Chapter 3 — From Green Tea to Palace

Tan Tu casually shrugged his shoulders, his tone was calm, neither too fast nor too slow: "He He is right. You're secretly happy because she was scolded, right?" Just one sentence, neat and sharp. Lam Tu Nhuoc froze in place, then firmly bit his lip and remained silent, holding an angry stomach with no place to vent. I also saw her cheeks turn even redder.

“Naughty boy.” As soon as he saw that the last "irresponsible" person had quieted down, Tan Tu reached out and gently rubbed the top of my head twice. Me: “…” At that moment, I felt like my face was so red that I wanted to explode. This action... is a bit too indulgent!!!

Fortunately, we arrived. The strange atmosphere in the car finally temporarily ended. The manager discussed with the program crew in advance, ensuring that no one mentioned the Weibo incident during filming. But... there's still something strange about the way everyone looks at me. That's right - gossip is still hot, whoever it is in return will probably look at me a little more. But in the entertainment world, making each other look good is a basic skill. No one made me feel uncomfortable on set, so that's considered lucky. According to the original script, in this program, Tan Tu and Lam Tu Nhuoc - the film's male and female leads - will have many intimate interaction scenes to "push the CP boat". But… as soon as the show started, everything turned upside down. In the partner selection round, Tan Tu without hesitation walked straight towards me, in front of everyone, decisively choosing me as his partner. The scene was silent for three seconds, then it was as noisy as a market. The audience below began to scream and curse, the sound of the fan couple "Tan Tu × Lam Tu Nhuoc" rang out in waves: "You green tea bastard, get away from Mr. Tu!!!" "Is she clinging to Tan Tu? That's too dreamy!" “This should have been a sweet moment for the male and female leads!!!” But unexpectedly... the stage effect exploded again. Because in the game that followed, Tan Tu and I got along so well that it was scary. Regardless of any question, we answer quickly and with absolute accuracy. The eyes, the movements, the reactions — everything matches perfectly. During a break in the game, Tan Tu leaned closer, his breath gently brushing my ear, his voice low and magnetic: "Compared to when I was in school... you're much smarter." My heart skipped a beat, I quickly turned my head reflexively... I didn't expect my nose to touch the bridge of his nose. The distance… dangerously close! Their four eyes met, and a clear "boom" sounded in the air. I took a step back in surprise, while Tan Tu's ears... turned red all the way to his neck. Meanwhile, Lam Tu Nhuoc - refused to choose a partner by the male lead - was reluctantly paired with the second male. During the entire recording process, her face was as cold as ice, her emotions were so heavy that she could not answer a single sentence correctly. At the end of the game, she stood up right on the stage, tears streaming down her face, crying in front of hundreds of spectators. MC obviously did not expect this scene, bewildered on the spot, confused and not knowing what to do. The director on the stage had no choice but to quickly signal and force the supporting actors like me to temporarily leave the stage, to save time and filming angles for the main trio. I and a few other people went backstage and unexpectedly bumped into one of the hottest trends in the C-pop world - someone who had just come from the studio next door. finished performing. 5. He is the guy that my best friend and I used to troll in chat for pretending to sing. Before he could dodge, he lurched forward, boldly teasing: "To He He, let me ask you something... The "male idol pretending to sing" that you and your best friend were talking about... isn't me, right?" Me: “…” I swear, I just want to immediately disappear from the earth. After the Weibo scandal, my reputation was worse than the mud at the bottom of the lake, and I was also exposed to all the dirty chats with my close friends, so now... denying it is useless. I didn't intend to add fuel to the fire, but he refused to let go: "Let's be frank, you flop like this, your reputation is this bad, it's completely deserved. Your mouth is poisonous, you dare to say bad things behind your back but you don't even dare to admit it to your face... Do you think you're very noble?" He spoke more and more harshly, his tone was smug, the more he saw me silent, the more he gloated. I clenched my fists, unable to bear it any longer. Raising his head, smiling sharply: "That's right, that male idol pretending to sing... is you!" He immediately stiffened, and