After writing their cards, everyone put them in the box and waited for the production team to speak.
A few minutes later, the director spoke through a megaphone. "Two people whose cards I have here wrote each other's names. Can anyone guess who they are?"
For some reason, Xu Chun's heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be, could it?
The director deliberately dragged out his words, building suspense. "They are Xu Chun and... Xie Jianyuan!"
Wei Jiahe was already the most variety-show-savvy of the group, and he seized on the moment.
"Congratulations to you both on winning the Golden Horse Award!"
Everyone else got the joke and burst out laughing. Even the director couldn't help laughing, knowing Wei Jiahe was poking fun at the tone he had used to announce the result.
After being teased like that, Xu Chun's shock at hearing that Xie Jianyuan had also chosen him faded considerably. He smiled and joined in the applause.
Wei Jiahe even held up his hand like a microphone and shouted, "Now, let's invite our two winners to give their acceptance speeches."
That made everyone laugh again.
Joking aside, everyone listened properly to the rest of the results. Xie Jianyuan and Xu Chun had chosen each other; Lu Xian had chosen Xie Jianyuan; Bai Lingling had chosen Xu Chun; Wei Jiahe had chosen Xie Jianyuan; and Yang Xiaoxuan had chosen Wei Jiahe.
Although the votes meant nothing to them, they still cooperated by keeping their expressions in check for the cameras, pretending to be fascinated.
After filming the final day of the variety show, everyone flew back home. Their flights were booked for different dates, and Xu Chun's was the latest, on the twenty-eighth.
After returning home, he threw himself straight back into a packed schedule of appearances. During that time, Jiang Xiuyan did call Xu Chun, but he never answered.
His manager also made some indirect inquiries about his relationship with Jiang Xiuyan. She didn't say much, only vaguely mentioning Jiang Xiuyan's vast assets. The implication was self-evident.
After post-production on "Traveling on a Shoestring" was completed, it was scheduled for a prime-time slot on satellite television, with an online release a day later. Aimed at younger viewers, it attracted a large audience with its exceptionally good-looking cast and the buzz generated by its usual feuds, so it maintained extremely high ratings.
Sure enough, after the first episode aired, the show's ratings reached a record high, and discussion remained intense.
As expected, the production team promoted a couple as a gimmick, just as they had discussed. The two were, of course, Xu Chun and Bai Lingling.
Xu Chun's appearance on the show did indeed take quite a few people by surprise.
Aside from the rumors surrounding him and Bai Lingling, there was only one other topic of discussion.
"Why did Xu Chun go on a variety show? That's so beneath him. A former best actor has actually sunk this low. Doesn't he care about his image anymore?"
"True. Xu Chun has always seemed so serious and proper to me. This feels like an actor who's always done highbrow films suddenly appearing in a melodramatic mother-in-law and daughter-in-law drama."
"Still, Xu Chun is pretty approachable in real life. The only slightly odd thing is that he's like an old man, even doing things at a snail's pace, hahahaha."
Su Li's expression turned grim when she saw comments like these. This was one of the drawbacks of appearing on a variety show.
Xu Chun smiled and reassured her. "Don't worry. Comments like these are only temporary."
"How do you know?"
Xu Chun looked down at the interview questions, seemingly unconcerned. "You'll find out when the time comes."
Having lived a second life, he knew better than anyone how important traffic was. Even being well-liked by the general public was no use.
Besides, those comments would only last a while. As long as he didn't make any major mistakes later on, this variety show was just a stepping stone for his start.
This was only the first step.
He had to be careful every step of the way and couldn't afford a single mistake, Xu Chun resolved inwardly. Then, as though something else had suddenly occurred to him, he frowned slightly.
Why did I suddenly think of that person?
Xie Jianyuan was different from what he had expected, troublesome in another sense.
Chapter 12: Drunk
After a commercial event, Xu Chun was escorted through the packed crowd by security guards. Excited screams filled his ears. Several girls were standing close by, and a guard shoved them away, but unexpectedly, one lost her footing and accidentally fell to the ground.
Xu Chun caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye and stopped in his tracks. He turned back and helped the fallen girl up.
"Are you all right?"
The girl hurriedly straightened her glasses, her face flushed with excitement. "I... I'm fine," she stammered.
Camera flashes went off all around them, and everyone praised Xu Chun's thoughtful gesture. These were young fans, and seeing him do that made them feel proud.
Other artists' fans had fallen too, but the artists, wearing sunglasses and looking grim, had pretended not to see them. By comparison, Xu Chun naturally made a very good impression on bystanders.
Only after he got into the van did he finally let out the breath he had been holding.
Whenever he was squeezed into the middle of a crowd, he found it hard to breathe. The security guard had kept shouting himself hoarse, "Make way!" until Xu Chun couldn't help feeling sorry for his throat.
Su Li briskly took out her tablet to confirm his next engagement. After telling him about it, she recalled what had just happened and, for once, praised him. "You did well just now. We can buy a trending search about it."
If a situation like that wasn't handled properly, someone with an agenda could easily use it against him. If a fan fell and the artist ignored her, it could easily dishearten the fans. If haters stirred up trouble on top of that, it could trigger a mass exodus of fans.
More importantly, if they ignored it in such a crowded situation, a stampede could occur, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
Hearing Su Li's plan, Xu Chun sighed inwardly. He really hadn't thought much about it just now; he had simply seen his fan being pushed over and helped her up.
He understood that Sister Su was thinking of the team and him. Such commercial tactics were very common. Some trending searches on Weibo arose spontaneously, while others were bought by companies; people had to tell them apart.