Chapter 099: Jealousy

Even though Qinghe was reluctant, it was impossible for him to hide in the room forever. In the end, with Song Wan's help, Shi Feng tore off his name tag.

Song Wan successfully earned the right to use a helper in the final round.

The last round was the ultimate name tag battle.

It could only be said that this round was tailor-made for Guo Feng. Even though Song Wan had a helper and formed alliances with others to try to eliminate Guo Feng first, he still laughed until the end, becoming the strongest contestant of the first season of "Rise Up, Stars".

The show wrapped up perfectly. The director, who had been absent all day, waved his arm and declared, "Tonight, the crew is treating everyone to celebrate the show's perfect ending!"

—

Song Wan v: Another journey has come to an end. Thank you for the laughter and freedom everyone brought me during this time, and for your companionship. We’ll fight again next year!

[Image][Image]...[Image]

In the depths of night, Song Wan suddenly posted a touching message on Weibo, but the accompanying photos were just...

Posting pictures of the wrap-up dinner in the middle of the night—was she working for a tabloid?

After a brief lull online, the internet soon erupted.

Especially after the other contestants reposted, things became even livelier.

The fans of the celebrities weren't too upset; without this show, their idols would still participate in other events, appear in movies and dramas, release singles, or show up on other programs.

But the fans of the show itself found it especially hard to let go.

Especially since Song Wan's post made it clear—they would have to wait until next year to watch them again.

Fortunately, though the final episode had been recorded, only the tenth episode had aired; they still had half a month's buffer.

So although the internet was abuzz, it was still manageable.

Yet Song Wan, who sparked this excitement, returned to the hotel after posting and fell asleep as soon as she lay down, exhausted.

Gao Xiang, amused and helpless, snapped a photo of Song Wan and sent it to President Jin, thus completing her work for the day—

There was no other way. Ever since Song Wan and Jin Youqian married, President Jin had issued a command: supervise Song Wan to call him every day and send a selfie; if she was too busy, Gao Xiang should do it for her.

[What’s going on? Wasn’t she just posting on Weibo?]

Jin Youqian looked at the photo on his phone, dissatisfied, wondering why Song Wan didn’t want to call him.

Was it because daily calls were bothersome, or was their affection fading?

[Song Wan drank tonight. After posting, she fell asleep, drunk.]

Gao Xiang hadn’t expected Jin Youqian to text her about this and was initially at a loss. Luckily, she quickly regained her composure and updated President Jin about Song Wan’s situation.

Jin Youqian breathed a sigh of relief.

[Let Song Wan rest well. Don’t disturb her in her room.]

After sending another message, Jin Youqian finally put aside his phone and prepared to tackle his unfinished work.

But after a moment, a flush crept over his ears—

What was he just thinking about?

Once he calmed down, Jin Youqian realized how odd his thoughts had been. In those brief seconds, he had unconsciously recalled every “tragic possibility” Uncle Feng had whispered to him...

Only then did he realize—Uncle Feng was truly toxic!

Jin Youqian fell silent. He wished he could throw that overthinking person out of his mind!

Who was that person, anyway? Sorry, he didn’t know him!

—

As soon as "Rise Up, Stars" finished recording, Song Wan had to jump into her next job—

She had thought she would go straight to the set of the drama "Starlight," but unexpectedly, before that, she had to start promoting Director Qian Fu’s film "Dream of Splendor."

To secure better box office results, the promotional team arranged for Song Wan and the other lead actors to do roadshows in at least twenty cities each.

People like Hua Yu were used to this; they probably glanced at the itinerary and set it aside.

But Song Wan, who had never experienced such promotional work, nearly froze when she saw the dense schedule Gao Xiang handed her.

Date, time, leave home for the airport, wait, board the plane, rest for a few hours, meet with organizers and begin promotion; then immediately fly to the next city...

For more than half a month, visiting at least two cities a day, Song Wan could hardly find any time for rest in that packed schedule.

Gao Xiang glanced at her curiously, "How could there be no time for rest?"

"Where? The schedule crams in so many cities for promotion—I don’t see much time left for me to rest..."

"On the plane!" Gao Xiang pointed matter-of-factly at the timetable. "You’ll spend at least five hours a day on planes—how is that not enough time to rest? Other celebrities manage the same way."

Thinking of Song Wan’s usual lifestyle, Gao Xiang couldn’t help but look at her with pity. "Song Wan, you’re at the peak of your popularity. There’s no way promotions would let such a goldmine slip by—you’ll have to get used to it."

Song Wan swallowed hard, feeling that her life would be dim from now on.

She didn’t object to being busy, but this kind of roadshow, which she felt was nearly useless, would occupy half a month of her time...

She couldn’t quite understand or accept it.

Especially with her imminent entrance into the "Starlight" crew—she could already imagine that she wouldn’t be in the best mental state.

"Can’t they cut a few promotional events?" Song Wan frowned. "I’m about to join the 'Starlight' set, but I haven’t fully absorbed the script yet."

No matter how popular she was, Song Wan always saw herself clearly—

She was, and only was, an actor.

Fame was just so she could act in more films and dramas; it shouldn’t become an unstable factor that hindered or affected her acting.

Thinking about those celebrities who, for money, jumped from one set to another and ran countless commercial events, Song Wan felt uneasy.

Gao Xiang, as if she saw right through Song Wan, handed her the schedule. "You only have fifteen promotional events. Do you know how many Hua Yu and Li Yang have?"

Song Wan paused, "Probably fewer than me?"

Gao Xiang snorted, as if hearing a joke. "You only have fifteen because I fought hard for you; also because I know you’d rather forgo the promotional fees than waste your time on them. But although their popularity isn’t as high as yours, their fans are far more loyal—the crew would never let them go."

"The most crucial point is that their managers don’t see this as a bad thing."

If the box office is good, the actors’ worth rises. Besides, promotions pay appearance fees—so why not do them?

"Especially Li Yang—he’s got the most, fifty events," Gao Xiang said with a half-smile, as if recalling something. "Your schedule is packed, but at least you get some hotel rest every few days, besides sleeping on the plane. Li Yang, though, only gets rest on the plane; his manager hasn’t left him a single free moment."

Song Wan froze, suddenly remembering Hua Yu had once said Li Yang had changed managers.

"Because of his manager?"

It was said that Li Yang and his new manager had a poor relationship. Arranging his schedule like this to give him a hard time made sense.

"Not entirely," Gao Xiang disagreed. "Since Li Yang left Qin Fei, his exposure dropped tenfold. For a celebrity, lack of exposure is the biggest fear. After filming 'Dream of Splendor,' Li Yang hasn’t taken any other jobs and is struggling. Doing these roadshows at least gets him some exposure—it’s tough, but it’s necessary."

Gao Xiang even admired Li Yang’s choice.

But unfortunately, Li Yang had offended President Jin.

"Tsk," Gao Xiang looked at Song Wan, amused. "You really don’t know how lucky you are."

Previously, Song Wan had barely interacted with Li Yang and had forgotten about him altogether. Now that Gao Xiang brought him up, Song Wan remembered the things Li Yang had done.

Including how Li Yang had once tried to subtly seduce Jin Youqian to escape his predicament.

Back then, she only saw Jin Youqian as a potential benefactor and didn’t care much. But now Jin Youqian was her husband, and Song Wan felt strangely...

"Mm, never let Jin Youqian be alone with Li Yang again."