Year After Year of Abundance 03

Zhao Zhiyu lived up to his reputation as a top-tier celebrity whose every move commanded public attention. As soon as he appeared, layers upon layers of people swarmed around him.

People were taking photos, cheering, and screaming. A few fans who hadn't brought autograph books even pulled up their shirts, diving into the crowd to get a signature.

The man had a lean, graceful build and a gentle demeanor. Even when he was jostled and pushed around, he didn't show the slightest hint of annoyance. He signed autographs for everyone in turn, appearing far from the cold, arrogant figure rumored in the industry; he was, in fact, quite polite.

The sound of camera shutters clicked incessantly around him, the flashing lights resembling a welding site. Although You Yun knew they weren't photographing her, her palms slowly began to sweat.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before security was temporarily deployed to disperse the crowded masses. You Yun was swept along in the tide, herded like sheep toward another waiting room.

This waiting room was one of the recording studios. On the wall directly opposite the entrance, a high-definition LCD screen was mounted, connected to the host studio. There were one hundred seats on the stands, each labeled with a number. The top five positions were conspicuous red, dubbed the "debut thrones," and were made of comfortable sofa material, while the rest were simple transparent plastic chairs.

"Everyone, please take a seat wherever you like," the director said. "In a while, we will follow the order of your seat numbers to take your individual promotional posters."

You Yun scoffed inwardly. They claimed it was "wherever you like," but the clear stratification and preferential treatment were obvious. It was clearly designed to stir up drama, and she wasn't about to fall for it.

However, the others didn't think that way. In a talent show, not creating drama was equivalent to wasting the opportunity. She watched as a girl dressed in trendy streetwear walked straight to the highest sofa, sprawled comfortably across it, chewing gum with her legs crossed, and looking down at the crowd.

Everyone else: "...She looks pretty tough."

Han Sheng had introduced her before, so You Yun had a slight impression of this girl. Her name was Bi Wen. Despite the delicate-sounding name, her personality was uninhibited. She had been the champion of a street dance competition a few years prior, possessed strong professional skills, and had even won an international gold medal in street dance. Unfortunately, her youthful arrogance had offended the capital, leading to a period of being blacklisted. Having returned to the country for a comeback, she was clearly determined to debut.

This plot sounded familiar.

*Chapter One: Returning Home.*

"This time, I will take back everything I lost."

It was clearly the script of a "cool female protagonist." You Yun, a student who knew that discretion was the better part of valor, firmly clung to her "cannon fodder" script and scurried quickly to seat number 77 in the corner of the pyramid.

She wouldn't dare get involved in the drama, lest she be splattered with blood.

The room gradually filled up. It was bustling, with contestants chatting idly about everything from dance and music to makeup and the breakfast shop downstairs. Finally, someone mentioned the show’s mysterious mentor, Zhao Zhiyu.

Upon hearing the name, You Yun, who had been silent until now, pricked up her ears.

"I heard Mentor Zhao is here to save the day, and he's doing it for Mentor Qing. The song he debuted with was written about her. He even wanted to invite her to star in his music video back then, but she rejected him. Many of his albums since then have been written for her. He's probably here to pursue her again."

"Oh my god, the 'double top-tier' pairing is just too good to ship!"

So, it was just celebrity gossip.

You Yun had no interest in such things. Her mind was already in a mess. She sat there in a daze for a while before pulling out her phone, secretly opening the backend of her favorite "pink" website, and clicking on her novel.

*101 Ways to Capture a Mermaid*

[When He Jiaojiao was stranded on a desert island, she was saved by a merman. He had a handsome face, a sturdy build, and alluring pheromones... She was captivated by his beauty and forcibly marked him. He was obedient and docile, putting her needs above all else, but she eventually grew tired of the boring wilderness life and sold him to fishmongers heading out to sea just to return to the civilized world. They met again in a private aquarium, where he was locked in a murky underground tank. The scales of his beautiful tail were peeling off, and he was bleeding profusely... Rumor has it that mermaids are kind creatures; the ocean bestows upon them a broad and free spirit; they do not harbor jealousy or hatred. Yet, at that moment, she clearly saw hatred in his eyes.]

