Chapter 9: Worth It or Not

This meal went very pleasantly, a case where both host and guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Going around in circles, everyone was an acquaintance.

Li Tingzhou had gone abroad to study at a very young age, returning home only after completing a direct-entry PhD. It seemed like a pitiful and lonely experience, but actually, he maintained good social circles on both sides. He was normally happy to help others, and willing to chat if anyone had worries. When he needed help, others naturally wouldn’t refuse, gladly coming over to assist.

Zhong Peiyao was both a member of this circle and an exception.

Back at the Affiliated High School of the Central Conservatory, everyone was just middle-school age—too young, too inexperienced. Even crushes were naive and vague. When Li Tingzhou went abroad to study, she inevitably felt a sense of loss. But this emotion would ultimately fade over time.

In the years that followed, Zhong Peiyao never gave up searching for traces of Li Tingzhou everywhere.

She went through much effort to finally hear he’d gotten into a relationship. Only then did she completely abandon hope and accept reality.

Now, re-establishing this connection, seeing with her own eyes Li Tingzhou’s face—”unblemished, beauty even enhanced”—and his upright, strong, pine-like figure, his image and temperament hadn’t been disillusioned, but rather further elevated!

Zhong Peiyao only felt grateful he had perfectly preserved the dream of her youth.

Regardless, she could now talk work and money with Li Tingzhou with a mind as calm as still water, even being friends without lingering attachment…

“This last cup, I still toast to you, Senior Brother. I always remember how you stood up for me.”

Seeing her eyes unfocused, not even sure where her gaze was falling, Li Tingzhou quickly stopped her wine glass: “Okay, okay, Senior Brother knows. I’ll drink, you stop drinking. Your face is burning like a little tomato.”

Zhong Peiyao wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, only then obediently sitting down.

After that, she didn’t speak much more, listening intently to others chat.

From bits and pieces of others’ words, Zhong Peiyao filled in another layer of Li Tingzhou’s image:

When he studied alone abroad, he still radiated kindness. The difference was, Mao Maoyu was braver than her, shamelessly persisting until he became Senior Brother’s colleague. He didn’t seem lonely; even without a lover, friends always surrounded him. In his free time, he traveled everywhere, collecting inspiration. He also had some bizarre experiences that startled everyone listening…

Because there were girls present, the alcohol at the table amounted to just a couple of initial glasses.

When the time was about right, Li Tingzhou was the first to propose calling it a night. He said he still had work in hand, a very tight schedule, and needed to return to the studio for overtime.

“I’ve called a car for you all. Be safe on the road.”

After sending Zhong Peiyao and her two colleagues into their car, Mao Maoyu came over with two bottles of water. The two stood waiting for the chauffeur.

“Alright, our own people have all gone back too, just you and me left.”

After a sip, Li Tingzhou suddenly stretched out a finger, pointing at the neon lights lining the traffic on both sides.

“What’s wrong?”

Mao Maoyu didn’t understand. He looked where Li Tingzhou pointed: “They’re lit, don’t worry.”

“No, I’m asking you to look at these lights. Don’t they look like shattered words?”

“What words? Where are there words?”

“Words held in the heart, wanting to be said but never spoken.”

“…”

Mao Maoyu was forced into silence.

He couldn’t understand this level of abstraction. This was probably why, after squeezing out toothpaste for two years, he still couldn’t produce any decent lyrics. Creative types inevitably had some neurosis; Li Tingzhou was considered relatively normal. But even so, Mao Maoyu was frequently struck speechless.

“Where are your cigarettes? Got ’em? Give me one.”

“Aren’t you a non-smoker?”

His words were muttered grumbles, but the action of handing over a cigarette was meek.

Mao Maoyu sometimes felt this little ancestor was also quite hard to serve…

Li Tingzhou held it between his fingers, urging: “The feeling’s coming, light it, quick.”

See, he also had to light it for him!

Considering Li Tingzhou had gifted him a very nice, very expensive, very beautiful lighter, Mao Maoyu endured. He lit the other’s cigarette, only then leisurely lighting his own. But the only one truly smoking seriously was Mao Maoyu himself.

