Title: [World-Famous Painting: “Koty Crawling All Over the Floor”]
[Image]
[Comment 2: ?]
[Comment 6: QingZhen is playing around, the leader is holding a light, Fu Rong is talking. So where’s Koty?]
[Comment 7: Crawling all over the floor, far away.]
[Comment 8: LMAO]
[Comment 12: Why did your group variety show start with a horror special right off the bat… I could really feel the production crew’s deep resentment toward them.]
[Comment 16: Koty’s the tallest in the group. I thought he’d be the bravest. How did he end up this scared of ghosts!]
[Comment 20: The bravest one in our team is Xiao Fu Rong. Bet you didn’t expect that.]
[Comment 23: QingZhen hid in the closet, hehe… judging by the closet’s size, they must’ve been seriously squished in there]
[Comment 26: Fu Rong has real potential to play a female ghost. His cold stare is terrifying.]
[Comment 30: Don’t think people won’t notice you’re changing Fu Rong’s gender just because you wrote a long comment.]
[Comment 45: I watched that New Year’s Eve concert video. I really want to know what kind of gift Tan Qing gave Zhu Lianzhen!! Was it ever revealed?]
[Comment 47: You can tell just by ZLZ’s reaction… he totally forgot to open that gift.]
[Comment 53: Looks like QingZhen’s fake-CP act is exposed now, lol]
[Comment 56: I don’t know if QingZhen’s hiding it or not, but someone clearly isn’t even trying anymore.]
[Comment 60: Maybe it was something not meant for outsiders to see. Just couple stuff—stay out of it.]
…
After the first episode of Ace Park aired, the response was positive, and it hit several trending topics. The company quickly followed up with more promotions, even editing together fun moments of the members interacting in their dorms to post on the official account daily.
Of course, many clips featured the QingZhen CP, and Zhu Lianzhen couldn’t help but click on them every time, quietly reminding himself to watch the camera placements more carefully in the future and not say anything that might end up in the final edit.
Early in the morning, Qiu Hao and the crew arrived to pick them up to film the third episode of the variety show. A row of cars was parked outside the dorm, and it looked like the five of them would be heading to different locations.
Five items were laid out on a table for them to choose from: a key, an umbrella, a plush toy, a fountain pen, and a carrot.
Seeing the overcast sky, Zhu Lianzhen decisively picked the umbrella and got in the car.
“Have you had breakfast?” the director asked. “If you’re hungry, we can stop to eat first.”
Zhu Lianzhen looked at her in surprise. “Why are you being so nice today? Don’t tell me I’ll be starving for the rest of the day after this meal.”
He suspiciously ordered some McDonald’s. After finishing his meal and getting ready to return to the car, the director said, “No need to get in. The place we’re going is just a few minutes’ walk away.”
Zhu Lianzhen followed the director to the city park. As they walked in, he saw that the production team had set up a table and some chairs in an open area. He sat down and noticed a stack of blank white cards on the table, along with a task card.
[Popularity Challenge 1: Please sign autographs for 30 fans as quickly as possible. Once completed, proceed to the next location.]
“So that means thirty people have to come ask me for an autograph?” Zhu Lianzhen understood the task. He looked around and realized the park was pretty empty. Most of the people passing by were elderly, and when they saw a show being filmed, they just looked confused and walked away, uninterested in coming closer.
After sitting for a few minutes, he started to get restless and said to the director, “Let’s change spots. There’s no way I’ll run into any fans here.”
“I know where it’s crowded,” the director replied.
They picked up the table and chairs and moved to the location she mentioned. From a distance, Zhu Lianzhen could already see a crowd gathered there, but as he got closer, he realized it was a group of grandpas and grandmas.
Now he finally understood why picking the umbrella earlier had led to being sent to a park—this was a matchmaking corner. The elders had opened umbrellas on the ground, with photos and information about their children taped to the surfaces.
Zhu Lianzhen figured that if he just sat there doing nothing, none of these people would ask for his autograph. They probably didn’t even recognize him. It’d be better to approach them and try hinting at the task to get them to play along.
What he didn’t expect was that the moment he stepped into the crowd, several aunties immediately came over to greet him, praising how handsome and lively he looked. “You’re such a handsome young man! How old are you? Still in school? Do you have a girlfriend?”
Zhu Lianzhen gave an awkward smile and explained, “I’m from a TV station, here to film a show. I’m not here for matchmaking—really, not at all…”
The elders weren’t camera-shy in the slightest. They enthusiastically pulled him over to sit and chat. Zhu Lianzhen shot a look at the director, who pointed at the pen in his hand, urging him to focus on the main task.
