Xing Shi didn’t get a directive from the company right away. Instead, he got a call from his father.
Seeing the caller ID, he took a sip of water before answering.
Director He’s voice was cautious. “Suìsuì, I saw you trending on the hot search.”
Xing Shi listened carefully and replied with a simple “Mm.”
Director He asked, “You’ve become a trainee?”
Another “Mm” from Xing Shi.
Director He carefully weighed the tone of these responses and asked, even more cautiously, “Is the training tiring?”
“It’s manageable,” Xing Shi replied.
Director He advised, “Make sure to rest more. Don’t stay up late.”
“Mm.”
Director He hesitated for a moment. “I’ll be in Z City this Saturday for a promotional event. Should I reserve a spot for you?”
“Sure,” Xing Shi said.
Director He quickly added, “If you want to bring friends, that’s fine too. Let me know in advance, and I’ll arrange it for you.”
Hearing a system reminder to maintain his character, Xing Shi replied, “Got it. I’ll hang up now.”
Director He hastily agreed and ended the call, remaining rooted in place.
The assistant director, familiar with Director He for years, knew his son wasn’t one to follow the rules. A moment of inattention, and the kid had gone off to become a trainee.
With their connections and resources, if their son wanted to enter the entertainment industry, why start as a trainee?
But Xing Shi was nothing if not resolute. If he said he wouldn’t take his father’s money, he didn’t take a single cent. He entered the entertainment industry quietly, only for his parents to find out when he trended on the hot search.
The assistant director approached. “What did he say?”
Director He remained silent.
Moving to face him, the assistant director noticed his dazed expression and felt a pang of unease. “What’s wrong?”
Director He, as if in a dream, muttered, “He didn’t mock me, didn’t throw any sarcasm. His tone was… normal.”
The assistant director sucked in a breath, locking eyes with him. “Could it be… that social exposure has made him more mature?”
Half-convinced, Director He returned to his seat, phone in hand, and began browsing the hot search.
The assistant, a big fan of Xing Shi’s looks, leaned in. “Director He, that’s your son?”
“Mm. Handsome, right?”
“Ridiculously handsome! Can you get me a signed photo?” the assistant asked, visibly thrilled.
Director He, enjoying the praise, said, “I’ll ask him for you.”
Satisfied, the assistant returned to their seat, only to notice Qi Changyi watching the hot search instead of resting. “That’s the video,” the assistant said.
Qi Changyi nodded, intently watching Xing Shi’s solo performance, a smile tugging at his lips.
The brat had entered the entertainment industry—and signed with his company, no less. Divine intervention at its finest.
After finishing his meal, Xing Shi headed to the third-floor lounge.
Slumping onto a couch with practiced ease, he finally pulled out his phone.
The trainees were in high spirits, walking with a spring in their step.
Some joined Xing Shi in the lounge, while others headed to the practice room, but all had one thing in common: they were glued to their phones, saving screenshots of flattering comments about themselves.
Though their skills were decent enough for a university anniversary performance, by industry standards, they were just average.
Originally, they thought even if someone posted their video online, breaking a thousand shares would already be impressive. After all, the footage was amateurish, with no fancy cinematography—just a regular performance.
But to make it to the hot search?
They all knew it had little to do with the dancing. The buzz was entirely propped up by a few of their standout visuals, especially Xing Shi. Most of the online chatter was about his looks.
While they envied him, they also waited nervously, wondering how the company would respond.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long. Staff from the training, artist management, and PR departments arrived in short order.
Afternoon classes were canceled, and everyone was registered for personal social media accounts.
Next came styling and photoshoots for their first posts.
The company’s official account would post a summary on Weibo and create separate posts for the top five most popular individuals from the hot search, making it easier for fans to locate their favorites.
The flurry of activity was overwhelming.
Xing Shi’s hair color had reverted after washing, so he had to re-dye it before makeup could begin.
Thanks to his natural good looks, his makeup session was quick.
The stylist, staring at his face, clicked their tongue. “Come by in a couple of days for a bleach session. I’ll dye it ash blonde or pastel lilac. It’ll look amazing and save you from using temporary dye all the time—it doesn’t show well with light colors.”
Xing Shi, indifferent about hair color, agreed and went to the studio for photos.
Fu Xiuning arrived just as Xing Shi finished his set.
Xing Shi spotted him and greeted him with a smile. “Boss.”
