Chapter 30: Thank the Bodhisattva Part 1

In the parking area near the Exit C, the two Li brothers were still chatting.

Mainly, Li Songyi wanted to give a few more instructions, but Li Tingzhou was completely distracted.

Meanwhile, in the backstage waiting room, Ren Shiyu returned from touching up her makeup to find Mengmeng was gone. Instinctively, she almost panicked again! But remembering his truly extraordinary family background, she forcibly swallowed her questions.

Since the man was still on Earth, there was no need to be overly anxious.

Seeing her finally show some growth, Zhou Ling felt a strange sense of comfort. Although this growth came a little late, something was better than nothing. When he returned to Whale, he could rest assured…

Liu Lusi, having finished her call with Pan Jun, immediately came to brief First Sister on the situation.

“Mengmeng had an urgent matter and can’t be back for a while. The Director’s Team has also urgently communicated with the host. We’ll let Group 4 campaign for votes first. If he really can’t make it back in time, we’ll have to trouble you, Teacher Shiyu, to hold the fort alone.”

Under normal circumstances, First Sister would inevitably feel uneasy without Mengmeng by her side.

But after what she’d just been through, she felt she had completely evolved!

If Mengmeng was there, the two of them could discuss and coordinate on stage to win as many votes as possible. If Mengmeng wasn’t there, Ren Shiyu had even come up with several viable excuses on the spot:

Mengmeng skipped a meal to maintain his state and had low blood sugar;

Mengmeng was a bit heat-stroked and was taking medicine backstage;

Mengmeng fell when getting off the lift platform and is treating a wound…

They were all minor injuries, not serious enough to hurt his core, but functional enough as excuses.

Fortunately, just as they were agonizing over which excuse would let them play the sympathy card without seeming too delicate and pretentious, Li Tingzhou managed to rush back.

He had absolutely no time to touch up his makeup. He simply wiped off his sweat and was pushed onto the stage.

The true hardship fell on the host, who had to improvise a full 3-minute ad-lib.

Seeing the members of Groups 3 and 4 lined up neatly on either side of the stage ready to go, the host’s tears nearly burst forth on the spot: “Alright, now let’s invite our two groups of singers—”

The large screens on both sides of the main stage switched to Group 3 and Group 4 respectively.

Li Tingzhou had run there and back and was still panting heavily.

When the crane camera gave him a close-up, his chest was visibly heaving rapidly. His lips were slightly parted to help steady his breathing. The top two buttons of his white dress shirt were undone, the collar falling open to reveal a small patch of his chest and deeply recessed collarbones. His hair, which was supposed to be styled back, had come loose from all the running and now fell messily over his forehead.

The live audience immediately erupted into a chorus of screams—not perfectly synchronized, but considerably loud!

Mengmeng, such a bad Mengmeng. Who exactly are you trying to seduce?

【Rebuilt Public Opinion Observation Room | Night Heart Seven 3rd Public Performance Offline Encounter with a Long-Legged Hottie】

————

[Live Photo of White Shirt Running Like a Blur]x2

[Plus one more snapshot of him coming back]x1

Can I look for him in our group?

During Group 4’s performance, my eyes suddenly itched. After rubbing my eyes, I saw a super hot guy running past. I was planning to take pictures of the stage, but I casually snapped two live photos. On my way home, the more I thought about him, the more I liked him, so I’m trying my luck in this vast sea.

Please, everyone, help me find him!

[Sylvanian Families Milo reaching out his little paw.JPG]

1L: Thought this was a fan reverse-promoting, didn’t expect you to genuinely not recognize him, sis.

4L: You’d already watched Group 3’s stage and didn’t consider this hottie is wearing the exact same thing as Mengmeng on stage? Who in their right mind wears a white shirt and black trousers to a semi-open stadium in this heat to watch a show?

8L: Original Poster, watermark your pics quickly, marketing accounts are stealing your pictures…

19L: The likes are climbing so fast. The replies haven’t even flipped a page yet, but outside, the count has already broken 1K. Mengmeng is truly popular now.

24L: Guess what, I just left Green Petal and immediately saw it on Little Red Book too.

35L: They recognized Mengmeng over on Little Red Book at first glance and even filmed a short clip of him sprinting back. Mama mia, no exaggeration, this guy’s physique is top-tier. That feeling of raw hormones rushing at you is overwhelming…

46L: What was he doing? Why was he running back and forth?

51L: According to the Red Book version, some Top Leader came to inspect, and First Sister Mengmeng’s group just happened to meet them, so they were temporarily pulled aside to greet the leaders. But for some reason, Mengmeng suddenly ran out from backstage. During the second round of vote campaigning, when the big screen cut to him, he hadn’t even caught his breath yet. He obviously rushed back in a hurry.

59L:

Found the original Red Book post.

[Reversed Screenshot]x2

Supposedly, one of the leaders is a relative of Mengmeng, and he was temporarily called over for a chat.

67L: Huh? Relative is a high-level executive on the platform or a leader at the TV station?

