When the Stars Tremble

The Thirty-First Star

Jiang Chuyi received the “good news” from Gao Ning during a break in filming.

At the time, she was resting with her head on Xin He’s shoulder.

Gao Ning said that after several months of negotiation between Star City and IM, they finally gave the green light to offer Jiang Chuyi a permanent guest spot on “Shining Stars”.

Jiang Chuyi was surprised by this news and said, “But I haven’t finished filming yet.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve had the boss communicate with Director Li. You don’t have much filming left, so it won’t affect the progress much. Anyway, you’ll just need to take a few days off for the first three episodes of this variety show, and they’ve already rearranged your schedule for the rest.”

Jiang Chuyi was quiet for a moment before saying, “Alright then.”

After hanging up, she sighed.

Xin He nudged her, “Why are you so down? Do you know how many people want to film a show with BloodxGentle? This variety show is definitely going to be a hit. If you perform well and gain some exposure, you might even make it to the second tier.”

“It’s mainly because I don’t do many variety shows.”

Jiang Chuyi felt that her personality was quite wooden, unlike Chen Yi and Zhao Guangyu, who were very interesting people. Apart from her passable acting skills, she wasn’t good at playing along with jokes in daily life and wasn’t really suited for variety shows.

“Also, before I started filming, the teachers said that apart from some promotional activities, they don’t allow actors to participate in other variety shows before finishing filming. It’s considered taboo.”

“What’s the big deal?” Xin He clicked her tongue. “Don’t be too honest. Recording a variety show isn’t the same as overlapping filming. It’s just a matter of taking a few days off to attend an event. Besides, there’s a difference between TV series and movies.”

Jiang Chuyi asked, “By the way, why didn’t you go? Isn’t your manager interested?”

“I’m about to start filming again.” Xin He patted her head. “Are you stupid? Did you forget what you introduced me? It’s the movie with Li Qunwu that I mentioned before.”

“Oh, right.”

Seeing Jiang Chuyi’s expression, Xin He laughed, “What’s wrong? Do you want me to accompany you?”

Jiang Chuyi lowered her shoulders. “I feel like I might be more relaxed if you’re there.”

Xin He snorted arrogantly. “Alright, if I have time later, I can consider going as a guest and recording an episode with you.”

Jiang Chuyi nodded.

Xin He spoke with a serious tone, “Recording a variety show isn’t simple. There are a lot of schemes and intrigues. Be careful and don’t get tricked.”

“I’ve been in the industry longer than you.” Jiang Chuyi smiled.

Xin He rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, you’re the senior.”

Even though reality shows weren’t Jiang Chuyi’s forte, just as Gao Ning said, anything related to BloodxGentle was a traffic harvester. Kaijun must have wrestled with multiple parties to secure this spot, so Jiang Chuyi had no choice but to brace herself and deal with it.

For more than a month, after memorizing her lines, Jiang Chuyi would search online for joke collections and had Little Zhong buy her several books on how to improve emotional intelligence, which she would read in her spare time.

Even Chen Yi got annoyed by her occasional phone consultations. “Don’t worry, recording a variety show is much simpler than filming a drama! Besides, aren’t you close with Zong Ye and the others? What are you nervous about? Just be yourself and let loose!”

Jiang Chuyi continued to ask, “Will they provide a script for this recording? Is there anything I need to pay attention to?”

Chen Yi sighed, “I’m not part of the directing team. How would I know? But I guess it’s free-form. Just follow the program’s arrangements when the time comes. Anyway, you have a follow PD who will tell you the process.”

The PD in charge of following Jiang Chuyi for “Shining Stars” was called Feng Jia. In May, she visited the set several times to conduct various heart-to-heart talks and in-depth interviews with her.

On June 2nd, accompanied by Feng Jia, Jiang Chuyi returned to her hotel room to pack her things, ready to leave for Beijing to film the pilot.

Despite being mentally prepared, she still felt a little uncomfortable having the VJ guy following her around with a camera, recording her every word and action.

Feng Jia quietly prompted her off-camera, “Pack your personal belongings and then you can introduce the items you’re bringing.”

Jiang Chuyi squatted on the ground, showing the VJ guy her items one by one: sunscreen, fragrance, her usual small blanket, and a stuffed rabbit she slept with.

Feng Jia smiled and praised, “Ms. Jiang is so beautiful and photogenic.”

*

After arriving in Beijing, Feng Miaotong first went to the studio for styling and met the behind-the-scenes staff of “Shining Stars”.

The directing and writing team alone had nearly thirty people, not including the DIT, main editor, and other technical coordinators.

The first guest meeting segment was recorded in a one-to-one replica of a real living room built in their studio.

There were more than forty camera positions around it.

Seeing this setup, Feng Miaotong had to sigh. IM was indeed the top management company in the country. They really spared no expense when it came to their pillars.

