Ch 38: The Final Exams
Yin Chang finished his song, and the third segment of the program, "Confession Battle", began.
This part was interactive. The host would select five fans of the idols based on the information filled in by the audience, and then shuffle the order to let the five idols confess to the girl in front of them.
If the idol happened to face their own fan, not only could they smoothly pass the challenge, but they could also fulfill the fan's fantasy, killing two birds with one stone.
But if the idol faced another idol's fan, they would have to go through a challenge.
The host kindly reminded the lucky chosen fans that if they remained loyal to their idol, they would receive a hug, autograph, and other benefits from the idol after the game ended. But if they changed their mind during the game and accepted another idol's confession, they might end up with nothing.
Therefore, as long as they were die-hard fans, it was unlikely that they would deliberately let the idol in front of them save face by sabotaging the game.
Another highlight of the segment was that the host happened to select a male fan that day.
Since all five idols were male, 99% of the audience on site were females. When the male fan stood up from the audience, everyone started cheering. Regardless of which idol he would randomly end up with, he would cause excitement and curiosity.
Unfortunately, the "same-sex fan" happened to be randomly paired with Wang Chen.
The program crew gave Wang Chen a close-up shot with his bewildered expression enlarged. They added a line of slowly appearing monologue above his head: "Why is it me again?"
The barrage was full of "hahaha," anticipating how Wang Chen would confess.
People felt that if he turned out to be his own fan, it would be even more hilarious.
The five fans stood in front of the five idols in random order. During the live recording, they didn't know who was a fan of whom, but in the final broadcast, labels had been added behind each person - Jia Siqi faced Yin Chang's fan, Bai Xiaozhi faced Jia Siqi's fan, Yin Chang faced Wang Chen's fan, and Yu Ruizhe luckily ended up with his own fan.
And the unlucky Wang Chen did not receive the mercy of fate. The male fan he faced was actually a fan of Bai Xiaozhi!
This directly turned his challenge difficulty from "hard" mode to "hard+++" mode.
After the live recording, several of them later found out that this male fan was not a fan of anyone. He wrote Bai Xiaozhi's name on the survey, but he actually came to get an autograph for his girlfriend. Because Bai Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi were not very popular, the program crew gathered their die-hard fans by giving away celebrity autograph cards.
Therefore, even though Wang Chen put his heart and soul into the confession, he couldn't get through to the “fan” at all. The stoic boy just maintained his smile and then ruthlessly rejected him in the end.
Later on, Wang Chen used this failed challenge to create an exaggerated gif of a frozen man crumbling to pieces which made the netizens wild with laughter.
Although he failed his task, Wang Chen found solace in the hope that his own fan would stay loyal and make it difficult for the another idol to pass.
But who would have thought that his female fan was also a die-hard fan of Yin Chang. When she stood in front of Yin Chang, she didn't say anything. She just stared at him with a gentle gaze. Within ten seconds, the girl surrendered.
Special effects were added to depict the fan’s psychological changes within those ten seconds.
1st second: I'm Wang Chen's fan, I must hold back for him!
4th second: But Yin Chang is so handsome, what should I do? I'm a little tempted...
7th second: Stop looking at me, I can't take it anymore!
During this time, Yin Chang's deep and profound eyes were even given the effect of "electric eyes," twinkling and sparkling.
During those ten seconds, romantic background music played. The girl shyly covered her face in slow motion. She turned away, highlighted by pink filters. The scene then turned gray and froze, with a loud clang and a "betrayal" stamp was plastered on her.
After betraying Wang Chen, the female fan complained to Yin Chang, "Why didn't you say anything just now?"
Yin Chang felt a bit embarrassed, "Um...I was actually still thinking...sorry." He smiled and opened his arms, giving the girl a hug - this scene was also slowed down, accompanied by the same romantic song, resembling a confession scene from an idol drama.
The girl was a whole head shorter than Yin Chang. When she snuggled against his chest, she blushed so much that she didn't know where to put her hands.
The height difference, Yin Chang's boyfriend aura... in an instant, the whole audience fell in love, and the barrage was full of "ahhhhhh" screams like prairie dogs.
Even in the WeChat group, there was a commotion.
Jia Siqi: "I'm about to fall in love with Brother Yin Chang myself! How can he be so handsome!"
Yu Ruize: "Even I, a grown man, feel my heart pounding..."
