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Back then, after receiving that 520,000, Luan Xing’an had felt it was too much and transferred 500,000 back.

Was he a total blockhead in his past life?

Luan Xing’an felt a sudden pang of regret.

Thinking back carefully to that day, Luan Xing’an could only recall that the meal brother Jing cooked was delicious and the horror movie was great. He couldn’t remember any specific expression on brother Jing’s face.

Oh well. Once he became famous and started making money, he’d earn enough to give brother Jing plenty of them!

Realizing that brother Jing had been secretly confessing his feelings back then, Luan Xing’an felt the pain in his face vanish completely.

He looked up, his voice softening instinctively: “Brother Jing, I’m craving your cooking.”

“I’ll make some for you tonight, then. I’ll let the others tag along and get a taste of my cooking, consider it a thank-you gift.”

Since Luan Xing’an had just been in a fight, it wouldn’t be appropriate for Jing Heguang to cook exclusively for him. Feeding the people who had broken up the fight as well served as a nice gesture of gratitude.

***

Early evening.

Jing Heguang prepared a large pot of braised pork ribs, filling the small kitchen next to the trainees’ cafeteria with a mouth-watering aroma.

The scent wafted out, carrying far enough to be smelled from a distance.

Chu Chu, who was in the middle of coaching trainees on their dance moves, twitched her nose, her eyes lit up instantly.

“It smells amazing!” Chu Chu glanced at the trainee. “You keep practicing, I’m going to see where that delicious smell is coming from.”

“Wait for me, teacher Chu! I’m going too.”

“Let’s all go.”

Chu Chu stepped out of the training room and ran into Xu Wenkai.

Xu Wenkai rubbed his stomach. “Let me see what smells so good.”

The two mentors crossed paths, and naturally, a whole crowd followed behind them, a mix of filming crew and trainees.

Upon entering the kitchen, they discovered it was Jing Heguang preparing the food. Xu Wenkai was amazed: “Incredible! With skills like this, he’s prime material for a devoted husband and father.”

Jing Heguang glanced behind him, wow, the place was packed with people.

But upon closer inspection, he noticed Luan Xing’an wasn’t among them.

Jing Heguang said, “They’ve been training hard lately, let’s whip up some extra food to boost their energy.”

Chu Chu whispered, “Does that include us mentors?”

Jing Heguang teased her, “We mentors are the ones doing the cooking. The director said I’m doing it today, and you guys will take turns starting tomorrow.”

“What?!” Chu Chu’s eyes went wide. “Nobody said anything about cooking before! What if…what if we accidentally poison the trainees? Who will take the blame for that?”

Chu Chu had a ‘kitchen disaster’ persona, and in reality, she lived up to it. She loved to eat, but cooking? That was simply out of the question.

Xu Wenkai cracked up: “If you poison them, the blame is on you, of course! Hahaha!”

The trainees in the back laughed too, making Chu Chu blush.

Just then, Zhang Qi and Luan Xing’an arrived.

Zhang Qi admired the inspired quality of Luan Xing’an’s songwriting and often exchanged ideas with him.She had just brought him some medicinal ointment from her hometown.

Zhang Qi walked into the kitchen, and Chu Chu anxiously grabbed her arm: “Sister Qi, the production team says we have to cook for the trainees! I don’t know how, what should I do?”

Zhang Qi was a bit taken aback, but after a moment, she comforted Chu Chu: “Don’t worry, I know a little bit. I’ll help you out when the time comes, and if worse comes to worst, we can ask Chef Jing for a hand.”

Catching the delicious aroma, Zhang Qi could tell Jing Heguang really knew his way around a kitchen, otherwise, the food wouldn’t smell so good.

Now it was Xu Wenkai’s turn to panic. He grabbed Jing Heguang’s arm: “In that case, Heguang, you’ve got to help your old buddy out. I only know how to make instant noodles.”

Luan Xing’an started to chuckle quietly, but accidentally let out a laugh loud enough for everyone to hear. Chu Chu turned her head and saw Luan Xing’an smiling happily.

She cast a suspicious glance at Jing Heguang, then looked at Luan Xing’an and asked, “Little Xing’an, what are you laughing about? Jing Heguang is definitely just bluffing, right?”

Luan Xing’an glanced at brother Jing and smiled without saying a word, his eyes crinkled into happy crescents.

