Ch94 - Midnight

The pace of today’s recording was noticeably faster than before.

Although no one discussed anything out loud, they all knew that there were many people judging their program online because of Qu Dehui.

Although it didn’t amount to resistance, it couldn’t be considered anything good.

Everyone’s hearts were already in turmoil, but Ji Xiunian strengthened their resolve with a few sentences. “You have all come here to realise your dreams, to let everyone see you, to give your youth the best possible summer. There is nothing that can stop you. All you have to do is concentrate on your training, and stand on the stage to let everyone know through your skills what kind of people you are!”

No matter what Qu Dehui did and no matter how much impact the program group received, as long as they performed well enough, everyone still loved the idols themselves.

Xu Lele and the others all broke out into applause at the side. Lu Xu also couldn’t help nodding when he heard this.

It had to be said, Ji Xiunian usually seemed like he was the reticent, silent type, but he had an inexplicable aura that calmed others down.

“Nian ge is really too handsome wuwuwu.” Xu Lele seemed to have been injected with chicken blood today; he could repeat a turn ten times, just to find the best angle.

Their bodies were different from Lu Xu’s. Even though they were young, they were still human. After dancing for ten hours, everyone was covered in running sweat, their complexions a little pale.

When they were done, the members in Lu Xu’s team were like dolls that had their souls sucked out; they all collapsed together to catch their breaths as they stared up at the ceiling, moving in unison.

Seeing that Lu Xu’s complexion hadn’t changed, the team members thought this was impossible.

“Xu ge, aren’t you tired?”

“Right, as the centre you have more movements too, how is it that you’re not tired at all.”

“People die before their reputations do. I really acknowledge Xu ge’s stamina.”

“It’s okay.” Lu Xu sat casually on the ground, conveniently screwing open a bottle of water to drink. The line of his throat was especially noticeable as he tilted his head back, his beautiful jaw and Adam’s apple connecting.

Those of them who had experienced a similar day of practise were now like salted fish that had just been fished out of water, but Lu Xu was still bright and energetic. This comparison was really too unfair.

“Xu ge, are you sure you’re not a deity playing around in the mortal realm? Why is it that even when you’re drinking water it looks like you’re filming a commercial. It’s handsome beyond the rules ahhhhh…” Xu Lele didn’t want to understand and spewed out compliments for Lu Xu as he lay on the floorboards.

Lu Xu raised his brows. Seeing that none of them had recovered yet, he couldn’t help but ask, “Since you guys are all so tired, why are you going all out? Practising moderately is enough too.”

“How could we do that!” Yao Yulong, who had collapsed onto the floor, suddenly spoke up. “After obtaining such a hard-earned chance to achieve our dreams, of course we have to put in all our effort! If tomorrow’s public performance is my last performance ever on the stage, then I definitely wouldn’t want to leave any regrets and show my best self.”

Xu Lele also nodded. “Right, I think so too. I’ve been training for so many years, always as a backup. Now that I’ve finally worked hard to obtain this chance, I have to treasure it.”

The others nodded along, talking amongst themselves about the various incidents of being a trainee.

There were many, many youths with this dream of becoming a star. Having the luck to become a trainee was only the first step on a long road.

They might even spend up to ten years being beaten by the entertainment circle, but the positions at the top were so few, and there were only so many who could debut.

Waiting for ten years before debuting was not scary. The scariest thing was their efforts not seeing the light of day even after their youth was gone.

“So we’re already very happy that we have the chance to stand on stage and have everyone see us.” Yao Yulong’s smile was a little bashful. “I also didn’t imagine I would receive almost a million votes. I never thought I could be liked by so many people, but I suddenly feel like this was all worth it.”

Because there were so many kneeling positions, Yao Yulong’s knees were covered in purple bruises, but he didn’t mind them at all, only smiling in contentment.

This smile was too pure. Lu Xu was stunned by it, and didn’t know why, but suddenly said, “What will you guys do if the program had to stop broadcasting because of external factors…”

“Pei pei pei!”

