The Most Popular Comedian

Chapter 38

The night of the finals was over, and the recording of the ace star also came to an end.

The mentor and students returned to the training base together, and the director’s team prepared a late-night snack and beer for them as a farewell party.

A group of people sat together in a classroom that had once hosted dances. The eliminated students have already passed the initial period of disappointment and are now all happily munching on chicken legs and eating pizza together.

“Wow, eating these at such a late hour, are we really a group of artists?”

Song Tang sprinkled a few wolfberries into the beer, saying, “It’s okay to indulge occasionally.”

Rong Yuheng sat anxiously next to Zhou Shubai, “It’s not a big deal that you didn’t sign Zaixi’s company, but what are you going to do in the future? You haven’t signed with any other company either.”

Zhou Shubai didn’t pay much attention, “This young master can also enter the film and television industry, even without signing with a company, I can still audition.”

Rong Yuheng then remembered the territory that Zhou Shubai had set for himself, and his heart settled a bit. He sincerely offered his blessings, “I hope you can follow in Teacher Wen’s footsteps and become the next movie emperor.”

Zhou Shubai hesitated for a moment and said, “… following in someone’s footsteps is a derogatory term.”

Rong Yuheng forcefully explained, “But it has been soaked in goodwill.'”

At this moment, when mentioning Wen Zhecheng, Rong Yuheng finally remembered to share the good news with the latter. He hadn’t looked at his phone since he got off stage, and now he opened it to find more than forty messages! There were messages from Lu Mingxuan congratulating him on his debut, as well as You Tianyu saying that Rong Yuheng should treat them to celebrate. Rong Congyan even called him, but unfortunately, he missed the call.

Rong Yuheng scrolled down and only then saw the news about Wen Zhecheng at the bottom.

The message at the bottom means it was sent earliest.

[Wen Zhecheng]: Congratulations on your debut, you will only get better in the future.

[Wen Zhecheng]: Take a good rest, and when you have time…I want to give you a call.

Rong Yuheng saw the short ellipsis and for some reason, his heart was gently bumped, feeling something strange. Rong Yuheng emerged from a sea of joy, holding his phone and walked out, running to the end of the corridor to send a voice message to Wen Zhecheng:

“I didn’t check my phone just now, have you finished shooting? You can call whenever you want.”

It was close to ten o’clock, Rong Yuheng waited at the corridor entrance for a few minutes before Wen Zhecheng replied.

[Wen Zhecheng]: “I finished work today, can we talk now?”

Rong Yuheng immediately dialed his number.

The call connected, and Wen Zhecheng’s voice carried a faint tiredness, “Have you returned to the dorm?”

Rong Yuheng said, “No, we’re swimming.”

Wen Zhecheng suddenly wasn’t sleepy anymore, and his tone even revealed a hint of suspicion and caution, “Night swimming?”

Rong Yuheng said, “Swimming in the sea of joy, hehehe… Why are you so dumb, you don’t understand this?”

Wen Zhecheng choked for a moment, partly reflecting on his lack of wit, and partly feeling that the tone was inexplicably intimate.

He quickly assimilated into Rong Yuheng’s logical system, “Oh, then take me swimming next time.”

Rong Yuheng, whether it was because he had been lifted up or because he had drunk too much beer, couldn’t resist blurting out some flirtatious words again, “You have to be mentally prepared, I swim through the waves~”

Wen Zhecheng’s heart pounded, thinking, how wild can it be? Can you show me the waves? However, he didn’t show any traces on his face and said, “Anything is fine, I accept it all.”

This unexpectedly flirtatious joke was quickly picked up by Rong Yuheng, “How was the shooting? You rested so late in the previous times.” He couldn’t help but worry, “Are you not feeling tired?”

The momentary touch of emotion that Wen Zhecheng felt disappeared in a second, “…”

He held back the words “Why don’t you try it?” and just dryly said, “No.”

Rong Yuheng felt relieved, “That’s good.”

Wen Zhecheng’s heart skipped a beat, “Good for what?”

Rong Yuheng genuinely felt joy for him, “I’m afraid you’ll only have me as your grandson in the future.”

Wen Zhecheng remained silent.

Wasn’t he only going to have this one grandson?

No, what grandson!

Wen Zhecheng’s pupils contracted: how did he get so immersed in this role!

–

After a night of revelry, the next day was the day of departure.

The members of “STAR-T” were going to take Fan Yu’s business car to the company to sign relevant matters.

