Love Contract chapter 3
Trending Searches
“What style is the new album this time? How does it differ from previous ones?”
“I heard you’ve been struggling to write songs, which is why there’s been no promotion for the new album. Can you respond to that?”
“You were seen leaving the Shengyun building with Su Wan in the early morning. What is your relationship? Are you secretly dating?”
……
Countless questions bombarded He Yujing, with reporters crowding in and bodyguards desperately blocking them to prevent them from completely obstructing the path. He Yujing remained expressionless throughout, ignoring the increasingly sharp questions, and was just a few steps away from getting into the car.
The reporters present were anxious, and one of them shouted, “Just now at the club, who did you give your hat to? Do you know him? Why did you help him?”
He Yujing stopped and turned his head.
The reporter who asked the question was delighted, not expecting to get his attention. Seeing that he seemed to want to say something, the reporter focused intently on He Yujing in the camera.
“Everyone, go home early and be safe.”
He Yujing’s voice came through the reporter’s device. The fans on site screamed, and Shen Sijia, who was barely maintaining her composure, completely lost it and shouted, “Lao gong ahhhhhh!!! Lao gong, I love you for life!!!”
After He Yujing finished speaking, he got into the car surrounded by bodyguards. Even though they were unwilling, the reporters had to watch the car slowly drive away. Some persistent ones, taking advantage of the slow speed, continued to take pictures and ask questions through the darkened windows, hoping for a response from inside the car.
Zhou Xun, seeing people leaving one after another, checked the taxi app and found the queue had already reached several hundred positions. “Let’s walk. It might take a kilometer before we can get a taxi.”
This area was a bar street, brightly lit in the middle of the night, and many people chose to walk away. Jiang Liusui was about to follow the crowd when Zhou Xun pulled him aside. “Let’s go this way; it’s closer to your and Shen Sijia’s place.”
“So detailed,” Jiang Liusui complimented. “Want to come work as my assistant? You’ll be directly hired without any interview.”
“Such a rare opportunity, think carefully,” Shen Sijia agreed. “Being Suisui’s assistant is more meaningful than becoming a theoretical physicist, right?”
“Give it up,” Zhou Xun said helplessly. “You’re really this kid’s lapdog.”
Unlike Shen Sijia, who came from a well-off family and was pampered by her parents, Zhou Xun’s parents were strict but kind teachers, and he had lived up to expectations, being a top student throughout his life.
Shen Sijia didn’t mind at all, happily linking arms with Jiang Liusui. “But Suisui, someone might have filmed the video of you and my idol tonight. Should we let the manager know in advance?”
Jiang Liusui’s current residence was an apartment provided by the company. The apartment wasn’t large but had strict security, ensuring safety and privacy, and many small artists from Gallery lived in this complex.
Before going to bed, Jiang Liusui sent a message to Jiang Chuan, briefly explaining what happened tonight. Since it was too late, Jiang Chuan didn’t reply.
The next morning, Jiang Liusui was woken up by the manager’s call.
It was almost four in the morning when he got home and washed up. He planned to sleep through breakfast and lunch to catch up on rest. Seeing the time was just past ten in the morning, he had a splitting headache. “Hello…?”
“Did I wake you up?” Jiang Chuan’s voice carried a hint of apology when he heard Jiang Liusui’s groggy tone. “I purposely waited a bit before calling. Do you want to sleep a bit more?”
Jiang Liusui rubbed his temples and covered his eyes. “What’s up? Jiang Ge, tell me.”
“You’re trending, together with He Yujing.” Jiang Chuan’s voice had a trace of happiness. This sudden attention had even surpassed all of Jiang Liusui’s previous exposure since his debut. Even though some comments were less favorable, for Jiang Liusui, having a chance to appear in front of the public was a good thing.
Moreover, Jiang Liusui’s face was indeed a powerful tool for attracting fans.