72L: Damn, if this keeps going, the Mengmeng Fans are really gonna pop off (spicy emoji)

76L: If this is true, the Mengmeng Fans can be considered to be riding on Mengmeng’s coattails now (crying emoji)

88L: You can wait and watch Blue Ocean TV’s evening news tonight, people. Whether it’s genuine solid backing or fabricated BS, the provincial news will tell us. Such a good face-time opportunity, they’d definitely let their kid appear.

……

498L: [Mengmeng and First Sister chatting cordially with leaders]x1

Even though it’s only two seconds, this sibling duo really did manage to leech some screen time.

501L: Who would’ve thought this post started off just trying to find an offline hottie?

508L: Mengmeng Fans soaring, you guys also managed to ride the coattails.

517L: Is no one congratulating the OP?

[Evil Gardenia.JPG]

Congrats, OP, you found yourself a real top-tier hottie.

520L: OP should be going through the proper procedures right now.

[Original Poster]: Before I jump in, there’s one last thing to ask. Is it true that Mengmeng has always been in relationships? If he breaks up with his current Sister-in-Law Meng, will he date again? Can he focus on his career? (I’m an Iron-blooded Career Fan)

529L: So funny. As if we can’t tell if you’re really a Career Fan?

538L: OP is clearly a promising seedling destined for the Sister-in-Law Station (smoking emoji)

On Thursday evening, Blue Ocean TV’s evening news reported the related information.

Ren Shiyu and Li Tingzhou got official media publicity with their full names mentioned.

During the ranking reveal recording after the performances, “A Woman’s Heart” unsurprisingly took the top spot in the overall vote pool. First Sister Mengmeng’s group once again claimed the period’s top spot, firmly occupying the top of the overall leaderboard!

Beyond that, there was also a Raid Singer group that succeeded in their upset bid and claimed a Premier Singer spot.

After all the recording ended, it was already the wee hours of the night.

By then, everyone was exhausted, including the young and energetic ones.

Zheng Bing and Junko didn’t even mention getting late-night snacks. They just quickly gulped down a bit of congee to fill their stomachs and crawled back to bed. Mao Maoyu and Dai Jier managed to keep Li Tingzhou company for a bit of chatting, but by the middle of the night, they definitely couldn’t hold on any longer…

First Sister, however, persevered until the very end. She even looked like she had something to say.

“You—”

Li Tingzhou held a half-smoked cigarette in his hand. “What about me?”

Ren Shiyu choked on her words: You have the nerve to ask “what about me?”

Where did such a wicked Mengmeng come from!

He could clearly knock anyone in G City flat with one punch, yet he deliberately hid his strength.

If Pan Jun’s completely different attitude before and after hadn’t made her take notice, Ren Shiyu would probably still be kept in the dark, just like everyone else.

But then again, she really did dote on Mengmeng like a younger brother too.

Having such a powerful family background, yet not flaunting it or using it wantonly. Instead, he obediently studied, obediently worked, and obediently came on the show to record. He neither relied on his influence to act rampantly, nor did he put on a pious act and refuse others’ goodwill. Mengmeng’s way of interacting with people was clearly recognized by the entire production team. Putting aside Pan Jun’s eagerness to climb the ladder, the other staff members were also quite friendly towards him, helping whenever they could without any refusal…

“Today, this sister also got to be on TV thanks to you.”

Li Tingzhou lit her cigarette for her. “Saying something so formal?”

Ren Shiyu expertly inhaled and exhaled the smoke. “Anyway, thank you so much. In the past, I was worried others might try to push around a little newcomer like you. Now, everyone knows you have a protective umbrella. There’ll be a lot less trouble from now on.”

She could even sense the protection from Mengmeng’s family through those two seconds of screen time.

That kind of feeling—wanting to show off yet holding it back with all their might—was truly moving.

Furthermore, the message released to the outside world was a masterful act of deliberate obfuscation—70% truth, 30% false. Achieving deterrence while simultaneously protecting Mengmeng’s privacy to the maximum extent.

From this day forward, this young man could truly ride the wind!

“Alright, I’m going back to catch up on sleep. You should rest early too.”

Li Tingzhou nodded at her but didn’t immediately return to his room. He watched the blue-purple morning glow on the horizon for a while, then took out his phone and quietly scrolled through his social feed from the past few days—

Liu Lusi posted one update every day, without fail. Tonight’s was an especially long entry.

Mao Maoyu and Dai Jier posted backstage photos, 100% unedited without any filters.

Zheng Bing, Junko, and the others were bursting with the desire to share, each writing a long essay.

Eldan broke up with his Spanish-speaking girlfriend who hated pineapples, and he was drinking heavily to drown his sorrows.

Ancient Style King posted two artistic lifestyle photos and teased a new song.

There was actually more, but Li Tingzhou deemed it irrelevant.

He didn’t see any new updates from Xi He.

Their chat history ended with their last voice call. The call lasted 5 minutes and 16 seconds, and nothing after that.