Chapter 43: The Relationship Seat Part 2

After half a day and an entire night of torment, the Bad Guys Group had finally started sounding much better.

Unfortunately, Mengmeng’s flight time limit had run out.

Men skilled at flirting with trouble—oh wait, male trainees—immediately began feeling reluctant and wistful again:

“Don’t go, Mengmeng—”

“I can sing the liaison parts super well now. I won’t bite my tongue anymore.”

“Mengmeng, Mengmeng, Mengmeng, if I don’t debut, can I call you?”

Before Li Tingzhou could speak, Zhao Zhining’s fist was already slamming over: “Dream on!”

Everyone laughed and messed around for a few seconds, then turned to look at Mengmeng in unison.

He knew this group was walking on an express shortcut. As long as they made good use of this platform, their futures, for at least the next three years, would be bright and brilliant. Compared to that dazzling future, this somewhat grueling survival show period might be worth remembering, but it wasn’t entirely joyful. Li Tingzhou gave it a thought, tore up his prepared speech, and simply bid them farewell:

“I’ll keep an eye on all of you. I look forward to your performance on finale night.”

He left, swift and unburdened. The remaining trainees were left in a daze.

The plane landed in G City in the latter half of the night. Li Tingzhou discovered that First Sister and the others hadn’t rested yet. Clearly, everyone had been waiting for him—waiting for him to make the final decision.

With this comparison, the Night Heart Seven side was practically living a heavenly life!

Even working through the night brought no complaints.

Usually, all it took was Li Tingzhou starting a thought, or sometimes just a glance, and First Sister and Mao Maoyu would know exactly what kind of cooperation he wanted. Everyone moved in the same direction, pushing the progress forward with united hearts. The song selection process for the Top Five Vocal Concert couldn’t have gone smoother.

“What do the other groups say?”

Ren Shiyu shook her head. “By the time you reach the Top Five in previous seasons, no one exchanges information anymore.”

No sharing, but only during the song-selection phase. Once they reached the normal arrangement and rehearsal periods, everyone would still find out what they should find out. It couldn’t be hidden for long. But this was indeed part of the psychological warfare. If you won the song selection, the advance buzz would likely yield a positive response. By the time King of Singers Night arrived, public opinion would bring a significant wave of positive feedback.

That’s why, before Mengmeng arrived, Ren Shiyu didn’t unilaterally make any decisions even if she had ideas. She was willing to wait.

Laid out in front of everyone were three songs.

“Torrent”

“My Heart Like Madness”

“Tonight’s Happy Event”

All three were rich in substance, correct in thematic direction—songs that could be sung with elegance while also earning critical acclaim. Even though some were challenging, Ren Shiyu accepted the difficulty. She didn’t want, after truly winning the Season 7 championship, to be criticized for it having less prestige than previous seasons. Steeling her resolve, following “A Courtyard of Fragrance,” she was once again actively choosing to increase her own difficulty.

“I’m guessing you want to choose ‘Torrent.’”

First Sister exhaled in relief, smiling. “What do you think?”

Li Tingzhou nodded. “This one’s good. I also agree on choosing ‘Torrent.’”

What’s more, he already had some arrangement ideas brewing in his mind. Which section could undergo major changes, which section could be used to create effects—ideas were sprouting one after another.

Eldan sat beside him, watching him sketch and scribble, exchanging opinions with him as if no one else was around.

First Sister didn’t mind. She just pulled up some more live performances to watch.

Time reached 6 AM. Those who couldn’t stay up began clocking out one after another.

Li Tingzhou looked out the window; the sky was already completely bright. He simply called Eldan to go have breakfast together. Eldan found a cap, put it on, and followed him downstairs.

“So this is the one you picked?”

“Yep. Willing to let me have it?”

Li Tingzhou laughed. “Sure. I’ve got plenty anyway.”

Eldan said happily, “I only need one.”

G City’s night-market culture had flourished for years. The previous night’s late-night snacks seamlessly merged into the next day’s breakfast, often running for very long business hours. They bypassed the bustling, glamorous Tidal Park and came to a regular residential area (though the property prices were by no means regular) brimming with local, down-to-earth atmosphere. They picked a random, currently-open shop.

Eldan picked five or six items, conveniently ordering Li Tingzhou’s portion too.

“Are you going to pack some to bring back for them?”

“No, this is for me to eat. We’ll order the takeaway after we finish eating.”

As they were eating, the temperature began to rise.

“Hey, are you Mengmeng?” The person who came up to ask was a young girl. She was excited at first, then immediately regretted just throwing on whatever and coming out for breakfast, anxiously brushing at her bangs. “Mengmeng, can… can I get a photo?”

Being disheveled could be edited or covered up with a sticker, but a wild Mengmeng sighting was truly rare and precious!

Li Tingzhou put down his iced mung bean soup. “Okay.”

Eldan also stood up. “Me too, get me in it.”

The girl said, “Okay, okay! I know you, you’re Li Fushun!”

Eldan nodded solemnly. “Thank you, thank you. Very glad you recognize me.”

Thus, right at the entrance of a breakfast shop that was gradually forming a line, they suddenly took a group photo. Click, click, two shots. After the photo, Li Tingzhou even paid for her meal. She blushed but didn’t refuse; instead, she accepted, looking very happy.

