Ch26.2 - It Likes You Too

“Xu ge, is this a surprise that the program team planned for you?”

It wasn’t only Xu Lele. Almost everyone who saw Ba Mei had the same thought.

After all, Lu Xu had said on the show yesterday that he only had a cat. In the end, the cat had appeared. No one could have imagined that the program team would be so humane. Sending a cat over was really too heartwarming.

“Aiya, Xu ge, your treatment is really too good.” Some were admiring and some were a little jealous, unable to help but think that for the program team to spend so much time to send the cat over, it showed just how important Lu Xu was to them.

Xu Haoming overheard them wrongly speculating, and immediately explained, “It wasn’t arranged by the production team. Our Ba Mei found its own way over in the middle of the night.”

“Found its own way, how is that possible?” Some people immediately snorted, thinking that Xu Haoming was taking them for fools. This was a cat, not a person, how could it find its way to the apartment at night?

At this moment, Fan Zeng brought his assistant and a VJ into the canteen. The assistant had told him just now that Lu Xu’s cat had come. Fan Zeng thought that this was incredible, and had to see it for himself to realise that it was true.

“Fan ge is here!” A trainee with sharp eyes saw Fan Zeng, and immediately asked in a loud voice, “Fan ge, was this cat brought here by the production team?”

“Of course not. We don’t even know where Lu Xu’s cat lives.” Fan Zeng himself was shocked. He walked over and stared at Ba Mei, then raised his head to ask Lu Xu, “It came last night?”

“Mn.” Lu Xu nodded, smiling warmly as he scratched Ba Mei’s head.

Han Tianyu couldn’t help but open his mouth to say, “Ba Mei really found its way here. It was sitting outside the balcony in the middle of the night tapping on the window. At first, we thought it was a ghost haunting, hahaha…”

Fan Zeng heard the words “ghost haunting” and felt unsettled, but he quickly focused his attention back on Ba Mei, not forgetting to ask Lu Xu, “Do you mind if your Ba Mei appears on camera?”

“As long as Ba Mei agrees.” As Ba Mei’s guardian, Lu Xu still respected his cat’s choices. Seeing that Fan Zeng was looking at Ba Mei with a smile, as though he had discovered some sort of treasure, Lu Xu asked, “Fan ge, do you think I should let Ba Mei stay for a couple of days or should I send Ba Mei home today?”

Ba Mei was pretty and cute, for Ba Mei to have run all the way here to find Lu Xu was a topic in and of itself.

The more Fan Zeng looked at Ba Mei, the cuter Ba Mei became, so he made the decision immediately. “What do you mean send Ba Mei home? It wasn’t easy for Ba Mei to have come all the way here. As long as this doesn’t affect your training, it’s okay for Ba Mei to stay and accompany you.”

“Meow…”

It was as if Ba Mei had understood, getting up when it heard those words, and rubbing the palm of Fan Zeng’s hand with its head. It was a little bit like Ba Mei was sucking up to him.

My god!

Fan Zeng didn’t know how to describe his current feelings. He was a manly 45-year-old, but his heart had completely softened when Ba Mei rubbed against him.

This cat really was too cute!

Working hard to fight the urge to rub Ba Mei’s belly, Fan Zeng clapped his hands together to get the attention of the trainees who were staring at Ba Mei. “All right, all right, you’ve looked your fill. Today and tomorrow, you have to finish shooting the MV for me, got that?”

“Got it!”

The group of trainees replied excitedly, but couldn’t help but steal a glance or two at Ba Mei –– The little kitty really was very cute, aaa.

Xu Lele still wanted a bit more time with Ba Mei but was forcibly taken away by his groupmates. “Ba Mei, stay there, we’ll go and settle our dance first, okay?”

“Ok ok ok.”

Xu Lele reluctantly went with his groupmates. Someone was standing by the doorway suspiciously, peeking inside.

When Xu Lele walked past with big strides, that person immediately made themselves scarce.

After Xu Lele walked out of the door, there was only a view of someone’s back hastily retreating.

“Strange, what’s up with Lan Gaojie?” Xu Lele recognised him. He had left a deep impression jumping from F to A-rank after all.

Just when he felt that there was something amiss, his groupmate yelled at him from behind, “What are you doing? Hurry up and go practise.”

“Coming!” Xu Lele quickly replied, turning to run to his groupmates, very quickly pushing this matter to the back of his mind.

