CH 100

Chapter 100 – Typhoon Passing By

Translated by juurensha

Edited by Noks

The paradise of idealists

The night Liang Ruo left the group, Astar’s official Weibo made a post.

The contents were very long, but generally speaking, there were three main points: having an attitude check towards high-level sexual assault cases and promising to cooperate with the investigation; peacefully terminating Liang Ruo’s contract and giving him their blessings; rectifying the company atmosphere and providing Astar with a bright future.

Although a lot of people cursed them out, the good thing was that their attitude was correct and voicing this was timely. Prior to this, netizens were still worried about Liang Ruo’s contract, but after seeing how Astar had directly terminated it, they felt that this counted as a good deed carried out by the company. 

With something like this happening, it was inevitable that some people would call the accounts into question and abuse them, but there were also many voices who didn’t want to implicate the whole company because of one high level executive. In addition to making a statement, Astar had also set up an anti-sexual abuse foundation within the entertainment circle, with a 24-hour consultation phoneline to provide financial and legal aid to all those in need. This move dragged back up the netizens’ impression and reduced the amount of harsh criticism that was being hurled on the company and its artists.

Also, that very night, Fang Juexia received a call from Li Luo. He didn’t expect Li Luo to have the time to call him during Astar’s PR emergency.

“Director Li, hello.”

Fang Juexia was still that same Fang Juexia, the one who had appeared during the trainee audition back then— he was calm to the extreme, with no fluctuations in his tone at all. When everyone else had been timid and hesitant to show off their talents back then, Fang Juexia could just stand there and shine. 

“My call right now is one that has come very late,” Li Luo said with a little guilt. “To speak frankly, I didn’t have the ability to uphold justice at the beginning, and let this thing drag on for so long. I may never be able to make up for the subsequent damage done to you.”

After listening to him, Fang Juexia thought of the situation back then, when he had, hot-bloodedly, run all the way to knock on Li Luo’s office door.

Back then, he had been too naive; he had thought that anybody would have the right to punish a higher-level executive for committing the crime of sexual abuse, and that everyone would clearly know right from wrong. But even if they knew that, so what? The criminal was the one in power, and could blot out the skies with one hand, which meant that no one had the right to punish him. Even Li Luo could only remain silent at that time.

Fang Juexia had studied mathematics; mathematics was the paradise of idealists, and he was one of them. He was used to facing the logical world as constructed by mathematics, which was simple, direct, and clear-cut. Everything could be put forth out in the open, submitted to reason and verification, and the result couldn’t appear right but in fact be wrong. Once proved, a theorem would then be classified as absolutely correct.

But these weren’t numbers or theorems, these were people.

In this complex human world, how many things could be deemed “absolutely correct”?

“No, Director Li,” said Fang Juexia, following it up with a magnanimous laugh, “I was the one who was too idealistic. I very much appreciate you promoting me and helping me; this I will never forget. Astar is where I started, and although it wasn’t suitable for me, I hope it will be better in the future.”

Li Luo also laughed, his voice carrying some regret. “If I had enough power at that time to save you guys, maybe your star path would be completely different. By now, you should have been the person who would have taken Seven Luminaries all the way up to the top ba.”

Fang Juexia had indeed been one of the reserved members for Seven Luminaries. 

He had stood in the front in every evaluation, calmly accepting the praise heaped on him by all the teachers. A after A was stuck onto him, and he was held up on the altar of the company. Big entertainment companies had so many trainees that it was impossible for all of them to debut. Fang Juexia was the only one who stood out as a surety for a debut with a new boy-band in everyone’s eyes, especially with his two years of trainee experience at Astar,. 

But the more it was like that, the more dramatic fate became.

“But I’m a member of Kaleido now.” Fang Juexia was neither humble nor arrogant. “Moreover, I’m not the person who can lead a group to the top. On the contrary, I’ve learned a lot from everyone around me now, and every step along the way, we have walked side-by-side. 

“In a way, I prefer the present state.”

Li Luo said no more. He knew that from the day this stubborn boy had left Astar without any hesitation, their fates would never intersect again. In fact, that so-called gratitude for his help as a superior didn’t count as much; Fang Juexia, this kind of person, would shine everywhere. What’s more, his two years in Astar had simply brought the boy more long-term slander and hostile doubt.

Yet, this boy was still grateful for everything in the past, and it was not because he was that tolerant or that generous—

It was because he never wanted to change himself.

Fang Juexia was still that idealistic advocate, but he had now found a paradise more suitable for him.

“Then, I wish you a better future.”

On the third day after Liang Ruo’s withdrawal from the group, Jin Xiangcheng was also arrested on the basis of multiple criminal evidence provided against him. A lot of netizens who were following this matter closely the entire time felt that such an outcome was very much in line with the will of the people, but this issue didn’t just end completely with this.

