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"No." Xie Ran cut her off. "Just proceed as usual."

Meng Feixuan hung up, her tone filled with pleasant surprise. "Sir, I didn't expect you to grasp the essence of dispelling obsessions so quickly!"

Xie Ran was baffled. "What?"

"You're continuing with this show because of Fang Huiwang, aren't you?" Meng Feixuan said knowingly. "That's how it always goes in TV dramas. To dispel an obsession, you have to resolve the grudges involving the person connected to it."

"What does this have to do with him?" Xie Ran seemed unable to understand, saying flatly, "I just hate breaking contracts."

Meng Feixuan: "..."

The little loudspeaker shut down again.

Two days later, Snowball Satellite TV's official account released a major announcement. This year's opening variety show, "Somewhere Else with You," had invited three groups of "good friends" from the entertainment industry to participate. Among them were Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang, who had just shared the stage at the New Year's Eve concert. The two would reunite for a week-long trip abroad.

At the same time, the warm-up segment for "Somewhere Else with You" had been changed to a livestream format.

The news sent the entire internet into an uproar once again.

The fallout from Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang's New Year's Eve appearance and press conference incident had yet to fade. Their fans and antis were still locked in fierce battle, while netizens remained intensely curious about their baffling relationship. Many had guessed that the two had completely fallen out, only to find that they were about to join a travel variety show together.

Just how much had Snowball Satellite TV paid them?

The solo fans on both sides, who had been fighting tooth and nail, were dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Wangran CP fans, who had been suppressed into silence after the press conference, were struck by overwhelming joy and instantly put on their resurrection armor.

What was more, this season's warm-up segment had actually been changed into a livestream.

The warm-up for "Somewhere Else with You" was really just footage of the celebrities preparing before departure, used as promotional bonus content. Changing it into a livestream immediately sent netizens' expectations soaring.

What could show a celebrity's real side better than a livestream?

Though it was only pre-departure bonus footage, it was enough to excite the fans. The show's attention reached unprecedented heights for a time.

On the day of the "Somewhere Else with You" warm-up livestream, netizens had gathered early in Snowball TV's streaming room. Since there were three groups of celebrities, the livestream had been divided into three channels. Yet without a doubt, Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang's channel was far ahead in popularity.

Following the schedule, the production crew first went to pick up Fang Huiwang from his home, which was relatively far from the airport. The moment Fang Huiwang appeared on camera, the comments immediately erupted.

[Ahhhhh, the Wangran Girls are here! Go, Brother Wang! Go, Xiao Ran!]

[Oh my god, I still can't believe they're really going traveling together. The press conference was such a mess that I thought they'd fallen out.]

[People saying they fell out forgot they were onstage together for New Year's, right? The press conferences just happened to overlap, okay? Does Fang Huiwang lose the right to hold one just because Xie Ran was launching a virtual idol?]

[5555, I knew Wangran was real! I was heartbroken at the press conference and thought they'd really broken up. Seeing them on a show together now, I can finally relax!]

[Ah! Remember, this show arranges for members of the same group to stay in the same house. What do you think that means!!!]

[Heh, it means certain people are coming to leech off others again.]

[It's a business collaboration, okay? Can CP dogs please get lost?]

The comments were a complete mess, but Fang Huiwang in the footage was utterly unaware. While politely exchanging pleasantries with the staff, he methodically packed his luggage, then followed them outside and got into the van.

"Alright, Brother Wang, we'll take you to the airport first," a staff member said. "Then I'll go pick up Xiao Ran, and you can meet up at the airport."

But Fang Huiwang suddenly said, "How about I go with you to pick up Xiao Ran?"

He smiled and added, "I haven't seen him in days. I kind of miss him."

The staff member was a little surprised, but since Fang Huiwang had taken the initiative to suggest it, he did not refuse. He had the van change course and head for Xie Ran's home.

At that moment, the CP fans in the comments could no longer remain calm. The screen filled with [kswlkswl], and even the solo fans' desperate attempts to control the comments could not suppress them.

Anyone who saw this would have to admit that the actual stars were the true masters of setting the pace.

On camera, Fang Huiwang sat casually in the van, playing with his phone as though all of this were perfectly ordinary.

He was messaging Kuang Youfang.

Fang Huiwang: [Have the trending searches all been arranged?]

Kuang Youfang: [Everything's set. Once you meet Xie Ran, the topics will immediately follow.]

Fang Huiwang: [Mm. Don't let anything go wrong.]

Kuang Youfang: [Don't worry. We prepared two plans. No matter what Xie Ran's attitude is, we can hype it up.]

Only then did Fang Huiwang relax, a trace of gloom surfacing in his eyes.

The outside world did not yet know that his situation had actually deteriorated significantly. As he grew older without successfully transitioning his career, young idols had sprung up like mushrooms after rain with the rise of talent shows over the past two years, and he was losing fans at a rapid pace.

He had no choice but to seek new opportunities, and entering the virtual idol industry was an important step for him.

The virtual idol market was booming at the moment. As long as he could build up traffic and buzz, capital would naturally come pouring in afterward.

He had originally placed extremely high hopes on Nangong Xu, even investing a large amount of money into Nangong Xu's development.

That was also why he had not hesitated to use Xie Ran as a stepping stone, hyping the press conference to its greatest possible momentum.

But he had never imagined that Xie Ran would suppress him so completely.

In truth, given Nangong Xu's quality, he would have been competitive in the previous market.

Unfortunately, Fang Huiwang had chosen to debut him on the same day as Meng Feixuan.

Meng Feixuan's sudden emergence had nearly shaken the entire virtual idol industry ecosystem. Previously debuted virtual idols could at least cling to their existing fans, but Nangong Xu's technology had been utterly outclassed on the day of his launch. In the end, Meng Feixuan took all the traffic and attention, while Nangong Xu became completely ignored cannon fodder. Even when people occasionally mentioned him, it was only as a backdrop to highlight Meng Feixuan, naturally leaving him without even basic commercial value.