If I Can’t Be a Fanboy, I Can Only Debut

Life is always filled with unknowns.

When you wake up early to eat breakfast at a local food stand, you would never anticipate running into your homeroom teacher. Nor would you expect to see your bald boss slapped by a young girl while drinking after work.

Such chaotic thoughts were suddenly crowding Luo Xin's mind, he couldn't pinpoint their origin.

Indeed, even Luo Xin couldn't help but feel this way, which serves to illustrate just how complicated the emotions were when the members of the 'éphémère' group saw Zhou Beibei in their practice room.

That was Zhou Beibei!

Regarded as the sort of unfortunate celebrity known for numerous mishaps domestically. Despite being pitifully tone-deaf with a certain clumsiness on her feet, including flat feet that often caused her to stumble, she still attracted attention.

Moreover, hadn't she been practicing diligently with the 'Divine Song' group for several days now? What was the purpose of her abrupt appearance here?

While the entire group had collectively accepted the prospect of changing mentors and weren't against starting over – the inner circle of popular contestants definitely had the confidence to do so – the sudden substitution for Zhou Beibei was a stark difference, wasn't it?

In the shock of it all, no one in the room spoke, making Zhou Beibei, who had carefully planned a playful entrance, particularly awkward.

Now, see, here's the disadvantage of forming a team dedicated purely to skill, without a single variety-show persona present.

Shao Xiangchen was a dominant presence on stage, the kind of idol with a traditionally sunny image off the stage. Reserved, not showing any of the emotions a real person would have, Shao Xiangchen naturally wouldn't have any comments about the mentor. Apart from bowing, he was simply a boy with a pleasant smile. Moreover, as far as he was concerned, 'women were tigers,' he would steer clear of dangerously attractive female stars like Zhou Beibei.

Wen Tongbai was a typical B-King dance lead. Apart from his flashy dance skills, he didn't know much else. Despite occasionally having surprisingly eloquent remarks, he generally lacked common sense. Maybe he would be a good variety show talent in the future, but for now, he was simply a bowing machine, mimicking whatever Shao Xiangchen did.

As for Shang Lin, well, let's not even discuss him. Known as the all-round ace, his skills did not extend to variety shows. When it came to show effects, apart from laughing foolishly or mimicking others' actions, he was simply a decoration on the program.

In the entire team, the only person with a semblance of showmanship was Luo Xin. In his mind, he had even thought of thirteen ways to deal with this awkward situation, eight of which could lead to hilarious results and steal the spotlight.

But, so what?

Luo Xin, the sophisticated and elegant, was not in a beautiful mood at this moment, hence he had no intention of giving the production team any usable content.

Let this chilly atmosphere continue then!

Thus, after a waiting period of half a minute, everyone stared at each other in silence.

In the end, it was the bowing machine team led by Shao Xiangchen that excelled. They managed to make Zhou Beibei, who was trying to create a playful and eye-catching effect, surrender with their speedy bows of eighty per minute. Zhou Beibei hurriedly walked in.

"Um, hello everyone, I'm Zhou Beibei." Displaying a hearty smile, Zhou Beibei greeted everyone, pretending as if nothing had happened.

All, except for Luo Xin, cooperatively clapped their hands. However, their eyes bright with the words "respect for elders" were obviously sardonic. Compared to the enthusiastic young men in the next room, who would become bubbly at the sight of Zhou Beibei, this team appeared to be annoyingly reticent.

Zhou Beibei was so disgruntled that she didn't feel like radiating charm anymore. She sat down on the floor, looking very carefree: "You do whatever, I don't feel like dancing anymore."

________________________

Speaking of Zhou Beibei, she really had it rough.

Initially, she participated in this competition to fill the gap left by her senior fellow apprentice, Xiang Li, and incidentally gain some exposure. Her agent even assured her that it was akin to taking a vacation.

In the beginning, they agreed that she would play a decorative role, simply smiling on stage and interacting minimally.

Could anything extraordinary be expected from a song meant for a square dance?

However, after she entered the competition and started watching the other contestants practice, she realized that Xiang Li himself had chosen the song.