This wasn’t the only case of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry, nor was Astar the only entertainment company to have such a thing happen. The whole circle was full of “hidden rules”, and there were few rebels like Fang Juexia. For the sake of their dreams of stardom, many artists were trapped and became victims through coercion and intimidation. 

Compared to men, there were even more female victims. They had no right to speak, no popular position or fame in the circle, and were constrained by the pressures of public opinion and the power of the big bosses, so they could only bear it silently. After Liang Ruo revealed his story, he became a model for people to follow, and a number of artists also spoke out; most of them were not very popular actors, and they shared their similar though not exactly the same experiences.

Besides the entertainment circle, where the issue of sexual abuse had been exposed in front of the public eye, there were other more common industries that also started to speak up with a different tone. Gradually #Anti-sexual abuse in industries# became a hot topic. There were still people who kept trampling on the hearts of the victims, uttering irrelevant sarcastic words, and there were still some others who were just going with the flow. 

But there were also people thinking about it, and some who were considering it seriously, and this was progress. 

Everyone didn’t know if this kind of topic would disappear as the tide of public opinion subsided, but at least for this moment, its existence was seen by more and more people.

Just because no one had stood up in the past didn’t mean that this kind of behavior was reasonable. No resistance didn’t mean that they were correct. Now anti-harassment voices had appeared, becoming a kind of wake-up call. There were many Liang Ruos in this circle, and even more Liang Ruos who had not been saved and were still struggling in a sea of misery.

Those who were forced to lose themselves also had the right to recover themselves again.

This autumn, it seemed as if a typhoon had passed through Fang Juexia’s life. Many of the things he had carefully maintained were destroyed, and although he had survived safely through it, he was still left with ruins and remnants of buildings everywhere. Fortunately, he was patient enough and willing to rebuild bit by bit. He also believed that everything would eventually progress in the right direction. 

His mother accompanied him for a week and a half before she left to go back to teach the children. She simply couldn’t stay too long. On the day she left Beijing, Fang Juexia and Pei Tingsong both went to the airport to see her off. With tears in her eyes, Mama Fang was reluctant to leave her son.

“Before, it was always you who would leave Mama and go to other places.” She wiped away her tears. “Now it’s time for Mama to go, and I’m still not really used to it.”

Fang Juexia hugged her. “I’ll come to visit you very soon. Be careful at home, and if anything happens, let me know.”

Before leaving, Mama Fang also hugged Pei Tingsong, and thanked him, after which, just like the first time, she repeatedly reminded Fang Juexia to take care of his Didi.

But Fang Juexia’s mood had long changed from what it was back then. If they were really talking about taking care of someone, he was actually the one being taken care of. 

Watching Mama Fang leave, Pei Tingsong stuck his hands into his pockets. “I thought that when Auntie was here, she would want to see your dad. Originally, I had already prepared for it, and if she said anything, I would arrange it.”

“She wouldn’t.” Fang Juexia shook his head and looked at the sky outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the airport. “When she gave me all the evidence, she had already given up her heart.”

After spending all these years lost in obsession, his mother could now also see things more clearly. 

What she loved wasn’t the person, but all those beautiful memories.

Just like the Fang Juexia from before, both of them had struggled repeatedly for the sake of the once beautiful Fang Ping who wasn’t physically gone, but was already lost.

Time passed very quickly, and the smell of winter gradually appeared in the air. It was dry and cold, and the moment it went up the nose, the person’s whole being would feel refreshed. 

Not wanting to give people the impression that he was trying to snatch the spotlight, Fang Juexia deliberately waited for some time. He waited until him revealing his family matter and his secret illness had gradually faded away in everyone’s memory, and only then did he privately set up two charitable foundations—one for genetic disease research and the other for blind children.

He entrusted the establishment of the blind children’s fund to a very reliable charity organization, and when the other party also proposed to invite him to be the spokesman for the organization, Fang Juexia refused. He also didn’t use his own name to establish the fund; after thinking about it, he used his grandfather’s name.

If there was such a thing as blessings in the world, he hoped to give them all to his grandfather.

Ling Yi won second place in the singing competition program he participated in, which also made everyone see the strength of a boyband’s lead singer, breaking through the usual prejudices the audience had. He Ziyan’s TV drama’s broadcast also went smoothly; after the first four episodes were released, the review websites gave it a good score of 8.7 points. Although he was the second male lead, his character was the most perfect, without any bugs, and adding on the more loving filter passers-by had after his life experiences had been picked all over online, his popularity soared.

