Ch25 - The Only Human Didi

Ji Xiunian didn’t have a habit of eavesdropping on other people’s phone conversations, it was only because Lu Xu was standing by the window at the entrance of the staircase that he couldn’t help but overhear a few phrases while he was walking up.

“When the time comes I’ll send it to you, then we can meet…”

“They’ve stolen quite a few of your orders as well these past few years…”

He vaguely remembered that Lu Xu had said he worked part-time in sales, but he didn’t think that he would still be working even after joining the competition.

Come to think of it, Lu Xu was only 18 years old this year. Kids his age should be studying. Ji Xiunian also remembered the scene of Lu Xu phoning his cat on the show, and couldn’t help but let out a little sigh.

He saw that Lu Xu was standing by the window and talking in a gentle tone of voice, saying comforting words. This kind of Lu Xu was rare to see and made him think that this youth was very warm and kind. Ji Xiunian wondered who the person on the other end of the line was.

“Girlfriend?”

The moment he said this, even Ji Xiunian himself was shocked. He couldn’t understand why he was asking about other people’s personal matters.

Lu Xu hung up the phone and turned around. A fleeting hint of a smile appeared in his eyes. “My co-worker… Mn, my brothers.”

Seeing that Lu Xu was serious in his explanation, Ji Xiunian felt his mood inexplicably lighten up. “I also watched the premiere today. You did really well.”

“Thank you, Nian ge.” In the face of Ji Xiunian’s praise, Lu Xu’s smile was bright, thinking that when he saw Ji Xiunian, he saw work performance results.

This smile held an entirely different meaning for Ji Xiunian however.

‘Looks like he really does like me.’

Fan Zeng had told him at the start that Lu Xu was his fan. Lu Xu’s eyes had been shining bright as soon as he appeared on the show, and when other trainees asked him, Lu Xu also openly admitted that he liked Ji Xiunian.

Ji Xiunian had met too many artists who depended on famous names to boost their own popularity, but this innocent and sincere Lu Xu couldn’t be like that.

As his idol, he should definitely say something.

That’s what Jiu Xiunian was thinking, so he turned to Lu Xu and opened his mouth. “Good luck with the next few days.”

Lu Xu was good-natured and readily responded, “Okay.”

“That… If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to my room first. You should rest early too.” Ji Xiunian nodded at Lu Xu, then turned around to leave.

Lu Xu lowered his gaze and looked at his phone, then chased after Ji Xiunian, calling out, “Nian ge, can I add you on WeChat?”

“Hm?”

Lu Xu rubbed his hair and laughed a bit awkwardly. “We took a picture together before, didn’t we? I was thinking that if it was convenient, you could send it to me. Of course, if it’s not convenient…”

“It’s convenient.” The other person’s voice was trailing off as he spoke, and Ji Xiunian didn’t want Lu Xu’s joy to falter, so he immediately opened up his QR code. “Go ahead and scan it.”

“Okie!” The corners of Lu Xu’s mouth lifted upwards. He then sent the verification message.

Ji Xiunian clicked on the verification message, and saw that Lu Xu’s Wechat name was “SS-Lu Xu”, so he asked, “The SS in front of your name is?”

“Oh, that.” Lu Xu shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, then said vaguely, “It’s the abbreviation of my company’s name.”

A lot of companies required employees to put the company name in front of theirs, so Ji Xiunian didn’t think too much about it, and approved the verification message.

He searched for his and Lu Xu’s picture from his photo gallery and sent it to Lu Xu. “Done.”

“Got it!” Lu Xu was in a good mood when he saw it, and waved as he watched Ji Xiunian return to his room.

He raised his brows when he looked at the photo of the two of them. He smiled when his gaze fell on Ji Xiunian’s face. He opened Ji Xiunian’s friend’s list and saw that his update frequency was quite low.

There were pictures of flowers and scenery, but looking at the things he took pictures of, he could tell that Ji Xiunian was very fond of nature and beautiful things.

Occasionally, there would be official photos and film stills. Basically, all of it was related to work, and there was nothing else to be seen.

No matter how he looked at it, adding him on WeChat was progress. Lu Xu was just mulling this over when Bai Ze called him. “Lu Xu, online voting is about to begin. To cooperate with the publicity company, we’ve helped register a Weibo account for you. I’ll send the username and password and you can log in directly. Try not to post things unrelated to the competition. Of course, if you don’t want to, the company can manage it for you.”

“You can let me do it.” Since it had his name on it, it was naturally better for him to manage it personally.

“OK, I’ve sent it to you. Make sure you receive it.”

“Mhm.” Lu Xu took one look at the Weibo username and seemed to remember something as he suddenly asked, “Oh right, Director Bai, was my trending search arranged by you?”

Lu Xu had said in the beginning that he didn’t want to be too conspicuous, and yet once the show had aired, he had started trending. He didn’t really understand the inner workings of the entertainment industry, so he couldn’t help but ask.