Bai Xiaozhi: "This post-production is really amazing! I didn't feel much when we were recording. But seeing it on air, it's so romantic that I have goosebumps all over."
After Yin Chang learned that the girl was Wang Chen's fan, he went out of his way to comfort Wang Chen.
The way boys comforted was simple. Mostly it was just patting each other's shoulders and exchanging glances. Since this was just a game, unexpected outcomes only increased the variety show effect for the audience.
On the day of the recording, when Yin Chang went to comfort Wang Chen, Wang Chen smiled slightly and showed a generous attitude. But on the show, the devilish post-production team had added a green hat on top of his head, with two lines of tears and the text: "Why am I always the one getting hurt..."
When the wind machine moved in front of him to punish him for failing the challenge, the "green hat" even swayed a bit but didn't fall off.
The barrage was filled with sympathy for Wang Chen.
"Hahaha, it's you again, who made you so cute!"
"Hug hug our little Chen Chen!"
"Don't cry, Wang Chen, I'm your loyal fan hahaha."
The last segment of the program was a Q&A game called "Guess Who".
The host described the traits of a person and the five guests at the scene guessed by raising their hands. The guest who guessed correctly earned points, while the one who guessed wrong lost points. After the game, the guest with the lowest score received a punishment.
The host described a total of ten people, all of whom were celebrities in the entertainment industry. Five of them were guests at the scene that day, while the other five were guests invited for the next episode. It was almost like a freebie round, just to see who would react the fastest.
For example, when the host mentioned the keywords "Call me" and "curly hair", everyone easily guessed it was Jia Siqi, because Jia Siqi and Bao Xiaozhi had just sung this song, and only Jia Siqi had curly hair among them.
But even in such a simple and relaxed entertainment segment, Wang Chen still ended up at the bottom, and continued to be tormented by the wind.
The audience thought he was being played and laughed while feeling sorry for him. But actually, Wang Chen didn't attend the tea party that day, so he knew less about the other five people at the scene than the other four, which caused him to react slower to some questions.
Thus, this episode of "Idols Face to Face" came to an end.
After the program ended, the group chat continued discussing it with lingering excitement.
Yu Ruizhe: "To be honest, looking back now, Wang Chen’s really quite pitiful."
Bao Xiaozhi: "You should check Wang Chen's Weibo, the comments are filled with his 'haha fans' comforting him."
Jia Siqi: "Hahaha, what are 'haha fans'?"
Bao Xiaozhi: "They’re fans who want to laugh AND sympathize with him."
Yin Chang remembered the night when Wang Chen had honey poured into his shoes by Shao Junling, and felt a bit sorry for him.
Fortunately, the next day, the pair of leather shoes that Yin Chang bought for Wang Chen from abroad arrived. He promptly asked Lu Lingjuan to find a way to deliver them.
Meanwhile, Wang Chen was venting at his agent. "What happened to pushing me towards the 'likable' direction? I was so angry yesterday I couldn't sleep all night!"
His agent coaxed him like a child, "Look at the numbers! The TV station gave me data last night, and the real-time ratings of this episode exceeded the previous episodes. Among the five guests during the show, your fans increased the most!"
Wang Chen: "But they made me a laughingstock!"
The agent: "It's all for the sake of the show's effect. You have high popularity. As long as you play the victim, it’ll increase your fans' loyalty."
Wang Chen: "Nonsense! If my fans were loyal, would they betray me on the show? It's all that damn Yin Chang... How many new fans did he gain?"
The agent didn't dare to say that Yin Chang gained more fans than him, so he secretly bought a lot of fake fans to create the illusion that Wang Chen gained the most fans: "Listen to me, he's also a popular idol. Don't always try to oppose him. You should learn to use him. For example, although he made your fans turn against you... Oh no, although he made one of your fans betray you, you also gained many new fans from Yin Chang's side on Weibo last night."
Wang Chen: "..."
The agent: "Oh, I almost forgot. Yin Chang's agent asked me to give you these pair of shoes."
Wang Chen took the box and opened it. "Why did he send me shoes?"
The agent: "Maybe it's an apology to you. After all, he made you a laughingstock... He snatched one of your fans. The day after we finished recording the show, his agent asked me about your shoe size."
This explanation made Wang Chen feel much better. He took out the pair of beautiful leather shoes, put them on and walked a few steps, but took them off angrily after less than two minutes.
The agent asked, "What's wrong now?"
