Chapter 17

Page 1/3

Xing Shi hadn’t yet received any instructions from the company when the first call he got was from his father. He glanced at the caller ID, took a sip of water, and answered. Director He spoke cautiously on the other end: “Suìsuì, I saw you trending on Weibo.” Xing Shi listened carefully and responded with a simple “Hmm.” Director He asked, “You became a trainee?” Xing Shi replied again with “Hmm.” Director He carefully parsed these two sounds and then asked even more cautiously, “Is the training exhausting?” Xing Shi said, “Not too bad.” Director He advised, “Make sure to get enough rest and don’t stay up late.” Xing Shi answered, “Mm.” Director He paused and then said, “I’m going to a roadshow in Z City this Saturday. Should I save you a spot?” Xing Shi agreed, “Okay.” Director He quickly added, “You can bring friends too; just let me know in advance, and I’ll make arrangements.” Xing Shi heard the system remind him to be mindful of his public image and said, “Got it, let’s hang up.” Director He hastily agreed and ended the call, standing still afterward.

The deputy director, who had a long friendship with Director He, knew that his son wasn’t the easiest to manage. Somehow, without supervision, he had run off to become a trainee. With their connections and resources, why would their child start from trainee level to break into the entertainment industry? Suìsuì was stubborn, refusing a single cent of his father’s money, and entered the industry silently—his trending on Weibo was the first they knew.

The deputy director stepped forward and asked, “What did he say?” Director He remained silent. The deputy director circled in front of him, noticing his dazed expression, and his heart skipped a beat. “What’s wrong?” Director He sounded dreamy, “He wasn’t biting or sarcastic, his tone was completely normal.” The deputy director made a sound of surprise and exchanged looks with him, guessing, “Could it be… that after more contact with the real world, he’s matured?” Director He was half convinced, half doubtful, and went back to his seat with his phone to check the trending posts.

The assistant, clearly a fan of Xing Shi’s looks, leaned over and asked, “Director He, is that your son?” Director He said, “Yes, handsome, right?” The assistant was thrilled, “He’s stunning! Can I get an autograph photo?” Director He smiled and said, “I’ll ask for you.” The assistant happily went back, noticing Qi Changyi was also awake and looking at the trending posts. “This is the video.” Qi Changyi nodded, focused on watching the candid footage of Xing Shi, a smile curling his lips. That kid had actually entered the entertainment industry and signed with his company—divine justice.

After dinner, Xing Shi went to the leisure area on the third floor. He collapsed onto the sofa with practiced ease and finally took out his phone. The trainees were all radiant, walking with confidence. Some had come here, the rest went into the rehearsal rooms, but all were engaged in the same activity: scrolling through Weibo, delighting in screenshots of flattering comments about themselves.

Their skills were sufficient for the school anniversary event, but from an industry perspective, they were just average. They had assumed that even if someone posted a video online, a thousand reposts would be impressive enough given the mediocre production and lack of camera work—it was just an ordinary program. Yet, it had made the trending list.

Of course, they knew the buzz wasn’t due to dancing skills but mostly because of a few attractive faces, especially Xing Shi, who was the focus of most online admiration.

They envied him while nervously awaiting the company’s next move. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the training, artist management, and PR departments arrived. Afternoon classes were canceled, and everyone registered personal accounts as a group. Then they underwent styling and makeup, took photos, and posted their first statuses. The company’s official account would post a summary Weibo and individually post the top five trending trainees, making it easier for fans to find them precisely.

Everyone was bustling with excitement. Xing Shi’s hair color had faded back to normal after washing yesterday, so he had to dye it again before makeup. Luckily, his base was good, so it didn’t take long. The stylist eyed his face and clicked her tongue, “You should come back in a couple of days for a bleach; I’ll dye you a soft gold or pale lavender—it’ll look amazing and save you from relying on one-time dye kits. The light colors don’t show well otherwise.” Xing Shi wasn’t attached to his hair color and agreed before heading to the photo studio.

