CH 11

A car was parked under the building of the Radio and Television Station in H City. There were already many fans gathered around here, holding various support banners. Some of which had the Q version of the five members of T.ATW, some had the group’s logo, and others simply had a slogan featuring the name of the idol. 

“Weiwei! look over here!” A group of girls in their twenties shouted at Gu Wei while holding up their mobile phones.

Gu Wei took off his sunglasses, and smiled to his fans, “everyone, please be careful.”

“Okay, we will! Don’t worry, didi!.” Gu Wei’s fans screamed as they moved back to give a way for the boys to enter. 

“Gu Wei is so nice, why would anyone want to blacken1dirty his reputation him?” said a young girl in short jeans, holding a concert lightstick decorated with Gu Wei’s name. 

“Close their eyes to the truth and embarrass themselves,” her friend also said, then she added in an angry tone, “some people just refuse to see Gu Wei’s popularity2the literal translation is Gu Wei’s (red), in this case, red = popularity. Example of another sentence with this slang: He is so red this year, no wonder he won the popularity contest..”

When Gu Wei got out of the car, he was sent to get make-up and hair done for the stage rehearsal. He had no time to look at his phone, which just satisfied his desire to escape from the consequences of his actions.

Gu Wei looked at himself in the mirror, and said to himself: “Even if the reaction memes got angry again, he won’t actually bite people.” 

“Didi, who is going to bite you?” The makeup artist was amused as she heard him talking to himself.

Gu Wei shook his head, “nobody.”

“Do you think this looks good?” the makeup artist patted Gu Wei on the shoulder, motioning him to look at his reflection.

“The hair color… is it too light?” Gu Wei was feeling a bit hesitant looking at his now-dyed hair. 

“It’s a perfect shade of white! You are the only one in your group who can pull off this hair color. I promise you, you will shock the audience tonight,” the makeup artist said in full confidence.

Gu Wei’s eyes passed over himself in the mirror, then trailed over the suddenly-opened door. There, he saw—

His nemesis.

The other party also came here as well. He had already changed to his stage outfit, and was standing at the door looking at his nemesis’ newly dyed hair.

Gu Wei: “…”

He just scolded the nemesis’ big brother, so he felt a little guilty seeing him.

Fortunately, Jiang Xun would not appear here, which made him a little more at ease.

Since T.ATW is a top boygroup, their performance is placed near the finale. After the host announced the start of a performance, the stage lights gradually dimmed, and the audience’s frenzied cheers filled the darkness.

The stage lights suddenly brightened, heralding the oncoming performance of a five-membered boygroup. Each of the boys were wearing a black coat with unique designs. The spotlight highlighted the five of them, illuminating their presence as they started their performance.

T.ATW fans were all coming with their own banners and lightsticks. As the performance started, they started waving them at the same time, creating a beautiful sea of ​​lights.

As soon as the music hit the stage, it immediately mobilized the atmosphere of the audience. If it was high before, it shot through the ceiling right now.

They shocked the audience by performing a new song, self-produced by the group members themselves. The song was composed by Luo Chenxuan, while the dance was choreographed by Gu Wei. The singing and dancing style was different from the “cool” ones in the past. This one was more eccentric and experimental. They all danced energetically, switching their positions according to the rhythm of the song. Furthermore, it was well-timed with the stage light’s flickering, creating a mesmerizing effect. 

At the interlude part, the beat suddenly became faster, and the dance followed by becoming more intricate. Gu Wei switched to center, threw off the hood on his clothes, and stepped into his role as the main dancer. The cameras in the venue focused on Gu Wei at the same time. Under the harsh stage light, he threw a smile at the camera, while keeping his dance steady and in-beat. He lifted his arm and gave a finger-heart to the audience.

A fan in the front row covered his chest and yelled, “the main dancer gave a heart to me just now!!!”

“Didi’s dancing is awesome!!!” 

“Gu Wei, I love you!!!”

When Jiang Xun passed by backstage, he happened to see Gu Wei’s finger-heart on the big screen. He also heard the fans’ frantic screams.

Unlike the last time he saw the youth, Gu Wei had dyed his hair a silvery shade of white. Jiang Xun had to admit that this hair color, which was unsuited for many people, matched Gu Wei’s complexion very well.

Gu Wei might have a unique way in cursing others, but Jiang Xun had to admit that he was very really good-looking.

And his singing skills were much better than before.

“What are you looking at?” Song Jingxi followed Jiang Xun’s line of sight. She instantly recognized Gu Wei on the screen. “Have you guys chatted yet? I feel that this kid’s stage presence is really different from his real personality. “

Jiang Xun was lost in his thoughts.

