Chapter 29
The assistant stood to one side, not daring to speak, afraid that if Lin Chen lost his temper, he would be the one to suffer.
Lin Chen got up and stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing outside for a long time.
He could not understand how things had ended up like this.
What had started it all?
Lin Chen thought back carefully. It seemed to have begun with Yuan Yu—that cheating scumbag who was juggling two boats while pretending to be gay even though he was straight.
No. More precisely, it had begun after the production team of Our Life came to the base to film.
The reason Yuan Yu’s scumbag deeds had been exposed and caused such a huge uproar in such a short time was because the cameraman from Life had started a livestream.
And the reason Cheng Xia’s matter had drawn so much attention was also because, through Life, he had returned to the public eye.
It was as if this variety show had been born to oppose him, and yet he had no way of doing anything about it—
Because whether it was the Fang family backing Director Fang, or the Ji family behind Ji Ran and Cheng Xia, they were all existences he did not dare provoke lightly.
And on top of that, there was Song Fengshi, who for some unknown reason seemed determined to target him at every turn.
To this day, Lin Chen still did not know how exactly he had offended Song Fengshi.
As the president of Mingguang Entertainment, Lin Chen handled a mountain of affairs every day. He had no time at all to follow the filming of a variety show, much less chase after a livestream.
What was more, one of the guests on Life was Lin Zhiqiao.
Lin Chen disliked this younger brother of his. It could even be said that he loathed him.
His personality was strange and gloomy. He did not like to talk. He had not a shred of the proper manners he should have had, and he was forever making things difficult for Mubai while clinging to him and sucking his blood.
If Lin Mubai were not so considerate and understanding, always speaking up for Lin Zhiqiao, Lin Chen would long ago have wanted to press Lin Zhiqiao into the mud of the entertainment industry and make sure he would never have a chance to rise again.
But Mubai always said that Lin Zhiqiao had been sent away to live outside since childhood, so it was only normal that he did not understand rules and had no upbringing. He said one should always leave people a bottom line and not cut off their only path to survival, and so on.
The moment he thought of Lin Mubai, the irritation in Lin Chen’s heart softened.
Among all his younger brothers, Mubai was still the most obedient, the most sensible, and the one who knew best how to please him.
As for Lin Zhiqiao—
Lin Chen’s brows knitted tightly.
Just as his parents had always said, Lin Zhiqiao had come to the Lin family to collect a debt.
It was precisely because Our Life had Lin Zhiqiao on it that it had caused such a huge impact on Mingguang Entertainment.
If he had known earlier that Fang Xinnan would invite Lin Zhiqiao as a guest, then no matter what, he would never have agreed to let Our Life film at Mingguang’s training base.
Lin Chen was holding in a bellyful of anger. He casually picked up a report and flipped through it with loud rustling sounds.
By sheer coincidence, the one he picked up happened to be the statistics his assistant had just handed over—figures regarding trainees’ applications for contract termination.
The figures showed that since Mingguang had opened a special termination channel, nearly three hundred trainees had already submitted termination request forms.
Although the overwhelming majority of them did not actually meet the requirements for termination, that number was still so high it was almost exaggerated.
This storm had become even bigger than Lin Chen had predicted.
Seeing how bad his expression looked, the assistant beside him lowered his head even further, trying to reduce his presence.
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.
“Come in,” Lin Chen said impatiently.
Coming at a time like this—wasn’t that just asking to be hit by the gun barrel?
The assistant grumbled inwardly and could not help feeling a little sympathy for whoever it was.
Yet the expected sound of Lin Chen scolding someone never came. Instead there was only a pleasantly surprised, “Mubai?”
The assistant looked up and saw that graceful, moon-breeze-like figure slowly walking in. He let out a huge sigh of relief in his heart.
—Thank goodness. Young Master Mubai had come. President Lin’s temper would finally settle down.
