The Most Popular Comedian

After his performance, Rong Yuheng quickly made his way backstage, where Pu Zaixi pounced on him and gave him a big bear hug. “That was amazing!”

Rong Yuheng was lifted off the ground in the embrace, flapping his arms in the air a couple of times before giving up his struggle.

He had no idea where Pu Zaixi got such strength.

After Pu Zaixi had enough excitement, he gently lowered Rong Yuheng back down. The whole process was done with a solemnity that carried a sense of ceremony.

Combined with Rong Yuheng’s suffocating expression, it was like lowering the flag to half-mast.

Since Shan Qi had left the stage, he had been waiting backstage. After observing the solemn descent ceremony, he walked over and patted Rong Yuheng on the back. “The atmosphere in the venue is pretty good.”

Rong Yuheng’s memory was like that of a goldfish. As soon as he received praise, he immediately broke free from the solemn atmosphere.

He smiled with his eyes squinting, the corners of his eyes reflecting the side lights, vibrant and bright. “Brother Qi, are you worried about me?”

Shan Qi nodded. “Yeah, I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to handle my part, but it seems I was worrying for nothing.”

Rong Yuheng felt moved and opened his arms to give him a hug. “Thank you, Brother.”

In a corner about ten meters away, Wen Zhecheng’s gaze lingered on the two for a brief moment before shifting to Ke Ting at the side. “Teacher Ke, I need to use the restroom.”

“Alright.”

Wen Zhecheng got up and walked outside.

Seeing Wen Zhecheng leave, Ke Ting, feeling a bit restless on his own, also stood up and strolled among the contestants backstage, like an old cadre on patrol, unable to withstand the loneliness and attempting to blend in.

After a few failed attempts, he sadly realized that one had to forcefully squeeze in; he was just an outsider.

Ke Ting wandered among the crowd, then turned his gaze towards two inconspicuous figures nearby.

Zhou Shubai and Zou Yi were engaged in conversation when suddenly Ke Ting discreetly appeared, his gaze intense, impossible to ignore.

The two exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat hesitant. After Zou Yi pondered for a moment, he touched Ke Ting’s arm and said, “Perfect timing, you can tell Teacher Ke.”

Ke Ting had originally asked casually, not expecting there to be an actual matter. He couldn’t help but freeze for a moment. “What happened?”

Zhou Shubai looked at him, then turned to Zou Yi. Upon receiving encouragement from Zou Yi’s eyes, he finally spoke up. “I’m a bit worried… During my last performance, there was a problem with the earpiece.”

“What!” Ke Ting didn’t expect such a thing to happen and his eyes widened. “How could that happen?”

As he spoke, he pulled Zhou Shubai to the side and asked seriously, “Do Qiao Laoshi and the others know about this?”

“I talked to Teacher Qiao later, and after Teacher Qiao reported it to the production team, my family came directly.” Zhou Shubai pursed his lips. “It’s because my family doesn’t want me to debut.”

Ke Ting was momentarily speechless. In the not-too-distant background, the music from the stage mixed with the voices of the contestants’ backstage, but in this large area in front of them, silence prevailed.

After a moment, Ke Ting suddenly reached out and pulled Zhou Shubai, turning his head towards the director’s team.

Zhou Shubai exclaimed in surprise like a baby chick, “Teacher Ke!?” Zou Yi, the father chicken, was also startled and hurried to catch up.

A hint of seriousness appeared on Ke Ting’s tightly furrowed brow. “I’ll accompany you to find Director Chen. Don’t worry, I’ll personally take care of it for you.”

…

Rong Yuheng and Shan Qi chatted for a while and then thought of Zhou Shubai. They didn’t know how he was doing now and whether he needed someone to comfort him.

“I’ll go find Shubai ge.”

Pu Zaixi looked around and asked, “Wasn’t he just over there with Yi ge?”

Rong Yuheng said, “I’ll go check.”

He went over and happened to see Shi Lu and several other contestants chatting. After inquiring, he learned that Zhou Shubai and Zou Yi had followed Ke Ting and seemed to be heading towards the director’s team.

Rong Yuheng felt somewhat uneasy. After thanking the group, he also headed towards the director’s team.

At this time, most of the contestants were either backstage or in the rest area, and there was no one in the corridor. The TV station had been built for many years, and the ceiling lights in the corridor were somewhat outdated. Among them, a section of lights would sometimes not work properly. The light shone down from above Rong Yuheng’s head, casting a clear shadow on the floor.

Just as he turned around a corner, a tall shadow suddenly fell in front of him. Rong Yuheng was startled and instinctively moved aside, but then “bang,” he bumped into the wall!

“Hiss…” He winced in pain, taking a sharp breath. It happened so suddenly that not only did Rong Yuheng startle himself, but also the person opposite him.

Before Rong Yuheng could raise his hand to rub his shoulder, a large hand came over and gently touched him. The warm touch penetrated through his thin shirt, soothingly rubbing twice.

“Are you alright?”

Rong Yuheng looked up upon hearing the voice. “Teacher Wen?”

Wen Zhecheng’s brow slightly furrowed, his gaze focused on the spot where Rong Yuheng bumped his shoulder. The pressure from his hand was neither light nor heavy. “You haven’t recovered from your old injury, and now you want to add a new one?”

Rong Yuheng pouted. “Who told you to suddenly appear?”

