AHFAFTGTTT Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Prejudice

“Mentor Xu, you really have a lot of prejudice against me…”

Xu Chengyue entered the backstage interview room.

Behind the camera was the assistant director, a young lady. After asking a few questions that fans were interested in, she couldn’t help but sneak in, “You’re participating in the show with Shangguan Yaoguang again. Do you feel anything different from last time?”

Hearing this question, Xu Chengyue, who had been answering with ease, opened his mouth, but couldn’t say what he wanted to. A myriad of emotions churned in his heart.

Sweet memories, like candy, were melted by a great fire, then buried by heavy snow, leaving only a faint bitterness.

A mix of feelings, a sense of loss.

“My mood is quite complicated. Of course, there are different feelings, but mostly it’s due to the different formats of the shows,” Xu Chengyue said, adjusting a hint of an official smile in his hazy, light-colored eyes.

“Was the last show happier, or this one?” the production team continued to press.

“Instead of comparing the past or the present, I’m more looking forward to refining the gains from these two experiences into a key to unlock new dungeons I encounter in the future.”

The production crew exchanged glances, not expecting Xu Chengyue’s answer to be so airtight.

“Are there any contestants who left a deep impression on you?”

Xu Chengyue was prepared: “Yes, for example, Chu Cheng, who got the first A today. His original stage was excellent, and the collaboration stage of the twin brothers Sun Beibei and Sun NanNan was very shocking.”

“Contestant Chu Cheng is from the same company as you and Shangguan Yaoguang. Will he get special treatment?”

Xu Chengyue looked at the camera: “No, and his strength is obvious to all. He doesn’t need any special treatment.”

Towards the end of the interview, the assistant director suddenly asked:

“Besides that, are there any other contestants who left a deep impression?”

Xu Chengyue thought for a moment and said slowly, “Fu Yang. His movements when dancing are quite interesting, giving me a feeling of déjà vu.”

“Does that mean you knew him before?” the assistant director quickly seized on the words.

“I don’t know him. A friend of mine does,” Xu Chengyue smiled. “It’s a pity the show has been taken down, otherwise you should be able to see this part.”

He was referring to Qing Sha’s conversation with everyone on “Deserted Island Signal Station.”

At that time, “Genius Junior Brother” even trended on social media.

The assistant director had naturally done her background research and knew this. Those who worked behind the scenes understood how difficult it was for ordinary people in the entertainment industry to gain popularity.

It was very rare to encounter someone with innate traffic, so the director team was very optimistic about Fu Yang.

After all, the gimmick of a B University academic participating in the show had already brought them a lot of attention, so they quickly dug deeper and asked, “You gave him an F rating in the initial evaluation. Do you have any expectations for him after that?”

Hearing this, Xu Chengyue slowly lowered his eyes, then raised his eyelids slightly and said, “Actually, no. I don’t think he’s suitable for this place.”

The interview lasted about half an hour.

Fu Yang waited outside for half an hour. There was no heating outside the recording area. In the cold winter months, he leaned against the wall in his thin C-class uniform, his posture casual but with a hint of nervousness.

As soon as Xu Chengyue came out, he quickly stood up straight and handed over a hand warmer at the fastest speed.

“Contestant Fu Yang?” Xu Chengyue was a little surprised to see him here. “You should still be recording at this time.”

The camera was incredibly important to the trainees. Even just one more second of screen time could double their votes after going viral. Leaving the recording area meant losing a lot of votes compared to others.

“I… I’m just stretching,” Fu Yang suddenly started doing stretching exercises. “That chair is too small, it’s uncomfortable to sit on.”

Xu Chengyue nodded, “I’ll give your feedback to the production team later.”

“But… what is this?” Xu Chengyue looked at the steaming thing he was handing over.

A bomb?

Did a black fan want to die with him?

Did they hate him that much?

Fu Yang had no idea how wild the other party’s imagination was. He thoughtfully put the hand warmer on Xu Chengyue’s neck and shoulders.

“What are you doing…” Xu Chengyue frowned and was about to take a step back when warmth suddenly enveloped his whole body.

“I saw you turning your neck from behind. You’ve been sitting for too long, so your cervical spine is prone to problems. Apply this for a while before you go back.”

Xu Chengyue was stunned for a second. Although he had some opinions about the person in front of him, as a mentor, he didn’t refuse the kindness of a new trainee. He hesitated and held the hot water bottle.

During the handover, their fingers accidentally touched and separated instantly.

Fu Yang put his hand on the back of his head like a reflex and scratched it awkwardly.

Xu Chengyue asked, “Where did you get this?”