Fu Xiuning nodded, scanning him briefly. Noting that Xing Shi’s outfit and hairstyle were similar to yesterday’s, he guessed the others were styled similarly to match the video and help the public link them to their hot search appearances.
Xing Shi asked, “What brings you here, Boss?”
“I saw the hot search and decided to take a look,” Fu Xiuning replied.
“What’s the plan after this?” he asked.
“We’re waiting to post on Weibo,” Xing Shi said.
Fu Xiuning said, “Walk with me for a bit.”
He made a brief round, calling it a day after half a circuit.
Finding a quieter spot amidst the commotion, Fu Xiuning asked, “Now that you’ve trended, what are your thoughts?”
Xing Shi replied with a serious expression, “Grateful for the company’s support.”
Fu Xiuning looked at him. “What’s your honest opinion?”
Xing Shi replied, “No thoughts.”
Fu Xiuning pressed further, “You’ve never thought about debuting while riding this wave of popularity?”
Xing Shi answered earnestly, “No. I’ve only been training for a short time. There’s still a lot to learn. One shouldn’t get carried away. Stay calm in the face of success or failure.”
Fu Xiuning’s expression softened, and he was about to praise Xing Shi when someone came running toward them.
Yu Yi, his face lit with excitement, called out, “Xing Shi!”
As soon as he spoke, he noticed Fu Xiuning and abruptly stopped, politely greeting him before glancing at Xing Shi.
Xing Shi waved. “What’s up?”
Yu Yi jogged over and shared the good news, “I heard from the teacher that once the company posts on Weibo, my idol will share it.”
Knowing that Yu Yi’s idol was Qi Changyi, Xing Shi congratulated him. “Not bad. You’ll be featured alongside your idol.”
Yu Yi beamed. “Yeah!”
The system chimed in, “Here we go. The inevitable has arrived. Do you think Qi Changyi will open the long image post and look at each trainee individually?”
Xing Shi replied, “What does it matter if he looks or not? I’ve already made it to the hot search. Even my dad knows.”
The system sighed. “True. That hot search came out of nowhere.”
Fu Xiuning, intrigued by their exchange, turned to Yu Yi. “Your idol is Qi Changyi?”
Yu Yi, not daring to be bold in front of him, answered honestly, “Yes.”
Fu Xiuning glanced sidelong at Xing Shi and, adopting the demeanor of a good boss, said, “Qi Changyi will be in Z City this weekend for a promotional event. I’ll ask him to visit the company and meet you all.”
Xing Shi: “…”
System: “…”
After a brief silence, Xing Shi instructed the system, “Check.”
The system completed its search swiftly and reported grimly, “It’s for that movie your dad directed. Qi Changyi is the lead actor!”
Fu Xiuning remained composed. Excellent. This was a fortunate turn of events.
He had recently been planning to investigate Xing Shi’s father. His original plan was to bring Xing Shi to meet the film’s production team during Qi Changyi’s promotional event. With industry people present, there was a chance someone might recognize Xing Shi, or at worst, Qi Changyi’s presence could spark a related discussion, leading to a conversation about Xing Shi’s father.
Now, that wasn’t necessary. He already had his answer.
Fu Xiuning was mildly surprised to learn Xing Shi’s father was He Fengbo, a renowned genius director celebrated both domestically and internationally. His films had won countless awards and produced numerous top actors and actresses.
As the system had said, making Xing Shi famous would be effortless.
That also made Xing Shi and Qi Changyi’s relationship clear.
Qi Changyi’s aunt was Director He’s wife, which made her Xing Shi’s stepmother.
The system lamented, “I should’ve done more digging.”
Its mechanism was such that it only gained access to the body’s memories after binding to its host in this world.
The original host hadn’t known about the connection between his stepmother and Qi Changyi; otherwise, he wouldn’t have signed with June Culture in the first place.
Xing Shi and the system had only stumbled upon this fact while reviewing the original host’s data. Xing Shi had wanted to map out the social connections of his family members, and the discovery was purely accidental.
The system didn’t actively investigate unfamiliar information unless instructed to or when necessary.
At the time, Xing Shi had asked it to look into Qi Changyi, and it found that he was busy daily. After that, they didn’t pay him much attention. After all, one was a top-tier celebrity, and the other was an un-debuted trainee—the chances of them crossing paths were slim.
When Xing Shi agreed to attend the promotional event, he didn’t ask the system to research the movie’s details. His plan was simply to see Director He and not reveal his trainee status, leading to the current predicament.