Zhai Ying, who had never been able to make a comeback, was finally released from the freezer after the change in Astar’s higher-level management, and she released a new album with her bandmates, which garnered quite a large response. Although filming for “Escape” was done, everyone of the participants still possessed a “team spirit” and all helped Zhai Ying, who had been stuck in a blank period for a long time, promote the album.

Fang Juexia wasn’t an exception, and he logged into Weibo before a meeting to forward Zhai Ying’s post.

[@Kaleido Fang Juexia: Finally getting a comeback, congratulations!]

Ling Yi complained as soon as he saw this. “Juexia, with the relationship between you and Xiao Ying being so good, and the frequency of your interactions with her on Weibo catching up to how much you have with us, are you not afraid that your girlfriend fans will get angry?”

“Does he still have girlfriends fans?” Lu Yuan said with a laugh, “When he was interviewed last time, someone asked him what kind of girls he liked, and he said solemnly, ‘Shouldn’t you ask me what kind of people I like?’ With just that sentence, all his girlfriend fans ran clean away ba. Some people say that ‘Escape For Your Life’ is poisonous and should be renamed ‘Escape From Wanchai Pier.’”

“Hahahahaha!”

Fang Juexia was a little embarrassed, but all he could say was, “They won’t, the fans all know we’re just friends.”

It was true that as he said, his fans didn’t care about the interaction between their idol and another member of a girl’s group, but they caught onto a different point.

[@The best Fine Jewelike Xerophyte in the world: If you’re good friends, you should dance your good friend’s dance!]

[@My Hairline is very good: Congratulations on the comeback! The new album’s main song sounds really good! Some people shouldn’t just follow their friends’ Weibo ah, they also should do the dance and sing the song—that would mean you’re real bros!]

[@Juexia Gege’s little birthmark: Girl group dance! Girl group dance! Girl group dance!]

[@Did Fang Juexia do a girl group dance today: Gege, look, I even changed my ID for you. ]

[@ Fang Juexia’s biological little sister outside the circle: My God, you see how beautiful the choreography this time is, how spirited and how beautiful, don’t you feel moved, Fine Jeweled Xerophyte? Feeling moved at heart isn’t as good as really moving! P.S.: Can I borrow Zhai Jie’s promotional singing costume?]

This unfolded….

Who would have thought that there would be no fans who would mind this at all? All of them were eager to see the main person they stanned dance a girl group’s dance. Seeing this request blot out the skies online, Fang Juexia could only play dead. Anyway, he had given up going online, so even if he was asked, he would just say he knew nothing about it.

Pei Tingsong, on the other hand, scrolled through his comments enthusiastically. Originally, he had just been surfing around with his side account, but when he accidentally saw Fang Juexia and Zhai Ying’s CP clips, he was beside himself with anger. He went back to his main account, wanting to generously help promote Zhai Ying’s new album, but when he went below, into his own family’s little white flower’s Weibo, he unprecedentedly discovered that he shared some resonance with his wife’s girlfriend fans. He hadn’t expected everyone to actually open up a new road and beg Fang Juexia to dance a girl group’s dance. 

This was a good idea ah! Just like that, these fans opened up a new window in Pei Tingsong’s heart, and his field of vision grew wider. Why hadn’t he thought of it before?

Once he accepted this idea, his mind was full of images of Fang Juexia dancing a girl group dance.

He already couldn’t satisfy himself with just reading these comments; he even went ahead and searched for [Fang Juexia girl group dance] on Weibo. 

One world, one wish.

The main purpose of Cheng Qiang’s meeting this day was to discuss the final plans for the end of the year. “The recording work for the winter album has been basically completed, and the company has scheduled to release it at Christmas for now. It’s the end of the year, so everyone will be even more busy; there will be four or five award ceremonies and parties on various platforms to attend, so all of your conditions need to be adjusted accordingly for me. Although you don’t rely on your faces to eat, if your faces are nice, that will also be your bonus. Right, next month, Miaomiao’s film will premiere at a film festival, and everyone will attend.”

“Yes! We’re going to see Miaomiao’s movie!”

Jiang Miao covered his heart. “I’m so nervous.”

“Recently, everyone has been working very hard. I think almost all of your personal events are nearly done ba, the competitions are over, the programs have been recorded, and the dramas have premiered…” Cheng Qiang checked over these items, and these all were really finished, and perfectly, they had all ended together. “That’s very good, everyone can take a few days off.”

On hearing about an impending vacation, Ling Yi immediately raised his hand. “Asking a question!”

Lu Yuan was spirited enough to play along with him. “Two words!”

Pei Tingsong rolled his eyes. “Here we go again, they’re going to ask about the Maldives again.”

Ling Yi tossed the blame right back at him. “I didn’t! It wasn’t me! It was Xiao Pei!”