With over ten thousand followers, 9,999+ comments, 9,999+ reposts, and a spot on the homepage's hot article list, the comment section was filled with: "Little Fish is truly the chosen male omega," "Cry louder, Little Fish!", "Ahhh, the protagonist is being abused so sexily... no, I mean, so tragically..."

Seeing the popularity rising, her head throbbed even more.

You Yun felt as if two little people were arguing in her brain. One said, "Delete the post and run away quickly! Stop tarnishing this high-mountain flower; he's a decent person, T^T!" The other argued, "It's just a casual write-up; he won't mind. Sacrificing him serves you, me, and everyone else."

She struggled for a long time before coming up with a compromise: find a reason to stop updating, and then return once the hype died down.

[The author has participated in the Avatar Project and is about to set off for Pandora. Therefore, this article will stop updating from today...]

Just as she was writing, she suddenly heard a noisy commotion behind her and the sound of chair legs scraping against the floor.

You Yun immediately exited the pink page and asked the girl next to her, "What's going on?"

"Someone is here to challenge the status quo," the girl next to her said, pointing behind her.

You Yun looked over and saw that someone had indeed gone up.

The girl was wearing a red bodycon dress with highlights in her long, wavy hair. She had an impressive figure, and the silver diamond-encrusted high heels on her feet were almost blinding.

"Excuse me, move aside. I'm sitting here."

Facing the provocation, Bi Wen was fearless: "Excuse me, this seat belongs to me."

The atmosphere turned tense instantly. The trainees, who loved a bit of drama, indicated that there was a good show to watch.

"Is that... Liu Jing?"

"It seems to be. Why does she look so much prettier?"

"And she's changed her style. She used to keep those thick bangs and play the innocent card, marketing herself as a 'little fairy'."

If the trailer was already this full of gunpowder, the actual show would surely lead to a fight. You Yun could already imagine how thick the barrage of comments would be if this were a live broadcast.

The challenger said, "Since that's the case, let's talk with strength. Let's battle, and let everyone supervise."

Bi Wen replied, "Fine."

"Whoo! Battle! Battle! Battle!"

The cheers and whistles drowned out the entire waiting room. A talent show without a battle had no soul.

Only You Yun sat there, bewildered, not understanding what it meant.

Seeming to notice her confusion, the girl next to her leaned in again: "The challenger is named Liu Jing, age 20, a child star. She acted in quite a few plays, but didn't make much of a splash, so she quit the industry to study ballet abroad."

The girl glanced at the VJ carrying a camera not far away and whispered in her ear, "I heard she's the woman of a 'gold master' now. She's 'royalty'."

"Uh... what is 'royalty'?"

"You don't even know that? It means she's already guaranteed a spot to debut."

Almost every talent show in the domestic entertainment industry had "royalty"—contestants who held a script and occupied a large amount of screen time. Liu Jing was the royalty among royalty, backed by a powerful benefactor.

You Yun didn't understand the details, but she was impressed. One was a "cool female lead," the other was "royalty." Truly, where there are crouching tigers, there must be hidden dragons.

Girl group battles usually consist of three categories: vocal, dance, and rap. Both were clearly dance-focused, so they would likely be competing in dance.

The two walked down the steps one after the other.

They stood firm.

Everyone's eyes were focused on them.

For the sake of fairness, after some discussion, the two decided to use a "cockfighting" game to determine who would claim seat number 1.

You Yun: "?"

Are you sure you're forming a girl group?

-

In the backstage lounge.

Today wasn't an official recording. When Zhao Zhiyu arrived, the directors were somewhat surprised and immediately sent people to welcome him, inviting him to sit in the center as soon as he entered.

Four high-definition cameras were set up. He hadn't worn much makeup, but even under the ultra-high-resolution lens, there were no flaws on his face.

Director Liu said politely, "It is our show's honor that Mentor Zhao is willing to come and save the day."

