The call connected quickly on the other end: “Hello?”
“It’s me, Xia Qingfan.”
The other side sucked in a sharp breath. “Fan, Young Master Fan? You… need something?”
Xia Qingfan curled his lips, holding the phone as he walked to a secluded corner before speaking: “In the next episode, I want Jiang Chenxing to not have a single shot!”
“What?! Th-this… how is that possible?” The other side was shocked.
In the third public performance, Jiang Chenxing led his team to first place, and he himself even won the title of “Popularity King.” Then in the training footage for the second episode, it was inevitable that he would be given more screen time.
Even if not more, he couldn’t possibly have zero shots!
What’s more, today the first episode aired, and Jiang Chenxing had clearly become the contestant with the highest level of discussion.
Under normal circumstances, the second episode would only give him even more screen time. If it were reduced, it would inevitably draw suspicion from netizens, saying the production team was “suppressing popularity,” or even maliciously targeting him.
Stirring up controversy after only two episodes was absolutely not something the creative team wanted to see.
“…Young Master Fan, aren’t you making things difficult for us?”
“Cut the cr*p! If we don’t cut his shots, are we supposed to just let Jiang Chenxing rise up? What is he, anyway? This season of Star-Making Camp has invested so much, are we just letting him freeload on the hype and soar to the top in one step?”
“That definitely won’t do! Both the station and the investors have people they want to promote.”
“Then that settles it. While he hasn’t fully taken shape yet, strangle him in the cradle early. Good for you, good for me, good for everyone.”
“This… I need to discuss it with Director Yu.”
Seeing the other party relent, Xia Qingfan knew this matter was mostly settled. He ended the call briskly.
Turning around, he tossed the phone back to the staff member and left arrogantly.
“What kind of person is he? That’s way too much!”
“Alright, alright, heaven-chosen royalty, we can’t afford to offend him. Just endure it.”
…
On this side, Xia Qingfan called the person in charge of the coordination team, who then turned around and told the director his request.
“…Heh, not a single shot? He really dares to think that!” After hearing it, Director Yu’s lips curled into a cold smile.
It wasn’t that he thought the request was unreasonable, he simply didn’t like being bossed around.
In fact, that Xia Qingfan would make such a request didn’t surprise him at all.
In an entertainment circle where bans and shelving happen at the drop of a hat, having footage cut was nothing out of the ordinary.
Director Yu also roughly knew Xia Qingfan’s reason for doing this, wasn’t it just fear that Jiang Chenxing’s popularity would rise and snatch away the C position he was determined to get?
“Director Yu, judging from Young Master Fan’s tone, if we don’t agree, he probably won’t let this go.”
“Mm, I know.”
“Then do we agree or not?”
Director Yu waved his hand. “No rush. There’s still a week before the second episode airs.”
Just then, his phone rang. “Hello… You’ve checked it clearly? Certain there’s nothing?”
The other side said something unknown. Director Yu’s furrowed brow gradually relaxed. “Alright, I know… Tsk! How much of a stir can a web influencer’s fans cause? You’ve been in the entertainment circle for so many years for nothing?”
The other side laughed apologetically and apologized.
Director Yu: “Alright, that’s it for now.”
With that, he hung up directly.
The investigation he’d sent people to do into Jiang Chenxing and Xingyue Agency had already yielded results.
It was just a small agency, with only three contracted artists, laughable if you said it out loud.
The boss was named Wu Qian, a complete nobody in the industry.
The shareholding structure behind it was also simple: Wu Qian was both the legal representative and the major shareholder.
Those previously feared backers or sugar daddies, none of them existed.
If there was anything worth mentioning at all, it was probably that they had personally discovered and cultivated Jiang Chenxing, a mukbang web influencer with tens of millions of followers.
But an influencer was still an influencer, completely different from a real celebrity artist. As for those tens of millions of followers…
Who knew how much of that was inflated.
In short, Jiang Chenxing had no background, no backing, nothing to be afraid of!
Director Yu: “Give Xia Qingfan a clear reply. Tell him I’ve agreed to his request. We’ll try our best to cut Jiang Chenxing’s individual shots, but those where he’s together with other contestants will still be kept.”
“But Young Master Fan said not a single one can remain…”
“Tsk! Doing it this extremely, is he afraid people won’t know the show is deliberately suppressing Jiang Chenxing? Even being willful has its limits. Stirring up public backlash won’t benefit anyone. Tell him to rein it in!”
“Yes, I’ll pass it along right away.” The coordination lead wiped sweat from his brow and fled as fast as he could.
Every one of these people was an ancestor with a temper. If he could help it, he wouldn’t want to serve any of them, but who told Xia Qingfan to call him directly?
Sigh, trouble!
…
Recording progressed quickly, and soon it was time for the second public performance.
