Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Xing Shi didn’t receive the company’s arrangement but first got a call from his father.

He looked at the incoming call display, picked up a cup to drink some water, and pressed to answer.

“Xing Shi, I saw you trending on social media,” Director He said cautiously.

Xing Shi listened carefully to the other party's voice and responded with a brief “Yeah.”

“Are you one of those trainees now? You know, like an idol trainee?” Director He asked.

Xing Shi gave another brief “Yeah.”

Director He tried to interpret these short responses and asked more cautiously, “Is the training too much for you?”

“It’s bearable,” Xing Shi replied.

“Make sure to rest and don’t stay up late,” Director He said.

“Mhm,” Xing Shi responded.

Director He paused for a moment. “I’ll be doing a roadshow in City Z this Saturday. Should I save you a seat?”

“Sure, that works,” Xing Shi agreed.

“If you want to bring a friend, that’s fine too. Just let me know in advance, and I’ll arrange it,” Director He added.

Reminded by his management to maintain his public image, Xing Shi said, “Got it, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Director He quickly agreed and hung up the phone but remained standing still.

The deputy director, having known him for years, knew that Xing Shi wasn’t someone to be easily controlled. Now, without anyone noticing, he had become a trainee.

With their connections, if their child wanted to enter the entertainment industry, why would he start as a trainee when he could have taken shortcuts?

Their son, Xing Shi, was incredibly independent. He refused to take a single cent from his father, and he entered the entertainment industry on his own terms, only making headlines when he started trending online.

The deputy director stepped forward and asked, “What did he say?”

Director He didn’t respond.

The deputy director walked around to his front, seeing a somewhat dazed expression on his face, and his heart skipped a beat. “What’s wrong?”

“He didn’t argue or mock me. His tone was completely normal,” Director He said, as if in a dream.

The deputy director hissed and exchanged a glance with him. “Do you think… after all this time in the spotlight, he’s finally growing up?”

Half convinced, half doubtful, Director He took his phone back to his seat and started looking at the trending posts.

The assistant, totally smitten with Xing Shi’s looks, leaned in. “Director He, is that your son? He’s absolutely gorgeous! Can you get me an autograph photo?”

Director He felt pleased. “I’ll ask him.”

The assistant returned, satisfied, and noticed that Qi Changyi had woken up and was also scrolling through the trending posts. “Hey, this is the video that made him famous,” she said, pointing at the screen.

Qi Changyi nodded, focusing intently on Xing Shi's fan video, a smile tugging at his lips.

"This kid actually made it into the entertainment industry and even signed with my company. It's karma."

After finishing his meal, Xing Shi headed to the leisure area on the third floor.

He slumped into the sofa and pulled out his phone.

The trainees were grinning from ear to ear, practically floating on air.

Some of them had come here, while the rest went to the practice rooms, but they were all doing the same thing—scrolling through Weibo and happily screenshotting comments that praised them.

They were good enough for a school event, but from an industry insider’s point of view, they were nothing special.

At first, they thought that even if someone filmed and posted a video online, getting over a thousand reposts would already be impressive. The filming wasn't great, and there was no fancy camera work—just an ordinary performance. But somehow, it blew up on the trending list.

Of course, they knew the hype wasn’t because of their dancing but the visuals of a few individuals, especially Xing Shi, whose looks were the main attraction online.

They were jealous but also excited and nervous about what the company would decide.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long before staff from the training department, artist management, and public relations arrived.

In the afternoon, classes were canceled, and everyone registered their personal accounts.

Then, they had their makeup done and took photos for their first post.

The company's official account would post a summary on Weibo, China's popular social media platform, and individually highlight the top five most popular people from the trending topics, making it easier for fans to find their favorites.

Everyone was buzzing with activity.

Xing Shi's hair color had reverted after washing it the day before, so he had to dye it again before starting the makeup.

But his good features meant the makeup process was quick.

The stylist stared at his face and remarked, "Come back in a couple of days, and I’ll bleach your hair. I’ll do a light gold or pastel purple—it’ll look killer."

Xing Shi didn’t care much about his hair color and just said sure, then headed to the photography studio for a photoshoot.