“How could this be so coincidental?” The system questioned its existence. “Isn’t Yu Yi a superfan? Don’t Feng Zifan and the others love movies? Not one of them mentioned this? Have they been practicing so hard they’ve lost their wits?”
Xing Shi recalled, “I think someone did say Director He’s new movie was releasing soon.”
The system groaned, “But they didn’t mention Qi Changyi was in it.”
Xing Shi responded, “Doesn’t matter. We’d have met eventually.”
He added, “Remind me tonight to unblock all entries related to Director He on my platforms.”
Otherwise, he figured he should have caught some news about this by now while browsing on his phone.
The system agreed and asked, “Do you think your stepmother might not have mentioned you to Qi Changyi?”
Xing Shi replied, “Let’s hope so.”
The original host hadn’t held any particular grudge against his stepmother, as she had met Director He after his mother’s death in a normal, legitimate relationship.
The real issue lay with his father. Their conflict had, at times, dragged his stepmother into the fray.
The family discord had visibly worried his stepmother. Considering Qi Changyi’s close bond with his aunt, if he’d heard about the drama, he likely wouldn’t have a good impression of Xing Shi.
The system tried to reassure him, “It’s fine. If he gives you trouble, we’ve got your boss on our side.”
Xing Shi retorted, “And what would his -6 rating do for me?”
The system argued, “What if Qi Changyi’s bullying triggers Fu to feel protective over you, making him realize his feelings?”
Xing Shi ignored it, and Fu Xiuning pretended not to hear.
Yu Yi, sensing it was time to leave, quickly excused himself. Left alone, Xing Shi and Fu Xiuning continued chatting casually, staying until all the other trainees finished their photoshoots before parting ways.
The next day was Monday, and Xing Shi had class in the morning.
While at school, he ran into Lin Kecheng.
Lin Kecheng had seen the previous day’s hot search and noted the newly opened personal accounts. Xing Shi had gained the most followers among them.
Looking to ride the wave, Lin Kecheng said, “Let’s take a selfie. I’ll post it on Weibo, say I was an organizer for the anniversary celebration, and tag you. Then you can share it.”
Xing Shi replied, “No can do. Our accounts are managed by the company, and we’re not allowed to post randomly.”
Not wanting to hear Lin Kecheng’s next pitch, Xing Shi changed the subject. “Senior, I have a question.”
“Go ahead,” Lin Kecheng said.
Xing Shi, feigning puzzlement, asked, “Fu Xiuning still hasn’t budged. But your score was much higher than mine. Why didn’t he recruit you? Could there be something going on that I don’t know about?”
He added bluntly, “We’re supposed to be allies. If you’ve offended him and are dragging me into this, then you’re setting me up.”
Lin Kecheng thought to himself, Are our scores even comparable? Your -8 is clearly defective!
He maintained his composure and said, “…You’re overthinking it.”
“Then why not?” Xing Shi pressed.
Lin Kecheng replied, “Every company has its own plans. Maybe my style didn’t fit.”
Xing Shi, as if it were obvious, said, “If that’s the case, no matter how much you try, it’s useless!”
Lin Kecheng: “…”
This was precisely why he disliked dealing with fools.
Sometimes, they really didn’t know how to speak tactfully.
Realizing today’s efforts were a lost cause, Lin Kecheng watched the fool walk away before asking his system, “Qi Changyi’s coming to Z City this Saturday, right?”
The system confirmed, “Yes.”
To account for any potential flight changes, it rechecked the arrival time and updated, “They’ve rescheduled. He’s arriving Friday evening!”
Xing Shi remained unaware of this.
Since the meeting was inevitable, he didn’t bother asking the system to monitor it further.
He carried on with his usual schedule of classes and training. On Wednesday, he made time to visit the stylist, bleaching his hair. After waiting the necessary 48 hours, he dyed it on Friday.
It was around this time that he received a message from Fu Xiuning: ?Have you eaten??
Xing Shi glanced at it and replied: ?Not yet.?
Fu Xiuning: ?Come to the parking lot. I’ll take you to pick someone up and grab a meal.?
Xing Shi: ?Okay!?
Hurriedly bidding farewell to the stylist, he got up and headed downstairs. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he spotted Fu Xiuning and immediately beamed, “Boss~”
Fu Xiuning turned to look at him, and his pupils contracted sharply.
?Beep Beep?
?Current favorability score: -4?