Wen Zhecheng good-naturedly responded with a sound of acknowledgment and continued rubbing his shoulder. “Blame me.”

Rong Yuheng felt completely at ease under the pressure, like a small dog that had been petted, humming in contentment. After humming a few lines, he realized that he seemed a bit shameless, shamelessly enjoying the actor’s service and feeling perfectly fine about it.

“That’s enough, that’s enough…” Rong Yuheng moved back a bit and said to Wen Zhecheng, “I still need to find Shubai ge. It seems like Teacher Ke took him to the director’s team.”

Wen Zhecheng stared at the peach blossom at the corner of Rong Yuheng’s eye for two seconds and asked a question that didn’t match the context, “Am I pressing too hard?”

Rong Yuheng was taken aback and blurted out, “No, it’s comfortable.”

Then he felt something was off. “Oh no, Teacher Wen, I wasn’t talking about that… Teacher Ke took Shubai to the director’s team, and I want to go check on them. What do you think?”

Wen Zhecheng received a satisfactory answer and finally started to understand human speech. “No need to go. Teacher Ke is reliable.”

“Oh… alright then.” Rong Yuheng lowered his head a bit reluctantly. There was a moment of silence between them, and after a while, he started to feel awkward. Just as he was about to say goodbye, Wen Zhecheng’s hand suddenly came back.

Rong Yuheng, “?”

Wen Zhecheng stubbornly pressed his shoulder and skillfully started massaging.

Rong Yuheng, “???”

He felt like everything in front of him was a bit magical—he was standing in the brightly lit corridor of the TV station, and the actor was giving him a shoulder massage with one hand!

Wen Zhecheng seemed to see nothing wrong and continued massaging while commenting, “Your bones are well-aligned, but your blood circulation isn’t very smooth. It has started to form small clots. You should go for a massage when you have time.”

“…” Rong Yuheng’s emotions were complicated. He opened his mouth and closed it, hesitated for a while, and couldn’t hold back any longer. He spoke sincerely,

“You’re so young and successful in your career.”

Wen Zhecheng’s hand paused, showing a hint of confusion.

Rong Yuheng continued, “You’re planning for a side business so early, which is unnecessary.”

Wen Zhecheng, who just wanted to touch the other’s shoulder, “…”

I’m not here to practice my skills…

With Ke Ting protecting Zhou Shubai, Rong Yuheng felt that he didn’t need to worry unnecessarily. Now he followed Wen Zhecheng towards the rest area.

The topic of massage ended in an unspoken understanding during an awkward silence. Rong Yuheng thoughtfully brought up another topic.

“Sun ge said that after this promotion round, he secured a variety show spot for me.”

Wen Zhecheng said, “That’s great. Which variety show?”

“‘Coming from a Distant Place.’ They said there will be a half-hour segment for me.”

“That’s good. Perform well.” Wen Zhecheng paused for a moment and added, “Many people will like you.”

Upon hearing that, Rong Yuheng’s mood brightened. His happiness was easily understood, written all over his face—his lips curved upward, his chin unconsciously lifted, and his face radiated a glow, exuding a sense of nobility.

Wen Zhecheng glanced at him and somehow felt happy as well.

He had previously suspected that Rong Yuheng’s family background might be good, and the conversation during the audition was probably misinterpreted. Thinking that the environment in which the latter grew up wasn’t as bad as he had originally thought, a trace of relief emerged in Wen Zhecheng’s heart.

Just like a precious treasure untouched by dust.

With Rong Yuheng in a good mood, he started talking more. His small mouth kept chattering, “What should we do about training if we have to record the variety show?”

Wen Zhecheng said, “You haven’t received any notification yet. Teacher Qiao should inform you when you go back today. The training after the promotion round will be more relaxed, and the mentors won’t come every day. After this promotion round, the remaining contestants will mostly be contacted by companies for signing contracts. Some of the trainees who had their work practices interrupted by the competition will also resume their jobs. So, you can train while getting involved in the industry.”

“Can it be done like that?” Rong Yuheng hadn’t been exposed to the industry before and didn’t know about such mechanisms, sparking a desire for knowledge. “What about the recording of the program?”

“It’s up to you to decide,” Teacher Wen patiently answered. “Generally speaking, the jobs you receive will have better resources than our show, so if you have work, go for it. If you don’t, consider the program recording as a backup. After all, the program is continuously recorded by cameras 24 hours a day without wasting manpower.”

After he finished speaking, Wen Zhecheng saw the furry head in front of him swaying back and forth, and his palms itched to pet it a couple of times.

But before he could make a move, the head suddenly stopped.

Wen Zhecheng’s gaze followed it downward, and he saw Rong Yuheng suspiciously take a step back, showing a wary expression.

“What’s wrong?” Wen Zhecheng asked.

“It’s nothing, probably just a lighting issue…” Rong Yuheng pondered his words carefully and said cautiously, “Teacher Wen, your eyes just now seemed to be emitting a green light.”

The kind of green light a hungry wolf would have.

“…”

Wen Zhecheng casually averted his gaze, blinking his eyelashes. The aura of an acting buff instantly enveloped him, and his pupils returned to a clear gaze.

He turned his head back and said gently, “You mistook it.”

Rong Yuheng refocused and looked again, “Yeah, indeed. I’m sorry.”

Wen Zhecheng displayed magnanimity at the right moment, “It’s okay.”

Author’s note: Wen Zhecheng: When it comes to acting, I’m a professional.