While getting her makeup done, she chatted with her girlfriends in the group on her phone.

When her little girlfriends learned that she was going to record a reality show with BloodxGentle and have “close” contact with them for many days, they all teased her, saying “love is about to arrive”.

After all, BloodxGentle was known in the industry for being “aloof”. Since their debut, they had been extremely popular, taking the independent beauty route and rarely collaborating with other artists. Now that their five-year period was coming to an end, IM had no choice but to expand their business.

Like most people, Feng Miaotong was very interested in these young top streams but never had the opportunity to meet them.

She was picking emoticons to respond to her little girlfriends when she suddenly heard a commotion nearby.

Glancing sideways, she saw four people standing not far away, surrounded by a few staff members. Her heart skipped a beat.

The makeup artist called out to her softly, “Ms. Feng, the makeup is almost done. Do you see anywhere that needs touching up?”

“Huh?”

Feng Miaotong snapped back to attention and leaned forward, carefully examining her makeup in the mirror. She pointed to her lips. “It seems a bit dry here. Let’s add another layer of gloss.”

The PD told her that since not everyone had arrived yet and the official recording hadn’t started, she could go over and chat with the other guests to get familiar with them.

Feng Miaotong responded.

The company had crafted a bright and energetic girl image for Feng Miaotong, so her hairstyle today wasn’t too elaborate, tied in a clean and refreshing high ponytail.

However, as she walked towards the recording area and got closer to those few people, Feng Miaotong suddenly felt a little regretful, thinking she should have gone for a more ladylike look.

Despite thinking this, Feng Miaotong still displayed a sweet, standard smile.

The men sitting on the sofa stopped chatting and turned their heads to look at her. Feng Miaotong’s heart tightened, but she greeted them boldly.

They were quite friendly, returning her greeting, but their expressions didn’t show much reaction.

She felt a little disappointed and sat down on the empty sofa to the right, feeling somewhat restrained.

Fortunately, Xu Jiayu wasn’t very familiar with BloodxGentle either. Unable to join their conversation, he just sat on the side playing with his phone.

Feng Miaotong followed his example and started playing with her phone too, secretly observing them.

The one laughing should be Wang Tan, wearing an earring, with an excessively delicate face, even more enchanting than a woman’s. Next to him was Ji Kai, constantly talking about something. He had wheat-colored skin and handsome features, looking quite cheerful.

The two sitting at the very edge didn’t talk much, basically just listening to the other two speak without saying much themselves…

The one with gray hair was Fu Cheng, with a palpably cold aura, occasionally curling his lips in what seemed like a mocking expression. He was very handsome but arrogant as hell, with a Bking vibe.

Feng Miaotong’s gaze fell on Zong Ye.

Among the trendy men of BloodxGentle, Zong Ye appeared very traditional and elegant. On this sweltering summer day, he wore a clean, well-fitted shirt with neatly folded cuffs. He had a slender waist and long legs, exuding a cold and restrained aura.

Feng Miaotong typed on her phone screen: “Right now, I’m only a few meters away from them. I can only say, they’re all top-notch handsome guys. I feel like I’m in heaven…”

Her WeChat group was very active.
– “Tong Tong, quickly take a few sneaky photos so we can also feast our eyes.”
– “First-class handsome guys and lowly us, a perfect match.”
– “Which one has Sister Feng set her sights on?”
– “Is Zong Ye there? Let me see him.”

Feng Miaotong looked around to make sure the cameras weren’t rolling yet, then held up her phone, opened the camera, and pretended to take a selfie.

After snapping a couple of photos, Zong Ye, perhaps sensing the lens pointed at him, glanced in her direction in the middle of chatting with Ji Kai.

He raised the corners of his eyes, a hint of a smile still lingering on his lips from speaking, looking casual and at ease.

Feng Miaotong’s hand trembled. She instantly felt incredibly embarrassed and immediately lowered her head, sending countless exclamation marks in the group: “I’m so embarrassed!!!! I got caught secretly photographing Zong Ye!!!! Help me!!!!! We even made eye contact for two seconds!!!!! It seemed like he was laughing at me!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!”

– “What kind of novel plot is this? Tong Tong, your love is coming.”
– “He smiled at you. Does that mean he likes you? Definitely!”
– “In front of a handsome guy, it’s not called embarrassment. It’s called getting their attention! We’re going for the dumb beauty character set!!!!”

Feng Miaotong wasn’t that narcissistic, but her girlfriends’ words in the group still somewhat comforted her.

Time passed slowly, and the remaining guests arrived one after another.

Just as Feng Miaotong was feeling regretful and annoyed, she suddenly heard a gentle, apologetic voice –

“Sorry, I’m late.”

She couldn’t help but turn her head to look.

