AITFYMIBP Chapter 53

TL: Hua

For the New Year’s Eve Gala, all four satellite TV stations authorized to host a concert this year sent invitations to Lin Yanran.

The New Year’s Eve Gala is a type of program highly anticipated by young people in recent years and generates a lot of online discussion, so every authorized TV station takes it very seriously.

Therefore, when inviting guests, in addition to inviting some singers with strong skills and high popularity, they will also invite the most popular artists of the year.

These people either have a hit drama or a viral variety show under their belt.

And Lin Yanran has had several hit variety shows in succession over the past few months, plus he has a high-caliber work like Shuilongyin, which currently enjoys both high reputation and popularity.

The various TV stations all valued his current popularity wave for traditional Chinese culture and wanted to invite him to perform again to attract traffic and discussion.

It was clear that the TV stations’ assessment of Lin Yanran was no longer that of an obscure, eighteenth-tier celebrity.

Instead, he was now a popular artist with explosive discussion this year.

Hong Huixue relayed this news to Lin Yanran.

“Most people in this industry are quite superstitious. They all fight to snatch up whoever makes a show popular. Several programs you’ve participated in recently have all become hits, especially Historical Nation Treasure, which is the most obvious case—its ratings and discussion have completely soared.”

Hearing Hong Huixue’s words, Lin Yanran, who was practicing calligraphy, stopped writing and gently shook his head. “Historical National Treasures was prepared meticulously by the production team for a long time. If it lacked substantial content to attract the audience, even if Shuilongyin became a hit, it would only be a flash in the pan.”

Regarding Historical National Treasure, he had indeed heard many people say that he carried the show, and even the program’s creative team had specifically called him to thank him.

But Lin Yanran didn’t dare to be so arrogant as to take all the credit.

Guests and the production team are mutually indispensable for success.

“You’re right.”

Hong Huixue appreciated Lin Yanran’s clear-headedness. After all, when you are an artist, you must never get carried away the moment you become popular.

If an artist cannot accurately assess themselves and doesn’t know their own strengths and weaknesses, they will ultimately not last long in this industry.

Nevertheless, Hong Huixue still pointed out Lin Yanran’s contribution.

“The quality of the program is important, but the opportunity for the program to become popular and its appeal to the audience are equally important.”

Clearly, Lin Yanran was that opportunity that made the program a hit.

After speaking, Hong Huixue glanced at the calligraphy Lin Yanran was practicing. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, but she suppressed her excitement and continued the previous topic. “Do you know what nickname the industry has given you now?”

Lin Yanran carefully put down his brush, looked up at Hong Huixue, and asked confusedly, “A nickname?”

Hong Huixue smiled. “The Ratings Lucky Star.”

“All four satellite TV stations’ New Year’s Eve Galas compare ratings, and they’re all fighting to get you to participate, hoping to catch some of that superstitious luck,” Hong Huixue laughed. “To be honest, I’ve only encountered them fighting over one person like this once in all my years.”

Lin Yanran had a faint guess but still couldn’t resist asking, “Who?”

“The Boss.”

Back then, Gu Siye debuted out of nowhere, hitting his peak immediately and becoming incredibly popular.

That year, all the satellite TV stations hosting New Year’s Eve galas sent invitations, each offering astronomical appearance fees, wanting him to exclusively attend their New Year’s Eve debut.

However, despite the fierce competition between the TV stations, Gu Siye didn’t attend any of them.

“But he was very aloof; he didn’t go to a single one.”

Not only did he not go that year, but to this day, no TV station’s New Year’s Eve Gala has been able to successfully invite him.

Lin Yanran smiled faintly after hearing Hong Huixue’s description.

Was Gu Siye aloof?

Hong Huixue noticed the conversation had gone slightly off track and pulled it back.

“The New Year’s Eve Gala gets a lot of attention. It’s a great opportunity to increase visibility. These four TV platforms are all quite good. Which one do you want to be on?”

After she finished, Hong Huixue was about to analyze the pros and cons of the four TV stations for Lin Yanran, but she noticed him looking at her with some hesitation.

She immediately spotted the issue and quickly asked him, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Yanran thought for a moment and countered, “Is this announcement mandatory?”

“Not necessarily.”

After saying that, Hong Huixue suddenly remembered the online discussions about Lin Yanran being a poor singer, and thinking he was worried about this, she immediately reassured him. “Are you worried about singing? The actors who don’t even use a mic and openly lip-sync aren’t afraid, so you shouldn’t be either. Plus, you can choose not to sing. They are the ones who want to invite you; the initiative is entirely yours.”

Hong Huixue, being an ace manager from a big company, spoke with inherent confidence.

However, she hadn’t expected to guess incorrectly.

“It’s not because of that,” Lin Yanran lowered his eyes and slowly explained to Hong Huixue. “I don’t really want to participate in any programs that day. I want to rest at home for a day.”

The New Year’s Eve Gala takes place on December 31st.

And that day is his mother’s birthday.

For the past twenty-two years, for every one of his mother’s birthdays, their entire family would tacitly rush home before 6 PM to celebrate with her.

