AITFYMIBP Chapter 52

TL: Hua

The new home was huge, a large flat with nearly three hundred square meters.

The room was decorated very stylishly, and almost every detail was to Lin Yanran’s aesthetic liking.

But the only thing he found a little regrettable was that the room was so big, and having been vacant for a long time, it always felt empty.

Especially the kitchen, which the landlord had spent nearly seven digits renovating.

After the renovation, it looked brand new, as if it had never been used for cooking.

When he opened the double-door refrigerator in the adjacent storage room, it was also empty.

Lin Yanran liked a life full of the smell of home cooking and enjoyed opening the refrigerator to see it stocked with food.

So, after spending a day redecorating the room, Lin Yanran put on his mask and scarf and went to a nearby supermarket to buy groceries, preparing to make himself dinner to celebrate moving in.

Lin Yanran walked for about ten minutes until he reached a relatively high-end large supermarket nearby.

After buying some eggs and milk for breakfast, he headed to the vegetable section to select the vegetables he wanted for dinner.

Mo Tongtong, who was with her friend to check out this popular high-end supermarket, immediately spotted the tall, handsome guy across the way.

Initially, she quietly checked him out based on the principle that rare resources like handsome guys are a bonus, and seeing one was a gain.

But when she looked closely at his features, she felt more and more that something was off.

Although the person was wearing a mask and a hat, she recognized him as Yanran through those highly recognizable eyes and his tall, slender figure!

Afraid that she was seeing things, she took a few more careful looks.

It was definitely Yanran!

Mo Tongtong’s heart suddenly pounded very fast! Her hands also trembled slightly from the excitement.

She just came out to shop and unexpectedly ran into a celebrity!

And it was a celebrity she disliked!

Mo Tongtong was a casual melon eater enthusiast in the entertainment industry and didn’t have anyone she particularly liked.

But she was very prone to being contrary.

If something felt slightly unpleasant, she would turn against various celebrities.

This was the case with Yanran.

Recently, everyone had been praising him sky-high, which made her think otherwise, and she developed a dislike for Lin Yanran as a person.

But tonight, she unexpectedly ran into him and even caught him buying groceries alone.

Mo Tongtong was a little excited, quickly pulled out her phone, and took several photos of Lin Yanran.

Celebrities being encountered by passersby in real life are often most likely to be captured in awkward pictures.

So, while taking photos, Mo Tongtong also wondered. Fans rave so much about Yanran’s divine looks; she wanted to see if it was really that amazing.

Mo Tongtong took a picture and then opened the gallery to check it.

She found that no matter how she took the photo, the person looked exceptionally handsome, even several times better than in pictures taken by a camera.

Feeling unconvinced, she thought maybe her photography skills were too good, so she prepared to try a tricky angle.

But as soon as she looked up, she realized Lin Yanran had disappeared.

She hurriedly looked around for him.

Then, at a corner, Mo Tongtong, who was walking backward while searching for the person, bumped directly into someone.

Her phone was also knocked to the ground.

Mo Tongtong quickly turned to pick up her phone.

A pleasant voice sounded above her head, “Sorry.”

Lin Yanran had been looking at bowls and thought he was the one who hadn’t been paying attention and bumped into someone. After apologizing, he crouched down to help the other person pick up the phone he had knocked down.

The screen of the other person’s phone was still on.

There was a photo on it.

And the person in the photo was dressed exactly like him.

It was a picture of himself.

Looking at the phone in Lin Yanran’s hand, Mo Tongtong, caught in the act, was too nervous to speak.

“Yan, Yanran… I, I…”

Just as she didn’t know how to explain the matter of secretly taking photos to Lin Yanran, she saw that the other person didn’t mind and nodded at her kindly.

“Hello.”

Lin Yanran heard the other person call out his name and assumed she was one of his fans.

Mo Tongtong, who had expected to be scolded, widened her eyes in surprise.

Then she clearly saw Lin Yanran’s beautiful eyes curve, seemingly smiling at her. His attitude was particularly gentle, without any airs of a big star.

For a moment, Mo Tongtong felt a little warmth in her heart and was also mesmerized by his good looks.

However, because of her previous prejudice against Lin Yanran, Mo Tongtong felt that it was a bit too weak to waver in her stance just like that.

In her mind, she shook her head, reminding herself not to be charmed! Don’t be charmed!

