Li Yu stared blankly at the screen and reread the entire article, then, hands trembling, pulled out her phone.

Was it really the same person?

But there was only one company in the entire entertainment industry named Xingyao Entertainment, and only one contracted artist under their banner called Gu Yi.

This… this was honestly absurd.

What kind of life was Gu Yi living?

She couldn’t even begin to picture the scene of Gu Yi writing that paper.

Silently, Li Yu filed the manuscript under the appropriate category. Once she finished screening the week’s submissions, she’d pass it on to the managing editor.

She had no idea whether Gu Yi’s article would pass review, but the fact that he had submitted it at all was shocking enough.

She really wanted to vent to a fellow industry friend—but sadly, she’d never met a colleague who also happened to stan Gu Yi.

Finally off work, Li Yu left the office full of tangled thoughts.

Tonight was CROWN’s debut stage—and there was no way she was missing it.

On the subway ride home, Li Yu couldn’t help musing: maybe she should work harder. If she ever made it to managing editor, maybe she could one day say—

“Hello, Teacher Gu? There’s something in your paper I’d like to discuss.”

And just like that—email, phone call, WeChat—she’d have fully infiltrated her idol’s world of scientific research.

But… writing academic papers was so exhausting. Definitely not suited to a lazy salted-fish like her.

…

By the time she got home, her regular fan group was already flooding the chat with stunning red carpet photos of CROWN. As a working adult, Li Yu couldn’t go to the event, so all she could do was silently save every gorgeous photo her friends posted.

She really wanted to brag about receiving a manuscript from Gu Yi that very day—but her professional ethics wouldn’t allow it.

【“I wonder what ‘Crown’ will be like on stage… Please, Jiangshi TV, have some decency!” 】
【“Judging from the teaser clips they released, the platform seems to be putting real effort into CROWN.” 】
【“Still, so many people keep trying to drag them down.” 】
【“CROWN’s going up eighth. Waiting patiently.” 】
【“Waiting.” 】

Fans were frustrated about CROWN’s lack of exposure, but no one was cursing out Jiangshi TV. After all, the Greenlime Music Festival had a solid reputation in the music industry. From the looks of it, CROWN’s activities had been carefully selected by the platform.

As fans, they didn’t want CROWN to waste energy on meaningless endorsements either.

“They’re up next!”

Li Yu quickly put down her bag of chips.

Onstage at the moment was a singing competition winner—a newcomer widely acknowledged for their vocal talent. Greenlime had scheduled this singer and CROWN back-to-back. While fans hadn’t commented much, others were already throwing shade:

【“Someone’s about to get outclassed. I won’t say who.” 】
【“+1 +1 +1, lol. Only fans are still wearing rose-coloured glasses for their giegie.” 】
【“Luo Wei was second, and it was tragic. Absolutely demolished by Zhou Ruoyuan and Qin Yin. And he was supposed to be TIMEE’s top vocalist.” 】
【“The best part of Greenlime’s festival? Full live mics. No place to hide for weaklings.” 】

Fans of vocalists often felt superior to idol stans—after all, singers relied on talent. But when it came to fame and income, idols still topped the charts.

At long last, the previous performance ended… only for Greenlime TV to cut to a full three-minute ad break. Just when Li Yu’s patience was wearing thin, her screen suddenly lit up with a deep blue stage.

Light and shadow cascaded across the centre of the stage. At the heart of the spotlight stood six motionless figures—all dressed in white knight uniforms, postures tall, expressions refined.

The large screens flickered like rippling lake water as a line of text slowly appeared:

Song: “Crown”
Performers: CROWN

A single clear note from a piano rang out. Though simple, it didn’t feel sparse. Soon after, the guitar and violin strings joined in, and rhythm began to ripple across the stage. As the music softened, the audience heard a crystal-clear voice rise—like a string instrument itself—blending so perfectly with the backing track it was hard to tell them apart.

As if his voice had been embedded into the melody.

For a moment, the entire audience stared, wide-eyed.

Especially the section packed with CROWN fans.

They had imagined what this debut stage might be like—had dreamed up every perfect scenario they could think of—but none of it could compare to what was happening in front of them.

“Liu Junyuan! He’s so steady!”
“It sounds amazing—so, so good!!”

Liu Junyuan’s tone was perfectly matched with the song Crown. In just a few seconds, he transformed the energy of the entire stage.