His father and brother would put everything aside, no matter how busy they were, to return home.

His grandmother and grandfather would jointly give their daughter-in-law a gift: his grandmother would paint a picture, and his grandfather would write a congratulatory inscription on it.

His maternal grandparents would give their daughter their favorite collection of the year, and the other would write a poem full of love for their beloved daughter, then set it to music and sing it to her.

Lin Yanran recalled that on his mother’s birthday last year, she had complained to him.

She said he had grown up and was no longer cute; he was now too independent, unlike when he was little, when he would always cling to his mother’s leg and act spoiled as soon as he got home.

The past events were vivid, and his mother’s half-joking words seemed to have been spoken just yesterday.

But the reality was that he and his mother were already separated into two different worlds.

This date held extraordinary significance for him.

Lin Yanran, who unconsciously began to miss home, still wanted to dedicate this day to celebrating his mother’s birthday, just as he had in the past.

Even if, in this world, only he still remembered the occasion.

But at least, in that way, he and his family would be doing the same thing across different times and spaces.

In a way, it was a form of reunion.

After saying those words, Lin Yanran fell silent.

Hong Huixue stood beside him and saw such a lonely expression on his face for the first time.

The young man’s long eyelashes were slightly lowered, concealing the emotion in his eyes.

But his whole demeanor was still shrouded in a thick sense of loneliness.

Seeing that Lin Yanran seemed preoccupied, Hong Huixue didn’t press him further.

“It’s fine. There will be many more opportunities to increase your visibility in the future. We don’t need this one. You must be quite tired from moving these past few days. Get some good rest, and I’ll handle the TV stations.”

“Thank you, Sister Hong, for your help.”

Hong Huixue smiled, then looked down and pointed to the calligraphy copybook on Lin Yanran’s desk.

The few lines of characters were well-arranged, fluid, and graceful. Although she hadn’t practiced calligraphy, she could tell it was written exceptionally well.

Hong Huixue admired people who wrote well with a brush and couldn’t resist picking up the ink-still-wet copybook.

She glanced at the two lines of poetry and silently read them in her mind.

If there were no roads leading north and south outside the gate, people would be spared the sorrow of parting.

The writing was beautiful, but the poem was somewhat melancholic.

“What style of writing is this? It’s strikingly beautiful.”

“Semi-cursive script.”

After being taught about fonts, Hong Huixue couldn’t help but praise, “I didn’t know you could do this too.”

“I learned it from my grandfather.”

Lin Yanran didn’t want to attend the New Year’s Eve Gala, but plenty of artists were desperate to be on it.

For example, Song Zhu, who had previously stood up Historical National Treasures and whom the production team had to desperately find Lin Yanran to replace.

Before Lin Yanran’s dramatic debut playing the guzheng, Song Zhu had always been the top star in the traditional Chinese circle.

Traditional Chinese culture is a relatively niche genre in the entertainment industry, and there are few artists who follow this route.

Although Song Zhu was not as popular as other celebrities, he was an outstanding figure in this niche genre.

So, almost all domestic resources related to traditional Chinese culture—variety shows, programs, or concerts—were almost entirely given to him, the big brother of this genre.

In the past, he was the one who picked and chose from these resources, with the leftovers going to other artists.

However, ever since Lin Yanran became popular, all these resources have shifted towards Lin Yanran.

Song Zhu has directly become the fallback, the second choice.

For example, the arrangements for this year’s New Year’s Eve Gala suddenly changed.

He had initially thought the opportunity had fallen through, but it was only confirmed a few days before the event.

Later, he inquired and discovered that these TV stations had all prioritized contacting Lin Yanran.

Because Lin Yanran was feeling unwell and genuinely unable to attend the gala, the resource was then passed down to him…

No one wants to be someone else’s second choice.

Song Zhu, who had never experienced this kind of treatment when it comes to cultural resources since he became popular, felt threatened for the first time.

“If you had accepted Historical National Treasures that day, none of this would be happening with Yanran.”

The manager, seeing that several shows had prioritized Yanran, couldn’t help but complain about Song Zhu’s short-sightedness back then.

If Song Zhu had performed Shuilongyin, this wave of mass popularity would have belonged to him.

Song Zhu was furious when he heard his manager’s words.

“Don’t mention that garbage program to me.”

Because of this one show, he had not only been outshone by Lin Yanran, but also because he performed a similar show on the same day on Strongest Country Wind—a rival show to Historical National Treasures—his haters have been using it to make various comparisons.

From the music, technique, styling, and looks…

Since the two had similar styles, they were compared from head to toe.

Although he had been compared to others before, those who were more handsome than him couldn’t play as well, so the audience had always praised him as “Teacher Song, Teacher Song.”

However, after that episode aired, he was mercilessly crushed by the audience in every aspect, especially his looks…

Simply because the other person was handsome, not only the audience but even many of his fans defected and started following Lin Yanran.

Song Zhu hadn’t recovered for two full days since Shuilongyin became popular.

