CH 80

Chapter 80 – Hard Core Operations

Online and cursing people out

“What?”

Fang Juexia looked at Pei Tingsong, who was walking towards him with a [what are you doing] expression, and Pei Tingsong returned a [what did I do wrong] expression at him.

The little P University fan, who had just happened to bump into them, kept looking back and forth between the two of them, and her imagination mode was switched on. 

Oh my god, with absolutely no virtue or ability, I can watch TingJue exchange flirty glances from so close a distance ah. 

Too real, it’s really too real. 

I would rather believe that the Yellow River has no water than that TingJue isn’t a real thing.

“What’s the matter?” Pei Tingsong didn’t understand what was going on. He thought the little girl who looked so well-behaved was also a stalker fan, so he asked her, “Are you…you’re not following my Ge around ba?”

My Ge!!!

The girl, who had just been questioned, totally didn’t hear any other words; for her, only the two words ‘my Ge’ existed, and she immediately covered her chest as her face turned red. 

Life had never been so happy before.

“No,” Fang Juexia immediately denied, “She’s a student who was lined up behind me to buy coffee.” He immediately shifted the topic back to Pei Tingsong as he asked, “Did you post something on Weibo?” Then he thought that he might as well see it with his own eyes, so he logged into his Weibo account, that was about to gather dust while cooped up in a corner, opened his home page, scrolled through it, and found the post that Pei Tingsong had just published.

As soon as he looked at it, he saw it for what it really was— a mass of negativity.

“What you posted was really too direct.” Fang Juexia shook his head. He had even directly used the word ‘abuse’ and had stuck his middle finger out. If this hadn’t started trending on the Hot Search List, it would have been strange. 

With the corners of his lips hooking up disdainfully, Pei Tingsong said, “What does that count as? I nearly ended up posting that stalker fans should go die.”

The little girl began to clap loudly, just like a little seal.

Fang Juexia sighed. Forget it, how could he expect to control this person ah? Pei Tingsong didn’t mind at all. He took the coffee cup from Fang Juexia’s hand, took a sip, and frowned like a connoisseur. “This coffee is really bad.”

The girl was surprised again.

In-indirect kiss!?!

Fang Juexia’s cellphone had vibrated several times. They were all messages from Cheng Qiang, and he knew what their content was without even opening them. It was all just a terrible headache.

“Let’s go ba, let’s go. I’m hungry, let’s go get something to eat.” Pei Tingsong pulled at Fang Juexia, who was quite close to malfunctioning, and got him to leave the small coffee vending machine. The only person left behind was that cute little fan, who had pink bubbles floating all over her, seeing off her favorite CP. 

Pei Tingsong’s height made him very eye-catching on campus. He didn’t care, but he was worried that Fang Juexia would find it awkward, so he tried his best to take him through paths less traversed by crowds. 

In fact, he was enjoying this moment very much. He was just like an ordinary student right now, one who was guiding the person he liked around his campus, bringing him along to eat in the school canteen, and then making plans to study and write papers at the school cafe.

It was like a campus romance.

“I’ll take you to a place that offers simple meals that I often eat at.” Saying that, Pei Tingsong led Fang Juexia to a small coffee shop, the customer clientele of which was mostly overseas students, from all sorts of countries. 

He picked a booth in the corner, ordered some sandwiches and pasta, and then chatted face to face with Fang Juexia.

Fang Juexia felt an inexplicable sense of security here. Maybe it was because everyone around them were students who were either concentrating on their studies or chatting away, and there weren’t that many eyes on them. Or maybe it was because Pei Tingsong was sitting just opposite him, but all in all, his entire person felt very relaxed.

“When I first came here, I wasn’t very used to how classes were conducted in China. So sometimes, I would head off to a coffee shop alone to study, and then I ended up coming here more often.” Pei Tingsong picked up a sandwich and gave it to Fang Juexia, saying, “I often order this.”

“En.” Fang Juexia took a bite and thought it was pretty good. “It’s delicious.”

At the next table, there were two Korean girls who were studying math. They had used pens to pin up their hair, and when they encountered a hard problem, they would use the pens to scratch their heads. They spoke Chinese and Korean mixed together, like— “Ah, another one. Calculated it wrong, it’s wrong again.”

