During the chill of March.
Inside Star TV’s dressing room, the staff are bustling in and out in an organized manner. Everyone hurried with a professional smile pasted on their faces whilst dealing with the artists who were about to enter the studio.
“Director Jian,” the makeup artist approached the female director standing at the door, and whispered in a low voice, “there is still one member of Sky Boys who is not here yet.”
Jianya frowned and glanced at the stars that were ready. From what she could remember, Sky Boys was a duo, one of whom was not particularly outstanding.
“Who hasn’t arrived yet?” Jianya asked without any changes to her face. From the corner of her eyes, she glanced at the teenager sitting on the sofa playing with their mobile phone.
“It’s Shan Yatong.” The costume designer said with dissatisfaction. “I heard his teammate say that he’s still on the road, saying it was because of a traffic jam.”
Jianya glanced at her watch. “The broadcast will officially start in 10 minutes.”
Star TV’s variety shows are known to have extremely high ratings, which is an amazing opportunity for young artists. In the entertainment industry, it is unheard of for a young artist to break their appointments without reason.
The costume designer nodded, turned around and started to apply the make-up for the host.
Jianya frowned slightly. Which one was Shan Yatong?
Recalling the previous entertainment reports she had been paying attention to, she recalled one: could it be the small artist who was involved in that lip-sync singing scandal? She only remembered these vague impressions of this particular artist, not even their appearance came to mind.
In comparison, she knew more about the other member, Yuan Wen. He had a good reputation according to the media reports. After all, besides having face, he also had other advantages. When dealing with the media, he was a more familiar figure than Shan Yatong. Without familiarity with the media or a good reputation, how else could you deal with them?
Standing in front of the window, looking down at her feet, there were private cars parked next to the star-only lane of the TV station. Jianya looked expressionlessly at the stars coming and going.
On the window, her reflection showed the irony hidden in her eyes.
The scenery was an infinite expanse. If you are careless, your light will dim. You’ll be forgotten under the countless stars.
“Excuse me, where is the dressing room?” A light male voice sounded from behind her, his voice like a gentle spring breeze.
Jianya looked behind her, slightly startled.
Flax-coloured hair, and simple clothes that only emphasized an indescribable elegance. His brown peach-blossom eyes matched his perfect smile and fair skin. He had the image of a beautiful young man. If this boy was in the entertainment circle, he would definitely do well. She had always believed in her insight.
“Are you an entertainer invited by the TV station to record on the show?” Looking back on the artists she had met, she had no recollection of ever meeting this person. She had never seen such a face in any entertainment report.
“Yes, hello.” The young man nodded with a smile. “I am Shan Yatong from Sky Boys. I’m only here now because of a traffic jam on the road. I am very sorry if the recording schedule has been affected. Could you please guide me to the dressing room?”
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 was Shan Yatong?!
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Shan Yatong followed her with the gentle smile still on his face. Looking at the woman about 30-years-old in front of him, he could see her walking posture was very elegant, and her whole body revealed the unique charm and temperament of a mature woman.
Whilst walking, her pace was consistent and regular. Her clothes were simple and unconventional. This woman seemed proud and independent, and also looked like someone hard to get close to. But she was a strong woman who cannot be ignored.
After looking at the silver earrings on her earlobes, Shan Yatong withdrew his gaze. The entertainment industry was still such an interesting place.
Looking at the murals hanging on the walls of the corridor, the abstract paintings were a combination of a wild mess of oil colours. The chaotic painting did not seem to have a coherent theme.
“Yuan Wen has already arrived,” Jianya didn’t turn to face him, but he could hear her voice clearly. “However, you are late.”
“I’m sorry.” Shan Yatong lowered his head, and did not mention the traffic jam.
Jianya turned to look at the young man calmly. The young man was lowering his head, his expression covered by locks of his hair. She suddenly felt that this thin boy looked pitiful. Her unexpressed harshness turned into silence. She looked away, and continued to walk.
“You still have three minutes to prepare.”
Shan Yatong raised his head, his brown eyes blank and emotionless. “I see, thank you.”
He turned and glanced at the oil painting again. It really was an interesting painting, because in this chaotic circle, there were all sorts of colors, and the only thing that could not be seen was the whiteness of purity.