Li Tingzhou just held the lit cigarette, watching it burn, rarely taking a drag.

“This feeling is still not great.”

“Reminds me of holing up in an apartment with Eldan, rushing assignments. Every time after hanging out with friends, that sensation of happiness being ripped away is really awful. Especially when you find you still have a pile of assignments not submitted, feeling too tired, too sleepy, so you need a cigarette to forcibly wake up.”

Hearing this, Mao Maoyu finally understood.

“Just tell me, ancestor, until what time tonight do you need me to stay?”

One cigarette burned to ash. The chauffeur finally arrived late, transporting the two beasts of burden whose happiness had been drained back to the studio to continue their overtime.

~

Entering May, J City was continuously heating up.

After the visual team joined, the progress on both Heartbreak’s upcoming single and album received a dual boost. With these two major matters hanging in the balance, the public opinion pressure caused by Li Tingzhou’s relationship exposure finally lifted from Liu Lusi’s mind.

In other words, Ms. Lusi was now battle-hardened.

She thought, so the relationship is exposed, let it be.

Right now, it’s just public knowledge he’s dating. If he breaks up, later there might have to be another trending topic: #MengmengBreakup. Don’t ask Liu Lusi why she wasn’t optimistic about Li Tingzhou getting married. Someone would have to be able to keep him in check first!

Taking a deep breath to calm her emotions, Liu Lusi cooled down and continued arranging work: “In June, Whale starts the talent show. You might need to appear on camera and join the mentor panel. It won’t take too long a cycle—two days of recording per week.”

“Two days a week, a month, that’s eight days?”

Mao Maoyu spoke up first.

He knew Li Tingzhou very well—knew him well enough to think exactly what he thought.

Letting Mengmeng work eight days straight without rest was acceptable.

Having all arrangements clustered together was actually quite good. Everything could be planned around it.

But traveling weekly like this—Mengmeng would never willingly agree!

His workflow constantly being scattered, also having to endure all kinds of trivialities from big platforms, big productions, big teams. Saying it’s just two days a week of recording, but anyone who’s watched talent shows knew: dozens of trainees holding various scripts vying for attention. Being a mentor in such a competitive environment was purely a thankless task.

Sure enough, Li Tingzhou’s brows furrowed: “What would I even do there?”

He’d delivered what he needed to deliver. The final payment had arrived two days ago.

Now Whale was saying they wanted him to join a variety show? Did that even make sense?

Not to mention that appearing on camera was a separate price, Li Tingzhou wasn’t naive enough to think his minor status could garner much weight on the mentor panel. Most likely, he’d work hard filming for two days, and only three or four lines would remain in the final cut. Handled poorly, he’d become a stepping stone for trainees establishing their public personas and storylines.

Imagine: a trainee scolded to the point of tears, he’d expressionlessly call out “Again.”

Or, he’d criticize a group to the point of complete demolition, only for them to turn around and show off great team love.

This was absolutely not the awkward situation Li Tingzhou wanted to encounter.

Nor would it be the kind of variety show footage Heartbreak’s fans wanted to see…

Since he had already taken on the lead singer role as well, Li Tingzhou knew he would inevitably accept various on-camera work in the future. He had also done sufficient psychological preparation. But Whale’s talent show mainly featured trainees (guaranteed debut edition). Regardless, the benefits for him and Heartbreak were very limited.

In short: not worth it.

“Politely decline it.”

Liu Lusi took a serious look at him: “Really not going?”

Li Tingzhou didn’t want to answer, expressing his refusal through silence.

Mao Maoyu curled his lip, fully expressing his disgust: “That little bit of appearance fee and they want our Mengmeng to go be a scolded prop? Dream on! Better to use that effort to book two more performances.”

Setting this matter aside for the moment, they needed to head to Y City.

Y City had entered summer early; daytime felt temperatures were already above 30 degrees. Liu Lusi had the stylist put together complete outfits for them: performance outfits for the two-day show, and off-stage personal clothes.

“First Sister is also there this time.”