“Why are you two here?” Jiang Ying had just stepped off from the stage. He hadn’t got the time to remove his makeup. Instead, he went to the big screen to watch his nemesis’ performance. “Tch. Their group is so popular. But if it’s only based on individual fans, Gu Wei can’t beat me.”

As Gu Wei’s nemesis (self-proclaimed), Jiang Ying knew their standings very well. 

“I’ll dye my hair this color next time too.” Jiang Ying said as he held up the edited3by photoshop picture of Gu Wei that he just found, “our fans will definitely compare us together. I like watching our fandom wars the most, hehe.”

“You are an idol, how on earth do you know so many fighting routines of the fandom?” Jiang Xun said in visible disgust.

“Of course it’s so I can beat him every time,” Jiang Ying said as if what he said is obvious, “if Gu Wei is not scolded for a day, then I will not be at peace with myself.”  

For Jiang Ying, his feuds with his nemesis were more important than filming his work. 

“I have something to ask Director Zhang, so I called your brother to accompany me,” Song Jingxi said, “but your brother just came from the club now, while Director Zhang and I have already finished our business.”

“About what matter?” Jiang Xun asked.

“There’s a new program in development.” Song Jingxi said, “your Uncle Zhang plans to air a new variety4about this, the mtl didn’t differentiate much between [reality] and [variety] shows. But in this case, I’m sure it’s more appropriate to call this program a variety show. The biggest difference is that in reality show you want to show the /real/ reactions to things; while in variety shows it’s mainly for making the guests do games/various activities, usually scripted too. show, but all the funds are already spent for the venue and props. After inviting four guests, he can’t afford to invite a fifth one. He ask me to coax you to fill in as the fifth guest.” 

“It’s a pretty easy show to film, it won’t take up too much of your time. The first filming only takes about 24 hours, and as for the next episode, it will depend on the popularity of the show. If it’s popular, then there will be more, if not, then there’s that.”

Jiang Xun smiled as he answered, “sure, use me as free labor.”

Actually, it’s not a big deal for Jiang Xun. This Director Zhang was a good friend of his parents. There’s also no way the show will not be short on funds. Jiang Xun was sure that the real reason for his appearance on the show was to attract extra traffic from the e-sports circle, especially now that he already became the World Champion. Another reason was probably because there would be many game elements in the reality show, and he would be needed for his expertise.

E-sports players seldom take part in variety shows, mainly because they were always training for the championship. Fans might shout that they wanted to see their favorite players in this kind of show all the time; but in actuality, if the player lost in the game because they were busy with non-gaming activities, their fans would surely bashed them to kingdom come.

Winning or losing might be commonplace, but the fans wouldn’t recognize it. They wanted their favorite players to win all their games.

However, Jiang Xun came from a special background; and with Director Zhang’s and his parents’ relationship taken into consideration, it would be impolite of him if he refused Director Zhang’s request. 

Besides, he already saw the list of the other four invited guests.

“Where are you going to go?” Jiang Ying watched his big brother walk out from backstage.

“You two can go home first,” Jiang Xun waved his hand, “since I’m already here, I’ll go to my little friend to… collect a debt of sorts.” 

The performance was coming to an end. The music petered out, and the stage lights gradually dimmed. As the stage’s moving platform sent the boys down, Gu Wei panted lightly. He turned off his in-ear headset and mic, and brushed away a strand of sweat-drenched bangs sticking to his forehead.

The person who was supposed to perform the finale was a movie emperor5award-winning actor. Gu Wei followed behind his groupmates to walk from a passageway to outside the stage. 

The troubles he had forgotten by performing on stage came back to his mind again—

He really should stop procrastinating his apology to the reaction meme. 

After hanging the reaction meme dry for an afternoon, the hatred value of that guy should be low, right? After all, he must’ve calmed down now.

The door of a dressing room beside the passage suddenly opened. A hand stretched out and yanked Gu Wei inside.

Gu Wei: “?!”

The other four members of T.ATW continued to move forward, without even noticing that the youngest member was missing.

Standing in front of Gu Wei… was the reaction meme he just slandered this afternoon. 

Gu Wei: “!!!”

While Gu Wei was busy losing his mind, Jiang Xun locked the room with a resounding click.

“This uneducated little friend of mine,” Jiang Xun said in a deep voice, accompanied by a… menacingly serene smile, “I’ve caught you now.”

Gu Wei: “!!!!!!!!!” 

Karma had arrived. Gu Wei was doomed.

Pray for Gu Wei(‘s ass) 

If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I’ll release an additional chapter ^^