As she thought this, she quickly grabbed her phone and ran away.

After separating from her friend, Mo Tongtong returned home.

In the evening after dinner, she was playing on her phone in the living room.

But she kept scrolling without absorbing a single word, so she went to the bathroom.

Today was the weekend, and the TV drama Mo Tongtong’s mother was following had only aired one episode before switching to other programs.

She put down the half-knitted scarf for her daughter, picked up the remote control, and began flipping through channels.

After skipping through several channels, she suddenly stopped at a program featuring traditional Chinese culture.

When Mo Tongtong came out of the bathroom, she saw her mother staring intently at the TV, having even forgotten to knit the scarf.

Before Mo Tongtong could ask her mother what program was so captivating, she heard a passionate orchestral ensemble reach her ears.

There was an erhu, a dizi, and a guzheng.

This melody was incredibly catchy, and Mo Tongtong’s gaze immediately turned to the television.

Then she saw Lin Yanran, dressed in a red, flowing, and handsome outfit, playing the guzheng on the screen!

The camera focused on the side profile of Lin Yanran, who was concentrating on his performance. This extreme close-up side view was a stunning, deadly blow that made Mo Tongtong freeze in place, temporarily forgetting to breathe.

At the same time, numerous topics about the program Historical National Treasures suddenly appeared on various forums and Weibo.

[Who understands Shuilongyin!!!!!!!!]

[Grape TV!!! Yanran!!!!!!]

[Ahhh ahhh ahhh, this performance of Shuilongyin by Yanran and the two chief musicians is directly enshrined as a god-tier performance in my heart!]

[Sisters, hurry up and watch Historical National Treasures! I was brought to my knees! P.S.: I’m not a paid water army; I’m not a paid water army. May my entire family die if I’m a paid water army !!]

While the internet was boiling with excitement, the backstage area of the Historical National Treasures program was frighteningly silent.

Based on the experience and feedback from the first two episodes, the production team listened to the netizens’ opinions and, while retaining the show’s original intention, did their best to adopt the methods most favored by the audience for program arrangement.

After recording Shuilongyin on Friday, the explosive effect boosted everyone’s confidence, and the team had high hopes for this episode.

Almost every staff member who poured their heart into the show hoped that this episode would be a comeback that would allow the program to be seen by more people.

So, before the broadcast, the production team happily focused their online promotion heavily on Yanran.

The initial online response seemed quite positive.

But unexpectedly, after the program started airing, the ratings were still mediocre.

They were even lower than the previous episode…

The general director of the program looked at the real-time ratings platform. “Historical National Treasures” had a 0.31 rating—not even in the top ten. But the rival channel’s “Strongest Country Wind” held steady at third place with a 0.78 rating.

He sighed helplessly, feeling extremely discouraged.

They had racked their brains doing extensive preparation and run themselves ragged inviting various artists to participate and create, all to promote the profound traditional culture of the nation and show everyone a different side of it.

Yet, the rival channel’s “Strongest Country Wind,” which used the term “country’s wind” but was actually a shoddy mess—not only poached their creative team and guests but also plagiarized many of their core ideas. The most infuriating part was that the rival aired several episodes before their launch, directly seizing the market.

Traditional Chinese culture is already a relatively niche market, yet this insincere work managed to surpass their viewership ratings through marketing and seizing the initiative.

This kind of thing was truly heartbreaking.

So, when the third episode of Historical National Treasures aired, the director desperately hoped for a comeback.

But after watching for a long time, he found that the ratings for the initial part of this episode were still poor.

At that time, the director could still accept it and comfort himself that the “trump card” segment hadn’t aired yet, and there was still a chance.

But now, the “trump card” performance of Shuilongyin had been airing for half a minute, and the ratings still hadn’t changed much…

Seeing this, the director finally broke down.

He suddenly understood that even inviting Yanran, who was very popular for playing the guzheng recently, couldn’t save the overall ratings of the program.

Looking at the unmoving, solid ratings curve, the general director, who was nearly fifty years old, gave up.

“As the saying goes, good wine needs no bush, but the times are different now. I am behind the times,” he muttered dispiritedly.

A few scriptwriters stood up and gently patted his shoulder to comfort him. “Forget it, forget it. Whether a show becomes a hit is truly a mystery… We just do our best.”