Y City was Diamond Records’ undisputed home turf. Back in the 1990s, only Diamond’s artists could sell out venues as large as Bright Light Stadium. Entering the new era, charity compilation concerts became popular. After charity tightened, various music festivals with changed names but unchanged nature sprang up. Only then did Bright Light Stadium truly come alive.

“First Sister is also there this time.”

Mao Maoyu nudged Li Tingzhou with his elbow: “Mengmeng, help me get an autograph, okay?”

Li Tingzhou nodded and agreed. The next day during rehearsal, he brought him over to say hello: “Sister Shiyu, he wants your autograph.”

Ren Shiyu, in private, was a very approachable person.

She glanced at Mao Maoyu, who instantly flushed like a fully cooked prawn.

“Where would you like me to sign?”

Only then did Mao Maoyu shyly pull out a lyric book: “Please sign here…”

After getting the autograph, they happened to run into First Sister’s assistant coming over to distribute coffee deliveries. Such super-large orders were always booked in advance; everyone got one, with more to spare. Conveniently, Li Tingzhou and Mao Maoyu were there, so they got theirs directly from First Sister.

“You two teachers, take an authentication photo while you’re at it!”

Mao Maoyu fidgeted a couple of times. Li Tingzhou held his iced Americano in his right hand and stood openly next to Ren Shiyu.

“Alright, thank you both.”

Having received the autograph and drunk the coffee, Ren Shiyu didn’t immediately let Li Tingzhou leave. Instead, she asked him about his June schedule.

“I heard you Heartbreak folks are releasing a summer single?”

“Right, it’s already in the final stages.”

First Sister got straight to the point: “Are you interested in being a guest singer on Tide’s music variety show?”

Tide, Whale, Hundred Blossoms—these three major platforms had formed a stable triangle for years.

Whale was launching a male group talent show for the summer season, trying to replicate the rating myth from two years ago. Tide pressed step by step, also launching its strongest and most acclaimed new season of its music variety show. With the two old rivals playing their cards one after another, Hundred Blossoms certainly wouldn’t be outdone, teaming up with multiple national culture and tourism bureaus to launch a celebrity group travel slow-paced variety show…

Li Tingzhou was somewhat tempted.

Rather than being a marginal decoration in a male group talent show, better to be Ren Shiyu’s guest singer.

The terms hadn’t even been discussed yet.

Whether it was just him or the whole Heartbreak, there was still room for negotiation.

~

【When to Criminalize Lip-syncing and Fake Playing | Upside-Down Hat Mengmeng】

————

[First Sister, Mengmeng, Maoyu Backstage Group Photo]x2

Congratulations, Heartbreakers. After a week of cold treatment following the dating incident, finally new promotional material arrives.

First Sister stunningly beautiful, Mengmeng effortlessly handsome.

As for Maoyu, that clueless look of not knowing where to put his hands—hard to imagine he’s a keyboardist…

1L: What a coincidence, my playlist just looped to Telepathy. Mengmeng’s backing vocals are so alluring, so satisfying (hot emoji)

18L: Are your eyes glued to this group? Refreshing so fast!

25L: Seems the dating exposure hasn’t affected Mengmeng at all. He just doesn’t care.

31L: Nothing’s more important than the performance. Why misinterpret his expression?

38L: Breakup or not, dating or not, frankly it’s private business. The live god status is enough.

42L: Um, was that what you guys were saying last time?

…

98L: Confess honestly, did the delulus form a group chat? Why else are messages refreshing so fast? Or does our group actually have a Sister-in-Law Station branch office, conveniently finding reasons to forgive men anytime, anywhere?

102L: Other men can’t be forgiven, but Mengmeng can.

112L: What happens if you don’t forgive? Your circle has no Mengmeng substitute, not even a low-end version. A one-of-a-kind scummy suaveness. Look on the bright side, he’s simply dating. He doesn’t have some mysterious child popping up unexpectedly, nor is he secretly married while maintaining a single persona to sleep with fans.

129L: Did a Weibo scan. As expected, it’s all water under the bridge now.

142L: [Mengmeng Sleeveless Tank Top Rehearsal Photos]x4

149L: When has there ever been discord between me and Mengmeng? (hot emoji)

159L: Fine, fine, hubby, next time can you date secretly, okay?