“Aren’t you going to check on him?” Qi Yuqiu asked Old Ghost.
Old Ghost shook his head: “He wants to be alone, so I won’t disturb him.”
Even though Sheng Jun couldn’t see him, he still didn’t want to go in—that would be too disrespectful.
Qi Yuqiu nodded and headed toward the stairwell: “Then I’ll go check on him for you.”
“Hey!” If he went in now, Sheng Jun would be so embarrassed. Old Ghost wanted to reach out and grab him, but his hand passed right through Qi Yuqiu’s body.
Sheng Jun leaned against the wall, scrolling through his phone’s photo album. Inside were pictures of his friends, his fans, and various stage photos from his glory days.
Some say that when you start looking back on past glories, you lose the courage to keep fighting. Sheng Jun tapped on a photo from a concert. In the picture, a fan was looking at him with shining eyes—that was when he was happiest. It was a pity that those who had once supported him were gradually drifting away.
The stairwell door was pushed open again as Qi Yuqiu walked in. Glancing at Sheng Jun’s screen, he said, “Are you sure you want to delete all of these?”
Sheng Jun turned to look at Qi Yuqiu. “Is there something you need?”
“Nothing, just wandering around. Didn’t expect to run into you like this.” Qi Yuqiu also leaned against the wall. “Why are you deleting these photos?”
Having only met twice, Qi Yuqiu was openly looking at his screen and asking such questions like an old friend. Sheng Jun found it somewhat amusing. There really was a generation gap between him and young people these days.
“Keeping them just takes up storage space. Might as well delete them,” he sighed with a smile.
Qi Yuqiu leaned closer and noticed that one of the people sitting in the front row looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, wasn’t that Old Ghost from his younger days? Old Ghost, who had floated over, clearly saw it too, his expression turning complicated.
“It’s such a shame to delete them. When you’re old, these will be memories,” Qi Yuqiu patted his shoulder comfortingly.
Seeing him comfort him so seriously, Sheng Jun almost felt like laughing. Perhaps he had been holding back for too long, but facing this young man who was practically a stranger, he actually felt like talking more.
“No one listens to my songs anymore,” Sheng Jun shook his head with a bitter smile. “I always thought that even if my old friends had moved on, I couldn’t give up—at least there were still people waiting for my music.”
“But now I realize even these old fans are leaving. What’s the point of singing anymore?” Sheng Jun pointed at the photo. “Look at this person. He’s been there since my first concert—ten years. Every time, I could see him sitting in the front row.” “But he hasn’t come to the last few concerts.” Even a ten-year fan had lost faith in him. Even though he had always believed in his music before, in that moment, he couldn’t help but waver.
Had he truly stagnated, or even regressed? Sheng Jun smiled bitterly.
Qi Yuqiu fell silent, while Old Ghost beside him was speechless. Sheng Jun actually remembered him, a fan. He was overjoyed, ecstatic even. But hearing Sheng Jun’s words, he wished Sheng Jun had never noticed him at all.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t gone—if he were still alive, he would have attended every single one. Old Ghost almost wanted to roar. He looked at Qi Yuqiu, his eyes pleading.
Qi Yuqiu said to Sheng Jun, “Maybe something happened, and he couldn’t make it.”
Sheng Jun was silent for a moment before speaking. “Maybe. Of course, I could think that way, but there’s no point in lying to myself.”
The phone screen went dark. He tapped his finger but still chose not to delete the message.
“Alright, kid. It’s your era now. I should go.”
Qi Yuqiu took a step back, standing before him. “Which direction are you heading? South or north?”
He saw that the moment Sheng Jun said he was leaving, his fortune began to waver. One side was murky and uncertain, life and death hanging in the balance; the other side was a soaring destiny, with hope emerging from adversity.
The two stood facing east and west respectively, with left and right representing south and north. Sheng Jun turned his head—to the left was the south, the staircase leading to the rooftop; to the right was the door out of the stairwell.
