Boss, He Is Chasing Stars Again Chapter 14
byJian Lezhi found out he was pursuing Shi Xingze?!
Jian Xingzhi feigned composure, his tone as calm as ever: “No, what happened?”
Jian Lezhi asked suspiciously, “Are you really not pursuing Shi Xingze? Then what’s with the trending topic online?”
Jian Xingzhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, Jian Lezhi was trying to trick him, which had made him suddenly nervous. Fortunately, he managed to deflect: “What nonsense are you talking about? I’ve been on a business trip at the branch company recently. Where would I find the time to chase a celebrity? What about you? Did you start chasing celebrities again while I was away? Who is Shi Xingze?”
Jian Lezhi was stunned, realizing belatedly that she had accidentally blurted out Shi Xingze’s name. She quickly laughed it off and explained, “No, no, I just occasionally saw a trending topic online about a celebrity I didn’t recognize. I clicked in and found everyone was criticizing him. I thought maybe you were chasing celebrities again, Brother.”
Jian Xingzhi sneered on the other end of the phone: “Still trying to fool me? Before I left for my trip, I was watching Starlight Training Camp. Isn’t Shi Xingze one of the contestants there?”
Jian Lezhi slapped her forehead in annoyance. Damn it, she forgot her brother had mentioned that to her. She immediately resorted to whining and acting spoiled: “Oh, Brother, I just said it casually. Can you just pretend you didn’t hear it? Shi Xingze is just a small, struggling amateur. Please, please don’t start chasing him.”
“You should be focusing on your studies, and now you want to tell me who to chase?” Jian Xingzhi lectured Jian Lezhi over the phone: “If you don’t trust me again next time, I’ll go chase Shi Xingze.”
Jian Lezhi quickly apologized: “No, no, no, Brother, I was wrong, okay? By the way, who are you chasing? You haven’t told me yet.”
Jian Xingzhi thought about the contestants in Starlight Training Camp and picked the name of an S-rank contestant to tell Jian Lezhi: “Xiang Hanyu, the one who performed ‘Hot Ice’ in the S-rank.”
Jian Lezhi let out an understanding “Oh.” That stage performance was indeed quite good. Jian Lezhi felt a little envious. If only she were her brother, she could vote for whoever she wanted. Jian Xingzhi asked a few questions about Jian Lezhi’s studies, told her to take care of herself, and then hung up.
After hanging up, Jian Xingzhi noticed Assistant Yu looking at him with a hint of surprise. Jian Xingzhi explained awkwardly: “My younger sister at home chases celebrities. I just watch casually so I can have something to talk about with her.”
Assistant Yu smiled and nodded, not saying anything more. A silence fell over the car, and for the first time, Jian Xingzhi wished they would arrive at the branch company quickly so he could start working.
He was almost tricked by Jian Lezhi today into revealing that he was pursuing Shi Xingze. When he got back today, he needed to cast some votes for Xiang Hanyu, lest Jian Lezhi ask about it when he returned home and he couldn’t produce screenshots of his votes.
On the other side, Director Qi at Starlight Training Camp received a call from Assistant Yu. He was ecstatic, holding his phone and nodding repeatedly: “Yes, yes, I will contact them immediately. Thank you so much for this.”
After hanging up, Director Qi felt like he was walking on air. He grabbed a passing staff member and announced, “Producer Li is treating us to dinner today! Come on, let’s go together!”
The staff member looked confusedly at Director Qi. Didn’t Director Qi just have a fight with Producer Li? Why were they going out to eat now?
Director Qi chuckled: “Someone’s paying, so why not go? Besides, CEO Jian is about to make his move. It’s the perfect time to go and annoy him!”
Shi Xingze thought the public opinion storm surrounding him would quickly subside, but unexpectedly, an unexpected person suddenly posted a microblog in the afternoon, causing the trending topic, which had begun to cool down, to be brought up again.
Jin Yan: I am Jin Yan. I apologize for causing a misunderstanding. Shi Xingze only returned my notes to me. The content of the rumors is not true. Please support Shi Xingze.
Jin Yan was the classmate from the next class whose notes Shi Xingze had borrowed. Because Jin Yan had excellent GPA scores last year, Shi Xingze tried to borrow his notes, never expecting it would cause so much trouble later.
He wasn’t sure if Brother Long knew about this, but Shi Xingze certainly couldn’t respond rashly without consulting Brother Long. After thinking it over, Shi Xingze called Brother Long, but the phone rang busy, indicating the other party was occupied. Shi Xingze had no choice but to hang up and wait for news.
Shi Xingze clicked on Jin Yan’s account and found that he had quite a few followers. He usually posted some photos and daily life updates on his account, making him seem like a minor internet celebrity.
Because Jin Yan included the trending topic’s hashtag, many people clicked into Jin Yan’s microblog through the tag. After seeing Jin Yan’s photos, they left comments below, and some even started comparing Shi Xingze and Jin Yan:
“Is this guy also from the Art Academy? He looks really handsome.”
“Do all you good-looking people hang out together?”
“I think Jin Yan is better looking than Shi Xingze.”
Jin Yan didn’t reply much, only responding with a “thank you” to the comments praising his looks. Shi Xingze couldn’t figure out his intentions.
Brother Long quickly called Shi Xingze back, but his tone was rushed, as if he was still dealing with other matters. He only instructed Shi Xingze not to post any microblogs before hanging up.
After hanging up, Brother Long looked grimly at the smug middle-aged man beside him, pointing at the trending topic and asking, “What is the meaning of this?”