“Forget it, forget it. It’s fate. You should prepare well for the New Year’s Eve Gala. The traffic is huge, and if the effect is good, you can still go viral.”

Since things had come to this, Song Zhu had no other choice.

“Oh, right, this is the singer list for Guess Who I Am. Take a look first.”

Song Zhu was invited to be a guest judge for two episodes of Guess Who I Am.

When he took the list from his manager, he was startled to see the name “Yanran.”

“He’s supposedly a terrible singer? How dare he accept this show?”

The manager looked at the name Song Zhu pointed to, equally surprised.

Guess Who I Am was a commitment Lin Yanran had made a few weeks ago.

However, the production team had to temporarily adjust the recording schedule due to an issue with the TV station, delaying it by two episodes. Later, because it conflicted with Lin Yanran’s schedule, the time was adjusted again.

Song Zhu didn’t know the full story, but he felt a sense of subtle joy.

He had been secretly following Lin Yanran for days and knew that his singing was extremely poor.

As if suddenly finding a major flaw in a flawless person, Song Zhu smiled. “I wonder if his new fans will be scared off when they hear him sing.”

Then he instructed his manager to inquire which episode Lin Yanran would be on so that he could be the guest judge for that episode.

*

The work arranged by Siyu for Lin Yanran was relatively light, mostly based on his personal wishes.

He had few recordings recently, so he attended some basic artist training and acting classes at the company, and then he was free.

After class, Lin Yanran returned home.

Lin Yanran was preparing dinner for himself when he saw a WeChat message from Zhang Shanfeng.

The other party sent him a link.

Zhang Shanfeng: Link: Shocking gossip! The untold stories of the entertainment industry—come and get your scoop! Entertainment Center

Lin Yanran was stunned for a few seconds by the content of the link.

Why would Zhang Shanfeng send him something like this?

Could his account have been hacked??

Lin Yanran didn’t dare to click on the link. He held back his curiosity and replied cautiously.

Lin Yanran: Director Zhang?

As soon as he sent the two characters, the WeChat page displayed “typing…”

About a minute later, another message popped up.

Zhang Shanfeng: Yanran, believe me, everything written here is true. Aren’t you curious about these gossips?

Zhang Shanfeng: If you don’t believe me, click and see.

Lin Yanran glanced up at the words on the link, The Untold Stories of the Entertainment Industry…

Although the title sounded explosive, he had no interest in entertainment gossip.

And the following messages from Zhang Shanfeng were strange. He seriously suspected the person was a scammer trying to trick him.

Lin Yanran thought that middle-aged and elderly people tend to click on these shared links and can easily have their accounts hacked if they are not careful.

Fearing that he might tip off the scammer, he withheld the message, “Director Zhang, has your phone been hacked?” and didn’t send it.

He exited the WeChat page and didn’t want to engage further with the supposed scammer.

He opened his contacts, preparing to call Zhang Shanfeng to warn him to be careful about his WeChat security and not click on strange links.

He even considered telling him to download a national anti-scam app.

But just then, the other party sent him a voice message.

Zhang Shanfeng: Check it out quickly; I guarantee it’s real.

Lin Yanran opened the voice message and found that it was indeed Zhang Shanfeng’s voice.

Lin Yanran: Not a scam?

Zhang Shanfeng sent another voice message. “Scam what? I sent it specifically for you to see. Entertainment industry secrets! Absolutely shocking!!”

Zhang Shanfeng insisted repeatedly.

This strange behavior piqued Lin Yanran’s curiosity, so he doubtfully clicked on the link.

The page transitioned for three seconds, and then an exceptionally fresh page popped up.

It was a full promotional poster for Incredible Journey.

The page also included the program’s theme song.

The theme song was replaced with an animation featuring several chibi-style figures with photoshopped real-life portraits running around in a setting of antique-style buildings.

Lin Yanran looked closely and realized that one of the chibi figures was his look from the first episode of the show.

And that little figure seemed to be a poor runner, falling far behind at the end.

Gao Zitai and the other five people running in the lead stopped and turned back to wave at him after reaching the finish line.

At this moment, the show’s self-designed bullet comments floated past quickly.

[Yanran, hurry up and come!]

[I won’t watch this show without you!]

[Day ten without Yanran, missing him!]

After the video finished playing, Lin Yanran scrolled down and found a few paragraphs written at the end:

Incredible Journey Episode Three recording is about to begin!!

New journey, new challenges!!

Don’t delay, join us now!!

Below that, a fake-looking application form was attached, and the other party had even filled in [Yanran] in the name field for him.

This link is a classic case of fake leaks and a real scam…

After reading it, Lin Yanran was thoroughly impressed.

Lin Yanran: .

Zhang Shanfeng, who was eating noodles, saw that Lin Yanran had finished reading and immediately sent two messages with a smile.

Zhang Shanfeng: How is it? Did you fill out the application form for the third episode!

Zhang Shanfeng: We’re just waiting for you!

Lin Yanran replied with a forced laugh and the single word “Good.”

The longest road he had ever walked in his life was indeed Director Zhang’s road to trickery.

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