When the ordered boxed meals arrived and the spare ribs were ready, the dining area felt livelier than usual.

After finishing their meal, Jing Heguang took Luan Xing’an to deliver a portion of the ribs to the director, hoping to soothe the temper of the man who was frazzled from the hectic schedule.

***

The show was being broadcast while still in production. As filming progressed, the pace quickened and the director faced mounting pressure, causing his already thinning hair to become even sparser.

After a performance that marked a stylistic breakthrough for the contestants, the second round of eliminations took place.

It was a Top 20 to Top 10 cut, half of the remaining contestants were set to leave Voice of Heaven.

Luan Xing’an held onto the number one spot. His third song featured a drastic change in style, winning him an even larger fanbase.

Huang Zeping was among those who were eliminated.

He wrote songs too, but he was truly mediocre, lacking any real spark of talent.

Nine others left alongside Huang Zeping.

The day after the second elimination round aired, the group appeared at the airport.

However, even before their plane landed, a new online buzz regarding Voice of Heaven had erupted.

Someone had leaked a story claiming that Luan Xing’an and Huang Zeping had gotten into a fight during the show!

The second round of eliminations narrowed the field from twenty to ten, the next stage would involve selecting the top three from that group for major promotion.

Many contestants had already signed with agencies before joining the show.

Some had even achieved a degree of fame beforehand and used Voice of Heaven to skyrocket to greater popularity.

With this fresh crop of talent currently immersed in the show, many outside agencies were eyeing the opportunity, plotting how to get their own people onto the program and reap the biggest rewards.

Since the data couldn’t be tampered with, thanks to the production team’s insistence on transparency, many agencies were left cursing and waving their checkbooks in frustration.

They had no choice but to focus on properly cultivating their own fanbases instead.

However, a few agencies found other ways. They dug up dirt on rival artists, preparing to stir up trouble on the side.

Once the damaging information broke, the agencies representing contestants in the top ten began circling like sharks smelling blood, eager to make a move.

Toppling Luan Xing’an meant a spot would open up in the top three.

Votes were tallied afresh each round, with previous counts wiped clean. With the third round underway, the timing was perfect.

And so, marketing accounts, social media pages that spread viral content, began posting the exposé on Luan Xing’an.

The posts were divided into two main sections.

The first part featured bizarre old photos of Luan Xing’an to smear him with plastic surgery allegations, claimed he had grown up scavenging in trash heaps, and painted him as a sullen, antisocial loner.

The second part attacked him from several angles, claiming he was merely a commercial product being aggressively pushed by his boss, Jing Heguang.

These accusations covered everything from Jing Heguang acting as both boss and mentor, to his premature public endorsement of Luan Xing’an, and even ‘evidence’ that he had bought fake followers for the young artist.

***

As soon as Huang Zeping stepped out of the airport, he was cornered.

He had briefly imagined he was the one in the spotlight, only to hear the entertainment reporters constantly bringing up Luan Xing’an’s name.

“Did you really get into a fight with Luan Xing’an while filming the show?”

“What was the fight about?”

“You got eliminated, but Luan Xing’an is still in first place and staying on the show…”

It felt like a series of sharp daggers were stabbing Huang Zeping right in the heart.

He impatiently brushed aside the entertainment reporters blocking his path: “Please make way.”

“Why are you dodging the question?”

“Are you afraid of retaliation?”

“Is there something you can’t talk about?”

Amidst the clamor, Huang Zeping roared, “I have absolutely nothing to do with him, don’t ask me!”

Just a few days ago, Huang Zeping would have openly mocked or subtly disparaged Luan Xing’an on the spot, spouting nonsense about how the songs written by that ‘pretty boy’ were mediocre at best.

However, today was different. Before boarding his flight, he had checked the comments sections for Luan Xing’an’s songs on major music apps.

He had been struck by the genuine, heartfelt comments from listeners. It turned out…so many people really did love Luan Xing’an’s music.

In contrast, the comments under his own songs were mostly just words of encouragement from his own fans.

Simply put, Huang Zeping was currently in a phase where he cared about his public image, so the reporters failed to get a single useful quote out of him.

Realizing their interviews had yielded nothing, the rival parties pulling the strings behind the scenes had no choice but to ramp up their online campaign, flooding the internet with infographics detailing ‘scandalous’ facts about Luan Xing’an.