Before parting, Rong Yuheng hugged his close friends one by one, his eyes turning red again.

“It’s not like we won’t see each other again.” Pu Zaixi comforted him sentimentally, “When you miss me, just dream of me.”

Rong Yuheng responded rationally, “It’s difficult to do that.”

“…You should go now.”

The business car door closed with a “clunk”, leaving only the team members inside, along with the driver, Fan Yu. Among these people, Rong Yuheng was only unfamiliar with Tang Ji.

Tang Ji used to share a dormitory with Shi Lu. In their dormitory, they had three elimination rounds, with one person leaving each time, until only Tang Ji was left. He didn’t usually interact with people from other dormitories, just silently practicing, silently advancing, and finally silently debuting.

……

Also a different kind of awesome.

At this moment, the car was already chatting lively, but Tang Ji still sat quietly on the side without saying a word. Rong Yuheng, who was sitting next to him with Huang Jianing in between, reached out and poked him, “Tang Ji, which company did you sign with?”

Tang Ji shrank back again and whispered, “Ji Chu.”

Rong Yuheng quickly seized the topic, “I was also planning to sign with Ji Chu at first, but ended up going to Fan Yu. Now that we have formed a group, I don’t know how to sign the new contract.”

Tang Ji might not be good at continuing the conversation, so he just nodded.

Shan Qi said, “It should be a shared contract, Fan Yu’s style has always been like this.”

Rong Yuheng didn’t quite understand these entertainment industry contracts, but since he was already signed with Fan Yu, he didn’t have to worry too much.

The journey took two to three hours, and they arrived at the Fan Yu company building while chatting along the way.

Rong Yuheng had last come here two months ago, and this time stepping on this white tiled ground again, it felt different. They followed the person in charge into the elevator, and their respective managers were already waiting in the office on the fifth floor, ready to discuss the group formation matters.

On the way, they ran into a young woman with shoulder-length hair. The person in charge greeted her, “Sister Qiu, not busy today?”

Shi Qiu smiled, “How can I not be busy? I’m busy with terminating contracts.”

After she finished speaking, her gaze swept over and saw Rong Yuheng behind the person in charge, and she paused for a moment, “Hey, yesterday was the debut night of the boy group, are these the new members?”

The person in charge nodded, “I’m about to take them to sign the contract.”

Shi Qiu was the talent manager who spotted Rong Yuheng at the audition and had told Wang Qilin at the time, “This kid should have entered the entertainment industry a long time ago.”

“Have these kids all signed with managers?” Shi Qiu asked.

“They have all signed,” the person in charge replied.

Shi Qiu felt a slight regret and said, “Oh,” one of her artists was about to change agencies, and she happened to have a contract to terminate. If Rong Yuheng hadn’t signed, she would have definitely signed him.

After a few casual conversations, Shi Qiu left. The person in charge led the six members of the group to the office, where they had a contract discussion with their respective managers and the male group’s general manager.

Because all the managers were present, the agreement was openly displayed on the table for discussion, so there was no need to worry about any issues. Moreover, Fan Yu Entertainment was a large company in the industry, with excellent resources and reputation.

Even though Xu Sun may be indecisive internally, he still knew how to protect the interests of his artists externally.

The agreement was quickly finalized, with a two-year contract signed initially. Fan Yu arranged a well-connected manager named Li Jiao for the “STAR-T Boy Group” and provided the group members with a set of shared apartments in a tightly secured community near the Second Ring Road.

“Stay there when you have free time and cultivate teamwork and camaraderie. There will be training and performances in the future, so pay attention to adjusting your schedules and avoid conflicts.”

“Understood.”

Li Jiao led six members downstairs, “You guys tidy up some clothes and put them in the apartment over there, you don’t need to bring daily necessities, we have everything.” He paused and said, “Is there anyone who won’t be living there? Let me know first.”

Rong Yuheng had just solved his accommodation problem, and his mood was cheerful unlike ordinary people. “I will be staying permanently!”

Li Jiao didn’t know what he had imagined, so he affectionately patted Rong Yuheng’s shoulder, “Everything will be fine.”

Rong Yuheng’s bubble of happiness was burst, “?”

Li Jiao lovingly said, “Treat it as your own home, don’t hesitate to ask for anything you need.”

Shan Qi also came to embrace him, “That’s right, from now on, the six of us are a family. I will take good care of you.”

