IDEI Ch5

“Good that you’re back.” The director-mom’s eyes were filled with concern as she circled around Qi Yanning.

Being bathed in such a gaze felt like soaking in warm water at the perfect temperature, making a slight, pleasant tingling sensation rise in Qi Yanning’s heart.

“You’ve lost weight,” she said with distress. “You haven’t been eating well, have you?”

“I made some braised ribs. Eat more later. Young people shouldn’t be so thin.”

The director-mom nagged on, and Qi Yu, noticing that Qi Yanning seemed a little uncomfortable, though she didn’t quite understand why, stepped in and said, “A-Ma, it’s because of his job!”

Director-mom was gently pushed toward the kitchen by Qi Yu, continuing to mutter, “At his age, how can he be so thin? He should eat more, it’s better to be stronger…”

Qi Yanning stood in place, unaware that a faint smile had already appeared in his eyes.

“Ning-gege!” A little boy of about five or six grabbed Qi Yanning’s hand.

He stiffened slightly, feeling a bit uneasy, but he didn’t pull away.

He looked at the boy, who was full of innocent joy, his voice loud and clear, “Ning-gege, you haven’t been back in so long. I’ve missed you so much!”

Words like these, Qi Yanning had never heard before. Back in the palace, he also had a group of little eunuchs around this age under his care. As the head eunuch, he treated them better than anyone else in the palace, yet those little eunuchs never showed such innocent joy. Their faces were filled with caution and premature maturity, their voices carefully controlled, neither too loud nor too soft, as they had been trained.

With the boy holding his hand, Qi Yanning followed him, listening to his excited chatter as they made their way to the orphanage’s dining hall.

The dining hall was a small room with two rows of tables. Though worn, it was impeccably clean.

Qi Yanning sat down, then stood again, somewhat awkwardly following his memories to find his own tray and went to the window to get food. The aunt who prepared the food hadn’t seen him in a long time and gave him a heaping spoonful of each dish, especially the sweet and sour ribs, which nearly covered the entire tray.

He carried his overflowing tray and found a place to sit. Qi Yu sat down across from him.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Qi Yu asked after a few bites, noticing that Qi Yanning was staring at his food without moving, his eyes filled with complex thoughts.

Hearing this, Qi Yanning seemed to snap out of a daze and picked up his chopsticks. He grabbed a small rib and brought it to his mouth.

It was delicious.

Unlike the refined perfection of the palace cuisine, this food was deliciously infused with the warmth of everyday life.

Qi Yanning kept his eyes down, eating with such seriousness that his posture, though simple, made it seem as though he were savoring the finest delicacies.

“It’s very good,” Qi Yanning paused, then emphasized.

“Glad you like it. Eat up,” Qi Yu said with a smile, her eyes squinting in joy.

For a while, they both quietly enjoyed their meal.

That was until the TV in the small dining room began broadcasting Idol Time.

It was the talent show Qi Yanning had previously participated in. The people at the orphanage didn’t know he had withdrawn from the competition—only the director-mom and Qi Yu knew.

Qi Yu’s expression changed, and she was about to switch the channel, but Qi Yanning remained unfazed, even showing a slight smile. “It’s fine. Let’s watch this. I want to see how my friend performed on the last episode.”

Qi Yu hesitated but, seeing his reaction, didn’t turn off the TV. Instead, she occasionally glanced at Qi Yanning, clearly worried.

Qi Yanning noticed Qi Yu’s concern but didn’t pay it any mind. He focused on the show.

Luo Heng’s performance had just aired. Even with editing and autotune, it couldn’t hide the fact that his performance was mediocre. Next up was Pei Huan’s stage.

Pei Huan shone brightly on the show, and the production team seemed intent on making this performance the highlight of the episode. The editing was meticulous, preserving every bit of Pei Huan’s brilliance.

In a close-up shot, Pei Huan’s youthful yet alluring face was magnified to the extreme, causing viewers to hold their breath.

Qi Yanning studied the face carefully, frowning slightly. If there had been more time, the look could have been more refined. But given the time constraints, he had prioritized impact.

