After finishing his scenes for this sequence, Jiang Sheli turned around and surveyed the set. The actor playing the assassin was standing right beside him and asked, « Jiang-ge, what are you looking for? »

« Nothing. » Jiang Sheli withdrew his gaze and replied casually.

Zhu Huai had finished his scenes, but Jiang Sheli had not yet completed his own. He still had to contend with the assassin. He had always been meticulous and serious about acting, and would not allow himself to be distracted by his surroundings. By the time he finished filming and looked around again, the young man who had wrapped up his scenes had already disappeared, and no one knew where he had gone.

Jiang Sheli went to one side to rest. Remembering what he had done while filming just now, he furrowed his brows slightly.

He had promised himself that he would not let Zhu Huai develop the bad habit of passively slipping into character, yet in the end, he still could not resist giving him a helping hand.

However, there would be no more opportunities in the future. He would not accept any more television dramas, and Zhu Huai’s acting skills were not good enough for the films he participated in, so there was no chance he would be invited to join the cast. The probability of them appearing on the same stage was zero.

The fingers of Jiang Sheli’s right hand unconsciously tapped the back of his left hand.

Why did Zhu Huai have to lack acting talent?

Shen Jingjing happened to pass in front of him, and Jiang Sheli hurriedly called out to her. « Excuse me, where has Zhu Huai gone? »

Shen Jingjing blinked several times. It took her a moment to realize that Jiang Sheli was asking her. A flush of excitement suddenly spread across her face, and she pointed outside. « Some fans came to visit the set. He went out to see them. »

At this, Jiang Sheli furrowed his brows a little more tightly. « Thank you. »

Shen Jingjing watched Jiang Sheli walk in the direction Zhu Huai had left. Once he was out of sight, she opened the QQ group chat.

【I’m Jingjing: I’ve just witnessed real romance!!】

*

Zhu Huai arrived at the place the staff had mentioned and, sure enough, saw three young women waiting there. Each held up a small fan banner bearing a chibi-style drawing of him.

Zhu Huai smiled faintly and walked toward them.

The three girls lowered their heads and whispered among themselves. « Have you prepared everything? »

« Yes! I filled an entire pen with it! »

« Don’t worry. Even if the staff catch us, we can just say the pen leaked. That way, we can still get in next time. »

« He’s here, he’s here… »

Zhu Huai stopped in front of them, looked into their eyes, and asked with a smile, « Have you been waiting long? »

Fan A said, « Not at all! No matter how long we have to wait, it’s worth it as long as we get to see you, gege! »

Fan B added, « You’ve worked hard, gege! »

Zhu Huai replied, « It’s no trouble. Do you live in this city? »

« No, we came all the way from City B… » Fan A had not finished speaking when her friend gave her a discreet nudge with her elbow. The girl speaking shut her mouth sheepishly.

Zhu Huai noticed their little exchange, but his smile remained unchanged.

« Um… » Fan C, who had not spoken until then, asked nervously, « Gege, could you give us your autograph? »

Zhu Huai readily agreed. « Of course. Where would you like me to sign? »

The three girls were beside themselves with excitement. Fan B said, « On the banners! I brought a pen! »

She took an ordinary ballpoint pen out of her backpack and held it out to Zhu Huai. Just as he was about to take it, the girl suddenly gripped the cap and pulled it straight off. Black ink burst from the tip like a jet of liquid, yet it did not spray everywhere.

That was because, at the very instant the girl moved, Zhu Huai had sensed that something was wrong and grabbed the pen’s tip first!

Black liquid coated his entire palm. The excess ink trickled from the base of his hand down toward his elbow, then fell drop by drop to the ground, bursting into black flowers.

The three girls had not expected him to be prepared. The sudden turn of events left them pale with fright, and all three froze.

The smile disappeared from Zhu Huai’s face. He took the tampered pen from the girl’s hand and said calmly, « Although I don’t know which celebrity you are fans of, or why you hate me so much, this already counts as an assault on an artist. I can report this to the police. »

The three girls turned even paler. One of them said weakly, « The pen just leaked! »

Zhu Huai lowered his eyelids. « You are not worthy of being anyone’s fans. »

« What nonsense are you talking about?! Since when do you get to judge how people follow celebrities? »

« Being your fan must be miserable, right? »

« Do you even know what it means to be a fan and have an idol? Hah, of course you don’t. You don’t even have any fans! »

Zhu Huai fell silent for a few seconds before slowly replying, « Fans are the arms supporting their idols from behind, not bullets charging into battle. Your battlefield is behind your idol. All you need to do is wave the flags and cheer them on, becoming the engine that drives them forward. What happens on the front line is the artist’s responsibility. You don’t need to go out there and act as a human shield.

