The Rising Star

For nearly a week that followed, Jian Ye found himself hesitant to step foot in school. According to Li Xiangchi and his roommates, students from various other departments would constantly arrive, eager to catch a glimpse of him. Yet, to support the school’s recruitment efforts, Jian Ye eventually conceded and attended.

Becoming an unexpected minor celebrity at Yunjing Media University had left him feeling quite unaccustomed to the sudden attention. During his classes, students from other departments would frequently gather at the dance studio’s doorway, peering in. Every split, every backbend, was met with a flurry of camera flashes, the images quickly uploaded online.

His roommates eventually suggested he simply create a Weibo account, noting the multitude of fans online “eagerly awaiting” his updates. Jian Ye pondered their words for a moment, then assented. Indeed, he harbored intentions of entering the entertainment industry in the future, and possessing a foundational fanbase now would undoubtedly serve him well.

He proceeded to register for a Weibo account, choosing the ID: [Jian Ye JY].

“Brother Chi, could you just snap a random photo of me? I want to post it on Weibo,” Jian Ye requested, handing over his phone.

Li Xiangchi beamed with delight. His younger brother was about to become famous, and that pride extended to all his roommates. In recent days, many people had approached them, asking for Jian Ye’s WeChat. They had all, without exception, refused. Jian Ye was a man with a family, and this secret, known only to the few of them, had to be guarded meticulously.

Li Xiangchi took a series of candid photos of Jian Ye in the dorm room. A handsome person, it seemed, looked good from any angle.

“Ah Ye, even without makeup, you completely outshine a bunch of minor celebrities who are fully made up.”

Jian Ye scrolled through the photos, eventually selecting one of himself seemingly lost in thought, gazing at a textbook. The photo captured Jian Ye holding a pen, appearing deep in contemplation. A single strand of his slightly curly hair stood up, a distinctive, characteristic ‘cowlick’ of his.

Liu Mingchang rushed over for a peek. “Whoa, my dear brother, you truly have no idol baggage whatsoever!”

The photo was taken with remarkable casualness, devoid of any staged pretense, much like a snapshot captured by an ordinary passerby. Yet, it was precisely this unpretentious and relaxed quality that imbued it with a strong sense of everyday life, drawing the viewer closer to the person on screen.

[Jian Ye JY]: Preparing for final exams. [Image]

After posting, Jian Ye paid no further mind to it. He truly wasn’t playing around; he was genuinely preparing for his exams. He hadn’t been a dance major before, so all the theoretical courses specific to his new major had to be learned from scratch. His final exam for dance performance should be no issue, but for theoretical knowledge, rote memorization was essential.

At this moment, the system began its familiar temptations.

[System 748: Would you like to purchase a memory card? It’s only 100 Green Tea Coins.]

[Jian Ye: Get lost.]

[System 748: Host, you’re rich now. Why be so frugal?]

[Jian Ye: I won’t casually use props unless it’s absolutely necessary. Who are you looking down on? Do you really think I can’t memorize these things? Hmph!]

Jian Ye possessed his own sense of pride. Thanks to his past experience as an actor, he had developed unique methods for memorization. His memory was quite good, and if he were to use system props merely out of laziness, even he would despise himself for it.

On Weibo, those fans quickly discovered his new account. Initially, some even mistook it for a fan account. However, upon seeing Jian Ye in his dorm room as the background of the photo, they instantly ruled out that possibility.

[Ahhhhh! Our cub finally has a Weibo account!!!!]
[Why are there ‘mom fans’? I’m different; I just want to marry him and make him my spouse.]
[He’s only eighteen! You ‘boyfriend fans’ are all beasts!]
[Ye-cub is so adorable and innocent! He looks so cute when he’s studying seriously! Wuwuwu, I’m not saying anything else, I’m also preparing for my final exams!]
[I honestly can’t tell he’s a university student; he looks like a high school freshman, doesn’t he!]
[My cub has opened a Weibo account! I’m a career fan, so now I’m going to spread the word!]

When Jian Ye finished reading and doing practice questions, then opened his phone again, the flood of Weibo notifications nearly crashed it. He checked his follower count, and it had astonishingly reached twenty thousand. How much time had even passed?

His WeChat also contained a considerable number of messages. The person pinned at the top was, of course, the first to respond.

[CEO Yi Isn’t Indulging Today]: Studying, are we? Photo saved.

This person was truly well-informed; they had even learned about his new Weibo account immediately, before he’d had a chance to tell them. How could a CEO be so idle all day?

He replied with a [dog-eyed stare] puppy emoji and left it at that. There were also messages from other classmates and Mo Huan, which he briefly answered.

At this moment, he noticed a request from an unfamiliar person to add him as a friend. The accompanying note read: [Thank you for your autograph. I’ll wear these gloves to the race.]

Reading these words, Jian Ye instantly recalled the person who had asked for his autograph that day. The person had claimed it was for his older brothers, and those brothers included the red-haired, strikingly handsome young man beside him, who seemed to be a racer.

Jian Ye had only exchanged a few polite words with the person that day out of respect for a fan, but he didn’t know them at all. He typically rejected friend requests from strangers. However, considering the person’s apparent admiration for his performance, Jian Ye pondered for a moment before accepting the request, then clicked ‘reject’ on the subsequent message.

No, he rethought. If someone genuinely liked his performance to that extent, it was a cool thing, and everyone deserved to be respected. In the future, if he became an idol to more people, he hoped to inspire them to love life and actively pursue what they enjoyed.

Another week passed, bringing the final exams before the summer break. Among the various departments, the dance department’s exams were scheduled relatively early. Over three days, all content was progressively tested. They were examined on classical dance body rhythm and continuous dance movements for basic training performances.

