FLME Ch42

Chapter 42

While Feng Chengzhou was scattering money on one end, Bian Ce was frantically suppressing trending searches on the other.

The Feng family situation was complex. Feng Chengzhou had been raised with an elite education. Though he possessed a certain degree of arrogance, he excelled at whatever he did from a young age. Because of his family background, his logical thinking was much colder and harder than the average person’s. Therefore, in Bian Ce’s eyes, occasionally indulging in joy and throwing some money around was actually a good thing. The Crown Prince was loaded anyway, and he had started working before he even came of age.

…But letting him scatter money didn’t mean letting him lose his mind over it.

He wasn’t an entertainer; excessive exposure did him no good. Seeing that this was about to skyrocket to the number one trending search, Bian Ce simultaneously ordered his secretaries to contact Weibo’s PR team while dialing Feng Chengzhou’s number. The moment it connected, he barked: “Feng Chengzhou—”

Beep. The Crown Prince hung up on him.

Bian Ce: “…Feng, Cheng, Zhou.”

I am going to commit fratricide!

Yu Wen watched the Crown Prince pick up a call, listen for a single second, and then decisively hang up. He muted the phone and placed it face down on the table without batting an eye.

“Is there more?” Feng Chengzhou continued to ask.

Yu Wen: “…”

Yu Wen’s own phone was buzzing too, he just didn’t realize it.

Xi Su: [Teacher Yu! I just snagged a forty-thousand red envelope! Holy crap, keep talking to him! Keep talking! Let’s fleece him dry!]

The message was sent a few minutes ago. Staring at the lit-up screen, Xie Heyu was left speechless.

A moment later, the phone buzzed again.

Chu Han: [Yu Wen, Xi Su said if he can snatch up to a hundred thousand today, he’ll do the cleaning for a week. You… speak a little more.]

Xie Heyu: “…”

The Crown Prince ended up giving away over three million in surprise red envelopes. By the time the livestream ended, he even gifted each actor a collector’s edition bottle of red wine. Everyone arrived empty-handed and left with full arms, the smiles on their faces harder to suppress than the recoil of an AK.

The look in Feng Chengzhou’s eyes when he looked at Yu Wen had completely changed. It wasn’t just warm now; it was filled with gratitude and trust. At the very least, it was the look one gave a confidant.

He proposed exchanging contact information. “…If you ever want to jump ship in the future, contact me anytime. Huiteng will offer you the most generous treatment.”

Unable to decline such warm hospitality, Yu Wen turned his head to look for Xie Heyu, who was holding his phone.

Without needing to be called, Xie Heyu—who had been monitoring the situation the whole time—already stepped forward.

After handing over the phone, Xie Heyu gave Feng Chengzhou a slight nod in greeting.

Feng Chengzhou returned a faint nod, feeling quite surprised inwardly. Starlight Media barely had any staff, yet this person trailing beside Yu Wen was neither servile nor overbearing, carrying himself like someone who had seen the world.

After exchanging contacts, Yu Wen left with Xie Heyu. Halfway out, Feng Chengzhou suddenly remembered something and glanced back at the young man beside Yu Wen.

…Have I seen him somewhere before?

The Crown Prince couldn’t quite place it, deciding he’d have Bian Ce look into it when he got back.

Having already been mobbed once, they definitely couldn’t take the main entrance. But as Yu Wen headed downstairs and saw quite a few fans still lingering near the front doors, his feet felt glued to the floor.

Xiao Zhou suggested, “How about you leave first, Teacher Yu, and I’ll go buy some milk tea to give to the fans?”

It was a scorching hot day, and holding up light boards was exhausting work. After getting Yu Wen’s approval, Xiao Zhou and Xiao Zhong headed down. Xie Heyu asked, “Do you want to head to the car first?”

Peering down through the one-way floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor, Yu Wen shook his head. “I’ll wait for you guys. Teacher Xie, you should go help too; three people will be faster.”

Xie Heyu thought for a moment and agreed. “Keep your phone on you.”

Yu Wen was looking at his new light boards.

Blue and yellow—the gradient was done beautifully, and the colors were incredibly striking. If he ever had a battle of the fandoms with other artists, he could probably crush the competition on color scheme alone…

He amused himself with his own imagination.

Suddenly, he recalled the fans shouting something downstairs earlier—telling him to check the fan group or something. He hadn’t heard clearly. Yu Wen pulled out his phone, opened the Super Topic, and fumbled around for quite a while before finally locating his fan group.

