After finishing his part of this scene, Jiang Sheli turned and scanned the set. The actor playing the assassin was right next to him and asked, “Brother Jiang, what are you looking for?”
“Nothing.” Jiang Sheli withdrew his gaze, responding idly.
Zhu Huai’s scenes were over, but his own weren’t—he still had to contend with the assassin. He was always meticulous and focused when acting, never letting himself be distracted by his surroundings. By the time he finished and looked up, the wrapped-up youth had wandered off to who knows where.
Jiang Sheli stepped aside to rest. Remembering his own actions during the scene just now, he frowned slightly.
He’d told himself that he wouldn’t let Zhu Huai develop the bad habit of being passively led into a scene, yet he still couldn’t help lending a hand.
But there would be no more chances anyway. He wouldn’t accept any more TV dramas. With Zhu Huai’s current acting ability, he couldn’t be invited into the films Jiang Sheli worked on. The odds of them sharing a stage were zero.
Jiang Sheli’s right fingers unconsciously tapped the back of his left hand.
Why did Zhu Huai have to lack the gift for acting?
Shen Jingjing passed by in front of him. Jiang Sheli quickly called out, “Excuse me. Where did Zhu Huai go?”
Shen Jingjing blinked. It took her a moment to realize Jiang Sheli was asking her. Excitement flushed her face, and she pointed outside. “Some fans came to visit. He went out.”
Jiang Sheli’s brow furrowed even tighter at that. “Thank you.”
Shen Jingjing watched Jiang Sheli walk in the direction Zhu Huai had gone. Once he was out of sight, she opened the QQ group—
【I Am Jingjing: I actually got real sugar!!】
–
Zhu Huai arrived at the spot the staff member had mentioned. Sure enough, three girls were waiting there, each holding up a small support banner with his chibi portrait.
A slight smile crossed Zhu Huai’s face, and he walked over.
The three girls lowered their heads and whispered among themselves. “Is the thing ready?”
“Ready. I filled an entire pen!”
“Don’t worry. Even if the staff catches us, we’ll say the ink cartridge leaked. We can still come again next time.”
“He’s coming, he’s coming…”
Zhu Huai walked up to them, looked into their eyes, and smiled. “Been waiting long?”
Fan A: “No, no! No matter how long the wait, it’s worth it to see our brother!”
Fan B: “Brother, you’ve worked hard!”
Zhu Huai said, “Not hard at all. Are you from this city?”
“No, we came from City B…” Before Fan A could finish, a friend nudged her with an elbow. The girl who had been speaking closed her mouth sheepishly.
Zhu Huai took in their little exchange, his smile unchanged.
“Um.” Fan C, who had been silent all this time, spoke nervously. “Brother, could you give us your autograph?”
Zhu Huai agreed readily. “Of course. Where should I sign?”
The three girls trembled with excitement. Fan B said, “On the banner! I brought a pen!”
She pulled an ordinary signature pen out of her backpack and offered it to Zhu Huai. Just as he was about to take it, the girl suddenly pinched the cap and yanked it off. Black ink shot out of the tip like a beam—but it didn’t splatter everywhere.
Because the instant the girl moved, Zhu Huai had already sensed something wrong and grabbed the pen tip first!
The pitch-black liquid stained his entire palm. The excess ink snaked from the base of his palm down to his elbow, dripping to the ground in drops, splashing into black blossoms.
The three girls hadn’t expected him to be on guard. The shock turned their faces white; they froze.
Zhu Huai’s smile had vanished. He pulled the tampered pen from the girl’s hand and said flatly, “I don’t know whose fans you are, or why you hate me this much. But this counts as attacking an artist. I can call the police.”
The three girls’ faces grew even paler. One of them said, without much conviction, “It’s just a pen leaking ink!”
Zhu Huai lowered his eyelids. “You’re not fit to be anyone’s fans.”
“What nonsense are you talking about!! Since when do you get to judge who gets to be a fan?!”
“It must be pitiful to be your fan, right?”
“Do you even know what fans and idols are? Heh, of course you don’t. You don’t even have fans!”