Fang Juexia thought they were very cute. Thinking back to when he had still been a student, he turned to Pei Tingsong and said, “I actually came to P University to attend classes once before, but I didn’t have time to eat at that time for I had to leave in a hurry after class, so I never got the chance to explore this place thoroughly.”

Pei Tingsong was a little surprised. “Really?” He calculated for a bit. “It would have been two or three years ago?”

Fang Juexia nodded, turning his fork on the plate and curling up a mass of pasta. “At that time, I came with some of my classmates, and I even got to know some of the P University professors.”

Pei Tingsong suddenly felt that it was a pity. If only he had returned to China at that time and had gotten to meet Fang Juexia, how good would that have been ah? They could have even been like normal students, and could have made plans to study together in the library. 

He was a person who usually didn’t look back to the past, who always pressed forward boldly, his steps never faltering. But nowadays, from time to time, he would think about the past.

All because he liked him too much, and every time he thought about how he hadn’t participated in some part of Fang Juexia’s life, he would find it regretful. 

It was pretty silly, and Pei Tingsong knew that.

Fang Juexia, who was eating his pasta, suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and then he began to laugh.

“What’s the matter?” Pei Tingsong looked at him from across the table and asked, “You’re laughing so happily.”

Fang Juexia shook his head and didn’t really seem to want to say.

“Tell me ah, make me happy, too.”

Only after letting Pei Tingsong kick up a fuss for a bit did Fang Juexia finally begin, “Okay ba, I just suddenly thought, if I transmigrated back to the past right now, back to my high school years, I may try my best and work hard, take part in some math competitions or something, all to try and fight my way into P University. Although my grandfather hoped that I would go to Beijing Normal University, if…”

His eyes turned away from Pei Tingsong, shifting away with some embarrassment. “If I knew at that time that you would come here in the future, I might have changed my plans.”

Pei Tingsong, who had just given up on this what-if, was hit hard by Fang Juexia’s words at this moment.

He knew that imagining what-ifs about the past was the most useless thing in the world, but when the two what-ifs met unexpectedly, they turned into a mutual hunger. 

It was already the happiest thing in the world to know that the person you like also wanted to have met you earlier.

Maybe that’s how they spent their time in a parallel universe. They weren’t shining idols on the stage there, and they got to know one another in the most ordinary of circumstances. Maybe they would also have some pride, and show some prejudice at the beginning, after all, they were two people who were as different from each other as the North and South. But in the end, as before, with every instance they spent communicating with each other, they would gradually become the other’s most intimate person.

No matter how many times over, Pei Tingsong would always come to admire Fang Juexia’s strength and transparency, and Fang Juexia couldn’t stay indifferent to the most passionate and romantic person in the world.

This was the only constant story in the many different parallel universes.

Fang Juexia’s cellphone vibrated, and he looked at it.

[A Constant Truth: I really like you so much, to the point that I have no words.]

The corners of Fang Juexia’s mouth couldn’t help rising, but he didn’t look at Pei Tingsong on purpose, and just stared down at the menu.

Originally, he had thought that Pei Tingsong would return to the company with him after touring around the campus. Unfortunately, halfway through, a professor stuck himself in and called Pei Tingsong over to discuss an issue regarding publishing papers. Pei Tingsong also couldn’t let Xiao Wen wait outside for too long, so he let Fang Juexia go back first, saying that once he finished up, he would return to the company. 

By the time Fang Juexia left, Pei Tingsong’s stalker fans had also already left.

“Juexia, Juexia.” As soon as Xiao Wen saw him come out, he stuck his head out of the car window and waved at him.

Fang Juexia got into the passenger seat and handed Xiao Wen the sandwich and coffee he had specifically bought for him. “Have something to eat ba. I thought you would have slept for a while.”

“It just so happens I was just starting to get hungry, thank you, Juexia! I originally wanted to get some sleep,” Xiao Wen took a bite of the sandwich as he narrated, “Yet in the end, in the end… Xiao Pei ah. He sent me a WeChat message saying that I should take a picture of those stalker fans at the gate and then send it to him.”

A picture?