Jiang Chuan couldn’t help but marvel, “How did you coincidentally run into this big Buddha? He even helped you. He Yujing doesn’t usually help people. Those netizens have dug up everything about you.”
Jiang Liusui slowly recalled the incident from last night. He opened Weibo, where the top trending searches were all dominated by He Yujing’s name, neatly filling up the screen.
#He Yujing Nightclub#
#He Yujing Jiang Liusui#
#Red Baseball Cap#
#He Yujing Smoking#
#He Yujing New Album#
……
Jiang Liusui marveled at the overwhelming popularity of the superstar, and clicked on the trending topics related to himself.
[Found it! The person Lao gong helped at the club last night is a young actor named Jiang Liusui, who played the villain male third in “Strategy Guide.” The actor and He Yujing probably don’t know each other; he just happened to see him being harassed and stepped in to help. He Yujing is really kind and gentle.I watched the few-minute video repeatedly, and the moment he pushed the guy with the yellow hair was so attractive! Boyfriend power maxed out, sobs! Who wouldn’t want to be protected like that by He Yujing? What’s even more amazing is that he noticed the actor’s hat fell on the ground and got dirty, so he gave him his red baseball cap.] [Ahhhhh He Yujing, you’re so strong and capable of giving a sense of security! If I didn’t mishear, you even said ‘don’t cause trouble.’ Wow! You’re more like a thug than the other guy. If I were Jiang Liusui, I’d faint right there.] [Mom, I’m dead, I’m taking this video to the grave. The handsome guy pushing away the yellow hair is my heart.]
……
[This young man is really good-looking, and he’s not overshadowed by He Yujing in the frame. And he’s also bare-faced, right?] [Such a beautiful face. He Yujing, did you feel a bit moved at any moment?] [Can I just fangirl a bit? The top singer X the little actor is such a fairy-tale setting. Their starting point is so dreamy—it’s actually love at first sight in a nightclub…]As the discussion progressed, the tone became more chaotic, with some people being infatuated, some randomly shipping them, some fans of He Yujing attacking CP fans, and others accusing Jiang Liusui of buying trending topics. What made Jiang Liusui both amused and helpless was that Shen Sijia actually sent him a new message at this time.
[Suisui! You’re trending.]The young lady sent over a few screenshots, and Jiang Liusui took a closer look. They were all about the newly-formed CP fans’ little essays about him and He Yujing. Even through the phone screen, Jiang Liusui could feel Shen Sijia’s joy:
[Finally, it’s not just me shipping this CP alone!]Finding a few like-minded people among so many is not easy. Jiang Liusui suspected she hadn’t slept all night and had spent the whole night scrolling through Weibo.
At this moment, Jiang Chuan’s voice sounded: “Have you finished reading? You have a rough idea of the situation now. Follow He Yujing’s account and post a Weibo to thank him.”
“But doesn’t this seem like we’re just riding on his popularity?” Jiang Liusui hesitated.
Jiang Chuan was much thicker-skinned: “We’re riding on it, so what? He helped you, and it’s only polite to thank him. It’s better than being accused of being ungrateful or disrespecting seniors.”
“I contacted a promotion account to help boost your popularity. If you’re worried, I’ll tell them not to mention him in the posts later.”
Jiang Chuan’s approach was indeed more seasoned. The gap between him and He Yujing was too large. Ignoring this matter would seem ungrateful. After considering it, Jiang Liusui stopped hesitating and logged into his Weibo account.
Jiang Chuan sighed with relief: “Then I’ll hang up now. Rest well.”
Jiang Liusui got out of bed. After a simple wash, he opened Weibo and started thinking.
What should he call He Yujing?
Using the full name felt too formal, and calling him “Lao gong” like a fan didn’t seem appropriate. Jiang Liusui thought for a moment and wrote a relatively polite and not too distant address.
[Thank you for the hat, Ge.]He tagged He Yujing and clicked send.