Lin Mubai was dressed simply in a white shirt and suit trousers. His smile was faint, yet made people feel like they were bathed in spring breeze. “Big Brother.”
Lin Chen pushed aside the messy pile of documents on the desk and pulled Lin Mubai over to sit on the sofa.
As he passed the assistant, who was still standing there afraid to move, Lin Chen did not forget to shoot him a glare.
The assistant understood at once. After preparing tea for the two of them, he quickly withdrew from the office.
The hot tea warmed the stomach. The visitor warmed the heart.
Just looking at Lin Mubai’s calm and beautiful appearance was enough to extinguish all the anger that had filled Lin Chen’s chest a moment earlier.
“What made you think of coming to see Big Brother today? Is something the matter?” he asked with a smile, his tone light and relaxed.
Lin Mubai gave a soft laugh. “What? Can’t I come visit Big Brother if there’s no reason?”
Lin Chen helplessly pinched his cheek and said, “You know that’s not what Big Brother meant.”
The two of them chatted intimately for a few more lines before Lin Mubai changed the subject. “I heard Big Brother has run into a bit of trouble lately.”
Lin Chen did not hide it. This matter had already made the trending searches several times. Even if he wanted to keep it quiet, he could not.
After listening to everything, Lin Mubai only thought for a short while.
“I was wondering what kind of thing could trouble Big Brother to this extent.” Lin Mubai smiled. “Two big incidents happened one after another. Of course people’s hearts would waver. As long as you soothe them again, won’t that solve it?”
Lin Chen, however, let out a sigh.
It sounded simple when put that way, but once it came time to actually do it, it was not that easy.
“Isn’t BLUE Boy Group about to start their tour? Buy a few trending topics and shift the public’s attention first,” Lin Mubai said.
BLUE Boy Group was an idol boy group under Mingguang Entertainment. Ever since their debut, their popularity had remained sky-high. They were extremely hot.
Lin Chen nodded. “Mm. It’s already being prepared.”
“Director Xu is currently preparing a new survival show. Big Brother can pick a few trainees from the base who are fairly strong,” Lin Mubai suggested. “As long as even one of them stands out in the program, Mingguang Base’s reputation won’t have to worry about not coming back.”
Lin Chen, however, gave a bitter smile. “I had that plan too, but… unfortunately, the trainees with more outstanding ability have either already terminated their contracts, or they submitted applications that weren’t approved and are now in the cooling-off period.”
For example, Cheng Xia and Ji Ran. For example Yuan Yu, who had already terminated his contract earlier. Every one of them had been first-rate seedlings.
But now, not a single one of them was left.
At that thought, Lin Chen could not help blaming Lin Zhiqiao again.
If not for him, those seed players at his base would never have drifted away from Mingguang Entertainment one after another.
But Lin Mubai said, “Does Big Brother have the trainee list here? I’ll help Big Brother pick a few.”
The moment he heard that, Lin Chen’s eyes lit up instantly.
Lin Chen had always known that his youngest brother carried a bit of magic about him—
Lin Mubai was incredibly good at judging people.
Anyone he said was worth knowing deeply—even if that person looked utterly down and out at the time—would without fail turn things around before long.
And anyone Lin Mubai said was no good—even if they were shining brightly at that moment—would definitely fall hard from their pedestal.
Lin Chen trusted Lin Mubai’s eye for people completely.
With Lin Mubai helping pick them, he had absolutely no worry about whether they would shine brilliantly on a survival show.
Without hesitation, Lin Chen immediately pulled up all the trainees’ electronic files.
Lin Mubai called in his mind, [System, I’ll leave it to you.]
His system 066 replied, [Understood, host.]
Lin Mubai quickly browsed through the list. Before long, he selected the profiles of two people.
Lin Chen leaned over to take a look. “Ming Ye and Zhou Zili?”
They were two very unfamiliar names. He did not even have the faintest impression of them.
Lin Chen flipped through their usual evaluation records. Both had ordinary results—not bad, but not particularly outstanding either.