When Fu Xiuning arrived, Xing Shi’s set of photos had just finished.

Xing Shi noticed him and greeted him with a smile, "Boss."

Fu Xiuning nodded, glancing at him. His outfit and hairstyle were similar to the day before. Fu Xiuning guessed that the others were styled the same way so people could easily match them to the video.

Xing Shi asked, "Boss, is there something you need here?"

Fu Xiuning replied, "I saw the trending topic and came down for a walk."

He then asked, "What are you guys doing next?"

Xing Shi said, "Waiting to post on Weibo together."

Fu Xiuning said, "Come take a walk with me."

He was just making a quick round, and after checking things out for a bit, he considered it done.

The area was quite chaotic, so the two found a quiet spot.

Fu Xiuning asked, "Now that you’re trending, what do you think about it?"

Xing Shi looked serious and said, "I'm grateful for the company's cultivation."

Fu Xiuning looked at him and asked, "What's the real deal?"

Xing Shi said, "Not really."

Fu Xiuning asked pointedly, "Haven't you thought about debuting while this heat is still high?"

Xing Shi sincerely replied, "No, I've only been training for a short while and still have a lot to learn. One shouldn't get too full of oneself; it's important to stay grounded."

Fu Xiuning's expression was gentle, and he was about to praise him when someone ran over.

Yu Yi, looking excited and sounding cheerful, shouted, "Xing Shi!"

He called out, then suddenly noticed Fu Xiuning and stopped short. He politely greeted him before glancing at Xing Shi.

Xing Shi waved and asked, "What's going on?"

Yu Yi took two steps and reached him, sharing the good news. "I heard from the teacher that after the company posts on Weibo, my idol will share it."

Xing Shi, who shared a dorm with him, knew that Yu Yi's idol was Qi Changyi and congratulated him, "Nice, you'll be featured alongside your idol."

Yu Yi was happy, "Yeah!"

The system felt troubled and said, "Figures."

Xing Shi said, "Whether he looks or not, what does it matter? I'm trending, and even my dad knows now."

The system sighed, "True, your hot search was quite sudden."

Fu Xiuning, noticing they had stopped talking, asked Yu Yi, "Your idol is Qi Changyi?"

Yu Yi, holding back in front of Fu Xiuning, honestly replied, "Yes."

Fu Xiuning, glancing at Xing Shi from the corner of his eye and adopting a good-boss attitude, said, "Qi Changyi will be making a public appearance in Z City this weekend. I'll have him come to the company to see you all."

Xing Shi: "..."

The system: "..."

Both the person and the system fell silent for a moment, then Xing Shi threw out a single word to the system, "Check."

The system quickly checked and said with sorrow, "It's the movie your father produced; he's the lead actor!"

Fu Xiuning's face was calm.

Nice, things are falling into place.

He had been wanting to investigate Xing Shi's father recently. The original plan was to take Xing Shi to meet the cast and crew on the day of Qi Changyi's public appearance. By then, as insiders, if they were lucky, someone might recognize Xing Shi. If not, it was fine too. Qi Changyi was popular, and Xing Shi and the system might chat about related topics, eventually leading to a discussion about his father.

Now he could make a new plan because he had already gotten the answer.

He was somewhat surprised that Xing Shi's father was He Fengbo. This renowned genius director, famous both domestically and internationally, had produced award-winning films and launched several rising star actors and actresses.

As the system said, it would be a minute's work for him to make Xing Shi popular.

So the relationship between Xing Shi and Qi Changyi became clear.

Qi Changyi's aunt, who is Director He's wife, is Xing Shi's stepmother.

The system regretted, "I should have done more research."

Their mechanism only allows them to access the host's memories after binding to them in this world.

The original owner had no idea about his stepmother's connection to Qi Changyi; otherwise, he wouldn't have signed with June Culture Media.

The system and Xing Shi knew because they accidentally discovered it when Xing Shi was reviewing the original owner's family connections and Xing Shi wanted to go over their social relations.

The system doesn't proactively check unfamiliar information; it only does so when the host instructs it or when there's a need.

At that time, the host had asked it to look into Qi Changyi, but upon learning that he was very busy every day, it didn't pay much attention. After all, the chances of a meeting between a top star and an und debut trainee were very slim.

