Is it over? Just like that? It felt completely unreal.
Li Yun handed him the bouquet of flowers, “You must be tired.”
Xu Qichen wiped away the tears he had shed while acting and received the bouquet with a quiet thanks. Then he bowed to each and every one of the film personnel.
“You’ve worked hard, you’ve all worked hard. Thank you for taking care of me for so many days.”
When he reached Chen Anping, the other party opened his arms. After a moment’s hesitation, Xu Qichen reached out and hugged him.
“Thank you Director Chen. You have really helped me and taught me a lot.”
Chen Anping patted him on the back. “This role was fortunate to have met you.”
Being surrounded by so many people, Xu Qichen had thought that Lin Ran had long left. He did not expect to find him watching from a few metres away.
After some dithering, Xu Qichen approached him.
“Thank you. Although I’ve been a burden to you these past two months, you selflessly helped me without complaint. Without which, I’m afraid, we wouldn’t have been able to finish so quickly…”
His volume decreased as he spoke.
Suddenly he was embraced by Lin Ran. It was a very short and a very formal embrace.
“You’re welcome.”
Then he was released and left standing alone, holding only a bouquet of flowers in his hands.
After this hug his chest felt empty. The heart that had been restless for a long time finally completely separated from his body, to the place it wanted to go.
It hurt.
Xu Qichen had little recollection of the afterparty; what he said or what he did there. His mind was occupied with Lin Ran’s polite and distant ‘You’re welcome’.
Did he say something wrong?
Or do something wrong?
He asked in his mind: “0901, does Lin Ran like me?”
0901: “Mr. Xu, as I said before, this is against the rules.”
“Does Lin Ran like me?”
0901: “Mr. Xu, I do not have the authority to tell you…”
“Does he like me?”
0901: “Mr. Xu, you can only…”
“Does he like me? Does Lin Ran like me?”
0901: Mr. Xu, as an AI, I do not understand human emotions, so I am unable to empathise with and comfort you. But in essence, the development of anything is a spiral, and there are bound to be twists and turns in the process.”
Xu Qichen lowered his head and sneered, “Unexpectedly, this artificial intelligence has also done research on philosophy.”
0901 ignored his mocking: “So, Mr. Xu, I think you are now standing at a critical juncture.”
Is he asking him to give up?
After that night, he left the film crew, but did not completely leave the lives of Yu Ning and Nan Ke behind.The following week, he dubbed for Yu Ning’s narration lines.
Only after finishing that did he return to Ji Mengze’s true profession. Even then, the life of an idol was not any easier than those of the film crew; practising the dance and song for the new album day and night, flying all over the world to film their MV, appearing on various magazines shoots and TV programmes, and so much more. He was so busy he was barely sleeping three to four hours a day.
Only by living through it personally did Xu Qichen truly realise how difficult the life of idols, who were always criticised by the public, was.
Even so, whenever his name appeared on Weibo, the voices of the critics were as loud as ever.
Bai Yi bumped Ming Qi’s arm, “Leader, don’t you find that Mengze seems to have become a completely different person since coming back?”
The leader nodded, “His work attitude is like throwing his life away. He’s almost becoming a robot.”
After being made to mechanically pose in front of all kinds of lenses and lights and being surrounded by countless fans everyday, Xu Qichen’s body and mind were becoming increasingly numb.
In the blink of the eye, half the autumn had passed by.
After the release of the new album, he became even busier; performing on all kinds of variety shows and attending fanmeets everywhere, flying everyday.
Even if it was for the main task, he had to treat his job with utmost seriousness.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
This lifestyle actually helped Xu Qichen feel at ease. He was like an ostrich burying his head in the exhausting work and preventing himself from having idle time to think about other matters.
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Xu Qichen nodded. When he saw the words Nan Ke on the schedule, his chest began to feel stuffy. He had thought the feelings would have faded after such a long time.
It turns out, it had all been nothing but self-deception.
“First, the publicity posters should be released soon. This will be taken care of by the management’s side, so we don’t have to worry too much about it. The main thing is that you will have to participate in some variety shows with Lin Ran at the end of the month, which will be broadcasted before the release of the film to create momentum for the film.”
“Has Lin Ran agreed to this?”
Li Yun found Xu Qichen’s questioning strange. “Why wouldn’t he? As the main character of this film, there’s no reason why he will not promote his own film.” But she sensed something. “Didn’t you get along very well while filming? Why haven’t I seen you interact with him on Weibo recently?”
Xu Qichen: “Because we were so busy, I barely posted on Weibo.”
That’s true. He had to rush to release the album right after filming. The workload intensity was so high that even Jiang Ling, who was usually very tough, had, for the first time ever, cried that he could not take it. But he did not complain even once, only silently and seriously completing every job.
She could not tell if he had grown up or was simply being stubborn.