“No.” Bai Ze’s response was decisive. “It was your own ability that got you on the trending searches. The company had nothing to do with it.”

“All right.” Lu Xu didn’t care too much about this kind of thing, so he pushed this matter to the back of his mind.

Bai Ze talked to him a bit about Weibo, then tried to ask, “Oh right, what’s the progress like for your job?”

The Grim Reaper Bureau had said that they were sending Lu Xu on a mission, but as to what the mission was about, they hadn’t told Bai Ze, and Bai Ze hadn’t wanted to ask.

Based on Lu Xu’s popularity, if no incidents occurred, then future development would be quite good. But Bai Ze had to be prepared for both scenarios, in case Lu Xu was going to back out of the competition early after finishing his mission.

Lu Xu naturally knew what he was concerned about. He thought about it for a bit then said, “It should be fast. Probably two weeks?”

“Understood.” About two more episodes could be filmed in two weeks, and Lu Xu’s popularity would be even greater than it was now. Bai Ze hung up the phone and thought about how to deal with it when the time came.

Now Lu Xu was bored. He logged into Weibo as he walked to the dormitory.

Because it was during the competition season, all the trainees’ Weibo ID’s had the words “Idol Freshman” in front.

Lu Xu looked at his empty following list and his three fans. Then after a brief moment of consideration searched for Ji Xiunian’s Weibo and hit follow.

When he got back to his dorm and washed up, he was suddenly surrounded by his three roommates.

Han Tianyu clicked his tongue. “Xu ge, your luck is really too good. The show has only aired for such a short time and you’re already trending again.”

Xu Haoming jumped up and grabbed Lu Xu’s shoulder. “Xu ge, I’m really going insane with admiration. Is your Yao Guai Ent. lacking artists? I also want to be in the same company as the Goddess Manman.”

Song Zhe cleared his throat, his voice also carrying a hint of admiration. “Your relationship with Mubai ge and Manman jie is not bad, right?”

These words confused Lu Xu a little. “Why are you all suddenly asking?”

And what was that about trending again? He really didn’t know what was going on.

Xu Haoming saw that he wasn’t pretending, and hurriedly pulled out his phone to show him. “Mubai ge and Goddess Manman are following your Weibo, and then you shot up onto the hot searches again.”

“Eh?”

Lu Xu had only been signed on for a few days. He hadn’t even met Su Mubai and Yu Manman before, let alone become friends with them.

He only had to think about it for a bit to know that Bai Ze had probably arranged this.

Even though he was a last-minute contracted artist, they were still very diligent in taking care of their own.

Lu Xu recalled this favour and casually followed Su Mubai and Yu Manman back.

Only when he went back onto his homepage did he realise that his previously empty fans list had suddenly hit five digits and was quickly climbing.

“Ahem…” Xu Haoming cleared his throat to try to get Lu Xu’s attention and casually hint at him. “Xu ge, I’ve also followed you!”

When he spoke, his eyes were filled with hope. He was just missing a wagging tail, calling for Lu Xu to follow him.

Lu Xu couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw that and followed Xu Haoming.

“Xu ge, us too!” Han Tianyu raised his hand, and pointed to himself and Song Zhe, waiting for his response.

“Okay okay.” Lu Xu immediately followed his roommates back, and also didn’t forget to search up Xu Lele’s name. When he went onto his page, he saw that his own name was already there in Xu Lele’s following list.

Lu Xu smiled slightly, and pressed the follow button.

The next second, Xu Lele’s scream came in from the corridor. “Aaaaaaaaa, Xu ge, I love you!!!”

Someone outside shouted, “Are you here to compete or to chase your idols?!”

Xu Lele giggled and said, “I originally came here to compete, but I didn’t think I would become Xu ge’s fan. Hehe, we can vote already. If you can, please cast your precious vote for my gege!”

After the first episode of ‘Birth of an Idol’ had finished airing, the TV station opened the website for online voting to begin.

The online ranking would be calculated together with the live performances. It was also an important component.

It was because of this that the trainees’ companies and their respective fan clubs had made preparations in advance in order to help them gain a place of popularity on the internet.

For a popular group like BTT, they would have hundreds of thousands, even millions, of fans already.

At the beginning of the voting period, the number of votes for BTT was overwhelming, leaving the other trainees far, far behind. Among them, Song Zhe, as the leader, was the most popular, and he ranked steadily in first place in terms of the number of votes.

As for Lu Xu who hadn’t been signed on for very long, there were fans who voted for him, but it was not solid enough to make rankings. His opening votes were not bad, but he was still only 20th place or so.

“As expected of the leader. This is too powerful.” Han Tianyu couldn’t help but comment after seeing that Song Zhe had ranked first by a high number of votes.

Song Zhe unconsciously glanced at Lu Xu, his emotions a bit conflicted. “It’s only first place, for now, that’s all.”

He felt that Lu Xu’s ranking would not stop there. There was no guarantee that his ranking wouldn’t suddenly shoot up.