“Xu ge, don’t say nonsense, don’t jinx it don’t jinx it…”

Before he could even finish speaking, the others began forcefully interrupting his words, obviously not wanting that kind of situation to happen.

Lu Xu threw out his hands in surrender. “Okay okay, pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Just as he thought this incident had passed over, Xu Lele suddenly said, “If it’s possible, I hope that kind of thing never happens. Life is very long, but youth is very short. This might be our only chance.”

“Right, life has only one battle.”

“Hehe, I’m glad I met all of you. Brothers, let’s charge!”

Lu Xu’s gaze deepened as he saw them encouraging each other on.

It was true that he didn’t feel very attached to ‘Birth of an Idol’, and had taken it as a stepping stone for completing a task.

In his view, it didn’t matter who died. Even if the program had to stop, it didn’t matter.

But it was obviously not the same for the others.

For the first time in his career, Lu Xu suddenly felt like it would be acceptable to complete his task a little later.

He looked down and smiled, then exited the practice room, just happening to see Fan Zeng rush hurriedly out of the vocal practice room.

“Fan ge.”

When Fan Zeng heard movement he turned around, smiling when he saw that it was Lu Xu. “Xiao Xu, you’re not resting yet?”

“Everyone was practising until now. We’re getting ready to go back.” Lu Xu said this, and couldn’t help asking as he thought of the Qu Dehui situation, “Fan ge, is the vocal group still looking for a mentor?”

“Not looking.” Fan Zeng sighed with a bit of reluctance mixed in with gratitude. “Qu Dehui’s situation happened too abruptly. The program is already halfway through with recording, so we have no time to find someone else. Good thing your shijie Manman is strong, and can handle the entire scene by herself. It’s a burden on her too.”

In the beginning, Fan Zeng actually hadn’t held very high expectations for Yu Manman. Everyone knew that Yu Manman was beautiful and sang sweetly, but they had never seen her on an entertainment show and didn’t think she had much variety sense.

To put it simply, Yu Manman was too beautiful. Just based off of her looks, it was very easy for others to misunderstand her abilities.

At the start, Fan Zeng had also thought similarly to others; he had invited Yu Manman mostly due to her popularity.

But now he had discovered that he had made a huge mistake.

Fortunately, even if he had made a mistake, his show was actually recording smoothly as a result.

“Xiao Xu, I really have to thank your boss, having raised you and your shijie.” Bai Ze was really incredible. Although his company only had three artists, every one of them was a treasure. Now that two of them had come to their program group, Fan Zeng really was indebted to them to some extent.

“In the future when there’s time, I will invite Bai Ze and you all to a meal. This period of time has been really hard on you guys…” Fan Zeng spoke as if he was about to go off and be busy again, his gaze filled with fatigue.

One would remember that at the beginning of the recording, Fan Zeng’s complexion was still good; although he had been a little chubby, he had looked very strong.

But recently, due to chronic all-nighters and working overtime, along with the fact that the program staff had met with many incidents and a lot of pressure, his entire being had become much more weathered.

Not to mention his rapidly receding hairline; his face had become much thinner, and his eyes were completely bloodshot.

Seeing the sinister dark energy rise from his body, Lu Xu still had to ask, “Fan ge, have you had a check-up recently?”

“Hm?” Fan Zeng didn’t think Lu Xu would suddenly ask this and shook his head without understanding his meaning. “No, where would I find the time to do so, ah. Let’s go together after I have time, I’ll do a complete one.”

“It’s best not to wait for something like this. I think your complexion hasn’t been very good recently.” Lu Xu wasn’t the type to interfere with others’ pre-destined lifespans, but when he thought of Xu Lele and the others in the practice room, he had to remind Fan Zeng again.

His words weren’t very pleasant to hear. Those who were narrow-minded might have even taken it as a slap in the face.