This novel experience helped Eldan further develop his own fan-service skills.

~

“When to Criminalize Lip-Syncing and Fake Playing” | Mengmeng’s IP Has Refreshed to G City

————

[Mengmeng, Li Fushun, and fan group photo]x2

After flying a red-eye flight, he stayed up all night and was caught by a Mengmeng fan at a breakfast shop.

The word “envy,” I’ve grown tired of saying it.

Who exactly keeps running into Mengmeng?

Not only a chance encounter, but Mengmeng even treated her to breakfast on top of it.

I’m not greedy for the two portions of rice noodle rolls + tea egg + mung bean soup + pumpkin cake. I just want to feel, on a whim, waking up early one day, facing the not-yet-scorching sun and the slightly cool morning breeze, capturing a wild Mengmeng at my favorite breakfast shop, and taking a friendly photo with him…

1L: Saw the blogger’s post on Little Red Book. Made me so jealous I’m gnashing my teeth.

5L: So you’re saying your Meng flew over from J Island, worked all night, brought Li Fushun out for breakfast, and ran into a Mengmeng fan?

7L: Yes. The early-bird Mengmeng fan gets to meet Mengmeng.

14L: I’m 1.2 kilometers away from that breakfast shop. Is this fair?

18L: I roughly calculated. Doesn’t this mean Mengmeng only slept less than six hours in two days?

22L: Mengmeng is the legendary Chosen-One physique: super-abundant energy, super-sufficient vitality, super-shocking execution power, super-robust physical functions. For this type of person, 3-5 hours of sleep is enough to recharge.

28L: Am I the only one who really cares that Li Fushun is wearing Mengmeng’s hat?

35L: What’s that? Li Fushun even lives at Mengmeng’s place.

44L: Huh? Am I living under a rock? Who said that?

49L: Dug up by Sister-in-Law Station. Li Fushun’s persona there is “scheming male classmate.” Outside of working hours, he spends all his other time surfing the web, managing social media accounts across three major platforms, accurately grasping the attraction rules of each ecosystem and posting targeted updates. By posting photos with Mengmeng (the back of his head), showing off Heartbreak’s mascot (Qiaoqiao and Son of Qiaoqiao), and sharing selfies from a corner of Mengmeng’s closet, he’s already happily gained 170,000 followers (cumulative across three platforms)…

109L: Hahaha. You guys were shook for two whole pages.

114L: Who would dare say it? The one at Heartbreak with the best internet sense is Li Fushun.

128L: Has anyone asked him how he got that name?

142L: Someone asked. Li Fushun said he thought of it himself (very proudly).

157L: Our group has a summary of the Heartbreak setlists that Li Fushun participated in arranging. There are quite a few, and even some lyrics writing (Shock emoji). Don’t know if anyone in our group follows the Star Two survival show. Li Fushun teased on Douyin that he wrote lyrics for “BAD,” telling everyone to look forward to it, saying this song is really powerful.

162L: [Kitten holding head screaming.GIF] Please, no!

…

189L: Congratulations, Li Fushun. You’re getting a little bit popular. But the fact that you postponed graduation for three years has also been dug up.

192L: Aaaah, laughing my ass off. How is this so fast?

199L: Who exactly is trying to sabotage the loyal and devoted Comrade Li Fushun?

204L: No one sabotaged him. Someone asked him on Little Red Book what it was like studying abroad at X University. He said, don’t date people from the Spanish-speaking regions, or you’ll run a huge risk of postponing your graduation.

207L: Guess why, even though he and Mengmeng started university the same year, he only posted his graduation screenshot the day before yesterday?

~

Eldan, the graduation-postponer, experienced his first “online mobbing” upon landing in China.

By this point, Qu Yanni had also taught him to register on a new social media platform: Green Petal.

Eldan found it hard to understand: Why did things that happened on Little Red Book need to go to Green Petal for a trial?

But the reality was, that’s exactly where people escalated the situation, and successfully started a fight. Since some people couldn’t attack Mengmeng, they went after Li Fushun, whose depth was still unexplored.

Eldan truly didn’t feel this was such a serious matter.

“I at least didn’t drop out. I found a way to graduate. They don’t have to assume those three years were so miserable for me.”

Li Tingzhou asked him, “Weren’t they really miserable?”

Eldan fell silent.

At noon, Li Tingzhou very unexpectedly received a call from Cui Lin: “If—I’m just saying if—I come to G City on Thursday, can you save me a relationship seat?”

“You want to come watch the Night Heart Seven live? Sure.”

Cui Lin hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly. “Why are you so nice?”

Li Tingzhou felt he was suddenly being overly polite. He laughed. “This is being nice?”

Cui Lin took a deep breath. “You’re willing to save me a relationship seat.”

What was a single relationship seat worth?

If it was left empty, it was just empty anyway.

Not to mention Cui Lin—even if a friend with a decent enough relationship wanted to come, Li Tingzhou would be willing to get them a seat. Of course, he wasn’t going to tell Cui Lin that. This guy had actually done a good thing recently. Consider it a reward for him…