Zhu Huai was silent for a few seconds, then said slowly, “Fans are the arms behind an idol, not bullets sent charging ahead. Your battlefield is behind the idol—waving flags and cheering, being their engine. The front line is the artist’s own business. You don’t need to come out and be their tank.”
“I truly don’t understand fandom; I’ve never chased stars. But my fans only need to stand behind me and be proud of me. When others ask, they should be able to puff out their chests and say their idol is me—rather than having my fans wade into the feuds between artists while I hide behind them and reap the benefits.”
“Being my fan is already tiring enough. I only hope I can make them a little happier. Why would I make them do unnecessary things?”
The three girls stood rooted to the spot, speechless.
Is chasing stars tiring?
Sometimes it is. But more often, it’s joyful.
When are fans happiest? When their idol’s work is recognized, when he breaks new ground in some field, when he achieves impressive results… Those are the moments that make them happy—they wish they could shout to the whole world how wonderful their cub is.
Those are accomplishments the idol has earned himself, visible to everyone, not just fan circles celebrating among themselves. That’s what makes fans proudest.
The idol is the light of the fans, and the fans are the generator behind the idol. Being a qualified fan means supporting him wholeheartedly, not doing underhanded things like this.
Likewise, a qualified idol won’t push his fans to the front to get soaked in the industry’s dye vat.
Fan A asked, “So you knew from the very beginning that we weren’t your fans?”
“Yes.” Zhu Huai nodded, tapping the corner of his eye with a fingertip. “When you look at me, there’s no light in your eyes.”
The three girls said nothing.
Jiang Sheli had watched from afar for a long time. Only when all of them fell silent did he slowly walk over.
“What’s going on?”
Everyone was surprised to see Jiang Sheli. The three girls first flushed red with excitement, then turned pale with unease, their gazes unconsciously drifting to the ink-stained hand of Zhu Huai holding the pen.
Zhu Huai’s tone was casual. “A few girls came to see me, but their signature pen leaked.”
Disbelief flooded the three girls’ eyes. Zhu Huai was speaking up for them? He wasn’t taking the chance to report them?
Jiang Sheli said, “Is that so?”
Zhu Huai even smiled a little. “Yeah.” Then he turned to the girls. “You should go back.”
The three girls exchanged looks with each other, then shuffled away, pushing each other along. Fan A seemed not to trust Zhu Huai and even glanced back.
Once they were gone, Zhu Huai asked, “Why did you come here?”
Jiang Sheli said, “I prepared a wrap-up gift for you. I was afraid you’d leave before I could find you. It’s in my green room. Come get it now?”
Zhu Huai was both surprised that he’d come specifically to say this and delighted that there was a gift. “Really? Thank you!”
The two arrived at Jiang Sheli’s private green room. His backpack was being watched by his assistant.
Jiang Sheli took out a carefully wrapped box from the bag. One look at the logo on the box told Zhu Huai this gift wasn’t cheap.
Jiang Sheli handed it to him. “Open it and see?”
Actually, there was no need to open it. Zhu Huai knew what it was. It was the newest men’s watch from a major name in the watch industry, priced in the seven figures. The design was clean and elegant, suitable for events or daily wear. The strap was set with diamonds that glittered under the light.
When this watch had been in pre-sale, Zhu Huai had browsed it on the official website several times, never bringing himself to add it to the cart. After all, with his current financial situation, such extravagance was beyond him.
“This, this!” Zhu Huai was thrilled, eyes shining. “This is really expensive!”
“Do you like it?”
“I love it!” Zhu Huai answered without hesitation. But soon his expression sobered. He pushed the watch back to Jiang Sheli. “But it’s too precious. I can’t accept it. If you really want to give me a gift, Brother Jiang, please give me something cheaper.”
Jiang Sheli didn’t take it. “The most important thing about a gift is that it hits the heart. Price doesn’t matter. Besides,” he pushed the watch back, “I’m the spokesperson. I got a discount. It didn’t cost much.”
With the words having come to this, Zhu Huai had no reason to refuse any further. In his heart, he began carefully thinking about what gift he should give Jiang Sheli when his scenes wrapped.
