CH 6

The highlight of 《Star Movement Association》 was undoubtedly the elimination round between Xi Nian and Su Ge. Although the show has not yet been broadcast, there are still a few rumors coming out. After the game, posts about Xi Nian’s on-court pressure on Su Ge have sprung up one after another, and as the number of readers increases, the topic gradually becomes popular.

If the entertainment industry is talking about the ability to rip people anew, the fans of Su Ge are definitely number one. At first, they didn’t take the content of the post seriously and just formed groups in order to ridicule it in the comment area.

[I’m laughing to death. These days some people can really just make up all kinds of nonsense just to be able to rub some heat.]

[Take away my family’s Su Ge from your rubbish, we don’t make such appointments1.]

[Xi Nian??? Who? I haven’t heard of him.  It’s crazy what people would do just to be popular, very impetuous to publish this kind of post.]

[Had just checked. These two people signed for the same company. Xi Nian should be Su Ge’s junior. Is this the legendary stepping on the senior brother just to get to the top? Why don’t you soak in urine to enlighten yourself?2 You disgust me3.]

Su Ge’s fanbase was huge, the content seen in a screen is lopsided. They spray others to the point that other parties would dare not to say anything, only would his fans leave with satisfaction.

It’s a joke. They never heard of Xi Nian who came out of nowhere. This Xi Nian dared to claim that he defeated Su Ge when he did not even manage to get into the top three of the ranking competition? Ha! They can only accept Yu Fan, who was in second place, but still the fans deemed that the chance is small. So these fans signed in and performed data brushing on Weibo4. Except for the few fans who had been to the scene━ they fell into a subtle silence and then decided not to take it to heart.

The organizers of 《Star Movement Association》 had set up a superstar list, in which the names of artists participating in the competition are listed impressively. Fans can choose the most popular candidates in their hearts by voting. Aside from sprinting, swimming, gymnastics and other events, the highest number of votes in the men’s archery area has always been predominantly preferring Su Ge. First and foremost, it was because of his strength and background in that area but it could not be denied that his own popularity also blessed the number increase.

However, when the fans were getting ready to give Su Ge their usual votes today, they were flabbergasted to find that their idol’s name was not on the ranking list.

In the early hours of the morning, the data was refreshed. The second place Yu Fan rose by one place, reaching the first place; the third placer Meng Qianlin rose to the second place, the fourth placer Zhou Suiyun squeezed into the top three, and the remaining contestants rose one place in turn.

What’s going on???

Where’s Su Ge???

Su Ge’s fans were dumbfounded, they refreshed the ranking several times to no avail. The list was still the same. Then they remembered the previous posts in retrospect, finally reacting dismayed.

Their idol’s ranking was cleared and except for system malfunction, there can only be one other situation where it would be possible━━

The contestant was eliminated.

But how could that be?

This was not the PK for first place, second place or the third place. The last in the bottom PK-ed the first? What a thought!

Except for the first ranking match, almost everyone thought that the explosive point would be in the final match where Su Ge would play against Yu Fan or Meng Xianlin. The strength of these three people was equal. Now suddenly, it was said that Su Ge was kicked out of the game? It was just like the schoolmaster in the class was crushed by the scum at school, which undoubtedly gives people a very absurd feeling.

In just a few hours, the news spread all over the internet like the wind. The discussion of related topics quickly exceeded 10,000, and the posts quickly reached the top of the hot search.

The entertainment industry is an invisible battlefield. There are not a few people who worship the high and step on the low. Fans of the Su Ge usually offend people a lot such as in order to brush the rankings, they often target Yu Fan and Meng Qianlin by belittling them. This time, there was such a big oolong5. How can everyone ignore the joke?

[Pft-hahaha. I laughed to death. Su Ge’s own skills were not as good as others and he was the one first to be eliminated. What kind of face does his fans possess to be able to have the confidence to run around and spray others? Really laughing to death, this is the biggest joke of the year!]

[Have you guys seen Su Ge’s face when he saw it? His fans still boast about him being pure and natural every day. It’s not the first time that they pretended to be blind, but it really makes me admire them for still being so righteous.]

[Serves him right. Fans follows their idol6 and they bite people like mad dogs.]