“Uncles, aunties, have you seen me on TV before?” Zhu Lianzhen asked politely.
An older lady squinted at him, sizing him up. “You look familiar! Are you that… that—” She listed a few male celebrities from memory, none of whom were Zhu Lianzhen.
“What have you acted in?” an older man asked.
“I’m not an actor, I’m… a singer.” Zhu Lianzhen had originally wanted to properly introduce himself, but wasn’t sure how to explain the profession of “idol” to people of this age. “Let me sing something for you.”
He chose “Shake,” which had just won an award earlier this year. After singing a bit a cappella, the atmosphere went completely silent.
It was obvious that this group wasn’t the target audience for the song. Still, the uncles and aunties applauded and cheered enthusiastically, which only made Zhu Lianzhen feel more embarrassed, and his face turned bright red on the spot.
The director, watching the scene unfold with amusement, egged him on, “Try another one, sing the one that was super popular back in the day.”
So Zhu Lianzhen sang a segment of their debut song. Back when it first came out, it had dominated music charts worldwide and was played everywhere across the country. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that everyone knew it.
The reaction this time was no different. Before he had even finished the last note, he quickly covered his face. “This is so embarrassing!”
The director: “Can’t be helped. That song’s been out of fashion for ages.”
Still blushing, Zhu Lianzhen asked the aunties and uncles in a small voice, “Do you want my autograph?”
They responded like they were coaxing a child, “Yes, yes, yes.”
Zhu Lianzhen immediately lowered his head and started signing. The director, trying to salvage some of his dignity, added, “He’s really popular among young people. These autographs are worth a lot.”
After finishing all thirty autographs, Zhu Lianzhen felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. His cheeks were still warm as he hurried back to the car to cool off in the air conditioning.
“So, superstar, how does it feel?” the director asked with a mischievous grin.
Zhu Lianzhen: “Can you just cut this whole part out?”
“No can do. But here’s some good news—you’re the first out of the five to finish your task.” The director picked up her phone and sat beside him. “Wanna see how your teammates are doing?”
The production team had a shared group chat where they were posting updates from the different locations. Zhu Lianzhen was curious where everyone had ended up. Tan Qing, who picked the key, was sent to a highway rest area, where he could only run into long-distance drivers. Fu Rong, who chose the plush toy, was dropped off at a kindergarten, surrounded by a group of chattering kids.
Zhu Lianzhen eagerly opened the short video the director sent and laughed at Fu Rong’s misfortune. “Fu Rong’s gone straight to hell!”
It was common knowledge that Fu Rong had a general dislike for all humans, and kids, in particular, wore his patience thin. In the video, he sat stone-faced on the steps, ignoring everything around him. However, the children seemed to really like him. They swarmed over, asking all kinds of questions, even shoving toys into his arms.
Fu Rong didn’t respond at all. A plastic toy slipped from his arm and hit the ground, cracking open on impact. One of the kids instantly burst into tears with a loud “WAAAHH!” and the teachers hurried over to comfort them.
Zhu Lianzhen didn’t have time to sympathize with the kids. He could tell Fu Rong was in a terrible mood. Judging by his expression, his anger level was at the point where one punch could send ten Kotys flying, but he had no choice but to hold it in because of the cameras.
“Finally, it’s Fu Rong’s turn.” Zhu Lianzhen asked the director to send him the video. “Once this episode airs, I’m making the QR code for this clip my Weibo profile pic.”
The director: “Aren’t you afraid Fu Rong will beat you up?”
Zhu Lianzhen weighed the pros and cons. “Getting punched for five minutes, or regretting it for a lifetime? Who could pass up a chance to laugh at Fu Rong?”
Just then, Koty also completed his autograph task and started calling the others. Zhu Lianzhen picked up and, without saying a word, sent him the video of Fu Rong first.
After the two of them finished laughing, Koty said, “Let me tell you—what just happened to me was so awkward. You know where I got sent? The company headquarters!”
“A bunch of executives walked by and saw me sitting there signing autographs, looking at me like I was an idiot. Luckily, it was during work hours, so some colleagues who saw I was filming a show came over to help out.”
Zhu Lianzhen said, “You should count yourself lucky. You know where Ting-ge is?”
“Huh?”
“The zoo.”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The carrot had been the only food item among the options, so everyone had been suspicious. But Ji Yunting hadn’t thought twice before picking it. As a result, he was now stuck in a staring contest with a bunch of monkeys and peacocks.
Once all the members had completed their autograph tasks, the cars finally departed for the next location.
By then, it was nearly noon. The route led them toward the city center, and they eventually stopped at the Ronggang Arena.
