“Xiao Gu debuted!”

Auntie Wang clapped her hands in delight.

Before coming to the Battle of the Stars finale, she’d done her homework—diligently studying what “debut” meant, what a “temporary group” was, even what “centre position” referred to. She was worried she’d forget, so she even wrote thick notes by hand.

It was hard not to feel emotional. When she first met Gu Yi, he had been so modest, saying he wasn’t any kind of big star.

“And now look—he is a big star!”

“When he first joined the show, Xiao Gu told me he’d be back in two weeks. Told us not to worry about the square dance team.”

“Maybe he won’t be able to dance with us anymore, but honestly, someone as amazing as Xiao Gu deserves to be loved by more people!”

[Now, we will announce the popularity rankings from 6th to 1st.]

As the MC continued with the script, the arena fell silent once again.

The camera lingered on the six remaining contestants standing on stage.

“I’m not curious about anyone else. I just want to know—who’s #1, Gu Yi or Ji Chi?”
“I feel like Ji Chi has the edge.”
“But Gu Yi exploded recently. He’s literally the male lead in a Sun Youming film. Some people are calling him the next Xin Ruchen.”

Xin Ruchen had once been the top choice for A Letter on My Desk‘s lead. He was the youngest actor under 30 to win a Yunxing Award for Best Supporting Actor.

But in the end, Sun Youming had chosen Gu Yi.

[6th place: Liu Junyuan – Shanshui Starlight Entertainment]

He had jumped from 8th to 6th, securing a debut spot. Gu Yi didn’t know him well, only that Shanshui was known for music production and Liu Junyuan had a widely acknowledged strong vocal ability.

[5th place: Yang Ting – Guangmeng Studio]
[4th place: He Zhao – Yuanzi Interactive]

“Wait—I just realized. Of the top 6, Gu Yi’s only ever teamed up with Ji Chi.”
“LMAO not quite—he worked with Yang Ting and He Zhao in the finale collab stage.”
“Same for Ji Chi. Other than the first episode, he’s never collaborated with his own labelmates.”

“As a ‘Memory’ CP fan, I am thriving. Don’t even need to scrape for crumbs—they’re feeding us full-course meals.”

The “Memory” CP (Ji Chi x Gu Yi) had been popular since Episode 2, when they performed Devil’s Heart together. But fans weren’t drawn to fluff—they loved the tension, the push-and-pull, that equal-but-rival energy between them.

“You get it, right? As long as I’m here, your throne will never be safe.”
“That stage atmosphere… blades drawn, eyes locked, perfect balance of power. Devil’s Heart forever reigns supreme.”

Even though their popularity was neck-and-neck in the last round, their rivalry had always been fair and dignified.

[3rd place: Xie Xingjia – Baiqian Entertainment]

“Oh boy… here we go again.”
“The drama is real, but at this point I’m not even surprised.”

Now, all eyes—on camera, on stage, and in the audience—locked onto the final two.

[Ji Chi and Gu Yi, please step to center stage.]

“…”
“Can the production team not toy with our emotions like this?”
“Are they about to start chaos? Please don’t… please…”

Ji Chi and Gu Yi looked entirely calm.

Their seats were side-by-side. When Ji Chi reached the steps, he didn’t go down right away. Instead, he turned around and extended a hand with a playful flourish:

“After you.”

Gu Yi paused, smirked, and echoed the gesture:

“No, you first.”

“Are you two seriously pulling a CARMEN STANDOFF right now?”
“If y’all don’t move, I will!”
“Dead. They really are blocking the aisle like guards at the gates!”

The standoff lasted a solid thirty seconds before they finally relented—Ji Chi walking ahead, Gu Yi right behind.

Fans had always seen them as serious types—quiet, hardworking, focused. In most of the behind-the-scenes footage released by the show, they were rarely seen goofing off. Most of the time, they were immersed in training.

But tonight, the finale showed another side of them.

Once both stood at center stage, the giant screen above lit up with two numbers.

The crowd erupted in whispers.

The difference between them… was razor-thin. Barely a few thousand votes.

“Holy crap—their vote gap is even smaller than the difference between 9th and 10th!”
“I know they’re both debuting, but I’m still about to pass out from the suspense!!”
“Please just announce it already!”

The production team didn’t keep them waiting.

In fact, the moment the name appeared above the winning vote count, Gu Yi was still processing—when Ji Chi suddenly pulled him into a tight hug:

“Congratulations.”

“AAAAAAAHHH GU YI IS CENTER!!”
“From the bottom to the top—Gu Yi is C!!”
“Gu Yi is the miracle! Centre Gu Yi!!”
“HE’S THE CENTER AAAAAAAH!!”

Orange Peel was among the screaming fans, shouting until her throat was raw—though she hadn’t even noticed it. Her eyes blurred with tears she hadn’t meant to cry.

She had answered so many questions like, “What’s it like to stan a no-name idol?” and daydreamed countless times about her tiny, overlooked “flop idol” becoming a top star one day.

And now that dream had come true.