During this period, although Xia Qingfan still treated Jiang Chenxing with the same disdain, nose not a nose, eyes not eyes, it was limited to verbal attacks. He didn’t lay a hand on him.
Jiang Chenxing treated him like a mosquito, buzzing around. He didn’t respond, didn’t care, didn’t get angry.
That level of composure, anyone who saw it had to praise it.
Xia Qingfan felt like his punches were landing on cotton, with no sense of achievement at all. Several times he got so angry he wanted to explode, but for some unknown reason, he always managed to brake in time. His expression would turn strange yet calm, and when he looked at Jiang Chenxing, there was a trace of pity in his gaze.
There was even a sense of certainty and smug satisfaction, like “watch him rise high, then watch his tower collapse.”
It was downright creepy.
Someone privately told Jiang Chenxing to be careful, saying Xia Qingfan clearly wanted to play dirty and was probably cooking up something bad.
Jiang Chenxing sincerely thanked him and said he would be careful. But when he turned around, he acted like nothing had happened, training, eating, resting every day, the same three-point routine.
Gradually, some people felt Jiang Chenxing was unfathomable.
But others thought he was just putting on an act.
As the atmosphere inside the training camp grew increasingly tense, everyone also gained a certain understanding of each other’s strength, who were “potential stocks,” who were the “favored sons” all gradually came to light.
Under these circumstances, the second episode of Star-Making Training Camp aired.
The six contestants selected for Class A drew lots to determine order, chose teammates, and formed new groups.
Among them, Xia Qingfan had the highest popularity, evident in how everyone scrambled to be on his team, even willing to battle on the spot.
Naturally, Xia Qingfan became the focus.
During the interspersed contestant interviews, several of those asked all rated him very highly.
Another fresh-faced idol named Chu Li also performed outstandingly and was given quite a few close-up shots.
As for the other Class A members, including Jiang Chenxing, they were brushed past in a blink.
Next came choosing the public performance songs, with the camera again focusing mainly on Xia Qingfan, Zhou Chenlin, and Qu Xiaohan.
Jiang Chenxing and his teammates were still only briefly skimmed over.
Then the tightly scheduled daily training began.
Chu Li’s diligence, Xia Qingfan’s talent, Zhou Chenlin’s high notes, and Qu Xiaohan’s rap were all showcased one by one in close-ups before the audience.
However, when Jiang Chenxing led his teammates to polish movements, adjust formations, choreograph, rehearse, and so on, it was either directly cut, or only given distant shots.
At the end of the video, a preview of the next public performance was shown, and only there did Jiang Chenxing’s sole close-up flash by.
After whetting everyone’s appetite, it cut off abruptly, pulling anticipation for the first public performance to a peak.
This time, with joint promotion by agencies and marketing accounts, Chu Li, Xia Qingfan, and Zhou Chenlin all made the trending list.
Everyone seemed to have forgotten Jiang Chenxing’s existence. After all, among 101 young guys with good figures and looks, whoever the camera favored naturally left the deeper impression.
Xia Qingfan took out his phone and scrolled through the trending list. Seeing his name hanging at number one instantly put him in a great mood.
Seeing this, his two roommates flattered him,
“Brother Fan is amazing!”
“Your Weibo followers are growing so fast too.”
“…”
As for the fact that he was openly scrolling on his phone in the dormitory, everyone seemed to have collectively turned a blind eye.
Xia Qingfan flicked a glance toward Jiang Chenxing, chuckled as he curled his lips, pushed aside the two flattering him, and walked straight over. “The second episode’s heat seems even higher than the first. Trending topics popping up like they’re free. Here, phone for you. Take it and scroll.”
Jiang Chenxing didn’t even look up. “No need, thanks.”
Xia Qingfan’s brow furrowed. “Don’t be ungrateful!”
Jiang Chenxing stood up. “I’m just following the rules, not using my phone.”
Then he left directly.
Time to eat.
“F*k!” Xia Qingfan cursed, then sneered at his back. “Too scared to look, right? After all, this time forget trending, you don’t even have a single proper shot. Even if you get first in the public performance, so what? No one even sees it.”
Jiang Chenxing paused, but didn’t turn around, nor did he respond.
Only then did he suddenly realize, so tricks had been pulled in the editing.
Heh…
They really went to great lengths.
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Jiang Chenxing didn’t linger and left straight away.
Eating was the most important thing in life. As for everything else…
Eat first, then talk.
Xia Qingfan immediately felt the irritation of being ignored and threw a huge tantrum in the dormitory.
He even kicked over quite a few chairs.
The other roommates were too scared to make a sound.
But when he looked at his name on the trending list again, Xia Qingfan’s smile instantly returned.
No matter what, this time, he had won!
Little did he know that a trending list without Jiang Chenxing had already drawn the attention of the “Guardian Stars”…
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