Chapter 51: Jin Chanjuan!
As soon as Garen’s post appeared, his fans erupted in cheers.
“Haha! Well said! Let the barking dogs bark!”
“This Garen, insults without a single curse word—I like that!”
“Fantastic! A classic rebuke!”
“The way he scolds people is truly remarkable!”
...
While Garen’s fans applauded, Liu Pengfei and his followers were fuming on the other side.
If they responded, wouldn’t that make them dogs? But if they didn’t, it would be hard to swallow the humiliation!
No one was angrier than Liu Pengfei himself. Seeing Garen’s post, he nearly spat blood in rage.
Over at the Blueberry Music Festival headquarters—
“Boss, Garen posted something like that. Should we get involved?” A sycophantic employee sidled up to the person in charge, seeking favor.
Unexpectedly, his flattery backfired. The manager frowned, “Get involved? Do you want to be a dog?”
The employee chuckled awkwardly, “No, no, of course not...”
Then he whispered a few words in the manager’s ear.
After listening, the manager’s expression relaxed and he smiled, “Alright, go ahead and do it.”
On the microblog platform, the battle seemed won by Garen’s side for the moment, but undercurrents were swirling—many eyes watched the unfolding drama.
Garen wasn’t yet a top celebrity, but it would be wrong to say he wasn’t popular; at least his songs were hits. Especially since the release of “The Year We Graduated,” the three tracks from the drama had become household tunes, known everywhere.
Their simple, catchy melodies, paired with the joint promotion by Yida and Five Stars, made it nearly impossible not to go viral.
Anyone who paid close attention to these songs knew Garen’s name.
His twenty-eight thousand followers weren’t just a fluke; Yida’s publicists had campaigned hard, mobilizing all sorts of influencers and official accounts to promote him.
While everyone was on guard, suddenly an official Blueberry Music Festival account, verified with a blue tick, commented on Liu Pengfei’s microblog: “Feifei, your Sparrow Legend group is truly talented. You won the first Star Dream Show championship, and even now I’m excited thinking about it. Why bother getting upset with a younger newcomer? Some people live their whole lives and never win a championship, right?”
Before Liu Pengfei could reply, his fans flooded in support.
“That’s right! Sparrow Legend has won a championship!”
“So-and-so’s microblog is mocking a champion? Hahaha! How ridiculous!”
“Newcomers nowadays think a few hit songs entitle them to mock veterans. Have you ever been on TV? Released an international album? Held a concert?”
“Spot-on! Well said!”
As comments poured in, another surprising event occurred.
Huang Daming, the king of TV dramas, liked the Blueberry Music Festival’s comment!
That like was explosive—Huang Daming’s ten million fans rushed over to Liu Pengfei’s microblog to watch, leaving a flood of footprints behind.
Though Huang Daming only gave a like and said nothing, his fans instantly understood. Combined with his previous posts mocking Garen, they banded together to help Liu Pengfei turn their attacks on Garen.
Suddenly, Garen’s microblog post—“Walk your own path, let them bark”—was besieged, the comment section awash with insults and abuse.
Neither Garen nor Liu Pengfei said a word, yet both saw their follower counts miraculously rise.
Liu Pengfei gained followers faster, jumping from six million to over seven million amid the war of words.
Garen was no longer stuck at twenty-eight thousand; now he had fifty-five thousand. Though the gap with Liu Pengfei and Huang Daming was still vast, his numbers had doubled!
When Garen saw this, he was amazed and astonished.
Indeed, good news never travels far, but bad news spreads like wildfire!
Who knew a flame war could boost followers so fast?
Garen’s hand trembled as he gripped his phone—not out of anger, but excitement. He was about to jump into the fray, hoping to gain even more fans, when the screen suddenly switched to an incoming call.
He glanced at the name—it was Li Ronghao. He assumed Li was also troubled by the microblog drama, so he answered right away. “Teacher Li, sorry, did you see the microblog? Don’t worry! I’ll handle it!”
“What microblog?” Li Ronghao sounded confused.
“Uh…” Garen was taken aback. “You’re not calling about the microblog?”
“Forget about that for now. Get ready, my old classmate agreed to help you. We’re having dinner tonight. You know what to do, right?”
“So soon?” Garen instantly understood—it had to be about Chen Yingying’s school admission.
He hadn’t expected news the very next day after only sounding things out yesterday. Excited, he nodded vigorously, “Yes, yes! I understand!”
“Alright, I’ll send you the address soon. You’re picking up the tab tonight!”
“Of course!” Garen laughed cheerfully.
