Chapter 18

It had a powerful impact and an intimidating presence.

But as Gu Zhijing watched his back slowly, slowly bend, he suddenly felt as though something truly heavy rested on his shoulders, crushing him bit by bit.

Gu Zhijing suddenly wanted to know.

During those six years when he had carried his bags, wandered from place to place, and pursued his dream alone.

Had he ever wanted to bow to the world, to reality, and give up?

Golden confetti drifted down over the stage.

The performance was over.

Sheng Chi rose from the floor, his expression unchanged, but there was a light in his eyes.

As if answering him.

No.

Never.

Chapter 20

When Color4 came out after recording their stage, they ran into Shooter, who had just finished recording their backstage interview and were leaving at the same time, greeting the fans who were still waiting outside.

They were a project group formed on a survival show last year. With survival shows in a full-blown decline this year, they could be considered the last glow of the genre's setting sun.

For that very reason, they treasured the love of the fans who had spent their money bit by bit to send them to debut. They bowed, waved, and thanked them before climbing into their van.

Gu Zhijing glanced at the time.

It was three thirty in the morning.

And there were people willing to wait from morning until now for this meeting that lasted less than two minutes.

They had stood for over ten hours, braving the afternoon sun and the late-night cold, holding light signs and shouting cheers, like perpetual-motion machines that never seemed to tire.

That was the surging love that belonged to fans.

By contrast, Color4's side was completely empty and quiet, without a single person waiting.

Even the photographers for hire in the distance, unable to recognize which obscure group they were, glanced over briefly before leaving.

They lingered in the dark.

As though they were standing in a corner no light could reach.

Gu Zhijing suddenly sighed softly.

Xu Linyuan smiled. "What, jealous?"

Jiang Yu patted him on the shoulder. "No need to be jealous!"

"One day."

He pointed at the fan-support area cordoned off by the safety barriers and declared confidently, "From here-and all the way to there-it'll all be filled with our Color4 fans someday!"

His eyes and heart were full of hope.

As though he could already see the scene on some future day.

Sheng Chi couldn't help smiling.

Xu Linyuan smiled too. "Can we start dreaming now because it's nighttime?"

Only Gu Zhijing paused, tugged at his scarf, and then smiled. "That's not what I was thinking."

"I just thought... fans have it hard too."

Their devotion was so selfless, so immense.

But was being loved with such a heavy devotion really an entirely good thing?

As a member of a completely obscure group, Gu Zhijing hadn't experienced that yet.

He looked at the starry sky tonight and blinked with effort, finally feeling a little sleepy.

Although the music show performance had finished recording, it wouldn't air until next Thursday.

In the meantime, Color4 was still little known and had little work. Apart from their daily training, they began filming their group variety show.

Generally speaking, there were only three ways for an idol group to break into the mainstream. The first was to deliver strong performances, and the second was to have an entertaining group variety show.

The last was to get dragged into a major incident and land on the trending searches, such as explosive news, celebrity gossip, or a group member getting into legal trouble. That would guarantee the greatest number of people got to know the whole group in the shortest possible time-

Of course, it would be negative publicity.

There were relatively few fans of stage performances in the domestic entertainment industry, so even though Fei Yue's management strategy was to focus on the stage, he still had to consider the feelings of local fans.

Thus, after recording the music show, Color4 prepared to film their first group variety show.

"Three, two, one-"

"Start!"

"Hello, everyone, we're Color4!"

"Today, our mission is to help care for the animals at a stray animal rescue shelter."

"Please join us!"

After reciting the lines by rote, Jiang Yu waited until the camera moved away before muttering, "I thought a group variety show meant going out and having fun. Other groups travel, visit the countryside, or go abroad, but we end up volunteering in disguise."

"Hey, do you think they'll give us an allowance under the volunteer regulations?"

Gu Zhijing smiled. "Can't you aim a little higher?"

