Reborn as a Substitute

Ji Sheng’s fingers clenched.

“Just… thinking of the past, I felt a little sorry.”

“Thinking of the past?” Xie Xuanming emphasised the “past” extremely hard and kept insisting, “Don’t you have amnesia?”

“Maybe I remembered something at that time?” Ji Sheng weighed in, “Now it’s fractured.”

“It’s really timely.” Xie Xuanming sneered, “How much do you remember?”

“Remember…” Ji Sheng’s heart sank; he turned his head and smiled meaningfully at Xie Xuanming, “You are so rude, Emperor Xie.”

Xie Xuanming: ……

Xie Xuanming looked at him for a while, then turned away blankly: ” Don’t get any funny ideas.”

“Okay.”

Ji Sheng accepted the good advice, thinking secretly，

Don’t go to bed with me if you are so tough, ah.

What happened to the promise to keep your body like a charm for the white moonlight?

Tsk.

Sure enough, men are all greedy animals.

Ji Sheng returned to the villa and found that the bag he had packed was gone. He thought for a moment, his gaze wandering to the study.

“Where’s my bag?” Ji Sheng knocked on the door of the study and asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t understand, I haven’t seen it.” Xie Xuanming didn’t even raise his head.

Ji Sheng didn’t believe that such a big bag could disappear into thin air, but Xie Xuanming made it clear that he wouldn’t help.

Ji Sheng was a little helpless. He thought that Xie Xuanming would not let him go easily, but he didn’t expect that Emperor Xie could be so naive and come up with such a bad idea as hiding his bag.

Ji Sheng sighed and had to postpone his departure plan a little bit.

However, he did not expect that the opportunity to move out would come much faster than he thought.

“A completely closed variety show?”

“Yes, it’s called “Music First 2”.”

As soon as the program name was said, Ji Sheng went silent, holding his mobile phone.

Lu Haoren looked at his phone to confirm that the call was not interrupted: “Hello? Xiao Hui, are you still listening?”

“Ah, I’m listening.” Ji Sheng hurriedly picked it up, “Which platform does this variety show belong to?”

“KUZI.”

The expected answer; Ji Sheng clenched his mobile phone tight: “Their variety shows are not very good.”

KUZI, one of the largest online platforms in China, was an absolute exposure bomb with its variety show dominating the charts all year round.

And more famous than the quality of KUZI’s variety show was KUZI’s——

Malicious editing.

As a participant of the first season of KUZI’s “Music First”, Ji Sheng could be said to have a deep understanding of KUZI’s evil cut.

“True.” Lu Haoren admitted, “But there is a lot of traffic, and the company will not give up this variety show.”

After all, Niepan also needed a chance of exposure.

The sign-up requirements for KUZI’s variety shows were as high as their popularity. Whether a little band like Niepan would be selected could only be determined depending on follow-up discussions.

While the company was trying to grab this resource for Niepan, Ji Sheng got another giant pie-from-the-sky —— Traffic Night.

Every year, celebrities with intense popularity across the Internet were invited to the Traffic Night. Big celebrities such as Xie Xuanming and Sheng Kongzhi were naturally on the list, while paste newcomers like Ji Hui were purely the objects of the organisers’ charity.

Or giving face to Xie Xuanming.

After all, the organisers didn’t even invite Sheng Kongzhi for Xie Xuanming’s sake, so it was not a big deal to add a person.

On the night of the Traffic Night, as the stars gathered, all kinds of big and small flowers competed with each other, swinging their colourful dresses on the red carpet.

In this carnival of cameras and fashion, the male stars were more often relegated to the role of accompaniment, serving as accessories to the grand beauties and almost unnoticeable in the crowd of flowers.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Xie Xuanming, a figure that had been on the cusp of public opinion all the year round, was naturally the darling of the media. On this occasion, instead of being a green leaf for the flowers, he was more like Hotan jade that tempted the beauties to rush towards it, full of desire to climb the edge of its pale coldness.

Bai Ling, the little flower newcomer, glanced at the man’s upright figure in the centre of the first row of seats.

Who didn’t know that Emperor Xie generated a lot of traffic. If you could take a photo next to him and hire a water army to push “god and goddess cp”, “handsome men and beautiful women in the entertainment industry”, “a movie star and a little white flower” topics… the bonus would be amazing.

Bai Ling’s little calculations were beautiful; she pulled up her light yellow shawl and walked towards Xie Xuanming, full of charm.

But just as she was about to walk to the seat in the first row, a large floral gown suddenly plunged in from the side. Bai Ling was shocked; when she looked, she found that it was Qi Meimiao, the “national sister” who had become a hit in recent days.

The swaying floral gown daintily occupied the feng shui spot that Bai Ling valued so much.