***

Xiao Chen was the first to notice something amiss. He spotted the topic circulating before it even hit the trending list.

After consulting his boss, Jing Heguang, Xiao Chen watched as the opposition paid to get the topic trending.

With Voice of Heaven currently a hit and Luan Xing’an enjoying a surge in popularity, the combined buzz was explosive, propelling the topic rapidly to second place on the trending list.

The number one spot was held by a male celebrity’s cheating scandal, a story netizens were devouring while simultaneously rallying for justice for the woman involved.

An hour later, the topic in second place overtook the first, successfully thrusting Luan Xing’an’s name into the public eye.

Throughout this time, Jing Heguang did only one thing.

He sent a private message to Qu Wenyuan, attaching one of the ‘incriminating’ images from the smear campaign.

The incriminating image, which alleged that Jing Heguang had bought fake followers for Luan Xing’an, actually showed father Qu stealing a quick nap during a tedious segment of the second round of performances.

***

Qu Wenyuan was in the middle of filming when he saw the news. Upon checking his phone during a break, he sprang up so abruptly that he toppled his chair.

His agent was terrified: “What happened? You were so reckless. You didn’t hurt yourself in the fall, did you?”

Qu Wenyuan sucked in a breath and scrambled to his feet, clutching his backside. “I’m fine. Tell the director to wait a moment, I need to make a call.”

He rushed off to call his older brother and made sure his parents were informed as well.

***

The Qu family home.

Father Qu and mother Qu frowned as they looked at the unflattering photo on their phones.

Father Qu looked particularly displeased. What did they mean by ‘even an older, middle-aged man chasing after a celebrity’? Just because he was older, did that mean he wasn’t allowed to be a fan?!

“I’m not that old!” Father Qu protested indignantly.

Mother Qu scolded him: “That’s what you get for not watching the program properly. You just had to sneak a nap, and now look, you’ve been snapped by someone.”

“So what if I was snapped?” Father Qu shrugged it off. “I’ve even been on national TV before.”

Mother Qu said, “This time is different. Our eldest son has registered official ‘Board Member’ accounts for us. We’re going to post messages supporting Xing’an later and really slap the faces of the people pulling strings behind the scenes!”

Having mixed in the fandom world for a while now, mother Qu knew how cutthroat the competition for resources could be. Such a ‘scoop’ wouldn’t just pop up out of nowhere, someone was definitely orchestrating it.

Qu Jialiang had his staff register two new board member accounts and arranged for the company to verify them before sending the login details to his mother.

Once they had the accounts, father Qu and mother Qu logged in.

Father Qu attached a screenshot of his appearance on national TV and posted publicly:

@OldQu: I’m a dad fan. #LuanXingAnScoop# [NewsScreenshot.jpg]

Mother Qu followed suit immediately.

@OldQu’sBoss: I’m a mom fan. Age shouldn’t dictate one’s actions. We support a young person chasing their dreams regardless of how old we are. Please do not spread false rumors, if you have already done so, please delete them and apologize. #LuanXingAnScoop#

With his parents and older brother having posted warnings and statements via their official accounts, Qu Wenyuan reposted his parents’ messages.

@QuWenyuan: My whole family is chasing a celebrity together, nobody says we can’t do that, right? [Dog-head emoji] @LaoQu, @LaoQu’sBoss…

Just a moment ago, netizens were wondering whether the string of titles and the news screenshot regarding Lao Qu were real or fake. But once Qu Wenyuan stepped forward himself, how could it possibly be fake?

And so, the clickbait accounts were left red-faced.

@Qiqi: #LuanXingAnScoop# Today’s dose of pure joy! Hiring a multi-billionaire tycoon to act as a fake fan? Hahahaha~

@TrueBelieverXiaoSiji: #LuanXingAnScoop# I just have to ask: do those clickbait accounts feel the sting of the slap in the face yet? A wealthy big-shot fan he attracted himself got mistaken for a fake fan, who could even afford to hire a fake fan of that caliber? Only in their dreams!

@DentistWangYi: #LuanXingAnScoop# It’s so funny it’ll knock your teeth out, 20% off on fillings today! (*^▽^*)

After the clickbait accounts were left dumbfounded, the people behind them were stunned too…

???

Were they still dreaming? A retired tycoon couple worth tens of billions, out here fangirling/fanboying online?!