He had several fan groups, but the others were full, so he used an alt account to apply to Group 3.

With the event today, the fans were highly active, and his application was approved in seconds.

The moment he entered, Yu Wen was dazzled by the messages scrolling past at light speed.

The chat was incredibly lively, discussing a bit of everything. He had to scroll up just to see that in a mere ten minutes, hundreds of people were juggling four or five completely different topics.

Some were discussing the drama.

[Zhas, have you watched episode 10 of Immortal Sect? A big brain analyzed that Liu Zhenzi might already be dead. Is that true?]

[Screw that, who dies in a xian-ou drama?! Even if he died, he better come back to life for me, otherwise I’ll shove an umbrella up the screenwriter’s butt and open it.]

[The big brain’s analysis makes sense. I’ve always felt there were suspicious details. For instance, everyone fears Liu Zhenzi, but Liu Zhenzi has never actually appeared. Like how Jiang Qiuyue goes to that cave every week to deliver food, but the weeds at the entrance are a meter high; I always doubt if anyone is even in there. And Lao San—she trains incredibly hard, but back in episode 5, Er-shixiong clearly said she hated practicing…]

[Maybe it’s just the director lacking skill.]

[I don’t think it’s a lack of skill. The ten episodes aired so far each have a mini-theme and a central character for the episode, proving the director has solid narrative capabilities. Yet the grand overarching theme of the entire show still hasn’t surfaced.]

[I think it’s foreshadowing.]

Some were discussing the recent livestream.

[Did any of you Zhas win the raffle?! I won over twenty thousand; sharing my luck with everyone!]

[Rubbing the luck!]

[Rubbing the luck!]

[So funny, I’m genuinely curious what Xiao Yu said to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince acted like he got possessed.]

Others were discussing Yu Wen getting hoisted up in the lobby earlier.

[Image.jpg] [Image.jpg] [Image.jpg]

[I feel like this is actually going to trend… The more I look at this damn picture, the funnier it gets.]

[Our idol travels while sitting on someone else’s shoulders. Our fandom is truly one of a kind in domestic entertainment.]

[Rebirth: Tagging Along with the Melon King to See the World (Wow, what an unhinged universe).]

[You can never predict what will happen to Xiao Yu in the next second.]

[But honestly, Xiao Yu smiles so sweetly, look at this one. Image.jpg]

[Cheek heart! Ohoho, baby is so trendy.]

Some had noticed his styling today.

[Did nobody notice that Xiao Yu’s makeup and outfit today were specially styled? He used to look like he wanted to go out in slippers.]

[Yeah, he looks so pretty today, pretty baby.]

Yu Wen scrolled down and finally found the topic he wanted to see.

Someone had noticed his makeup during the livestream.

[Did the makeup artist alter his makeup after they went upstairs? It looks a bit different from when he first walked in.]

[Yu Wen is a man, let me establish that first. But this picture is so delicate and alluring; he gets to be a girl for an hour.]

[Even a casual glance feels like he’s seducing me…]

[Ah! A woman dresses for the one who pleases her! This is wifey trying to please me! (Spins) (Leaps) (Takes off in joy)]

The engagement was quite high. Yu Wen read for a moment, but finding it too difficult to parse their chaotic communication, he eventually backed out of the group chat.

Still, he was quite pleased. So many people noticing meant his makeup adjustment had required some real skill.

Downstairs, Xie Heyu and the assistants had finished buying the milk tea and were handing it out.

Fangirls were historically easy to please. As long as they felt the person they liked was reciprocating their feelings, they would be thrilled to the point of exploding. A small cup of milk tea was enough to make them shed tears and sweat simultaneously in the summer heat.

“Wuuu…” Xie Heyu handed out a cold cup of milk tea, only to hear a sob the very next second. He stiffened slightly, cautiously looking toward the source of the sound.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Was the milk tea that terrible?

The girl didn’t say a word, just frantically slurped the milk tea. Her arms were full of banners and bouquets, with a backpack on her shoulders. Unable to free even a single hand, she could only wedge the cup against her chest with the webbing of her thumb, chugging it down before sniffling. “I’m alive again.”

It was scorching hot today, but in all her years of chasing idols, this was the first time she had managed to photograph an artist’s face so easily.

Even though Yu Wen’s vibe was always bizarre and his fans constantly referred to themselves as crazed women, there was no denying that being a fan of Yu Wen was a novel and joyful experience. During downtimes, they ate melon; when a drama aired, they watched it; when they wanted to see him, they attended offline events. Looking across the entire entertainment industry, no other idol would sit on their manager’s shoulders just to cooperate with fans taking photos.