After hanging up, he jumped from the couch and told Chen Yingying, who was watching TV, “Get ready and dress up nicely. We’re going to meet Teacher Li’s classmate soon!”
“Huh? So soon?” Chen Yingying’s first reaction was surprise at how fast things were moving.
“Isn’t it good? Don’t be shy or nervous—make a good impression!”
“I—I…” Chen Yingying panicked. “No, no! I’m not ready yet!”
At that moment, she felt this was even harder than her arts exam interview. This was the real backdoor, the first time she’d ever done anything like this, and naturally she was nervous.
“That’s not my concern!” Garen stood up, putting on his shoes and coat. “I’m off to get some cash. You get ready at home!”
With that, he rushed out the door like a whirlwind.
There was still an hour and a half until the bank closed. Garen dashed in so fast that all the security guards stared at him, never letting him out of their sight.
When his number was finally called, he hurried to the counter, handed over his bank card and ID, “Hi! I need a new card and to transfer two hundred thousand.”
“Certainly!”
The female teller was calm; in the capital, large transfers like this happened dozens of times daily—she was used to it.
But for Garen, watching so much money leave his account made his heart bleed. He kept an eye out for safety, glancing around to make sure no one was targeting him.
After everything was done, he finally relaxed and returned home. Chen Yingying was already dressed up, looking beautiful.
They sat on the sofa, phones in hand, waiting for Li Ronghao’s call.
Time ticked by.
Finally, at half past six, Li Ronghao’s message arrived.
Garen glanced at the address, grabbed Chen Yingying’s hand, “Let’s go!”
They left the house, exited the building complex, and took a cab straight to the meeting place.
It wasn’t an extravagant hotel, just a decent one. Li Ronghao had booked a suite in advance; when Garen and Chen Yingying arrived, the others hadn’t come yet, so they waited in the outer lounge, where a professional tea master brewed tea for them, keeping boredom at bay.
Ten minutes later, laughter echoed from the doorway, and soon the door opened. Li Ronghao entered with a couple.
“Hello, Teacher Li!” Garen pulled Chen Yingying up to greet them. Chen Yingying respectfully called out, “Professor Li!”
“Oh, you’re here! Have you been waiting long?” Li Ronghao smiled and introduced them, “This is my old classmate, Professor Wang Kai! And his wife, Professor Jin Chanjuan!”
Garen and Chen Yingying stepped forward, bowing slightly, “Hello, Professor Wang! Hello, Professor Jin!”
“Hello!” Wang Kai and Jin Chanjuan nodded warmly.
Once everyone was seated, Li Ronghao chuckled, “Let’s have some tea first.”
While the tea master prepared the tea, Li Ronghao introduced Chen Yingying to Jin Chanjuan. In truth, the real protagonists tonight were the two women; the three men were just supporting players.
Jin Chanjuan had mentored many students over her career, and this sort of thing was nothing new for her. Whether Chen Yingying could enroll depended on whether she impressed Jin.
Her first question: “How many points did you score in the National Drama Academy entrance exam?”
“Two hundred xx,” Chen Yingying replied meekly, giving her score.
“That’s not low. You should be in the top thirty,” Jin nodded. “Didn’t try for other schools?”
“The exam schedules conflicted, so I only applied to National Drama and Shenyang Normal. I passed the Shenyang one, but I don’t want to go there,” Chen Yingying explained.
“Oh!” Jin nodded. “The Peking Opera major at National Drama is hard to get into. Most students are pre-selected, and they look at your previous fame, whether you know any of the faculty, and whether you have recommendations. With your score, if you don’t meet any of those three criteria, it’s easy to get squeezed out.”
She didn’t spell it out, but the same was true for the Central Academy’s Peking Opera major—it all depended on connections. Her words made it clear: if you find the right contact, you can get in.
Li Ronghao, well-versed in the education circle, smiled, “The child doesn’t know any of this. I think she’s talented, so I’m asking you for guidance.”
Jin Chanjuan smiled at Chen Yingying, “Here’s what we’ll do. Next week, I’m taking some students to Hasmuqi for a theater competition. I’ll sign you up for the amateur group. Let’s see how you perform.”
“Thank you so much, Professor Jin!” Chen Yingying beamed with joy.
“Yes! She’s young and should get stage experience,” Li Ronghao said cheerfully, rising to his feet. “Alright, let’s move to the dining room. We’ll talk at the table.”
As everyone stood to head inside, Garen discreetly handed the bank card he’d prepared to Li Ronghao, who in turn subtly passed it to Jin Chanjuan. Jin accepted it without a trace of emotion.