Then he took a look at their photos.
It had to be said: both of them had truly exceptional looks.
One had hard, sharply defined features. In the training photos he usually took, the lines of his bulging muscles and the male hormones coming off him hit with overwhelming force, making him impossible to resist.
The other was exactly the opposite. His softer features were delicate and cute, with a natural trace of melancholy between his brows and eyes. The bright red beauty mark at the corner of his eye was especially arresting, making it impossible to look away.
Lin Chen nodded inwardly.
Setting everything else aside and looking only at appearance, even if the two of them were thrown into a crowd of a thousand, they would still be noticed at a glance.
And one being strong while the other was soft—this combination was perfect for bundling together and hyping as a CP.
Lin Mubai said, “Trust me. They won’t disappoint Big Brother.”
Lin Chen exported the two files and saved them separately. “Of course Big Brother trusts you.”
He had no doubts at all. In fact, he had already begun looking forward to the day when Mingguang would return to the top once the new show aired.
*
A few days later, at Four Seasons Sports Co., Ltd.
Lin Zhiqiao received notice to come here and shoot a promotional advertisement.
The Four Seasons premises covered a huge area. Perhaps in order to live up to the word sports, the Ji family had specially built an independent sports ground within the company grounds, thoughtfully divided into indoor and outdoor sections.
This advertisement shoot was taking place inside those sports venues.
When Lin Zhiqiao arrived at Four Seasons, Ji Ran was standing by the front gate poking at his phone, his half-long red hair casually tied into a tiny tuft behind his head.
Ji Ran noticed his gaze and looked up in puzzlement. “What kind of look is that?”
“Nostalgia… maybe?” Lin Zhiqiao was not entirely sure. “The way you look today reminded me of the first time we met.”
The first time they met?
Ji Ran frowned and tried to recall the scene from back then.
Lin Zhiqiao muttered in his heart, [You even rolled your eyes at me then.]
Ji Ran: “…”
Oh. He remembered now.
At that time, the only impression he had of Lin Zhiqiao was that he was a guy covered in scandals who kept shamelessly clinging to Lin Mubai. No wonder he had not given him a good face.
But thinking back now, he really had been too rash then.
Only after actually spending time with him did Ji Ran realize that Lin Zhiqiao was completely different from the “Lin Zhiqiao” described by the marketing accounts. Maybe even that whole matter of clinging to Lin Mubai had never really been Lin Zhiqiao’s own intention.
Now that he thought back on it, his attitude back then really had been too hurtful.
Ji Ran’s face flushed red. He lifted his eyes to glance at Lin Zhiqiao, then quickly lowered them again, saying something very softly.
Lin Zhiqiao did not catch it. “Hm? What did you say?”
“I said, I’m sorry!” Ji Ran turned his head away. “Back then… I had a prejudice against you. Sorry.”
Lin Zhiqiao waved a hand. “It’s fine. I didn’t take it to heart anyway.”
[Thinking back now, it was actually kind of cute.] Lin Zhiqiao said. [After all, he was Little Yellow Chick Princess back then. Ah, though now he’s already been promoted to Big-Eyed Frog Princess.]
Ji Ran: “…”
He clenched his fists. That tiny trace of guilt in his heart vanished completely, and he said through gritted teeth, “Let’s. Go!”
Lin Zhiqiao followed after him.
“Have Sister Pei Ning and the others arrived yet?” Lin Zhiqiao asked.
Ji Ran said, “Not yet. You’re also the first one here this time.”
Lin Zhiqiao: [Of course you have to be a little more proactive when it comes to making money!]
Four Seasons was really willing to spend on this promotional ad. They had directly invited all six guests from Our Life, plus one extra Cheng Xia.
If they dragged the cameraman over too, they could almost make up two full tables for mahjong!
Inside the indoor sports hall, the filming team and equipment were already prepared.