His groupmate saw that he was distracted and said to him quietly, “Do you know how hardworking the others are? I heard some people practise until midnight every day and wake up at 5 A.M. to continue practising.”

“So strong, do they not sleep? Who is this put together?”

“I don’t know, every time I enter they’re already gone. I think they’re trying to sneakily improve behind our backs…”

8:15 in the morning, the ratings of all TV programs in the nation had been calculated and released.

Although they had already made mental preparations, when they saw that ‘Birth of an Idol’ had secured first place with 3.1% in ratings, the program staff were ebullient.

The premiere had broken the record of last year’s highest variety shows ratings. This start was too good!

One had to know, it had been two years since Dongcheng TV last broke 3% in ratings for any of its programs. Very quickly, ‘Birth of an Idol’ once again appeared on the hot searches due to its ratings.

Once netizens clicked on the search, they would discover that the program page had just posted a new Weibo status.

@Birth of an Idol Official V: The premiere broke 3%, please congratulate. Posting an HD picture of Lu Xu and Ba Mei as a small service. We hope you will follow us all the way in the future. [Kiss] [Photo]

Clicking on the big photo would lead to a delicate, handsome boy holding an orange cat as he smiled. It was warm, soft and sweet, and people couldn’t help but feel their hearts being moved.

The comments below surged—

[@Preschool Rubber Handle: Aaaaaa Ba Mei is actually so cute oh my god, it feels like my heart is melting!]

[@I’ll Bet On Tomorrow With My Youth: Male god is male god, even his cat is doubly cute!]

[@Sweetheart Strawberry Icecream: @I’ll Bet On Tomorrow With My Youth This former black fan seriously, forget it.]

[@Make Money To Eat: The background seems to be of the training camp. Is this a surprise the program staff prepared specifically for Xu ge?]

The official Weibo account quickly replied to this comment—

[@Birth of an Idol Official V: No, Ba Mei came over to see its gege by itself. We were also very astonished! @Make Money To Eat: The background seems to be of the training camp. Is this a surprise the program staff prepared specifically for Xu ge?]

[@Two Leg Hairs Carried On The Shoulder: The cat came by itself to see Lu Xu? No matter what, this is too exaggerated. I originally thought the program was honest, I didn’t think they’d play this kind of hyperbole game to promote discussion. Why not say it was a surprise prepared by the program staff. It’s a little gross~~]

[@Coca Cola And Pepsi: I like Lu Xu and I think the kitty is cute, but can you not make things up like this. Even dogs may not necessarily be able to find their owners, not to mention a house cat]

[@A Sour Lemon: He obviously has skills but then used the cat to create hype, I don’t understand it at all]

…

There were many people who voiced their doubts in the comments; some even went so far as to comment on Lu Xu’s Weibo page out of spite for not living up to their expectations.

[@Daisy Blooming: Xuxu you’re really a contestant with skills, so when the program staff asks you to make things up please don’t agree, okay?]

[@Biting A Sliver Of The Moon: Compete properly and don’t be a demon. I just became a fan yesterday and don’t want to stop being a fan because of something like this ah]

[@You’re A Bald Little Baby: Using the cat to make up stories is really low. I originally came to curse you but I’ve decided to forgive you after thinking of your face. I’m begging you don’t be a demon aaaaaa]

…

Seeing that everyone was suspicious, the program staff immediately sent out a video—

[@Birth of an Idol Official V: In fact, we also didn’t believe at first that a little kitty could find its owner by itself, but the surveillance footage doesn’t lie. We specifically found some footage from several locations around the building. Everyone will understand our current feelings after watching. [Video]]

The video included several angles of surveillance footage. One could only see a little kitty cat who had wandered over carefreely from the Second Ring road all the way to Dongcheng TV, before arriving at the trainees’ apartment building.

Sometimes when it was tired it would jump onto a bus, hitching a ride for a bit, before continuing on when it was time to get off.

No one knew how this cat had pulled it off. Anyways, at ten minutes past midnight, it had successfully appeared under the trainees’ dorm and climbed up the wall to the second floor.

[@Humble Little Li Is Gambling Online: My god, you sure this isn’t some sci-fi related movie? Why do I feel like my intelligence can’t even compare to that of a cat’s?]

