not that dumb after all.”

Ran Lin laughed awkwardly, while in his heart, he apologized to Lu Yiyao a hundred times over.

At one o’clock in the afternoon, Beijing time, Ran Lin, the subject of the hot search whirlwind, finally spoke up. He reposted the most popular subtitled video and wrote in Weibo—[#Meeting an idol who respects and cares for fans, you’ve become a fan too, #Whether it was before or not, from this moment, I am your die-hard fan. Please accept my beam of love! 🤩* @Lu Yiyao]

*It’s actually an Ultraman emoji. I imagine something like this.

Without the company’s intervention, Ran Lin’s Weibo exploded first!

First, a bunch of girls, whether fans or passersby, fainted in their pink bubbles, then Lu Yiyao’s fan army arrived, uniformly praising Lu Yiyao as the idol who treats fans the best and thanking Ran Lin for liking him.

Of course, there were discordant voices, such as some overly sensitive true fans who came up and accused him of riding on Lu Yiyao’s popularity!

But they were quickly stopped by other fans, saying no one has the right to chase away any fan on behalf of Lu Yiyao. “Poster, please don’t take it to heart.”

Ran Lin breathed a sigh of relief in his heart; this was the best scenario he could have hoped for.

Since he was already riding on the coattails of popularity, he might as well do it openly and simultaneously brush up some good feelings for Lu Yiyao.

This way, even if Lu Yiyao’s fans wanted to complain, they would be more lenient considering he had praised Lu Yiyao.

Ran Lin, you scheming bitch¹!

¹This is referring to him being blatantly shameless (mentioned earlier). The word is (心机婊) which is a colloquialism that combines cunning/scheming with a derogatory term for a woman (usually bitch). 

After scolding himself, Ran Lin silently prayed that Lu Yiyao was an easygoing person.

Because getting angry was inevitable. Everyone in the circle knew how to play the game; being suddenly tagged, nobody should treat anyone else as a fool.

But if someone was easygoing, their temper would come and go quickly, making both Lu Yiyao comfortable and lessening Ran Lin’s guilt.

At the same time, in a shopping mall beside Chang’an Street.

The hall was packed with roaring fans, and on the temporary promotional event stage, the host invited the brand’s spokesperson, Lu Yiyao, to offer some benefits to all his supporting fans at the end.

“This is difficult for me.” Lu Yiyao showed a troubled expression, but his eyes still smiled, curving beautifully and occasionally glancing at the audience, causing waves of screams.

“How about this.” Seeing time was running out, the host cleverly intervened. “Many fans became your fangirls through <Yun Zhang>, so could you perform a line from the drama to let everyone relive the charm of Yun Zhang?”

Lu Yiyao liked this suggestion. He immediately nodded, then faced the audience, and in a few seconds, entered the emotion.

The fans below held their breath, and the entire mall instantly quieted.

When he looked up again, the smile was gone. The man on stage, though dressed in a modern fashion style that didn’t match the drama, anyone who had seen the drama could feel that at this moment, he was no longer Lu Yiyao but Yun Zhang, deeply hurt and hated by his beloved—

“Don’t ask me when I can let go. Because I love you, I will never let go and will never, ever, forgive you!”

Three seconds of dead silence.

Then, thunderous applause and screaming erupted.

At six o’clock in the evening, Beijing time, after fermenting for a whole day, the airport blunder finally received a response from the other party involved, Lu Yiyao—

[The true love fan is too handsome, I’m also desperate 😭 //@Ran Lin: #Meeting an idol who respects and cares for fans, you’ve become a fan too, #Whether it was before or not, from this moment, I am your die-hard fan. Please accept my beam of love! 🤩 @Lu Yiyao]

How hard is it to maintain a good public image?

Lu Yiyao thought it depends on each person’s definition of “hard”.

In his case, smiling and acting cute while his heart bled was already pushing himself to the limit.

Kinky Thoughts:

Oh god, trying to find matching emojis is killing me… but probably not as much as how Lu Yiyao is feeling right now (lol).

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