Wang Chen said, "These shoes don't have height increasing insoles. I look short wearing them!"
The agent said, "..."
However, after this incident, Wang Chen finally swallowed his pride and added Yin Chang on WeChat.
He didn't mention the shoes, and naturally assumed that they were an apology from Yin Chang. However, after watching the show last night, he was puzzled that he’d scored the lowest in the final Q&A segment. He asked Yin Chang via WeChat: "Do you know the other three?"
Yin Chang said, "Hmm?"
Wang Chen said, "In the final Q&A, all three of you had quick responses."
For example, in one question, the host only mentioned "calligraphy", and Yin Chang immediately answered "Yu Ruizhe" and got one point for the correct answer.
Later, through the conversation between the host and Yu Ruizhe, Wang Chen learned that Yu Ruizhe had been practicing calligraphy every day in the dormitory for a new historical drama he was filming.
Perhaps Yu Ruizhe had posted related updates on Weibo, and Wang Chen didn't notice, which was normal. But to immediately guess it was him based on just one keyword, Yin Chang was indeed too sharp.
Yin Chang didn't hide from Wang Chen's suspicion. "Mhmm, we knew each other beforehand."
Wang Chen said, "What do you mean by 'knew each other beforehand'?" Could it be that these people were secretly colluding behind his back???
Yin Chang: "On the afternoon of the 26th last month, I invited them for tea and invited you too, but you didn't come."
Wang Chen: "............"
Yin Chang: "Next time, you should come to these activities, otherwise you'll be at a disadvantage on the show."
Wang Chen: "............" Can he just strangle this person!?
On the side of Nova Entertainment, the broadcast of the program brought varying degrees of popularity growth for Bai Xiaozhi and Jia Siqi, and they also received several new endorsement offers.
Based on their performance on the show and the impression of the fans, Yuan Qian formulated a new development direction for them.
Yuan Qian: "You two should still promote the CP image, fans have a deep impression of it. First get popular, then feel free to go your separate ways."
Jia Siqi: "Yeah!"
Bai Xiaozhi: "......Yeah my ass!"
De International Elementary School
The day after "Idol Face-to-Face" aired, Xue Ziwen secretly brought his phone into the classroom. He quietly watched the program he had downloaded in advance with Shao Junling, hiding it from the teacher.
Having been classmates for almost half a year, Xue Ziwen was gradually drawn to this quiet, cool boy. He’d long let go of past grievances to become good friends.
Now, whenever there was something delicious or fun, Xue Ziwen would always remember to invite Shao Junling.
"Haha! Did you hear that? Your brother is telling you to 'study hard'!" Xue Ziwen now knew that Yin Chang was Shao Junling's brother, and didn't speak ill of him anymore.
Shao Junling blushed and subconsciously clenched his fist as he stared at his brother on the screen.
When they saw Wang Chen being punished, Xue Ziwen didn't hold back. "Ah... my uncle is being punished! So sad! His head is about to be blown off!"
Children were always unreservedly straightforward when around close friends.
During Wang Chen's performance of "The King," Xue Ziwen's eyes lit up and he praised without hesitation, "My uncle is so handsome! He's too handsome!"
After class, the two of them huddled together, each wearing one headphone. Their sneaky behavior was discovered by their classmates and reported to the teacher.
Yin Chang had just started singing when they felt a shadow cast over them.
"Xue Ziwen, Shao Junling..." Teacher Lin appeared in front of them with a smiling but murderous face. "You're not supposed to bring phones into the classroom, remember?"
Teacher Lin confiscated Xue Ziwen's phone, then smiled, "You two will stay in the classroom after school and copy the school rules. Xue Ziwen, you can't go home until you finish copying, and Shao Junling, your makeup classes will be postponed."
Xue Ziwen: "..."
Shao Junling: "..."
That day, the two little ones stayed behind in the classroom. They copied the school rules while chatting.
Xue Ziwen curiously asked, "Why do you and your brother have different last names? Are you using your mother's last name?"
Shao Junling replied, "No... it's because me and my brother have different dads."
Xue Ziwen looked slightly awkward, "Huh? But Mom said the other day that you are your brother's father's son."
Shao Junling understood what Xue Ziwen meant. He continued to write in a huff. He clearly and decisively said, "No, I'm not."
Xue Ziwen asked, "Then who’s your dad?"
Shao Junling remained silent.