Although Xiang Li, this extraordinary person, did not perform, it didn’t prevent him from making waves.

Not only did he spend his own money to get a friend to modify the music, but he also took the time to choreograph a very flashy dance. As a result, the song transformed from an easy-to-learn, community dance song into a cool and highly challenging song-and-dance performance.

The contestants who thought that joining the song group would lower the difficulty and afford them some rest, went crazy.

So did Zhou Beibei, who thought she was there just for appearances and to pick up a show fee.

Xiang Li, a mysterious boy who could drive people mad even from a thousand miles away.

The contestants were coping alright, as they had a foundation to work with. Even with a zero base and poor stamina, after such an extended timeframe of intense training, they were able to showcase something tangible. Of course, those who couldn't make the cut had already left. So despite being as tired as dogs every day, they at least managed to get some results from their training.

However, Zhou Beibei's case was different. Her 'beautiful yet useless' persona wasn't a concocted gimmick, but an unfortunate label she acquired after her management company tried and failed to find any genuine talents she possessed. This was a compromise they settled on eventually.

Consequently, in recent days, the weakest link in the team wasn’t the less proficient vocalists. It was their guest performer, the beautiful Miss Zhou Beibei.

Zhou Beibei wasn't slacking off either. Since she'd be on camera, she still made a real effort. Moreover, to master the dance, her delicate feet began to blister! Every step she took was accompanied by piercing pain.

Zhou Beibei began to question if she could even survive to return to her company, to resume her blissful yet unproductive life.

Upon hearing about the trouble in the neighboring group, Zhou Beibei quickly came up with a bold idea.

That scoundrel Wan Bei deserved to have issues. Zhou Beibei felt quite schadenfreude. However, she also realized that if Wan Bei encountered problems, the song selection process would surely start over, and with only a few days left, the planned program would be relatively easy.

So, without hesitation, she applied to join their group as a guest performer.

As for the original square dance song?

Didn't Xiang Li enjoy dancing?

Let him handle it himself!

After all, Zhou Beibei had seen his Moments, where he claimed to have made his money and was now taking a break.

So, the final outcome was—

The music group's performance remained unchanged—only the guest performer changed from Zhou Beibei to Xiang Li. The contestants no longer had to witness the miserable scene of Zhou Beibei tripping over her feet while sobbing like rain on a pear blossom.

As for Zhou Beibei, she naturally managed to get on good terms with the production team, transforming Shao Xiangchen's group performance into a male-female duet, "Only Have Feelings for You."

It's only fitting for someone as beautiful as her to be pursued by four handsome gentlemen.

#ZhouBeibeiAdmiringHerself

With a smile, Zhou Beibei announced the new performance song to the four popular contestants before her, curious to see their reactions with a touch of mischief.

However, just like her carefully planned appearance being ignored, the situation turned cold again, making it rather dull.

Zhou Beibei even began to question how many minutes of screen time she'd have left when the final program aired. Upon further thought, the words "working for nothing" seemed to loom over her like two overwhelming mountains, making it difficult for her to breathe.

What could Zhou Beibei do?

All she could do was smile.

After all, having participated in so many variety shows, the primary memory associated with Zhou Beibei was "struggling to be funny but never managing to deliver the punchline". This demonstrated her variety show talents, and though it was lackluster, at least her effort seemed sincere.

Just as Zhou Beibei was exhausting all her unique skills, trying to create some highlights for the show, but was helpless, Luo Xin was not idle.

Even though he was extremely bored with this program, due to some inexplicable pride and the competitive spirit common among men, he didn't plan to leave just because of poor performance. Therefore, his training never ceased.

Simultaneously, he had some of his own plans.

Firstly, since the competition would definitely be busier in the upcoming episodes, he might not have time to personally manage Shao Xiangchen's data station. This was an unavoidable situation. Previously, when he was occupied, he missed a data task one day, which was an unforgivable error for a data station with such a functional role.

Now is a critical moment; one wrong step can lead to a series of mistakes. Falling behind by one step requires making up for it with a hundred times the effort.