She cheered while sending her group chat every angle of Gu Yi’s performance:

【“Xiao Gu won!!” 】
【 “He’s #1!!”】

Onstage, Gu Yi glanced toward Ji Chi. Ji Chi gave him a soft smile.

“Pleasure working with you, teammate.”

Gu Yi bumped fists with him gently.

“Pleasure’s mine, teammate.”

From two weeks of teamwork on Devil’s Heart and Northern Bagpipes, to two full years ahead as groupmates.

---

And just like that, Battle of the Stars came to an end.

Following the finale, the top six most popular contestants would debut in a two-year limited-time boy group: CROWN. They’d juggle both group and solo activities.

Backstage, Gu Yi had expected Shao Jing to represent Xingyao Entertainment during contract negotiations with Jiangshi TV—but this time, it was another agent: Liu Wei.

And that wasn’t all—he was also informed of the collaboration deal involving Xingyao and Sun Youming.

“It’s… complicated,” Gu Yi frowned.

“Not really,” Liu Wei replied smoothly. “Your management contract is now shared between Xingyao and Sun Youming Studio. During CROWN’s active period, your representation will be jointly handled by Jiangshi TV, Xingyao, and Sun’s company. Your music contracts are under Jiangshi. Film and TV—under Sun. Got it?”

Since it was a three-way agreement, Sun Youming himself had come to Jiangshi TV to finalize it.

The deal had been made without Gu Yi’s direct input. Legally, until he gave consent, every part of his contract still belonged to Xingyao Entertainment.

Gu Yi read every page of the paperwork.

He had no real reason to object. Sun had granted him a lot of autonomy. As per the contract, Gu Yi only needed to participate in Vic’s year-end popularity contest and list “Vic member” as a tag on social media. Everything else—unless absolutely necessary—was optional.

Of course, a portion of all his commercial earnings still went to Xingyao.

“Thank you, Director Sun.”

Sun Youming waved a hand.

“I just couldn’t watch talent like yours go to waste.”

After all, Gu Yi was now the lead actor in A Letter on My Desk. If he stayed at Xingyao too long, today’s male lead of a top-tier IP could be tomorrow’s “9.99 special—click the link now!”
That would be an embarrassment.

To Sun, Gu Yi didn’t even need to participate in the idol group. The entertainment industry had a clear hierarchy, and film actors were not on the same level as boy group idols.

Fans often imagined that once an idol debuted, their life would be flooded with flashing lights and champagne—celebration parties, brand deals, glamorous chaos.

That’s how it was with Idol X. That’s how Hotblood Debut had gone.
Surely Battle of the Stars would be no different.

Orange Peel scrolled through forums for hours but only found a single update: CROWN was filming promo photos. Gu Yi’s latest post was from the night before: two photos from the debut finale, tagged only with “CROWN member.”

No interviews. No updates. Nothing.

Orange Peel sighed. The post-show crash was real. During the competition, she could find fresh Gu Yi content on her feed every single day. Now, it was like the lights had gone out.

While mindlessly doomscrolling, her phone buzzed.

She glanced at the notification, paused, and instinctively tapped in.

The screen lit up with a face she knew all too well.

No makeup. Plain glasses.
Gu Yi, looking more serious than he had on debut night, was—

…lecturing on provincial civil service exam questions.

He was doing it again, wasn’t he?

While other contestants flooded their pages with dozens of group selfies, her pick had uploaded two. Two.

To make it worse, Gu Yi was in most of their photos anyway—because everyone liked him.

But still—when your idol is right there and you’re forced to save pictures from someone else’s post—it stings.

Orange Peel consoled herself:
Technically… livestream tutoring is a form of fanservice… right?

In the stream, Gu Yi had zero awareness of his idol status. Fans would ask about tricky problems, and he’d dive in. If a new question type came up, he’d even pull up Kitty Quiz to find similar examples.

Should she… take the civil service exam too?
Maybe then she could spiritually sync with her idol.

Gu Yi hadn’t gone live on a whim.

When he finally got his phone back, his inbox was flooded with DMs from fans begging him to explain this year’s provincial exam paper.

A few of the questions intrigued him. After solving the whole thing and outlining a plan, he started the stream.

[Bless you.]
[Teacher Gu is a saint!]
[Who am I to deserve this, scoring only 65 on the logic section…]
[I froze for a full three seconds when he came online. TEACHER GU, YOU’RE MY PICK.]

【 #SHOCKING: Idol Centre Goes Live the Day After Debut—for Test Prep!#】
【 #Another Blow to the Idol Industry: CROWN’s Centre Now Teaching Online#】
【 #KFC Thursday: V Me 50 and I’ll Tell You About My Forbidden Romance with a Boy Group Centre#】

The chat was full of bizarre, hilarious hashtags.

Gu Yi, upon seeing them, just stared at the screen with a classic “…really?” expression.

By the time he finished walking through a full test paper, his stream had exploded in popularity.

He’d overtaken the entire educational livestream ranking.

—And was just edging out the top spot on the entertainment charts too.