I continued without showing any respect: "Every day I pride myself on being a graduate of the International Music Academy, "the pioneer of Chinese pop music", "the voice kissed by an angel"... it makes me nauseous to listen to!" "The key is... your fans truly believe it! They even eloquently declare you are the "light of Chinese music"!" “To have such a thick skin, dare to accept all those titles, and still pretend to sing... Don't you know what shame is?” "Auto-tune maxes out the power, the electro-acoustic effect is adjusted to ten million volts, Pikachu discharges 100,000 volts of electricity, isn't that enough for you to use?!" From the day I signed the contract, my manager warned me a hundred times: "After debuting, you must maintain your image and absolutely not reveal your true nature!" But now... sorry, I broke the iron pot. There is this kind of narcissistic idiot who still dares to come to my face and pretend to be saintly? Without letting him know what a small firecracker explodes, does he think I'm easy to bully? I took a deep breath, my voice was clear and sharp like a knife: "Auto-tune is on max but I can still hear you singing out of tune. How can this "soft" voice of yours not feel embarrassed and still dare to market yourself as a "musical genius"? That's right, the old lady is cursing you, so what?!" As soon as the words ended, the entire surrounding air froze. The backstage, which was originally noisy, is now so quiet that you can clearly hear the sound of a heartbeat. Before I could be satisfied, suddenly - my eyes and his both stopped at the recorder attached to my shirt. Red light flashes. …Damned. The mic is not turned off. Which also means — this entire argument is being broadcast live to two studios on either side of the show. In other words… IT'S DONE!!! My acting career: Print-ready obituary. To the point where the nation's two top MCs were frozen in place, not knowing how to handle this situation. As for the "top class C" on the other side... I was cursed to the point that my eyes turned red, my lips pursed in anger, my voice trembled: "You... why are you so fierce... Wow wow..." For the first time after debut, this national star knew the smell... of being cursed to her face. Originally, today's filming was chaotic because Tan Tu publicly chose me, "stealing the spotlight" from Lam Tu Nhuoc. Unexpectedly, there was also the shock behind the scenes due to the argument, making my whole day like a chaotic army. Lam Tu Nhuoc this time did not bother to ask to get on Tan Tu's car, just stomped away with a cold face. As for me... I was just afraid of being hit on the head by a fan of the top C series carrying a sack, so I secretly mixed into the crowd, planning to take a back route to escape back to the hotel. Unexpectedly, the super luxury nanny car stopped right in front of me once again. The car window slowly rolled down, Tan Tu sat inside, his lips curled slightly, looking straight at me, raising his hand and waving: "Get in the car." At that moment, I just felt a "sky falling" coming straight down on my head. Glancing around, I saw a lot of people looking at me with drama-filled eyes. I didn't dare hesitate and immediately got into the car. As soon as he sat down, the driver pressed the accelerator and the nanny car sped away, cutting off all eyes watching behind. "It's okay, things happening online will pass quickly. The entertainment industry is full of scandals every day, my story is nothing." Seeing that I was a bit depressed, Tan Tu tilted his head, his low and gentle voice made me suddenly feel at ease. Since he graduated from high school, we have almost stopped seeing each other. The only time was the day I passed university, he came to my house to celebrate with my family, and from then on... there was no contact for several years. Tan Tu suddenly turned his eyes to look at me, the corners of his lips curled up, his voice was light but precise as if hitting the heart: "Actually... your small account is your true self. Today... the way you scolded people... was very real." I was startled, raised my head and looked at him in shock: "Are... are you sure!? Are you sure that account is mine!?" He didn't answer, just smiled slightly - that smile was like a soft trap that made me not dare to move. I quickly waved my hand, my voice stammering and panicking: "That... don't misunderstand! I... have always considered you as a brother, as an idol, absolutely never thought nonsense about you... No... there is no way I... have any illusions!" The more I explained, the more my voice trembled. In my heart, I was afraid that Tan Tu would think that I secretly liked him and then consider me a pervert and disgusting.