Naturally, the management team behind Su Ge couldn’t just sit idly and ignore it. It didn’t take long for Su Ge’s personal Weibo to post a long and meaningful apology to the fans plus a picture of the back of his hand seeming to contain bruises. The image hinted that it was all just because of an accidental injury, that Su Ge couldn’t continue to compete with everyone on the same stage, which disappointed his fans. He felt very sorry for this, and members of the original men band group all praised and forwarded it, comforting him to recuperate well.

The idol group, TR, first debuted in South Korea before moving to the domestic entertainment circle. All seven members have an acceptable strength but because the lead singer, Su Ge, had a potential to successfully go solo they disbanded. It has been a long time since they were last seen to be in the same frame, this time with all of them in the comment area together has attracted a lot of attention especially since it was rare for them to leave a message.

In fact, if one is an ordinary person, he will delve into the wording used in the text. For example: When did Su Ge’s hand get injured? Was it before or after the game? Was his loss due to the injury or inferior skills?

But no matter how many Su Ge’s fans are, their focus was all put into the five word sentence: “Su Ge’s wrist was injured”. When they came across it, they felt like they had been injected chicken blood7 and instantly discarded their previous malaise. They began to frantically help their idol explain.

Su Ge did lose but there was a reason it happened. Who could maintain a winning streak despite a wrist injury?

Su Ge insisted on participating in the game despite his injury. Don’t blame him anymore, it is already very good to have this result.

If it wasn’t for Su Ge’s injury, how could Xi Nian even have won?

The melon-eating masses8 who didn’t know the truth believed it when they read it and they suddenly come to a realization that no wonder Su Ge lost the game, he was injured!

The situation was even more reversed by a blog post that was not known whether its content is true or not. Inside, a GIF animation from the game featuring the scene where Su Ge smiled and encouraged Xi Nian but was later “bashed in the face9” by Xi Nian. Fans were already distressed by Su Ge’s injury and when they saw this, they exploded.

[I’m X, I really think that I am great after I beat Su Ge. So what if he won? His character is bad and didn’t even have the basic courtesy.]

[If Su Ge hadn’t injured his hand, he definitely would not have been eliminated. If there is no hero in an era, it will make a villain famous.10 ]

[Laughing at upstairs. Who is Su Ge? Is he worthy of the word, hero? After learning some ancient prose, you went ahead and dragged it to the mud. Your language teacher must have been very furious.]

[I’m not a fan of Su Ge but at the present, I feel that Xi Nian seems to have a little bit of villain’s success. Shanxing Entertainment has been tangled up in lawsuits recently, many demons and monsters signed under its banner.]

[I’m so angry! I’m so angry! Wuwuwu, my idol is so pitiful. He used to be bullied after the competition and now he’s still being bullied. Taking him away, stop messing with him!]

[I, giao11, can’t just swallow this pot12 otherwise others would think that our idol is very easy to bully!]

Su Ge’s fans’ fighting power has been long recognized by other fandoms. Seeing that their idol was wronged, how could they bear to let it go? The support group of Su Ge brandished an attack under the Weibo of Xi Nian and all kinds of abuse emerged one after another. 

His square has been slaughtered13, Super Talk has been blocked14, and almost no places were spared.

It was not known whether Xi Nian’s agent, Sun Ming, had received instructions from the company but he had been persistently calling Xi Nian to come forward and apologize so that it would be all over. It’s a pity that the latter only replied with only two words━━

“Fuck you.”

After editing the text message then clicking send, he didn’t care that his Weibo had been blown up nor does he hold interest as to whether Sun Ming was livid with anger or not. He just crossed his legs and looked like he was in a good mood.

The side face of the man wearing mask looked a little fuzzy under the bright incandescent lamp of the hospital, giving people a feeling of aloofness and elusiveness. His eyes were pitch-black and deep, as if any moment it could suck people in.

Lu Xingzhe’s wound has been bandaged, and the doctor suggested that he be hospitalized for observation and have a detailed physical examination the next day. One didn’t know whether he had listened or not, only that Lu Xingzhe’s eyes fell on Xi Nian and it didn’t budge the slightest, like a child peering at toys he was interested in through a shop window.

The doctor went out.

Lu Xingzhe noticed the gauze wrapped around Xi Nian’s hand: “What happened to your hand?”

Nian didn’t answer. He got up from the chair and seemed ready to leave. When Lu Xingzhe saw this, he tapped his knee with his fingertips: “You’re leaving?”

Xi Nian affirmed, “Going to go home and sleep.”