“I asked the assistant to buy it. It’s new,” Fu Yang said quickly.

Xu Chengyue suddenly didn’t understand him anymore. What exactly did this black fan want to do?

“Your stage today was actually not bad, but I can tell you haven’t practiced for very long. You’ve probably been a trainee for less than two months.”

Fu Yang nodded. “Yeah… a little over a month.”

You personally taught me.

During the time he was Shangguan Yaoguang, didn’t Xu Chengyue practically train him by hand?

“I saw you chose A in the self-evaluation, and I gave you F. Are you sad?” Xu Chengyue asked hesitantly.

This question sounded familiar. When he came out of the hospital, Fu Yang had asked Xu Chengyue in the same way – “He’s your black fan and curses you online. Are you sad?”

Fu Yang pursed his lips slightly: “I actually feel that my ability is only at the F level.”

Xu Chengyue tilted his head slightly to look at him –

Then why…?

“Hey, as the saying goes, ‘Since I’m here,’ I’ll be awesome!”

Xu Chengyue couldn’t help but smile. It was strange, if this person wasn’t his black fan, he would be quite an interesting person, and he always had a strange familiarity.

Perhaps it was because of this that he asked another question: “You said on your initial stage that you came here for someone.”

Fu Yang: “…Yes.”

Xu Chengyue frowned slightly: “Sorry, it might be my problem, but I can’t accept this answer.”

“Because everyone who comes here is for their dreams, for their debut, for becoming an idol, so I’m not serious about the stage and treat this place as a joke?” Fu Yang raised his eyes and said, “That’s what you think, right.”

Xu Chengyue didn’t deny it and nodded.

“Mentor Xu, you really have a lot of prejudice against me,” Fu Yang smiled.

Was it that obvious? Xu Chengyue thought to himself. He did have a bad impression of people who smeared others online for no reason, but he wouldn’t express his “dislike” concretely, but he didn’t expect to be seen through directly by him, so he said: “But my score today is not because I have prejudice against you, it’s what the production team needs. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the final rating of C…”

“I know. Not today, but before,” Fu Yang raised his eyebrows slightly, stepped forward, and looked down at him, taking advantage of his height, “Didn’t you say it before? My character is not good.”

Xu Chengyue suddenly raised his head and realized that the two were so close, almost nose to nose. He took a step back unconsciously, “Sorry… I didn’t know you well enough on the show before and judged you like that. It was my fault.”

It was what he had said before on “Deserted Island Signal Station.”

Actually, he had regretted it a little after he said it.

Because at that time, he had not actually seen Fu Yang, and had only defined a person based on other people’s words.

In that case, what was the difference between him and those keyboard warriors online?

Even if Fu Yang had really cursed him online, it shouldn’t have risen to the level of character.

So Xu Chengyue had always felt a little guilty about this sentence. Now that he apologized, it was as if a big stone had fallen from his heart.

But… it felt a little strange again.

At the time when “Deserted Island Signal Station” was broadcast, Fu Yang should have been unconscious in the hospital and couldn’t have watched the live broadcast synchronously.

It was only possible that he had watched the edited version of the variety show later.

With Senior Sister Qing Sha around, it wasn’t surprising that he would watch this show.

But… was his sentence edited out?

He didn’t seem to remember it.

Before Xu Chengyue could think about it carefully, the person in front of him suddenly stepped forward, and the two were almost nose to nose.

“I admit that my motives for participating in the show are impure, but I will work hard. I will work hard enough to make you look at me with new eyes.”

“Whether it’s for a dream or for a person, it doesn’t conflict. I, Fu Yang, can do both.”

Perhaps it was the first time he had heard such selfish and confident remarks, Xu Chengyue’s eyes slowly widened, round and a little dazed, and he didn’t come back to his senses for a long time.

Fu Yang couldn’t help but find him cute. He was originally putting on a super cool tough act, but his tone became more and more gentle, and even his originally unfeeling face warmed up a bit.

“Can you accept this reason?”

Xu Chengyue blinked slowly, “What does this have to do with me?”

No matter why the contestants came here.

Since they had been selected, it was the choice of the production team and the public.

He was only responsible for helping them.

And among the 108 people, Fu Yang’s strength was not weak. There were many in class F with zero basic skills. Were all of them here for their dreams? Not necessarily.

Fu Yang said seriously: “If I’m not eliminated in the first public performance, can you face me squarely?”

Can you spend a little more time on me?

“Contestant, I’m afraid this is your own business,” Xu Chengyue suddenly took a step back, looked at his watch, and turned to leave Fu Yang with his back.

