Chapter 27: The Fallen Child Star (27) Part 2

Xu Weiheng composed his complex emotions and said to Yao Rong, “It was You Bai and Director Chen.”

Yao Rong’s interest was piqued. “What did they say?”

“You Bai tried to appeal to my emotions, while Director Chen… he invited me to star in his next film, promising me the lead role.”

Yao Rong handed Xu Weiheng a plate of cherries. “Director Chen is a smart man.”

You Bai’s emotional appeal was too crude. In contrast, Director Chen knew that such tactics wouldn’t work. He directly offered benefits.

Everyone knew that Director Chen and Xu Weiheng had fallen out. If Xu Weiheng agreed to star in Director Chen’s new film under these circumstances, it would generate enormous buzz. Director Chen wouldn’t need any justification; with this single move, he could wash away most of the criticism against him.

Xu Weiheng picked up a bright red cherry and swallowed it. “After those two calls, I suddenly realized something.”

“Realized what?”

Xu Weiheng ate another cherry, smiling at Yao Rong like a cunning fox. “When someone becomes powerful, their enemies will try every means to turn hostility into friendship. Although I’m not strong enough yet, I deeply understand this now.”

“No, you’re already impressive,” Yao Rong ruffled his hair. “You already have the heart of a strong person.”

Becoming stronger was just a matter of time. She was already looking forward to seeing him stand at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry.

…

After finishing the cherries in the courtyard, Yao Rong and Xu Weiheng put the phone calls out of their minds and retreated to their rooms to rest. Having recorded the variety show for four days, they both had a lot of work piled up.

Xu Weiheng planned to visit the Summer Orphanage to see the children, while Yao Rong headed to the city to meet Editor He from the publishing house to discuss the release of “Starry Sky.”

“Starry Sky” was set to launch in two days.

After a period of promotion, it had garnered unprecedented attention. But who would complain about too much attention? Editor He had invited Yao Rong over, hoping she would cooperate with some additional promotional activities.

Two days later.

At 10 a.m. sharp, “Starry Sky” went on sale. Within just ten minutes, sales exceeded 40,000 copies. For a new author without an established readership, this was an outstanding achievement.

Xu Weiheng also managed to snag two copies of “Starry Sky.” When he showed off to Yao Rong, she smiled and said, “I have unopened sample copies. You didn’t need to buy your own.”

Xu Weiheng replied, “That’s not the same.”

He definitely had to buy them to support her. Taking a screenshot of his purchase, Xu Weiheng opened his Weibo account. It had been a long time since he’d checked it, and the moment it loaded, his phone froze completely. After half an hour, it finally became responsive again.

Xu Weiheng casually glanced at his follower count and was stunned. “How did my Weibo followers increase so much?”

He remembered that three months ago, he had only several hundred thousand followers. Now it had successfully surpassed ten million.

“That’s not surprising,” Yao Rong smiled.

Without a doubt, Xu Weiheng had been the standout star of the latest episode of “Dear Family.” During this time, he had trended countless times on social media.

Xu Weiheng pursed his lips and composed a Weibo post:

「Got “Starry Sky” as soon as it went on sale. Wishing Ms. Yao great success with her new book!」

He attached a screenshot of his purchase page. After posting on Weibo and chatting with Yao Rong for a bit, he refreshed the page again and saw that comments on his new post had already exceeded a thousand.

How long had it been since he posted?

Xu Weiheng knew his reputation had turned around significantly, but it wasn’t until this moment—seeing the real numbers before him—that he truly realized what this meant for him. In the past, he might have been ecstatic about such results, but now, he could face this gain and loss calmly.

Within just one day, “Starry Sky” sales surpassed 100,000 copies. Such encouraging figures made Yao Rong feel Editor He’s enthusiasm even through the phone screen during their call.

“Rest assured, our publishing house will expedite the production of your next book, ‘Light Years,'” Editor He promised, even suggesting an increase in Yao Rong’s royalties.

An author with such potential deserved better treatment to prevent being poached by other publishers.

“No problem, I trust you’ll handle things well,” Yao Rong smiled and then put the matter out of her mind, starting to pack her luggage. Tomorrow, they would set off for a new city to record another episode of the show.