But Fan Zeng was open-minded. After hearing this, he merely yawned and rubbed at his face. “Yes, I also feel like my health has declined quite a bit. Sometimes my heartbeat is also irregular and I worry about dying suddenly hahaha. I bet when I stand in front of my wife I’ll look more like her father than her husband. Ai ai ai, that’s all, xiao Xu, I won’t talk with you anymore. After I finish next week’s things today, I’ll go to sleep early. Thank you for your concern.”

Fan Zeng waved his hand and went off to the director’s room. Lu Xu stared at the silhouette of his back in silence.

Humans were truly mystical creatures. Quite often, they would be able to sense their own impending deaths.

The old man in heaven would give obvious hints, but they would often miss these chances of living, letting them slip out of their own hands.

Every person had their own life. Lu Xu had already given the biggest warning he could have. As to how Fan Zeng’s life would be after this would depend only on how he treated his own body.

Lu Xu let out a gentle sigh, the sound barely perceptible.

Just then, the “Grim Reaper Comes Home” App notified him of a new order, so he pushed this situation to the back of his mind and went back to the bathroom once again for an “easy” route.

There was no Ba Mei and even more so no Lu Xu in his room tonight. Ji Xiunian lay down at an early time, but he couldn’t sleep no matter how much he tossed and turned. He felt like there was something by his side, and couldn’t help wondering what Lu Xu was currently up to.

He had been busy practising all day and was probably already done washing up and had gone to sleep.

Although Ji Xiunian thought of this, he couldn’t help reaching for his phone and tapping open his chat history with Lu Xu on Wechat to stare at it for a long time.

Recently, the two of them had been chatting almost every day, mostly just sharing pictures of Ba Mei or ugly emoticons.

Every once in a while, they would also send a good morning or good night. There were actually quite a few when added up together.

But Ji Xiunian really couldn’t resist. He read their chat history from beginning to end. The more he read it, the more he wanted to know what Lu Xu was currently up to, if he was asleep yet or not.

But it was already almost midnight. It didn’t seem very appropriate to send a message this late.

Besides, in the case that Lu Xu had just fallen asleep and was woken up by him, it would definitely be a fault.

As Ji Xiunian struggled over this, his hand accidentally slipped over the voice message, and sent a second of voice message over.

“…”

Ji Xiunian bounced up into a sitting position, wanting to recall his message, but then thought that doing so would make him seem suspicious, so he hurriedly sent a message explaining—

[Ji Xiunian: Sorry, my hand slipped]

After sending this, he thought he came off a little too dry, so he sent another message—

[Ji Xiunian: Are you sleeping? Did I wake you up?]

Seeing his three lonely messages lying there waiting for a reply, Ji Xiunian felt so awkward he didn’t know what to do.

Even though it had been a slip of the hand, he had to have first clicked on the chat with Lu Xu first. Anyone who thought about it would think it strange that he was staring at their chat history instead of sleeping in the middle of the night.

What should he say in case Lu Xu asked about it?

But wouldn’t it make him seem even guiltier of something if he withdrew three messages at once?

Ji Xiunian’s mind was completely thrown into disarray. It was the first time he had been so panicked, as if he had done something bad.

He waited nervously like this for a few minutes, but Lu Xu didn’t reply.

Ji Xiunian inexplicably felt somewhat disappointed, but also glad that he hadn’t disturbed him.

He placed his phone to the side and got ready to go to sleep, but not long afterwards he took it again, afraid he would miss any of Lu Xu’s messages.

The other side hadn’t replied, and there was no “the other party is currently typing” displayed.

“That’s enough, he’s probably sleeping so don’t keep waiting.” Ji Xiunian let out a long sigh, then put his phone aside.

His thoughts were messy. Only after a lot of effort did he calm down and get ready to sleep, when he suddenly heard a knocking sound against glass.

Tap, tap, tap…

The silence of the night exacerbated the harshness of the sound, one after another as if it were knocking against his heart.

Ji Xiunian subconsciously glanced at the clock on the wall, only to discover—

Coincidence or not, it happened to be midnight.