What surprised Lin Zhiqiao a little was that among the people present there was also a very young-looking girl. She was wearing a school-style JK skirt, her cheeks still carrying a bit of baby fat, and she was very cute.
Lin Zhiqiao could not help stealing several extra glances at her.
After noticing, Ji Ran narrowed his eyes. “I’m telling you, Lin Xiao Qiao, she already has a boyfriend!”
“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.” Lin Zhiqiao quickly waved both hands.
Ji Ran pressed on. “Then why do you keep staring at her?”
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Zhiqiao asked, “Is she an adult?”
[The Ji family wouldn’t exploit minors, would they? Th-this… isn’t that a little too criminal?!]
Ji Ran squeezed his eyes shut hard.
“She. Is. An. Adult!” Ji Ran took a deep breath. “She’s actually two years older than me! If you count by seniority, she’s my little aunt.”
Lin Zhiqiao relaxed.
[That’s good, that’s good. I almost thought I was about to eat gossip about the sponsor dad…]
The girl in the JK skirt in the distance seemed to notice them. She put down what she was doing and walked over.
Ji Ran waved at her. “Ji Xiaoyuan!”
“I’ve told you how many times already! Don’t call me that!” Ji Yuan’s brows rose sharply. “Do you not understand respect for your elders? Call me Little Aunt!”
Ji Ran curled his lips. “Li-ttle A-unt! Satisfied now?”
Ji Yuan rolled up the file in her hand into a tube and smacked Ji Ran hard with it.
Then her gaze fell on Lin Zhiqiao.
“So this is the one Cousin personally picked…” The round-faced girl’s expression changed instantly, and her voice jumped up three whole notes. “Lin Zhiqiao? Why is it you?!”
Lin Zhiqiao blinked.
[Wow, such a familiar tone! Such familiar lines! It’s practically a scene reenactment!]
Ji Ran covered his face.
Oh no.
How had he forgotten this!
Ji Yuan’s expression froze, confusion filling her eyes.
What voice was that?
Lin Zhiqiao: [Quick, system, check her favorability toward me. Is it negative?]
888 exclaimed, [Wow! It really is! A full negative fifty!]
Lin Zhiqiao asked, [She wouldn’t also be like Ji Ran and be a Lin Mubai fan, would she?]
888 searched out Ji Yuan’s Weibo. [Yes! Just like Ji Ran, she’s one of Lin Mubai’s die-hard fans too!]
The most recent post Ji Yuan had made on Weibo said that that day marked the third anniversary of her becoming Lin Mubai’s fan.
Three years… that was indeed a very long time.
888 added, [And Ji Yuan isn’t just a fan of Lin Mubai. She’s also one of his fan-site photographers! Her name is “Fusheng Ruobai.”]
[“Fusheng Ruobai”?] Lin Zhiqiao was a little surprised. [So it’s actually her!]
Lin Mubai’s popularity over the years needed no explanation, and naturally there were plenty of fan-site photographers for him. Among all of Lin Mubai’s station sisters, “Fusheng Ruobai” was considered one of the more famous ones.
Sister Fusheng’s shooting skills were very good, and her post-processing ability was also publicly recognized as professional. Many of Lin Mubai’s god-tier photos that went viral had come from her hands.
Lin Zhiqiao could not help taking a few more looks at Ji Yuan and sighing, [You really can’t judge a person by their appearance!]
Ji Ran pulled Ji Yuan to the side.
Ji Yuan muttered quietly, sounding rather dissatisfied. “Why didn’t you tell me in advance? If I’d known Lin Zhiqiao was going to be here, I never would’ve agreed to come help Cousin supervise the shoot!”
The cousin she was referring to was Ji Ran and Cheng Xia’s father.
“All right, all right, my fault, my fault!” Ji Ran gave in unusually quickly. “But Xiao Qiao really isn’t the kind of person the internet says he is. Really! He’s actually pretty great!”