The atmosphere inexplicably became inspiring and heartwarming, and Rong Yuheng felt a sense of familiarity. He furrowed his brows slightly, “Do you all have some misunderstanding about me? I’m not that miserable.”

Li Jiao, understanding his self-esteem, defended him, “Alright, you don’t need to explain. We don’t care about your past.”

Rong Yuheng paused for two seconds, “…Alright then.”

…

The apartment for the boy group was a duplex, with three bedrooms on each floor, a living room and kitchen on the lower level, and a bathroom and practice room on the upper level.

After moving in, the six of them entered into intense training. Their first performance was scheduled for half a month later, and the company provided them with a new song. After the performance, they would also need to record an album.

During the training, Rong Yuheng had called Rong Congyan. The latter wanted him to come home soon.

Rong Yuheng only mentioned that they were having a group training and couldn’t leave. Rong Congyan sighed and didn’t insist any further.

“Dad cares about you, he’s just not good with words. Xiaoheng, I know you’re a filial child, and it must be uncomfortable for you to be at odds with your dad, right? If you have time, come home and talk to him, reconcile quickly.”

Rong Yuheng pouted unhappily, “When I was kicked out, they were playing ‘A Thousand Miles Away’ in the living room.”

Rong Congyan comforted him, “Recently, they’ve been playing ‘Welcome to Beijing’.”

Rong Yuheng, with the same tsundere attitude, “Hmph.”

Rong Congyan, “…” They really were father and son, even their tone was the same.

The half-month of training quickly came to an end, and the tour was about to begin.

The six members of the group collectively promoted on Weibo, and their fans spread the news like it was New Year’s.

Huang Jianing was sitting on the sofa, scrolling through Weibo, when she suddenly exclaimed and rushed into the kitchen to find Rong Yuheng.

Rong Yuheng was practically about to dive into the refrigerator; he was always starving after training.

Huang Jianing pulled him out, “Do you know Kuang Zhao?”

Rong Yuheng’s brain seemed to have been frozen by the air conditioning. It took him a while to react and match the name to the person, “He didn’t retweet my Weibo again, did he?”

“Yeah, do you really know each other?”

Rong Yuheng shook his head, “No, but this isn’t the first time.”

Huang Jianing was shocked, “Could he be your fan?”

Rong Yuheng maintained some rationality, “Not likely.” He paused, his expression somewhat subtle, “He might just be a curious onlooker.”

Someone who specifically came to eat his melon.

The tour route had been preliminarily set, and Rong Yuheng noticed that it included City K. If he remembered correctly, that was also the location where Wen Zhecheng was filming.

Rong Yuheng sighed as he held the itinerary in his hand – “Grandma Wen, it’s been a long time, I miss you so much.” He immediately messaged Wen Zhecheng.

【Rong Yuheng】: Our third concert is in City K, are you filming there? [Sea otter peeking.jpg]

Wen Zhecheng received Rong Yuheng’s message for the first time in a week and almost couldn’t hold back his excitement. When he saw the content of the message, he straightened up with joy.

What does Rong Yuheng mean? Could he be coming to visit the set?

【Wen Zhecheng】: Yes, I’m in City K. When are you coming? I’ll treat you to a meal to celebrate your debut.

【Rong Yuheng】: It’s on the 23rd of this month. Can your crew allow us to visit? I haven’t seen a movie being filmed before.

【Wen Zhecheng】: Of course. [Sea otter obedient.jpg]

Wen Zhecheng put away his phone, his heart beating fast. He was both excited and nervous. He even took out the scenes around the 23rd to see how cool he looked in them.

Wen Zhecheng thought, this is a good opportunity. When they meet face to face, he must find a chance to end the “Grandma’s Grandson” script.

Qu Youhe turned his head and saw Wen Zhecheng sitting on the seat, his eyes flickering as if he was plotting a big chess game.

Qu Youhe: “…”

His heart skipped a beat, inexplicably reminded of a scene from a period drama he had watched before, where conspirators whispered in a dimly lit room with flickering candles: “The day has finally come…”

Qu Youhe tried to dispel the strange feeling in his heart and asked, “Cheng-ge, it seems like you are planning something?”

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhecheng smiled faintly, a rare sight.

He calmly replied to Qu Youhe’s suspicious gaze, “The day has finally come.”

Author’s Note:

A long time later…

Qu Youhe whispered to Rong Yuheng, “You need to be careful, Wen Zhecheng can read minds.”

Rong Yuheng: “I know.”