Chapter 100

Jiang Ji’s declaration of war on Weibo directly pushed the program’s popularity to its peak.

A night passed, and the enthusiasm showed no sign of diminishing.

Li Zi picked out some key screen recording files and released them, confirming the fact that Shi Yao had suppressed the Asperatus Band and intentionally leaked negative information about Jiang Ji.

At the same time, some of Shi Yao’s past scandals—such as manipulating popularity on previous variety shows—were also dug up, intensifying the online condemnation against him.

The next morning, Jiang Ji was downstairs writing songs when Li Zi brought the compiled public opinion analysis to Qin Qingzhuo. “Look at this, fans from both of your sides used to want to keep each other at arm’s length, but this time they’ve formed a united front, all flooding the topic ‘Shi Yao, get out of the Restless Band program team’. What’s even funnier is that even fans from the city collapse side are using this topic because they’re unhappy with Shi Yao’s comment ‘a family’s stray dog’…”

Qin Qingzhuo looked at the public opinion analysis compiled by Li Zi and chuckled, “It’s quite amusing.”

“What’s the situation on Xia Qi’s side?” Li Zi asked him.

“They said the higher-ups are having a meeting, I don’t know the specifics of the discussion, but they’re probably quite anxious,” Qin Qingzhuo said, “Replacing the program’s chief director just before the finals, this is indeed unprecedented, but with public opinion escalating like this, and with Xia Qi already available as a ready-made chief director candidate, I can’t think of any reason why they would insist on keeping Shi Yao.”

“True,” Li Zi joked, “Unless Shi Yao has slept with some higher-up.”

“Hmm…” Qin Qingzhuo rested his chin on his hand, contemplating.

Li Zi caught a whiff of gossip and leaned in, asking softly, “Could there really be such a thing?”

“No,” Qin Qingzhuo smiled and shook his head.

“Alright, thought there might be some juicy gossip to hear,” Li Zi looked disappointed, then handed her phone over after tapping on the screen a few times, “Oh, by the way, there’s a video that’s been a big help, related to Jiang Ji, take a look?”

Qin Qingzhuo glanced at her phone screen and smiled, “Ah, this one. Cai Heng showed it to me already. He said the video’s popularity wasn’t that high initially, so he helped promote it on the platform a bit. It’s like a hint for me to remember to return the favor later.”

The video Li Zi showed him was posted on a popular social media platform, with the title “Former Crush Participates in a Band Variety Show and Faces Nationwide Criticism”. The publisher was a beauty blogger with just over ten thousand followers.

The girl in the video looked about the same age as Jiang Ji, applying makeup while chatting casually to the camera.

She recounted an incident from high school, saying that when she first entered high school, she refused the advances of a well-connected male classmate, which led to rumors being spread about her. She was harassed for a while and even suffered from depression because of it. One day, that male classmate brought some troublemakers from outside the school and tried to lay hands on her, but was caught in the act by Jiang Ji. Jiang Ji immediately beat up those people, then dragged the male classmate to the front of the class, where he clarified the rumors in front of the whole class.

“This girl is quite outstanding,” Qin Qingzhuo withdrew his gaze from the screen, “She’s even from Columbia University. I didn’t expect her to encounter such outrageous things before.”

“Oh? She’s from Columbia?” Li Zi asked in confusion, “It didn’t seem like she mentioned it in the video?”

“She wrote it on her profile page,” Qin Qingzhuo flipped through the materials in his hand, “You can see it if you click in.”

“So you clicked into this girl’s profile to check?” Li Zi teased with a knowing look, “I say, Qingzhuo, it wouldn’t be because she mentioned liking Jiang Ji in the video, that you…”

Qin Qingzhuo looked at her, a smile playing on his lips, “That I what?”

“Just let it be, I won’t say it explicitly,” Li Zi chuckled and pocketed her phone, “I’m heading out. I’ll update you if there’s any new developments.”

“Go ahead,” Qin Qingzhuo lowered his head, continuing to examine the materials in his hand, a faint curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

He reached for his phone, found the chat with Cai Heng, and once again clicked on that video.