Lu Xingzhe slightly inclined his head and deliberately misinterpreted his meaning: “Aigoo, who are you looking for to sleep with?”

Xi Nian sometimes felt that Lu Xingzhe really deserved a beating. Hearing that, he still kept walking, raised his hand to pull up his black mask: “It’s not you anyway.”

Lu Xingzhe was rebellious by nature, and he was a rascal. He tugged at his collar when he heard those words and flashed out his sexy collarbone. He was out of breath with laughter, but he didn’t think it was strange to say this to a man he just met. : “Why can’t it be me, don’t be so certain, maybe one day we will sleep… Hey, what are you going to do?”

Xi Nian probably didn’t want to listen to his gibberish, so he turned around and left the ward without looking back, and his back soon disappeared outside the door.

“……”

Lu Xingzhe stared at the direction where he left, consciously bored, and after a long time he looked back. He lowered his head and unconsciously twisted his fingertips, generally feeling a little pity that he couldn’t see Xi Nian’s face clearly.

He didn’t know why but Xi Nian walked so fast. He didn’t even wait for the elevator, so he went straight downstairs from the safe passage next to him. When he was halfway there, he suddenly realized something and stopped quietly.

Why is he leaving……?

Xi Nian thought, isn’t it just right to use Lu Xingzhe as a paparazzi to deal with Su Ge?

Just as in his previous life, his mind was screwd calculations, and Lu Xingzhe was the most proficient knife in his hand. Just how he was going to use him, Xi Nian still needed to think about it.

Lu Xingzhe stayed in a triple room, but the other two beds were not yet occupied by patients, and he was the only one. Late at night, the shade of the trees outside the window could be vaguely seen, accompanied by the chirping of the cicadas, the cold began to spread from the room.

Lu Xingzhe took out the charging cable from his bag, charged the mobile phone, and then limped out of bed. He wanted to go to the vending machine in the corridor to buy a bottle of water. Who would have thought that he would bump into Xi Nian, who had just opened the door and returned? He subconsciously retreated shocked that he nearly fell to the ground.

Fortunately, Xi Nian was quick-sighted and grabbed his arm directly to pull the man back slightly. Seeing that the gauze wrapped around Lu Xingzhe’s leg was bleeding with blood, he asked with inaudible emotions that were not fully discerned, “What do you want to do?”

Lu Xingzhe didn’t expect him to come back. He was stunned for a moment before he reacted. He lowered his head, swept his eyes to gaze upon his hand that was being held by Xi Nian. “Didn’t you leave?”

His eyes were slender and gorgeous making him look very bright. When he spoke in a deliberately low voice, the end sound was rustling and mischievous, which made people feel that the other was up to no good.

It’s still the same, he hasn’t changed at all.

Xi took a quiet look at Lu Xingzhe. Because he was wearing a mask, he couldn’t quite see his expression clearly. He put down the shopping bag on the table, which contained some bread, snacks, and drinks. Xi Nian’s voice was faint when he replied: “I’m back again.”

After speaking, he took a bottle of mineral water from his shopping bag and threw it to Lu Xingzhe.

Lu Xingzhe raised his arm to catch it, but he didn’t drink, pausing he inquired: “Don’t you know me?”

Xi Nian was remarkably close to him. Hearing that, he leaned over slightly and looked at him. The icy aura on his clothes instantly enveloped all of Lu Xingzhe’s senses. After a while, he queried with great interest, “Okay then, what’s your name?”

His words carried a lingering breath, making Lu Xingzhe feel bewitched and dizzy.

Lu Xingzhe’s throat tightened for a moment, and he felt that the man in front of him was full of spikes under his calm and unrestrained appearance, making him difficult to control. He pursed his lips and slowly spit out his name: “Lu Xingzhe.”

Xi Nian looked at the camera bag beside him and deliberately asked, “Photographer?”

Lu Xingzhe lied, without his face blushing or his heart skipping a beat, nodding: “Hmm.”

Anyway, they both shoot things. There was not much difference between paparazzi and photographers.

Xi Nian felt funny when he heard those words. He handed over his mobile phone in a flat tone, but one didn’t know what calculations were hidden: “Contact information.”

Lu Xingzhe paused. At this time, he actually looked naive. He took the phone and entered his private number: “…… What’s your name then?”