“In short, during the publicity period, you have to work hard to earn back some reputation and popularity through the film.” Li Yun patted Xu Qichen on the shoulder. “I believe in you.”
Xu Qichen: “En.”
As expected, on the 12th of November, Nan Ke’s official Weibo posted the first film poster.
[Nan Ke Film]: The dream of youth.
Only one poster was attached.
The design of the poster adopted the ‘double exposure technique’. The main body was Nan Ke’s face in profile. On the top, there was a reflection of Nice’s blue coastline, and the back of two teenagers.
After staring at the poster for a while, Xu Qichen turned to repost it but didn’t
know what to send. Li Yun had already given him a ready-made copy, but he felt it was overly affectatious. So he simply clicked on the heart emoji and reposted it. Although it might seem insincere, it wouldn’t appear too enthusiastic either.
The reposts and comments came rolling in quickly.
[Heart emoji crazy demon Ji Mengze]: Please read my ID.
[Has Mengmeng married me today]: Truly. Heart Emoji Crazy Demon 2333
[Mengmeng too meng]: Has it finally begun? I’m so excited ah! Quickly tell me when it’s airing ah!
Under the original post there were more passersby.
[Lychee flavoured soda]: This poster’s really beautiful ah, I can almost smell the fresh summer breeze.
[Who said it isn’t]: This film’s cold and elegant style of promoting was definitely inherited from the director~
[squish squish]: The sharp lines of Lin Ran’s profile are too beautiful ba, and the shadow made by his eyelashes are simply perfect!
As Xu Qichen was scrolling through the comments, his finger accidentally tapped on the repost section and he happened to see the newest repost.
It was from Lin Ran.
Who reposted it with a heart emoji.
And just like that, two tiny red hearts occupied the top two spots under hot reposts; echoing each other, as though intentional.
[Carrying the great flag for RuanMeng]: Aaaaaah they’re distributing sugar, sisters!
[RuanMeng girl]: Two heart emoji crazy demons~
[Ruanruan Mengmeng]: Official Weibo, internally: The solemn cold and elegant image laozi spent too much effort to carve out has been sweetened and greased by you two! Laozi is done!
[Melon-eating netizen Wang Xiaoer]: Their fans competing through reposting, their hearts sitting one above the other… it’s like they’re fighting for the gong and shou positions hahaha
…
Looking at Lin Ran’s heart emoji, Xu Qichen had many mixed feelings.
It’s just fanservice.
He explained it in his mind, but he did not know who he was explaining it to.
The next week, the Nan Ke official Weibo released a second poster with a similarly cold and elegant caption – ‘A lasting dream’.
The poster design was similar to the previous one. Once again there was Nan Ke’s side profile, reflecting the image of a bizarre night in Shanghai, and the back view of Nan Ke carrying Yu Ning down the street.
The release of the two posters triggered a heated discussion on the plot of the film among netizens. For a time, [Nan Ke] frequently appeared in the Weibo hot search.
Although the company was very satisfied with the publicity effect of the film, Xu Qichen often felt uneasy. After all, Ji Mengze’s existence itself was a threat to many stars. How can competitors be willing to watch his new film release without making any trouble?
Once again, Xu Qichen’s premonition was proven correct.
Nearing the end of the month, several entertainment blogs on Weibo suddenly began to post some embarrassing episodes of Ji Mengze’s previous bad acting.
[Master of Entertainment Gossip]: Ji Mengze’s new movie will be released soon. I don’t know if his acting skills have improved. Let’s review Ji Mengze’s films and TV works in the past few years to see how many minutes of this you can bear to watch.
The reposts and comments all expressed their second-hand embarrassment etc., but if one looked carefully at the IDs one could tell much of it was the fans of other traffic young male actors pushing the momentum.
[Lonely Rebirth]: This plot and script make my scalp numb…
[Amnesiac Butterfly]: jmz’s acting skills have the ability to chase away customers; I’m afraid to buy tickets for his movies. Please let famous directors off.
[Melon seeds for sale on the front row]: Improve? Easier said than done. To improve so much in such a short time would require attending professional theatre academies. Plus Ji Mengze basically lacks respect for the profession, that’s why he keeps picking up bad films for the money.
[LuvMe]: After seeing this, I suddenly have no interest in the new movie… but I feel quite bad for Lin Ran.
[Are you a demon]: Poort Lin Ran. After being burdened he still has to fry CP.
…
He couldn’t look anymore.
After seeing the last few lines, Xu Qichen, who was originally calm, began to feel upset. With much effort, he adjusted his mood until he was calm again.
When he gave Chen Anping a call, the other party seemed to have been expecting it.
“You must have seen the comments online, right?” Chen Anping’s tone was mild, “Any opinions?”
Xu Qichen hesitated and said, “Director, don’t do any counter-criticism, I will not speak up either.”