Fu Yang lowered his head slightly in disappointment.

A few seconds later, a voice came faintly from his ear –

“The first public performance is too far away. Why not think about how to get an A in the theme song assessment first?”

…………

After the interview, the mentor’s recording was over. Assistant Xiao Yang came to help him pack his things and took the warm water bottle from the dressing room, “Brother Xu, where did this come from? Is it yours?”

“A little trainee gave it to me. Keep it,” Xu Chengyue’s eyes fell on it.

Coercion.

Inducement.

What kind of person could be worthy of a B University genius, the young master of Fu Group, condescending to come here to participate in the show.

He even threatened him unsuccessfully on the initial stage, and now he started to adopt a gentle policy and suddenly show him goodwill.

Was it to keep him from disturbing him and the person he cared about?

It seemed… that was someone who was related to him.

Xu Chengyue suddenly thought of a candidate. Could it be… Qu Xue?

Yes, Fu Yang’s eyes seemed to have never left Qu Xue on the stage.

Was it fan chasing or did the two know each other before?

“He’s quite nice,” the assistant said strangely, but didn’t ask much and packed the things into a big bag, “Okay, then I’ll call a car!”

“Are you going back with Brother Guang today?” Xiao Yang suddenly asked.

Xu Chengyue thought for a moment and turned back, “Ask him where he is now.”

Xiao Yang made a phone call, and the other party’s assistant answered it. He said a few words to the other party, and finally covered the speaker of the phone and said to Xu Chengyue: “They’ve already returned to the dormitory…”

Xu Chengyue clicked on his phone, but there was no message notifying him on the screen. He finally sighed, “Call a car.”

While waiting for the car to pick him up, he thought about it and made a call to Qing Sha.

“Little Junior Brother is awake, do you know about this?”

“I know,” a yawning female voice came from the other side,

“But I’ve been busy with a project recently and haven’t had time to see him with my professor. I heard that he’s recovering well, but he still needs to recuperate in the hospital for another month. Wait, why are you suddenly concerned?”

It seemed that Qing Sha was really busy recently and hadn’t even looked at the trending searches.

“You said he should still be recuperating in the hospital for another month?” Xu Chengyue seized the key point.

“Yes, his family cherishes him so much. This time, the accident scared them. It seems they still need to do some more tests to feel at ease,” Qing Sha realized something was wrong, “What’s wrong, A Yue, have you seen him?”

Xu Chengyue: “It’s nothing, get some rest.”

After speaking, he hung up the phone.

Xu Chengyue had some prejudice against Fu Yang. First of all, he felt that his participation in the audition show was impure, and subconsciously thought that this person was too one-sided because of the black fan incident.

Now he was escaping from the hospital, hiding it from everyone…

Was Qu Xue that important to him that he had to come here regardless of his health?

Xu Chengyue shook his head. He had nothing to say about the love brain of young people now. He didn’t have the habit of tattling.

What’s more, Fu Yang was already an adult and had his own ideas and things he wanted to do. He needed to take responsibility for what happened, and didn’t need others to be so-called good for him.

The phone rang again. The director of “Apex Era” was calling, howling like a ghost in the middle of the night – “Little Xu, something big happened!”

Xu Chengyue’s heart tightened, “What’s wrong, Director, speak slowly, don’t worry.”

Director: “Cough, that… Qu Xue’s crew temporarily asked her to go back to reshoot a scene, and now she’s rushing to catch a flight, that is… she originally had a surprise dormitory check tonight to confiscate phones… Look… is it convenient for you?”

Xu Chengyue breathed a sigh of relief, “Director, can you not make such a fuss over such a small matter?”

Director was pleasantly surprised: “Then you’re agreeing!”

Xu Chengyue nodded, realizing that he couldn’t see it, so he replied, “Okay.”

He never shirked work.

What’s more, Shangguan Yaoguang had already gone back, and the two senior singers were already old, so going to check the dorms would really become abuse of the elderly.

“Brother Xu, should I cancel the car?” Xiao Yang asked.

“No, you get in the car and go back, get a good rest.”

“That won’t work, Sister An will scold me…”

“It’s okay, she won’t know if you don’t tell her. There’s still recording tomorrow, I’ll just find a hotel nearby to sleep in.”

It was almost 2 AM now. Even if he went to check the dorms, he wouldn’t get much sleep.

But as a celebrity idol, it was normal to be used to staying up all night for a few days.

Xu Chengyue let Xiao Yang go back first, and he went to the trainee dormitory with the few photographers who were working with him all night.