Ch24.2 - Are These Ratings Really Real?

In a residential building, a young man with a fade haircut rapidly tapped on the keyboard, arguing with netizens under the ID of ‘I’ll Be On Tomorrow With My Youth’. A self-acknowledged straight man like him didn’t really like trainees like this. He had always felt that those who relied on their faces didn’t have any actual abilities.

Anyways, he had been a singer in a competition before when he was a student; he was at least better than some fellow who relied on his face to eat.

Right after he sneered coldly, the Lu Xu on TV had already slowly opened his mouth—

“You’re the ray of light in the darkness, guiding me gladly towards my death…”

His soulful voice was clean and clear like it was transcending past the TV screen, unconsciously making people feel attracted to him.

“Look at how beautiful death is, with a splendour that cuts through the sky…”

“I’m willing to go with you, to fall into the endlessness of death, wandering…”

“God of love, listen to my song. God of death, dance with me…”

The spotlight shone on the middle of the stage. The person singing with his head lowered had a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. His face was absolutely beautiful.

He used a most languid voice to extend a most sincere invitation of death. After listening to his song, everyone’s hearts unconsciously recaptured a feeling of tranquillity they had not felt in a very long time.

It was as if death was not the end, instead, it was the beauty of life being able to continue that people eagerly awaited.

It wasn’t until Lu Xu smiled slightly at the camera and introduced the song’s name as ‘The Ballad of Death’ did everyone rouse themselves from the paradise he had created with his voice.

The online discussions on Weibo about Lu Xu exploded once again. The netizens who had heard the song were about to turn into chickens from their screaming—

[@Hammer Sister: Aaaaa mother I finally know what it sounds like when an immortal sings. I’m not just a face fan anymore, I’m a talent fan, love it love it]

[@Bald Little Baby: I really have to recognize these skills. I checked and didi is only 18. Don’t worry jiejie will wait four years before getting our marriage certificate, okay?]

[@If the Moon Doesn’t Sleep You Don’t Sleep: He really lives up to the Yao Guai artist name and has king medals growing all over him oh my god]

…

There were many netizens with good memories who immediately ran over to the poisonous commenter from earlier, ready to defend Lu Xu. But they hadn’t thought that when they entered his profile they would discover he had already posted a new video and even added the relevant Lu Xu tag.

The youth with a fade haircut in the video did a handstand. After succeeding, he shouted ‘Daddy’ loudly.

Although his face was blurred out with a mosaic that covered his expression, just listening to his voice could reveal how excited he was at the moment.

Originally losing a bet and having to call someone daddy was something that lost a lot of face, but ‘I’ll Bet On Tomorrow With My Youth’ didn’t seem to think this was intolerable in any way. He didn’t immediately come down from his handstand after calling daddy, and didn’t forget to shout out, “Xuxu fly without worries, Xu fans will forever be with you! Xuxu I’ll always support you!!!”

As to how long it would take to convert black fans, some people might say it only took the span of one song.

The person who had the fiercest suspicions against Lu Xu just now had been converted to an iron fan. The netizens who had rushed to his profile to flame him almost couldn’t bear the knife—

[@Sweetheart Strawberry Ice Cream: Even though it’s like this, I actually think you’re really a little cute hahaha]

[@Xiao Ai Is The Front Desk: Take me away Xu, male fans please don’t fight with me to snatch him okay.]

[@A Sweet Lemon: Hahaha I originally came over to sincerely curse the blogger but hadn’t thought we would become a family. As long as you like Xuxu then you’re a good sister, brother!]

…

As the first A-rank chosen by the mentors, Lu Xu naturally had yet another point of discussion.

In Yao Guai Entertainment’s office, a group of workers sat in the conference room, unable to hold back their laughter.

After Lu Xu had signed on with Yao Guai Entertainment, Secretary Zhang had added an article to the employee’s behaviour guidebook: “It is the responsibility of demons to care for humans.”

There was a saying that went “objects are valuable because they are rare”, meaning that since Lu Xu was the only human in the entire company, he would naturally be adored.

Upon knowing that Lu Xu’s first appearance on screen was tonight, all the employees in the company came to the conference room to support their little human cutie.

