"Qiusuo, you guys met today! You didn't even invite me to the press conference!"
Ye Qiusuo had just arrived home when Rong Shiyun called, asking excitedly.
At first, she didn't realize who 'you guys' referred to, but on second thought, there was only one person who could make Rong Shiyun this excited.
"Yeah, we had dinner together after the live stream. What would you have come for?"
"I..." Rong Shiyun's voice grew lower and lower, "To see Xie Xi, of course."
She couldn't possibly be going to watch the press conference; she wouldn't understand a thing anyway.
"When do you start work?" Ye Qiusuo didn't continue the topic.
"In a few days. My mentor has already been taking me around for visits." Hearing her question, Rong Shiyun restrained her earlier excitement. "When I officially start, I'll treat you to dinner."
"Okay."
...
"Get out!"
Wan Yurou pointed at the door, telling her assistant to leave. As soon as the door closed, she swept her hand across the table, smashing all the cosmetics to the floor.
"This is a film set, there are still people outside. Tone it down a bit," her manager reminded her as he pushed the door open and looked at the mess on the floor.
During the New Year, "Red Ear" blew up, and the second female lead became an overnight sensation. Now, many big productions and endorsements were seeking out the actress who played her.
It should be known that the second female lead of "Red Ear" was originally supposed to be played by Wan Yurou. The director had clearly stated that he favored her the most, but he went back on his word at the last minute. The role was snatched away by a rookie from Huayun Culture, and now that rookie was famous.
From the time the movie aired until now, Wan Yurou had been holding back her resentment.
Recently, she had taken on the female lead role for a major director. Today was supposed to be the day they bought trending searches and coordinated with marketing accounts. However, because of Tianqiu Technology's press conference, the spokesperson Xie Xi thoroughly captured everyone's attention, along with that Ye Qiusuo.
The netizens' attention was entirely drawn to them, and her popularity couldn't be salvaged at all.
The rookie was from Huayun, and Xie Xi went without saying—he was Huayun Culture's most important artist. Wan Yurou absolutely hated this company; she felt like they were her natural nemesis.
"It shouldn't be like this. The one who got famous should have been me!" Wan Yurou couldn't calm down at all. Subconsciously, she always felt that all of this was originally hers, but reality proved otherwise.
"Alright, that role was a long time ago. There's nothing we can do now that she's famous; the movie has already aired. As for the trending searches, once Xie Xi makes an appearance, no one can compete with him." The manager stepped around the pile of shattered cosmetics on the floor and found a chair to sit down. "I'll find an opportunity to promote you in a while. I came to see you today because I have a variety show for you."
"A variety show?" Wan Yurou said in annoyance. "I want to act."
The manager smiled. "Aren't you acting right now? You're the female lead for a big director. The director of that show is Zheng Longju. She's been a good friend of mine for years. If you go, she'll help you establish a good persona."
Wan Yurou finally calmed down.
Zheng Longju had a huge reputation in the industry, and public opinion of her was extremely polarized.
With just one show, she could determine a celebrity's 'life or death' through post-production and editing.
There was once a star on the verge of making it big who, because of her editing, was cyberbullied by the entire internet. It got so bad that they almost left the entertainment industry, unable to even maintain normal appearances, and later stayed at a third- or fourth-tier level just to earn a living.
There were also stars plagued by scandals and dark histories who regained the audience's affection because of her.
"What kind of variety show is it? Who else is participating besides me?"
"It's a puzzle-solving detective variety show. For Zheng Longju's program, the celebrities who can get on are definitely all A-listers," the manager affirmed.
Wan Yurou was pleased by the word 'A-listers' from her manager's mouth, and her mood improved a bit. "I'll participate."
The manager nodded in satisfaction, pulled a tissue, and stood up. He then bent down, gathered some of the spilled liquid and powder from the floor, and reached out to smear it on one side of Wan Yurou's arm and thigh.
Wan Yurou instinctively tried to dodge, but the manager pulled her back and coated her thoroughly.
Afterward, the manager went out. When he opened the door, the assistant was still standing there.
"Go find the stage manager. Tell them Yurou fainted from low blood sugar and accidentally knocked over the cosmetics on the table. We will compensate for the damages."
The assistant peeked carefully into the dressing room and then agreed, "Yes."
The next day, the news of Wan Yurou fainting on set due to low blood sugar spread like wildfire, successfully making it onto the trending searches.
...
The big star Xie Xi waited an entire day before finally seeing the Xie-Ye ship videos released by the fan editors. Excitedly, he first retweeted them using his alt account, and then slowly watched them one by one.
The first one was incredibly exquisite and even had a storyline. The subsequent ones were also not bad.
There was one about him secretly having a crush on Ye Qiusuo. It used the footage of him sitting in the audience looking at Ye Qiusuo, paired with inner monologues from movies and TV shows. It couldn't be more vivid. Then came a flashback using the clip of them sitting in the audience, taking off and putting on the watch.
Xie Xi felt touched just watching it.
Later on, there was a video about Ye Qiusuo secretly having a crush on him. This time, it started with the video of him standing on stage and Ye Qiusuo in the audience, and then added a scene from his music video a few years ago where he was playing basketball in a blue and white school uniform. Probably because there was too little footage of Ye Qiusuo, this video creator directly used face-swapping technology to replace the face of a female lead sitting on the bleachers in a campus drama with Ye Qiusuo's face without glasses.
The young female lead secretly loved the male lead on campus. Later, they entered society; the male lead joined the entertainment industry and became a singer, while the female lead worked hard, climbing up step by step until she finally became a big boss. The two had no interaction for many years. Occasionally, the female lead would stop on the street, looking up at the big star on the LED screen. She would also support him on his birthday, buying up all the advertising spaces on the street to display messages wishing him a happy birthday and everyday happiness.