Her Xiao Yu even made finger hearts! Her Xiao Yu even bought them milk tea! Her Xiao Yu even tricked a domineering CEO into giving out welfare red envelopes!

…She had won over thirty thousand today!

After the girl caught her breath, she shoved the bouquets, banners, miscellaneous support items, and a few handwritten letters all onto Xie Heyu. As she unloaded them, she rambled, “Teacher Manager, thank you for taking care of Xiao Yu. These are some samples made by the fan club; let Xiao Yu see if he likes them. If he doesn’t, that’s fine too, we’re too lazy to redesign them anyway. And these letters are from several major fan club leaders who couldn’t make it today…”

Taking the chaotic pile of items, Xie Heyu nodded. “We are the ones who should thank you.”

After distributing the milk tea, Xie Heyu told a white lie, claiming Yu Wen had already left in a production crew car. Yu Wen watched from above as the crowd mostly dispersed within ten minutes.

Returning that evening, sure enough, there were four or five trending searches. #YuWenShoulderSitsAndMakesHearts# hung in the top ten, followed by a string of the drama’s promotional tags. However, Feng Chengzhou, the usual titan of public opinion, failed to make much of a splash this time—clearly, someone had deliberately suppressed his searches.

Yu Wen’s gesture of sending milk tea also sparked some discussion.

[My Xiao Yu is no longer just a living person in the entertainment industry… please address him respectfully as the Entertainment Industry’s Little Sun.]

[Seriously, every time he appears on camera he’s so full of energy, it just makes people happy looking at him!]

[At most he spaces out, but he’s never pulled a black face.]

[Back before he blew up, didn’t he individually reply ‘thank you’ to fans’ DMs? So damn well-behaved.]

[??? How did this get dug up?]

[No need to dig, just compare screenshots and you can tell. They weren’t received instantly, so it clearly wasn’t an auto-reply. Plus, the reply times are concentrated in the same block of time.]

[You veteran fans eat this well??]

[Even Empress Dowager Cixi might not have eaten as well as us Zhas.]

Yu Wen removed his makeup, took a shower, and went downstairs. Chu Han and Xi Su were sitting in the living room watching TV—Legend of the Immortal Sect.

Yu Wen was astonished. He hadn’t expected the blue-haired guy to love his drama this deeply. He had already been spoiled on the ending, yet he stubbornly refused to turn back and continued to torture himself.

Yu Wen hadn’t eaten dinner, but he didn’t have much of an appetite either. Rummaging through the fridge, he found two bento boxes left by Xie Heyu, microwaved them, and ate with a fork.

The TV was showing episode four. Yu Wen sat down on the single sofa, chewed on a vegetable, and asked in confusion, “Haven’t you already watched this part…?”

Chu Han was watching with rapt attention and found him too noisy. “Don’t talk.”

Beside him, Xi Su flashed a sinister, scheming smile.

Yu Wen: ?

“I’ve watched it, but Teacher Chu hasn’t. It’s fine, I can watch it again,” Xi Su stated magnanimously.

Yu Wen felt something was off.Is Xi Su really that kind-hearted?

After finishing his bento, he went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. When he came out, they were already on episode five. Xi Su was excitedly giving Chu Han a preview of the upcoming iconic first meeting between the male and female leads. “Get ready, get ready, up next is the CP feast…”

This was also Jiang Qiuyue’s first official appearance.

Er-shixiong had sent Lao Si to invite Jiang Qiuyue for a meeting. Terrified of getting beaten up, Lao Si ran into Puyang Xi on the way and conveniently shoved the task onto him.

The male lead, eager for any opportunity to explore Mount Yunxiao, gladly accepted the sweet assignment.

He first went to several locations Chu Zhiyao mentioned where Jiang Qiuyue frequented. Finding no one, he boldly advanced toward several of Mount Yunxiao’s “forbidden areas.” The first place he went was the back mountain peach orchard—the one place Chu Zhiyao had repeatedly warned him absolutely not to go.

150 pounds of body weight, 149 pounds of pure rebellion.

It was the perfect season for peach blossoms. Though the back mountain peach orchard was long past its prime glory, with spring approaching, faint pink blossoms still sprouted across the hills.

Jiang Qiuyue was sleeping, leaning haphazardly against one of the trees.

Puyang Xi advanced cautiously, passing right under the tree where Jiang Qiuyue was napping. He sensed nothing. The woman in the tree kept her eyes closed, backhandedly snapping off a two-inch peach branch.