By the time Fu Xiuning arrived, Xing Shi’s photo session was just finishing.

Page 2/3

Xing Shi saw him and greeted with a smile, “Boss.” Fu Xiuning nodded and glanced him over. His outfit and hairstyle were similar to yesterday’s, likely matching the rest to help outsiders identify them from the video clips. Xing Shi asked, “Boss, are you here on business?” Fu Xiuning said, “Saw the trending posts, so I came to take a look.” He inquired, “What are your next plans?” Xing Shi answered, “Waiting to post our Weibo together.” Fu Xiuning said, “Come walk around with me.” It was just a formality; he planned to look around briefly to fulfill the task.

The surroundings were noisy, so they found a quiet spot. Fu Xiuning asked, “Being on the trending list, how do you feel?” Xing Shi looked serious: “I’m grateful to the company for nurturing me.” Fu Xiuning studied him, “Be honest.” Xing Shi replied, “No thoughts.” Fu Xiuning probed, “Never considered debuting while the heat is high?” Xing Shi sincerely said, “No, I’ve only trained a short time. There’s still much to learn. One must stay grounded and remain indifferent to glory or disgrace.” Fu Xiuning’s expression softened, about to compliment him, when someone ran over.

Yu Yi was excited and chirped, “Xing Shi!” After that shout, he suddenly noticed Fu Xiuning, abruptly stopping and politely greeting him while glancing at Xing Shi. Xing Shi waved, “What is it?” Yu Yi hurried over and shared good news, “I heard from the teacher that after the company posts the Weibo, my idol will repost it.” Xing Shi, knowing Yu Yi’s idol was Qi Changyi, congratulated him, “Nice, sharing the frame with your idol.” Yu Yi beamed, “Yeah!”

The system fretted, “Here it comes. Do you think Qi Changyi will actually open the long posts and read them all?” Xing Shi said, “Whether he reads or not doesn’t matter. I’m trending, and even my dad knows now.” The system sighed, “True, your trending was too sudden.”

Fu Xiuning was surprised, watching the two stop talking, then asked Yu Yi, “Is your idol Qi Changyi?” Yu Yi obediently said yes. Fu Xiuning glanced at Xing Shi and, adopting a benevolent boss demeanor, said, “Qi Changyi will come to the Z City roadshow this weekend. I’ll have him visit the company to see you all.” Xing Shi fell silent. The system was speechless.

After a pause, Xing Shi gave the system a single command: “Check.” The system quickly searched and solemnly reported, “It’s the movie your father filmed. He’s the lead actor!” Fu Xiuning’s face remained calm. Excellent, no effort wasted. He had recently wanted to check on Xing Shi’s father. His original plan was to take Xing Shi to meet the production team at Qi Changyi’s roadshow. Since they were all industry insiders, maybe someone would know Xing Shi, or if luck was bad, no harm done. Qi Changyi was popular, so if Xing Shi and the system met him, they might chat about related topics and eventually learn about that father.

Now, he could change plans since he already had the answer. He was surprised that Xing Shi’s father was He Fengbo, a renowned genius director known both domestically and internationally, with multiple award-winning films and many acclaimed actors he had launched.

As the system said, making Xing Shi famous would be a breeze. The relationship between Xing Shi and Qi Changyi was also clear: Qi Changyi’s maternal aunt was Director He’s wife, making her Xing Shi’s stepmother.

The system was regretting, “I should have checked more.” Their mechanism was that after binding to a host in this world, they accessed the body’s memory. The original owner didn’t know his stepmother’s connection to Qi Changyi; otherwise, he wouldn’t have signed with June Culture.

They and Xing Shi knew this because they had reviewed the original’s profile and Xing Shi had wanted to figure out his family’s social connections, discovering this by chance. The system didn’t proactively search unfamiliar information unless instructed or necessary.