This time, he didn’t watch the video but instead scrolled through the materials in his hand while listening to the sound coming from his phone.

The girl’s articulation was truly excellent. Listening to her recount the story felt like witnessing Jiang Ji in high school.

“Not long after that, Jiang Ji was removed as the basketball team captain because of this incident. I heard that the male student initially wanted to use his family connections to directly get him expelled for engaging in a fight on campus. However, because of his good grades, the school decided to keep him. I later went to apologize to him, but he just said it wasn’t my concern, making me feel guilty to this day…”

—So that’s how Jiang Ji was removed as the basketball team captain.

Qin Qingzhuo thought of the basketball game he played with Jiang Ji a few months ago on the old playground of the abandoned school.

At that time, they had agreed that if Jiang Ji lost, he would explain why he was removed as the team captain.

Although Qin Qingzhuo technically won in the end, Jiang Ji deliberately let him score the last point. Since it wasn’t a fair victory, Qin Qingzhuo didn’t insist on pressing for an explanation.

Unexpectedly, he now got the answer inadvertently through this video.

As the video played three-quarters through, the girl talked about her heartache when she handed a love letter and received it back in its original form.

Qin Qingzhuo paused the video without continuing to watch, focusing on his work.

The album he was creating for Shen Cha had mostly settled on the compositions; now, he needed to coordinate the lyrics according to the musical style.

While listening to the demo with his headphones on, Jiang Ji pushed the door open and walked in.

Walking up to Qin Qingzhuo, Jiang Ji leaned against the desk and took off his headphones, putting them on his own head.

Qin Qingzhuo leaned back in his chair, tilting his head slightly to look at him. “Is it good?”

“It’s okay,” Jiang Ji listened for a moment, took off the headphones, and rubbed his ears with his fingers. “The volume is so loud, can your ears handle it?”

“It’s fine. If the volume is too low, some details might be missed,” Qin Qingzhuo closed the demo on his computer, his gaze landing on the paused screen of his phone. He picked it up and handed it to Jiang Ji. “By the way, do you know this girl? She did you a big favor. All the efforts we put into public relations before couldn’t compare to the impact of this video.”

Jiang Ji took the phone and tapped the screen, resuming the video from where it left off. “I later handed Jiang Ji a love letter too, but I didn’t get a response. After we chose different subjects in our second year of high school, we weren’t in the same class anymore, and then he dropped out…”

“She’s a high school classmate of mine, vaguely remember her,” Jiang Ji closed the video and placed the phone on the table. “But what’s the meaning of showing me this? Qin Laoshi, are you jealous?”

“It just happened to pause here. If I were jealous, I wouldn’t have shown you this segment,” Qin Qingzhuo smiled. “Besides, being liked by such an outstanding girl is a good thing. It means you’re also outstanding.”

Jiang Ji leaned against the edge of the desk and clicked his tongue, nodding. “Indeed, someone who has been a superstar is in a different league from us jealous folks.”

Qin Qingzhuo chuckled at his words, finding Jiang Ji particularly cute at this moment. How could someone be so calm even when feeling jealous? He couldn’t do it himself; even if he were jealous, he would pretend to be indifferent and wouldn’t easily admit it if he were found out.

“No wonder they were discussing what they were doing at nineteen downstairs,” Jiang Ji continued, “Turns out it was because of watching this video.”

“What were they discussing at nineteen?” Qin Qingzhuo asked casually.

“It seems like what they were doing at nineteen, but I didn’t pay much attention,” Jiang Ji twirled his fingers around his hair tips. “They said you rejected an audition opportunity given by a famous director when you were nineteen.”

“When did this old story come up again?” Qin Qingzhuo smiled.

“Is it true?” Jiang Ji seemed quite interested in the matter. “Did they want you to act in a movie?”

