Chapter 49

"Like I descended to the mortal world and went through a tribulation."

Jiang Yu slumped in his seat and raked a hand through his hair in frustration. "How many episodes are left before this show ends?"

"Not many."

"There are two more performances, the semifinal where four contestants are cut down to two, and then the finale with live voting. That'll be it."

"Even if you make it to the last round, there are four episodes at most. It'll be over by late January or early February. Either way, filming will definitely wrap up before the new year."

After saying that, Yu Wenwen gave Jiang Yu a long look. "If you don't want to keep filming, post on Weibo right now and tell your fans to stop voting. I think you should be able to leave after filming the next elimination round."

Jiang Yu: "..."

Jiang Yu had only been complaining offhandedly. Seeing her reaction, he quickly took the hint and changed the subject. "Since filming will be done before the new year, does that mean we won't have much work afterward?"

He added with a grin, "It's not like we have to go on the Spring Festival Gala anyway."

The others: "..."

Xu Linyuan seemed to remember something and sighed. "Speaking of which, I really haven't been home to see my parents in ages. Do we have work over the new year?"

"Even if you wanted to work overtime over the holiday, someone would have to hire you first."

Yu Wenwen flipped through the schedule as she spoke.

Major events like New Year's galas had to be booked and contracted months in advance. Since they hadn't received an invitation by now, they were unlikely to get one.

That was normal.

After all, they weren't well-known enough among the general public yet. Big, family-oriented galas like those weren't likely to invite niche idols like them for the time being.

But for Color4 as they were now, that might actually be a good thing.

Yu Wenwen said, "Taking the new year off should be fine."

"Brother Fei also wants you to get a good rest over the holiday. And before the new year, your base pay and commissions will be deposited into your accounts, so don't worry."

Jiang Yu let out a whoop and cheered, "Thank you! Leap Entertainment is a state-owned enterprise with a conscience!"

Xu Linyuan perked up, much of his sleepiness gone. "How long can we take off? I'll check the dates and buy a ticket home."

The two in the front seats had already begun dreaming about their wonderful holiday.

In the back seat, Gu Zhijing idly turned his phone over in his hand without much expression and said nothing.

He began wondering where he would stay over the new year.

Going back to his own home was out of the question.

His few friends... they all had to go home for the holiday too. It wouldn't be right to impose on them.

Maybe he could just make do at the dorm. There were bound to be people on duty at the company, so getting by for two weeks shouldn't be a problem.

A hollow sense of uncertainty suddenly came over Gu Zhijing. After a moment of silence, he instinctively turned to look at Sheng Chi and happened to meet his gaze.

For some reason, Gu Zhijing asked, "Are you going home for the new year?"

"Probably."

Sheng Chi thought for a moment. "I haven't been home in a long time either."

When he had been a trainee in South Korea, he hadn't gotten time off for the new year and could only make a phone call.

After returning to China, he had mostly been drifting from place to place and rarely had the chance to go home.

Gu Zhijing murmured an "oh" and rubbed his eyes.

He looked a little sleepy. He pulled his hat into place and said nothing more.

Watching him, Sheng Chi suddenly felt a corner of his heart cave in.

He seemed to remember something and was just about to speak when Yu Wenwen continued, "You're all satisfied now, right? Then let's talk about the arrangements for next week's fan signing."

Everyone except Gu Zhijing was baffled.

Xu Linyuan: "What... what fan signing?"

Jiang Yu: "Wait, don't you need a physical album for a fan signing? When did ours go on sale?!"

Gu Zhijing, on the other hand, spent a lot of time browsing fan circles and had occasionally seen it mentioned on his feed. He'd heard about it, but had assumed it was a long way off and hadn't paid much attention.

Now that Yu Wenwen had brought it up, he was taken aback. As he opened his phone, he heard her say, "Right around the time you won that year-end award."

"The fans spent so much money buying digital albums to get you first place. It wasn't easy for them."