–
After leaving the 《The Disloyal Minister》 crew, Zhu Huai had no gigs for the time being—only a small indoor web variety show next month called 《Little Wang and Little Huai’s Indoor Games》.
Variety shows were all the rage right now, with every investor wanting a piece of the pie. Shows of every type kept popping up online. 《Little Wang and Little Huai’s Indoor Games》 was said to be a casual investment by some boss’s son, not managed with much care. The show was small, so the guest tiers were naturally low—mostly internet celebrities or newly debuted artists looking to get some face recognition. The ratings weren’t great either, but with a capitalist big shot propping it up, it had somehow managed to run a full year.
During his free time, Zhu Huai caught up on past episodes. He fell asleep twice and spaced out three times. The show was… really boring.
True to its name, it gathered a bunch of people to play indoor games. “XX Obstacle Adventure,” “Men and Women Balloon Pop Match,” “Everyone Memorize Lyrics,” even karaoke singing competitions—all games that had been obsolete for years. Compared to big hits like 《Beautiful Life》, which experienced the idyllic life of the countryside, or 《A Day with My Idol》, where you spend a beautiful, romantic day with a big star, 《Indoor Games》 really had nothing worth watching.
Maybe grandparents would like it. Too bad they don’t use the internet.
After watching, Zhu Huai wiped his face. The variety show’s script hadn’t been sent over yet. He had no idea what kind of genius game would be waiting next month.
Internet-addicted youth Zhu Huai pulled out his phone and played a couple more games. After some thought, he created an alt account on Server 6. Once he left the tutorial village, he searched for the ID 【Li River】. Not online.
He also glanced at Server 6’s various leaderboards. Sure enough, without surprise, Li River’s name appeared on every single one.
Once a newbie reached level 20, they could send mail. Zhu Huai left a letter for Li River, roughly saying he wanted to invite him to join the Hero Cup, and left his alt WeChat account.
Just as he was about to log off, he noticed the world channel had grown lively—marmots shrieking past one after another. Zhu Huai paused, then opened the channel to look.
【System: Sword Shadow Mobile Game ambassador Meng Xingyu has landed on this server~ Come out and welcome him!】
[World] Luoluo: ?? The real one? Is it really him? Meng Xingyu, I love you!!!!!
[World] Su Xiaomeng: Holy sht?? Wasn’t Meng Xingyu on Server 1? Why did he transfer here??
[World] Strawberry Pudding: Guess it’s related to getting mocked by our server’s healer Bai Xiaomeng in that last livestream.
[World] Box: There’s a melon? I want to eat it!
[World] Meng Xingyu V: [voice] Hello everyone. New here. Please take care of me.
[World] Bai Xiaomeng: Heh.
Many people had watched Meng Xingyu’s livestream that day and knew the grudge between Bai Xiaomeng and Meng Xingyu. Her appearance further reignited the masses’ enthusiasm for eating melon. Bystanders and fans churned together in chaos.
Zhu Huai slowly knit his brows. Meng Xingyu, instead of staying on Server 1 to be his ambassador, came to Server 6 to mess around?
The world chat went on.
[World] Strawberry Pudding: Cub, what are you doing on Server 6???
[World] Meng Xingyu V: [voice] Came to apologize to Bai Xiaomeng. Sorry about the fans cursing you last time.
[World] Bai Xiaomeng: ???
[World] Bai Xiaomeng: Not needed. Just keep your dogs on a leash, OK!
Bai Xiaomeng was genuinely tough, completely unafraid of offending anyone. Zhu Huai admired that.
Sure enough, the instant Bai Xiaomeng spoke, the world channel turned to chaos. Just then, Meng Xingyu sent another message—this time typed text, not voice, visible clearly to the entire server.
Meng Xingyu V: Bai Xiaomeng, would you and Li River like to team up with me for the second Hero Cup?
The chaotic world chat suddenly fell silent. A few seconds later—
[World] Bai Xiaomeng: ????
[World] World Melon Eaters: ????
Zhu Huai: ?????????