The Assistant Director, however, was unable to accept it. He shook his head. “Damn it, I’m so angry. The one who poached our people and copied our ideas is more popular than us. That trash program—I saw that celebrity performer miss notes.”

The assistant director’s words led the already emotional core creative team members into a deep silence.

However, just at this moment, Xiao Chen, who had been staring at the ratings without giving up, suddenly jumped up in surprise.

“It’s rising, rising, rising (Shēngle)!!”

One staff member, who was a little hard of hearing, tilted his head and looked at Xiao Chen in confusion. “What’s born (Shēngle)? Did your wife give birth?”

Xiao Chen excitedly pointed at the monitor. “The ratings are rising!!”

Hearing this, over ten core creative staff members immediately huddled around Xiao Chen’s computer.

Sure enough, the ratings curve, which had been as steady as an old dog before, was now beginning to climb up little by little!

Even this slight fluctuation excited everyone on the production team!

So, everyone stared intently at the screen.

In the minute before, the ratings had been steadily rising at a relatively slow pace.

But at the one-minute mark, just as the Shuilongyin performance reached its climax, the ratings curve for Historical National Treasures suddenly shot up as if it was bugged, immediately forming a peak.

On the TV screen, the three musicians’ ensemble were shown together.

Weng Yancai was unrestrained, his erhu injected a soulful and powerful majesty; Lin Yanran was confident and free-spirited, the plucking of his guzheng strings moved people to tears; Shi Lingxiao was leisurely and elegant, her dizi was light and graceful, a perfect embellishment.

The three of them sharing the frame was a truly divine collaboration.

Within this short period, the ratings curve surpassed that of the rival channel’s Strongest Country Wind!

A burst of cheers suddenly erupted in the room, which had been under a low-pressure mood all evening!

Shuilongyin was a hit.

Immediately after the performance finished, various forums were flooded with posts from excited fans.

[If you didn’t see Yanran playing Shuilongyin on TV, you truly missed out on a fortune!!]

[Shocked, I, who hasn’t watched TV in years, actively turned on the TV. The real reason made me weep… because I wanted to watch Yanran play Shuilongyin]

The program first became popular within the fan community and then spread out, gaining popularity among the general public.

The clicks on the online platform that purchased the broadcast rights also soared.

In particular, the clip of Shuilongyin broke eighty million views overnight.

The production team seized the opportunity and uploaded the Shuilongyin segment to a popular bullet-comment website.

As a result, the video immediately topped the website’s hot list that very day.

Whether it was on websites, forums, or even Weibo and WeChat Moments, searching for Shuilongyin resulted in overwhelmingly positive reviews.

[A heavenly melody, truly astounding]

[I can listen to this without paying?]

[Even ancient emperors didn’t have this kind of treatment]

[One billion more times]

[Immortal music makes the ears clear and the eyes bright]

Because of the sudden viral popularity of Shuilongyin, many viewers found it interesting and subsequently watched Historical National Treasures as well.

This time, the program, which had been meticulously prepared for an entire year, was finally discovered and loved by the public.

[A hidden gem of a show]

[A conscientious variety show]

[The must-watch series]

After watching the program, various self-proclaimed promoters began recommending the show.

As a result, on the third day of the broadcast, the daytime rerun of Historical National Treasures actually achieved a 0.7% rating, ranking first in its time slot!

Not only did the rerun ratings increase, but the first two episodes of the entire program were dug up, and their views skyrocketed.

Over the weekend, various satellite TV stations broadcast several variety shows.

This included the year’s hit online variety show Super Idol, the hit satellite TV variety show Incredible Journey…

In addition, there was the recently highly promoted self-produced variety show Strongest Country Wind from Grape TV’s rival channel…

However, after airing, no one expected that among such a strong lineup of variety shows, the one with the biggest online impact and the highest discussion rate would turn out to be the previously unremarkable Historical National Treasures.

Just one segment of Shuilongyin made nearly the entire nation aware overnight that such a painstakingly produced, high-quality variety show existed!

[My classmates who usually don’t follow celebrities are all watching this segment, leaving bullet comments as they watch.]

[The middle-aged and elderly people in my WeChat Moments are all sharing this video, saying it proves the quality of our Chinese culture.]

[In my evening music appreciation elective, the teacher also played this segment for the class.]

