Reborn as a Substitute

Although Qingchu did not plan to cooperate in organising a tour, how could Hemei Entertainment let go of such a good opportunity to make money. Within a few weeks after the end of the vacation, all the members of Loptr were recalled to prepare for a national performance.

Ji Sheng complained many times to Sheng Kongzhi about this, saying that they were going to tour without releasing an album. There were few original tracks, and the rest were all covers of other people’s songs. Could this even be called a tour? This was simply a KTV (karaoke) scene…

Of course, Hemei Entertainment did not intend to call this embarrassing thing a tour. Its final official scientific name was defined as the fan meeting.

Half an hour before the start of the first fan meeting, the keyboardist looked down from the window of the dressing room. As far as anyone could see, there was a rush of people, and a large number of spectators crowded to enter the venue excitedly.

“Those fans of ours, oh.” The keyboardist looked at them for a while and sighed, “They’re all holding hand banners and light signs, and they’re probably going to have to hold their phones up high during the show, so how can this show get hot.”

The bassist, who was putting on his costume, shrugged when he heard the words: “Isn’t this normal? You think it’s still the underground. Now these fans don’t come to see the show at all. They just want to see people. Who cares if your show is hot or not, as long as there are some handsome guys.”

When he said this, his eyes fluttered towards Ji Sheng and Sheng Kongzhi intentionally or unintentionally. The “Music First” debutants were chosen on the basis of their popularity and all the musicians had good facial features and harmonious limbs, considered outstanding in the crowd. But when you put the other members next to the remaining two, especially the punky drummer, these “upright” big boys were dwarfed and did not seem so dazzling.

The bassist smiled sarcastically; Sheng Kongzhi’s face did not change colour and he turned away gently as if he hadn’t heard it.

Ji Sheng was not as calm as he was. When he heard this, his movements suddenly stopped.

Half a second later, Ji Sheng’s jacket was turned upside down and snagged on his elbows, wrapped cloak-like. He didn’t straighten it, leaving his smooth angular shoulders bare, and walked straight towards the bassist.

“Hey.” Sheng Kongzhi turned his head and shouted helplessly behind him.

Ji Sheng came up to the bassist.

He was born with a bit of a gangster aura. At this moment, he put on makeup and his eyes were narrow and long, his clothes untidy. He looked like some thug on the side of the road, making one feel that he could directly join the brotherhood with a baseball bat. 

Ji Sheng stood still, half a head taller than the bassist, looking down at him: “Zhang Qiu, right?”

The keyboardist choked and said, “Zhang Dong.”

“Oh, I remembered it wrong, sorry.” Ji Sheng didn’t look sorry at all. He casually pulled up a ribbon on Zhang Dong’s costume and played with it, “Do you know what the definition of a fan is, Zhang Chun?” 

Zhang Dong: ……

Zhang Dong: “Don’t know.”

“The definition of a fan is the one who chose us.” Ji Sheng said, “They may not understand our world, and they have no obligation to understand it before they become fans.”

He stared at Zhang Dong: “It is our responsibility, not theirs, to let them understand our world. Fans choose us, and we take them to see a different world, a different kind of music. This is what we must do to maintain our relationship with fans.”

Zhang Dong was stunned when Ji Sheng said something so righteous. He was momentarily struck by the glow emanating from Ji Sheng’s body and could not wait to raise his hand to cover his eyes.

He thought blankly: damn, this guy is really handsome, no wonder the girls are swooning over him.

After Ji Sheng finished his lecture, he patted the dazed-looking bassist in front of him on the shoulder: “Play well, Zhang Xia!”

Zhang Dong: “…it’s Zhang Dong.”

Up until they were on the stage, Ji Sheng hadn’t called Zhang Dong’s name correctly even once.

Half an hour later the members of Loptr stepped up to the elevated platform, rising to the stage as the crowd screamed with excitement.

The members stood and sat down in front of their respective instruments, stroked the strings, or keys, or drums a couple of times to confirm that everything was all right, and then nodded to each other.

Once the process of checking the instruments was over, the show began.

Ji Sheng raised his hands, and the drumsticks spun in a complete circle between his slender fingers, then fell steadily into his palm and were brought down on the drum surface with the movement of his wrists.

The rhythm was up and everyone was cheering wherever the drums could reach.

In a pause, Zhang Dong glanced at the audience and sighed at the densely packed banners, light signs and cameras.

Taking fans to understand our world or something was far more difficult to do than to say.

As he was thinking so, he suddenly heard a shout from the rear.

“All friends—”

The bassist’s fingers stumbled and the pitch was crooked. He turned his head and saw Ji Sheng stand up, maintaining the basic drum beat with one hand and pulling the microphone stand with the other.

With the mic tilted to his mouth, he shouted loudly: “Right now, put down the items in your hands, raise your hands, and enjoy the show to the fullest!”

He paused, smiled and said again: “Don’t look at the screens, just look at us!”

“Awesome, Brother Sheng!” After stepping down, Zhang Dong grabbed Ji Sheng and said excitedly, “This is the most fun performance since my debut.”

“Don’t talk too early.”Ji Sheng smiled, “Wait till the next time, it will be even better!”

“Yes, whatever you say.” Ji Sheng’s actions had already dazzled Zhang Dong’s five senses and he was now in an almost blind worship of Ji Sheng, ready to agree with anything he said.