Fang Juexia felt that such a request was a little off. “What does he want to do?”

“I don’t know, I took it for him anyway.” As he said that, Xiao Wen also grew very angry. “Those women were still fighting with the security guard outside. I was so scared, I almost called the police. I really don’t understand, what are they doing following around people every single day ah?” He thought of something else. “Right, Juexia, Qiang Ge said that he had already asked someone to install monitoring devices in the elevator, the entrance of the elevator, and outside the door of your dormitory. Then, he put the monitoring screen for these cameras in your guys’ living room, so you guys can check it at any point in time.”

He took a sip of coffee. “Qiang Ge said if worst comes to worst, you guys can just move to another dormitory, switching to another place.”

Fang Juexia sighed. “If we change places, those stalker fans will grow even more pleased with themselves. They will think we are hiding because we are afraid of them.”

“That’s right.” Xiao Wen rolled up one of his sleeves to show off his small thin arms. “Really, every time I see them, I want to land a heavy punch on them.”

The more Fang Juexia thought about it, the more he felt that he should discuss with Pei Tingsong whatever he wanted to do when he got back to the company.

Xiao Wen drove him back to the company. On the way, Fang Juexia received a message from Ling Yi saying that he had gotten a new TV theme song, and it was even for a TV drama starring an actress he especially liked. Fang Juexia was also happy and congratulated him.

After they arrived at the parking lot, Xiao Wen parked the car, and then the two people headed up together. Their underground parking lot was empty, and it was a long walk to the office elevator. Xiao Wen had a lively character, and the entire time, he chatted about his recent work with Fang Juexia. They were all trivial matters, and he usually had no one to talk to about them. However, Fang Juexia was very gentle and could also give him practical suggestions, so he liked chatting with Fang Juexia very much.

“So you’re still training the new people?”

Xiao Wen sighed. “No other way ah. Qiang Ge said that there would be less manpower available to us in the near future. Who would have thought that I could be a senior one day?”

Fang Juexia laughed. “You were already very reliable.” After he said that though, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. He turned his head and looked around, but didn’t see anything. He then turned back once again, and it was still as empty as ever behind him.

Xiao Wen was very happy to hear his praise. He didn’t turn around, instead continuing to talk about his little matters. “In fact, it’s alright ah. It’s just that there’s a new person who can’t remember what I said and often makes some very low-level mistakes. I know it’s not good to say that about people, but really, you know, Juexia, he almost took the wrong document from my desk last time. I had already told him before, you can’t just randomly move anything off my desk.”

“Really…” Internally, Fang Juexia kept feeling that something was off, so he just replied back with a few words, and then couldn’t help looking behind him again.

“What’s the matter?” Xiao Wen finally discovered that something wasn’t quite right with him. 

Fang Juexia shook his head before entering the elevator with him. The elevator door closed slowly, and only then did he say, “I keep feeling like someone is following me.”

“Really? It can’t be paparazzi or stalker fans ba?!”

“I don’t know.” Fang Juexia frowned and suggested, “Maybe all the recent stuff with the stalker fans has left my nerves on edge.”

As he said that, Xiao Wen’s scalp also turned a bit numb. “I hope it’s just paparazzi, and not anyone too bad. I really worry about you guys every day.”

Xiao Wen had followed them ever since their debut. At that time, he had just graduated from university, and because of Kaleido’s lack of popularity, he had suffered a lot when he went out to work, having to watch a lot of people roll their eyes at him. In Fang Juexia’s eyes, Xiao Wen and Cheng Qiang were already almost relatives.

He pinched Xiao Wen’s shoulder. “It’s okay, there will always be a way.”

Once in the company, they saw Cheng Qiang, who was in a mess as he answered calls on three different cellphones. Fang Juexia felt a little distressed watching him, but he also knew that this matter was because of Pei Tingsong’s Weibo post, and finding the situation a little funny, he simply stood in front of him for a while.

After finishing his calls, Cheng Qiang shook his head at Fang Juexia, complaining, “How can he be so fierce? Tell me, how can he be so tiger-like?!”

“Maybe he was a little tiger in his last life,” Fang Juexia shrugged and replied, “He got used to being the king of the mountain, and now looks down upon everyone.”