The discussion around Shuilongyin was undoubtedly high, but the highest heat was undoubtedly focused on Lin Yanran.

After all, no one had dared to imagine before that an entertainment industry celebrity would not only dare to perform with those two grandmasters on stage but could also hold his own against them, being in no way inferior.

This was genuine handsomeness combined with real skill!

This wave of popularity from Lin Yanran directly redefined many people’s understanding of a celebrity’s true ability.

[I thought Yanran was just a mediocre internet celebrity level before, I never expected him to be so strong!]

[Too strong, too strong! Teacher Jing’s arrangement, Teacher Shi’s dizi, Elder Weng’s erhu, and Yanran’s guzheng!! I never thought a popular idol could perform on the same stage with these masters. Not only was he not crushed, but he was actually quite brilliant…]

[The level of a battle among gods (including Yanran)]

[Hello Yanran, I’m the person in charge of Q~Q~ Ranch. I called you just now, but you didn’t pick up. I’m sending you a message to say: You are absolutely amazing.]

Before Shuilongyin, many people perceived Lin Yanran’s guzheng skill to be that of a pretty good third-tier celebrity.

After listening to Shuilongyin, the public’s perception of Lin Yanran immediately changed to that of a powerful celebrity with superb skill that could rival and not fall short of a master.

This really brought honor to the entertainment industry!

So, the next day, #YanranShuilongyin# and #YanranGuzheng# were once again trending on hot searches.

Having proven himself repeatedly with his skill, now even Lin Yanran’s haters dared not criticize his guzheng abilities.

However, no one daring to criticize his skill didn’t stop people from enthusiastically discussing him.

In addition to the much-talked-about Shuilongyin performance, people also learned from Ji Shuai in the latest episode of Super Idol that his viral “fairy makeup” was personally designed by Lin Yanran.

[What? Wasn’t it done by that makeup artist for Ji Shuai? I remember the makeup artist immediately opened a Xiaohongshu account to share a makeup tutorial after the episode aired.]

[The makeup was applied by him, that’s true, but the makeup look and the female makeup concept were all designed by Yanran. Go watch the show—even the bob curl hairstyle was personally sketched by Yanran. The program team released his design sketches.]

[Sisters, I went to check. That makeup artist who took credit and posted a tutorial immediately deleted all the tutorials shared on Weibo and Xiaohongshu after the episode aired.]

[LOL, if I recall correctly, that makeup artist’s narrative was to imply that he discovered Ji Shuai’s beauty and drastically changed his makeup to achieve his success. How dare he shamelessly steal Yanran’s credit?]

The makeup artist who took the credit has now been directly exposed by Ji Shuai’s interview. The person deleted the posts and ran away, and people no longer wanted to give him any attention.

However, through this, many people discovered new merits in Lin Yanran.

Since the day she met Lin Yanran, Mo Tongtong has completely stopped saying anything negative about him.

She even deeply regretted her past blindness, as she had previously been a standoffish casual hater of Lin Yanran.

So, when everyone was discussing Lin Yanran, she shared her encounter with him that day in his super-topic community.

She also posted a photo she had secretly taken.

Although it was just a casual snap, the photo was perfect from every angle, making him so handsome it was infuriating.

Someone saw Mo Tongtong’s post and reposted the incident to a forum.

As people discussed it, they realized that Lin Yanran was genuinely, and effortlessly, excellent in both skill and character, with various merits being exposed whether he was on a show or seen from a passerby’s perspective.

Not only that, attentive viewers also noticed that the programs Lin Yanran recently participated in either had explosive online popularity or their ratings became particularly high.

So, netizens gave him a new nickname: The Ratings Lucky Star.

After several positive instances of public visibility, the public’s opinion of Lin Yanran was no longer as bad as before.

Many casual observers even found him particularly outstanding and considered him a role model for the new generation of celebrities.

So someone on a certain forum started a thread to have a rational discussion with everyone.

Rational discussion: What do you think Teacher Yanran can’t do?

Upon seeing this hot post, fans immediately rushed to the scene to clarify.

Fans: Don’t jinx it! Our darling is definitely not good at everything!!

You might think he’s good at everything, but he’s absolutely number one from the bottom at singing!

Thus, once again verified by the fans, some production teams began to stir, quickly arranging a singing segment for Lin Yanran!