The Sanshan Music Festival was the most talked-about pop music event in the capital in recent years. With a three-day holiday coming up, it offered the perfect chance for countless young men and women to unwind and enjoy life to the fullest.

The Sanshan Music Festival had a high standard for entry. Your average unknown bands and artists couldn’t perform on its stage. To perform at Sanshan was, in itself, a form of recognition.

Jiang Lechen never imagined that Gu Yuzhe could get their little ragtag group, which had been on the verge of disbanding, a spot at the festival.

This wasn’t some landlord; this was his own father!!!

The lineup for a music festival is usually decided long in advance. This time, the lead singer of a certain band had a last-minute “mishap” and was removed from the performance list.

Gu Yuzhe, with his extensive network and his ear to the ground, had contacted the festival organizers to strongly recommend his own artists before the police had even issued a public statement.

The organizers were desperate. With such little notice, finding a replacement was tough. Most well-known artists already had busy schedules. Gu Yuzhe’s call was a lifesaver that solved their urgent issue.

As for which celebrity this flop was that Gu Yuzhe was sending? Not important! The tickets were already sold out anyway. Even if they chanted scriptures on stage, it would be the most rock-and-roll scripture reading ever.

Jiang Lechen and Wen Gui knew nothing of these behind-the-scenes machinations. All they knew was—they were finally going to be on stage!

With a single phone call, Gu Yuzhe arranged for a well-known vocal coach from the industry, whose hourly rate was over five figures. If it weren’t for Mr. Gu’s reputation, that coach would never have traveled all the way to their run-down little village on the East Fifth Ring Road. Additionally, they had a professional choreographer to help rework their dance formations.

For this music festival, the ten remaining members of Hotboys were being deployed, retooled, and ready. In official terms, they would “present a more perfect stage for the fans with a brand-new look.”

Wen Gui found it rather comical. “Do we actually have any fans?”

Jiang Lechen: “Didn’t some pervert send you obscene pictures in your Weibo DMs just yesterday? How does that not count?”

Wen Gui: “…”

In this new ten-member team, Jiang Lechen was the leader, and Wen Gui was the ace. The other eight members each had their own positions.

Jiang Lechen felt like an elementary school teacher giving each student a class officer role—a little something for everyone, just to keep the kids happy.

He and Wen Gui were the group’s two main visuals, so they were assigned the most parts in the songs.

The resentment of the other eight was clear on their faces, but Jiang Lechen acted as if he didn’t notice, staying his usual cheerful self. Wen Gui, however, saw it but didn’t care, going about his own day, a cool guy hitting the streets with his hat on.

The burden on their shoulders was heavy. Every day after rehearsal, when the other members had left, they would stay behind until midnight to continue practicing.

Was it tiring? Of course, it was.

But were they happy? Naturally, they were.

“When was our last group performance? That time at the A-Mall anniversary celebration, right?” Jiang Lechen tried hard to recall. “We sang two songs, and the act after us was a magician, wasn’t it?”

“Not that one,” Wen Gui corrected him. “It was the night stage at B-Land theme park.”

“Oh, right, right, right,” Jiang Lechen remembered now.

The B-Land performance had left a deep impression on him. Halfway through a song, an auntie had suddenly rushed onto the stage to grab the microphone because her grandson was lost and she needed to make an announcement.

And so, their hard-won stage performance had to end abruptly. The only saving grace was that the child was later found.

Talking about those chaotic old gigs, they laughed until they coughed.

Drenched in sweat, Wen Gui let go of all his strength and lay on the practice room floor, staring up at the dazzlingly bright ceiling lights.

Jiang Lechen was tired, too, and lay down like him. They looked like two little animals playing dead, limbs spread wide—except little animals wouldn’t have the mischievous hands to wipe their sweat on each other.

After they had finished horsing around, their voices softened.

“Little Jiang, have you ever been to the Sanshan Music Festival?”

“Yeah, several times.”

“I don’t mean as a security guard. I mean buying a ticket and going as part of the audience.”