“The key is that those stalker fans tend to go to the extreme.” Cheng Qiang was still worried.

Fang Juexia thought about it. “Qiang Ge, we’re not quite thinking the right way. I thought about it today, and in fact, Xiao Pei’s actions are not necessarily impulsive. He is making his own calculations, and as you know, he is not a person who depends on his fans to eat, not to mention the kind of fans that are stalker fans.”

Cheng Qiang suddenly understood what he was saying. “Do you mean that Xiao Pei wants to sort them all out by himself?”

“Maybe ba.” Fang Juexia was just guessing. “Countering one evil with another evil can sometimes be a good method.”

“Whatever… Anyway, I’m really tired today. I originally wanted to spend some money to have the topic dropped from the Hot Search list, but that little brat simply wouldn’t hear of it, nor would he delete the Weibo post. As a result, some influencer accounts started creating a whole thread about him in the forums, before we can even get a handle on this situation.”

“What forum?” Fang Juexia realized the answer to his own question all of a sudden. “Oh, Pei Tingsong’s tiger-like incident log.”

“You even know about that!”

Fang Juexia laughed. “When Ling Yi was eating melons, he showed it to me.”

“I’m speechless. They’ve even given him a nickname online now, some ‘the world’s middle-finger, Pei Tingsong’, and ‘walking silencer, Pei Tingsong, the evil tiger of the world.’”

Fang Juexia thought about it. “It’s all very appropriate.”

Cheng Qiang was left completely speechless. Sure enough, what brotherhood that only comes out of fanservice, and he had thought they had really become good friends.

“Alright ba, of the two of you, one’s stubborn while the other is fierce, it’s too hard for me.” Cheng Qiang was about to leave, but then turned back to remind him, “Hey, by the way, we need to shoot advertisements during the weekend, so adjust your state accordingly.”

“Understood.”

He practiced in the practice room until the evening, when Ling Yi also came in to dance, who told him as soon as he entered the door, “Juexia, have you seen Xiao Pei’s Weibo post? It’s too powerful.”

Fang Juexia wiped away his sweat and drank some water. “Saw it, he posted it right when he was in front of me at that time, I didn’t even know at that time.”

“Yi?” Ling Yi was puzzled at first, and then quickly realized. “No, he posted another one. You certainly didn’t see the new one.” He knew Fang Juexia never looked at his cellphone when he was practicing.

Really?

Fang Juexia walked to the wall, picked up his cellphone, sat down, opened Weibo, and only refreshed his homepage once before he came across Pei Tingsong’s Weibo post.

[@Kaleido Pei Tingsong: To tell the truth, the way you guys keep cursing out my bandmates and my agent on the Internet every single day, I can treat it as if I haven’t seen it. Whatever you guys curse, we’re still together and will even go to Maldives together. Are you angry yet?

But what do you want to do when you chase after our cars like crazy people and even get in front of me, just to curse my bandmates out in front of me? Do you want to tell me, “Ah, Pei Tingsong, look at how much I like you ah, I can curse people out just like you”? Learn something, okay, I only curse out those who deserve it, such as you guys. I also love reading, so why don’t I see you guys bringing papers in with you and having me help you read the English abstracts ah?]

“Pfft,” Fang Juexia directly started laughing.

Ling Yi immediately said, “Right, right, Xiao Pei is really awesome. I’ve never seen such an awesome idol in my life. I even want to sign up for his class and learn how to curse people out from him.”

“Forget it ba.” Fang Juexia’s smile did not subside. “Once you learn it, you will have no place to display it. He himself isn’t afraid of the heavens or the earth.”

“That’s true, his family is so rich and powerful that no one dares to touch him, so he’s completely emboldened. Right,” Ling Yi pointed at his screen and added,” you see, he also replied to the poison fan’s comment.”

“Really?”

Sure enough, the first comment below the post was just that.

[@Pinot Tree Supreme’s Real Girlfriend: No, what the hell are you talking about? Didn’t everyone get into a catfight just for you? It can’t be that we went to quarrel with people for ourselves? You’re really good at fucking cooling down your fans’ hearts ah. Do you know how many resources and fans you will lose after you say these words? You have to speak and act cautiously in the entertainment industry, do you fucking understand? Don’t think you’re so awesome when you have just gotten popular, don’t think you’re some kind of big shot!]