In his previous life, he was a powerful idol considered to be a triple-threat star who was beloved by the media. From a small role to the position of the King of Heaven, only those who had stood in that position knew what he had given up. However, those days were still meaningful. It wouldn’t be so bad to go down that path once again.
It seemed that he was not the type of person to only like the color of pure white.
At the moment of death, it was hard to say whether he felt panic or regret. The only thing that was not completely satisfactory may be the imperfect method of death. Though, it definitely caused a sensation. As an artist, isn’t it only right to continue creating hot topics?
From this perspective, he felt satisfied again.
He liked the feeling of reaching a higher place, step by step. Perhaps the end result is not important. The important thing is the experience of the process. Many things in life given by others were false, and he could only consider his real gains as what he had earned by exhausting all else.
He had chosen the most beautiful path, and he never once regretted it even in death. Now, in this body, he was still drawn to that particular path. If life were too ordinary, it would be dull.
Passing through the brightly lit corridor, Jianya led Shan Yatong into the dressing room, and handed him the programming.
“Look at it first, and come on stage in 3 minutes.” After speaking, she turned to the makeup artists, hair stylist, and costume artist. “You will prepare him immediately.”
Shan Yatong glanced around the room. He was the only artist left in the dressing room. The others must all already be backstage, ready and waiting for the program to start recording.
Shan Yatong took the programming book and flipped it open. As a variety show, there are more gimmicks now, but the underlying rules remain unchanged. This time the show will be recorded with a mixture of both big names and relatively unknown stars. With his current popularity status, there may not be many camera shots of him. There may not be many shots in general, and he understood that he would not be the protagonist in these games.
The makeup artist quickly set Shan Yatong’s makeup. Glancing at the performance schedule that was set aside, she stepped back. “Yatong, you should change your clothes.” Beside the makeup artist, the costume artist was waiting with his clothes.
Shan Yatong took the clothes from the hands of the costume designer, thanked the two of them, and hurried to the dressing room.
After changing clothes, Shan Yatong smiled at the strange boy in the mirror and opened the door gracefully. The world outside may be a swirl of complication or confusion, but when the future comes, who can predict the resulting color?
The staff led Shan Yatong backstage, and as he expected, all the stars who were prepared to participate in the program were already there. He politely greeted several first-tier stars.
Almost no first-tier or second-tier celebrities will show arrogance in this kind of situation, and they each responded with a smile and a few words, and then went back to their own things.
Yuan Wen looked up and saw Shan Yatong standing under the light. At this moment, he suddenly felt that the person in front of him seemed to have changed.
Before he could recover from his shock, Shan Yatong had already joined his side. He smiled shyly as he asked, “Wen, you’re here already?”
Yuan Wen frowned almost imperceptibly. “Well, next time you should remember not to be late.” Sure enough, it must be an illusion. How can a person who can’t do anything have that kind of elegant feeling?
“Sorry, there was a traffic jam on the road, so…”
“Don’t explain it to me,” Yuan Wen said, impatience underlying his restrained voice. “You didn’t give any notice this entire week, you didn’t even think to leave early?”
After saying this, Yuan Wen apparently realized he had accidentally lost his temper, and quickly looked around him. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he closed his eyes and calmed his mind, ignoring the person in front of him.
Shan Yatong observed Yuan Wen. With wheat-colored skin and a handsome appearance, he seemed like a sunny boy. His slightly thick eyebrows gave him a sense of irritability.
Was he looking around just now, worrying about whether anyone had noticed his outburst?
Anyone who can get to these positions have already regarded acting as part of their lives. Maybe tomorrow, a corner of the entertainment newspaper will rumor that “Yuan Wen and Shan Yatong of The Sky Boys can’t get along”. As for the origin of these contents, who can say?
Shan Yatong was the last to enter the stage. When he heard the host introducing him as a beautiful man, and the subsequent pre-arranged applause, he waved to the audience and went to stand off to the side with a smile. He listened to the host focus on introducing the recent new films or new albums of the top-tier stars.
The exquisite VCR on the big screen made fans scream constantly. He looked at the images on the big screen, his smile unchanging.
By the end of the first part of the show, he had only said one sentence. ‘XX’s song is very good, I like it very much.’
The second part of the program had a small punishment game, the idiom chain. Whoever failed to connect the next idiom would be punished.
Yuan Wen remembered it was noted in the programming that he would be punished if he made any mistakes, and that being punished is also an opportunity for appearance.