Remembering that artists needed to make statistics, Secretary Zhang had placed eight computers on the table in preparation to help Lu Xu get on the scoreboard and gain good numbers to give him more exposure.

The chief financial officer, Jin Qiangui had also been called over, just in case there was a need to talk to Director Bai to request for money from the account to be used to help Lu Xu buy hot searches.

“Are you all ready?” The group of them were gathered together, all looking at one another, clearly having entered combat mode.

“Ready!”

On the projector screen in the conference room, ‘Birth of an Idol’ was playing. The demons were watching the show while getting ready to raise Lu Xu’s numbers.

However, none of them could have known that before they could even lift a hand, Lu Xu had started trending and had shot up onto the hot searches all on his own.

“Aaaaaa, our human didi is too amazing!” Xiao Ai watched Lu Xu’s lofty, handsome face on the screen with her face propped in her hands. “My instincts told me Xuxu was definitely going to be a hot topic.”

“That’s right.” Secretary Zhang nodded her head, but in her head, she was still thinking about that song, ‘The Ballad of Death’. It was such a good song, yet she had never heard of it before this, it was almost a shame.

Inside the Dongcheng TV station, a staff member watched the ratings excitedly and phoned Fan Zeng. “Fan ge, our ratings are now 1.73 and climbing…. Aaaaaaaa, Fan ge, it’s exceeded 2!!!”

Dongcheng TV was a very big business, and there was intense competition between the shows of different departments.

It hadn’t been easy for Fan Zeng to secure the golden 8 P.M. time slot. Although he had solid confidence in his capabilities, he would still be nervous before he saw the results.

“Fan ge, tell me, are these ratings really for real?” Even if the assistant had been prepared for the show to be popular, they had never expected it to become popular to this extent.

“That’s right, even if you didn’t say it, I would also find it hard to believe, but it really is real.” The ratings continued to improve right in front of their eyes, and even Fan Zeng, who was used to seeing big shows, couldn’t help but let out a smile. He looked at Lu Xu, the first A-rank standing on stage opposite Ji Xiunian, and congratulated himself for giving Bai Ze that chance at the beginning.

To have picked up such a precious gem, it would have been strange if the show hadn’t become popular.

The night that ‘Birth of an Idol’ aired, in addition to the humans, there were countless ghosts who had also busied themselves.

Ever since He Xinghua had told the female ghost Bai xiaojie about the little secret, the secret that the master grim reaper had gone on to participate in a human competition show was no longer a secret. In order to give the master grim reaper some help in his crucial moment, Bai xiaojie specially pulled together a group of ghosts to provide Lu Xu with some otherworldly assistance.

Today’s Bai xiaojie stood on the road, absentmindedly muttering her usual words over and over again. Seeing that there were only ten minutes left until 8 P.M., she immediately sent a message in the ghost group chat––

[Car Accident – Xiao Bai: @Everyone Heads up, the master grim reaper’s virgin appearance is about to air, everyone find a way to watch the show]

Once the news was sent out, the ghosts in the group immediately became excited––

[Stayed Up Late – Xiao Chen: Aaaa, is it the Master Lu Xu who sent me to the underworld road? I suddenly regret not loving my body more, or else I could have been alive to hit call for him.]

[Fell Off Building – Lao Sun: I’m heading to the mall where my accident occurred, I hope I can make it in time]

[Premature Death – Xiao Se: Wait, virgin performance… Is it that you-know-what kind of performance I’m thinking of?]

[Admin Car Accident – Xiao Bai has removed Premature Death – Xiao Se from the group]

[Car Accident – Xiao Bai: I’ve kicked them. From now on, don’t bring these random ghosts inside. Those in the group must be Master Lu Xu’s fans, okay? Okay, I’m also going to go catch the show. Everyone, charge!]

Bai xiaojie crossed the road and arrived at the mall that Lao Sun had fallen off of. Coincidentally, Lao Sun had already changed the channel to Dongcheng TV.

There were many other ghosts at the mall who had gathered from all over. Everyone copied each other and changed the channels of every TV at the mall to Dongcheng TV. During this period, a shop employee tried to change the channel, but no matter how hard they tried, it would automatically jump back to Dongcheng TV.