Bai Ling’s face turned black.

It’s okay, there is a place on the other side, she cheered herself up.

Who knew that another gauze princess dress would dangle past, and Hua Wenwen, the heroine of the popular online drama, would lift the tail of her fluffy skirt and naturally take a seat on Xie Xuanming’s right.

Bai Ling: ……

Bai Ling: F!

Not to be outdone, Bai Ling raised her skirt and swooped in, covering her mouth and shyly saying, “Sister, don’t mind if I do this,” while forcibly sitting down and squeezing the floral gown aside.

Before she could sit down, she saw a young man come in late and point to the seat as if he was blind, “There is no one here, can I sit?”

Bai Ling was stunned: Are you here to push a cp too??

The young man covered his mouth and smiled: Sister, don’t be restricted by gender.

He sat down and another spot was taken.

In a flash, three chairs were crowded with four or five people.

The staff member felt like crying without tears: “Aunties, this seat was originally reserved for someone.”

The aunties smiled and nodded, none of them moving out as if they suddenly went deaf. 

The staff was on the verge of collapse when he saw a black suit emerge from a sea of colours, like a silent night crow flying out of the flowers.

Taken aback, the staff cried out, “Emperor Xie, your seat is here, where are you going?”

“To breathe.” Xie Xuanming said indifferently, turned and left.

He was already the centre of attention, and when he got up at this moment, the cameras in the venue turned and focused on him in an instant.

Accompanied by flashes and whispers all the way, Xie Xuanming calmly walked through the hollow brilliance to the shadows that the spotlight could not reach.

Ji Sheng leisurely stood in the corner. It was good to get into such a big event, but the price was that the organisers didn’t have a seat for him.

The staff was also very embarrassed about this missing seat and not being able to provide every turnip with its hole. His tone was full of sympathy and guilt when he informed Ji Sheng about the problem.

However, the staff was surprised to find that after hearing the news that he had been neglected, the poor newcomer showed no irritation, but nodded without changing his expression: “Okay, I’ll just stand on the side, you guys have worked hard.”

“There is no camera over there!” The staff reminded in amazement.

“It’s okay.” Ji Sheng smiled, “No one would take my pictures anyway.”

How calm Ji Sheng was when he said this, and how surprised he was when Xie Xuanming took his place beside him.

“Why are you here?” Ji Sheng widened his eyes slightly, “Isn’t your seat in the front?”

“You think I’m annoying?” Xie Xuanming asked blandly.

“Not at all.” Ji Sheng shook his head, noticed Xie Xuanming’s bad mood and shut up wisely.

But after a while, he couldn’t help but say, “There is no camera here.”

Xie Xuanming said coldly: “Wherever I am, there will be cameras. Just stand there.”

Ji Sheng said, “Oh.”

So arrogant.

But he didn’t hate it.

Ji Sheng leaned against the wall, the shadows blocking most of the peeping eyes or camera lenses. He had the illusion that he was a traveller who forgot to bring an umbrella on a rainy day, and he and Xie Xuanming hid under the eaves to avoid the rain. He was wet all over, and Xie Xuanming was also wet all over.

Everyone wanted to escape the rain, but no one could escape the rain.

On the night of the Traffic Night, the divine picture that broke the Internet was not a certain flower’s aquamarine mermaid tail or a certain celebrity’s purple skeleton suit, but a photo of a movie emperor with a newcomer.

The photograph was extremely well taken, with the clean-cut teenager looking up at the handsome man, his tentative gaze gently caressing the man’s cheek, while the man bowed his head slightly, listening patiently and intently to the teenager’s words.

The black and white picture, full of overwhelming sense of ambience, drew every passerby in for a transfixed second, making one click on it for a closer look.

More than that, the blogger and the marketing agency that posted the image coincidentally accompanied the upload with an old photo.

It was also a certain party a few years ago, and there were also two people standing in the shadows.

The young man who had not yet become an actor and the drummer who was still alive and bright were talking and laughing against the wall. In the black and white picture, the drummer’s eyes were uninhibited and wanton. The young actor who had not yet become a movie star looked at him with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

After some comparison, many people were stunned.

The drummer’s face resembled that of the teenager by seven or eight points; and the smile curving the corners of Xie Xuanming’s lips was faded to nothing.

The building was empty, the young man was no more.

The contrast between the present and the past was both sad and amazing, and the popularity of the divine picture was rising, until another hot search swept in and like a black wave buried the teenager in the deep sea of the vanity fair.

The new hot search turned out to be related to ”Ji Hui” as well, but it was not as friendly as the previous one.

#Ji Hui Broken Voice#

When one clicked in, there was the young drummer grabbing the microphone and singing wretchedly in the dim light. The singing was really not pleasant, and one couldn’t help frowning when hearing it.

