It must be said that humans are truly complex creatures.
Once they lose something, even if what was lost wasn't particularly important to them, they can't help but start reminiscing about the past, recalling bygone days, and forgetting all the shortcomings that were attached to that thing.
And Su Shengxi was exactly in this situation.
After handling all his remaining engagements, Su Shengxi had truly officially retired from the entertainment industry.
Surprisingly, Su Shengxi didn't actually have much left in terms of remaining work during this period. Jiaxing Entertainment had long ago arranged for resource exchanges, and several of Su Shengxi's important endorsements had actually been negotiated back when Liu Rulan was still his manager. Now that the contracts had basically expired, the endorsement companies simply replaced him with new talent, allowing Su Shengxi to easily "handle" all his important commitments.
So the turnover in this industry is truly this brutal - there are always substitutes waiting in the wings, fresh blood ready to take over. Even when a veteran top idol like Su Shengxi steps down, new "top idols" can be rapidly deployed to fill the gap, giving no one any time to react.
Before long, his fans would gradually disperse too. Those who truly loved him would eventually turn these memories into unforgettable moments, forever sealed deep in their hearts.
In contrast, the marketing accounts proved more loyal, continuously posting retrospectives during this period - looking back at Su Shengxi's past performances, his breakout works, the glory he once walked in.
During his free time, Xiao He curiously clicked on one of these marketing account videos to take a look.
It was Su Shengxi's final performance on his debut night, back when Korean idol makeup and hairstyles were still trendy. Though the entire video was somewhat blurry, his face radiated passion and longing for the stage.
Following the rhythmic beat of the music, he danced along with his teammates, singing with full live vocals.
According to the marketing account's introduction, Su Shengxi had just turned eighteen back then, his face still carrying traces of youthful innocence. Though his voice trembled slightly, it sounded overall quite pleasant, without the over-processed electronic effects of today.
The marketing account specifically edited a segment from that debut night when Su Shengxi stood in the center position as he debuted, raising his microphone to express gratitude to the fans below the stage.
The young man on stage had tears in his eyes, facing a brilliant sea of glowing light sticks below - mostly in his support colors. His eyes reflected these dazzling hues, and when he opened his mouth to speak, he choked up several times.
"Thank you everyone, thank you to those willing to support me and encourage me, thank you to my fans, and thank you to this stage that fulfilled my dreams and brought me starlight!"
Overcome with emotion, he even knelt on the stage, filled with excitement and gratitude, deeply kissing the platform.
Even after all these years, this iconic moment remained unforgettable for many fan girls who were present that day.
Though many people at the time claimed Su Shengxi's action was just for show, that directly kissing the stage was too fake and exaggerated, it must be said that in such a scene, with such an atmosphere, Su Shengxi's action was truly hard not to find moving and memorable.
And now, that youth who purely loved the stage had ultimately become someone he no longer recognized.
Xiao He didn't know if Su Shengxi would regret it.
But perhaps not.
Only he himself knew the glory and freedom of this journey.
Only the fans who had genuinely loved him suffered the most.
Xiao He felt somewhat sympathetic toward Su Shengxi's group of fans.
But at this point, all he could do was learn from this example and cherish the present.
So Xiao He immediately had Liu Rulan take charge of compensation for the fan lottery draws.
To help him counter the negative publicity this time, several wealthy major fans had taken the lead, organizing lottery draws and distributing red envelopes, attracting many casual observers to join in speaking up.
Now that everything had settled, Xiao He naturally wanted to express gratitude and compensation to these fans of his, since they had genuinely spent real money and sincere effort to help him.
He couldn't possibly become a second Su Shengxi, could he?
Liu Rulan was somewhat surprised when she found out, but didn't say much, immediately privately contacting several spending major fans represented by Azure Sky Cloud Crane to express the studio's willingness to cover the lottery expenses.
However, when she approached several wealthy major fans, they all expressed refusal.
Azure Sky Cloud Crane, taking advantage of her familiarity with Liu Rulan, even privately responded: "We spend money because we want to. Xiao He still has a long road ahead of him - he can't possibly cover the costs of countering negative publicity every time something like this happens, right? When we spend money, we don't hold back, so we can't have Xiao He working hard only to end up losing money."
Liu Rulan chuckled and responded: "He'll understand this matter, but he should also express his attitude toward you all. We're truly very grateful for your help, and Xiao He will definitely keep getting better in the future."
Azure Sky Cloud Crane: "He definitely will!"
...
After Su Shengxi retired from the industry, the entire entertainment world seemed to suddenly grow quiet.
Not only were there no trending topics about "what's happening with certain celebrities," there wasn't even news about certain dramas or movies being released soon.
It seemed everyone had started keeping a low profile.
But life had to go on for each person.
After a busy, bustling month, Xiao He was finally about to join the production crew.
The first filming location for "Corner Also" wasn't at the film studio where Xiao He and Liu Rulan had met Director Yan last time, but rather at a relatively famous 0.5-ring courtyard house in Beijing.
It was said that from the upper rooms here, you could even directly see the walls of the Forbidden City in the distance.
Xiao He rode in a car all the way here, watching his coordinates on the mobile map get closer and closer to the famous landmark buildings in the center. He hardly needed to search to know that prices here couldn't even be described as "every inch of land worth its weight in gold."
And thinking that this mansion would temporarily become female lead Yin Lan's bookstore, Xiao He couldn't help but shed tears of poverty.
Although this old mansion background truly matched Yin Lan's actual wealth as someone who had lived from ancient times to the present, when making a drama, did they really need to be this authentic?
They hadn't even started filming yet, but why did his heart already feel somewhat uncomfortable...
When he formally entered this courtyard house, Xiao He looked at the already arranged props and decorations inside and was deeply shocked once again.
As an actual reader of "Corner Also," he had naturally seen the bookstore layout of female lead Yin Lan in the comic.
And now, he felt like he had truly traveled through time, as if he had directly arrived at Yin Lan's bookstore from the comic.
This bookshelf placement... this corner proportion... this wall decoration...
Looking at the almost one-to-one recreation of the comic scenes, Xiao He finally felt the reality of "the production director = the original author."
If he were a reader, just based on this set design, he would absolutely have to check it out to see how it tasted.
He just didn't know how much control this Director Yan would have over the storyline.
After all, there were plenty of cases where the initial set design and makeup were perfectly recreated, but the resulting storyline turned out to be complete garbage.
Xiao He could only hope that this Director Yan would live up to his title as "original author."