« It’s true that I don’t understand fans. I’ve never been a fan of any celebrity. But my fans only need to stand behind me and be proud of me. When people ask them about it, they should be able to hold their heads high and say that I’m their idol. I don’t want my fans to get caught up in the grudges and rivalries between artists while the artists themselves hide behind their fans and reap the benefits without lifting a finger.

« Being my fan is already tiring enough. I only want to make them a little happier. Why should I make them do unnecessary things as well? »

The three girls stood rooted to the spot, speechless.

Was being a fan exhausting?

Sometimes it was, but more often than not, it was a source of happiness.

When were they happiest? When their idol’s work received recognition, when he made a new breakthrough in some field, or when he achieved impressive results… Those were the moments that made them happy, moments when they could hardly wait to proclaim to the entire world how wonderful the person they supported was.

Those were achievements their idols had earned through their own hard work, achievements everyone could see, rather than something fans simply celebrated among themselves within their own fandom. That was what made them proudest.

An idol was the light that illuminated the lives of fans, while fans were the generators behind their idols. To be a good fan meant supporting an idol wholeheartedly without resorting to underhanded tricks or doing anything unnecessary.

Likewise, an outstanding idol would never push fans to the front lines and make them get caught up in the cesspool of rivalries between artists.

Fan A asked, « So you knew from the very beginning that we weren’t your fans? »

« Yes. » Zhu Huai nodded and lightly tapped the corner of his eye with a fingertip. « When you look at me, there’s no light in your eyes. »

The three girls fell silent.

Jiang Sheli had been watching from a distance for quite some time. Only after everyone had stopped speaking did he slowly walk over. « What happened? »

The group was surprised to see Jiang Sheli. The three girls first flushed red with excitement, then immediately turned pale with unease. Their eyes kept drifting, almost imperceptibly, toward the ink-covered hand in which Zhu Huai was holding the ballpoint pen.

Zhu Huai answered in an even tone, « These young ladies came to see me, but the pen they brought for my autograph leaked. »

A trace of disbelief appeared in all three girls’ eyes. Zhu Huai was actually covering for them? Wasn’t he going to take this opportunity to report them?

Jiang Sheli asked, « Is that so? »

Zhu Huai still smiled. « Yes. » Then he turned to the girls and said, « You should go back now. »

The three girls looked at one another. In the end, they nudged one another along and left. Fan A, in particular, seemed unable to believe Zhu Huai and even turned back for another glance.

Once they had all left, Zhu Huai asked, « What brought you here? »

Jiang Sheli replied, « I prepared a wrap gift for you. I was afraid you might leave before I could find you, so I put it in the lounge. Shall we go get it now? »

Zhu Huai was somewhat surprised that Jiang Sheli had come all this way specifically to tell him this, and there was even a gift. He was delighted and pleasantly surprised. « Really? Thank you! »

The two went to Jiang Sheli’s private lounge, where his assistant was keeping an eye on his backpack.

Jiang Sheli took a carefully wrapped box out of the bag. Zhu Huai knew the gift was expensive as soon as he saw the logo on the box.

Jiang Sheli handed it to him. « Open it and have a look. »

In fact, Zhu Huai already knew what it was without opening it. It was the latest men’s watch from a major luxury brand, priced in the seven figures. Its design was simple and elegant, suitable both for public appearances and everyday wear. Tiny diamonds were set into the strap, glittering brilliantly under the lights.

When the watch was first available for preorder, Zhu Huai had visited the official website again and again to look at it, but he had never been able to bring himself to add it to his shopping cart. After all, his current financial situation did not allow him to indulge in such extravagance.

« This! This one! » Zhu Huai was so excited that his eyes lit up. « This is really expensive! »

« Do you like it? »

« Of course I do! » Zhu Huai answered without the slightest hesitation. But he quickly composed himself, pushed the watch back toward Jiang Sheli, and said, « However, it’s far too valuable. I can’t accept it. Jiang-ge, if you really want to give me a present, get me something less expensive. »

Jiang Sheli did not take it back. « The most important thing about giving a gift is choosing something that truly touches the recipient’s heart. The price doesn’t matter. Besides… » He pushed the watch back toward Zhu Huai and added, « I’m the brand ambassador, so I get a discount. It didn’t cost that much. »

Now that Jiang Sheli had put it that way, Zhu Huai had no reason to keep refusing. He began carefully considering what kind of gift he should give Jiang Sheli when the latter finished filming.

After leaving the set of The Disloyal Minister, Zhu Huai temporarily had no work scheduled. The only thing on his calendar was a small indoor variety show to be streamed online the following month, titled Indoor Games with Xiao Wang and Xiao Huai.