Puyang Xi sensed something and halted his steps.

When those eyes snapped open, they were as clear as mountain springs melted from the snow on a heavenly peak. In the next instant, carrying a fierce gale, the peach branch was already pressing against the side of Puyang Xi’s neck.

He spun to dodge. The peach branch struck like a violent storm, its offensive sharp and fierce. In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged over ten moves.

Between clusters of tender peach blossoms, Puyang Xi saw a pair of beautifully shaped peach-blossom eyes.

“Good footwork.” That was Jiang Qiuyue’s first line.

Holding the peach branch, she pointed it lightly at Puyang Xi—a bit intrigued, yet exuding the natural arrogance of the strong.

“No one on Mount Yunxiao has ever caught my moves. You are the first. I permit you to draw your sword.”

Holding a tender, easily broken peach branch, without even mobilizing her internal energy, she pointed it lightly and casually, saying, “I permit you to draw your sword.”

This was Jiang Qiuyue’s grand entrance.

“See! Is the love-hate tension there or what?!” Xi Su grabbed a huge handful of chips to calm his nerves. No matter how many times he watched this scene, his heart would race. When I die, this cut needs to be burned onto a disc for me as an offering.

Chu Han tore open a bag of dried banana chips, nodding continuously. “So shippable, so shippable…”

Xi Su: “My CP is divine tier.”

“I agree.” Chu Han was clearly getting a bit swept up in the shipping, his face full of lingering excitement. “Someone as alert as Puyang Xi was startled by the snapping of a twig just now. But every time Chu Zhiyao claps him on the shoulder from behind, it takes him a moment to react. What does this mean? It means he’s doing it on purpose! He pretends not to notice on purpose, waiting for Chu Zhiyao…”

Xi Su: “Wait a minute, what are you shipping?”

Chu Han blinked in confusion. “I’m shipping ‘Xi-Yao’.”

Yu Wen walked out after washing his fruit, catching this exact sentence.

“Who is ‘Xi-Yao’?”

Chu Han: “Puyang Xi, Chu Zhiyao.”

Yu Wen: “Hah?!”

Xi Su: “…You inverted the heavens!”

Chu Han was a hardcore ‘Xi-Yao’ loyalist. Letting Yu Wen and Xi Su chant sutras in his ear for half an hour, he remained entirely unmoved.

“It’s fine. Taste in shipping is subjective. Everyone has their own aesthetics. On this long journey of life, you’ll always encounter like-minded people and people with different preferences. I wish the both of you all the best in the future, you tasteless hacks,” Chu Han stated serenely.

The two whose CP had just been dismantled gritted their teeth. Yu Wen wanted to smash his bowl over Chu Han’s head.

For the first time in his life, he united on the same front as Xi Su.

“Let’s go,” Xi Su fumed, his hair practically standing on end, yet unable to do anything about it. “Yu Wen, let’s go! We’re not watching with him!”

Yu Wen stomped upstairs in his slippers, deliberately stomping loudly, his footsteps echoing through the entire villa.

That night, he binged twenty breathtaking fan edits of his own CP, finally calming himself down. Holding onto the beautiful mindset of ‘My CP is so beautiful, why ruin my mood’, he opened WeChat.

He tapped into the Spicy Teachers group chat, which he hadn’t paid much attention to lately due to his busy schedule.

The group was currently shipping CPs.

The teachers had changed their group nicknames at some point; at a glance, Yu Wen thought he had stumbled into a hotpot restaurant.

[Spicy Teacher Yi Ming]: [I sincerely invite everyone to appreciate this gorgeous ‘Xi-Yue’ fanfiction.]

[Yuan-yang Pot Teacher Tong Li]: [This isn’t our house’s meal. Where’s the ‘Xi-Yao’ food?]

[Clear Broth Teacher Daniel Li]: [Jiang Qiuyue and San-shijie together are much cuter…]

[Tomato Soup Teacher Fan Xiangyang]: [Lao Si and Puyang Xi also kind of have a vibe…]

[Cumin Dipping Sauce Jian Heng]: [Does no one think Jiang Qiuyue and Chu Zhiyao are the most shippable? Lao Liu was raised by Da-shijie. He fears Da-shijie the most, but also likes her the most… Whether it’s ‘Yao-Yue’ or ‘Yue-Yao’… it’s all so delicious.]

In less than five minutes, Yu Wen’s vision went black.

Baka!You’ve inverted the heavens!