Chapter 32: He’s 25 Now, Not 18 Part 1

After the third episode of “Sing My Heart Tonight” Season 7 finished airing, the trending topics were as lively as could be.

Compared to the conflicts in other groups fighting for screen time and debating real versus fake camaraderie, First Sister and Mengmeng’s group split into two separate narrative threads this episode: First Sister visibly saw her reputation warming up, with Whale and Diamond immediately ramping up her Marketing; Mengmeng, because of the Central Arts Troupe’s First Chair who appeared in just a few shots with the string ensemble, was dragged into a triangular controversy.

Calling it a controversy was somewhat inaccurate.

Because the resourceful netizens had already sorted out the full backstory before the show even finished airing.

What seemed like two relationships could actually be subdivided into three.

The first was the seven-year ambiguous entanglement between Li Li and Zong Xincheng during their student days. Some happy fragments could be traced from their social media back then. Clearly, these two also had a pure love untainted by material interests.

But everything changed once they stepped out of campus and entered society.

Zong Xincheng came from an upper-middle-class background. His family had expectations for him to transcend social classes. To Zong Xincheng, the highest-value choices were either a daughter of an official’s family or a second-generation capitalist, like the Jindai Industrial heiress he briefly dated after breaking up with Li Li.

Too bad, a family of that caliber wanted an obedient, compliant son-in-law.

As for Li Li, during her exchange program, she encountered Mengmeng, who was young as a little green bamboo shoot.

This was the second relationship.

The early phase of Li Li and Mengmeng was similar to the popular web novel trope: “Newbie encounters a Succubus right out of the tutorial village.” An 18-year-old youth, trying his utmost, couldn’t resist a mature lady’s allure. Coupled with the fact they indeed had a lot of common topics, even if their conditions weren’t a perfect match, they followed their feelings and got together.

However, the subsequent development fell into the cliché of a cross-border romance.

Once the romantic filter faded, Mengmeng, still in school, was carefree and couldn’t fully comprehend his lover’s feelings. He and Li Li, who was fully immersed in the intensely competitive workforce, quickly developed a fatal gap: Mengmeng couldn’t terminate his studies and return home just for her, and Li Li couldn’t abandon the status and influence she’d painstakingly earned at the Central Arts Troupe.

This was an unsolvable equation. Replaying it a hundred times would still end in a breakup.

As for the third relationship, it was sharply labeled by netizens on Little Red Book and Green Petal as “losers who failed to climb, clustering together for warmth.”

This phrasing was quite harsh, even somewhat mean.

But judging from a results-oriented analysis, it wasn’t wrong either. Reality and the truth have always been brutal.

-Isn’t it so? Both of them wanted to climb a higher branch but failed.

-Rumors say Mengmeng has a great family background, or was it that Li Li couldn’t afford to wait?

-18 years old + 25 years old, who dares wait? But 25 + 32 seems kind of okay though…

-The problem is, Li Li probably didn’t know Mengmeng’s family was that powerful then?

-No wait, do you guys really not get it or are you pretending? A family fortune that could support a child carefreely studying art abroad for ten years—how bad could it be? Excluding scholarships, just calculating the expenses, they’d have to be at least an A9 Level high-net-worth household.

-I only know someone rejected a 19-year-old Mengmeng (heartbroken emoji)

-Well, now I’m truly looking forward to seeing what Whale’s marriage observation reality show will be like.

-I’ve officially been de-mystified of all the Golden Boy and Jade Girl imagery across all entertainment circles.

Falling into such a public opinion controversy was something Liu Lusi had anticipated. She and Qu Yanni were skillfully handling information from various channels. Simultaneously, they carefully suppressed attempts to deliberately stir up conflicts connected to Xi He.

Over on Li Li’s side, things weren’t so leisurely.

She had considered the potential backlash she might face going on the marriage observation reality show with Zong Xincheng. She also intended to use Li Tingzhou, a former boyfriend of considerable significance, to add to her mystique, masking an extreme ambition with an extreme career focus, striving to evoke female empathy and gain more support.

But Li Li hadn’t expected the wave of public opinion to come so fast.

Not only was it caught off guard, but it was also completely not what Li Li had hoped for.

“Did you try reaching out to Li Tingzhou before this?”

Her friend and Agent asked her.

Li Li nodded, then shook her head. “He didn’t agree to meet me.”

“Completely understandable. I’ll be blunt, don’t take offense. He has a new girlfriend now. Plus, his output the last few years hasn’t stopped at all. He doesn’t look like the type to get tangled up in past relationships.”

It was precisely because Li Li knew this perfectly well that her feelings were so complex.

Li Tingzhou’s regret, melancholy, and heartache were entirely his own.