After Pei Huan’s performance, Qi Yanning lost interest in the show.

Qi Yu leaned in, awkwardly trying to comfort him, “Your friend, Luo Heng, maybe he just had a bit of a slip-up…”

“No, he’s not my friend,” Qi Yanning raised an eyebrow. “I was watching for Pei Huan.”

“Pei Huan?” Qi Yu’s voice rose slightly. “That pretty boy who just performed?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

“Has your show’s makeup artist suddenly improved? Pei Huan wasn’t this good-looking before… but this makeup suits him really well, matches his temperament and features perfectly,” Qi Yu muttered as she recalled the performance.

Qi Yanning said nothing, merely smiling.

He and Qi Yu spent the afternoon playing with the children at the orphanage and chatting with the director-mom, finally easing her worries about him.

On the way back, Qi Yanning logged onto Xingbo (the fictional social media platform).

The original owner’s main account was sure to be flooded with hate messages and nasty comments. For now, Qi Yanning had no intention of using it again, so he created a new account.

The first thing he did was search for “Qi Yanning.”

As expected, the hate was still there. However, with the production team’s clarification and his withdrawal from the show, the fans of other trainees no longer saw him as a rival, and the amount of hate had decreased significantly.

It seemed that with time, as public attention shifted, the name “Qi Yanning” would completely fade away.

He scanned through it expressionlessly, confirming that Luo Heng hadn’t stirred up any new trouble, before turning to search for Pei Huan.

In fact, there was no need to search. The stage performance from last night, Moonlight, was still trending.

#MoonlightStageAmazing#

#PeiHuanMoonlight#

#PeiHuanLooksLikeAnOmegaFromANovel#

There were three trending topics about Pei Huan. The first one was bought by the show, sitting at number five on the trending list. The other two were pushed up purely by the level of discussion.

The trending page was filled with gifs of Pei Huan’s performance. The peach-like boy was causing a wave of admiration from casual viewers and idol fans alike.

【Who is this absolute beauty?! Let me give him a kiss!】

【OMG, who is Pei Huan? I don’t care, marry me right now!】

【Who is this? He’s too good-looking!】

The Pei Huan fan club, realizing a bit late, scrambled to promote him in the comments under various Xingbo posts.

【This is Pei Huan from Idol Time! Absolute sweetheart, introverted but an amazing dancer! And more importantly… he’s got an amazing waist, hehe…】

Pei Huan’s follower count on Xingbo skyrocketed by hundreds of thousands in one day. Although it didn’t seem like much, these were active new fans, and as a result, his vote count in the polls shot up like a rocket.

Qi Yanning looked at the trending chaos with calm indifference, showing no sign that he was the mastermind behind Pei Huan’s sudden popularity.

The online response was excellent. That was good.

Qi Yanning put his phone away and was dropped off downstairs by Qi Yu.

“A-Ning, take care of yourself,” Qi Yu said as she got out of the car to give him a hug.

Her eyes were filled with sincere concern, and she gently stroked Qi Yanning’s hair with affection.

Qi Yanning stiffened for a moment, but quickly relaxed.

He looked directly into Qi Yu’s eyes, firm and confident. “I will.”

Qi Yu felt that Qi Yanning had changed. He seemed more composed, with a hard-to-define aura that made him appear like someone in a position of authority.

But Qi Yu wasn’t surprised—after going through a public scandal like that, who wouldn’t change?

She looked at Qi Yanning for a long moment before finally smiling and patting his shoulder. “Tomorrow, you’re starting with the team. I’ll come pick you up in the morning, so don’t be late.”

“In just a little time without me around, so much happened. I’m going to keep you under my watch from now on!” Qi Yu said, pretending to be stern.

“Get some sleep early tonight. I’m off.”

Without waiting for Qi Yanning to respond, she left briskly.

Qi Yanning shook his head helplessly but couldn’t suppress a faint smile in his eyes.

The next day, he left early, carrying a simple bag, and arrived at the YourStar production team.

At that moment, the director was eagerly waiting for him.