When the male lead became a top-tier star in the entertainment industry, the female lead's company had already become the most awesome technology company in the country. Any celebrity who could endorse her company would instantly be elevated to a higher tier than others. One day, the company needed a new spokesperson and held a press conference. In the conference room, the big boss strongly recommended the male lead. Finally, the two met at the press conference, except one was standing on stage, while the other, wearing gold-rimmed glasses with silver chains and already a successful woman, sat in the audience. The person on stage thought it was just business, but the person in the audience was full of deep affection.
As Xie Xi watched, he blushed, feeling a slight bitterness in his heart, as if he could truly feel the emotions of a long unrequited love.
Just as he wanted to keep watching, the screen suddenly went black, and a line of text appeared: To be continued. There's really no more footage, the creator can't edit any further.
Xie Xi: "..." So annoying. He wanted to see what happened next.
The comments section was going even crazier.
[Holy crap, this storyline is so complete. A tiny bit of sugar mixed in with countless glass shards.]
[This is so good to ship! I love this, it's both angsty and sweet, sob sob sob, I bet it's definitely a happy ending.]
[A bad ending isn't impossible either, just an unrequited love with no end.]
[Fuck! How is the creator so good at editing? I want to see the rest!!!]
[Are there any talented authors writing a fanfic for this? Ten thousand people are begging for a written ending.]
[Ten thousand people +1]
When Xie Xi scrolled to this comment, he used his alt account to retweet and comment: [Ten thousand people +2]
Up until this point, Xie Xi's mood was quite pleasant, but when he saw the last video, he became unhappy.
Because... someone actually edited a love triangle! And the ending wasn't him and Professor Ye together!
That uploader probably preferred Lu Minglang. She edited the press conference footage over and over again. By using slow motion and various other techniques, she managed to cut the video down to two minutes. There were three main characters in total: him, Ye Qiusuo, and Lu Minglang.
The superstar Xie's face darkened. Tapping his phone screen, he deleted the forwarded video.
This kind of video editing was terrible!
...
Once the New Year passed, time seemed to fly by. Ye Qiusuo had to start mentoring students again and occasionally teach classes.
She was doing alright; she only had to teach small classes to her few students, so her schedule was quite flexible.
On the contrary, Rong Shiyun had been coming over quite often lately. She would take advantage of the lunch break to eat with her and ask for advice on how to mentor students.
"Just explain the key points clearly," Ye Qiusuo said as she took out her old lesson preparation notes from her bag and pushed them over. "Our majors are different, but the purpose of a teacher's lecture is the same: to impart knowledge. You can take this and have a look."
Rong Shiyun put the notes away and slumped on the table. "It's not that I can't teach. I try my best to cut down on my rambling, but I just always feel like the students think I have no authority."
Rong Shiyun was in her early twenties, not much older than those college students. Plus, she loved to joke around normally, so when she stood on the podium, she didn't look like a teacher at all.
Speaking of this, Rong Shiyun looked up at Ye Qiusuo with envy.
At the same age, Ye Qiusuo could make people overlook how old she was; the deepest impression she left was only those calm, quiet eyes.
"There are plenty of teachers who mingle well with their students." Ye Qiusuo didn't think there was anything wrong with Rong Shiyun. "No one is used to teaching at the very beginning. You'll be fine after a while."
"I hope so." Now that Rong Shiyun had found a job, she wasn't as dispirited anymore. She sat up and started chattering again. "What have you been up to lately? Is the company holding another press conference? Has Zai Zai shot the endorsement?"
Ye Qiusuo: "...No."
Rong Shiyun put her hands together in a pleading gesture. "When he shoots the endorsement, you'll definitely go watch, right? Take me with you, please?"
Professor Ye frowned. "There are designated people in charge of his endorsement shoot. I don't manage that."
Rong Shiyun put on a serious face. "Qiusuo, this is where you're wrong. As the boss of Tianqiu Technology, you should attach importance to your very first spokesperson. Besides, the number of brands Xixi has endorsed over the years can be counted on one hand. Since he's shooting an endorsement for you, you should go see it even more. Only then can you experience the good atmosphere of cooperation between both parties."
Ye Qiusuo: "..."
"Furthermore, from another perspective, he is also the investor for your project. Are you really not going to visit him on set?" Rong Shiyun advised earnestly.
"I'll ask him tonight when the shoot is," Ye Qiusuo finally relented helplessly.
Rong Shiyun instantly became excited and even ate an extra bowl of rice.
...
These past few days, whenever Xie Xi came home and had some free time, he would project that secret crush fan-made video onto the big screen. The uploader's editing was exquisite and their skills were superb. At first, when Zhang Dong leaned over to watch it for the first time, he was shocked. If he hadn't been following Xie Xi around all year round, he would have almost believed it.
By now, Zhang Dong had grown numb to watching it, but his Brother Xi still watched it with great relish. It was a good thing that all the reality show cameras in the house had been dismantled; otherwise, playing it like this would let the whole world know that the idol himself was shipping his own ship.
"Brother Xi, you're going to shoot the Tianqiu Technology endorsement the day after tomorrow. Maybe you'll get to see Professor Ye." Zhang Dong tried hard to attract the attention of Xie Xi, who was lying on the sofa looking heartbroken after watching the video.
Xie Xi said listlessly, "The endorsement shoot is at the advertising agency's venue, not at Tianqiu. How are we supposed to meet?"
Especially since after Xie Xi finished copying that calligraphy practice book, Ye Qiusuo told him he could just practice it repeatedly. The two of them hadn't seen each other for over two weeks.