Xue Ziwen knew that his little partner would never speak if there was something he didn't want to say, so he stopped dwelling on the issue.
After a while, he asked again, "One day my mom told me that your brother seems to want to share half of his dad's money with you."
Shao Junling remained silent for two seconds. "I don't want it."
Xuezi asked, "Why not?"
Shao Junling expressionlessly replied, "I just don't."
Xuezi remained silent.
After copying the school rules and finishing the classes, it was already nine o'clock in the evening when Shao Junling returned to the dorm.
He took out his phone, followed the method Xuezi taught him to download a video app, and found the latest episode of "Idols Face-to-Face". He hid under the covers and watched with relish.
At midnight that day, Yin Chang received a text message.
"Reminder: As of January 17th, the mobile sub-card package of your phone with the last four digits as 1709 has used 998.12MB of data, with 25.88MB remaining. Excess usage will be charged at 0.3 yuan/MB. Please log in to the UnionLink online business hall at www..."
Yin Chang: "???"
He opened WeChat and sent a message to Shao Junling, "Why are you still awake and on your phone?"
At that moment, Shao Junling who was at De International student dormitory, had just finished downloading and buffering the high-definition version of Yin Chang's latest program, intending to watch it from time to time. When he saw the message, he was startled and looked around to see if anyone was monitoring him. He was also afraid that his brother had installed some kind of surveillance on his phone and could see his status at any time. He nervously held his phone and pretended to be asleep, but his mind was filled with images of his brother singing on the show, smiling while hugging female fans... His emotions fluctuated. At times happy and at times conflicted, until he fell asleep.
A week later, Shao Junling took his first final exam ever. Three days after the exam, he would start his winter vacation.
That day, Yin Chang went to the school and received Shao Junling's report card from Teacher Lin. When he saw the final grade, he couldn't believe his eyes.
Shao Junling, 11 years old, male, Class A of Grade One
Chinese Literature: B+
Mathematics and Logic: A+
Natural Science: A+
Foreign Language: C-
Physical Education: A+
Art: B+
Extra Project: A+
Note: Elementary Olympiad Math (Intermediate)
Overall Grade: A-
Rank: Excellent
De International's grading system was similar to that of foreign countries: no precise scores, only giving general grade placement.
Teacher Lin explained, "Shao Junling is very good at STEM. A+ is a score of 95 or above. Shao Junling always gets full marks. His math teacher said that he rarely follows the teacher's pace in class and always reads ahead. The math teacher arranged for him to attend the elementary school Olympiad math class, which is aimed at students grades one to three. He only joined half a year ago and got first place in the final assessment of the math class. If possible, we want to send him to participate in the competition next year."
Yin Chang looked at Shao Junling in amazement...
Teacher Lin continued, "In addition to English, his performance in other subjects has also improved. Especially in Chinese, his memory is good. Reading the text for an hour in the mornings and evenings has greatly improved his performance. I suggest that if Shao Junling has time during the winter break, he can supplement his English outside of school... Oh right, you recently returned from abroad right? If convenient, maybe you could communicate with him in English more."
Yin Chang recalled when Shao Junling called "Fiona" "Yang Na" and blankly said, "Oh."
"With his English grades improving, he can start taking Information Technology Innovation classes next semester. He has good logical thinking skills. If he’s trained in this direction, he has a lot of potential." Teacher Lin explained with a smile, and then said to Yin Chang, "Also, with Shao Junling's current grades and rank, starting next semester, he doesn’t need after-school tutoring. Shao Junling requested to be a day student, do you know about this?"
Yin Chang: "???"
Shao Junling, who was sitting beside them, looked up with anticipation.
Yin Chang knew that Shao Junling's grades would improve sooner or later, but he didn't expect this day to come so quickly...
Vignette
Wang Chen found out that his shoes were filled with honey and called his sister angrily when he got home.
"Sis! You need to do something about Xue Ziwen! That little bastard ruined my shoes!"
Wang Xuan solemnly called her son over, "Ziwen, what did you do to your uncle's shoes?"
Xue Ziwen: "???"
Vignette 2
After the broadcast of "Idol Face-to-Face", Wang Chen's management team upgraded his character model from 2.0 to 3.0 based on fans' suggestions, adding settings such as "silly" and "natural fool". The marketing team collected a large number of Wang Chen's reaction memes, emphasizing "Wang Chen-style dumbfounded".
Wang Chen: "???