“Oh?” Chen Anping was somewhat surprised. He had thought that the purpose of the call was to seek his help to quickly flip the online discussion over by revealing some trailers or the audition video.
“Giving an immediate response and public relations can reverse public opinion,” Xu Qichen paused before saying, “But director, I want to go for the effect of a perfect counterattack.”
“I’ve heard Yun-jie say that the movie might be eyeing a Christmas release, so there’s still nearly a month to go. If I can, I’d like director Chen to communicate with the producers and postpone the release of the trailer to the middle of December. In the next two weeks, we’ll hold on and let the public opinion ferment.”
“You want to surprise them?”
“En.” Xu Qichen continued, “The further we’ve been squashed, the further we can spring up in the end.”
If one has to turn the tables, then they should do it thoroughly.
To be honest, this public relations method was risky, but Chen Anping was confident in the quality of his film. Besides, he had told people around him more than once, that this child’s popularity would shoot through the roof after the film was released.
Because he had been truly surprised by him.
So in this case, they might as well make use of these online public opinions to promote their cause.
And just like that, Xu Qichen was continuously scolded for two whole weeks, to the point where he did not open Weibo anymore.
On the afternoon of December 9, the group members exited the company building to film an advertisement.
In the evening was Nan Ke’s press conference. The schedule was very tight.
“The advertisers have agreed to shorten the shooting time as much as possible, and the stylists will follow them. Later, you will go directly to the press conference, and then you will take part in the recording of Quick Confrontation tomorrow morning. December 11 is the commercial performance…” Zhang Xiaoxiao followed behind Xu Qichen, reporting his schedule. Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped out, he was forcefully pushed aside by someone.
Fans swarmed in, holding all kinds of gifts. Although the members were crowded-in and couldn’t walk, their idol smile didn’t slip even once.
“Mengze, Mengze, jiayou! Ignore the words of those people online!”
Xu Qichen nodded with a smile, “Okay.”
“Jiang Ling, Jiang Ling! Ah! I touched Jiang Ling’s muscles!”
“Shen Huan! Shen Huan I love you!”
“The group’s style today is too perfect!”
“Bai Yi! Mama loves you!”
The crowd laughed.
A short, thin girl, wearing a hat and mask, was pushed towards Xu Qichen. She lost her balance and almost fell down. Xu Qichen held her arm and asked, “Are you okay?”
The girl nodded.
Just as Xu Qichen smilingly began to turn away, she raised her hand.
He did not have the time to see what she was holding.
The intense burning sensation had instantly eroded his left eye.
The crowd, unaware, was still bustling. It was only when Xu Qichen covered his eyes and squatted on the ground that someone noticed that something was wrong. The constant pain and intense burning sensation made him lose consciousness and burst out tears physiologically.
“Mengze! What happened to Mengze?!”
“Make way!” His group mates reacted quickly and pushed away the panicked fans to help Xu Qichen up.
The unexpected disaster disrupted all the plans. Xu Qichen, who was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, could only be absent from the subsequent advertisements and the scheduled press conference of Nan Ke.
“Haters nowadays are completely lawless, even daring to do such a thing on the doorstep of the company!”
Xu Qichen, lying on the bed with his eyes closed, heard Li Yun’s angry voice outside the door.
“We must catch the offender! This is a crime!”
After being sent to the hospital, he found out that he had been sprayed with chili water. The doctor washed it with a solution for a long time, and the burning feeling was much less than in the beginning, but it was still very painful. When he reached out to touch his left eye, he could only touch a thick layer of gauze.
The voices outside quieted down and he heard the door being pushed open.
“Are you feeling better?” Li Yun’s tone was gentle, as though the person who had been raging outside was not her.
Xu Qichen hummed in assurance.
“I’ve already called the police.” Li Yun sighed, “We didn’t expect such a thing to happen right outside the company, or we’d have sent some bodyguards with you.”
“Thankfully, the doctor said the chili water was not that concentrated, so it should not cause too much of a harm to your eyesight.”
Li Yun: “Don’t attend the reality show tomorrow.”
“I can’t,” Xu Qichen refused. “It’s for promoting the film, I have to go.”
“But you know the show has all kinds of activities like running and jumping, and even playing in the water. How can you go like this?”
Xu Qichen pushed himself up. “I’m fine. Knowing my situation, the programme team will also take extra care. It’s bad enough that I skipped the press conference today. I have to go for the show tomorrow.”
Seeing Xu Qichen’s determination, Li Yun had nothing more to say. She gave him a pat on the shoulder, “Then I’ll let the programme team know. After your incident broke the news, they must have been pretty anxious.”
Xu Qichen watched as Li Yun left. His eyes still hurt.
Earlier, he spoke his wish to attend the show without thinking too much. Now that he thought about it, it seemed like he had an ulterior motive.
