Chapter 55: Raising a Gu
With the R.E. magazine cover as a prelude, the broadcast of Starlight’s first public performance acted like fuel to a raging fire, taking over the trending charts since last night.
Weibo’s hot search was divided into three categories—
General Trends:
#YuezhaolinFirstStageFancam
#BiggestScoreGapInAuditionHistory
#LeanMusclesInGirls’Eyes
#IsThisWhatTheyCallContrastingCharmFromNovels
Royal Fandom Exclusives:
#ChuLiTheGodOfWave
#OriginalSingerOfColdLoverPraisesFuXunying
#RongRuize’sStagePresenceExploded
Audition Staples:
#SoundsBad
#TooGreasy
Bilibili’s trending videos were even more varied—
[Yue Zhaolin] Starlight First Stage · Not-So-Cold Lover · Vertical Fancam · 240322
[Yue Zhaolin] Bring Your Own Red Dates and Throat Lozenges / Horizontal Close-Up Fancam / Fan-Made
[Yue Zhaolin] Fuzzy Slippers Fancam
[Yue Zhaolin] Waist Focus Fancam
Thai Princess Watches Starlight Ep04: First Stage Edition. Raw footage edited overnight, come feast!
Straight Guys Watch [Starlight] First Stage: Yue Zhaolin Instantly Wins Over Three Bros, Chu Li’s Dance Skills Are No Joke, Fu Xunying—What a Shame?
Quick Breakdown of “Cold Lover” Chorus: The Choreo is Sick
[Cold Lover] Practice Room Video
Trending on Japanese Twitter with Millions of Views: Kaguya-Hime Yue-chan’s Gap Moe—Want to Treat Him Like a Daughter, but Also as a Boyfriend
On fanfic platforms—
The #YueZhaolin×Me dream-girl tag saw a surge of new stories overnight.
#MoonInTheMirror shot to the top of the search rankings.
Douyin top comment—
“C-ent just doesn’t quit.”
“A, they’re all A-class!”
“Of course it’s Yue Zhaolin.”
“Behind that good-looking face is an even better-looking face. Yue Zhaolin, please don’t ever touch your face—stay like this and you’ll live a life of glory and wealth.”
“Zhaolin, you really thought of your sisters back home, huh? Brought back a whole bunch of handsome guys for us—chests, hips, and legs flying around on that stage. Visually fed and satisfied.”
The buzz exploded across all platforms.
Tide hadn’t even finished admiring the mini photo cards and posters from the magazine before they were already busy bouncing between platforms, barely finding time to mourn not getting their hands on those cards.
Snacking on content from one app, then switching to another to feast some more—mouth full, both hands loaded, and still not enough time to consume it all.
Then looking around in a daze, realizing there was still a mountain of untouched content left. Dizzy from happiness.
In a Weibo group chat, someone sighed:
[Is this what it feels like to stan someone who’s blowing up? There’s so much content I can’t keep up… I’ve never fought such a rich war before…]
[My level 6 Bilibili account doesn’t have enough coins left. I’m hopelessly addicted to horizontal fancams.]
[Horizontal for the face, vertical for the body—right now, vertical is winning.]
[Excuse me? Visual stans won’t accept this! Fine, I’m off to hype the horizontal version even more!]
[I’ve totally fallen for the Yue x Yue ship. The poster really looks like two Yues in one frame—completely different expressions, and so shippable.]
[Selfc*st pairings are superior! Great timing to break up those bloodsucking CPs.]
[Been annoyed by those clout-chasing ships on the CP ranking for ages. When will they stop leeching off Yue Zhaolin and learn to stand on their own?]
[Because when you’re at the top, pairing up means basically donating popularity to the lesser one.]
[Getting leeches is just the fate of a top star.（.）]
[I stayed up all night searching everything about Yue Zhaolin. It hurts. I need to scream—so many people are going to the second performance, what’s one more like me?!]
[It’s so hard to win the ticket draw. Even reposting doesn’t help—I’ll never get picked. Am I really going to have to buy from scalpers…]
[Go for it.]
[But we’ve got so many rich fans in our fandom, I’m scared I won’t win against them. Wuwuwuwu…]
[In the #MoonlightHaul tag, there’s someone who bought 1,115 copies of the magazine, and someone else who bought that R.D. brand dress.]
[Even that D-brand bracelet that Yue wore—people bought and posted it, and not just one person either. Damn it, that thing costs 66,000 yuan!!!]
[Our co-fans are too powerful… I’d better prep a few alt accounts to increase my odds in the ticket draw.]
[I want to go to the second stage performance, wuwu.]
[Wuwuwu.]
Human joy and sorrow never quite align.