Xi Nian took the phone back, and when their hands touched, his fingertips slid ambiguously in the other’s palm, before pocketing his phone into his jacket but he didn’t answer: “Later you will know.”

He added, “Take a good rest.”

It was in the middle of the night, so people are usually tired, perhaps that was why his voice was deceptively gentle making the people listening to it fall into a trance.

Lu Xingzhe grew up in an orphanage and had never been in contact with anyone like this before. When he heard this, he quietly clenched his palm and licked his dry lip, feeling that something was stirring inside him.

The system of 009 was clearly seen next to the guy who was obviously deliberately sultry, but the ball could only float and would not be responsible for the aftermath.

Lu Xingzhe: “Then I’m not losing money, who knows if I will meet you in the future.”

He doesn’t know the other’s name or appearance, yet he still said this.

Xi Nian seems to be smiling, along with the corners of the eyebrows, he pulled out from his jacket pocket a stack of money that Lu Xingzhe had given him before, held it with two fingers, waved it in front of his eyes, before putting it on the side table: “You are not a loss.”

Xi Nian did not want to reveal his identity, at least not now.

After he finished, his fingertips tapped the table, his voice low: “We will meet again……”

Outside the hospital window, the branches and leaves were dancing. There was a surging silence, scattered moths were attracted by the lights in the ward, clinging to the window edge by gently fanning their wings, but they were blocked by the glass window and were not allowed to enter.

When Xi Nian left, the ward was quiet, making him feel a little uncomfortable.

Lu Xingzhe staggered back to bed, unscrewed the mineral water, took a sip, and then pulled open the shopping bag casually. As a result, he found a small bag of hazelnut chocolate inside, and his eyes lit up.

It’s probably his instinct to protect food that was practiced in an orphanage when he was a young but while others needed to chew chocolate slowly, he quickly tore open the package and ate it two or three times. The mellow taste spread rapidly on the tip of the tongue. Ly Xingzhe didn’t feel that it was too sweet or greasy, instead he squinted in a good mood, lying in bed like a fox with satiated food and drink.

He likes sweet food.

But when he was a child, he stayed in an orphanage and didn’t get to eat it often.

The phone on the table was charging and several messages popped up as soon as it was turned on. Lu Xingzhe licked the inner wall of his mouth, seemingly still relishing the aftertaste of what he had just eaten. He then reached out and took out his camera from the black zipper bag on the side, before skillfully uploading the photos.

Mrs. Jane sent several text messages to remind him with her tone obviously anxious. Lu Xingzhe called her, then lowered his head to review the photos he took today: “I got it. ”

When the woman heard this, she heaved a sigh of relief at the other end, as if she had unloaded some heavy burden and said, “Good, I will now pay the 50,000 balance now.”

Lu Xingzhe pressed the camera button, browsing the photos one by one, his voice was with a smile: “No, no, no, wrong, it’s not 50,000.”

He corrected, “Mrs. Jane, it’s a hundred thousand.”

Mrs. Jane paused slightly and said coldly, “You sit on the ground and raise the price15? Is that still in line with the rules?”

Lu Xingzhe raised his eyebrows casually. What kind of rules can they have in this business? Isn’t it all about getting money: “It’s up to you, it’s not a big deal. I can just sell it to Jian Yihong, I believe he is willing to pay a high price to redeem these photos back.”

Mrs. Jane was not lacking in money; she was just disgusted by Lu Xingzhe’s practice. When she heard this, she took a deep breath and swallowed her anger before acquiescing, “Okay. If it’s 100,000 then I’ll give you 100,000. Send the photos to my email.”

She probably didn’t want to have any more encounters with this despicable paparazzi for the rest of her life, so she hurriedly hung up the phone after saying that. An incoming message popped up on Lu Xingzhe’s phone right after.

Lu Xingzhe has a lot of marketing numbers and magazine resources on-hand. He glanced at the transferred amount, then packed the photos and sent them out. Only then did he habitually enter Weibo, and browsed the recent hot searches and the topic figures. The top post happened to be about Xi Nian’s arrogance for coldly ignoring Su Ge, the latter’s fans tearing the floor on the field16, and a GIF animation just hung brightly on it.

Xi Nian’s eyebrow eye was too cold and deep, that’s why it was very recognizable. Lu Xingzhe was just swiping randomly but one didn’t know what he found that his pupils suddenly shrank, and subconsciously he sat up straight from the bed.

