Boss, He Is Chasing Stars Again Chapter 17
byChapter 17 The Program Group’s Delay in Announcing…
Because the program group had been slow to announce the song list for the second performance, it had caused some unhappiness among the various fan groups. Therefore, before the official recording, Director Qi decided to use a live broadcast to reveal the song list and the process of the fourth group drawing their song, hoping to reduce the fans’ complaints.
Director Qi had originally planned to do a make-up recording, but considering the investment from Chengtian and the replaced ending theme song, he realized that since the hype was already building, it would be a huge loss if he didn’t capitalize on it.
Anyway, the other contestants didn’t know the ins and outs of the situation, and a live broadcast wouldn’t affect the contestants much. Later, he could edit it into a preview for the second performance to fool the fans… no, to increase fan click-through rates. He truly was an excellent director.
Of course, there was one person who might not be too happy about it. But that had nothing to do with Director Qi. It was his own fault for trying to bribe Producer Li for information.
Jian Xingzhi listened with a dark expression as Director Qi talked about drawing the songs, especially when the director glanced at him afterward and slowly said, “Of course, contestants who did not select a song previously will automatically be moved to the group of songs we are about to draw now.”
At this, not only the contestants around Jian Xingzhi but also Shi Xingze, who was simply participating in the recording nearby, all looked toward Jian Xingzhi. After all, he was the only contestant who received an S-rank score but hadn’t chosen a song.
Jian Xingzhi noticed the gazes directed at him and managed to force a smile for the camera, making up an excuse: “It’s fine, I want to challenge myself.”
The other contestants, who were watching the drama, immediately lost interest and withdrew their gazes. Some contestants glanced at Jian Xingzhi with jealousy, wishing he would be eliminated quickly.
The happiest about Jian Xingzhi not choosing a song were undoubtedly the other A-rank contestants. With a spot opening up ahead of them, their chances of staying naturally increased.
However, Jian Xingzhi performed well in the previous stage, and his off-site fan votes were high. While jealous, other contestants also wanted to be in the same group as Jian Xingzhi. That way, even if their own votes and strength were lacking, fans would vote frantically to keep Jian Xingzhi in the competition and advance him to the third performance.
Jian Xingzhi couldn’t focus on what song was finally drawn on the big screen; his mind was entirely preoccupied with his manager.
It was all the manager’s fault! Couldn’t he have called him a few more times!
Jian Xingzhi’s manager, seeing his dark face from offstage, knew things were bad. Sure enough, the first thing Jian Xingzhi did during the recording break was to confront his manager.
“Is City West Past really happening? Where is my ending theme song! Didn’t you say you had already found out the information? How are fans going to vote for me with these lousy songs we’re choosing now!”
In the storage room, Jian Xingzhi angrily picked up a prop and threw it toward his manager. The manager instinctively dodged, which only made Jian Xingzhi angrier: “Why are you dodging!”
The manager clenched his phone and his face also turned cold: “Didn’t I call you? Do you want to see how many calls I’ve made and how many messages I’ve sent you these past two days? You didn’t reply to a single one, what else could I do!”
Jian Xingzhi laughed in anger, pointing at the manager and saying, “You know I’ve been with CEO Chen these past few days! Fine, you dare talk to me like this, huh? If I don’t get CEO Chen to fire you when I get back, I’m not Jian Xingzhi!”
The manager stood still, then suddenly slammed the water bottle in his hand onto the floor, cursing at Jian Xingzhi: “Damn it! I quit! Go ahead and fire me, I’ll take the compensation and leave! It’s not my fault you didn’t answer your phone!”
Jian Xingzhi quickly stepped forward, grabbed the manager’s collar, and raised his hand to strike him: “You motherfucker…”
Just then, an anxious knocking sound came from outside the door. A staff member kept asking, “Is Teacher Jian Xingzhi in there? Teacher Jian, please open the door, something went wrong with the live broadcast!”
“What could possibly go wrong with the live broadcast!” Jian Xingzhi impatiently yelled back. The knocking paused; the staff member behind the door seemed stunned.
The manager’s voice suddenly trembled: “Something might really be wrong…”
Jian Xingzhi scoffed, ready to mock the manager, but then saw the manager pointing at the microphone clipped to his collar: “Your microphone doesn’t seem to be off.”
Jian Xingzhi’s face instantly turned pale. He looked down at the microphone on his chest; the light was blinking. He immediately understood what had happened.
For a moment, he forgot about arguing with the manager. He let go of the collar and rushed to the door, opening it to find Director Qi, who was looking at him with a dark expression.
“Director Qi, please listen to my explanation. Things aren’t what you think. I just asked a few questions… Yes, it was all my manager acting on his own. I only found out today that the songs would be randomly drawn.” Cold sweat slowly dripped from Jian Xingzhi’s forehead. The manager, hearing his words, scoffed, straightened his tie, and left.
Director Qi sighed and said to Jian Xingzhi, “You don’t need to explain to me. Take out your phone and see for yourself.”
Jian Xingzhi’s heart sank when Director Qi said this. His right hand trembled as he took out his phone to check the comments under the live broadcast. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the floor, but Director Qi kindly helped steady him.
“What is that noise? Is someone arguing?”
