Back on the Trending List

The news appeared quickly. If Xiao Ming hadn't happened to be scrolling, he might not have seen it.

An accountant? He seemed like he could give it a try.

While in school, he had earned his junior accountant qualification certificate. During his senior year and summer break, he had also taken the Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Public Accountant exams. Although he had been "replaced by a cuckoo in the nest" not long after finishing them, the results were his, and "Xiao Ming" had kept his certificates safe for him.

The ones managing fan groups seemed to be the fan support clubs.

Thinking of how much Qu An had helped him that day, Xiao Ming wondered if he should join Qu An's fan support club. Helping manage it could count as a way of repaying him.

But when he saw the requirements for joining the fan group and the support club, he realized he had been a little too naive.

They practically had to assess how much "true love" someone had for Qu An before reviewing their personal abilities.

Thinking about his upcoming travel plans, then about Qu An's previous help, Xiao Ming decided to set aside an extra two hours every day to catch up on Qu An's past dramas and variety shows. It would also let him see whether this person was worth his "unpaid labor."

Xiao Ming wasn't about to devote himself or work that hard for someone he had only known for a day. Still, after spending that day together, he had a decent impression of Qu An, so he could observe him for a while.

There had been forecasts these past few days that a typhoon might arrive soon. Xiao Ming's travel plans were mainly within his current province, and he planned to adjust them later depending on the situation.

The next day's itinerary was hiking. Xiao Ming had originally been about to sleep, but after exiting, he saw Qu An on the trending list—along with his own name and that of an unfamiliar man.

#Jiang Yuefeng Rejected by Qu An

#Jiang Yuefeng Thanks Qu An

#Jiang Yuefeng Qu An

#Qu An Xiao Ming

He clicked on the second related trending topic, where two groups of fans were fighting fiercely.

The cause was what Xiao Ming had just seen: Jiang Yuefeng had been sticking close to Qu An all day. Somehow, screenshots of fans discussing it privately had spread, and Jiang Yuefeng's fans had become unhappy.

Jiang Yuefeng was an idol star who had become quite popular in recent years. He had debuted through a talent show in his early years, with an energetic and cute image. As he got older, that image gradually stopped suiting him, and his popularity slowly declined. He began trying to transition into a reliable, energetic, sunshine-like image, and he had taken this variety show precisely for that transition.

But fans had caught him constantly sticking to Qu An, and the arguments began.

However, since the show had yet to air, the fans' claims were not especially trustworthy. Neither side lingered on that point for long. The main issue was what came afterward.

After filming ended that day, Jiang Yuefeng invited the guests recording the second episode of Full Speed Ahead! to dinner, but Qu An rejected him. Of course, Qu An was not the only one who declined, but the implications in Jiang Yuefeng's Weibo post were far too obvious.

After being turned down, Jiang Yuefeng still took those who were free out to eat. After dinner, he posted on Weibo with a group photo and the caption: "This recording was really so much fun! Running at full speed with everyone was amazing! It's a pity Brother Qu and the other seniors had things to do and couldn't join us. Brother Qu kept helping me during filming today. I hope we'll get another chance to eat together next time! Peace sign/jpg"

The entire post only tagged Qu An, who had not even appeared on camera. The attempt to ride his popularity and imply something was obvious.

Qu An's fans immediately became unhappy. Setting aside their relationship, they said Qu An was simply kind, had team spirit when playing games, and would help everyone.

But some people—whether paid commenters or genuine fans—were also posting things like "I'm shipping this."

Qu An and Jiang Yuefeng had acted in a drama together before. In it, Jiang Yuefeng played Qu An's younger brother. They had many scenes together, and because Qu An's character doted heavily on his younger brother, many "incest cult shippers" later appeared.

[Taking our Anbao away. Our Anbao is just too warmhearted! He was helping teammates in the first episode, and he was only being kind in the second episode too.]

[Aaaah! My Qu-Jiang CP is together again. Protecting his wife the whole time and all that—Qu An, you really love Jiang Yuefeng too much.]

[I feel like I've come back to life. These two are really so shippable. Gentle x energetic—they're just such a perfect match!]

"Qu-Jiang" was the CP name for Brother Qu and Jiang Yuefeng.

[Please don't randomly ship people. Qu An is only gentle and gentlemanly by nature, and can't you see he didn't want to stay around JYF at all?]

[Did no one notice that Qu An never agreed to JYF's invitation? According to the studio's schedule, he didn't leave until the evening. Eating melon/jpg]

[Exactly. That XM from yesterday ate two meals with Qu An, and Qu An even treated him to the first one.]

[The difference in how JYF and XM were treated feels huge. In yesterday's candid shots, Qu An smiled so many times. In today's candid shots, he didn't show much expression, but I somehow feel Qu An was getting impatient.]

[Someone has just been riding his popularity all along. He wants to transition lately, so he's riding the Best Actor's hype.]

