Chapter 62
By the time Lin Zhiqiao arrived at the filming location for Idol Star Dream, there was less than an hour left before the program officially began shooting.
Director Xu had not left him much time to prepare.
Or rather, Director Xu had not left much preparation time for anyone at all.
Because when Lin Zhiqiao walked into the dressing room, the other two people who had arrived before him had also only just started getting ready. Clearly, they had only gotten there a tiny bit earlier than he had.
What surprised Lin Zhiqiao a little was that one of those two turned out to be an old acquaintance.
It was Ji Ran’s little aunt, Ji Yuan.
Lin Zhiqiao’s footsteps paused. Instinctively, he looked up at the sign hanging outside the room, thinking he might have walked into the wrong one.
The next second, Ji Yuan’s delighted voice rang out: “Xiao Qiao? Oh my god, so the last mentor assistant is actually you?!”
Lin Zhiqiao snapped back to himself and nodded. “Yeah, it’s me.”
Ji Yuan’s eyes lit up instantly, her whole face glowing with a kind of excitement and anticipation that looked very familiar to Lin Zhiqiao, though he could not quite figure out how to describe it.
Lin Zhiqiao wore a blank look. “?”
[Why does something feel weird?] he muttered inwardly. [Little Aunt’s expression kinda looks like… she wants to swallow me whole?]
‘Don’t doubt it, Xiao Qiao, your instincts are correct [dog head.jpg]’
‘Heaven knows how excited I was when I saw Xiao Qiao appear on camera! Ji Yuan is literally acting out my exact reaction!!!’
‘The gossip king has arrived. Is there any way this variety show is still going to be plain and boring? [dog head.jpg]’
‘Putting down a bet right now: Idol Star Dream is going to blow up’
‘Even though our Xiao Qiao is just a mentor assistant, any idol who gets tempered under Xiao Qiao’s all-seeing eyes and still manages to debut… the chance of them scandalizing later should probably be infinitely close to zero, right? [deep in thought.jpg]’
‘Got it. Chase idols under the guidance of the Gossip King, and mom never has to worry about my fave collapsing again! [wink.jpg]’
The atmosphere on set sank into a brief, strange little silence.
Behind the camera, Director Xu gave a light cough and reminded them, “Although the show hasn’t officially started filming yet, the livestream is already on. This time before the official shoot counts as the program’s teaser segment.”
The three people in the room all straightened their backs at the same time, as if they had simultaneously begun reviewing whether they had done anything strange on camera just now.
Director Xu squinted and smiled like a fox. “You can all get familiar with each other first. Later, everyone will be arranged to meet the mentors. Once you choose which mentor you’ll each follow, we’ll move into the trainees’ first showcase and ice-breaking segment.”
After saying that, Director Xu left with the cameraman filming them.
Lin Zhiqiao sat in his seat, letting the makeup artist apply all sorts of things to his face.
Director Xu had invited three mentor assistants in total. Besides him and Ji Yuan, there was also a boy named Tang Nan.
That name sounded a little familiar. Lin Zhiqiao felt like he had heard it somewhere before, so he could not help sneaking a few extra glances at him.
[Ah, so he’s Director Tang’s son.]
Lin Zhiqiao remembered that Lin Mubai’s current drama, the one he had recently joined the set for, was a work directed by Director Tang, titled A Panorama of Mountains and Seas.
Tang Nan looked back at Lin Zhiqiao once, said nothing, and showed no sign of surprise in his expression.
During makeup, the three of them casually chatted for a while and quickly became more familiar with one another.
Half an hour later, Director Xu had someone bring them to another room.
The three of them did not wait long. Soon enough, footsteps sounded outside the door.
The door was pushed open from the outside, and the first thing that came into view was a head of flamboyant smoky teal short hair.
Ji Yuan, seated to Lin Zhiqiao’s left, let out a stifled gasp. “Su Jia!”
‘Holy shit holy shit! It’s actually Su Jia, ahhh!!!’