[@A Piece of Sweet Candy: What kind of godly little kitty is this! When I look at Lu Xu’s Ba Mei, then look at my house’s little one, I suddenly know what “someone else’s child” means]

[@I Have A Cat Today: Wah, Ba Mei is really too cute, I really want to rua once, aaa]

[@Gu Gu Ten Thousand Tomorrows: Wah, I can’t help but let my imagination go crazy, what if Ba Mei is actually some kind of peerless genius soul, with the body of a cat and the soul of a human, and then transforms into a cool heroine, ahahaha]

…

If Fan Zeng had known earlier that Ba Mei would find its way here by itself, he definitely would have known that this would bring the program some additional popularity.

As long as there was popularity there would be no problems. Speaking of which, Lu Xu really was a treasure, and Bai Mei was a mascot.

He had planned early on for the staff members to release the surveillance footage in order to dispel the doubts of netizens.

Thinking of the cute kitten, Fan Zeng couldn’t help but order his assistant. “Buy the best cat food. Prepare all kinds of snacks and cans for Ba Mei.”

When Ji Xiunian entered, he happened to hear Fan Zeng recklessly making purchases for Ba Mei. He asked curiously, “Is Ba Mei Lu Xu’s cat?”

Fan Zeng turned around to see Ji Xiunian. He smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

He immediately pulled Ji Xiunian over and recounted the happy encounter with Ba Mei before finally sighing. “How could there be such a smart cat in this world.”

As he listened to him say this, Ji Xiunian suddenly felt a touch of curiosity towards that kitten.

Seeing that it was almost time to record, Ji Xiunian immediately smiled at Fan Zeng. “Fan ge, I’m going first.”

“Go, go, you’ll have to work hard again today.”

As soon as he left the room, the F4 from before came up. He Xinghua stared at him eagerly. “Good morning Nian ge.”

“Morning.”

Ji Xiunian didn’t have the words to really describe the current situation.

The four ghosts had been following Lu Xu before, but they had changed their target the moment they learned that Ji Xiunian could see them. They had been following him since last night. They were supposed to discuss, but in the end they didn’t show up during the first half of the night, saying that they had gone to the practice room.

Ji Xiunian naturally wouldn’t have let them into his room if they had knocked on his door at such a late hour, but opening one’s eyes in the middle of the night to see them floating by the window while smiling and waving would have also been rather terrifying.

It wasn’t that they were trying to hurt their self-image; their politeness and manner in which they acted was similar to that of new trainees.

Ji Xiunian really couldn’t wrap his head around it and finally said lowly, “Tonight at 9 P.M., the storage room on the first floor. You can’t be late.”

The F4 immediately nodded their heads in agreement. “Thank you Nian ge. We were just too absorbed in practising yesterday. We definitely won’t be late today!”

Ji Xiunian nodded slightly and didn’t say anything else, just in case other people saw and felt that something strange was going on.

The F4 also didn’t push any further and merely followed him into the studio. Master Lu Xu was battling for center position in today’s recording; of course, they had to go over and cheer him on.

The stage set up in the studio was gorgeous. The staff members were hurriedly adjusting the screen’s background.

The moment Ji Xiunian entered, he saw a group of people surrounding a cat and taking pictures. The three other mentors of the program included.

Ba Mei liked Qin Kewei the most out of the three mentors. It rested in her arms, eating the dried beef Shen Chengyu was feeding it.

“Meow!” The Ba Mei who was quietly eating suddenly got up and stared in Ji Xiunian’s direction. It jumped off Qin Kewei’s lap with a dong.

“Aaaa, the little kitty isn’t meowing because it’s seen us right!”

“Right right, they say that kitties can apparently see ghosts, did we scare it?”

The F4 wouldn’t stop chattering, arguing over whether they should leave.

But Ba Mei only gave them a fleeting glance before striding over in small footsteps to Ji Xiunian’s side and rubbing itself all over his calf. When it saw Ji Xiunian, it lay down on the ground, its four paws aimed towards the ceiling, revealing its soft white belly. The round eyes watched him, and it began mewing softly and sweetly. “Meow…”

Ji Xiunian couldn’t resist squatting down and petting Ba Mei’s head. The little fellow immediately scooted over to his side, apparently in an incredibly affectionate state.

Ji Xiunian scooped up Ba Mei and only felt that somewhere in his heart had become very soft.

“Ba Mei never shows his belly in front of others.” Lu Xu jumped off the stage and walked over to Ji Xiunian, smiling casually. “Looks like it likes you too.”