Chapter Eighty-Two: You Treacherous Lot!

Ji Chen felt an emptiness inside, with echoes of his own song ringing in his ears.
Who’s singing this? It’s just awful.
The more he listened, the more wrong it sounded. Ji Chen walked to the window and leaned out to look below.
He saw a dense crowd of people, and Lin Chunshui standing right in the center of a heart made of red roses downstairs.
This...
They’d just quarreled yesterday, and now today, was he really about to confess to someone else?
Who was it?
I...
Years of emotions surged within Ji Chen, and tears suddenly streamed down his face.
Everyone below saw Ji Chen’s reaction clearly.
“He’s crying!” Chen Weiguo couldn’t help but sigh, “See that? Men are easy to appease. Just give him a hug when he comes down and this whole thing will be over.”
The people nearby all nodded in agreement.
[To be honest, the singing is really terrible.]
[Sounds like the grasslands. I can almost see a girl in a red dress riding a cow.]
[If you know this is Dali, fine. If not, you’d think it’s Sun Moon Lake.]
Filming a show? What a joke!
Traitors, the lot of you!
Ji Chen ran to the hotel wardrobe and stuffed all his clothes into his suitcase.
At over forty years old, he couldn’t stop the tears.
What hurt most was that they were all downstairs, standing beside Lin Chunshui.
What about brotherhood?
You all...
Ji Chen wiped away his tears. Knowing he’d be stopped if he went out the main entrance, he slipped down the fire escape instead.
The director’s cameramen had all trained their cameras on the main staircase.
But even after the song ended, Ji Chen still hadn’t come down.
“Is he... too moved?” Pei Xue fell silent for a moment.
Everyone exchanged uncertain glances and waited, until finally Director Zhang ran out of the inn.
“He’s gone! Ji Chen’s gone!”
“What?”
...

Chen Nan sat in front of his computer, dark circles under his eyes.
At nine-thirty in the morning, he was right on time to release his new song.
There were just three minutes left.
He’d rushed around for days, unable to be satisfied until he finally recorded a version he liked last night.
This song was Lin Ze’s work; whether he could climb the charts depended on this release!
But he was two days behind Zhang Yang; Zhang Yang’s fans had already pushed his song to terrifying numbers.
If he couldn’t get number one, he’d settle for number two.
It stung to lose to sheer popularity, but what could you do?
At last, nine-thirty arrived, and the song launched across all major music platforms.
Compared to those rabid fanbases, Chen Nan’s supporters were far more rational.
It wasn’t a holiday, and everyone was at work.
So when the song went live, it didn’t immediately explode in popularity.
But as time ticked by, those waiting and those sneaking a break at work all saw Chen Nan’s post on Weibo.
“A Person Like Me”
The cover was simple: just Chen Nan sitting there.
An ordinary-looking star, he didn’t campaign for votes. He always felt that soliciting votes made the numbers feel fake, and there was no need for it anyway.
He just sat there refreshing the page, watching his song’s plays climb from hundreds to thousands, then over ten thousand.
Suddenly, Chen Nan thought of Lin Ze. Hesitating, he dialed his number.
“Ring... ring...”
The phone rang for over half a minute before it was answered.
“Hey, Lin Ze...”
“Huff... huff...”
What came through was Lin Ze’s heavy breathing. Chen Nan blushed instantly.
This early in the morning...
“Um, Nan-ge, I’ve got something to handle here. I’ll get back to you once I’m done.”
Before Chen Nan could say anything else, the call ended.
He stared at the screen, at a loss for words. But just before the call disconnected, he’d heard something about boarding.
At the airport?
Given this week’s filming schedule, shouldn’t he still be at the inn?
Pondering this, Chen Nan opened his phone and entered the livestream.
The screen lit up, showing Lin Ze and Su Zitan dashing through the airport.
The cameraman was hot on their heels, the sound of running and heavy breathing audible through the lens.
What was happening?
[This is a man nursing a broken heart, running without looking back.]
[Really not going to look back? What if someone’s trying to stop you?]
[Maybe everyone has a moment like this. I remember years ago, after breaking up with my long-distance girlfriend, I did the same thing—caught a taxi from her place straight to the airport without looking back.]
[And then? What happened?]

Chen Nan perked up at that comment, waiting for an explanation.
[Then I realized the taxi to the airport cost four hundred yuan. Honestly, I’ve never felt pain like that in my life.]
“...” Chen Nan was speechless, typing furiously on his keyboard.
[It’s just four hundred yuan. Surely that’s nothing compared to all those years of love?]
Not long after, the commenter replied.
[I didn’t have four hundred yuan on me. I was sobbing at the airport entrance, completely lost. The driver comforted me—just saying, when someone’s at their lowest, it’s easy to reach their heart.]
Others pressed for more details, but Chen Nan didn’t bother. He just waited for what came next.
Soon, the commenter continued.
[I’m happy now. That driver is very gentle...]
After a while, Chen Nan slowly typed a question mark in the chat.
After watching for a bit, he realized it was Ji Chen and Lin Chunshui who’d had a falling out, and Ji Chen had run off with his suitcase.
Now Lin Ze and Su Zitan were searching the airport for him.
The show was so gripping that Chen Nan forgot all about his new song.
“Let me go! Let me go!”
Outside the security checkpoint, a burly man in his forties or fifties was hugging someone smaller than himself.
The man was bald, with thick muscles and a powerful build; the commotion drew airport staff over.
Lin Ze’s eyes lit up.
Found him!
Luckily, Lin Chunshui had used a family account to track Ji Chen’s whereabouts.
“What’s going on? This is a public place, please keep quiet!”
The airport staff stepped in, sternly separating the two men.
Soon Lin Ze and the others ran over.
“Hey? Lin—”
None of them wore masks; the staff paused in surprise, a hint of excitement on their faces before regaining their composure.
“You’re public figures! All the more reason to respect the rules, don’t—”
Lin Chunshui, panting, arrived, and as soon as Ji Chen saw him, he turned and bolted.
...
“Hahaha, Ji Chen is such an idiot, I’m dying of laughter!”
A certain young pop star surnamed Zhang lounged on his sofa with a girl in his arms.
Her heart was pounding wildly.
She’d begged her family for a lot of money this time and finally managed to buy this opportunity with Zhang Yang from one of the fan leaders...