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At this time, Cen Feng was still an unknown trainee.
Three years later, he would debut in the boy group, S-Star—a name signifying Seven Stars.
When S-Star first debuted, they weren’t a hit, just a small relatively unknown group. It was only later when three of its members participated in a musical survival show that the group gained momentum and popularity.
Cen Feng was one of those three.
The video of Cen Feng playing the piano the Xu Zhaixing saw on that snowy night years ago, was actually the promotional clip for that very survival show.
However, Cen Feng didn’t advance far in that competition. He was eliminated in the national top ten, while his two teammates made it into the top three and began to gain fame.
S-Star’s activities gradually increased. Cen Feng had very few individual resources. During group activities, he never fought for attention and always smiled when facing the camera.
Onlookers often call him the most invisible member of the group, but only the fans know that every time he shows signs of trending, his exposure gets mysteriously suppressed. He finally managed to hit the hot search list with some unbelievably stunning candid photos, but before fans could even organize the comment section, the hashtag vanished—replaced by baffling, out-of-context smear campaigns.
Fans speculated whether their idol was being suppressed or targeted, yet Cen Feng never showed a hint of negativity in public. Apart from condemning the useless company, they could do nothing.
For most people, their understanding of him was limited to: this idol named Cen Feng was quite good-looking, and there were some questionable rumors about him.
Only his fans knew how wonderful he was, how beautifully he sang, how powerfully he danced and how gentle he was to them.
Fans often lamented, “When will our brother finally get a number one trending spot?”
Later, Cen Feng did finally achieve a number one trending spot, one that exploded across the entire internet.
But it was through his death.
If they could, they would have wished for him to remain unknown forever.
After Cen Feng’s death, through fragments of interviews with his assistant, through marketing accounts’ digging, and through anonymous insider breaking news, fans finally learned what their treasure had endured.
Cen Feng plays the piano excellently. His most captivating moments were when he played.
But after the survival show, fans never saw him play the piano again. Once during an interview, a reported asked about it. He just smiled and sad. “No opportunity.”
Later, through anonymous insider, they found out his little finger had been intentionally stepped on and broken by a teammate. He could never play the piano again in his life.
Which teammate? The insider didn’t say.
Every celebrity has fans who defend them. To this day, Xu Zhaixing still didn’t know who that person was.
It was said that after Cen Feng’s death, his biological father, the murderer, made a huge scene at the agency. Not to seek justice for his son, but to demand massive compensation. Staff said that even before Cen Feng died, his biological father had caused trouble many times, even blocking Cen Feng’s door, not letting him out unless he got money.
So, the suppression they had suspected before wasn’t unfounded. Resources that should have been Cen Feng’s were all distributed to his teammates, and he had to take the blame for his teammates’ black material. Whenever there was negative news about S-Star, it always ended up being pinned on Cen Feng.
One by one, these incidents laid bare the darkness of that fame-driven world. Fans condemned the company, the bandmates, the netizens who had cyberbullied him, and the clickbait accounts that exploited his tragedy for traffic. Yet in the end, no one was ever held accountable.
It was true he had depression. The police found a large amount of depression medication in his home.
It was true he had committed suicide. He had locked all the doors and windows, leaving behind not a single word.
Who could they go and punish?
Those who were meant to be popular remained popular, those who were meant to fade remained obscure. The agency continued to churn out new stars, only occasionally offering superficial memorials to appear humane.
The entertainment circle has the most popularity, but also the least warmth.
In her past life, Xu Zhaixing was just an insignificant fan. Faced with these injustices, she was powerless. Now, reborn in her youth, everything had a chance.
If the set track could not be reversed, then she would strive to sweep away the traps and obstacles on this track, ensuring those terrible future events would never have the possibility to occur.
At this moment, Cen Feng was training far away in City B. Her status as a high school student imposed too many restrictions. At the earliest, she’d have to wait for the weekend to have a chance to go. The most pressing matter right now was still stopping her father from giving money to Xu Zhiwen.
She worked on plans large and small until past midnight before finally going to bed.
Early the next morning, Auntie Liu went upstairs to wake Xu Zhaixing for school. She was a professional bed-dweller, always taking ages to get up. But just as she reached the second floor, Xu Zhaixing came out of her room, fully dressed and ready.
The girl was energetic, her hair in a high ponytail, eyes bright and sparkling, radiating vitality. She greeted Auntie Liu cheerfully and went downstairs for breakfast.
Auntie Liu began to question her perception of reality.
After breakfast, Xu Zhaixing left for school. Looking at the dimly lit sky, she had never felt the morning air so fresh.
This excitement lasted only until she reached the classroom, when the study monitor asked her for the homework.
Xu Zhaixing: Homework???
Study Monitor: Do you have some misunderstanding about your identity as a high school student?
Xu Zhaixing turned to her sleepy-eyed deskmate for help. “Cheng You! Quick, lend me your math test paper to copy!”
Cheng You’s sleepiness vanished. “Say that again. You want to copy my what paper? As the math class representative, you’re sure you want to copy the paper of the person with the worst math grade in the whole class?”
Xu Zhaixing: I’m the math class representative???
Why, when making plans last night, had she forgotten to include ‘studying’ on the list?
The study monitor was quite understanding. “It’s fine, you can hand it in after morning self-study.”