The middle-aged man was also an agent at Fantasy Entertainment, named Sun Wei. He patted the person next to him and introduced him to Brother Long: “What meaning could I have? I signed a promising talent. It’s a free ride on the heat, isn’t it?”
Sun Wei and Brother Long had always been at odds in the company. When Brother Long wanted to sign Shi Xingze, Sun Wei even tried to poach him, but Shi Xingze fortunately refused.
The person standing next to Sun Wei at this moment was Jin Yan, who had just posted the microblog. Brother Long looked at Jin Yan with a dark expression. Jin Yan just smiled good-naturedly at him: “You must be Shi Xingze’s agent? We’ll be in the same company from now on, so please take care of me, Agent Pang.”
Sun Wei and Jin Yan’s actions were clearly stepping on Shi Xingze to gain fame for themselves, and Brother Long felt that this Jin Yan was not a good person either. Now that Jin Yan’s microblog was posted, if he forced the other party to delete it, it would only lead to more speculation.
Brother Long forced a fake smile and said to Sun Wei and Jin Yan: “Since everyone is in the same company, we are colleagues. But I must also remind you of something: some heat is not so easy to ride, especially when it involves same-sex rumors.”
After saying this, Brother Long didn’t look at their expressions and left directly for the Starlight Training Camp recording base. He needed to tell Shi Xingze this news quickly.
Shi Xingze was holding his phone, looking at the messages. Many different voices had appeared under the trending topic. Even though Jin Yan had clarified, some netizens were still criticizing him.
Shi Xingze couldn’t help but sigh. He wanted to become famous, but not this kind of fame. He could only silently comfort himself that being infamous was still a form of fame.
Just as Shi Xingze was lost in thought, his phone suddenly rang. It was his mother calling. Shi Xingze answered with some surprise: “Mom, why did you think to call me? Shouldn’t you be teaching class right now?”
“You child, if a student hadn’t told me you were trending, you wouldn’t have called your mother to tell her. You keep such a big thing bottled up inside.” Shi Xingze listened to his mother scolding him on the other end of the line and laughed, saying: “I’m fine, Mom. This is just a small scene in the entertainment industry.”
Shi Xingze’s mother lectured him a bit, rambling on about various things: “Your father and I didn’t support you becoming a celebrity back then, but you liked it, so we, as your parents, didn’t say much. Now look at what people are saying about you online, sigh.”
Shi Xingze quickly comforted her: “Oh, Mom, don’t just look at the bad things people are saying about me. Some people are praising my looks and voting for me! You and Dad are a high school teacher and a doctor, busy as can be every day. It’s normal that I don’t want to be a teacher or a doctor.”
“You,” Shi Xingze’s mother said, “Well, there are other careers you could consider. Forget it, you always have your own ideas. Your dad was asking a few days ago if you had time to come home for dinner. Our family will also help you vote. Are you busy over there?”
Shi Xingze regretfully said: “I can’t leave right now. I still have follow-up recordings to finish. I probably won’t be able to go back for a while. Mom, do your students know about this show? Where are they watching it? Don’t they have their phones confiscated in the third year of high school?”
Shi Xingze’s mother said without changing her expression: “They are not allowed to bring phones, so I confiscated their phones. I’ll return them when they have a holiday.”
Shi Xingze: “…”
Forget it, he couldn’t afford to offend a third-year high school homeroom teacher.
When he heard his mother was going to mobilize the whole family to vote for him, Shi Xingze felt a little awkward and instinctively refused: “Maybe forget it? It feels a bit strange. My aunts and uncles don’t usually chase celebrities.”
Shi Xingze’s mother insisted, which was unusual for her, so Shi Xingze had to agree.
After talking with his mother for a while, Shi Xingze felt much better. He also sent a voice message to his father, reminding him to wear an extra layer of clothing when working the night shift, but his father didn’t reply, likely busy again.
Brother Long messaged him saying he would come over soon. Shi Xingze waited for him at the entrance and took the opportunity to buy some things to send back home.
Shi Xingze’s mother was a high school teacher, and his father was a doctor. Except for the time he was in high school, Shi Xingze rarely saw both of them at home at the same time. The most complete gathering was probably during the New Year when they ate reunion dinner and watched TV at his grandparents’ house.
At that time, Shi Xingze listened to the adults chatting while watching the programs on TV, and he decided that he must become an actor in the future, performing in all kinds of plays so his family could see him on television.
When Brother Long arrived, he saw Shi Xingze sitting at the entrance, cupping his face and waiting for him. He pulled him to a secluded spot to talk: “I know about the online situation. Don’t respond for now, just pretend you don’t see it. Your classmate, Jin Yan, also signed with our company recently.”
Seeing Shi Xingze’s surprised expression, Brother Long added: “His agent and I don’t get along well. You don’t need to pay attention to him. That person tries to ride every bit of heat. We should just proceed steadily. Your most important focus right now is Starlight Training Camp.”
Brother Long thought of the other party’s face and gritted his teeth: “If you can hold out until the third public performance, I will find a way to persuade the company to invest more resources in you. We might even be able to fight for a debut spot.”
Shi Xingze said with a look of horror: “You didn’t say that before! Didn’t we agree that I would just be a background character?”
Brother Long wiped his face: “The past is the past, and now is now. I’ve changed my mind. Xingze, I believe in you. Go for it!”
Brother Long patted Shi Xingze’s shoulder and left in a hurry, just as he had arrived, leaving Shi Xingze to continue participating in the program at Starlight Training Camp.
This was only right after the first public performance ended. Shi Xingze thought despairingly, It’s over. Now I’m truly going to be treated like royalty.