"So, to show appreciation and give something back, the company announced that anyone who bought more than twenty digital albums could enter a free draw for a chance to win a physical album or a ticket to the fan signing."

As she spoke, Gu Zhijing spotted a girl on his feed who had won after just two draws and happily posted her fan-signing ticket. The replies were full of people trying to soak up her good luck.

He opened the picture and zoomed in to check the date.

Wasn't it next Monday?

"You can enter the draw with just twenty digital albums?"

Jiang Yu couldn't help saying, "Won't we be signing until our hands fall off?"

"Not everyone who enters will win." Yu Wenwen reassured them. "I've checked. The venue's pretty small, so there won't be that many people."

Just as Color4 breathed a sigh of relief, she added, "Only around three hundred tickets were released. You can sign a few things and be done in no time."

Color4: "..."

On the day of the fan signing.

The earliest fans had arrived outside the venue at six in the morning, and a vast line stretched out before them.

Besides the people in line, there were fans setting up support displays outside. Fans of all kinds had put up posters of their idols, flower walls, and even dessert trucks. It was quite a spectacle.

Curious, Gu Zhijing put on a mask and hat, slipped out through the back door, and took a discreet look.

It was a sea of people.

He hurried back inside, took off his hat, mask, and the rest of his disguise, and said breathlessly, "Didn't you say there were only three hundred people? It looked like more than twice that to me."

"You were looking at the support displays outside, right?"

"Of course there are a lot of people out there. Even fans without tickets will come to show their support and check in."

Xu Linyuan had just come out of the styling room. He glanced at the time. "It starts in four hours, and you still haven't had your styling done? Sister An was just calling for you."

"I'm going!"

Gu Zhijing's look today was cute as usual.

After their last group variety show aired, his fluffy white outfit had been a huge hit with the fans.

Alongside the fans who usually saw him as a rabbit, cat, or dog, there was now even a Fruit Jam bear faction, who insisted he was an adorable little bear.

So this look took most of its inspiration from the last one, except his hair wasn't curled as tightly.

After all, Leap Entertainment allowed fans to give idols little clips, hair accessories, and headbands at fan signings. This way, his hairstyle wouldn't be completely flattened when they put them on, making the photos look bad.

The fan signing was about to begin.

Gu Zhijing sat in his seat, spinning his signing pen.

The pen was hard to spin to begin with, and he wasn't particularly good at it. He dropped it every couple of turns, anxiety written all over him.

Sheng Chi sat beside him and glanced over. "What's wrong?"

"I heard idols and fans can get really close at fan signings in South Korea. Fans can also make reasonable requests of their idols."

Gu Zhijing spoke slowly. "Do we have to do that too?"

A few days ago, he had searched online for information about fan signings.

But most of the results were about South Korean fan signings, and he found that fans there could ask idols to pat their heads, hold their hands, or even lace fingers with them.

"No," Sheng Chi said. Things were different in the domestic entertainment industry.

A lot of fans couldn't come to fan signings, and fans who weren't there were even less able to accept those who attended getting physically close to their idols. If word got out, passersby would mock them too.

So physical contact was forbidden at virtually all domestic fan signings, and Leap Entertainment was no exception.

"But what if a fan really insists?"

Gu Zhijing deliberately exaggerated. "What if someone asks to add me on WeChat, or wants to be friends with me, or wants to contact me privately, and so on and so on? What do I do?"

He blinked and looked at Sheng Chi.

His expression was well-behaved, as though he were asking a sincere question.

Sheng Chi had been about to say that security would stop them, but after meeting his eyes for a second, he seemed to see through him.

He leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "Then what would you do if a fan really confessed to you on the spot, the really intense kind?"

"You need to learn how to say no."

Gu Zhijing: "?"

He instinctively felt that Sheng Chi was setting a trap for him, but played along anyway. "How do I say no?"

"It's simple. Just say it directly."