Seeing him taking the blame, Fang Juexia couldn’t help but laugh.

“Speaking of this,” Cheng Qiang put a document on the desk. “President Chen’s friend opened a luxury hot spring resort, just around Beijing. Two days ago, President Chen asked me to ask you guys if you wanted to go.”

“We’ll go! Of course, we’ll go!” Ling Yi asked in a low voice, “Then what about the Maldives?”

Cheng Qiang sighed. “We’re going there too, I already told you that we’re going there to record the ensemble show.” After saying that, he arranged for the group to go to the resort. “Then you guys will leave tomorrow for the resort. There are few people there, it’s quiet, and you guys can rest for two days and work hard for me when you come back.”

Jiang Miao asked, “Then what about you, Qiang Ge?”

“I won’t go, I’ll let Xiao Wen follow you guys. If something comes up, please contact me.”

He Ziyan, who had been quietly scrolling through Weibo without saying a word, suddenly spoke up, “Holy crap!” The other members all turned their heads. “What’s the matter?”

“Xiao Pei.” He Ziyan raised his cellphone and said, “Why didn’t you switch accounts while eating melons ah? Your hand slipped, and you didn’t even notice you liked something ah.”

“What?” Pei Tingsong froze, then thought of the things he had just browsed, and felt weak all over, so he immediately took out his cellphone to search through his likes. 

“Really ah!” As soon as Ling Yi saw what Pei Tingsong had liked, he started tossing out inhumane mockery “You sanctimonious looking person!”

Jiang Miao felt that this was a little strange. “You couldn’t have liked something that was cursing out your bandmates ba.”

“You wouldn’t ba, my young master.” Cheng Qiang nearly grew frantic. “Don’t mess around with me ah, as soon as I see the word ‘PR’ now, I want to puke. If you’re still going to be like this, I’m going to take away your accounts and suspend them!”

“Aiya, it’s not that” Lu Yuan, who had already checked Weibo, clicked his tongue a few times before looking at Fang Juexia, who was still in the dark. “Juexia, you treat him as a bandmate, while he treats you as…”

By now, Pei Tingsong had grown so frantic he started cursing, “What complete nonsense, shut up for me, or else I’ll break your leg, you see!”

He Ziyan was watching the uproar, and didn’t mind adding flames to the fire. “Oho. He’s frantic, he’s frantic, he’s so frantic, he’s started rhyming.”

Only then did Fang Juexia, with a confused look on his face, take out his cellphone and open Pei Tingsong’s liked posts list. What everyone was talking about turned out to be a Weibo post with thousands of comments, posted by an account with thousands of fans. 

[@Beautiful baby is delicate and pitiful: Based on the Little Beauty’s recommendation, I went to watch Zhai Jie’s new album’s song, and the choreography, respect. The wave and hip twists during the chorus really can’t suit our Little Beauty more. Who says a cold face can’t be sexy? Clearly he doesn’t want to dance it, but he has to. His lips are stubbornly pursed in a line, his ears as red as if they had been bitten, his eyes lowered, not wanting to look at the camera, but the birthmark at the corner of his eyes draws you in anyway. The neckline of his loose white shirt is spread out, revealing a small section of his clavicle. As soon as the light hits him, the lines of his waist are on full display, and as soon as he thrusts his hips, our hearts and livers start trembling.

If the daily beauty value of Pretty Baby is ten, then the forced-to-be seductive Pretty Baby’s beauty value will be ten times more than that. Who doesn’t want to see the holy beauty red with lust? So sisters, quickly go leave some messages! If you guys don’t kick up a fuss, and if I don’t kick up a fuss, then when will Fine Jewelike Xerophyte dance like this?! If you push, and I urge, Fine Jewlike Xerophyte will be more beautiful tomorrow than today!]

“Pei Tingsong…” Fang Juexia put his cellphone on the table, startling Pei Tingsong into trembling. 

“What were you looking at when you were scrolling through Weibo?” 

—

The author has something to say:

It’s almost over. There should be a few chapters left.

If you have anything you want to see in the extras, you can leave a message for me these next few days, and I will try to satisfy everyone as much as possible

(The extras will still focus on TingJue and Kaleido as much as possible. If there are crossovers, I might write them somewhere else by themselves, so the Werewolf  and Escape won’t be written. The four books are all my sons, and I don’t know who I should let win.)

—

Juurensha: Ahahahahaha, busted! Great entry though! (As for the sort of MeToo movement going on up there…I’m glad it’s happening in the chapter, but I feel like the other Astar execs also should have been held accountable for knowing what was happening and staying silent for so long. Like it’s good Li Luo got it out in the open I guess, but would he have done it if it wasn’t part of his power play? Idk)