“Nah, never,” Jiang Lechen said, crossing his hands behind his head. “The tickets are too expensive. Being a guard is a great deal. One hundred and fifty a day, and you get to listen to the music for free.”

“What a shame,” Wen Gui laughed. “You can’t be a guard this time. You won’t be able to earn that one-fifty.”

“Hehe, true,” Jiang Lechen laughed along with him. It was the first time the little money-grubber felt happy about not being able to earn money from a part-time job.

Wen Gui suddenly rolled over, propping himself up on one elbow. He leaned over and looked at Jiang Lechen beside him. The light from above fell on his shoulders, casting a shadow below him, and Jiang Lechen happened to be lying right in that shadow.

They were so close, close enough to see a small pimple on Wen Gui’s forehead.

Jiang Lechen was born with good skin and had never even gotten many pimples during puberty. Seeing the mark of youth on Wen Gui’s forehead, his mischievous hands wanted to reach out and poke it, but Wen Gui dodged and grabbed his fingers.

Wen Gui clasped his fingertips in his palm and asked nonchalantly, “You’re just talking, what are you reaching your hand out for?”

Jiang Lechen blinked and retorted, “And you’re just talking, so what are you getting so close for?”

Wen Gui: “Hmm…” He thought for a moment. “…To top you?”

As he spoke, the handsome-faced boy leaned down, almost pressing himself against Jiang Lechen. He had been spending a lot of time at the gym lately, and those muscle lines weren’t just for show. Pinned down by him, Jiang Lechen found he couldn’t move.

He struggled for a moment, found it useless, and decided to play dead, going completely limp.

Seeing him motionless, Wen Gui lowered his head again, his nose almost touching Jiang Lechen’s, less than a centimeter between them. “Not going to resist anymore?”

“Resist what?” Jiang Lechen giggled. “Anyway, our Hotboys 101 is just Hotboys 10 now. It’s perfect. You can be the 1, and I’ll be the 0.”

“…” Wen Gui was speechless.

After a few seconds of silence, the boy rolled off him, picked up the baseball cap he’d tossed aside, put it on, and walked towards the studio door.

Jiang Lechen sat up and asked innocently, “Gui-gui, you’re not going to top me?”

“…”

“Where are you going?”

“To take a piss,” Wen Gui said without stopping, pushing the door open and leaving the vocal studio.

Leaving Jiang Lechen alone, sitting on the floor, and sighing. Sigh! What’s with kids these days? Suddenly getting moody in the middle of a conversation. I’m a twenty-three-year-old man, I really don’t get him.

Little Jiang, troubled by his relationship with his teammate, didn’t notice the camera in the vocal studio flashing and silently turned in its direction.

…

The three-day holiday was approaching. While Da and Xiao Ding were planning where to go, the diligent Little Jiang was holed up at the company, working hard to prepare for the music festival.

The treatment was naturally different with a new company and a new boss. For this long-awaited stage performance, Jiang Lechen got a new hair color. He bleached his hair twice and dyed it a warm orange, like a sunset.

It was his first time trying such a “loud” color. Before dyeing it, he was afraid he’d look like a character from Balala the Fairies, but the result was surprisingly stunning.

The new hair color made his skin look extremely fair, as if he had stepped out of a manga. Paired with his superior body proportions, every move he made was the focus of attention.

The first time he returned to the dorm with his new hairstyle, his twin roommates went wild, fighting to take a photo with him.

Jiang Lechen, an acting emperor once again, pushed up a pair of non-existent sunglasses and deliberately pretended to be a big shot. “Aiya, my agent doesn’t let me take photos with fans so casually… Fine, seeing as you’ve supported me for so long, I’ll take one photo with you, but no autographs, okay?”

“Thank you, King of Pop Jiang!” Da Ding played along, saying with tearful gratitude, “This photo with you will become our Ding family’s heirloom!!”

Xiao Ding urged him, “Ge, are you done yet? I want to take a picture with the big star too!”

The three of them were having a blast acting in the dorm.

