Huluhuhu: "If I can't get a good score, my life is over."
Yi Lin left that sentence on her own post. She didn't even dare look at her account anymore, wanting to escape, feeling the very real approach of a "crisis."
Some Little Fruits might comment things like: "Who said you had to get a good score?" or "That's it?" or "Big talk isn't good."
But in reality, the comments were—
[Chu Guilai]: "The high school entrance exam just ended, girl, don't lose heart."
[Hua Mu]: "Saying your life is over is too much. Sure, the exam is important, but it's just one part of life. Don't think it's all there is, Fruit Friend, don't do anything foolish."
[Hai Shui Xiao Yu'er]: "I think I did badly too… but the scariest part is, I'm not even sad about it."
Messages like that, mostly comfort and encouragement. But Yi Lin didn't see them. She had already deactivated her Orange Home account.
There's a certain type of person who puts enormous pressure on themselves, imagining things that haven't even happened yet and giving themselves the worst possible answer in their heart.
The real cause was still her parents' constant fighting, and the way both sides treated her like a burden, hitting her with a crushing blow.
Yi Lin glanced at the spider plant sitting on the windowsill and watered it.
"This might be the last time I water you…" she thought. Then she searched the house for a sharp utility knife and went to the bathroom.
🎵You are an angel, you are an angel, you are my first and final heaven. You are my angel, my protective angel, and from now on I will have no sorrow…🎵
Her phone rang. The ringtone was her favorite song, Angel.
The caller: Mengzi.
A Little Fruits friend she met in a group chat, ID "Mengzi Mengzi," a silly girl who was happy about everything. In today's world, cuteness is worth nothing compared to sexiness. But sexiness is worth even less compared to pure silliness.
Yi Lin hesitated for over ten seconds before answering. Before she could speak, the girl on the other end burst out in a rapid-fire stream:
"Huluhuhu, what's going on? Why'd you delete your account? That was a level eleven account, what a waste. Hurry, hurry, hurry, submit an appeal. You can appeal within a week, there's still time.
What's this about your life being over? You promised to come to Shantou and treat me to pork tripe chicken. Life over, my ass.
And think about Jiu-yé. You promised to walk with Jiu-yé all the way to the top of the world. What about the eight-year anniversary concert? You're not going to fight for tickets? Don't you want to go to the Orange Festival?
Right? Life still has so, so many wonderful possibilities."
Yi Lin's ID was Huluhuhu. She'd once gone by Gulu, but it was all onomatopoeia, from the way she gulped water—hulu hulu.
Mengzi spoke in long bursts without pausing, her words coming out smooth and fast.
"My math might be bad… I might not get into a key high school." Yi Lin was silent for a long time. "I wanted to improve together with Jiu-yé, but it feels like I can't even take the first step."
"What the hell? Since when can't you get into a good university from an ordinary high school?" Mengzi asked.
That one sentence shut Yi Lin up.
"And besides, the results aren't even out yet. How can you pass a death sentence on yourself before that? Don't overthink it. I have to work hard every week too—painting lessons, dance lessons. I'm trying as well."
Mengzi spent another ten-plus minutes talking her through it before hanging up.
Not even a few minutes later, another group friend sent a message.
Sure, the internet is full of scammers, but the friends Yi Lin met in the Little Fruits group were genuine.
They had never met in person, but Yi Lin had told them about her own troubles. You do need to protect your privacy online, but sometimes, online friendships can be surprisingly reliable.
In the two hours after Yi Lin left that comment on Orange Home and deactivated her account, four friends called her.
The ringtone Angel played four times.
🎵No matter how the world changes, as long as you're there it will be heaven. Like a child leaning on a shoulder, like tears clinging to a face…🎵
Then one sentence from her friend "Soda with Ice" made Yi Lin set down the utility knife.
"Huluhuhu, before you do anything, really think about your friends. And think about Ah Jiu. Your favorite song, Angel, we're all angels to Ah Jiu.
Don't say Ah Jiu has so many fans he wouldn't care about losing one. Huluhuhu, you know if Ah Jiu found out one of his little angels had an accident, he'd fall into depression."
That was just a screen name, "Soda with Ice."
But those words hit her.
If Jiu-yé knew…
Yi Lin thought of how much Jiu-yé treasured his fans. Every Little Fruits knew he was the most caring in the world.
"I almost hurt Jiu-yé." Yi Lin stepped out of her depression.
She sat in a daze for a few more minutes, then seemed to remember something. She re-downloaded the Orange Home app and submitted an appeal to recover her account.
She filled in her registration details and verified with her phone via text message.
Orange Home's backend review was fast. Fifteen minutes after submitting her information, she got her account back.
Yi Lin took a deep breath and braced herself, ready to face mockery from Little Fruits.
But when she clicked on the latest messages, they were all comforting and encouraging. Yi Lin froze. It wasn't as bad as she had imagined. It was actually good.
"Little Fruits, and Jiu-yé, are the real angels…" Yi Lin murmured.
She began estimating her own score. On the windowsill, water droplets on the spider plant reflected the sunlight in a rainbow of colors.
Meanwhile, flowers bloom in pairs. Let's switch to Chu Zhi's side.
"I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed." Xiao Zhu muttered.
Ma Weihao asked, "Embarrassed about what?"
