All eyes were now on Ji Wei and Lu Shenxing. Although no one heard what Lu Shenxing had actually said, many people began to whisper among themselves.

    “Does this non-celebrity actually know Film Emperor Lu? He’s dressed so plainly, I thought he was just an ordinary art student. His family must have some connections.”

    “I should have tried to get closer to him earlier.”

    As a level-ten scholar on all things Lu Shenxing, Ji Wei suddenly felt the situation was getting tricky.

    He really hadn’t expected his idol to have happened to see his live stream, let alone hear that last sentence.

    Ji Wei slowly raised his head… stalling for time.

    The young man’s mind was a battlefield. At this moment, would it be more useful to deny it was him and claim it was his identical twin brother? Or would it be more effective to immediately start showering him with excessive praise?

    He looked up and met Lu Shenxing’s dark, deep eyes, which were fixed on him with intense focus. “Not going to admit it?”

    Ji Wei’s gaze drifted away as he mumbled, “It’s not that…”

    Before he could figure out how to respond, the man leaned in slightly, extended his hand towards him, and said lazily with his eyes lowered, “Then I’ll just have to reintroduce myself.”

    “Hello, I’m Lu Shenxing.”

    Lu Shenxing’s final sentence wasn’t loud, just enough for everyone to hear. Upon hearing his words, the crowd stopped their chatter.

    Because immediately after, Lu Shenxing also greeted the other guests, especially the later-arriving Master Ma Liqing. As a leading figure in the world of traditional Chinese studies, he spent a long time chatting with him, turning sideways to listen attentively.

    His idol was giving him so much face!

    Ji Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

    Once all the guests had arrived and the cameras had been adjusted for the live broadcast, the first episode of National Style officially began.

    As soon as the live stream went online on Yancheng Television Station’s official website, a massive number of viewers flooded in, though they were mostly concentrated in Lu Shenxing’s stream room.

    Zhao Yue’s stream room had 1.45 million viewers…

    Su Wen’s stream room had 870,000 viewers…

    Du Ruosong’s stream room had 340,000 viewers…

    And Ji Wei’s stream room had… 67 viewers. The contrast was truly bleak. A planner even suggested replacing him with another non-celebrity.

    However, the directors had no time to worry about Ji Wei.

    Because, just as the show began, the number of viewers in Lu Shenxing’s stream room had already reached… 12.06 million!

    This number startled Director Zhang and the assistant directors. They knew Lu Shenxing had high box office appeal, but with his low public exposure and his refusal to participate in any activities unrelated to filming, they thought his popularity had its limits.

    But now they knew they were wrong. To be this popular was simply terrifying.

    They had updated the website’s system in advance to prevent it from crashing due to high traffic, but because of Lu Shenxing, the site still went blank for a full ten minutes, forcing them to interrupt the live broadcast.

    Ten minutes later, the stream returned to normal.

    [Is it starting??!! Aaaaaah I’m going to die! Film Emperor Lu is actually recording a variety show! This is a once-in-a-lifetime event!]

    [The countdown is starting!]

    [Is anyone screen recording? I’m at work and can’t turn on the sound, but I don’t want to miss Teacher Lu’s voice. His real voice is… so dreamy.]

    [Don’t worry, I started recording a long time ago.]

    [3,]

    [2,]

    [1!]

    As the countdown reached zero, a picturesque mountain landscape slowly unfolded before everyone’s eyes. Drone footage showed the production team’s vehicles winding their way along the mountain road.

    They were split into three cars.

    The original plan was for old Sir Ma Liqing and Du Ruosong to be in one car, Heavenly Queen Su Wen and Ji Wei in another, and Lu Shenxing and Zhao Yue together. After all, a respected film emperor and a popular influencer celebrity sitting together would naturally generate buzz.

    Zhao Yue’s manager was no ordinary person; he had single-handedly launched three generations of influencer celebrities. If one were to guess, he had probably gotten the script in advance, hired a water army to write press releases shipping the couple, and was just waiting for the show to air to release them online.

    That being said.

    Qi Ke, who was riding along in the car, sighed. But Film Emperor Lu had specifically requested for Ji Wei to ride with him. What could they do? Couldn’t they just let them be friends at first sight?

    Although Ji Wei and Lu Shenxing were both in the back seat, the camera was constantly focused on Lu Shenxing. The cameraman himself felt embarrassed and finally, with a pang of conscience, reluctantly turned the lens to Ji Wei’s face.

    The morning sun streamed through the car window, spilling wantonly onto Ji Wei’s face. The young man’s features were exquisite, with pupils the color of glass and a complexion so fair it seemed to hold moonlight, giving it a near-translucent quality, like a subtle and restrained ink wash painting.

    Beside him, Lu Shenxing’s brows were sharp and his nose was high. His facial contours were clean and distinct, with a stronger, more defined look. He quietly watched the young man.

    The impact of this shot was so strong that the bullet comments actually fell silent for a moment.

    [Aaaaaah holy crap! I need to know everything about this little brother within a minute! He’s too, too, too good-looking! Why isn’t he famous with looks like that!!]

    [Are all non-celebrities this good-looking now? Looking at myself in the mirror, I’m sorry!! I’m dragging everyone down!]

    [I’m so here for these visuals!! Is he a freshman at the acting academy?? I want to add him to my collection of side-idols.]

    National Style already had a high level of attention. A netizen immediately took a nine-photo grid of Lu Shenxing and Ji Wei and posted it on Weibo. In just a few minutes, it had thousands of retweets.

    Ji Wei knew none of this. The mountain road was long, and after four or five hours in the car, he started to feel carsick and drowsy. Remembering that he was on a live broadcast, he forced himself to stay awake, his eyelids repeatedly fluttering shut.