Variety shows were all the rage these days, and investors from every direction wanted to get a share of the profits. All kinds of programs were appearing online in endless succession. According to rumors, Indoor Games with Xiao Wang and Xiao Huai had received its funding through the casual investment of some wealthy businessman’s son, who had paid little attention to managing it. Since the show was small, the celebrities it invited were naturally not particularly famous. Most were internet personalities or newly debuted entertainers hoping to make themselves known. Its viewing figures were not particularly good, either. Yet, with powerful capitalists backing it, the show had somehow managed to air continuously for an entire year.

Zhu Huai used his free time to catch up on all the previous episodes. He fell asleep twice in the middle, and his mind wandered off three times. The show was, quite simply, incredibly boring.

As its title suggested, it consisted of inviting a group of people to play games indoors: various obstacle-course challenges, men and women competing in pairs to burst balloons, everyone trying to remember song lyrics, and even karaoke singing competitions. Every game was something that had gone out of fashion many years ago. Compared with hugely popular variety shows such as A Beautiful Life, which let participants experience the peaceful simplicity of rural living, and A Day with My Idol, which followed ordinary people spending a wonderful, romantic day with a superstar, Indoor Games had absolutely nothing to recommend it.

Perhaps grandparents would enjoy it, but unfortunately, they did not go online.

After finishing the episodes, Zhu Huai rubbed his face. The script for the variety show had not arrived yet, and he had no idea what kind of bizarre, supposedly brilliant game they would come up with next month.

The internet-addicted young man, Zhu Huai, took out his phone and played two more rounds of a game. After thinking for a moment, he went to Server Six and created a small alternate account. Once he had left the beginner village, he immediately searched for the ID Lijiang.

The player was offline.

He then checked the major leaderboards on Server Six. As expected, Lijiang’s name appeared on every one of them, just as he had anticipated.

Once a beginner reached level twenty, they could send mail. Zhu Huai left Lijiang a message, explaining in broad terms that he wanted to invite him to participate in the Heroes’ Cup. He also included his secondary WeChat account.

Just as he was preparing to log off, he suddenly noticed that the world chat channel had become lively. A succession of shrill groundhog-like screams seemed to rush past. Zhu Huai paused for a moment, then opened the chat to take a look.

【System: Meng Xingyu, ambassador of Sword Shadow Jianghu Mobile Game, has arrived on this server! Come out and give him a warm welcome!】

[World] Luoluo: ???? Is that really him? Is it actually the real person? Meng Xingyu, I love you!!!!

[World] Su Xiaomeng: What the hell?? Isn’t Meng Xingyu on Server One? Why has he transferred here?

[World] Strawberry Pudding: My guess is that it has something to do with Nurse Bai Xiaomeng from our server mocking him during his last livestream.

[World] Box: Is there drama? Let me in on it!

[World] Meng Xingyu V: [Voice message] Hello, everyone. I’m new here, so please take good care of me.

[World] Bai Xiaomeng: Heh.

Quite a few people had watched Meng Xingyu’s livestream that day and knew about the feud between him and Bai Xiaomeng. Her appearance only intensified everyone’s enthusiasm for the drama, and passers-by and fans quickly became embroiled in a chaotic argument.

Zhu Huai slowly furrowed his brows. Why wasn’t Meng Xingyu staying on Server One, where he could enjoy his position as ambassador? What was he doing running wild on Server Six?

The world chat continued.

[World] Strawberry Pudding: Baby, what did you come to Server Six for???

[World] Meng Xingyu V: [Voice message] I came to apologize to Bai Xiaomeng. My fans insulted you last time, and I’m sorry about that.

[World] Bai Xiaomeng: ???

[World] Bai Xiaomeng: Not necessary. Just keep your own dogs under control, and that’s all!

Bai Xiaomeng really was bold and fearless, not at all afraid of offending anyone. Zhu Huai admired her.

Sure enough, as soon as Bai Xiaomeng sent that message, the world chat channel immediately became filthy and chaotic. Just then, Meng Xingyu sent another message. This time, he did not send a voice recording but typed out his words, making sure everyone on the server could read them clearly.

[World] Meng Xingyu V: Bai Xiaomeng, would you be willing to form a team with Lijiang and me to participate in the second Heroes’ Cup?

The chaotic world chat channel fell abruptly silent. A few seconds later…

[World] Bai Xiaomeng: ????

[World] World’s Melon-eaters: ???? (NT: people watching from the sidelines)

Zhu Huai: ????????????

--

The author has something to say:

Zhu Huai: So he’s trying to poach my people right from under my nose now, is he?

As for that matter, what I have written about the relationship between fans and artists is merely my personal opinion. Please do not flame me for it~

Also, this story contains quite a bit about gaming. Since I am a gaming enthusiast myself, I could not resist indulging my own preferences and including some of it. If you do not like this aspect, please let me know.

 

Translator : DarNan