After Xu Ji and Xu Yiyuan’s group left, the program team invited a new pair of guests: a singer returning from abroad and his father. Due to their limited Mandarin skills and reserved personalities, this group didn’t speak much during filming, making the atmosphere of the show more relaxed.

With less excitement to watch, the live viewership of “Dear Family” indeed dropped compared to the peak episode. However, this decline was relative to the peak numbers. Overall, the current figures were still much higher than the first season’s average.

For a variety show that had run for multiple seasons, surpassing the first season’s popularity was already quite satisfying.

By the end of August, the four groups of guests finished recording in Snow Town, concluding the entire season of the variety show. Before leaving, the other three guests exchanged contact information with Xu Weiheng. However, after exchanging contacts, Shi Qingqing and the others left first, while Wen Qiu stayed behind.

“Are you interested in applying to the Central Academy of Drama?”

“Apply to the Academy?” Xu Weiheng looked surprised.

In fact, he hadn’t thought much about his future. He had only joined the variety show at Yao Rong’s encouragement. At this point, he was somewhat taking things one step at a time, without long-term consideration of his future.

“Yes, I can tell that you want to be an actor more than just a celebrity. The Academy is perfect for you in that regard. Moreover, I’ve seen your performance in ‘glorious youth,’ and to be honest, you have great talent. With some formal training, you could definitely make even greater progress.”

“You’re still a minor now. Dropping out of school to enter the entertainment industry might not be the best choice.”

Xu Weiheng could sense the sincerity in Wen Qiu’s words. She was genuinely considering his best interests.

Xu Weiheng nodded seriously: “I’ll think carefully about your suggestion.”

Wen Qiu smiled and waved goodbye: “Then I’ll be off. Let’s keep in touch.”

When Yao Rong returned with two cups of coffee, she saw Xu Weiheng sitting on a bench, lost in thought. She handed him a latte and took a sip of her own Americano.

“What are you daydreaming about?”

Xu Weiheng snapped out of his thoughts, instinctively wanting to tell Yao Rong about Wen Qiu’s suggestion. But as the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back. There was no rush to tell Ms. Yao just yet. Once he had thought it through and made a decision, then he would share it with her—she would surely be even happier then.

After returning home, Xu Weiheng frequently visited the Summer Orphanage again. If you asked which place in the orphanage was most popular among the children, it would definitely be the reading corner that Xu Weiheng had set up for them.

Every weekend, either Mr. or Mrs. Qin would bring Qin Lele to the Summer Orphanage. Whenever Qin Lele got tired of playing with the other children, she would obediently sit in the corner reading books.

One day, Qin Lele softly asked Xu Weiheng, “Big brother, are you good at studying?”

Xu Weiheng answered honestly, “Not really.”

Qin Lele said seriously, “Then you need to work harder! Let me tell you, my neighbor’s older brother has very poor grades. His family spent a lot of money on tutoring to improve his grades. I definitely can’t let my mom and dad spend so much money on me in the future.”

Xu Weiheng’s heart softened. “Lele is such a good child.”

Qin Lele nodded, her voice crisp. “That’s right! I’ll study hard in the future. What about you?”

Xu Weiheng was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly made up his mind.

He extended his hand. “Big brother will too. I’ll work hard to be a good example for Lele.”

Qin Lele put her left hand on her waist, grinning widely, and hooked her right pinky with Xu Weiheng’s. “Pinky promise for a hundred years, no breaking it. Whoever breaks their word will turn into a little dog.”

Xu Weiheng ruffled Qin Lele’s hair. “Right, whoever breaks their word will turn into a puppy.”

At that moment, Xu Weiheng suddenly couldn’t wait to see Yao Rong and share this good news with her immediately. So he said goodbye to Qin Lele and left the Summer Orphanage, running all the way back to the guesthouse.

Pushing open the deep wooden door, Xu Weiheng leaned against it, panting.

Hearing the commotion, Yao Rong came out from inside. Just as she was about to ask why he was in such a hurry, she heard him say—

“I’ve decided to go back to school and apply to the Central Academy of Drama in three years.”

…