The newcomer, who was famous as the “best drummer”, was suddenly revealed to have a surprisingly low level of real singing.

No need to look, you all know how sprightly public opinion is.

“How come even the video of KTV was released?” Ji Sheng looked at the hot search, feeling helpless.

The scene in the video took place after his rebirth. At a celebration banquet after Niepan’s first commercial performance, everyone was playing around being drunk. Ji Sheng sang a couple of lines in response to the atmosphere, and because it was a spoof, he sang it in a deliberately quirky way, not knowing that it would be secretly recorded and posted on the Internet.

Ji Sheng reluctantly admitted that this hot search meant he was certain to make it to “Music First 2”; KUZI would never create such a heat in vain.

It’s just that if you abuse someone for no reason, gods might have a bit of a temper.

Before Ji Sheng’s temper rose, Xie Xuanming’s phone call came.

“I will solve it.”

The head-butting sentence confused Ji Sheng. He paused for a second.

“Actually, no need…”

The phone was hung up.

“Listen to people talk, ah…” Ji Sheng felt even more helpless. Since that drug thing, Xie Xuanming’s attitude towards him had been much calmer. Ji Sheng  looked at it this way and that way and finally decided it was something vaguely resembling guilt.

Emperor Xie was unexpectedly old-fashioned.

Ji Sheng smacked his lips. The 18th tier slept with the top star, the very Xie Xuanming who on an anonymous forum in the poll “most wanted star to spend the night with” was voted first, leaving some female star in second place…

Why do you think you are the one who took advantage?..

The beloved of the masses is the beloved of the masses for a reason. 

Ji Sheng came to a conclusion.

A clarification came out quickly, with the speed far beyond the ability of the 18th tier artist’s public relations.

It was indeed not Ji Hui’s lousy company’s public relations.

The real driving force behind it——Xie Xuanming came back in the evening, prepared to be met with the ardent gratitude of the 18th tier, but found Ji Sheng nestling on the sofa, swiping his phone intently and not even lifting his head to greet him.

Ji Sheng had a small skeleton and was thin, and he looked particularly petite in the large modern sofa of Xie Xuanming’s house.

Ji Sheng didn’t notice Xie Xuanming until he walked up to the sofa.

“Thank you for clearing it up.” Ji Sheng raised his head and smiled gratefully at Xie Xuanming.

Xie Xuanming calmly said, “When did you pick up KUZI’s variety show?”

“Huh?” Ji Sheng sat upright and said in surprise, “Isn’t it the resource from you?”

Xie Xuanming lowered his head and looked down at him, denying: “No.”

“……”

Ji Sheng frowned slightly, then wondered: “Then today’s hot search…”

“KUZI’s handwriting.” Xie Xuanming said coldly, “KUZI’s favourite thing is to play with contestants. I warned the show today, but there’s still no guarantee that they won’t act up, so you’d better…”

“This drum set looks great…” Before he finished speaking, Ji Sheng lowered his head and swiped his mobile phone.

Xie Xuanming: ……

Xie Xuanming looked down and saw that the mobile phone screen was coloured in vibrant orange, with all kinds of commodities competing for brilliance.

Xie Xuanming: …was on a black hot search and still surfing Taobao, a really good state of mind.

Xie Xuanming took two steps forward but Ji Sheng still didn’t react. Xie Xuanming stretched out his hand to pinch Ji Sheng’s chin and forcefully raise his head. “KUZI is not a good thing. It’s best to refuse to participate.”

“Huh?” Ji Sheng squinted his eyes at him, “Won’t you allow me to go?”

“It’s not that I won’t allow it, I don’t recommend it.” Xie Xuanming frowned, “On outsider territory, there’s no guarantee that the people who once kidnapped you won’t take advantage of the situation.”

“The purpose originally was to draw out the people who did it.” Ji Sheng smiled, “Didn’t Senior come to me because of this?”

“Don’t call me Senior.”

The grip on his chin was a bit too strong. Ji Sheng squinted his eyes again and said stickily: “It hurts…”

After a pause, Xie Xuanming let go.

He took a step back, crossed his arms expressionlessly and stared at Ji Sheng, silent.

So, another tantrum.

Ji Sheng, who had figured out the strange mind of the movie star, put down his phone and took the initiative to yield: “When you promise something, you have to do it, ah.”

Ji Sheng rubbed his face and muttered: “Besides, I myself would quite like to know who was the person who did this to me.”

He lowered his hand and looked at Xie Xuanming. His eyes were bent into two crescent moons, the tear mole making them look even more sly.

“I want to go, can’t I?”

“……”

“Can’t I~”

“Okay.”