[@Kaleido Pei Tingsong replying to @Pinot Tree Supreme’s Real Girlfriend: First, I’m speaking in Chinese. Second, you are quarreling for yourself. Throw the blame on me less, I get annoyed as soon as I see you guys flame my bandmates. Third, stop trying to represent all fans here, do you even match with that? Fourth, what resources do I need? I am a resource myself. If I’m going to lose fans, then you guys should leave quickly, it’ll be healthier when you’re all washed away. While we’re at it, you’re new here ba. You didn’t know that I cursed people out even more fiercely when I wasn’t popular ah. So what if I’m popular? Did I get popular just based on you? This young master got popular based on his own strength and brains.]

In addition, he replied with another message.

[@Kaleido Pei Tingsong replying to @Pinot Tree Supreme’s Real Girlfriend: Change your ID for me, I don’t need girlfriend fans. You can only dream of being my girlfriend.]

He’s too harsh…

Fang Juexia couldn’t help sighing. He knew that the fans below would take control of the comments, so he specially clicked on the Hot Search List to see it in real time. He thought that there would be a lot of people openly cursing him out, but the situation was actually totally different from what he had imagined.

[@Paperheart: Holy shit, PTS is too amazing…]

[@Low class Appearance Con: Shit, I’m going to become a fan. I never thought there would be such a brave star as PTS. It was already enough to be proud about just with that post flaming stalker fans, but this reply is really full of hard-core scolding. He’s really not afraid of losing fans ah, and as far as I know, he is one of the tops of the group? Respect, Pei Ge]

[@Little Seven Little Seven replying to @Low class Appearance Con: This Ge really doesn’t care. What he did before is no better than what he’s doing now. Before, because he was too angry with brainless fans, the company confiscated his account and didn’t let him post anything. So, he later opened up a livestream to curse them out, and the company realised they couldn’t control him, so they gave him back his account.]

[@Low class Appearance Con replying to @Little Seven Little Seven: Shit??? Opening up a livestream? How is he so strong?]

[@Little Seven Little Seven replying to @Low class Appearance Con: Well, he doesn’t care about those crazy fans at all. After all, he got into the entertainment circle to amuse himself. He was originally devoted to the underground hip-hop circle. Those crazy fans want to mind him, but of course, that doesn’t go over too well. Also, just one of his watches is worth millions of yuan, his family lives in Atherton, and the whole family is also very famous. Previously, all the posts about his family history were completely deleted, and the accounts that posted about it were all suspended. Just by judging such a situation for a bit, you will know, how would a regular little idol dare to do any of this?]

[@Low class Appearance Con replying to @Little Seven Little Seven: I’m going to go after him! Pursuing this kind of idol is like reading a book where the protagonist levels up smoothly!]

[@Big astronaut detective: Worthy of being the number one fierce tiger (1) in the entertainment circle. Every time I watch PTS flame back, I feel good from head to toe and know that I will be reincarnated really well ah]

[@Who doesn’t like to eat lychee: He’s too awesome, flaming back a poison fan… The plot I dreamed about actually appeared in real life, new fandom here I come!]

[@bukubuku: Worthy of having grown up abroad. This style is just like an European and American star’s ah.]

[@Karen landed safely: How is he this fiercely explosive today? Let me make a bold guess, the cursed out bandmate he mentioned couldn’t be FJX ba (just a fan casually opening up a hole in her brain, don’t come curse me. If you curse me, your idol will curse you)]

[@You are the April day in the world: PTS probably expressed many internal thoughts that stars dare not say ba. Some fans are really crazy. The Seven Luminaries’ tracker incident a while ago was also frightening, but AS actually did nothing. Old Three’s Weibo was circumspect, not having the guts to say even a single more brutal word. It’s too hard, next time, are such fans going to install a pinhole camera?]

[@EVA1234: No, how can he say that to fans?]