Zhao Zhiyu rarely participated in variety shows, so the production team hadn't planned to invite him at all. They had initially invited an ex-boyfriend of the popular movie star Qing Xi—just looking at the lineup, one could tell the director had bad intentions, hoping to continue the strategy of the previous season's infighting. Later, this ex-boyfriend heard about Director Liu's reputation and was so frightened that he withdrew.

At that time, there was only one week left before the show started recording. The list of contestants had already been released, and Director Liu was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He could only use a "confidential" silhouette to fool people regarding the last mentor's spot while continuing to look for someone.

But because of his notorious reputation, artists who cherished their own reputations didn't dare take on this mess. Just as he was at his wit's end, a "sucker" unexpectedly offered an olive branch.

That person was Zhao Zhiyu.

Director Liu had accidentally stumbled upon a treasure and was so happy he could wake up laughing in the middle of the night.

There was no other reason; it was just for the fame.

Not to mention his traffic, he also had an unclear relationship with Qing Xi. They had never appeared in the same frame, yet the rumors about them had never stopped. One moment they said Qing Xi was the "white moonlight" he had secretly loved for years, the next they said they had dated and then broken up. This kind of ambiguous topic had much higher discussion value than a simple ex-boyfriend.

There were several large monitoring screens in the room. The one in the center projected the waiting room. Zhao Zhiyu cast his gaze toward it and said casually, "Director Liu is too kind."

"Not at all, not at all. We are truly pleasantly surprised by your arrival today. Actually, today is just a pilot episode to record behind-the-scenes footage and individual interviews with the contestants. It's not an official start of recording yet. You can record a preliminary interview later."

"Alright."

In the waiting room, the two trainees had taken off their high heels and were hopping around on one leg with their hair disheveled, "cockfighting." The surrounding crowd was full of spectators cheering and yelling—it was quite lively.

Amidst the sea of people, he saw at a glance the girl who was hunching over, sneaking out of the room like a little fox in a bush.

Zhao Zhiyu's lips curled up.

Director Liu was still chattering away in his ear, but he didn't hear a word. After the pleasantries, he stood up and left the lounge.

You Yun walked out holding her phone, brainstorming while brewing a cup of coffee in the pantry.

She carried the coffee and walked back leisurely.

The cup was a bit full, and fearing it would spill, she lowered her head to take a sip, continuing to think of a reliable excuse to ask for time off: [The author has a herniated disc and is preparing to be hospitalized for surgery...]

Would it be bad to curse herself like that?

She deleted it and retyped.

[The dog at home has a herniated disc...]

She was typing with her head down and didn't notice someone coming around the corner. She got a fright and slammed on the brakes.

She didn't bump into the person, but in that instant, half of the coffee in her hand sloshed out. She felt a warm sensation on her hand as the coffee dripped through her fingers onto the dark red wooden floor.

"Hiss..." You Yun gasped, stung by the heat. She hurriedly reached into her pocket with her other hand to find a tissue. She reached several times but couldn't even find the edge of a pocket, only then realizing that she was wearing a dress today and had no pockets.

At the same time, a handkerchief was held out to her.

"Use this."

The hands were slender and beautiful, with clear knuckles.

You Yun was a total "hand fanatic," but she couldn't afford to appreciate them right now. She mumbled a quick "thank you," took it, and set the coffee aside.

Only after wiping her hands clean did she look up, unexpectedly colliding with a pair of deep eyes. Because of his leaning posture, the distance between them had shrunk, so close that You Yun could see her own reflection in the man's eyes.

Her brain went blank for a moment.

Her body instinctively retreated a few steps.

Zhao Zhiyu spoke first: "Did you burn yourself?"

You Yun: "N-no, it's lukewarm."

Zhao Zhiyu: "That's good."

You Yun: "Yeah."

The air went quiet.

In the silence, only her heartbeat sounded like a drum.

Should she say something?

*—Hi, do you remember me? I was your desk-mate in senior high; I used to collect your English homework.*

It didn't seem like they were that close back then.

*—Hi, you look even more handsome after all these years.*

Ugh... that's a bit cheesy.

"Long time no see."