Xu Linyuan, however, remained perfectly calm. "The budget's tight. We're lucky we even get to film a group variety show, so be satisfied."

Although Fei Yue had secured new investment and shouldn't have been short of money, the long-standing habit of saving wherever possible meant the production was still very simple, even shabby.

There weren't many cameramen following them, and they had only one assistant.

They wore their own clothes and did their own styling.

How to put it?

A somewhat famous influencer's vlog shoot might have been a bigger production than theirs.

The group variety show was called What Is Color4 Doing Today. Each episode was about forty minutes long and divided into several segments.

Besides short segments such as daily training logs, interviews, and fan letters that might be added later, the main feature would document Color4 going out to try various jobs and activities.

For the first episode, they had tentatively settled on helping stray animals.

It was a very positive choice of topic.

One look was enough to tell that Fei Yue was counting on selling the show to a mainstream video platform for a good price if Color4 broke through thanks to their performances.

They went to a stray animal rescue shelter on the outskirts of the city.

After they entered, the staff gave them a general introduction to some basic information.

Since they were newcomers and filming a show, it wasn't appropriate to assign them work that was too demanding or complicated, so they were only asked to learn how to feed and groom the cats.

Rounding it up.

It was one big cat-petting session.

Gu Zhijing had a natural affinity for small animals, and now he felt as though he had arrived in heaven.

The cats here were well cared for and well behaved. In particular, the ones selected for the show were especially docile so they wouldn't hurt them.

With pink bubbles of happiness practically surrounding him, Gu Zhijing went around feeding and petting the cats one by one with his teammates. When he finally looked back, Sheng Chi was the only one standing motionless where he was.

"Brother Chi, aren't you joining us?"

Your friend Gu Zhijing has invited you to pet cats.

Sheng Chi paused and said only, "No."

Gu Zhijing picked up a little tabby, stroked its fur smooth, and held it out to Brother Chi. "Hold it. It's very well behaved."

Sheng Chi went stiff, his back unconsciously straightening until it was almost a rigid line.

"No need," he said expressionlessly.

Gu Zhijing watched him for a few seconds, then took the cat's paw and waved it. He smiled. "Brother Chi."

His peach-blossom eyes blinked, a hint of amusement he couldn't quite hide in them. "You're not... afraid of cats, are you?"

Jiang Yu, sitting on the floor with a cat in each hand, was shocked. "Really, Captain? You're afraid of them?"

Sheng Chi: "..."

Sheng "aloof and strict, immovable as a mountain, king of showing off" Chi.

Was actually afraid of cats.

It wouldn't sound very good if word got out.

To protect his image, Sheng Chi immediately denied it. "...No."

In an attempt to ease the atmosphere, he gave himself away even more. "I'll go get the canned cat food."

Smiling broadly, Gu Zhijing watched Sheng Chi walk stiffly away, then stroked the little darling in his arms again, looking blissful.

But after a little while, the tabby's nose twitched. As if it had suddenly caught the scent of cat food in the distance, it meowed and leaped straight out of Gu Zhijing's arms.

"Hey, sweetheart!"

Almost instinctively, Gu Zhijing lunged forward, afraid it would fall and wanting to catch it.

The cat landed steadily and ran off, but he unexpectedly stumbled instead. Then someone grabbed him by the back of his collar and hauled him up, stopping him just before he fell.

Lifted by his collar, Gu Zhijing looked up innocently, meeting Sheng Chi's dark, deep eyes squarely.

"It's a cat. It's not afraid of falling."

Sheng Chi asked calmly, "Are you a cat too?"

Chapter 21

Sheng Chi was nearly 187 centimeters tall, and facing Gu Zhijing, who had only recently reached 180 centimeters, he carried an invisible pressure.

But Gu Zhijing looked up at him and immediately smiled.

"Then."

After his collar was released, he waved a paw at Sheng Chi. "Meow?"

