Boss, He Is Chasing Stars Again Chapter 8

The other contestants thought about it and decided that Jian Xingzhi’s suggestion didn’t seem to have any drawbacks for them, so the group temporarily reached an agreement. Yue Lin and Shi Xingze proactively took on the task of adjusting the arrangement and splitting the song into eight parts, which would take about a day to complete.

During this time, the contestants could familiarize themselves with the song and start vocal practice.

Shi Xingze agreed on a time to meet his group members in the practice room tomorrow. Returning to the dorm, he felt utterly exhausted from the day.

First, he was inexplicably voted B-rank number one by fans and was the first to choose a song, and then there were the subtle, scrutinizing gazes of the other contestants.

Shi Xingze took a tired shower, and Brother Long’s call immediately came through: “Xingze, how was the recording today? Did anyone give you trouble?”

He had just finished showering and hadn’t had a chance to check his phone. Hearing Brother Long’s words warmed his heart, and he smiled, saying, “It was fine, the recording went smoothly today. Thanks to the fan votes, I even got to choose the song I wanted.”

Brother Long felt relieved hearing that he sounded alright on the phone: “That’s good. A wealthy big fan joined your fan group and cast quite a few votes for you this time. As for the rest of the votes, I don’t know where they came from.”

Brother Long had seen the voting interface shared by the big fan with the cartoon avatar in Shi Xingze’s fan group. Logically, those votes shouldn’t have been enough to push Shi Xingze to B-rank number one. Could the male fan Shi Xingze mentioned who attended the live recording have also voted?

Shi Xingze’s fan group was too small, and Brother Long could only guess these two possibilities.

As for the online rumors that Shi Xingze was a “Royal,” Brother Long didn’t believe a word of it. Nonsense. If Shi Xingze had money, he would just use resources to go straight into acting. There would be no need to take such a roundabout route to gain recognition before acting.

Shi Xingze hummed in acknowledgment on the phone. Brother Long then instructed him: “Focus on your practice. If anyone says anything sour these next few days, pretend you don’t hear it. Don’t get into arguments with them; it would be bad if the cameras accidentally caught it.”

Brother Long’s concern was not unfounded. In the past, contestants fighting backstage were accidentally filmed, and the production team eliminated both of them from the show to quell the controversy, resulting in both of their reputations being ruined.

Shi Xingze knew this, which was why he only retorted to Tian Mo’s words today and didn’t lose his temper like the other party.

Shi Xingze hung up Brother Long’s call and continued to towel the water from his hair. Huo Yan suddenly spoke up: “I heard about your group’s situation. You should stay away from Zhao Xian.”

Shi Xingze hadn’t expected Huo Yan to warn him; he thought the other person was already asleep: “I know he’s targeting me a bit. I just won’t clash with him directly. Huo Yan, thank you for the warning.”

Huo Yan looked at Shi Xingze and suddenly chuckled: “What I mean is, Zhao Xian probably thought you had some background. When he realized you wouldn’t fall for his tactics, he immediately changed his tune and wanted to step on you. That’s what you need to be careful of.”

Shi Xingze paused for a moment. Hearing Huo Yan’s words, he finally understood why Zhao Xian’s attitude changed so quickly and why he suddenly targeted him.

Huo Yan was still watching him. Shi Xingze shook off the emotions in his mind and gave Huo Yan a smile: “Thanks. I haven’t been in the entertainment industry long, so I really lack experience. If you hadn’t said anything, I would have just thought he was annoyed that my fan votes put me at B-rank number one.”

Huo Yan found this novel and countered: “You’re quite receptive. Don’t you think I’m a difficult young master to get along with?”

After speaking, Huo Yan glanced at Xie Jinhan’s bunk, making his meaning quite clear.

Shi Xingze shook his head: “No, you’re being kind. But it was just one round of fan voting. I really didn’t expect it to cause so much trouble.”

There were contestants in the show with higher votes than him, and he didn’t have many fans, so it was unlikely he would rank so high in every vote. The result was that after this vote, the other contestants’ scrutinizing gazes increased, and there were people like Zhao Xian who wanted to use him.

He hadn’t encountered any of this before. Only after returning to the dorm at night and relaxing did he belatedly feel a little mentally exhausted.

Huo Yan was used to it and simply said, “There will be plenty more things like this in the future. Take it slow.”

Shi Xingze nodded and buried himself under the covers. He needed to adjust his mindset.

Jian Lezhi was watching the latest episode of Starlight Training Camp. When she heard that Shi Xingze was ranked first in B-rank, she couldn’t help but hug her phone and let out a small gasp. When she started following him, Shi Xingze was still an unknown, so how did his vote count suddenly get so high!

She really wanted to secretly join Shi Xingze’s fan group to see what was going on, but her social media accounts were strictly controlled by her brother and only given back to her during holidays. She had to try hard to glean information from the comments below the video.

However, when Jian Lezhi clicked on the Starlight Training Camp comments, all she saw were comments calling Shi Xingze a “Royal.”

The more she read, the more frustrated she became. She couldn’t help but reply a few times in the comments, but she was immediately attacked by fans of other contestants. Finally, she angrily locked her screen, resting her chin on her hand in frustration.