As soon as the Weibo post was sent, he received a continuous stream of new message notifications. The rapidly increasing number of comments and shares surprised Jiang Liusui. He knew there would be a lot of people paying attention after trending, but he didn’t expect the number to be so large that it caused his Weibo notifications to lag.
[Suisui finally posted on Weibo! Long time no see! The last time was when “Strategy Guide” wrapped up. Share more of your daily life!] [Ahhhhh, here it comes! I’m a new fan who fell for the editing I saw on the trending search. It’s so enchanting and so good at hooking me. I can’t stop obsessing over you, you and Lao gong are on another level!] [Me too, me too! Thanks to the trending search, I met the most beautiful person in the world! Even better is that your acting skills match your looks. I’m really as happy as finding a treasure right now.]……
……
Occasionally, some harsh comments were quickly pushed down. It seemed that because of He Yujing’s protective actions last night, his fans were helping Jiang Liusui, advising their more radical fans not to cause trouble or attract negative attention. The situation was much more harmonious than expected.
[Thanks to He Yujing for introducing me to Jiang Liusui. We’re very happy together now.] [Our Suisui’s skills are really good! Please shoot more dramas in the future!]Through the internet, he could also feel the goodwill from everyone. The feeling of being liked was like being wrapped in soft, light clouds. By the time Jiang Liusui realized it, the corners of his lips had unknowingly lifted.
After looking at Weibo for a while, he put down his phone and stretched. It was too late to go back to sleep, and with nothing else to do, he simply turned on the home projector.
In his spare time, he enjoyed watching various films and TV dramas. Sometimes it was to study actors’ performances and speaking habits, and sometimes it was purely for relaxation and entertainment.
This habit had been cultivated since he was young. When he was a little boy and often alone, he would quietly watch movies all day.
So he watched from day to dusk, and while he laughed at himself for having a decent retirement life without shooting any dramas, he unexpectedly received a phone call from his manager in the evening.
He was watching a light and romantic old black-and-white film. Jiang Liusui was deeply engrossed, and the upbeat ringtone pulled him back to reality.
On the other end of the phone, the manager’s voice was almost overflowing with joy: “I have some amazing news!”
“I could hardly imagine… Do you know that He Yujing is preparing for a pre-release MV? His manager actually contacted us directly. You don’t have to compete with anyone or even audition,” Jiang Chuan was so excited that he was speaking in a rush, “You’re directly confirmed! Filming is next week, and you’ll go to Shengyun to sign the contract tomorrow.”
“What?” Jiang Liusui was stunned. “He Yujing’s MV?”
“Yes! The MV that everyone is scrambling for!” Jiang Chuan couldn’t believe such a huge opportunity had fallen to him, muttering to himself, “Maybe you met him and he thought you were good? No wonder he wants to help you…”
Jiang Liusui was also very pleased with this sudden good news. He had thought he would only be sitting idle at home for the next few months, but unexpectedly, he got such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“By the way, the MV’s director is Wu Qi. Isn’t that a coincidence? Unexpectedly, not working with Director Wu on ‘Liu Jing’ but getting the chance to work with him on He Yujing’s MV. Opportunities really are rare.”
Wu Qi gained fame early on by shooting various short films. In recent years, his career had been rising, and he had directed many successful TV dramas. Having such an experienced director for a short MV showed how much Shengyun valued He Yujing’s upcoming album.
Jiang Chuan carefully explained the details of tomorrow’s contract signing to him, telling him that the company attached great importance to this MV shoot. They had urgently arranged a car for him, and tomorrow morning, assistant Ding Yan would drive over to pick him up…
At the end of the conversation, Jiang Chuan couldn’t help but say he was lucky and urged him to seize the opportunity and perform well. Jiang Liusui smiled and agreed.
Author’s Note:
It’s not exactly love at first sight; Ah Jing had a good impression of Suisui upon first meeting, and only gradually fell for him as they interacted.