He smiled faintly. “I’m going home, so naturally, I’ll head south.”
Qi Yuqiu glanced toward the staircase and said, “Don’t go home just yet. Perhaps walking in the opposite direction will bring unexpected gains.”
“Today, I’ll give you a divination: head due north, enter when you see the number ten. Within three days, there will surely be a turning point.”
Hearing Qi Yuqiu speak like this, Sheng Jun couldn’t help but feel amused. He said, “Have you switched careers to fortune-telling? Well, I’ll take your auspicious words. I hope everything turns out for the best.”
After Sheng Jun left, Old Ghost initially intended to follow him out. Before leaving, he asked Qi Yuqiu, “If he heads south, will something happen?”
Qi Yuqiu looked toward the staircase again and said, “Perhaps.”
“Thank you.” Old Ghost bowed to Qi Yuqiu. “In my current state, I have nothing to offer. But in life, I was a programmer—though you probably aren’t interested in that. I’m quite good at gaming though; I could teach you, haha.”
As he spoke, he felt a bit awkward himself. What kind of repayment was teaching someone to play games? Was it returning kindness with harm?
Qi Yuqiu, however, seemed quite interested. “What game? Is it fun?”
“It’s fun! I have an account none of my acquaintances know about. You can log in directly—I spent quite a bit of money on the skins in there.” Old Ghost told Qi Yuqiu the game’s name along with his account and password, then added earnestly, “Games may be fun, but remember not to get addicted.”
“I’m busy. How would I have time to get addicted to games?” Qi Yuqiu looked disdainfully at Old Ghost. He was busy making big money. Games sounded troublesome—were they even as interesting as cartoons?
Old Ghost sighed. These days, it was rare to find a young person who didn’t play games.
After Old Ghost left, Qi Yuqiu returned to Li Qi’s office. Li Qi handed him the upcoming schedule.
Apart from Director Chang’s drama and Cheng Yu’s variety show, Li Qi had also arranged acting classes for him.
“When you have filming, focus on that. When you don’t, come back to the company and attend classes with the instructors.” Regarding Qi Yuqiu’s acting skills, Li Qi was somewhat worried. No matter how many resources he had, he needed the talent to back them up; otherwise, he would only face more ridicule.
Qi Yuqiu, however, remained perfectly calm. He would deal with challenges as they came. If all else failed, he would find another way. Reaching the top of the entertainment industry didn’t necessarily mean he had to be an actor!
After discussing with Li Qi about joining the film crew the next day, Li Qi told him to go back and pack his things. He would stay with the crew and learn from the seasoned actors.
Before joining the crew, Qi Yuqiu still had a few matters to handle. The first was to use the three million he earned yesterday to pay off his debts.
After going downstairs, Qi Yuqiu saw that Old Ghost hadn’t followed Sheng Jun out after all. Instead, he was standing in a corner, staring intently at the reception room not far away.
Qi Yuqiu followed his gaze and saw that it was Yan Wenguang being interviewed by several reporters on a live stream. They were too far away to hear the specific conversation, so Old Ghost told him to take out his phone, open an app, and enter the live stream room.
The live stream room was flooded with comments from fans screaming and fawning over Yan Wenguang. As a newly rising Traffic star, Yan Wenguang had a large fanbase.
The previously arrogant Yan Wenguang now appeared humble and composed. When asked about his album, he modestly stated that he was not a professional musician and might not achieve perfection in lyrics and composition, but he would do his best not to disappoint his fans.
Old Ghost was so angry that his stubble seemed to stand on end. “Do his best, my foot! That fraud can’t even read sheet music properly, and he’s bragging without batting an eye!”
However, the fans went wild over Yan Wenguang’s words.
“Go, brother! Your album will definitely be the best!”
“Hurry up and release it, brother! I’ve already saved up three months’ allowance!”
“Wah, I’m so touched! Brother always remembers us. Halo girls are so lucky!”