Hence, after careful consideration, Luo Xin decided to entrust the management of the personal station to someone else for a while.

As a result, Shao Xiangchen's data station received a new manager.

Naturally, the person Luo Xin entrusted with the task was reliable. The new manager continued to maintain the cold and emotionless data machine, and fans accustomed to this style didn't notice any difference at all.

Luo Xin had to admit that, for a fan like him who is not quite a professional yet displays professional fervor, managing the personal station during the competition wasn't that difficult.

However, there were more important matters occupying his mind.

At midnight, he skillfully hid in a restroom stall and opened various social media apps on his phone. He engaged in a high-level brainwashing campaign within several groups: "Have you heard? 'Dogged Show' is no longer treating their contestants as humans, but our Chenchen has received a script to perform a ritual for the heavens!"

"My aunt's cousin's nephew-in-law's student is an intern on the show, the leaked script proves that the production team has gone too far!"

"If we don't fight back now, what will become of our Chenchen?"

________________________

After stirring up the ballot box, Luo Xin once again opened another social media app. With a deadpan expression, his hands interlocked, rapidly typing: "How 'Dawn' Meets 'Light' | The Ninth of His Hundred Little Things".

Yes.

Luo Xin was now a "Hot Circle" lady.

If there are fans of the 'Heguang Tongchen' couple here, they would certainly recognize Luo Xin's pseudonym 'Let There Be Light' at a glance.

Because in their popular yet newly formed circle, 'Let There Be Light; had single-handedly driven the development of the literary domain. Ever since he started the series "Hundred Little Things", the entire circle had been filled with refreshing and natural literary works, splendidly interspersed with sweet and heart-breaking elements, making people laugh and cry.

Thanks to his remarkable literary prowess and deeply moving descriptions, each chapter became widely circulated, even reaching tens of thousands of shares.

The development of the 'Heguang Tongchen' couple began with the emergence of "Let There Be Light". Since then, the fandom has distinctly divided into two phases: the regular Hot Circle and the prolific Hot Circle with numerous 'circle ladies'.

A single accomplished 'circle lady' usually brings about several others. As the number of 'circle ladies' increases, naturally, more readable material becomes available which attracts more newcomers to enter the 'circle'...

This is the positive feedback loop of fandoms.

Of course, not all the fans attracted to the 'Heguang Tongchen' duo will necessarily vote for Shao Xiangchen.

However, given the massive number of original fans, even if only one-third of them convert, it still constitutes a significant impact.

In order for Shao Xiangchen to win, dedicated fan Luo Xin diligently updates the love story of "Shao Xiangchen and Wen Tongbai" today.

Deeply moving.

Sets down the phone.

Luo Xin walked out of the bathroom, looking up at the stars and the moon.

Thanks to Zhou Beibei, who needed her beauty sleep and stubbornly coaxed the crew into giving the "Only Have Feelings For You" team an early rest, Luo Xin was surprised to find he had some time to spare after completing his day's work. As a result, he stood in place, letting his mind drift for a while.

In the depths of the night, people often become more contemplative.

Especially when there's nothing around, just the clamorous calls of some restless insects.

He had many questions to ponder upon, from the bigger picture like the meaning of life, to smaller concerns like what he should write in tomorrow's update to attract more fans.

But for some reasons, Luo Xin thought of Wei Mu, who was so fragile that he dared not cry.

If Wei Mu were still around, he'd likely be practicing at this hour.

Luo Xin, having seen many people, knew that Wei Mu didn't stand much of a chance.

Every year, millions take part in auditions, and even excellent individuals may be eliminated, let alone those without any distinguishing characteristics. Luo Xin thought heartlessly, perhaps leaving early was a blessing in disguise.

Indeed.

A blessing in disguise.

The wind started gusting a bit stronger.

Luo Xin rubbed his arms, swearing silently under his breath.

He turned around and headed back towards the small partition. In the darkness, the soft glow from the partition twinkled, much like the stars in the sky, not dazzling, but continually flickering.

The wind howled, whisking away fallen leaves, and carried fragmented whispers through the air, "...Wan Bei..."