Qiu Qiu knew that participating in the talent show was something he definitely couldn't hide from his parents, but he never expected the news to spread this fast.
He had completely underestimated his own popularity at school. He performed on stage in the afternoon, and by that evening, every student across the entire university district knew that Campus Heartthrob Qiu from University A had successfully advanced to the next round with his rendition of the hit song "Don't Look at Me, I'm Just a Sheep."
He had a major course the next day, taught by Vice Dean Professor Wang. During the fifteen-minute break between the two long class sessions, Professor Wang cheerfully called him up to the front and asked him to sing for everyone.
...Qiu Qiu experienced the same dread he felt as a primary school kid, forced to perform for all the relatives during holidays.
However, Qiu Qiu had strong nerves and never got stage fright. He sang confidently from start to finish, winning a round of enthusiastic applause from the whole class.
Quite a few male students had been waiting for this campus idol to embarrass himself, but some people are just born with maxed-out charm points—even singing a children's song could make the audience swoon.
A girl shouted from the audience, "Qiu Qiu, I want to have a whole litter of Little Grey Wolfs with you!"
Qiu Qiu replied awkwardly, "...But I'm just a sheep."
Someone recorded a short video of this solo performance and posted it on their WeChat Moments with the headline "Shocking! University A's Top Student and Campus Heartthrob Actually Does THIS During a Major Class Instead of Paying Attention..." It spread rapidly among the student body.
Qiu Qiu's uncle saw this video and, being quite the sly one, shared it to the family group chat.
After watching the video, Qiu's Father and Qiu's Mother were indeed "shocked."
I'm Old Qiu: ...Qiuqiu is a campus heartthrob?????
Dong Your Heart: ...Qiuqiu is a top student?????
I'm Old Qiu: Teacher Dong, your son takes after his father, immensely talented and knowledgeable, with a 4.0 GPA. Being a top student is a given.
Dong Your Heart: Teacher Qiu, your son takes after his mother, with a small face, big eyes, long legs, and a slender waist. Who knows how many girls want to marry him.
Shang Shan Ruo Shui: Excellent. This child is destined for greatness.
Qiu Is Autumn's Qiu: (ノへ￣)
This family really knows how to miss the point.
Qiu Qiu was now in the second semester of his junior year, with a heavy course load and many tasks. He had initially been afraid his father would criticize him for neglecting his studies, but Old Qiu didn't care about it at all.
He believed that kids should play and explore more while they have the time. If they don't experience things now, once they start working nine-to-five jobs in the future, when would they ever have time to participate in singing competitions?
As soon as Qiu Qiu entered the house on the weekend, Qiu's Father scrutinized him for a long time, saying his current look was too student-ish, and that he should take him to get a more fashionable haircut to match his campus heartthrob status.
"Something like a 'Mexico Head'—shaved very short on the sides and brushed up, with the hair on top left longer... I see a lot of young guys getting that cut nowadays."
Qiu Qiu followed his father out in a daze.
It wasn't until he was sitting in front of the mirror at the hair salon that he learned it wasn't a "Mexico Head" but a "Mohawk," and the person about to cut his hair wasn't "Teacher Dai" but "Daisy."
Qiu Qiu was severely nearsighted, the kind where he couldn't tell people from animals without his glasses. He rarely went to hair salons because he could never tell if the person standing behind him was a hairstylist or a disfigurement specialist.
An hour later, when he put his glasses back on, he discovered his entire head had been completely refreshed, and the refresh result was a 404 error—page not found.
Daisy enthusiastically asked him if he liked his new hairstyle.
Qiu Qiu: "...I'm feeling a bit square."
"Square? No problem, I'll shave it round for you."
"..."
A perfectly handsome young man had been turned into a kiwi fruit with hair only on top.
When Qiu Qiu returned to school, his classmates laughed, his teachers laughed, even his roommate Da Xiong laughed.
Staff from "The Super New Voice Generation" came to deliver the semi-final competition rules to him and were so shocked upon seeing him their jaws nearly hit the floor.
The person who came today was still the same one in the yellow vest from last time, reportedly a deputy director. Deputy directors sound impressive, but there are actually tons of them in a production crew; they manage everything except the cameras.
This deputy director, specifically in charge of communicating with contestants, was quite polite to him: "...Sheep classmate, you've really sacrificed a lot for the show's effect."
"My surname is Qiu..."
"Sorry, sorry, got it mixed up. It's all because of this hairstyle; it looks too much like 'Lazy Sheep'."
Qiu Qiu was deeply troubled: "Is it really that ugly?"
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. You're a talent-based performer, you rely on skill, not looks."