So, Xu Zhaixing spent the entire morning self-study period frantically copying homework. Cheng You, memorizing vocabulary while watching her, asked, “What were you doing yesterday? You ran off so fast after school and didn’t do your homework. Zhou Mingyu blocked me at the school gate for ages, asking if you were out on a date with some random guy!”
Xu Zhaixing didn’t catch it at first. “Zhou Mingyu?”
Cheng You huffed angrily. “You shouldn’t have accepted his chocolate that day! You haven’t even agreed, and he already acts like he’s your boyfriend! All looks and nothing else, and he’s not even bright!”
It took Xu Zhaixing a while to recall. The person Cheng You was talking about… seemed to be her first love.
A relationship that started in their first year of high school, only to be nipped in the bud by the teacher in their second year. She’d even gotten a beating from her mom for early dating.
Afraid of another beating, Xu Zhaixing hadn’t dared to date again in high school.
Then came the family misfortune. Just surviving took all her effort; where would she find the energy for romance?
After falling for Cen Feng, it became even more impossible.
Fangirls don’t need romance.
The chocolate incident was just a couple of days ago. Xu Zhaixing had a toothache then and hadn’t eaten it yet. After finishing the copied homework, she pulled the box of chocolate from her desk and handed it to Cheng You. “Help me return this to Zhou Mingyu.”
Cheng You: “???”
Xu Zhaixing stuffed the chocolate into her arms. “After you return it, I’ll treat you to fried chicken for a whole month!”
Cheng You’s eyes instantly lit up. She grabbed the chocolate and dashed off. She came back panting. “Zhou Mingyu chased after me for ages, asking what it meant. I ignored him!”
Xu Zhaixing gave her a thumbs up. “Well done.”
Praise from Xu Zhaixing made Cheng You oddly bashful. She nudged closer and asked, “Zhaixing, why did you suddenly reject Zhou Mingyu? I thought you liked him.”
Xu Zhaixing opened her math notebook. “Only focused on studying, no heart for romance.”
Cheng You felt her usually playful deskmate had become a bit strange, but couldn’t pinpoint why. Only sometimes during break, when she turned to talk to her, she’d find Xu Zhaixing repeatedly writing a name on her scratch paper.
After school, Cheng You couldn’t help but ask, “Zhaixing, who is Cen Feng?”
Xu Zhaixing’s hands, packing her bag, paused briefly. Looking up, her eyes curved into crescents, her smile brimming with unconcealed tenderness and joy. “He’s someone I really, really like.”
Cheng You: “!!!”
So, you’re not uninterested in romance, you’ve just move target!
Xu Zhaixing had already contacted a tutor, planning to catch up on the high school knowledge she’d forgotten as quickly as possible. After packing her bag, she bid Cheng You goodbye and left.
Her father called during lunch, saying he had a business trip to City B and wouldn’t be back for three or four days, so he couldn’t make the parent-teacher meeting. He promised to bring her chocolate when he returned.
Xu Zhaixing had already thought of a solution for the investment issue, but needed a bit more time. She had been worried Xu Zhiwen might cause more trouble these next few days. Her father’s business trip actually eased her immediate pressure, allowing her to focus on her tutoring with peace of mind.
She escaped quickly, leaving poor Cheng You to be intercepted by Zhou Mingyu again at the school gate.
Zhou Mingyu was tall, his school uniform worn sloppily, giving off a delinquent vibe. With a fierce expression, he blocked the trembling Cheng You, holding the returned box of chocolate. He demanded menacingly, “If you don’t explain clearly what’s going on today, don’t even think about leaving!”
Cheng You clutched her backpack tightly. “Wh-what does it have to do with me! Zhaixing told me to return it to you!”
Zhou Mingyu didn’t believe her. “She loves chocolate so much, how could she possibly return it! Where is she?! Why does she avoid me every day after school? Call her over, I want to ask her myself!”
Cheng You: “Zhaixing went to her math tutoring class! Don’t disturb her studies!”
Zhou Mingyu said angrily, “Her math grades are the best in the whole grade! Why would she need tutoring? Can’t you come up with a better excuse when lying to me? Hurry up! Call her, tell her to come here. She won’t answer my calls!”
Cheng You had never liked him anyway. She wasn’t like those other girls who fawned over looks. She valued academic performance and character more! This Zhou Mingyu, touted as the ‘school heartthrob’, had nothing going for him except his looks—bad personality, bottom-of-the-class grades, completely unworthy of Zhaixing!
For some reason, courage surged in Cheng You. She lifted her chin and declared firmly, “Just give up! Zhaixing will never like you! She already has someone she likes!”
Zhou Mingyu: “Impossible! How could she possibly like someone else over me!”
Cheng You: “Why not! That guy’s name is Cen Feng. Zhaixing likes him so, so much!”
Hearing an actual name, Zhou Mingyu thought, could it be true?
He was furious!
The whole school knew that he, the school heartthrob, Zhou Mingyu, was pursuing Xu Zhaixing, the class belle of class seven! What blind fool dared to come between their epic love story?!
So, the next day at school…
Cheng You, munching on a bread roll, threw herself beside Xu Zhaixing, who was diligently memorizing ‘Zhu Zhiwu Convinces the Qin Army to Withdraw’. “Zhaixing! It’s bad! Zhou Mingyu is going around yelling at every classroom door, asking who Cen Feng is, telling him to come out and fight one-on-one!”
Xu Zhaixing: “???”
Damn it, Zhou Mingyu, you’re dead.
You dare challenge my idol? You’re dead.
**