Gu Zhijing raised his beautiful peach-blossom eyes, clear and bright with a watery sheen. His voice was soft and gentle, and that meow really did make him seem a little like a kitten.

Sheng Chi felt a sudden, not-too-hard, not-too-soft scratch at his heart. He froze for a full second before saying, "Cut it out."

Gu Zhijing knew Sheng Chi wasn't really angry, so he openly acted cute. After enjoying the sight of Sheng Chi being left speechless, he calmly went back to petting his cat.

Sheng Chi, meanwhile, crouched down again, automatically steering clear of grooming duty and starting to prepare the cat food.

Sheng Chi wasn't actually afraid of cats.

He simply felt that he was naturally incompatible with these fluffy little animals, and always thought that the seemingly docile creatures might pounce and bite him the very next second.

Just like Gu Zhijing.

Well behaved, adorable, and clingy one moment, and the next, who knew what sort of rebellious streak he might show?

He put down two handfuls of cat food and was getting ready to leave as soon as filming was over when he suddenly heard Gu Zhijing say, "Guys, what do you think about taking one home to raise?"

Sheng Chi: "..."

His hand shook, and he nearly knocked over the cat food bowl.

Jiang Yu immediately voted in favor. "I'm in!"

Xu Linyuan smiled too. "As long as you're willing to scoop its poop, I certainly don't mind."

"I mind."

Sheng Chi immediately said, "We don't have the time or energy."

Jiang Yu disagreed. "Wake up, Captain. We're so idle we're picking at our feet in the practice room every day."

Sheng Chi's face remained expressionless. "Then, as Color4's captain, I have the right to refu-"

"It'll be very good."

Gu Zhijing held the brown-and-white cat he had fallen in love with at first sight. Both he and the cat gazed pleadingly at Sheng Chi.

He thought for a moment, then added softly, "I'll be very good too."

Sheng Chi fell silent.

That light, tingling sensation of being scratched at the tip of his heart came again.

After a moment's silence, he relented. "Are you sure you can take good care of it?"

Gu Zhijing immediately saw hope and added, "My family... I've raised one before, so I guess I have some experience."

Sheng Chi hadn't given his final agreement yet, but Gu Zhijing immediately curved his eyes into a smile and said, "Thanks, Brother Chi. You're the best! I'll call Brother Fei right now!"

Sheng Chi: "..."

He hadn't agreed yet.

But seeing how excited Gu Zhijing was, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse.

On the other end of the phone, Fei Yue naturally had no objection either.

The cat would live in their own dorm, so it wasn't his responsibility.

And when he thought about it carefully, adding a cat to the group variety show might save even more on filming costs. For instance, they could skip going out next episode and simply film Color4's poop-scooping plan.

It was killing two birds with one stone.

After hanging up, Gu Zhijing immediately went to complete the adoption paperwork.

Sheng Chi was left standing stiffly where he was, trying hard to accept the reality that he would soon be sharing a living space with a cat.

While Color4 happily filmed their group variety show and petted cats, Fei Yue was run off his feet, going everywhere to negotiate new opportunities for them.

For a company just starting out and a completely obscure boy group that had yet to make a name for itself, securing opportunities was indeed quite difficult.

There were few stages in the domestic entertainment industry to begin with, and with some time left before the end of the year, it was the off-season for events.

As for variety shows and endorsements, they could forget about those for the time being.

Finally, someone recommended them for a promotional appearance at a commercial event for a small brand.

Promotional appearances at commercial events were the kind of activity that was a little beneath an artist's status.

But naturally, things were different for Color4 right now.

After all, the music show hadn't aired yet. The people in the whole world who knew their group could be counted on one hand, and most of those who did know them had cursed Color4 as a group of rigged favorites.

So for now, any chance to show their faces was a good thing.

That day, Fei Yue personally accompanied Color4 to the event.

It was a rare chance to appear onstage again, and the members had been quite happy about it.