“Why does that voice sound like Jian Xingzhi’s?”
“The one upstairs, hide your fan identity. Are you all homeless beggars? Stop causing trouble here for our Universe Sister.”
“LOL, they forgot their mic was on during the live broadcast, didn’t they? Say more, the kids love to hear it.”
“666, the one upstairs said it wasn’t Jian Xingzhi, but your idol’s name was just shouted out.”
“Who is CEO Chen? Someone please brief me quickly, waiting online!”
“Where is Universe Sister upstairs? Do you really think you’re the origin of the universe? Come out and walk a few steps.”
Jian Xingzhi grew more and more terrified. Especially after his fans heard him shout his own name, the bullet screen on the live broadcast scrolled frantically. Besides the casual onlookers, the most frequent comments were demands for Jian Xingzhi to come out and explain clearly.
He opened his social media app. “Jian Xingzhi CEO Chen,” “Starlight Training Camp Jian Xingzhi,” and “Jian Xingzhi Inside Job” were all climbing the trending topics, quickly attracting a large number of passersby and fans to comment.
Looking at the incoming call from CEO Chen on his phone, Jian Xingzhi’s last hope died.
He was finished.
It was Friday, and Jian Lezhi hummed a tune on her way home from school. The first thing she did after dropping her backpack was open her phone to watch the live broadcast. Today was the day the songs for the second performance were revealed, and she couldn’t wait to rush back after school.
Jian Lezhi grabbed a carton of milk, poked the straw in, and slowly drank it. She was a little surprised to see that Jian Xingzhi, the S-rank contestant, hadn’t chosen a song: “Huh, isn’t this the celebrity my brother follows? He did so well on the last stage, but he didn’t choose a song. Whatever, I don’t follow him anyway.”
When Jian Xingzhi explained that he wanted to challenge himself, Jian Lezhi was still a bit confused. As expected of her brother, even the contestant he followed was so unconventional, choosing to draw a blind box instead of picking a song that would guarantee him a spot in the third performance.
Jian Lezhi watched the live broadcast indifferently. When the camera switched to the waiting contestants, a sudden sound of arguing came through the broadcast, seemingly from the contestants.
Arguing during a live broadcast?
Jian Lezhi immediately put on her headphones, turned up the volume, and listened intently to the argument, her eyes growing brighter the more she heard.
But the more Jian Lezhi listened, the more something felt wrong. The ending theme song for City West Past wasn’t among the songs for the second performance. Which contestant was trying to find information and rig the system!
Jian Lezhi immediately used her guest account to post a bullet comment: Inside job dog, get out!
She couldn’t help it; her brother only gave her back her account during holidays. The rest of the time, she was on youth mode. It was already good enough that her brother let her watch Starlight Training Camp.
Jian Lezhi pricked up her ears, unwilling to miss any gossip detail. She grew more and more excited, muttering softly, “Who is CEO Chen? Whose sugar daddy is this? Wait a minute, this contestant is a guy, so is that CEO Chen also a guy?”
The people on the bullet screen were going crazy with gossip until Jian Xingzhi loudly shouted, “If I don’t get CEO Chen to fire you when I get back, I’m not Jian Xingzhi!” The whole world went silent for a second.
Jian Xingzhi, wasn’t that the S-rank contestant in this competition!
The bullet screen scrolled wildly. Passersby didn’t have time to argue with Jian Xingzhi’s fans; they were all frantically gossiping. Some even dug up information suggesting that CEO Chen was one of the bosses of Jian Xingzhi’s company.
Jian Lezhi hadn’t expected such entertainment from watching a live broadcast. She quickly ran off to gossip until Director Qi noticed and temporarily cut the broadcast. She regretfully exited, realizing that she had been sucking on an empty milk carton for half the time.
She threw the empty carton into the trash bin and belatedly realized, wait, Jian Xingzhi was the celebrity her brother was following?
So, her brother’s idol had collapsed again?
Jian Lezhi showed an expression that said, I knew it, sighed, opened her phone, and shared the link to the broadcast replay with her brother, comforting him: “Bro, it’s okay. If they collapse, they collapse. The next one will be better behaved.”
Jian Xingzhi was currently on his way back. While sitting in the car, a message from Jian Lezhi popped up on his phone. He frowned and glanced at it.
What collapsed? Did Shi Xingze collapse again?
Jian Xingzhi suspiciously opened Green Chat. If Shi Xingze had collapsed, Jian Lezhi wouldn’t have this reaction; she would probably be wailing already.
When Jian Xingzhi opened the broadcast replay link Jian Lezhi shared, he realized that the one who collapsed was Jian Xingzhi, the person he had casually mentioned he was following. And he had collapsed spectacularly in front of almost everyone, beyond repair.
Jian Xingzhi: “…”
He swore he had just randomly picked a relatively famous contestant and casually cast a few votes. He really wasn’t following Jian Xingzhi!
But faced with the string of comforting messages and cat-patting emojis from Jian Lezhi, any defense he offered seemed pale and powerless.
Jian Lezhi: Bro, it’s okay, I understand. You don’t need to be embarrassed. I even suspected you were following Shi Xingze before. I was wrong to doubt you, I’m sorry.
Jian Xingzhi: “…”
You might as well not have brought it up.