Ji Yuan did not believe him at all and looked baffled. “Xiao Qiao? Calling him that so intimately? What kind of soul-losing soup did he feed you? Have you forgotten how much you used to hate him?”
Ji Ran rubbed his nose. “Back then was back then. Now is now—”
“So you’ve quit being a Mubai fan now?” Ji Yuan narrowed her eyes, her expression dangerous. “You’ve defected?”
Ji Ran gasped quietly. “How could that be!”
He still wanted to explain, but Ji Yuan had a quick temper and was already unwilling to keep listening to him praising Lin Zhiqiao.
“Count this as one you owe me.” Ji Yuan said. “Put it on the tab. You’ll have to treat me to one meal—no, three meals—for this to be written off!”
Ji Ran curled his lips.
Their age difference was not big, and they had almost grown up together since childhood, so he knew very well what kind of temperament Ji Yuan had.
Though she looked soft and even somewhat easy to bully, Ji Yuan’s personality was actually very stubborn.
Once she had decided something, it was very hard for other people to convince her otherwise.
So Ji Ran chose to give up trying to persuade her.
Anyway, after enough time passed and she had personally gotten along with Lin Zhiqiao, Ji Yuan would naturally understand what kind of person Lin Zhiqiao really was.
Once he had figured that out, Ji Ran stopped dwelling on it.
He turned back around. “Lin Xiao Qiao, let’s go. Time for styling!”
Lin Zhiqiao followed him.
His first outfit for the shoot was Four Seasons’ newest sports tank top.
A large area of white formed the base, printed with simple, fresh blue patterns. Paired with matching athletic shorts, plus a same-color sports headband across his forehead, even the shoes and socks were the latest Four Seasons designs.
Lin Zhiqiao glanced at himself in the mirror and commented, “I look like a college student.”
“No, like a high school student.” Ji Ran said from beside him. “In this outfit, you look younger than me.”
Lin Zhiqiao blinked.
[Okay, so the Ji family exploiting minors is basically confirmed!]
Apparently Ji Ran had already learned how to selectively ignore these sudden inner thoughts that popped up every now and then.
While the two were getting their styling done, the others also gradually arrived one after another.
The director came over too and explained the plan for the upcoming shoot to everyone.
Today’s main filming would be indoors, covering sports such as basketball, badminton, and tennis.
Lin Zhiqiao was not a professional athlete, but he had at least touched all of those sports before, so they did not feel unfamiliar to him.
The first scene they were shooting was basketball.
The director said they should put themselves into the mindset of college students, like several very close friends happily fooling around on the court, sweating freely and wantonly.
They needed to show the vitality and passion of college students.
[College? Passion? What kind of dark joke is this, hahaha!]
Everyone: “…”
Too real. There was literally no way to refute it!
The director gave a dry cough, looking a little awkward. “Then think of yourselves as high school students too. Youthful, energetic boys gathering together during break to relax and play—”
[High schoolers don’t deserve basketball during breaks.] Lin Zhiqiao complained. [They only deserve endless classes, endless sleep deprivation, and endless practice questions.]
Director: “…”
“No matter what, youth, vitality, energy.” The director gave up on examples. “You absolutely must show the beauty and passion of sports!”
After finishing his little speech, the director simply let them move freely for ten minutes first, both to find the feeling and warm up in advance.
Lin Zhiqiao picked up a basketball and dribbled it, searching for his feel.
But the ball survived in his hands for less than half a minute. A figure suddenly darted over from the side and, with a whoosh, snatched the ball from his hands.
Ji Ran charged toward the hoop with the ball, jumped, and shot—
The basketball traced a perfect parabola, hit the rim, and bounced back in Lin Zhiqiao’s direction.
Lin Zhiqiao caught the ball and ran a few steps with it, gradually finding the feel again.
He had not touched a basketball in a very long time. The last time he had probably played had still been in a university PE class.
The ball hit the ground with heavy thudding sounds.