Jian Ye’s butterfly dance transitions, whip turns, swallow-style rotations, large cloud gate rolls, and consecutive aerial flips were all executed with extreme perfection. This segment of the exam was video-recorded by the school. Jian Ye didn’t even need to post it on Weibo himself; Yunjing Media University’s official Weibo account uploaded the final exam video of their classical dance class.

In an instant, the previous dip in popularity surged once more, a testament to the undeniable efforts of Jian Ye’s fans.

[The ceiling of the Yunjing Media University dance studio can be removed now. If this little brother flies any higher, he’ll break through the ceiling.]
[Light takeoffs, silent landings. Classical dance is so beautiful! Mom, I want to learn it too!]
[I’m a high school graduate this year. I’m not applying to any other schools except Yunjing Media University. I’m going specifically for the dance department.]
[Honestly, Jian Ye is truly blessed by the heavens. His physical condition is excellent. Classical dance itself demands very high physical requirements from dancers, and he is exceptionally suited for it.]
[I agree with the professional review above. Watching the video, you can tell his core strength is very stable. Although he’s lean, you can see some well-defined muscles.]
[As a pure bystander, even I, someone who doesn’t understand dance, feel that Jian Ye’s movements are as graceful as a startled swan, as elegant as a soaring dragon. My vocabulary is limited, but in short, it’s very beautiful and comfortable to watch.]

With this wave of publicity concluded, the director of the school’s admissions office was beaming with joy. Jian Ye was truly a treasure! The scholarship for the next semester would definitely be awarded to him. As the application period for this semester had passed, the school opted for a different form of gratitude, restoring Jian Ye’s previously lacking daily scores from the previous semester.

Yunjing Media University was quite humane in this regard. The traffic Jian Ye brought was a significant contribution to the school, allowing for flexibility in matters not involving fundamental principles. Jian Ye also proved to his teachers through his grades that he had diligently worked hard this semester, fulfilling his earlier promise of not missing a single class.

Departments that finished their exams early still needed to remain at school for another week, only being able to leave completely after the school’s designated holiday period.

It was precisely during this week that a film crew suddenly arrived at the school, announcing their intention to recruit supporting actors and extras from Yunjing Media University. This was a Danmei drama, transitioning from a campus setting to society, titled Farewell to Summer. It was an IP drama adapted from a pure youth campus romance novel written by the famous online author, Jiji.

Xiao Chun received a tip-off that Mo Huan had already auditioned for the role of the younger male lead, Lin Yurun, in this drama. Overcome with excitement, he desperately wanted to use his connections and money to secure the role of Luo Ying from the crew. Luo Ying was the younger male lead Lin Yurun’s first love, a sunny boy who taught him how to love, but tragically died in an accident.

His appearances were limited to flashbacks in the first few episodes. Although his screen time was brief, he had a significant fanbase among readers who sympathized with Luo Ying’s background and tragic end.

Xiao Chun felt confident he could embody the role because Luo Ying, in the drama, was also a dance student. He reasoned that the director would prefer someone who perfectly aligned with the character rather than an outsider. Despite his confidence, Xiao Chun kept a backup plan. He leveraged his connections with a minor storyboard director on the interview panel, slipping them some money. The director assured him that it would be a mere formality, and the role of Luo Ying would be his.

The thought of acting alongside Mo Huan, and even portraying a couple, filled Xiao Chun with indescribable joy. The unpleasant emotions of the past few days vanished completely. He firmly believed that only those who laughed last were the true victors.

The drama’s director, Wu Xiaozhi, had previously directed several critically acclaimed television series. He took casting very seriously and personally came to Yunjing Media University today to serve as an audition judge.

Prior to this, he had already auditioned Mo Huan, the actor for the younger male lead. He knew Mo Huan, as the elders of the Mo family in Yunjing had some connections with him. However, when it came to casting, he never considered relationships, focusing solely on the actor’s suitability and ability. After confirming Mo Huan’s role, he found himself bombarded daily with calls and texts from Mo Huan.

Mo Huan had recommended the ideal candidate for Luo Ying, claiming he was a first-year dance student from their school named Jian Ye. Director Wu didn’t pay much attention to Weibo affairs, so he was unfamiliar with Jian Ye. He was quite curious about what made this Jian Ye so special that Mo Huan would recommend him so enthusiastically.

He then clicked on the video to watch, and upon doing so, Director Wu was deeply captivated by the gracefully swaying young man in the footage. Jian Ye, both in appearance and professional skill, perfectly matched the character setting of Luo Ying. The book described Luo Ying as having clear eyes and brows, a brilliant smile, and appearing to glow when dancing, both pure and beautiful.

Luo Ying was a unique presence in Lin Yurun’s heart, an indelible pain that would forever remain. Director Wu had assumed that Jian Ye would definitely attend the audition that day. However, he waited from morning until late afternoon, nearing the end of the auditions, but the young man never appeared.

In truth, he had already internally decided on Jian Ye for the role. Jian Ye only needed to come for a brief audition. A little rawness in his acting wouldn’t matter, as Director Wu knew Jian Ye wasn’t a performance major. For the role of Luo Ying, physical presence was crucial; he wanted the audience’s first glance to immediately evoke the Luo Ying from the book.

So he called Mo Huan, asking, “The person you so eagerly recommended to me, why haven’t they shown up yet? Could it be… you were so eager to recommend them, but they had no idea of your intentions?”

Mo Huan, on the other end of the line, fell silent, filled with shame. He had messaged Jian Ye, but received no reply. He had even gone to Jian Ye’s dorm room, only to find him absent.

At that very moment, in Lanfeng Bay, the young man was in the game room, where he had been all day, playing games with his roommates.

“Brother Chi, why did you miss your ultimate again? The enemy minions almost destroyed our base just now!” Jian Ye exclaimed in the voice chat, sounding exasperated.