When Jian Xingzhi came over to bring her fruit, he saw Jian Lezhi puffed up like a pufferfish.

He rubbed Jian Lezhi’s head and asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you so angry?”

Jian Lezhi was in a fit of pique and blurted out without thinking: “The celebrity I follow is being insulted, and I can’t argue back against them. I’m so mad!”

Jian Xingzhi keenly caught the key point in Jian Lezhi’s words: “You can insult people? How come I didn’t know that?”

Jian Lezhi choked, then whined playfully, “Oh, Brother, is that the point! The point is that the little celebrity I follow is being insulted. What’s wrong with fans voting for him? Aren’t many people voting for those in S-rank and A-rank too? Why are they only insulting him?”

Although Jian Lezhi knew that the top contestants likely already had their own fan bases, she still couldn’t swallow her anger. She tentatively asked her brother, “Brother, can you give me back my account for two days? I’ll return it after I vote.”

Before following Shi Xingze, she had learned that he was a college student who had just debuted and had no works, practically indistinguishable from a civilian. It was hard enough for him to gain any fans, and she was afraid these rumors would drive away the few fans he had.

The more people insulted him, the more she wanted to vote. Shi Xingze hadn’t done anything wrong; being labeled a “Royal” was a terrible injustice.

Jian Xingzhi shook his head: “No, a holiday is a holiday, as agreed. If you want to vote, I can do it for you. Which celebrity?”

“Never mind then.” Jian Lezhi’s rekindled hope was extinguished again. She slumped over her desk and opened her workbook listlessly. If she voted, the little celebrity might just have a hard time, but if her brother voted, it would be a disaster.

Jian Xingzhi had already guessed that Jian Lezhi wouldn’t tell him she was following Shi Xingze, but being rejected so directly still made him feel a little down. He quietly returned to his own room.

Earlier, he had donated a batch of milk to impoverished mountainous areas, and he had secretly cast all the votes purchased with the milk money for Shi Xingze. That was why Shi Xingze’s vote count had suddenly increased so much.

Unless a fan posted a screenshot of their voting, others couldn’t see the votes they cast, so Jian Xingzhi felt justified in voting, as it was his money anyway.

But when Jian Xingzhi opened the new video, he became a little uncertain. Shi Xingze was probably being insulted because of the votes he cast. He had only intended to cast a small number of votes because he was worried Shi Xingze wouldn’t be able to choose the song he wanted, but he hadn’t expected it to backfire.

He hadn’t even voted that much. Some people in the entertainment industry spent millions on minor celebrities. He had only purchased some milk for donation.

Since the votes were cast, Jian Xingzhi couldn’t change anything, no matter how depressed he felt. He could only comfort himself that having votes was better than having none. Barring any accidents, the votes he cast for Shi Xingze should be enough to support him until the second public performance.

Thinking of the donated milk, since he decided to do charity, he had to ensure the donation was properly implemented. He planned to have people monitor the donation progress to ensure every child received the milk he donated.

In the past, others doing charity had run into various issues, including fraudulent donations or embezzlement of charitable funds. There were also cases where items donated to children in mountainous areas were only given to the boys in the family or were directly sold by adults for money.

He didn’t want to see such things happen, so it was necessary to have his subordinates pay close attention.

In the corridor next to the Starlight Training Camp dorms, Zhao Xian hid in an empty spot and quietly pulled out his phone to call his manager: “What did you find out about the person I asked you to look into today? What is Shi Xingze’s background?”

Zhao Xian’s manager seemed to still be at a drinking party. After a burst of noise, he hid in the restroom and complained quietly, sounding annoyed: “I wanted to ask you! Why aren’t you focusing on choosing the dance tracks at the front? Why are you paying attention to such a minor celebrity!”

The manager had assumed that based on Zhao Xian’s ranking and votes, he would be secure in the first two songs. Who knew he would actively choose this particular song?

It wasn’t that the song was bad; it was precisely because it was so famous and had many adaptations that it wasn’t easy to stand out. If the arrangement wasn’t good, it might just end up boosting the song’s popularity.

Zhao Xian took a deep breath and told his manager, “Don’t ask so many questions, just tell me the result.”

The manager lowered his voice: “I checked Shi Xingze. He debuted this year, has no background. Stop focusing on him; gaining more fans is the priority.”

When Zhao Xian heard his manager say Shi Xingze had no background, his hand instinctively tightened around his phone, then relaxed a moment later. He told his manager he understood and hung up.

Shi Xingze’s high vote count earlier, coupled with his lack of reaction to Zhao Xian’s attempts to befriend him, made Zhao Xian think the other party had some kind of background, which was why he chose this song. Otherwise, he would have chosen a dance track, as his manager suggested.

But it didn’t matter; it was fine that Shi Xingze wasn’t a real “Royal.” Shi Xingze was only B-rank and was now in the same group as him. He had plenty of opportunities to step on the other person to climb up. Perhaps, through a comparison of their abilities, he could even steal Shi Xingze’s fans.

Zhao Xian was tempted by the fans who could vote Shi Xingze to B-rank number one.