Xu Chun, meanwhile, went on a reality show about a pretend romance with an actress. The show received a lukewarm response when it aired, and he even offended the actress's fans. Her fans were notorious for being difficult and rabid, and during that period, Xu Chun was relentlessly vilified, subjected to all manner of personal attacks and verbal abuse. Someone even photoshopped his picture into a funeral portrait. Already at a low point, Xu Chun had been close to falling into depression for a time.
Now that he finally had a chance to choose, the scales in Su Li's mind had tipped in his favor without her realizing it.
"I'll take the second one."
"Are you sure?" Su Li asked him.
Xu Chun nodded firmly. "I want to be on that talent show."
As for Lu Xian... Xu Chun curled his lips into a smile but said nothing.
In their previous life, Lu Xian had snatched quite a few of his roles and opportunities. Even after Xu Chun's costume photos had been taken, he would be told at the last minute that he had been replaced, led around by the nose like a performing monkey.
Now it was Lu Xian's turn to have a taste of it.
He now held the initiative firmly in his own hands. He never wanted to hit rock bottom and be abandoned by everyone again, as he had in his previous life.
Xu Chun thought of the "friend" who had stabbed him the deepest, and his face involuntarily tightened.
He had heard that in this life, Shen Zhu had been pursuing further studies abroad, keeping a low profile and avoiding attention. Come to think of it, Xu Chun hadn't contacted him for a long time, and Shen Zhu rarely called him either. Xu Chun hadn't noticed it before, but having lived another life, he naturally saw things more clearly: from beginning to end, he had been nothing more than a tool to be used. He was the only one who had considered them close friends.
"Come to think of it, I haven't heard anything about Shen Zhu in a while."
Hearing Xu Chun suddenly mutter to himself, Su Li looked up in confusion. Though she didn't know why he had suddenly thought of Shen Zhu, she pondered for a moment before saying, "Shen Zhu? I heard he should be coming back to the country soon."
"Coming back?"
"You haven't heard?" Su Li looked at him suspiciously. "Aren't you two close friends?"
Xu Chun smiled, a trace of sarcasm in his smile. "You'll have to ask him about that."
This time, he wouldn't make the same mistake. He would tear that man's mask to shreds and take back everything that had been stolen from him.
"What has President Jiang been doing lately?"
Su Li was slightly taken aback when Xu Chun suddenly asked about Jiang Xiuyan.
He had suddenly asked about Jiang Xiuyan because, in his previous life, Shen Zhu had taken advantage of his waning popularity to poach not only his opportunities, but even his "sugar daddy" at the time, Jiang Xiuyan.
Unfortunately, his face hadn't been the right one. Otherwise, Jiang Xiuyan really might have taken him in.
Xu Chun thought with no small amount of sarcasm.
Still, Shen Zhu really was ridiculous. Even after seeing how miserably Xu Chun had fared being "kept," he had insisted on rushing forward himself, thinking he was an exception who could make Jiang Xiuyan truly fall for him.
Whether Shen Zhu actually liked Jiang Xiuyan was another question. He was only interested in Jiang Xiuyan's status, power, and wealth.
Xu Chun now thought Jiang Xiuyan and Shen Zhu were quite well suited. They might as well get together and stop ruining other people's lives.
For some reason, Xu Chun thought of Xie Jianyuan. After spending so many days with him, his feelings toward him had grown somewhat complicated. He had gone from rejecting and resisting him to being able to call him a friend, so naturally, he didn't want him to be with Jiang Xiuyan.
Not for any other reason, but simply because he didn't think Jiang Xiuyan was good enough for Xie Jianyuan.
In mid-May, Xu Chun began preparing to film the talent show. Because of the limits of his own professional expertise, he wasn't a judge. Although he was nominally a support guest, he still had some say, and the production team had promised to give the support guests plenty of screen time, since they had spent a lot of money to bring in these popular figures.
That was right: Xu Chun wasn't the only support guest. There was another, representing the opposing camp. The contestants were divided into two groups, with one support guest leading each group, and each round would have a winner and a loser.
Xu Chun had known all along who the other person was, but he still couldn't help being a little surprised when he actually saw him.
"Brother Chun." When Xie Jianyuan saw him, he quickly walked over, putting some distance between himself and the staff behind him.
Xu Chun nodded to him and said with a gentle smile, "It really has been a while since we last saw each other."
Although they lived next door to each other, Xu Chun had been so busy lately, with an endless stream of engagements, that he could barely keep up.
Xie Jianyuan smiled too and urged him, "You don't look well. You'd better get some rest."
Xu Chun joked, "The waves behind drive on those ahead. The moment I take a break, you'll overtake me."
Xie Jianyuan froze for a moment and stammered, "Brother Chun."
Xu Chun winked at him and smiled. "I'm joking. Don't take it seriously."
Seeing the look of relief on the other man's face, he couldn't help but chuckle.
He was younger than Xu Chun, after all.
"I'm going." Xu Chun patted him on the shoulder, then headed for the backstage waiting room.
"See you later, Brother Chun."
When Xu Chun's retreating figure disappeared from view, Xie Jianyuan's expression darkened slightly. His eyes grew deep and dark as he murmured thoughtfully under his breath.
"So that's what he's afraid of?"
Before filming officially began, Xu Chun, Xie Jianyuan, and several judges were to meet the contestants. There were sixty of them in all, all young, handsome men.
Xu Chun swept his gaze around the dance studio. It suddenly landed on one figure, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Xu Jin?!
What was he doing here?!
Xu Chun didn't know how he made it through the long speech. As soon as it was announced to be over, he grabbed Xu Jin and led him outside.
He didn't let go until they reached a corridor where he was sure no one was around.
"What's going on?" Xu Chun asked, his lips pressed tight and his face dark.
"Nothing. I want to be a star too." Xu Jin looked at Xu Chun in a thoroughly aggravating manner.
Xu Chun felt a headache coming on. "What about your band?"
"We broke up." Xu Jin's expression soured at the mention of a sore subject.