When they arrived, Su Li first gave Xie Jianyuan a discreet, wary look. Sure enough, he looked a lot like Xu Chun. Two tigers could not share one mountain; the industry had no need for two "Xu Chuns" or two "Xie Jyuanyuans."
Still, she had to keep up appearances, given his family background. Su Li maintained a flawless smile and reached out to shake his hand.
"Sister Su, what did you call me over for?"
Su Li glanced at Xie Jianyuan and hesitated.
How could Xie Jianyuan not know what he was thinking? He told them to carry on talking, then turned and walked away.
Only after Xie Jianyuan had left did Su Li say, "It's nothing important. It's your birthday today. Aren't you going to post on Weibo? Take a group photo with the crew later, and remember to smile happily."
Fans were the most excited when an idol's birthday came around. They had been tagging Xu Chun constantly for days, and his supertopic was bustling on the day itself as they busily prepared his birthday gift.
"The fans pooled their money and did charity work in your name." Su Li patted him on the shoulder.
Warmth filled Xu Chun's heart, and he smiled. "That really is the best birthday gift."
At noon sharp, Xu Chun posted a birthday message on Weibo, accompanied by a group photo of the entire crew. The leads and the director naturally stood in the front row, and a small cake sat on the table. Even that cake had been bought from a bakery in town.
Not long after the post went up, quite a few fans who had been waiting for ages snagged spots among the first comments.
"Go, Brother Chun! Happy birthday!"
"Chunchun! We'll always be with you."
"..."
As Xu Chun read those heartwarming messages, the corners of his mouth rose involuntarily. But then, for some reason, something seemed to occur to him, and his mood sank a little.
In his previous life, after he had fallen from fame, he had posted a similar message on Weibo. He had spent his birthday on set then, too, but that crew had not been well known; it was just an ordinary, low-budget web drama.
He had waited and waited by his phone until he fell asleep without realizing it. The next morning, the moment he opened his eyes, he had eagerly checked his phone, only to find a pitifully small number of birthday wishes in the comments.
At the time, it had felt like a blow to the head, making him realize clearly that he really had fallen from fame.
The fans who had once promised to stay with him forever had disappeared, and the familiar profile pictures from his top comments had gradually begun appearing under the Weibo posts of other newly popular stars.
Although he knew it was unavoidable, he still felt somewhat helpless and sad.
Unexpectedly, on his birthday, the keywords "Xu Chun, Xie Jianyuan" made the trending searches.
Some sharp-eyed fan had noticed that the clothes Xu Chun was wearing belonged to Xie Jianyuan and first raised the question in the comments, striking a chord with other netizens.
"Isn't that the outfit my brother wore? How did it end up on Xu Chun?"
"Why else? You think Brother Chun stole your fave's clothes?"
"If anyone says again that Xu Chun and Xie Jianyuan don't get along, I'll stuff these clothes in her mouth and shut her stinking trap."
"So annoying. Chunchun's birthday only comes once a year, and it still has to be tied to this person. Can't we have a tag that's just about him for once?"
"Your master really is a pure, innocent white lotus. Even on his birthday, he has to use someone else for clout, and then he turns around and accuses my fave of latching onto him. Have you no shame?"
Just as the two sides were fighting fiercely, Xie Jianyuan took the initiative to make a Weibo post, tagging Xu Chun to wish him a happy birthday and attaching a photo of Xu Chun making a wish with his eyes closed.
Even Xu Chun himself had no idea when the photo had been taken; he had not noticed at all.
He saw that Xie Jianyuan had tagged him and naturally replied in the comments. Otherwise, people would seize on it and make an issue of it again.
He replied, "Thank you for your birthday gift."
He had not made that up; Xu Chun really had received a gift from Xie Jianyuan.
Xie Jianyuan had given him a beautifully packaged tea set. Xu Chun knew the brand, and it was expensive, not to mention that this set appeared to be a limited collector's edition.
It was the first time Xu Chun had received such a valuable gift, let alone one so perfectly suited to his tastes. Smiling, he joked that when Xie Jianyuan's birthday came around, he would have to go bankrupt.
Xie Jianyuan smiled and said he would be happy no matter what Xu Chun gave him. Xu Chun assumed he was just being polite and did not give it much thought.
In early April, the major filming for the orphanage scenes wrapped up, and the entire crew finally saw the day they could leave the mountains.
Chu Xi had lost nearly a dozen jin over the past two months and looked much more haggard. When she heard they could finally leave this godforsaken place, she could not hide the excitement on her face.
"We can finally leave. I don't even know if I came here to act or to take part in X-Change."
She had scenes at the orphanage too, but not many, so she had arrived in the mountains a little late. Even so, she could barely hold on, because compared with a film and television base, the conditions here were far too harsh.
What made her gnash her teeth with hatred most was that the writer had deliberately cut all of Lu Xian's orphanage scenes and added more for him later on. She did not know whether the writer had received instructions from the financial backer behind him, who was afraid his darling would suffer.
Once the crew reached a stopping point in filming, Xu Chun did not rest for even a moment, instead continuing to rush from one job to another.
Su Li currently had invitations from two top-tier variety shows. One was a romance show that paired male and female celebrities in imaginary relationships. The other was a talent competition where contestants sang and danced according to their talents, and fans voted for their favorites. In the end, the top four would form an idol group, and the production team had invited Xu Chun to appear as a guest.
"The imaginary romance show is a long-running variety show. It's already had several seasons and has an established audience. The talent show is new, but it's being heavily marketed, and it's generating a lot of buzz and discussion. Both have their pros and cons."
As Xu Chun listened to Su Li, his heart gradually sank. In his previous life, he had not been given a choice at all. Su Li had let Lu Xian choose first, and Lu Xian had picked the talent show. Sure enough, he had become an overnight sensation, and the marketing had even made him overshadow the contestants.