"..." Qiu Qiu knew the hairstyle was really ugly, so ugly it had transformed him from an idol-type into a talent-type.
They met at a café near the school gate. Unlike the makeshift stage used for the initial auditions, this regional semi-final was taken quite seriously. Winning this round meant qualifying for the regional finals. They belonged to the North China region; the top three from the regional finals would advance to compete with contestants from other regions.
The regional competition format was relatively simple: head-to-head matches to determine the winner. Once it rose to the national level, the variety increased, with things like revival rounds—basically, whatever attracted the most eyeballs (and money).
Qiu Qiu had never paid attention to talent shows before, so this was the first time he had listened carefully to the competition rules from start to finish.
He suddenly understood: "I get it. I'm Bronze now, fighting my way up level by level. If I win, I advance. As I get better and better, I'll become Gold, right?"
The deputy director slapped his thigh: "Exactly! So kids your age also watched 'Saint Seiya'?"
"...I was talking about 'King of GlOry'."
The deputy director was momentarily speechless, but he was thick-skinned and kept chattering on: "The location for this regional semi-final and final is at A City TV Station. We've already rented the studio, the biggest one, which can hold five hundred audience members. That really famous dating show 'Men and Women Collide' is filmed in that very studio."
Qiu Qiu had heard of that show. Teacher Dong watched every single episode without fail, insisting on catching the recorded broadcasts even when she was overseas.
The deputy director said in a tone humble yet laced with bragging: "Lots of production teams want to rent that studio. Originally, we wouldn't have gotten a turn, but who told us we landed a major sponsor? Our Sugar Daddy is especially generous; they paid for the studio." He patted Qiu Qiu's shoulder heavily twice and said, "Young man, although there will be quite a few audience members, don't get nervous, okay? Don't freeze up on stage."
Qiu Qiu said: "I won't be nervous."
The deputy director clearly didn't believe him, thinking the young man was just putting on a brave face.
But how could he know? A University's annual freshman welcome gala is watched by ten thousand students. Having experienced that kind of storm, a mere five hundred spectators couldn't even make a ripple in Qiu Qiu's heart.
They drank coffee for half an hour. Ten minutes were spent explaining the competition format, and the remaining twenty were the deputy director bragging about the golden thigh (big shot/backer) they had latched onto. He said he was a pearl hidden in the dust, and this person had the eye to recognize talent. Now they were joining forces to reach even greater heights.
This golden thigh not only sponsored the show but also went above and beyond, investing extra money and effort into giving them a complete makeover. The production team had now upgraded from a peashooter to a cannon, no longer some obscure, low-budget program.
The assistant director pulled out a thick stack of program introductions and tossed them onto the coffee table, making the sugar jar jump.
Qiu Qiu was so startled by the slogan printed on the cover that his hair practically stood on end.
— "Super New Generation" is proudly sponsored by Enrui Group.
Qiu Qiu still had some self-awareness about being a "sugar baby"—the company founded by his sugar daddy, Fu Ruien, was called Enrui Group.
Qiu Qiu wasn't stupid. He already thought it was strange that he could advance by singing "Don't Look at Me, I'm Just a Sheep." He initially thought the show's standards were just low, but now it seemed the waters were much murkier than that!
Qiu Qiu asked timidly, "...Brother Assistant Director, how much does it cost to sponsor this show..."
"Not much, not much, just twenty million."
"..."
"Given our show's potential, it's totally worth it!"
"..."
After the director left, Qiu Qiu called his sugar daddy with a woeful expression.
The call connected quickly.
"Qiu Qiu, what's the matter?"
Qiu Qiu asked bluntly, yet cryptically, "...Daddy, besides that 50,000 yuan guitar, do I owe you another twenty million now?"
Fu Ruien paused for a few seconds before replying calmly, "No."
Qiu Qiu's face lit up with joy: Thank goodness, thank goodness. So Daddy splashing cash on this bizarre show wasn't for him after all.
Fu Ruien: "Offline promotions and online packaging required an additional ten million."
Qiu Qiu: "...???"
With his debt skyrocketing from 50,000 to 30.05 million, Qiu Qiu cried into the phone, saying he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
Fu Ruien seemed quite pleased with this outcome: "Perfect timing for sleeplessness. Think of me more."
"..."
After hanging up, Qiu Qiu was panicking internally. If he were sold by the pound, he'd be worth over 200,000 yuan per pound now.
Anxiously, he sent Fu Ruien a WeChat message.
Qiu Qiu: Daddy, you really are wealthy and powerful...
Fu Ruien: No, I'm wealthy and well-endowed.
Qiu Qiu stared at the words on his phone, his face burning with embarrassment—he actually understood that dirty joke now. He must have been corrupted by his sugar daddy.