“Qi Yanning!” The chubby director almost tearfully grabbed Qi Yanning’s hand. “You’re finally here!”

Qi Yanning pulled his hand back and looked at the director with a questioning expression.

The director smiled bitterly and explained.

It turned out that the recruitment yesterday hadn’t gone well. The applicants were either too conventional or too eccentric. In the end, the director had no choice but to select a few of the least outrageous candidates.

As a result, Qi Yanning, with his outstanding sense of aesthetics, had become the director’s last hope.

The director was determined to build a good relationship with Qi Yanning.

Later that evening, the director, unable to resist, searched for reviews of the show again. He thought that after so much time, the program’s reputation might have improved slightly. But to his dismay, with Pei Huan’s performance in Idol Time going viral, their show was once again dragged into the spotlight for ridicule.

Especially since the makeup in their theme song stage MV had also featured heavy blush.

As a result, a comparison image began to circulate wildly online.

On one side was their theme song’s lead performer, Xiao Yingyi, whose face looked like a monkey’s butt with the heavy blush. On the other side was Pei Huan’s face, where the perfectly applied blush made him look like a peach.

The stark contrast led to another round of mockery for the YourStar production team.

The director was devastated.

He, a grown man, lost sleep over the negative reviews until four in the morning and then waited anxiously for Qi Yanning to arrive.

After hearing the director’s rant about the makeup artist in Idol Time, Qi Yanning showed no reaction, as if the “hidden talent who suddenly blossomed” the director was talking about wasn’t him.

He interrupted the director’s rambling and asked, “Director Lin, what’s my job right now?”

The director, Lin Xiong, didn’t mind being interrupted. He eagerly looked at Qi Yanning and said, “Here’s the thing… I’m planning to reshoot the theme song MV. We need to purchase new uniforms, and I’d like you to help consult.”

Theme song?

An image of the MV he saw last night popped into his head.

Tight suits paired with sneakers, faces heavily caked in makeup…

That aesthetic was truly…

Qi Yanning rubbed his temples and clicked his tongue.

Seeing his reaction, the director quickly explained, “Actually, our theme song was composed by a well-known domestic composer, and the lyrics were written in collaboration with a famous lyricist and poet. It’s a really great song.”

He mumbled to save face, “The MV isn’t that bad either. It has a bit of a vintage feel… it’s just that this style isn’t popular anymore. But back in the day, this type of MV was all the rage…”

Qi Yanning gave the director a hard-to-read glance, and the director awkwardly fell silent. He knew the theme song MV was… unique.

When Qi Yanning watched it yesterday, he hadn’t even noticed what the theme song was like. The overwhelming visual impact made finishing it a struggle, purely out of professional obligation.

He felt that his mindset had become much calmer.

If this had been in the past, if anyone had dared to present such a thing to Qi Yanning, the Chief of the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau, he would have buried both the item and the person in the Imperial Garden as fertilizer.

“Let me listen to the song first.” Qi Yanning paused and added, “Don’t play the MV.”

After listening to the song, Qi Yanning frowned.

With his aesthetic sense, this was clearly a very good piece—fresh, full of youthful energy, with a hint of elegance. It conjured images of well-off, spirited young men.

How could such a song have been turned into that?

Qi Yanning looked at the director, his gaze full of scrutiny.

This man… with such an aesthetic, how had he survived in the director’s circle?

Under his gaze, the director’s face turned bright red.

He mumbled as if he wanted to say something, but Qi Yanning didn’t give him the chance.

Qi Yanning opened his phone and pulled up a shopping site. “I see. Customizing isn’t feasible now, so we’ll buy it online. This one, in-stock locally.”

His slender fingers quickly scrolled through the full shopping cart, stopping on a set of school-style suits.

“You can customize the logo. Rush production of a hundred pieces will take just half a day, and it’ll arrive by tonight,” Qi Yanning’s voice was somewhat lazy but full of confidence.

The director took a closer look, and his eyes immediately lit up!

“That’s the one!” the director exclaimed. “It looks great!”