Chapter Forty-Two: Should I Try Taking a Shortcut?

“So, is this your idea, or An Tinghan’s?”
Future Stardom’s guest lounge.
Chen Fang looked at Tong Qin before him, his expression somewhat bewildered.
“It’s both my idea and Tinghan’s intention,” Tong Qin replied.
Chen Fang fell silent.
The variety show Tong Qin was inviting Chen Fang to join was none other than the upcoming episode of “Let’s Fall in Love Together.”
Tong Qin explained briefly: as An Tinghan’s agent, she’d submitted numerous requests to the show’s production team, hoping to change An Tinghan’s male partner, but had received no response.
The producers’ intentions were clear.
What they wanted was contrast!
Cheng Jie was a trainee.
An Tinghan was a top-tier pop queen.
The disparity between their statuses would generate buzz and discussion.
With buzz and discussion comes traffic.
More traffic meant more revenue for the production team, and more money to share with the participating artists.
Mutual benefit!
Now that An Tinghan wanted to change partners at the last minute, it was simply not possible.
Given this, Tong Qin was rather helpless.
Of course, An Tinghan could choose to breach the contract and withdraw from the show.
But the losses would be immense.
On one hand, An Tinghan’s schedule was light lately; if she dropped this romance show, she’d be resting for a long stretch, and for an artist, being absent from the cameras for too long meant being phased out. On the other hand, negative rumors would surely emerge online about An Tinghan.
Self-media thrived on this kind of buzz.
Good or bad, true or false, as soon as they caught a whiff of something, they’d spin a complete article to mislead the public in an instant.
These two losses were the greatest.
The penalty for breach was the least of her worries.
After careful thought, Tong Qin considered Chen Fang.
Since the production team wanted so-called contrast, why not take it to the extreme?
Replace Cheng Jie with Chen Fang.
Double the contrast!
Cheng Jie, after all, was a seasoned trainee and a familiar face in the entertainment world, but Chen Fang had only signed with Future Stardom days ago. Moreover, Future Stardom’s reputation was less than stellar; pairing Chen Fang with An Tinghan would be even more explosive than Cheng Jie.
Tong Qin gazed at Chen Fang hopefully.
As long as Chen Fang agreed, she was confident she could persuade the production team to switch partners.
After all, traffic was king.

Chen Fang remained silent for a long time, then asked with a strange expression, “So, you and An Tinghan are treating me as a backup?”
Tong Qin was taken aback. “That’s not what we mean.”
Chen Fang hadn’t expected he’d one day be considered a backup.
Given his qualifications, wasn’t it more fitting for him to play the heartbreaker?
He even began to wonder if, perhaps, he was too honest, and that’s why he’d been tagged as the standby option.
Tong Qin tried to explain, but Chen Fang interrupted, “Tell me the benefits.”
Hearing this, Tong Qin breathed a sigh of relief; since Chen Fang was interested in the benefits, there was room to negotiate.
“First, there’s money.”
“Not only will you receive a joining fee from the production team, but I’ll also transfer you a sum personally, as your reward for agreeing.”
“As you’ve just become an artist under Future Stardom, your joining fee won’t be very high—probably just over a hundred thousand. Personally, I’ll offer one million as a thank-you.”
“Second, there’s traffic.”
“The show will naturally boost your exposure, and Dream Builder behind Tinghan, along with Future Stardom behind you, will provide strong support and publicity. For an artist, this should be more important than money.”
That was the truth.
For an artist, the greatest fear was becoming irrelevant, fading out.
But Chen Fang was different.
He felt money mattered more.
After all, he’d just been extorted for five million by a ruthless system and was in urgent need of a comeback.
Looking at it this way, maybe joining this variety show was worth considering.
The filming for one episode of the romance show required at most a week.
Despite each episode airing for only two hours, those two hours were actually compiled from seven days of sweet moments.
Moreover, the show featured four pairs of temporary couples.
Divided over two hours, each couple had about thirty minutes of screen time.
It sounded little, but in reality, editing thirty minutes of sweet moments from seven days was extremely difficult.
In earlier episodes, there were times when even two hours of footage couldn’t be filled, and sponsors’ ads had to be used to pad the runtime.
What did audiences want to see?
Kisses, hugs, and lifts.
The production team knew this well.
But in those thirty minutes, it couldn’t always be kisses, hugs, and lifts—otherwise, their lips would be rubbed raw.
The hardest job wasn’t for the stars participating, but for the editors, who often found themselves running out of material before they’d filled the required time.
Chen Fang pondered.
A week’s time.

It shouldn’t conflict with participating in Star Path.
He only hesitated because he pictured An Tinghan’s Chen Yanxi-style bun face, which made things a bit awkward for him.
“I’ll think about it,” he said. “I need to discuss it with my agent.”
Chen Fang didn’t agree immediately.
Seeing this, Tong Qin understood, but time was tight, so she pleaded, “I hope you can decide soon. I’ll need time to negotiate with the production team, so ideally, you should reach a decision within one or two days.”
Chen Fang nodded.
After seeing Tong Qin off, Chen Fang first had lunch, then returned to the studio in the afternoon to practice singing.
He could delay deciding about the variety show.
But tomorrow was the third round of preliminary competition.
Which was more important?
No need to think twice.
Until seven in the evening, Chen Fang finished off the remaining recovery potion; the dryness and pain in his throat vanished instantly, and he finally left the studio.
Arriving at reception, he asked about Xi Yuanyuan again.
The receptionist’s answer was the same as in the morning: Xi Yuanyuan hadn’t come in all day.
“That girl didn’t get into some trouble, did she?” Chen Fang muttered.
With Xi Yuanyuan’s personality, she was rarely absent for a whole day.
After leaving the company, Chen Fang didn’t head home right away. Instead, he went to Ji Mei’s villa. After two days of recovery, Ji Mei looked much better, especially with her captivating mature charm. After a round of deep and shallow exchanges, Chen Fang chose to leave with his trousers on.
The reason he didn’t stay overnight was that Ji Mei had kicked him out.
Tomorrow was the competition.
If he indulged too much tonight, it would definitely affect his condition the next day.
Additionally, Chen Fang learned some news from Ji Mei.
Tomorrow’s third round preliminary location, time, the four new judges, and the specifics of the masked performance rules.
Such was the benefit of using connections.
Connections?
Chen Fang thought about it.
Should he try next time?
Forget it.
The progress was a bit too fast.
He worried Ji Mei couldn’t handle such “primitive” aesthetics of violence.