The woman who arrived was wearing black overalls, a white work-style short-sleeved top, and had her hair tied in a very low bun, tucked behind her ears. She had a slender and simple appearance, very gentle, but not really stunning.

Feng Miaotong wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but the few people from BloodxGentle who were chatting all shifted their gazes to stare at this woman.

Feng Miaotong couldn’t remember her name for a moment. Suddenly, she heard Wang Tan lazily say, “Jiang Chuyi, are you putting on airs? Making us wait for you for so long.”

It was evident that this woman had a very shy personality. She sat down next to Feng Miaotong and was still softly explaining to them, “The afternoon filming was delayed, and then there was some traffic on the way. I’m sorry.”

Judging from their dialogue, they seemed to have a very familiar relationship. Wang Tan wasn’t as polite to her as he was to others.

Feng Miaotong felt a little puzzled. She blinked and struck up a conversation with her, “Hello, I’m Feng Miaotong. You can just call me Tong Tong.”

Jiang Chuyi discovered that she wasn’t the last one to arrive and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “Hello, I’m Jiang Chuyi. You can also call me Chuyi.”

They were chatting in a low voice.

Ji Kai spoke in a very sarcastic tone and said towards them, “Teacher Jiang, you’re all windblown and covered in dust. Didn’t you even get styled? Is it because you’ve seen us handsome guys too many times and lost the novelty? We’re not worth your attention anymore?”

Jiang Chuyi glanced at Ji Kai in embarrassment and helplessly responded in a low voice, “I did my makeup in the car.”

Feng Miaotong couldn’t help but look over at them.

Zong Ye had stopped joking around at some point and was looking at the person beside her. His expression was indescribable. Ji Kai and Wang Tan were both chatting with Jiang Chuyi, but he remained silent in a deliberate way.

Feng Miaotong joked, “You seem quite familiar with them?”

Jiang Chuyi was slightly stunned. “We’re alright. We filmed a movie together before.”

“Oh, I see.” Feng Miaotong suddenly understood. “No wonder.”

“What do you mean?”

Feng Miaotong wrinkled her nose, making a very cute expression, and leaned close to her ear, “Before you arrived, they weren’t really talking to other people. They were especially aloof.”

“Really?” Jiang Chuyi thought for a moment and told her, “They have great personalities. They probably just don’t know everyone well yet. They’ll be fine after getting familiar for a couple of days.”

……

……

After Jiang Chuyi, Xu Zhi and Quan Yongning also arrived at the recording site.

These two were experienced variety show veterans with strong control skills. After they arrived, they took the initiative to bring up some topics and interact with these young people. The atmosphere became much more relaxed and lively, unlike before when everyone was chatting amongst themselves.

When everything was ready, the director told them to prepare. In ten minutes, they would start recording.

The process was roughly that Xu Zhi, Quan Yongning, and the BloodxGentle members would stay on the sofa and chat, while the other guests would enter one by one and introduce themselves.

Jiang Chuyi, like the people before her, walked to the designated spot, sat down, and began to introduce herself.

“My name is Jiang Chuyi. Jiang is the ‘jiang’ in ginger, and Chuyi is…”

“A good day?” Wang Tan slowly interjected.

Jiang Chuyi paused, and laughter erupted around her.

Reality shows are different from filming movies or TV series. They focus on “real reactions”. Because it’s almost full-time filming, even if there are small incidents, they rely on post-editing and won’t easily stop the recording to avoid interrupting the guests’ emotions.

Jiang Chuyi decided to ignore Wang Tan’s wisecracks and finish what she had to say, “Chu is the ‘chu’ in original intention, and Yi is the ‘yi’ in suitable for home and family. You can call me Little Jiang or Chuyi.”

Zong Ye repeated in a low voice, “Little Jiang…?”

He didn’t know what amusing thought crossed his mind. He turned his head, his excessively handsome face carrying a hint of mockery. “Teacher Chuyi, you can also call me Little Zong.”

Jiang Chuyi: “…”

She struggled to maintain a calm expression and decided to ignore Zong Ye as well.

It took a few hours to finish recording the pilot. The makeup artists touched up their makeup, and they moved locations to shoot the posters.

By the time they wrapped up, it was already around 2 AM.

Jiang Chuyi’s face was about to stiffen from smiling. She was exhausted, her back and waist aching. It felt even harder than filming.

Apart from this, Jiang Chuyi still had some worries, afraid of ruining the opportunity that the company had worked so hard to get. On the way to eat, she asked Feng Jia, “How was my performance today? I don’t have much experience with variety shows. If there are any problems, please let me know so I can adjust.”

Feng Jia’s tone was excited, “Not at all! Your performance was quite good today. There were a few small interactions with the guests that were quite witty. We were pleasantly surprised.”

“Really?” Jiang Chuyi tried to recall in confusion.