The entrance of the hospital was swarming with reporters. Xu Qichen could only leave by the backdoor.
As expected, [Ji Mengze assaulted by haters], [Ji Mengze’s left eye injured], [Ji Mengze absent for press conference], and [Nan Ke] showed up explosively on the hot search.
This gave the film unprecedented popularity, even more than the original casting storm.
Although there were still discordant voices, most netizens were maintaining the right stand and condemning the malicious assault.
The next afternoon, Xu Qichen showed up on the set of Quick Confrontation. The staff expressed their admiration. They had the impression that traffics like Ji Mengze would act precious, and getting sprayed in the eye with chili water was not a small matter. They did not expect him to show up to work normally the very next day.
Xu Qichen’s hair was again dyed dark brown to promote the film. The stylist blew his hair into a well-behaved style, then he put a black eye patch over his eye gauze and tied it to the back of his head.
“This can block the light, and also looks better.”
“Thank you.”
There were two main MCs of the program. One was Yang Cheng, a host with a high degree of national popularity, and the other was Zhao Qi, a comedian. The other two regular MCs were male actors. With Lin Ran and Xu Qichen thrown in the mix, there were a total of six people today.
This was an outdoor reality show with high ratings. The director group will arrange challenges according to the theme of each episode. The guests and MCs will be divided into two groups and will be tested on their physical and mental abilities.
The director group arranged for him to come in last, so Xu Qichen patiently waited by the side. He didn’t go over until the director group informed the cameramen who would be following him.
When Lin Ran, who was pretending to chat with one of the regular MCs, saw Xu Qichen, his heart tightened viciously.
He was wearing a gray woolen coat over a black turtleneck sweater. A black eye patch covered his left eye, making his complexion look very pale. As soon as he approached, he bent down and bowed and smiled at all the guests that were present.
Lin Ran noticed that he also looked at himself.
But why would he look at him like that?
Like a stray cat who had gone through a lot of hardships and finally returned to its owner.
I- I have never read novels where the protagonist got hurt by fans.. I swear my heart literally jumped to my throat in this chapter
I don’t like this chapter 😭
Thanks for the Chapter,
Me too.usually u see its the canon fodder or villains being attacked.but then when u actually see it through the mc’s experiemce.its bad😓
Li Ran, you scum- To apply your own insecurities like that on your so-called ‘stray cat’, how vicious, wuuu T~T
So cruel!! How much must you hate a person who you never even met to hurt their eye?
I hope Lin Ran won’t abandon this chance! They deserve heart to heart talk
hhhhhhhhthanksforthechapter ♥
Thanks for the chapter! ^^)❤
Thank you for the chapter ( ˘ ³˘)♥
Thank you for the chapter ( ˘ ³˘)♥
Sorry I didn’t mean to post twice
Thanks for the update 💕💕
Umm… I’m kinda mad on Lin Ran right now.
Thanks for the chapter <3
Lin Ran what are you doing?? ಠ_ಠ
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
I was so scared he was hit with acid! This is freaking scary.
I totally get ya, I was thinking it would become those angst-y plots, my heart hurts for meh cutie. 😖
xu qichen😭😭😭
Li Ran, explain everything properly.
Lin Ran is still such a twat.
Poor Xu Qichen :((
Thanks for the chapter <3
Ahhh… What to do? I’m a bit mad at Lin Ran ￣へ￣ hmph.
Also, gosh, it irks me how there are crazy haters who’d harm someone for simply no reason at all. Hngg. I hope that bish gets retribution for doing that to Xu Qichen. ︶︿︶
Thanks for the chapter!
Lin Ran what are chu doingggg?!? I gave u benefit of the doubt and yet (´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ `) also i swear i could see words “Depressed Boi” written on Xu Qichen’s forehead, Lin Ran pls stop torturing him QAQ
Also thank you so much for this great translation Ning-sama and Sarcasm-sama, this really brightens my day despite our MC’s suffering lol
Li Ran, you bad boy. -.-
Thank you for the chapter!!
Camping here, patiently waiting on Author-Laoshi for the next chapter.❤❤❤❤❤
<3
OMG I thought she was going to stab him and he would die failing the secondary mission or that she would throw acid at him D:
Ohmyg i really thought it’d be a knife at first and then that it was acid omg
I love that Xu Qichen is still thinking like an author—the best way to handle this is obviously to do a big faceslapping scene when it turns out he’s a great actor! Ignoring how hard it is to have people treat you so poorly for so long. Then again, it isn’t actually his own acting they’re laughing at, so it wouldn’t trouble him as much. Not to mention, doing it this way means they didn’t have to try to sell their relationship as much…
Thank you so much for translating! <3
💜💜💜
Lin Ran didnt contact after all through that? Bad ML!!! 😠😡