The snake from the glass case had its teeth pulled out long ago. As his punishment, Yuan Wen held the little snake in his arms. At the gasps from the female audience members, he retracted his previous smile with a worried look.
The third part of the program was the interactive game.
All the stars were divided into three groups, and then drew lots. Whoever drew the red lot can ask someone from the other two groups a question, or make them do one thing of their command.
Shan Yatong sat to one side, bored. All of these were arranged ahead of time. He was nothing more than an unremarkable supporting actor.
“Oh, this time our lovely Mi Li got the red lot. I wonder who Mi Li will ask or what she will ask for?” The host said with a curious expression. “No matter who it is, don’t embarrass them too much.”
To Mi Li, Shan Yatong had already left an impression on her. She seemed to be a well-known actress from an idol drama that became popular. From memory, this actress seemed to have had conflicts with Shan Yatong because of his refusal to appear in an affair with Mi Li. This love affair was proposed and arranged by their company. In many aspects, Shan Yatong was not suitable for the entertainment industry.
”Nan-Ge is really good at joking,” Mi Li said with an innocent smile, which is in line with the media’s evaluation of her. “How could I possibly embarrass anyone? Well… who should I choose?” After saying that, blinking her large almond eyes, her index finger swung over to the void and pointed at the smiling Shan Yatong.
“Why not Yatong? How about we ask him to sing a song for us?” Mi Li’s pure smile was full of anticipation. “Everyone hears the chorus of Yatong and A-Wen on weekdays. How about we listen to Yatong sing alone today? I have been looking forward to Yatong’s solo singing for a long time.”
The host’s smile stiffened for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal. He glanced at Shan Yatong and said to the audience, “Then, everyone let’s applaud and welcome our beautiful man, Shan Yatong, to sing us a nice song.”
Shan Yatong glanced at the smiling Mi Li, then stood up calmly and walked to the front of the stage. When he passed by the host Yunan, he saw the discomfort in the host’s eyes.
He laughed grimly on the inside at the bottom of his heart. Taking the microphone he showed a shy smile on the surface. As a collective, the audience did not seem to have much expectation of him.
This was the beginning of his giant starlit path.
Looking sideways at Mi Li, who was smiling, he shrugged and lowered his shoulders as if embarrassed.
“For Mi Li’s anticipation, I will show everyone my singing voice for the first time today. Hopefully I will win some smiles from the lovely ladies in the audience. Even if my singing may let everyone down, I don’t want to fail this beautiful woman’s expectation of me.”
Some audience members laughed kindly, which livened the atmosphere.
And Mi Li, who was obviously quite used to such statements, smiled brightly.
She did not notice Jianya frowning unhappily in the corner. Jianya thought to herself, this girl randomly disrupted the program’s prearranged plan… does this artist even understand the basic rules of the industry?
Looks like we git too see some face slapping from the beginning. Thank you for the new story.
Chapter one ending with an incoming face slap? Yes, I’m here for that!
Thanks for the chapter <3
SY:Face slapping is what we good at~~~~
Outsiders:……………too cruel
New translation~~
excited!! thank you
Thank you for the translation~can’t wait for the next chapter 😋
One chapter in and I’m hooked! Can’t wait for people’s faces to be slapped in the next chapter! ^-^ Thank you!!!!!
oh, cliffhanger~
Solid intro. Thank you for your hard work. 👍
Curious, oh so curious~
Thanks for the chapter! You don’t mess with the order unless you’re an undeniable name, & even then it is not recommended to do it often. Messing with the staff is never a good idea, they always remember & make you pay in one way or the other….
i absolutely love mc’s mindset. someone like him would be hard to crack because he is that type of person that takes everything as a challenge
Ahhh… So exciting!!! Just come from another bl entertainment rebirth novel, gosh I love this trope so much. Looking forward to this!! 💖
A COLLECTED EXPERIENCED MC MAKES MY HEART THUMP AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE ONCOMING CHAPTERSS (๑´ڡ`๑) 💞💞💞 HE KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS TOO. AND HAS THAT VIEWPOINT WITH HIS DEATH. MOREOVER, WE AREN’T GIVEN A BARRAGE OF DETAILS like when he transmigrated, who is he specifically, people mourning for his recent death, who the og body is, and etc. We were only shown first how he got stuck in traffic and changed temperament.