‘Director Xu really went all out. She actually got Su Jia to be a mentor [ahhh.jpg]’
‘The first mentor is already this huge a name? I’m seriously starting to look forward to who the other two mentors are [rubbing hands excitedly.jpg]’
‘Oh my god, I’m so jealous of the trainees on Idol Star Dream. They actually have a chance to become Su Jia’s students. This is too amazing, wuwuwu’
As someone in the industry, Lin Zhiqiao was naturally not at all unfamiliar with the name “Su Jia”—
The current captain and center of the wildly popular boy group Faraway Youth, a permanent top-three resident on the most influential idol ranking charts. Even people outside fandom circles who did not follow idols at all had likely heard Su Jia’s name.
Worth mentioning was that Su Jia was also an idol who had come out of Mingguang Base, and Faraway Youth itself was a boy group under Mingguang Entertainment.
Rounded up, that meant Su Jia was also a senior to Ji Ran and Cheng Xia from before they switched companies.
Lin Zhiqiao had only recently seen Su Jia on a subway advertisement board.
And now that the real person was standing right in front of him, even Lin Zhiqiao could not help feeling his eyes brighten.
[Waaah! It’s Su Jia, ahhh!! The real person is even more handsome than the photos in the ads, ahhh!!!]
Su Jia, who had just pushed the door open and entered, paused in his steps. The expression on his face stiffened for the tiniest instant, but he quickly got it under control.
That change had been far too brief. So brief that not a single person present noticed it.
Lin Zhiqiao heard 888’s reminder: [Host, Su Jia’s favorability toward you is negative.]
Lin Zhiqiao was surprised for only a little while before he accepted it with ease.
Su Jia had a good relationship with Lin Mubai. That was not exactly a secret, either inside or outside the industry. Not long ago, the two of them had even attended an event together, and reporters had snapped quite a few photos of them chatting happily.
Lin Zhiqiao had already gradually gotten used to the setting where anyone close to the Lin family tended to have negative favorability toward him.
[How negative?] Lin Zhiqiao accepted it easily enough and even had the spare brainpower to ask further. [It can’t be lower than Lin Mubai’s negative two hundred, right?]
[Not that low.] 888 answered honestly. [Only half of Lin Mubai’s. Negative one hundred.]
Lin Zhiqiao sighed with feeling. [That’s still a lot.]
888 silently nodded, then asked with some concern, [Are you okay, Host?]
[Me? I’m fine!] Lin Zhiqiao understood what 888 meant, so he explained, [Relax, relax. I’m not Su Jia’s fan. I only appreciate his face.]
Beautiful looks had done nothing wrong. A negative favorability score did not stop Lin Zhiqiao from continuing to admire Su Jia’s visuals.
Seeing that its host’s mood had not been affected, 888 finally relaxed too.
Su Jia put on a perfectly appropriate warm smile and raised a hand to greet the three of them. “Hi, everyone.”
As he spoke, he walked in the direction of where the three of them were seated—
Only to be stopped by Director Xu: “Su Jia, that’s where the mentor assistants sit. Your seat is over there.”
Only then did Su Jia seem to notice the three seats on the other side. He smiled a little sheepishly. “Ah, sorry, sorry.”
‘Hahaha our Brother Jia is still missing that one screw just like always’
‘Certified handsome airhead [dog head.jpg]’
‘He clearly has a face that looks insanely smart, so why is his personality this adorably muddle-headed hahaha’
‘Who understands this kind of gap moe? Every time I see Brother Jia now, I just want to laugh [covering face.jpg]’
Lin Zhiqiao looked at Su Jia for two extra seconds and blinked in confusion.
What had that just been…?
Not long after Su Jia sat down, the door was pushed open again.
An oversized red butterfly hair clip, a cute and bouncy high ponytail with princess curls, and a bright dopamine-colored outfit—
Tang Nan, seated to Lin Zhiqiao’s right, sucked in a breath. “Holy shit! It’s Zhu Ge!!!”