    Qi Ke saw Ji Wei’s state through the rearview mirror and said thoughtfully, “Our production team is actually quite humane. If you really want to sleep…”

    Ji Wei: “Thank you, Teacher Xiao Qi.”

    The next second, Ji Wei was asleep.

    Qi Ke: “…”

    This kid was too honest.

    He suddenly became worried. Since he started his internship at the TV station, every “non-celebrity” he had encountered had tried every trick in the book to stand out on the show.

    They were less non-celebrities and more like wannabe internet celebrities.

    Only Ji Wei truly acted like a non-celebrity.

    Qi Ke sighed and opened the live stream page. He could already guess what the bullet comments would say about Ji Wei—things like “delicate” or “boring.” He could guess it with his eyes closed.

    However, when he opened the stream room.

    The number of viewers in Ji Wei’s room had slowly risen from the initial 67 to 12,304.

    And the bullet comments were all…

    [Aaaaaah I’m dead, I could watch this little brother sleep all day!]

    [Sister, me too! Watching him sleep makes me feel so calm. Who wouldn’t want to watch a little brother with godly visuals?]

    [And he’s in the same frame as Film Emperor Lu! Two godly faces. No offense, but I really think this little brother is much better looking than Zhao Yue. Please debut immediately!]

    Qi Ke: I’m sorry! I know nothing about the world of lookism admirers!

    Ji Wei was sleeping by the window. He had been resting his head properly on the headrest, but as the vehicle jolted over a bump in the mountain, his head started knocking against the window, making a rather loud sound.

    Qi Ke saw Film Emperor Lu frown for a rare moment, his already unapproachable aura turning even colder. His heart skipped a beat. Was Film Emperor Lu annoyed at being disturbed? He immediately turned back, ready to have the cameraman wake Ji Wei up.

    Lu Shenxing raised his index finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet. The moment he looked up, his handsome brows arched, making his eyes seem more deep-set and his presence particularly powerful.

    Qi Ke didn’t dare to say another word.

    He suddenly recalled something someone had said about Lu Shenxing: “He’s such a gentle person, yet I’m afraid of him.” This was probably that feeling. He was clearly a very gentle person, yet he carried a distinct sense of distance.

    It was so distinct that even when he said nothing, just a light glance was enough to make people around him not dare to look him in the eye.

    Just as Qi Ke was about to turn back, he witnessed an incredible sight, so much so that he had to rub his eyes.

    Lu Shenxing reached out and very naturally supported the young man’s head, letting it rest on his own shoulder. Perhaps afraid of waking him, he didn’t change his position again.

    The gesture looked incredibly gentle.

    The bullet comments went wild.

    [Wow, so this is what Film Emperor Lu is like off-screen? He actually takes the initiative to take care of a junior. It really doesn’t fit his big-shot persona.]

    [Aaaaaah I’m dead! This is the first time I’ve seen such a gentle side of Film Emperor Lu! They look so good together.]

    [Old Lu, just admit it, you’ve had your eye on the little brother since you got in the car, haven’t you?!]

    And the sleeping Ji Wei was completely oblivious, only feeling that things had gotten a bit more… comfortable.

    ***

    In the other car, Zhao Yue didn’t even glance at the camera. He was staring at his phone, not saying a word, clearly holding back his anger.

    The cameraman saw that he was in a bad mood and proactively asked if he wanted to take a break.

    Zhao Yue gave a lukewarm “mm.”

    After the live stream was paused, Zhao Yue took the initiative to speak to Su Wen. “Sister Su Wen, what’s the deal with that Ji Wei? Which company did he sign with? It’s the first day of the show and he’s already bought his way onto the trending topics.”

    He handed his phone to Su Wen.

    The second trending topic was “National Style‘s Non-Celebrity Little Brother’s Godly Visuals.”

    What was even more infuriating was that the top trending topic was also about Ji Wei.

    —Dying from Sweetness over Lu Shenxing and Ji Wei

    Su Wen didn’t even look at him, closing her eyes to rest.

    Su Wen was a nationally renowned Heavenly Queen. She was already famous when Zhao Yue was in elementary school, so even if she snubbed him, he could only endure it.

    Having been snubbed, he turned to talk to others. “It’s not that I look down on newcomers trying desperately to get ahead. We’ve all been through that. But latching onto Teacher Lu to get on the trending topics… I really look down on that kind of behavior. I find it utterly despicable…”

    The car suddenly fell silent.

    Come to think of it, when National Style was officially announced, hadn’t he piggybacked on Lu Shenxing’s fame for even more trending topics?

    Zhao Yue didn’t notice the strange atmosphere and continued to talk animatedly.

    “I did my undergrad at the Beijing Film Academy and my master’s at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. I’ve never even heard of this Ji Wei person. He must have graduated from some third-rate art school.”

    Finally, he concluded with a sympathetic tone, “A slacker student on a knowledge-based show like National Style… I wonder if he’ll even be able to keep up.”

    In fact, he wasn’t the only one who thought this way.

    Although Weibo was filled with “Aaaaaah, little brother, I’m so here for you,” the discerning gossip forums had begun to question the professionalism of National Style‘s casting choices.

    [Jack-o’-lantern] I can understand adding Zhao Yue; the show needs influencer celebrities, and he’s considered highly educated among them. But what’s with this non-celebrity? Is his only special skill being good-looking? I’m laughing.

    [Goblin Invasion] I personally find him very easy on the eyes. If you don’t like him, you don’t have to watch. Who’s begging you to?

    [Umbrella Slime] The person above sounds like a water army member. How many influencer celebrities get criticized for having only a face and no talent? And now a good-looking non-celebrity shows up and he’s praised to the heavens?

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