He was always used to digesting emotions alone, good or bad. Even when she had said very hurtful things back then, Li Tingzhou hadn’t retaliated. His dignity was consistent from start to finish, unlike the cultivated manner she performed…

“Earlier, during the show recording, I saw his current girlfriend.”

“Because that feeling was very familiar to me, I inevitably had the misconception that his lingering feelings remained.” Li Li looked towards the light pea-green dress hanging in her walk-in closet, not feeling ashamed or guilty for her superficial scheme. “Never expected he wouldn’t even spare me a glance, not one.”

The Agent smiled and patted her shoulder. “He’s 25 now, not 18.”

Overnight, the entire internet knew about Mengmeng’s not-so-happy first love experience.

Amidst the playful teasing, everyone also remembered to feel heartache for him.

The song that unveiled the story, “Purple Jasmine,” hit its peak popularity since its release. After fermenting via trending searches, its real-time listener count skyrocketed to six digits on the weekend morning.

The only bright spot was probably Heartbreak being able to happily collect a hefty sum of royalties next month.

“Do you know how they’re teasing you now?”

“I don’t want to know, thanks.”

His protest failed. Mao Maoyu was going to say it anyway. “Every breakup comes with a breakup commemorative song. Every single one is so pitiful and lovable. Dating you is truly a huge profit and huge win!”

See, that’s the benefit of being well-read after all.

Like when a rapper breaks up, they only know how to diss their ex in various ways.

Mengmeng is different. He remembers your most beautiful moments, even after breaking up. Although this remembrance has absolutely nothing to do with lingering attachments or unfinished feelings, purely commemorating a chapter of his own love, it’s still impossible to not let one’s imagination wander: If I were to date Mengmeng, then…

In any case, Mengmeng having so many dream girls is for a reason.

“Oh right, is Xi He coming to the dinner tonight?”

Li Tingzhou fell silent for two seconds before answering, “No.”

Dai Jier tugged on Mao Maoyu, who only then jolted awake, his expression complex, like a dye shop had opened on his face. Stammering, “Ha ha, that’s fine too. Our Heartbreak hasn’t had an internal gathering in a long time. We won’t even bring Sister Lusi tonight. Let her go eat her bland chicken breast salad.”

“Oh right, is that ad track finished?” Dai Jier changed the subject.

“Just about.”

“Are they having Mengmeng sing it directly? Not planning to find another singer?”

Li Tingzhou didn’t care. “Anyway, they’re paying well. Whether I sing or someone else does, it’s fine.”

This is both the troublesome and delightful part about ad tracks. Nitpicking is real; constantly revising is also real. But once you encounter a generous brand, they very rarely make a move on the song’s copyright. The effort spent finding a consultant team to draft the contract could be used to discuss several more small-target projects.

As for the Artist’s side, Li Tingzhou didn’t consider their feelings unless absolutely necessary.

That category of people often knows nothing about the craft but is the best at dragging things out.

After work that evening, the three of them drove to the restaurant they often frequented.

After handing the menu to the waiter, Mao Maoyu leaned in and quietly complained to his bandmates. “Just saw a noisy group of people outside. Annoying, listening to them brag.”

He had now genuinely experienced the industry firsthand. He’d seen how a massive, sophisticated media machine like Tide operated, knew how a supposedly lofty, nation-wide phenomenon variety show was filmed in a noisy, stuffy venue. So, listening to those so-called “industry insiders” pontificating inevitably annoyed him.

Dai Jier was indifferent. “Can you control other people’s mouths?”

Let them say whatever they want.

Without these people’s hardworking dramatization, the mystique of the entertainment industry would be greatly diminished. True and false information intermingled to form public opinion. How foolish to dive headfirst into that and sink together. Much better to stand on the shore and watch.

After the brothers finished eating, as usual, they called a Chauffeur.

Mao Maoyu pulled Dai Jier to go buy cigarettes. Li Tingzhou stopped by the roadside to wait for the driver.

After a moment, he felt raindrops starting to fall from the sky. Because he was wearing a hat, he only noticed when the drops hit his arms. Li Tingzhou moved back under the awning. Suddenly, someone tapped him gently—

“Here.”

Oh, it was a napkin.

“Thanks.”

Wiping his face and arms, Li Tingzhou finally met the gaze of the other person.

This time, he recognized the person without any difficulty. “It’s Congcong.”

Ying Cong’s Adam’s apple bobbed. The words were practically on the tip of his tongue, but he changed his phrasing. “You can call me Ying Cong. I’m Ying Ping’s son. We met before when you were picking up Xi He.”

“I know. Is Teacher Ying in good health?”

“She’s very well.”

Ying Cong thought he would ask about Xi He. He waited a moment, but Li Tingzhou didn’t speak.