‘Good, good, good—Director Xu really is Director Xu. She’s seriously willing to spend big, ahhh’
‘Never thought I’d live to see the day my Sister Zhu remembered that she was actually an idol [crying with hand over mouth.jpg]’
‘Can we please dream of getting a Sister Zhu stage on Idol Star Dream? [starry eyes.jpg]’
‘Thank you, Director Xu. My life is complete, wuwuwu’
Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes lit up again and again.
If Su Jia was a permanent top-three player on the male idol rankings, then Zhu Ge was absolutely one of the unquestionable top-tier names among female idols.
Zhu Ge had debuted very early—she had not even turned eighteen yet when she first entered the industry.
Her family background was strong. Back when she signed up for idol group selection, it had only been because she was in a spat with her family. Who would have guessed that her personality and ability would send her skyrocketing to fame in one go?
Now, after all these years, Zhu Ge still firmly occupied a place on the idol rankings.
Netizens often joked that rankings might flow like water, but Zhu Ge was ironclad. That alone showed just how enduringly popular she had remained all these years.
Zhu Ge threw everyone a finger heart and bounced happily over to her seat beside Su Jia.
Su Jia smiled and extended a hand. “Senior Zhu, I look forward to your guidance.”
Zhu Ge had debuted earlier than Su Jia, so the title of “senior” suited her just fine.
Zhu Ge tucked back her hair and swept her gaze around the mentor assistant seats in a way that clearly implied something. “No need for too many polite words. I just hope we all survive without scandalizing.”
‘What a wonderfully unique blessing hahaha’
‘Honestly though, strange as it sounds, with the Gossip King on site… that’s actually an extremely sincere blessing [dog head.jpg]’
‘Please, Gossip King, show mercy. Don’t collapse all my biases in one go [amen.jpg]’
‘I’ve already seen two heavyweight mentors. I’m dying to know who the final headliner mentor is’
Su Jia clearly caught the deeper meaning in Zhu Ge’s words, and his expression stiffened slightly.
Lin Zhiqiao looked utterly baffled and secretly poked 888. [Did she just look at me?]
888 sounded equally confused. [Huh? Who?]
[Zhu Ge, of course.] Lin Zhiqiao said. When Zhu Ge had looked their way just now, he felt like her gaze had lingered on him one second longer than on the others.
[Must’ve been my imagination.] Lin Zhiqiao very quickly tossed aside that faint weirdness.
The third mentor arrived right after.
The instant the door opened, even Lin Zhiqiao could not stop himself from sharply inhaling.
[Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! It’s actually Xie Qingchi?!]
Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes went perfectly round, and almost at the exact same time as Ji Yuan and Tang Nan, he shifted his gaze to Su Jia, who was already seated at the mentor table.
Unlike the heavyweight grand-finale everyone had been expecting, Xie Qingchi, though certainly not lacking in popularity, was still nowhere near as famous as Su Jia and Zhu Ge.
But Xie Qingchi was different from the first two. Su Jia and Zhu Ge were the genuine kind of mega-stars whose fame covered half the sky, whereas Xie Qingchi had taken the route of controversial fame.
And the black far outweighed the red.
What deserved even more emphasis was the relationship between Xie Qingchi and Su Jia.
Su Jia was the current captain of Faraway Youth, while Xie Qingchi had been the former captain of Faraway Youth.
Former captain. Now separated from the group and promoting solo.
Everyone on the internet knew that Xie Qingchi and Su Jia did not get along. Their respective fanbases had reached the stage where one sight of each other meant instant war, and if they did not fight to the death, they were not done.
And now, Director Xu had invited both of them onto the same variety show.
No one in their right mind would believe it was not intentional.
[Good, good, good. So this is how we’re playing it, huh!] Lin Zhiqiao was thrilled in the dark recesses of his soul. [Looks like this time we won’t just get to eat the trainees’ gossip—we’ll get mentor gossip too!]
[Just as expected of Director Xu. Let the gossip come even harder!!!]