Back during Battle of the Stars, everyone had praised Liu Junyuan’s tone, but his breath control hadn’t been anywhere near this good.

Now, it was stable, rich, and beautifully clear.

“Ahhhh—!!”

A second later, fans couldn’t hold back another scream.

Another voice had joined Liu Junyuan’s.

Until that moment, fans had never realized how perfectly Gu Yi and Liu Junyuan’s voices blended.

The song Crown told the story of a group of ordinary people gifted with crowns by their fans, eventually ascending to the centre of the stage. Liu Junyuan and Gu Yi were the main vocalists. And in just a few short lines, the emotional power of their voices hit the audience with full force.

When their part ended, the rest of the group followed. Whether singing in duets or solo, every voice from both sides of the stage surpassed fan expectations.

High and low.

Bright and deep.

Where one had a weakness, another’s tone covered it. Their breath control, pitch, emotion, and expression—it was all full and solid.

He Zhao and Yang Ting had previously been labelled the “not-good-at-singing” members of CROWN, but their performance in Crown didn’t sound the least bit dry. On the contrary, their progress was so obvious that it left fans stunned—in the best way.

And the song itself? Crown had already exceeded what fans had hoped for. Gentle, emotional, and full of heart—on stage, it was like the members were telling a story directly to the fans.

【“This debut stage exceeded everything I imagined!!” 】
【“The choreography too—so stunning!” 】

The choreography for Crown was relatively simple. But the moment all six members moved in perfect sync—hands, legs, waist—the crowd went wild.

【“So precise!!” 】
【“It’s like copy and paste!” 】
【“The stage only lasted a few minutes, but I can tell how long they must’ve trained!!” 】
【“CROWN is so cool!” 】

No matter where the camera turned, Crown had no dead angles—every frame was perfect.

“Ahhhhh this is my ideal project group!!”
“If every CROWN stage is like ‘Crown’, I’ll wait however long it takes.”

As the performance ended, the members stood still and bowed deeply to the audience.

At that moment, the camera zoomed in close—centre stage, where Gu Yi, the centre of the group, stood. No doubt, his face received the most screen time.

Ever since Battle of the Stars, audiences had known he was strikingly handsome. But under this focused lens—those eyes, glittering like starlight—no one could look away.

Backstage, in the green room…

Pop diva Zheng Yanlin, the final act of the night, chuckled as she watched the screen.
“So that’s the kid Director Sun’s taken a liking to?”

Her assistant nodded.

After CROWN’s debut, it was no secret in the entertainment industry that Director Sun Youming had “snatched” centre member Gu Yi for his film. Many agencies had laughed at Xingyao Entertainment, claiming they couldn’t hold onto talent—Gu Yi was clearly on the verge of blowing up, only to get scooped up halfway by Sun Youming.

But then again, when Sun Youming had his eye on someone, no small agency could stop him.

Back when Zheng Yanlin first rose to fame, she had sung the theme song for one of Sun’s films. Her escape from her previous agency had been possible thanks to his help.

She’d always wanted to repay that favour. But with Sun Youming’s stature, there was rarely anything he needed help with.

“I’ll have them as guests at my concert in S City.”

If CROWN didn’t have the skill to back it up, Zheng Yanlin wouldn’t have even considered it. But Crown far exceeded her expectations of what an idol stage could be.

Even Broken Strings gave it a glowing recommendation on their homepage.

By that night, the trending searches were dominated by Crown, with three separate tags on the list. Marketing accounts flooded Weibo with praise for CROWN’s debut stage, and big names from Battle of the Stars—Yue Miao, Yi Shuo, and the rest—were all posting rave reviews.

Even Xingyao Entertainment’s official account reposted the performance.

Fans… were unimpressed.

“He’s already debuted, and now you post? Spare us.”

And when even Zhu Yu reposted the video, Gu Yi’s fans collectively made a face like: “…”

It wasn’t that they’d forgotten how Zhu Yu used to be all passive-aggressive with Gu Yi. It’s just… the two of them weren’t even operating on the same level anymore. There was no point comparing.

…

After the Greenlime Music Festival, CROWN received a surge of invitations. Some were even bigger than Greenlime. But since the members needed to train and record songs, the team continued to prioritize music-related events.

Gu Yi, for his part, was balancing vocal and dance practice with script analysis—he hadn’t been this busy since studying for finals in his last life.