For instance, while the Tide fandom was wailing over second-stage tickets, up on the 8th floor of the Starlight Building, in the north restroom next to the practice room, Wei Lai was hugging his phone and chuckling like an idiot.
“My ranking went up…”
Mao Ding: “Hehe, mine too.”
Ever since Episode 4 aired, saying that Group A from Cold Lover had “collectively ascended” wouldn’t be an exaggeration (excluding Yue Zhaolin, who had ascended long ago).
The most notable improvements came from Wei Lai and Chen Fei, who had originally been in the lower ranks, while Mao Ding moved from 13th to 12th place.
Since low-rank contestants have smaller vote bases, Wei Lai and Chen Fei saw their ranks shoot from the 40s and 50s up into the 30s overnight, greatly reducing their risk of elimination.
And it was only the second day after the broadcast—they were bound to rise even more.
“Hahaha…” That was Wei Lai, whose promotion pressure had suddenly lightened a lot.
“Hahaha…” That was Mao Ding, who got to perform with Yue Zhaolin again in the second stage and had once more received the “blessing of the godfather.” If luck held, he might actually sneak into debut.
Inside the restroom stalls, the two of them were laughing freely and loudly. One burst followed another, overlapping in a strange little symphony.
Fu Xunying, who had just pushed the door open: “…”
He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. Yeah, better go to the other restroom.
Fu Xunying was in the Melatonin team—like Chu Li’s Crane Bell, the song had been practically tailor-made for him.
His foreign language pronunciation was native-speaker level, and he was already very familiar with the song, having practiced it in advance.
So rehearsals had been relatively easy for him.
But Yue Zhaolin was in a very different situation.
Fu Xunying had seen him training with Chu Li—just watching that full set of moves made it feel like his own muscles were being stretched to their limits, and his waist was about to snap.
Yue Zhaolin was superhumanly capable, but he also wore his emotions on his face. The moment he wasn’t getting a move right, it showed—like he was mad at himself.
“Why’s he trying so hard…” He muttered softly.
The company wasn’t about to mistreat him. Besides, they even shared resources. Did Yue Zhaolin really need to push himself like this?
Just then, a staff member carrying boxes called out to him, “Xunying, can you hold the elevator for me? One more box to go, I’ll be right back.”
“Huh? Sure.”
Fu Xunying found it a bit odd, but didn’t overthink it. He didn’t have any more practice today anyway—killing time like this wasn’t bad.
“Ding—”
A few seconds later, the elevator next to him opened with a chime. Fu Xunying tilted his head and looked inside—and the person standing there was none other than Yue Zhaolin, the very person he had just been grumbling about.
Yue Zhaolin seemed deep in thought, eyes lowered, staring at the floor. He didn’t even notice the elevator doors had opened.
Just as the doors were about to close again, Fu Xunying quickly pressed the button to hold them, his tone a mix of shock and suspicion:
“…What’s wrong?”
Based on his past experience, even if the sky were falling, Yue Zhaolin probably wouldn’t look like this.
Did something happen?
In that instant, a flood of worst-case scenarios flashed through Fu Xunying’s mind—
Had the production team finally buckled under pressure after all the recent controversies and decided to shut down the show?
Had Xingqiong gone bankrupt?
Did something happen to Yue Zhaolin’s family?
His heart thudded with unease.
Seeing his expression, Yue Zhaolin had to bite back a laugh, silently reminding himself to stay in character, to hold onto the actor’s sense of belief.
Then he said, “…Fu Xunying, I’m withdrawing from the competition.”
Fu Xunying’s face went pale with shock: “What?!”
Withdrawing? Yue Zhaolin was going to withdraw?!
No wonder he looked so off.
If you were to tally it, probably over 90% of the trainees were just using the survival show as a springboard.
But Yue Zhaolin wasn’t like that. He was really practicing, really improving—as if becoming an idol was the career he had chosen for his future.
So there was no way this was his personal decision.
It had to be something external.
Fu Xunying, startled by the news and overwhelmed with concern, failed to notice the extra surveillance camera that had been installed above them on the wall.
“Is it the company’s decision?”
Yue Zhaolin: “Sort of.”
Fu Xunying frowned hard.
“Who made that decision? Who approved it? Don’t believe them—this smells fishy. It’s basically impossible.”
Yue Zhaolin was guaranteed to debut. If the company made him withdraw, they’d be cutting off their own future. Given how much the company valued him, there was no way they’d allow this.
“I’m contacting the company right now.”
Fu Xunying was ready to go straight to the top—directly to the old man—as he grabbed Yue Zhaolin’s arm and started walking.
“Don’t worry, you’re not withdrawing.”
If the old man really had gone senile, Fu Xunying was more than ready to give him a piece of his mind. In that moment, a strange sense of duty surged in him.