The inheritor of the Dark Cuisine Realm in the parallel world, Xiao Zhuzhi, said softly, "I have this little life hack. I send urgent matters to my ex-boyfriend."
Ma Weihao was a bit lost. "What do you mean?"
"When we broke up, my ex deleted me." Xiao Zhu said, "Whenever something urgent comes up, I send a message to that account."
He understood now, but still asked, "Why not just put it in a memo?"
"How many times a day do you open your memo? You might forget about it entirely. But I open WeChat every day. And when you send something to a deleted contact, the big red exclamation mark is obvious. It pushes you to get it done."
Hearing that, Ma Weihao actually felt it made some sense.
"And then today, for some reason, he added me back as a friend. Scared me half to death," Xiao Zhu said. "And without thinking, I sent him the thing I wanted to make a note of… totally killed my social life on the spot."
"It's not that dramatic," Ma Weihao said. "Just delete your ex again and you'll be fine."
"That actually makes sense." Xiao Zhu nodded, then suddenly switched topics. "When is brother Chu coming out? I think it's about time."
"The awards ceremony should be nearly over." Ma Weihao checked the time.
The two of them, along with driver Old Qiu, waited in the parking garage. In the Rongcheng City Music Hall, the Chinese Songs Music Festival was underway. Thanks to its explosive sales across Asia, Little Fruits Are Sweet had given the album's tracklist extra weight and earned quite a few awards.
Another ten-plus minutes later, Chu Zhi hurried into the nanny van.
"Let's go, to the airport," Chu Zhi said.
Old Qiu started the car immediately. As the executive manager, Old Qian had already gone ahead to the airport to make arrangements.
During filming, Chu Zhi was only allowed two leaves of absence per month, each tightly scheduled. In truth, once Chu Zhi joined the production crew, his commercial performances, events, and endorsements dropped by more than forty percent compared to last year.
That's why traffic-driven celebrities rarely devote months to shaping one good work. It costs too much in lost income.
And popularity comes quickly, but fades just as fast.
Friends still living on Earth, without having crossed over, should remember this if they followed the entertainment scene even casually.
January: Reset with Zhao Jinmai and Bai Jingting.
February: "Zhang Tongxue."
March: Under the Skin with Tan Jianci.
April: Liu Genghong.
May: Cyndi Wang.
June: Chen Xiao and Liu Yifei.
Even August saw Wang Hedi trending.
This is what "constant turnover" means—someone who was unbelievably popular just a month ago would be replaced by someone else the next month.
That said, Chu Zhi wasn't worried. His solid music portfolio was more than enough to anchor him.
While the main star was busy, those working behind the scenes, like Niu Jiangxue, were busy too. Stubborn Niu Niu's presence alone blocked plenty of unnecessary activities.
"I'm sorry, Director Chen. We really can't fit it in. The second half of this year is completely full. No way around it. I've booked too many events in Europe and America for my artist. It wouldn't be right to cancel."
After hanging up, Niu Jiangxue sighed.
This Director Chen wasn't good at making films, but thanks to connections, he often worked with traffic stars. His movies rarely scored higher than four points on Douban.
High Douban scores don't guarantee everyone will like the film—taste is subjective. But a low score means almost everyone agrees it's bad.
Take Inner Demons for example. The male lead abandons his wife and child for painting one moment, then says painting isn't important the next. The character was completely inconsistent from start to finish. What a garbage script.
"Get the Weibo post out now," Niu Jiangxue called without pausing for breath.
@EatingABigOrange: Filming @Wang Anyi_'s new movie Shiyi Lang is the reason I've been slimming down with the help of a nutritionist. It's for healthy weight loss, not because of any health issues.
As a manager, you can't wait for an online rumor to blow up before clarifying it. That's too passive. The perfect move is to kill the danger in the cradle.
Wang Yuan had explained that many Little Fruits, seeing their idol lose so much weight, worried it was due to illness. It hadn't hit the trending list yet, but that was only a matter of time.
With this clarification, the Little Fruits were much more at ease, leaving comments like:
"As long as it's healthy weight loss, that's fine,"
"Scared me to death,"
"Thanks to Director Wang for letting our brother Jiu join,"
"The more I hear, the more I'm looking forward to it, but Jiu-yé, please take care of yourself!"
"I'm a medical student, and I think Jiu-yé still has some health issues. Let me check you over,"
"I could hear the person above counting their profit from here in Jinling…"
Running his own company was proving much better than staying under Taiyang Chuanhe. Not only did Niu Jiangxue and the others get a bigger profit share, but scheduling was more flexible too.
Many top-tier celebrities—like Su Yiwu—set up their own companies and sign promising young artists, using their own popularity to promote them or secure resources.
The core reason for this is, of course, to make more money. But Love Fruit Entertainment had no such intention. Chu Zhi was already earning more than enough, and there was no need to sign anyone else.
Helping newcomers was possible, though, since Chu Zhi could now invite people to write songs. Although so far, not one had been given out publicly (excluding his "god-tier" hits).
In the entertainment industry, everyone is shrewd. Chu Zhi's account clarified the health rumors in the morning, and by the afternoon, Bona Pictures had jumped in to promote as well.
The film's teaser trailer was released, along with its promotional theme song.
That was when the track that had won over the client with just a demo dropped—You Make Me Drunk