Sheng Chi said with a perfectly straight face, "I'm sorry. You're a good person."

Gu Zhijing: "..."

Author's note: After they both started secretly pining, Brother Chi has spent every day teaching Fruit Jam how to reject other people.

I've decided to update after eight from now on, 1551. My procrastination is too severe.

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated me with nutrient solution: Sai Wenting's Bad Temper Q, 17 bottles; Zhongyuan Wenye, 10 bottles; Vitex Fruit, T#T*^O^*, Meng Fuzhou, Fanlian, and Sweet and Sour Fish, 1 bottle each;

Smooch smooch smooch!

Chapter 51

Actually, Gu Zhijing wasn't really afraid.

He was just a little nervous.

After Color4's music festival performance broke out and they shot to fame overnight, they had attended many different offline events. But whether they were filming performances or attending galas and ceremonies, the fans on site had always been quite a distance away.

Even when fans came to see them off or welcome them at the airport, or waited for them as they went to and from work, security guards and barriers generally kept them from getting too close.

A fan signing was different.

Fans had an open and legitimate opportunity to get close to their idols.

Online, Gu Zhijing had used his alt account to mingle among the fans. He knew every meme and could repost anything along with everyone else, laughing all the while.

He had also spent enough time in the fandom to make a few good friends.

This time, someone had even specifically asked whether he was coming to the fan signing and whether they should all meet up in person.

Gu Zhijing: "..."

Of course, Gu Zhijing couldn't meet them in person, so he could only turn them down with the excuse that he'd been too unlucky to win a ticket.

As a result, whenever he thought about how one of the girls coming later might be someone in his circle of friends, he felt inexplicably guilty, as though his identity could be exposed at any moment.

Sheng Chi's joke had come at just the right time.

His teasing lesson on how to hand out a "you're a good person" rejection eased some of the tension Gu Zhijing had carried all day. He sat up straight again, quietly adjusted his grip on the signing pen, and waited for the fan signing ceremony to begin.

The opening ceremony was kept brief.

Then they began signing in the order of the numbers fans had received when they lined up that morning.

Gu Zhijing sat in the first seat on the left, making him the first person most fans came to for a signature.

According to the company's arrangements, each fan was allowed to chat with each member for approximately one or two minutes.

Of course, most of the fans who came in person were rather shy and reserved. They didn't linger or drag things out. Their words were awkward but polite, with excitement they were trying hard to suppress showing through.

Occasionally, a calmer fan who was used to big events would work up the courage to offer something.

They weren't allowed to accept gifts.

But fans were allowed to bring their idols all kinds of hair accessories and have them wear them for a bit of fan service.

Still, it depended on the person.

If someone asked the leader, Sheng Chi, to wear a cute headband and act adorable, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance his expression would turn cold on the spot.

But Gu Zhijing, the group's maknae, was good-tempered and easy to coax. He wore almost anything fans gave him, and once he had it on, he readily posed as they requested for photos, delighting all the mom fans, older-sister fans, and fans who liked to feminize him.

A hairband? Sure.

A little crown? Sure.

A bunny headband? Sure.

Uh... a b-bridal veil?

The moment Gu Zhijing took it, he fell silent.

But the girl who had handed him the veil kept looking at him expectantly. "Y-you can wear it, right?"

Gu Zhijing: "..."

What was an idol?

An idol was someone who created beauty and fantasies! There was nothing he couldn't do!

If the fans were happy, he was happy.

Without any hesitation, Gu Zhijing put on the white, lace-trimmed veil, tilted his head slightly to adjust it, and looked at the girl in front of him.

His beautiful peach blossom eyes curved as he asked in a gentle, sweet voice, "Do you like it?"

A chorus of gasps immediately rose from the audience.

Then countless people raised their phones and cameras and uploaded the photos directly to the internet.

All day today, different fans had been dressing Fruit Jam up in different things, and the mom fans