Yue Zhaolin was counting on him.
Just then, a staff member stepped out from a corner and quickly called after the storming Fu Xunying:
“Xunying—Xunying, wait! Don’t go yet… it’s a hidden camera segment…”
“Hidden… what?”
A hidden camera?
Fu Xunying finally caught on.
He glanced at the staff member who was struggling to hold back laughter, then turned to Yue Zhaolin—who he was still holding onto—and saw the faint smile in his eyes. His mind just… blanked.
It was one of those classic prank segments survival shows loved to pull.
And he had completely fallen for it.
Fu Xunying: “Yue Zhaolin, you—!”
The memory of his earlier, heartfelt reaction made him want to punch himself. Why had he been so damn sincere?!
Yue Zhaolin, sensing Fu Xunying’s embarrassment, patted him on the back and chuckled, “Sorry, it was a prank. But… my acting was pretty good, right?”
“More than just good…” He’d really believed it.
Noting the unfiltered resentment in Fu Xunying’s voice, Yue Zhaolin let out another soft laugh.
Lowering his head slightly, he said in a playful, hushed tone, “Don’t say anything when we go back. In fact, you get to pick the next victim.”
Fu Xunying felt his face heat up. “…Fine.”
Alright. He was in.
There was no way he was going to be the only one looking like a fool.
Then Yue Zhaolin seemed to remember something. He casually asked, “By the way, before that fan meeting last time, you seemed kind of out of it that morning. What was that about again?”
“…”
Dead memories came flooding back.
The real reason was… Fu Xunying had stayed up all night binge-watching CP-edits of him and Yue Zhaolin. But could he say that?
Sirens blared in Fu Xunying’s head. He turned, ready to flee—but a hand landed lightly on his shoulder, not using much force, yet still enough to hold him in place.
Fu Xunying swallowed hard.
Yue Zhaolin smiled, eyes crescented: “It’s related to me, isn’t it? Confess, and you’ll be treated with leniency.”
He rotated his wrist, still sore from intense sword choreography training. Honestly, teasing someone during breaks like this was surprisingly refreshing.
It was… fun.
Now, who should be next?
—
Inside the Starlight Building, things were lively and chaotic. Outside, it was the same—except in the Melon Group.
After Yue Zhaolin’s magazine sales ended up crushing the group’s favorite top-tier idol, the Melon Group stopped talking about him entirely. They collectively and tacitly agreed to pretend he didn’t exist.
It was classic willful ignorance.
Previously, one hot thread after another had popped up in the group, predicting that his magazine sales would flop—just waiting to laugh once the numbers dropped.
But when things didn’t go their way, they snapped.
Worse yet, the group couldn’t even control the narrative anymore—every time someone used a derogatory nickname for Yue Zhaolin, “xingji” fans would report the post.
The OG Melon Group members were seething—
This forum was their safe space to praise their faves and roast others. Their happy little homeland.
How could outsiders be allowed to pollute it?!
So now, the Melon Group simply stopped including Yue Zhaolin in anything. They pretended he didn’t exist in C-ent at all.
Yue Zhaolin had broken industry records. By all rights, the magazine sales comparison chart should’ve been updated—but the chart-maker just refused to add him in.
Oddly enough, this passive-aggressive tactic worked. It covered up the underlying panic and jealousy simmering in the group.
Things finally settled down.
Until—five minutes ago—D-brand’s official Weibo account posted a new update.
Claiming Yue Zhaolin.
[Douceur Official: #TenderMoments# Yue Zhaolin appeared on stage wearing the Rose de Douceur bracelet series. A fresh interpretation, radiating charm.]
Douceur—a national treasure–level French jewelry brand established in 1801.
Unlike R.D. (Rêverie & Désincarné), which blends high fashion with concept art, Douceur focuses exclusively on fine jewelry. The two are entirely different luxury brand lanes.
Douceur had acknowledged several celebrities before for wearing their pieces, so recognizing Yue Zhaolin wasn’t exactly unusual.
But in the Melon Group, there were too many people already feeling threatened by Yue Zhaolin’s momentum.
So someone had a flash of inspiration—
Let’s “raise a gu” on Yue Zhaolin.
Raising a gu is a fandom slang term. It means creating exaggerated or fake rumors about a celebrity’s luxury endorsements or projects—deliberately inflating expectations so that fans will be disappointed when the truth falls short, giving haters a chance to mock them.
Think of it as serving up a giant, unrealistic dream—just so it can crash.
That very night, a gossip blogger posted the following:
[Real tea, not fake tea]: Yue Zhaolin’s new title has been confirmed. He’s officially becoming the fifth brand friend of Douceur. Xingqiong is clearly prioritizing him.