Just as Lin Zhiqiao was about to try taking a shot, Cheng Xia suddenly appeared from the side and blocked him.
Lin Zhiqiao’s movement paused. His body reacted faster than his thoughts. He feinted, carried the ball past Cheng Xia’s interception, ran forward, jumped, and shot—
The ball went cleanly into the hoop.
From the side, Jiang Qianqian let out a surprised “Wow!” “So handsome!”
Lin Zhiqiao smiled, saying nothing.
But in his heart, he praised himself: [As expected of me! Still just as awesome as I was back then!]
Beside the basketball court, Ji Yuan had been fiddling with her camera the whole time.
She was not a staff member of the filming team. It just so happened that she was free these few days, and Ji Ran’s father had mentioned the shoot, so she had volunteered to come supervise and, at the same time, follow the professional team around to gain some experience.
Ji Yuan had majored in directing at university. Photography was a required skill, and also a hobby she had stuck with from childhood to adulthood.
At first Ji Yuan had been looking forward very much to these two days’ schedule, but the moment she saw Lin Zhiqiao, all of her good mood instantly fell to zero.
If she had known earlier, she would never have come.
Ji Yuan could not stop sighing inwardly.
Laughter and lively noise came from the basketball court nearby, yet she was not interested at all and did not even want to raise her head.
If this had been before, Ji Yuan would at least have lifted her camera and taken a few shots—
Of course, most of them would have been Ji Ran’s “ugly photos.”
Forget it. Let’s just pretend Lin Zhiqiao doesn’t exist, Ji Yuan thought.
She could not very well waste such a good learning opportunity just because there was one person she disliked. That would be a bit too not worth it.
Once she had thought it through, Ji Yuan finally shook off her bad mood.
She lifted the camera and tested it, then adjusted a few settings before pointing the lens toward the basketball court.
—Ignore Lin Zhiqiao. Focus on everyone else.
Ji Yuan silently repeated this in her heart.
At that exact moment, an orange-red basketball arced through midair. In the middle of the crowd, someone leapt high, snatched the ball, and finished a layup in three smooth steps—
Before she had even fully reacted, Ji Yuan’s finger had already reflexively pressed down, taking several shots in burst mode.
A qualified photographer never misses a single great shot.
After shooting, Ji Yuan pulled up the photos and prepared to keep a few of the better ones.
The person who had just shot had extremely standard form. That kind of accurate three-point shot—one look and you could tell he had practiced a lot.
The distance had been a little far, so Ji Yuan had not seen clearly who it was, but subconsciously she assumed it had to be either Ji Ran or Cheng Xia.
Both of them were trainees and got plenty of exercise in daily life. For them, throwing a shot would obviously be easy.
That male model Tang Zhou was too tall. One look and you could tell it was not him.
As for Lin Zhiqiao—
Hah.
Whoever it was, it could not possibly have been him.
Ji Yuan let out a cold snort inwardly.
In the first photo, that person had leapt high into the air, his arm tensed with clean muscle lines. The hem of his loose shirt had lifted, revealing a lean waistline and light but clearly defined abs.
The orange-red basketball was held high in the air, perfectly blocking the shooter’s face.
Ji Yuan’s eyes lit up.
What a beautiful shooting posture! What perfect lean muscle!!!
No one could resist a beautiful body, and Ji Yuan naturally was no exception.
She zoomed in on the photo and carefully admired it from every angle.
Even though this one had not captured the face, Ji Yuan could not bear to delete it.
After admiring it, her finger slid to the second photo.
The orange basketball had already been thrown, revealing the face hidden in the first photo—
Under chestnut-colored curls was a pair of pale amber eyes bright as stars.
The hand holding Ji Yuan’s camera trembled three times.
No way.
That incredibly handsome three-point shot, those perfectly defined lean muscles, that beautiful body that had actually made her heart flutter—
How could it possibly be Lin Zhiqiao?!