And since Xing Shi only planned to meet Director He at the roadshow and didn’t intend to mention that he was a trainee, he didn’t bother checking the movie's details, which led to the unfortunate encounter.

"What are the odds?" it mused. "Isn't Yu Yi a huge fan, and don't Feng Zifan and the others love movies? None of them brought it up. Have they been practicing so much that they're out of touch?"

Xing Shi recalled, "It seems someone mentioned that Director He's new movie is about to be released."

The system painfully said, "But they didn't say Qi Changyi was starring in it."

Xing Shi said, "It doesn't matter, we'll meet eventually."

He added, "Remember to remind me tonight to unblock all the keywords related to Director He from the blocked lists on various platforms."

Otherwise, he would have come across some news on his phone recently.

The system agreed and asked, "Do you think it's possible that your stepmother never mentioned you to Qi Changyi?"

Xing Shi said, "I hope not."

The original owner didn't hold any grudges against his stepmother; she and Director He started dating after his mother passed away, which was a normal relationship.

His main conflict was with his father, whose crazy antics had affected his stepmother as well.

Given the strained family dynamics, his stepmother was likely concerned, and since Qi Changyi was close to his aunt, he probably didn't think too highly of him if he heard about the situation.

The system comforted, "It's okay, if he tries to make things difficult for you, we still have Executive Fu."

Xing Shi said, "With this -6?"

The system said, "Maybe if he treats you unfairly, Executive Fu will feel the need to protect you and realize his feelings for you!"

Xing Shi ignored it, and Fu Xiuning pretended not to hear.

Yu Yi didn't stick around for long and left quickly, leaving the two of them to chat casually. They stayed until all the other trainees finished their shoots before parting ways.

The next day was Monday, and Xing Shi had morning classes.

He met Lin Kecheng on campus.

Lin Kecheng had also seen the trending topics from the day before and noticed that they had activated their personal accounts, with Xing Shi gaining the most followers.

He wanted to capitalize on the buzz, "Let's take a selfie. I'll post it on Weibo saying I organized the school anniversary and tag you, and you can retweet it."

Xing Shi said, "No, our accounts are managed by the company; we're not allowed to post randomly."

Not wanting to hear the rest of Senior Lin's idea, he said, "Senior, I have a question."

Lin Kecheng nodded. "Go ahead."

Xing Shi looked puzzled. "Fu Xiuning still hasn't changed his mind, but your rating is much higher than mine. Why didn't he recruit you into the company? Is there something I don't know about this?"

He bluntly said, "We are allies. If you've offended him and keep asking me to help you like this, you're putting me in a bad spot."

Lin Kecheng thought to himself, *Are our ratings even the same concept? Your -8 favorability must be messed up!*

He calmly said, "...You're overthinking it."

Xing Shi asked, "Then why?"

Lin Kecheng replied, "Every company has its own direction. Maybe my style isn't a fit."

Xing Shi reasoned, "If that's true, you might as well give up!"

Lin Kecheng: "..."

That’s why he couldn’t stand idiots.

Sometimes, people just didn’t know how to talk.

He knew nothing would come of today, so he let the fool walk away and asked the system, "Qi Changyi is coming to Z City this Saturday, right?"

The system replied, "Correct."

Just to be safe, it checked the arrival time again in case of any flight changes and said, "They've rescheduled. They'll arrive Friday evening!"

Xing Shi was unaware of this.

Since they were bound to meet anyway, he didn’t bother having the system monitor it.

He stuck to his routine of classes and training, and on Wednesday, he took some time to see his stylist. After bleaching his hair, he waited 48 hours before dyeing it on Friday.

That's when Fu Xiuning's message came in: "Have you eaten?"

Xing Shi glanced at it and replied, "Not yet."

Fu Xiuning: "Come find me in the parking lot. I'll take you to pick someone up and grab a meal."

Xing Shi: "Okay!"

He hurriedly said goodbye to the stylist, went downstairs, and as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he saw Fu Xiuning. He flashed a grin. "Boss~"

Fu Xiuning looked over, and his pupils suddenly shrank.

"Beep"

"Current favorability: -4"