It’s him……

Bào zǒu wǒjiā gézi, bù yuē bù yuē ━ Adapted from K-fan circle, it is used when fans refuse to let someone be the subject of discussion concerning certain topics. They don’t want to see their idols being linked to a certain person, event or gossip.

[2] Yě bù sā pào niào zhào zhào zìjǐ de yàngzi ━ This sentence is used towards a person who do not understand themselves ergo overestimating their capability. Liquid can reflect images, urine is to hint how full they are of themselves. I died. I seriously google-ed this and I found a person who solemnly discussed this topic regarding urine. Adapted from Yiyuan Jiaoyan part written by Wang Shizhen but without the dirty word.

Ǒule ━ This is literally just “vomit” but it’s something netizens used to provoke people or express their anger or revulsion. Either way, it’s just like the English idiom, you make me sick.

Wēi bó ━ Formerly known as Sina Weibo is the Chinese counterpart of Twitter in China.

Wū lóng ━ Has come to allude to mistakes such as inaccurate reports, incorrect information, and error of the moderators. It was a reference to a soccer game in 1977 where a player, just as the referee blew the whistle, immediately sent a big kick to the ball. The big catch here was that it was towards their own turf and their goalkeeper was caught off guard and could not block it. The game lasted 6 seconds. More information about self-pendulum oolong. Anyway, to explain this bit: The fans of Su Ge often step on other idols saying that theirs would win. The joke here was that Su Ge was the first of the three to be eliminated.

Fěn suí zhèng zhǔ ━ Exactly what the phrase suggests, it means that the character of the idol defines his fanbase. If a fan follows a scum, he is also a scum for being one of the enablers and still worshiping that kind of person. This is a hasty generalization and not necessarily true, but this is what is meant by the phrase.

Xiàng shì dǎle jī xuè bān ━ Becomes excited. Origin: Chicken blood therapy as a healthcare technique in the 1967-1980s. Drawing blood of a rooster then injecting it into people. The person injected with this blood was red in the face and in high spirits even though he did not know what the effect was. I don’t know who needs to read this but DON’T. Being hyper might be because it was a stress response sent by the body. Just don’t attempt it.

An internet term referring to people in online forums watching people discuss problems and queueing up behind them, idling. Their common phrases are “selling melon seeds” and “eating melon seeds in the front row”. Ordinary citizens who do not express opinions but only watch on what is happening is the prime example of being a melon-eater.

Héngméi lěng duì ━ treat someone coldly, with hatred or contempt; glaring at someone.

Shí wú yīngxióng, suì shǐ shùzǐ chéngmíng ━ Simply means that the incompetent got lucky enough to become famous. Origin: The Biohraphy of Jin Shu, Ruan lamented that there was no haojie(talented) at the time so there’s no choice for the arrogant but to become “wise”. The context was he was dissatisfied with the officials because the government at that time was very corrupt. The officials know nothing but enriching themselves, talentless in making the country and countrymen prosper.

Giao ━ internet buzzword, it doesn’t mean anything. Origin: Brother Giao rapping in a short video, his signature line is “one mile giaogiao”. T’was a meme? *sad noises*

Blame.

Guǎngchǎng bèi tú ━ If a square has been slaughtered it just means that when you input that celebrity’s name, the first thing that will welcome your sight was all bad comments regardless of whether true or not. A square refers to the content that would be seen after entering a name of a celebrity on Weibo, it is frequently used to make bad remarks. Slaughter square is when fans tear each other apart, bringing a celebrity negative impression.

chāo huà bèi tú ━ Super Talk is a feature launched by Weibo where people with common interest can gather together and form a circle/group. Blocking a super talk of a person means that a topic has been closed and temporarily(or permanently) prohibited from public access.

Nǐ zuòdì qǐjià ━ Sitting on the ground wanting the other to pay the money back on the spot. Seller’s disguised blackmail. It was generally used in business occasions where bargaining was being made, which means that you raise the price without basis, then you can also pull down the price at will. In the end, it is all about fighting for their own best interests.

De sī bī lóu ━ Tearing is a hot buzzword on the internet. It originally meant a dispute between two women but now it also describes the phenomenon of two sides attacking each other by exposing each other’s shortcomings as well as insulting the other blindly. Tearing refers to uncovering insults without a lower limit. Origin: The Biography of Zhen Huan.