[Did XM buy these malicious trending topics? Yesterday he trended with QA, but it went down quickly. Today, he saw our Fengfeng trending with QA and got jealous. He's only doing this because his popularity can't compare to our Fengfeng's, right?]

[That's hilarious. What kind of comment is that? Yesterday's trending topics were clearly all dragging XM.]

After leaving that topic, Xiao Ming clicked on the one involving himself. It was already close to falling off the trending list.

From the discussions, it seemed to have been pushed up unintentionally by fans and passersby. Perhaps because Qu An's studio had signaled something regarding Qu An and Xiao Ming's trending topic yesterday, the fans knew the two had a decent relationship. They would rather see those two trend than let Jiang Yuefeng get what he wanted.

The passersby, meanwhile, still remembered yesterday's trending topic and were curious about Qu An treating the two differently. They were watching the drama unfold.

Then there were Jiang Yuefeng's fans, who had come here to shift the battle toward Xiao Ming, claiming that Xiao Ming had bought yesterday's trending topic.

Even when rational passersby explained things, they refused to listen and insisted on pinning the blame on Xiao Ming.

But because of the direction Zhu Fei had set yesterday, Xiao Ming was not affected much. It had even created the impression that the two were friends who were loyal to each other, so passersby and Qu An's fans leaned more toward Xiao Ming.

The trending topic stayed up without dropping. Qu An's side received the news, and Zhu Fei became busy once again.

"That Jiang Yuefeng is probably trying to ride your popularity. He's still transitioning, but it doesn't seem to be going very well. His company will probably want to hype up a CP with you," Zhu Fei analyzed the situation, when her phone suddenly rang.

When Zhu Fei returned after answering the call, her expression was not very good. After sitting down, she began discussing the current situation with Qu An.

"The trending topic about you and Jiang Yuefeng was bought by Jiang Yuefeng's side. They want to hype up a CP with you. They can also see that emotional roles are the only type of acting path you still lack, so they're saying you could be a contract couple. It would benefit both you and him. What do you think?"

Although same-sex marriage had not yet been legalized in the country, there was already a high degree of acceptance toward same-sex relationships. A few years ago, openly gay celebrity couples had already appeared in the entertainment industry.

Qu An truly did need some change in that area before he could take on romance scripts.

Because he had always been unable to film them before, people in the industry understood the situation. No one would approach him for projects with major emotional scenes, so he had lost out on quality resources in that area as well.

"Sister Fei, I won't hype up a CP. I've said that before."

"I know, so I didn't agree to them. I only said I'd consider it. Although Jiang Yuefeng's popularity is decent and his image isn't bad either, his background runs a little deep. The person behind him doesn't seem to like him doing this. He isn't suitable to be your 'boyfriend.'"

"Sister Fei, you know me. Even without those reasons, I wouldn't hype up a CP with him."

"I know, I know. I'll think of another way for you. What should we do about that trending topic?"

"Clarify it."

"Alright."

"Oh, right. The trending topic about Xiao Ming and you has also been pushed up. It's mainly about you treating people differently. A small group of CP fans has appeared, but it hasn't gone overboard."

Logically, Qu An should have had Zhu Fei deal with it as well, but he blurted out, "Don't bother with that one." Seemingly realizing that his reaction was off, he continued only after receiving Zhu Fei's suspicious look. "It's not making much of a splash and won't affect anything. At most, they'll keep it contained among themselves, so there's no need to wipe them all out."

Zhu Fei gave an "Mm" and said no more, but she kept it in mind.

Since Jiang Yuefeng's Weibo post had not named anyone directly, they could not respond to it head-on.

So the studio posted that Qu An had been attending a business event that afternoon and had been very busy, which was why he had not eaten with everyone. They could get together another time when they were free.

Jiang Yuefeng was not mentioned at all, but once the marketing accounts cultivated by the studio made their move, the tide immediately changed.

Xiao Ming, meanwhile, had merely been inexplicably targeted by Jiang Yuefeng's fans. But he was not particularly bothered by those comments, because the excessively harsh ones had basically been blocked. The rest were harmless. Even if someone sent him something directly, he would not see it, since he was logged into an alt account.

Qu An had roughly looked over the trending topic's contents. When he saw the insults directed at Xiao Ming in the public feed, he felt that he had once again brought undeserved trouble upon him.

He took out his phone, hesitated for a while, and sent a text message.

With the studio speaking up, the trending topic remained up for a while before gradually being taken down through their efforts. It did not cause them any substantive impact.

But Jiang Yuefeng's side was furious. From the studio's attitude, he knew Qu An's side had rejected his proposal. His agent had already told him not to hold out too much hope.

But that was Qu An! Not to mention that he was a Best Actor himself, his mother had once been a Triple Crown Best Actress. Her connections and resources were countless. If he could get connected to Qu An, why would he need to worry about transitioning?

He was no longer that young. He did not have many years of youth left to burn, and he had already begun heading downhill.

Jiang Yuefeng was fuming, while another person—who had gone to bed early and woken up late, only learning the whole process and outcome afterward—was also feeling miserable.