Feng Jia couldn’t be referring to those segments where she was choked up by Wang Tan and Ji Kai, right?

“Yes, you can interact more with Zong Ye. You two have a strong CP vibe.” Feng Jia tried to guide her. “Although ‘Shining Stars’ is a reality show, the program still needs more highlight moments. You know, the things that can spark the most discussion nowadays are the pink bubbles between handsome guys and beautiful girls. So we’ll assign some separate side missions for you and Zong Ye later on.”

“Me and Zong Ye?” Jiang Chuyi pointed at herself in surprise. “We have CP vibes?”

“Of course!”

A major reason why Kaijun was able to secure this permanent guest spot was that when the directing and writing team was researching content related to Zong Ye, they accidentally discovered the “Yi Jian Zong Qing” supertopic.

As several of the writers were digging through the materials in there, they gradually became immersed and even sincerely created a small group to gush about the sweet moments.

Just now, when they were shooting the posters, Feng Jia had sneakily live-streamed Zong Ye and Jiang Chuyi’s interactions to them.

Zong Ye, a male celebrity known for being very tactful, actually took the initiative to ask Jiang Chuyi if she was thirsty and had his assistant go get water.

That subtle possessiveness, along with his calm, assertive, yet doting boyfriend vibes, naturally emerged.

Writer A: “Oh my god, oh my god, the chemistry between these two is so sticky, suppressed yet ambiguous… Are they really not dating?! I don’t believe it!!!!”

Writer B: “Teacher Zong, maybe you should restrain yourself a bit. The way you look at Chuyi is quite… There are so many people around, it’s not like you’re in bed.」”

Feng Jia: “I witnessed it with my own eyes on-site. Zong Ye really struck up conversations with Jiang Chuyi at every opportunity. The female guests all came together, but Teacher Zong hasn’t even said a single word to Feng Miaotong yet…”

Writer C: “Feng Jia, why don’t you go remind Zong Ye’s PD that this is a reality show, not a dating show… I hate this. Why isn’t this a dating show? I already have nine hundred and ninety plot ideas to write for them [clutches head].”

Writer D: “Zong Ye, you little rascal, you’re really so doting!!! I really want to repost this to the supertopic. It’s so sweet, so sweet!!!! Why are only the few of us able to gush about this… So happy yet so painful [sobs uncontrollably].”

Feng Jia: “I really can’t take it anymore!!! Damn it! Who understands?!!! Who can possibly understand?!!! I can no longer be a professional reality show PD!!!”

……

……

Jiang Chuyi had no awareness of this at all. She asked Feng Jia in confusion, “For example? What kind of separate side missions?”

Feng Jia blinked, “For example, tomorrow morning, you’ll be responsible for going to Teacher Zong’s room to wake him up.”

Jiang Chuyi: “…”

She hesitated, stammering, “This, this, isn’t this inappropriate?”

“Don’t worry.” Feng Jia reassured her, “It’s not just you and Zong Ye. Miaotong and Wang Tan will also have similar interactions.”

Jiang Chuyi: “Alright then.”

*

The gathering spot was a restaurant. The program team specially booked a private room for the guests. The VJs also paused their filming work to let them relax and chat while eating, to increase their familiarity with each other.

Without the cameras, Xu Jiayu also loosened up and started chatting with Ji Kai and the others.

Everyone around was chatting enthusiastically, but Jiang Chuyi was lost in thought alone. Thinking about the task Feng Jia had arranged for her, she ate the meal without tasting anything.

It wasn’t until her phone vibrated twice that Jiang Chuyi absentmindedly picked it up and unlocked it.

On WeChat, Zong Ye had sent her a message.

“Is there something on my face? You’ve glanced at me several times.”

Jiang Chuyi was stunned. How did he notice?

She reflexively raised her head to look at him.

Zong Ye looked back at her, seemingly smiling, and mouthed, asking her what was wrong.

Jiang Chuyi quickly moved her phone under the table.

She hesitated, not knowing if she could spoil the program team’s arrangements in advance.

Feng Miaotong was sitting right next to Jiang Chuyi. While reaching for a dish, she happened to notice this scene.

Following his gaze, she glanced at Jiang Chuyi.

Jiang Chuyi was looking down, her fingers going back and forth on the keyboard, typing slowly.

Feng Miaotong didn’t see the chat content, only noticing the two characters in the chat box at the top.

Zong Ye?

Although surprised, her face remained calm as she secretly suspected that her eyes were playing tricks on her…

Using the motion of ladling porridge as cover, Feng Miaotong looked at Zong Ye again.

He lowered his eyelashes and was indeed also holding his phone, a hint of a smile on his lips, looking like he was in a good mood.

Zong Ye stared at his phone for a full minute, trying to understand what she meant by the message she sent –

Jiang Chuyi: “Be careful when you sleep tonight.”