After getting out and regrouping, they found that seats were being arranged and lights were being checked inside the venue, clearly in preparation for a performance.
Curious, they walked onto the stage and asked Qiu Hao, “What’s going on here?”
As soon as they finished speaking, the big screen behind them lit up and displayed a message:
[Popularity Challenge 2: Within four hours, gather enough people for a performance tonight at 7:00 PM.]
A surprise performance? That would normally be easy for them. But the phrase “gather enough people” gave them an ominous feeling.
Qiu Hao stepped forward and explained, “To put it simply, the theme of this episode is a popularity test. Without any prior publicity, you’ll have to go out and personally invite people off the street to come watch your performance.”
“And the number of audience members you need is—”
The screen began to reveal the number from right to left: 0, 0, 0, 0, 5.
Fifty thousand!
“From noon to 4 PM, you’ll all be out promoting this free performance,” Qiu Hao said. “Do you want to take on the challenge? If you think it’s too difficult, we can skip this episode.”
Since they were already there, the members had no reason to back down. “Of course we’re doing it!”
By their usual concert standards, an audience of 50,000 wasn’t unusual. Once ticket sales opened, they typically sold out in seconds.
Qiu Hao seemed like he’d been waiting for that answer. “Even if the challenge fails, the episode will still be aired.”
“So what?”
“It’ll be really embarrassing,” Qiu Hao said. “When you were signing autographs earlier, did you feel popular?”
Zhu Lianzhen chuckled. “I think Fu Rong was pretty popular.”
Fu Rong turned and gave him a look. Zhu Lianzhen immediately straightened up and returned to a serious expression.
“How are we supposed to meet fans in the places you sent us?” Koty complained. “The only ones who’d come to the company are stalker fans!”
Ji Yunting: “Wanna switch with me? I had to explain to golden monkeys that I’m a celebrity.”
“You’re used to the perks of massive popularity, so it’s good for you to try something different,” Qiu Hao said. “There are popularity challenge shows overseas too, and only top-tier artists get invited to participate. So far, the record is 20,000.”
And that record belonged to a superstar-level celebrity. Once they learned that, the members finally realized they had misunderstood the scale of the challenge.
Their concerts usually attracted fans from all over the country, so getting 50,000 people had never been a problem. But those concerts had been promoted months in advance. Today, they had just four hours, and their audience was limited to whoever was nearby.
“The record abroad is 20,000, and now you’re asking us to hit 50,000? Isn’t that a bit much?” Ji Yunting said. “That’s more than double.”
Qiu Hao: “Well, Ronggang is a big city with over ten million permanent residents. Plus, with how fast information spreads online now, some passersby will definitely help spread the word. So we figured we could aim for a slightly bigger number.”
Zhu Lianzhen: “Your ‘slightly’ sounds way too high.”
“Backing down already?” Qiu Hao smiled at them. “Didn’t you debut right here? I think you had 50,000 people in the audience that day too, didn’t you?”
Those words stirred their memories. Back then, they had been young and reckless, taking popularity for granted and having no real concept of what numbers meant. Now that they had matured, they understood that after reaching a peak, there was always a decline.
“It’s true. The last time we held a concert here was then,” Koty said, looking up at the distant lights and seating. “What time is it now?”
“You still have half an hour to rest.”
They quickly ate lunch and discussed where to head first.
“Let’s go to the nearest university,” Tan Qing suggested.
The idea was unanimously agreed upon. Their fanbase was mostly young people, so starting at a university made the most sense.
They navigated to the University of Science and Technology. Once they arrived, the production crew had to negotiate with the school before filming could begin, which delayed them by more than ten minutes. Qiu Hao informed them that the delay would still count against their allotted promotion time.
The members immediately felt the pressure and rushed onto campus. Fortunately, the class bell had just rung, and a large crowd of students poured out of the buildings.
“Why are they all guys?” Ji Yunting hesitated to approach. “No way the gender ratio at a science and tech university is this skewed.”
“Oh, this particular campus just happens to have more male students,” the director explained, reading off online info. “There are three campuses in total, but only this one is in the city.”
“Guys are fine. They’re young people too and should know us,” Zhu Lianzhen said, though he didn’t sound entirely confident. After the embarrassment he’d suffered that morning, he really didn’t want a repeat performance.
Acemon did have a lot of male fans, but most young men still held a bias against male idols. They saw them as just pretty faces attracting brainless fans, always wearing makeup and dyeing their hair—nothing like their own manly selves.
Koty leaned over and whispered in Zhu Lianzhen’s ear, “How about we have Fu Rong wear a dress and pretend we’re a girl group doing promotions?”
Zhu Lianzhen: “You just want to see that, don’t you!”