A Letter on My Desk was scheduled to begin filming in a month. Before that, CROWN was planning to release an EP. Which meant Gu Yi had a lot to organize.

“Brother Yuan, do we have anything Friday afternoon?”

Gu Yi checked the team’s schedule. They had a magazine cover shoot that morning, but the afternoon was free. If needed, he could make himself available.

Manager Yuan Cheng nodded. “Nothing. You heading out?”

Yuan Cheng was CROWN’s manager. During the project group’s promotional period, all group events and commercial activities fell under his jurisdiction.

Gu Yi smiled. “I’m judging a competition.”

Yuan raised a brow. “Gu Yi, remember to get a contract. It’s best if Sister Liu and I vet any work you take.”

“Understood,” Gu Yi replied, sending Yuan a red packet for 600 yuan. “Fee for the side gig.”

Yuan Cheng: “??”

He was completely confused.

Since CROWN debuted, Gu Yi hadn’t accepted any private gigs. The only exception—if you could call it that—was when he helped Yuan tutor his kid with homework.

Yuan had once been driven mad trying to explain a hard math problem to his child. In desperation, he posted it on WeChat hoping someone—anyone—would help. The first comment came from Gu Yi.

Yuan Cheng: “…”

He bragged about CROWN on WeChat all the time, and Gu Yi never once liked a single post. He’d been a little bummed about it.

Especially since his own daughter now worshipped Gu Yi more than she respected her own father. When he tried to assert some parental authority, she hit him with, “You’re not as handsome as Gu Yi.”

Honestly, the bar was way too high.

Yuan had been in the industry for years, and even among celebrities, Gu Yi’s looks were rare.

Still puzzled, Yuan pressed for more details. Gu Yi silently sent him a screenshot of a group chat.

Yuan: “…Alright, go ahead.”

Gu Yi had just seen Auntie Wang’s post on his timeline.

He hadn’t been home in a while.

Ever since his debut on Battle of the Stars, fans occasionally hung around his neighbourhood trying to get a glimpse of him. But the local aunties and security guards always helped keep things under control—he never had to worry.

Auntie Wang had posted about a street-level singing contest. One of the judges had dropped out last minute, and she was asking around the community for any music teachers or cultural professionals who could help out.

She had a lot of contacts, so Gu Yi assumed she’d easily find someone. But two hours later, she reposted the exact same message.

“Auntie Wang, still need someone? I happen to be free that afternoon.”
“Yes!!”

Auntie Wang usually wouldn’t bother Gu Yi with things like this, knowing how busy he was. But this time was urgent. That morning she was told someone from higher up would be visiting to observe the event as part of an inspection.

Just their luck to be missing a judge on a day like that. And since it was summer break, most local music teachers were off traveling.

Gu Yi’s appearance was a literal godsend.

Seven or eight communities sent contestants for the neighbourhood competition. There were four judges in total—Gu Yi was one of them.

When he sat down at the judges’ table, the others kept sneaking glances at him.

They didn’t watch idol shows, so they didn’t recognize him. But before the event began, a crowd of people entered the room, surrounding someone important.

The higher-ups had arrived.

Contestants weren’t the only ones getting nervous—even the judges felt some pressure.

Just then, the host began introducing the judges:

“Winner of the district Peony Cup choir competition. Outstanding cultural contributor.”
“Beloved district radio voice. Local culture advocate…”

Each judge stood to polite applause.

“Your community events are impressive. For the next one, you might even request support from the city…”

“Finalist in Jiangshi TV’s Battle of the Stars. Most popular act at the Greenlime Music Festival. Endorser for [brand name]…”

Higher-up: “We’ve got a city tourism promo coming up. Think your community can lend a hand?”

The neighbourhood leader had no choice but to ask Auntie Wang… and Auntie Wang, of course, turned to Gu Yi.

When asked, she answered without hesitation:

“You want one? Or all six?”

The singing competition ended to a round of warm applause. Gu Yi signed the reimbursement form and sent a photo of the receipt to Yuan Cheng.

Manager: “…”

He wasn’t even surprised anymore. Gu Yi had once again appeared on the official account of the XX District’s community news.

Fans who saw the post: “…”

They were getting used to it.

【“Next time, please tag us @HechengCommunity.” 】
【“Seriously jealous of the contestants who got their award from Teacher Gu. I want to shake his hand toooo!!” 】
【“Community pics are brutally unfiltered, yet Teacher Gu still looks flawless! Actual legend.” 】