[@PTS just won’t ripen replying to @EVA1234: No, actually, he looks very fierce, but he is very good to real fans. A fan in high school was very scared because she had a small tumor. She wrote a long article about it, but didn’t even dare @ him, but other fans then tagged him. As a result, he actually forwarded it and secretly went to see the girl. Knowing that she was from a single parent family, he arranged for her to go to the best cancer hospital and paid the full medical expenses for her treatment. In fact, he is very kind-hearted, it’s just that some fans are so terrible and do some weird stalker actions under the banner of love. He’s been saying this ever since he debuted.]

Fang Juexia still had an impression of that incident. He Ziyan had said that Pei Tingsong had subsidized a high school student, but he hadn’t thought much of it at that time. He had just felt that the young master was rich and energetic. Only later did he know that he was biased against him. The high school student had been seriously ill and had no money for treatment. He had decided to help without telling anyone about it. If it wasn’t for that child who had later insisted on posting about it on Weibo, no one would know about it.

Pei Tingsong, this person, had a sharp contrast in attitudes, all black or white, without any grey areas.

It was at that time that Fang Juexia had also changed his attitude towards him, coming to understand that Pei Tingsong’s nature wasn’t bad. However, Fang Juexia’s cognition and positioning of himself at that time were also very accurate. He was a person who had been assigned to the black area, and he would never get any kind looks from him.

Now that he thought about it, life really had great ups and downs and then ups and downs again.

Who would have expected that the person in his black area would one day become his boyfriend?

#Pei Tingsong curses out stalker fans# and #the world’s middle-finger, Pei Tingsong# had exploded on the Hot Search List, reaching the level where the entire Internet was eating melons and watching its development. 

Seeing this, Fang Juexia thought that ‘really, they were finished this time.’ The company didn’t have enough money to drag something like this off the Hot Search list, how expensive would doing that be ah?

There were all kinds of comments in the Hot Search list entries. Most of them were surprised, and many people even became fans because of Pei Tingsong’s straightforwardness.

Of course, there were always some Li Zhongkes or keyboard warriors, who kept pointing at Pei Tingsong’s reckless behavior. They attempted to control him using very traditional Chinese thinking, wanting him to learn patience and teaching him to be cautious.

In this way, the Li Zhongkes didn’t care about how they were treated, they just wanted to teach people how to behave. They even swarmed into Pei Tingsong’s Weibo to educate him online. They thought they were the good kind of medicine, one that tasted bitter, and expected Pei Tingsong to listen and change after being scolded. Some people even mocked Pei Tingsong with his experience of growing up abroad, telling him that Chinese was not used to curse people out. To be a star was to learn to shut up, and he deserved it.

“These speeches are so mesmerizing, I feel like they’re also really good at cursing people out in Chinese?” Ling Yi scrolled down, getting more obsessed the further he read, and then became so angry that he returned to Pei Tingsong’s post about not cursing out his bandmates to give him a like. 

“Juexia, you also go like it. I think Lu Yuan and He Ziyan have already done so.”

Fang Juexia let out an “oh” and then went back to his home page, accidentally refreshing it. Unexpectedly, Pei Tingsong’s latest Weibo post appeared on his screen, which was just a picture with no additional text in the message. The picture consisted of a few lines of his handwritten English.

[@Kaleido Pei Tingsong: shared a picture]

[We live in a fucking insane time，man

when you stalked by some shit，you must shut the fuck up

when you tryna say something real，people just blah-blah-blah

They say you gotta watch for what you saying baby

OMG， you are in trouble!

guess what

I AM THE REAL TROUBLE ]

He didn’t know why, but just looking at this picture made Fang Juexia feel that there was a voice in his head, as if Pei Tingsong was freestyling there.

He didn’t expect a translation to pop up in the hot comments after just a short period of time. 

[@Learn English with Pinot Tree Supreme: We live in a ** crazy age. When you are stalked by some **, you have to ** shut up and bear with it. When you want to say something real ba, critics go blablabla then say something about watching what you say. Later, they’ll say god, you’re in trouble! Guess what? Laozi is the real trouble.]

Fang Juexia smiled.

“It really is a soulful translation.”

Ling Yi looked at him in surprise. “God, Juexia, I actually thought you really wouldn’t support him being this fierce.”

Fang Juexia looked back at him peacefully. “I support him ah. Whatever he does, I support him.”