At that time, the host had it check Qi Changyi and learned he was busy daily, so it didn’t follow up. After all, one was a top star and the other an unestablished trainee—the chances of meeting were slim. Xing Shi had agreed to attend the roadshow but hadn’t asked the system to check the movie details because he only intended to meet Director He and didn’t plan to reveal his trainee status—leading to this predicament.

The system was baffled, “What a coincidence. Yu Yi is a superfan, and Feng Zifan and the others love movies. Not one of them talked about this? Have rehearsals made them all dumb?” Xing Shi recalled, “Someone said Director He’s new movie was coming out.” The system lamented, “But they never said Qi Changyi starred in it.” Xing Shi said, “Doesn’t matter. I’ll see it eventually.”

He added, “Remember to remind me tonight to remove the blocking of Director He’s related keywords on all platforms. Otherwise, he might have seen some news while using his phone recently.” The system agreed and asked, “Do you think your stepmother might never have mentioned you in front of Qi Changyi?” Xing Shi said, “Hopefully not.”

The original owner didn’t really mind his stepmother, who met Director He only after his mother passed away — a normal romance. The real conflict was with his father, whose reckless actions had even affected the stepmother. The family discord worried her, and since Qi Changyi was close to his aunt, hearing of this would surely make him dislike Xing Shi.

The system comforted him, “It’s okay. If he tries to make things difficult, we still have Director Fu.” Xing Shi scoffed, “With just a minus six favorability?” The system said, “Maybe if he bullies you, Director Fu will develop a protective instinct and realize his feelings for you!” Xing Shi ignored it, and Fu Xiuning acted as if he heard nothing.

Yu Yi didn’t linger and soon left. The two remaining chatted casually and stayed until all trainees finished taking photos, then parted ways.

The next day was Monday, and Xing Shi had morning classes. He met Lin Kecheng at school. Lin Kecheng had also seen yesterday’s trending posts and noticed their personal accounts were set up, with Xing Shi gaining the most followers.

He wanted to ride the wave, “Let’s take a photo together. I’ll post on Weibo as the organizer of the school anniversary and tag you. You can repost it.” Xing Shi said, “No, our accounts are managed by the company, no random posts allowed.”

He didn’t want to hear Lin’s further ideas and said, “Senior, I have a question.” Lin Kecheng replied, “Go ahead.” Xing Shi asked, puzzled, “Fu Xiuning still hasn’t admitted you to the company, but your score is much higher than mine. Is there something I don’t know?” He was straightforward, “We’re allies. If you’ve offended him but keep making me help you, you’re just setting me up.” Lin Kecheng thought, Are our scores even comparable? Your minus eight must be broken!

He calmly said, “You’re overthinking.” Xing Shi reasoned, “Then why? If that’s the case, no point struggling.” Lin was speechless. That was why he hated fools. Sometimes their words were just unbearable.

Knowing nothing would come of it today, Lin watched the fool walk away and asked the system, “Qi Changyi’s coming to Z City this Saturday, right?” The system answered, “Yes.” To guard against flight changes, it rechecked the arrival time and said, “They rescheduled. They’ll arrive Friday evening!” Xing Shi knew nothing of this.

Since the meeting was inevitable, he didn’t ask the system to watch for it. He went through his classes and training as usual. On Wednesday, he found time to visit the stylist. After 48 hours post-bleach, he dyed his hair on Friday.

Fu Xiuning then sent a message: [Have you eaten?] Xing Shi glanced and replied: [Not yet.] Fu Xiuning: [Come to the parking lot, I’ll bring someone by and we can have dinner together.] Xing Shi: [Okay!] He hurriedly said goodbye to the stylist, got up, and took the elevator down. As soon as the doors opened, he saw Fu Xiuning and immediately smiled brightly, “Boss~” Fu Xiuning’s pupils suddenly constricted.

[Beep]

[Current Favorability: -4]

Page 3/3