“A bunch of lunatics! How can they go this crazy over such a piece of trash?” Old Ghost was stunned. When they chased stars back in the day, they just listened to songs, watched concerts, and maybe bought a few albums. Spending money on hundreds of albums was simply incomprehensible to him.
Yan Wenguang continued sharing his thoughts, saying that a few songs were still being revised and wouldn’t be released until they met his standards of perfection, as anything less would be irresponsible to his fans.
“However, I’ve been a bit discouraged lately by a senior, which has slowed down the progress,” Yan Wenguang said with a bitter smile. “Of course, the senior meant well. After all, I’m just a newcomer in music, and there’s indeed a huge gap between us.”
This statement enraged his fans. While comforting him in the comments, they also lashed out at the so-called senior.
“Don’t be sad, Guangguang! What kind of lousy senior is that? Probably just jealous of you!”
“Which washed-up nobody dares to say that to Guangguang? I bet he’s just too irrelevant and trying to get attention from Guangguang!”
“You’re too nice. If it were me, I’d knock his teeth out on the spot. Who does he think he is? Is he even qualified to guide Guangguang?”
Some immediately started digging into the senior Yan Wenguang mentioned and soon discovered that the only person at Jushang who could be considered a senior in music was a singer named Sheng Jun.
“So it’s just some old nobody without a name. Hah, Guangguang, don’t be upset.”
“Old and obscure, can only survive by putting down juniors to show off his so-called talent.”
“I’m so angry! What kind of senior says such things to a junior? No manners at all. All those years must have been wasted!”
Once Sheng Jun was identified, fans quickly organized to find his Weibo. Unfortunately, Sheng Jun was solely focused on music and didn’t have a Weibo account, rarely appearing on other social media platforms either.
Then they began searching for Sheng Jun’s songs on various music platforms, giving them low ratings and flooding the Comment Section with negative comments.
Old Ghost was so furious at this well-practiced routine that his lungs felt like they were about to explode. This Yan Wenguang was twisting the truth, and his fans were vile. What was wrong with these people?
Meanwhile, Sheng Jun’s fans noticed that the Comment Section of his usually low-key and niche songs had suddenly been flooded with a wave of malicious comments. They tried to ask what was going on but were collectively attacked by Yan Wenguang’s fans.
“Disgusting, washed-up singer. Don’t you feel sick listening to his songs?”
“It sounds awful, completely lacking depth. You old aunties and uncles really need to catch up with the times.”
These casual fans who weren’t part of fan circles were momentarily stunned. What was happening? Just listening to a song and getting insulted?
Meanwhile, the name “Sheng Jun,” which had previously appeared on Hot Search, quietly climbed to the front page of the trending list.
Yan Wenguang had always maintained a good public image. Uninformed passersby clicking into the topic would immediately get the impression that Sheng Jun was relying on his seniority to bully a younger star.
When some of Sheng Jun’s fans spoke up, they were attacked so fiercely by the opposing fans that they had to disable their comment sections or even delete their accounts entirely.
Many people followed the Hot Search into the live stream room, flooding the chat with messages to comfort Yan Wenguang.
Old Ghost was furious. Sheng Jun hadn’t done anything wrong, yet he was being attacked like this. Was this what the entertainment industry had become nowadays?
This Yan Wenguang was deliberately inciting his fans to harm Sheng Jun. He deserved to die!
Qi Yuqiu was also stunned by this turn of events. Fan circles were terrifying—just one sentence could destroy a person.
Sheng Jun was already in a fragile emotional state. If he saw all this, he might truly break down.
“I’m going to kill him!” Old Ghost said with a chilling tone. People like him were the real harm to society.
Qi Yuqiu stopped him: “Will killing him really solve the problem? Let me handle this.”
He formed a Hand Gesture Technique and cast a Truth Curse through the glass, striking Yan Wenguang.
“Please begin your performance,” Qi Yuqiu said with a cold, mocking smile curling at the corner of his lips.