“It was just an audition opportunity. The director was very selective, and after the audition, there would be acting trials. Even if I didn’t refuse at that time, I would still need to go through multiple rounds of selection. Besides, my friend was selected later, and he was exceptionally talented in acting, surpassing anyone in competition,” Qin Qingzhuo leaned back in his chair. “So, I rejected it because I felt I didn’t have that talent. Also, Huan Yang wanted to sign me. After learning about the audition, they were afraid I might choose acting, so they promised to have Lian Ye help with my first album. For you, would you choose a big director or Lian Ye?”

“I choose you,” Jiang Ji said, looking at him.

“Choosing me over Lian Ye,” Qin Qingzhuo chuckled. “You must be losing out.”

“Then I still choose you,” Jiang Ji said after a pause. “They also mentioned that the role they invited you to audition for was a cross-dressing fetishist who wears a cheongsam. Is that true?”

“How do they know everything? Where did these rumors come from…” Qin Qingzhuo wondered.

“So, it’s true.”

“Mmh,” Qin Qingzhuo smiled. “Unimaginable, right? But I also felt it didn’t quite match. I don’t know why they approached me for that role.”

“It’s not that mismatched,” Jiang Ji reached out, pushing his hair back and gripping the tips with his fingers. Looking at him, he said, “I can imagine it.”

“What nonsense are you thinking?” Qin Qingzhuo laughed, but before he could finish, Jiang Ji leaned down and kissed him. Qin Qingzhuo’s tone shifted along with his thoughts. “Want to see?”

Jiang Ji responded with a “Hmm.” Qin Qingzhuo continued, “If this time Shi Yao doesn’t direct, then prepare well for the finals and if you win the championship, I’ll consider it.”

“Really?” Jiang Ji’s fingers tightened around the strands of hair, and the kiss deepened.

“Really,” Qin Qingzhuo said with a hint of a smile.

As Jiang Ji walked out of Qin Qingzhuo’s workspace, planning to go downstairs and continue writing songs, his phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

He took out his phone and saw that it was a call from Chen Jia.

“Jiang Ji,” the call connected, Chen Jia said on the other end, “come to the program group now. The company executives are having a meeting to discuss your Weibo post, and they want you to come over.”

“Just me?” Jiang Ji asked, “Or should I bring Peng Keshi and Zhong Yang?”

“Just you, come to the 807 meeting room,” Chen Jia said, “as soon as possible, everyone is waiting for you.”

“Got it,” Jiang Ji said and hung up the phone.

Putting away his phone, he walked down the stairs, through the lobby, and out of the studio.

He could guess the purpose of these executives wanting him to come over – nothing but hoping he would reconcile with Shi Yao.

Although he didn’t want to deal with these peacekeepers, since he was the one who posted the Weibo, he should make his attitude clear and let these people drop this idea early.

Jiang Ji straddled the motorcycle, put on his helmet, twisted the throttle, and drove off.

Merging into the main traffic flow, the traffic light intersection was a few hundred meters ahead.

Watching the countdown on the red light decrease, he suddenly remembered what Qin Qingzhuo said yesterday – “Lovers should participate in each other’s lives, discuss and solve problems together…”

The red light turned green, and Jiang Ji passed through the intersection, slowing down and pulling the motorcycle over to the side of the road.

He took out his phone, tapped a few times on the screen, and dialed Qin Qingzhuo’s number.

Qin Qingzhuo quickly answered the phone, “Hmm?”

“Chen Jia just called,” Jiang Ji sat on the motorcycle, one long leg resting against the curb on the side of the street, “saying the company executives are having a meeting and want me to come over.”

“The company executives? It seems they are really in a hurry…” Qin Qingzhuo pondered for a moment. “I’ll prepare some materials and go with you. Are you downstairs?”

“No, I’m…” Jiang Ji paused, “on the roadside. I’ll come back to pick you up.”

“On the roadside?” Qin Qingzhuo seemed surprised on the other end, but quickly realized, “So you’re already out and called me again?”

Jiang Ji responded with a “Hmm”: “You said yesterday that we should discuss things together.”

There was no immediate response from the other end. After a few seconds, Qin Qingzhuo suddenly laughed.

“You… why are you so cute,” Qin Qingzhuo chuckled, “then come back to pick me up.”