The shop employee had no other options. They were originally going to report the issue to the front desk when they saw Lu Xu’s handsome face on the TV and unconsciously stopped—never mind, such a good-looking xiao gege, just watch if you have to watch.

That night, an urban legend circulated throughout the entirety of Dongcheng.

It was said that TVs in many shopping malls and many people’s homes automatically jumped to the Dongcheng TV channel by themselves. It was a good thing that Lu Xu’s song was nice to listen to; it was pretty lively watching the entire thing.

At the end of the street by the People’s Hospital, it was also extraordinarily lively at the Life’s End Service Terminal today.

An old television set was placed in the middle of the narrow internet network room. Ba Mei rested on a soft cushion and tapped on the remote until he found the Dongcheng TV channel.

Ghosts passing by were crammed inside and outside the room. Everyone had come from word of mouth to cheer on the master grim reaper.

Upon seeing that Lu Xu’s face had appeared on the screen, Ba Mei’s eyes immediately widened as he started to meow and meow at the television.

Ba Mei sat in front of the TV, his rotund body complementing his round, round head, looking like a ball of fluff that was very cute.

Once Lu Xu had screen time, Ba Mei’s tail would start waving around and he would move forward, rubbing his head gently against the TV as though he were close to Lu Xu.

In that one episode, the trainees were separated into their different dorms based on their initial evaluations. According to the show, each of them was allowed one call to their close ones. Other people called their families, but only Lu Xu called his cat named Ba Mei.

“Ba Mei, it’s me.”

Lu Xu’s face on the screen let out a warm smile. It was the smile he had when he called Ba Mei a few days ago.

“Meow meow meow…”

Ba Mei couldn’t help but run to the TV and rub against it, lifting its soft front paws to paw at Lu Xu’s face on the television screen.

“I’m in the competition, so I can’t come back home for now. Be good and stay at home. If you don’t have enough cat food, make sure to tell Xie An in advance, okay?”

“Meow meow meow…”

Lu Xu glanced at the camera, his eyes full of warmth as he spoke, as though he was looking right through the screen at Ba Mei.

Very quickly, the phone call ended.

Not long after, the first episode of the show was over.

“Meow meow meow…”

Suddenly unable to see Lu Xu’s face, Ba Mei anxiously walked back and forth in the room.

Finally, he walked towards his cat feeder and used his front paws to gather a small pile of cat food, and left a message on the floor before walking out of Life’s End Service Terminal. A group of ghosts watched as this round and chubby cat walked, taking elegant steps, and slowly disappeared into the night.

When Xie An finally returned, he discovered that Ba Mei had long since left the place.

Just when he was getting worried, he lowered his head to see the message that Ba Mei had left, and immediately called Lu Xu. “Xu ge, Ba Mei went to look for you.”

“What? Ba Mei told you that?”

Xie An looked at the cat food on the floor and felt a little helpless. “No, when I came back, he had already left the house. I think he probably missed you too much. Never mind Ba Mei, even I miss you!”

Lu Xu couldn’t help but smile slightly upon hearing those words. He remembered Lan Gaojie and then said to Xie An, “A new order has come about. When the time comes I’ll send it to you, then we can meet.”

When he heard that, Xie An was happy at first, but then grew a bit worried. “That’s good, but that’s in the Northwest Grim Reaper Bureau’s territory. What if they say we’re stealing their orders?”

Lu Xu’s voice was light and uncaring. “They’ve stolen quite a few of your orders as well these past few years. Anyway, there’s a first-come-first-serve basis. Why are you thinking so much?”

“That’s true.” As long as Lu Xu was around, Xie An could set his mind at ease. “Then take good care of Ba Mei. I’ll go and organise today’s client list.”

“Okay.”

Lu Xu had just hung up the phone when he heard a familiar voice behind him. “Girlfriend?”

He turned around and saw Ji Xiunian coming from the entrance of the staircase, slowly walking towards him.

Tofu: Rip @Premature Death – Xiao Se *insert bonk go to horny jail meme*

Chunky: Serves Xiao Se right! *blowing nose emoji*