Only Meng He let out a cold snort. His sharp, hawk-like gaze rested on Jiang Lechen’s warm orange hair for two seconds before he muttered a few words. From the shape of his lips, it was clearly: “Sissy.”

Jiang Lechen pretended not to hear.

It wasn’t the first or second day that Meng He couldn’t stand him. Whether he was doing skincare, putting on makeup, or dyeing his hair, in Meng He’s eyes, it was all a sign of being a sissy, sending him on yet another pilgrimage to the summit of Mount Homophobia.

If toxic masculinity and rectal cancer were both terminal illnesses, Meng He should have been lying in the ICU long ago.

At first, Jiang Lechen would get angry. He was an artist with his head held high, earning money with his face. He hadn’t dug up Meng He’s ancestral graves, so why was he being targeted?

Now, Jiang Lechen had long since come to terms with it. As they say, one cannot speak of ice with a summer insect. A male idol did not need to waste words on a horse-lassoing cowboy.

Jiang Lechen took several photos with Da and Xiao Ding. Even with the phone’s native front-facing camera, he was so handsome in the lens that he shone. Every time the focus landed on him, the image would be overexposed.

Da Ding looked at the photos over and over. “Lele, you said you’re performing at the music festival. Which day specifically?”

Jiang Lechen: “We’re on for the afternoon session on the third day. Are you guys gonna come?”

Da Ding: “Yeah, if we have time, Xiao Ding and I will go join the fun.” As he spoke, he opened the ticket purchasing website, only to find that the tickets for the third day were already sold out.

Xiao Ding checked a scalper website and was shocked to find that the tickets, originally 300 yuan a day, were now going for 1500 yuan for the third day!

“Is there some big shot performing?” Xiao Ding shook his head repeatedly. “At this price, we’re not going. What couldn’t we do with three thousand yuan? That’s enough for us to take a trip to Changbai Mountain.”

Jiang Lechen wasn’t exactly sure which guests would be attending the festival this time. He had been as busy as a spinning top all week, either interning at the hospital or rehearsing at the company. He got back to his dorm late every night and would fall asleep almost immediately. Who had the time to keep up with entertainment gossip?

He was surviving solely on Red Bull; he felt like his veins were flowing with taurine.

Hearing his roommates, Jiang Lechen’s curiosity was piqued, and he pulled out his phone to search. As soon as he typed in “Sanshan Music Festival,” related searches popped up.

[Sanshan Music Festival break]

[Sanshan Music Festival Sheng Zhixun]

[Sanshan Music Festival Darwin’s Theory of Evolution]

Xiao Ding had already read the news aloud first: “The Sanshan Music Festival has revealed its final headlining act—the nation’s top boy band, B.R.E.A.K., will present a forty-minute spectacular performance. At the same time, lead singer Sheng Zhixun will also bring fans his solo song, ‘Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.’ As everyone knows, this solo track skyrocketed to the top of several music charts as soon as it was released. This music festival will be the first-ever live performance of ‘Darwin’s Theory of Evolution’…”

“It’s actually B.R.E.A.K., and Sheng Zhixun!” Although Da Ding didn’t follow celebrities, he had heard Sheng Zhixun’s name. His song “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution” was so catchy that you could hear it everywhere, from short-video apps to roadside restaurants. He could even hum a few bars.

Xiao Ding said, “Lele, you’re so awesome! You’re actually going to be on the same stage as Sheng Zhixun!!”

Jiang Lechen also hadn’t expected to see the nation’s top boy band and the top male artist at this music festival. If not for Gu Yuzhe’s incredible connections, he’d probably still be working as a security guard below the stage.

However, if he was sharing a stage with Sheng Zhixun, there was one small problem—

Da Ding: “By the way, I remember you have a teammate named Wen Gui. When he debuted, wasn’t his tagline ‘Little Sheng Zhixun’?”

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Author’s Note:

Little Jiang: About that time I dyed my hair and sent my straight roommate on a pilgrimage to Mount Homophobia 🙂

Author: Huh? Straight roommate?