“Let’s change clothes.” Ji Sheng said, “Lao Sheng is already waiting for me.”

Sheng Kongzhi’s movements were always faster than Ji Sheng’s. By the time Ji Sheng packed up and was about to leave, Sheng Kongzhi had been waiting for twenty minutes.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m slow.”

“It’s okay.” Sheng Kongzhi smiled, put away his mobile phone and asked somewhat hesitantly, “Have you seen the hot search?”

“No, why?”

“Xiao Xie is on the hot search.”

“Huh?”Ji Sheng was taken aback for a moment, then immediately took off his backpack and fished out his mobile phone.

His hands moved in a hurry but his speed of walking forward slowed down.

Knowing that he could not urge him, Sheng Kong also slowed down too and walked next to him silently.

Ji Sheng finally clicked on Weibo, and the words jumped into his eyes without warning.

#Xie Xuanming and an unknown male have a late-night cigarette kiss#

Ji Sheng’s eyebrows twitched when he saw this title.

The first picture showed two young men leaning against a balcony rail, close to each other, cigarettes clutched in their hands almost side by side, their smoke intertwining and flying into the distance.

Ji Sheng looked at it for a while, and finally confirmed that the other protagonist in the photo was the director who was filming the movie Xie Xuanming was in. He and Xie Xuanming went on several hot searches together, mostly with ambiguous titles.

At first when he saw them, Ji Sheng would think it was a fake media sensation, or a malicious campaign by KUZI.

But with this photo coming out today, Ji Sheng was a little shaken.

After all, Xie Xuanming really didn’t have a habit of smoking with unfamiliar people.

Besides, if there was really nothing, Xie Xuanming would have quickly come to clarify…

Could it be that Xiao Xie liked this type?

Somewhat uneasy, Ji Sheng zoomed in on the picture and observed the director’s profile carefully.

The man was indeed handsome, but he looked a bit like a fox, and there was always a trace of some evil intention in his smile.

Did Xiao Xie really like this type?

Ji Sheng was very puzzled.

This man was not similar to him either. Could it be that Xiao Xie’s white moonlight had an ever-changing face?

Ji Sheng was confused, finally shook his head and gave up thinking about this complicated issue.

When he quit Weibo, he accidentally caught a glimpse of the next hot search.

#Jinlai sues sisheng#

It was about artists from another company holding sisheng fans accountable(1)…

Ji Sheng felt worried, thinking of something.

“The previous sisheng affair.” He turned his head sideways and asked Sheng Kongzhi, “How is it going? Have you held them accountable?”

Sheng Kongzhi was taken aback, lowered his eyes a little hastily to avoid Ji Sheng’s gaze and said vaguely: “No, it’s a child, underage, and I’m afraid that holding her accountable will have a bad impact on her future.”

“She made a mistake.” Ji Sheng frowned and emphasised, “To be precise, it is a crime, and the punishment is stipulated by law. What does it have to do with adulthood? If she is not required to take responsibility now, when she grows up, she will not repent and will only become an older sisheng.”

Sheng Kongzhi listened silently, and then said after a long pause: “I see, let’s talk about it another time.”

Ji Sheng was too aware of Sheng Kongzhi’s perfunctory response, but, strictly speaking, things like being pursued by a sisheng fan could only be regarded as Sheng Kongzhi’s personal affairs. If he didn’t care about it, it was useless to worry about it.

Ji Sheng sighed and walked faster in a somewhat depressed mood.

In a villa on the other side of the city, the sisheng fan discussed by the two of them sat on her bed, holding her mobile phone.

On the screen there was the latest news on Loptr performance.

Perhaps it couldn’t be counted as latest news, because the pictures there were all taken in places where shooting was prohibited.

Fans and station sisters couldn’t take such photos. Only agents in a grey zone, charging high prices, would take the risk of crossing the security line and taking private pictures of artists in confidential areas.

In the photo, Sheng Kongzhi lowered his head to talk to others, with a gentle smile on his lips.

“Kongzhi—” The sisheng fan murmured in a low voice, looking at the photo.

After the nanny car incident as well as the phone harassment, the underage sisheng was warned by Qingchu and was grounded at home by her parents. The underage girl could not fight her guardians and was mad for a while, but finally had no choice and stayed at home. However, she secretly contacted a few agents to take photos of Sheng Kongzhi to relieve the pain of longing while she could not follow him. 

The sisheng fan looked through the photo album, her fingers freezing as her eyes focused on a photo.

The young man looked at Sheng Kongzhi frowning, as if he was reprimanding him for something. Sheng Kongzhi lowered his head to respond, his eyes gentle as he stretched out his hand to tuck the young man’s scattered hair behind his ears.

The sisheng remembered this face; the young man’s name was Ji Sheng and he was a teammate of Sheng Kongzhi.

This man was a source for her distress for a long time. Since the beginning of the tour, whether it was rankings, hot searches or meetings, he has been clinging to Sheng Kongzhi like an annoying shadow.

The sisheng looked at the intimate movements of the two in the picture, and dark and angry emotions wrapped her heart like vines.

She squeezed her phone tightly.

“It’s so unsightly.” The sisheng stared without blinking, her fingers clenched so hard that her fingernails turned white.

She murmured in a low voice, “Really, you’re so unsightly.”