Not far away, in Yao Guai Entertainment’s conference room, Xiao Ai was watching the numbers of the rankings nervously. “Our Xuxu is in 21st place, how is this possible!”

As the company’s only human didi, it was not easy for him to enter the competition, so how could he rank lower than others.

“Relax, you still have me, don’t you?”

As Secretary Zhang spoke, her eight legs were moving energetically. She stretched her neck in preparation for an all-out effort. After a moment, Secretary Zhang’s tentacles were flying and quickly tapping on the keyboard to vote for Lu Xu.

One account could only vote 11 times per day. Secretary Zhang’s movements were very quick, but there was still a limit to the number of votes she could add.

Just as they were getting anxious, Su Mubai sent a message to the group––

[Su Mubai: Everyone, don’t panic, I’ll send out a voting call for xiao shidi now.]

[Front Desk Xiao Ai: Aaaaaaa worthy of being my favourite male god, didi will be relying on you!]

[Su Mubai: @Front Desk Xiao Ai Ah, pretending I haven’t seen you shouting online about your current favourite didi?]

[Secretary Zhang: @Front Desk Xiao Ai Hahahaha, caught climbing walls to snatch bags]

[Su Mubai: @Yu Manman Our company only has this one human didi, Manman are you going to say anything?]

It was only then that the Yu Manman who had not been engaging in the conversation replied—

[Yu Manman: I already posted about it, a step faster than you]

[Janitor Lao Shi: @Yu Manman Goddess you’re my favourite]

[Front Desk Xiao Ai: @Janitor Lao Shi Dung beetle’s favourite is that thing, right? Take me away, Manman. I refuse, I refuse]

[Janitor Lao Shi: @Front Desk Xiao Ai Tch, I haven’t touched ???? in many years, don’t slander me!]

…

On Weibo, the super-popular singer Yu Manman and actor Su Mubai had forwarded the voting link for ‘Birth of an Idol’, working hard to help their xiao shidi, Lu Xu, to pull votes.

[@Ruo River Is Three Thousand But Only Love Manman: Manman is beautiful both in and out. Taking care of her xiao shidi this much, we’ll be sure to vote for him]

[@Mubai’s Little Moon: I already voted. I have to say Baibai, your xiao shidi is really handsome. I’m currently stuck between two walls hahaha]

…

“Fuck Xu ge, your votes are flying up!” As soon as Han Tianyu refreshed the voting results page, he saw that the number of Lu Xu’s votes had increased as if they had hitched a ride on a rocket.

When he thought about it, that person had the backing of the Vocal Queen and Film King. His rocketing votes were to be expected.

Lu Xu hadn’t really imagined that two people he had never met would do so much for him.

After thinking about it, he decided he should send Bai Ze the news and find an opportunity to have him pass on his gratitude.

30 second later, Bai Ze sent a WeChat request. The moment Lu Xu accepted it, he was pulled into the company group chat.

He glanced at the #One Kind and Loving Family# chat name and couldn’t help smiling.

#Bai Ze has invited SS-Lu Xu to enter the group chat#

[Front Desk Xiao Ai: !!! Oh my god, what did I just see? Is that really you, my Xu?]

[SS-Lu Xu: It’s me. I’ve joined the chat to tell everyone thank you. Thank you, everyone, for helping me get votes (finger heart)]

[Su Mubai: Xiao shidi don’t be polite, if you have anything come up you can always go to gege. Gege will help you out]

[Yu Manman: Cheering shidi on for the competition, jiejie will be watching you]

The enthusiasm of the group members was boundless. Lu Xu thanked them. The group had left a good impression on him.

That night, Lu Xu lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, as if he was waiting for something.

Just as the others were about to fall asleep, the sudden dadada of tapping reverberated around the room.

After listening carefully to the rhythmic tapping, it seemed to be that of the sound of someone knocking on glass.

Xu Haoming was the closest to the window and he sat up rapidly. He couldn’t help but think of his previous horrifying experience and his back was covered in chills. If they had been on the first floor, he would have thought this was someone’s malicious prank, but they were on the second floor. A person couldn’t have floated up to knock on the window, right?

“What was that sound?” The others had heard the movement and couldn’t help but sit up, all of them looking in the direction of the window.

Han Tianyu paused for a moment, then suddenly said, “It can’t be ghosts right…”

“Don’t scare me!” Xu Haoming immediately sprang up from his bed, seemingly ready to rush out the door at any moment.

“It’s not ghosts.” Lu Xu turned over and got off the bed, his footsteps quick and light as he went over to the window. He raised his hand to open the curtains.

“Don’t…” Xu Haoming was afraid something scary was behind the curtains and couldn’t help but call out for him to stop.

But Lu Xu didn’t care and pulled the curtains aside.

Xu Haoming covered his eyes, not daring to look but also curious. Finally, he looked out the window through the spaces between his fingers. He saw a round, fluffy figure squatting on the windowsill, pawing at the glass.