This time, it was Zhao Zhiyu who broke the atmosphere. You Yun was stunned, then looked up: "You... remember me?"

"Of course," he smiled: "Classmate You Yun."

She hadn't expected his memory to be so good, considering they had barely spoken in those days and had no real interaction.

You Yun was flattered and still felt a bit touched; after all, being remembered by a big star classmate was an honor however you looked at it.

Just as she was about to exchange a few more pleasantries, her peripheral vision caught his snow-white sneakers. There was a pitch-black footprint on them, with deep brown coffee stains around the edges.

That wouldn't be her doing, would it?

You Yun silently lifted her foot. Very good. Based on the tread pattern of the sole, this was indeed her doing. She couldn't deny it even if she wanted to.

It had rained in the morning, and she had stepped in several puddles while rushing to the subway, getting mud on her soles. Now, adding the coffee, it was all printed on his shoe, and the toe of the shoe was even dented in.

These shoes looked quite expensive.

You Yun felt bad: "Your shoes seem to have been..."

Zhao Zhiyu looked up: "Hmm?"

You Yun pointed apologetically at his shoes, and Zhao Zhiyu lowered his gaze to look.

He had left in a hurry today and had grabbed a pair of shoes from beside the sofa. They were new ones his assistant had just brought; the tags had just been removed and they hadn't even been put in the shoe cabinet. At this moment, there was a clear yellow stain on the pristine sneakers, and they were even muddier after being stepped on.

"I'm sorry. How about I buy you a new pair?"

He didn't speak, nor did he move to wipe it off.

He didn't even blink.

It looked as if he didn't care at all.

As for whether he was bleeding internally, she couldn't tell. She had heard that for men, sneakers were more important than girlfriends.

"Should I transfer it to you via WeChat?" she probed.

Zhao Zhiyu finally had a reaction. His eyebrows twitched, and he looked at her with a half-smile.

You Yun took it as his consent and pulled out her phone to open WeChat. She had been the study committee member in high school and had added everyone in the class to collect winter break homework, which naturally included him.

However, when she scrolled through her contacts and searched for a long time, she couldn't find him. Finally, under the letter "Z", there was only one person.

[Professional Recycling of Old Mobile Phones 185xxxx0863]

That definitely wasn't him.

Strange, why didn't she have his WeChat anymore?

Did he change his number or...

You Yun realized belatedly that he might have deleted her.

Looking back on these years, she indeed hadn't seen him post any Moments.

But thinking about it, it was reasonable.

After all, he had become a big star. With his current status and her being a former ordinary classmate, they weren't in the same circle anymore. It was very likely they would never be in contact again, so keeping her was just taking up memory.

It was just a bit awkward at the moment.

You Yun calmly exited her contacts and smiled: "You must have changed your phone after graduation, right? How about I just scan your payment code?"

She thought she had been very tactful. Being caught deleting someone from WeChat is quite embarrassing for adults, so there was no need to point it out.

Unfortunately, the other party didn't follow her lead at all: "I didn't change it."

"..."

*You don't understand social etiquette at all, how did you survive in the entertainment industry?* You Yun decided to give him a lesson: "Then it must be your good habit of cleaning up your list, and you accidentally cleaned me out."

She was hinting that in adult social life, decency is more important than anything. She wanted to give herself a thumbs-up for her emotional intelligence.

Zhao Zhiyu: "Me?"

You Yun acted very magnanimous, as if she didn't mind being deleted, and tried to save his face: "Yeah, yeah, it's hard to manage when there are too many friends. I can understand cleaning out some of them. You don't have to have any psychological burden."

Zhao Zhiyu scoffed: "I bet you're very popular."

You Yun didn't quite understand his logic: "Why do you say that?"

"Because deleting someone one-sidedly..."

He pulled out his phone, opened his WeChat list, typed her name into the search bar, and then clicked into the conversation box to send a "1". Immediately after, a bright red exclamation mark popped up before the green bubble.

[The other party has enabled friend verification. You are not their friend yet. Please send a friend request first...]

"It's like this," Zhao Zhiyu said.

You Yun: "........."