Chapter 20: Soaring Popularity

Days without school are truly pleasant—sleeping until I wake naturally, practicing the piano when I feel like it, and playing with the cat whenever I wish. Zhou Miao unplugged the internet cable and turned off his phone; as long as I can't see it, the world can't mock me! Sometimes, this ostrich mentality is surprisingly effective. In contrast, Ms. Hong Xue simply can't be as calm as Zhou Miao; she obsessively refreshes Weibo, endlessly scrolling through comments about Zhou Miao. Whenever she sees praise, she nods with a knowing smile, as if to say, "You have good taste." When she encounters criticism, she becomes furious and keeps asking Zhou Miao how to report these netizens.

Zhou Miao couldn't even be bothered to respond. He was slurping an ice pop, blocking Nai Tang, who tried to sneak a lick. "You can't have this, little kitten. Cats shouldn't eat cold treats. Once I'm done, you can lick the stick."

Zhou Ye returned from work and, seeing Zhou Miao sprawled on the sofa, remarked, "Why are you still not going to school? How long are you going to hide? For a grown man, your skin sure is thin."

Zhou Miao sighed, "Exactly. Why didn't I inherit your thick skin? Such a pity—the only admirable quality, and I missed out."

"You've got nothing left but that mouth," Zhou Ye retorted, flicking Zhou Miao’s forehead before sprawling on the sofa himself, exuding the air of a patriarch.

Hong Xue brought the dishes to the table, and Zhou Ye turned on "Transformation Plan." The family ate together while watching the show, a routine that had become their recent norm. Yet seeing himself on TV always made Zhou Miao feel a bit uncomfortable.

Watching the three move bricks for the village chief, Zhou Ye commented, "Only a hundred yuan a day? That's stingy. Construction sites pay two or three hundred."

"We worked slowly. Others could do twice what we did. A hundred yuan is fair, especially since they didn't even ask us to help," Zhou Miao replied.

Hong Xue gave him a large chicken drumstick. "You must have been exhausted during that time, working under the hot sun, cutting wheat and moving bricks. The production team really is something."

"It wasn't too bad. Experiencing it once was actually pretty interesting." Zhou Miao wasn't one to complain. Years of practicing piano and guitar had left his hands covered in soft calluses from blisters breaking and healing over and over.

Elsewhere, Hu San was watching "Transformation Plan" in her room on her phone. Seeing the segment where Zhou Miao and the others spread manure, she felt her pumpkin soup suddenly tasted strange.

The live comments were full of complaints—everyone was eating, and the scene was disgusting. Hu San quickly fast-forwarded; thankfully, she was watching on a video site and could skip ahead. She jumped to the part where the three encountered the local dog.

When Zhou Miao, face fierce, tossed away his popsicle stick and declared he would "teach it a lesson," the comments exploded with laughter. He had all the hallmarks of a delinquent, yet his attitude towards a dog made him look utterly silly.

Watching Zhou Miao sneak up like a thief, holding a basin and tiptoeing towards the sleeping dog, Hu San couldn't help but hold her breath, afraid to wake it.

The next second, Zhou Miao slammed the basin over the dog, and the three of them banged on it like a drum. Hu San burst into uncontrollable laughter, like someone deranged.

In the living room, Mr. and Mrs. Hu exchanged a bewildered glance towards her room—perhaps their daughter really had a few screws loose.

After this episode aired, Zhou Miao’s foolish antics on the show were turned into animated memes by netizens, spreading everywhere. One particular trait became well-known: Zhou Miao was extremely petty—even getting chased by a dog, he had to get revenge.

Yet his genuine, unpretentious personality and handsome looks quickly won him a legion of fans online. They eagerly searched for information about Zhou Miao, only to discover he didn’t even have a Weibo account; all revelations came from classmates posting online.

The known facts were few: he's handsome, from a good family, loves music, dislikes studying, is obsessed with cats, petty, sharp-tongued, and has been pursued by many girls at school—all of whom he rejected.

At first, some doubted his orientation, but a boy once confessed to him and Zhou Miao beat him up thoroughly—so much so that the parents were called in; his orientation seems perfectly ordinary.

Netizens couldn’t understand why Zhou Miao didn’t take advantage of his current popularity, open a Weibo account, and gain more followers.

Just then, Wang Jiang posted on Weibo: “Stop looking, Brother Miao is off the grid—his phone’s turned off. For him, joining ‘Transformation Plan’ was truly embarrassing. He’s focusing on keeping a low profile now.”

Below, there were comments from supposed classmates, saying Zhou Miao hadn't been back to school since the show aired and no one could reach him. Only then did fans believe Zhou Miao really wanted to keep things quiet.

Aside from fans, major talent shows were searching for him as well. In recent years, such shows have exploded in popularity, and good candidates are increasingly rare. Zhou Miao was a hot topic, strikingly handsome, and musically talented!

Zhao Weiming’s phone had been ringing off the hook with industry colleagues seeking Zhou Miao’s contact information.

But he had already discussed it with Zhou Miao and his parents: Zhou Miao had absolutely no interest in these talent shows and asked him to decline on his behalf.

Still, some refused to give up. Several groups had already come to the house, and some even sought out Zhou Ye at his company, trying to negotiate directly with his father. The offers were impressive—the highest was two million yuan, an extraordinary sum for a newcomer.

Most rookies on these popular shows earn nothing, yet countless people are willing to pay just to appear.

Zhou Miao himself wasn’t worth that price; the two million were for his trending popularity and his looks. With his appearance, Zhou Miao would instantly become the face of any show, and that's exactly what current talent programs lack.

Online discussions raged about which show Zhou Miao would choose, with some even launching polls.

Only Li Feifei posted on Weibo: “Betting fifty cents, Zhou Miao won’t join any talent show.”

Most netizens didn’t believe it. Talent shows are all the rage lately; plenty of newcomers become famous overnight, and no one would turn down such a chance.

But the fact was, Zhou Miao rejected the offers without hesitation. Zhou Ye ran a construction company; Zhou Miao never lacked for money. The wall of figurines in his bedroom alone was worth as much as an apartment in a second-tier city.

Talent shows nowadays had become distorted, packaging contestants as innocent, pure youths—more adept at acting cute and coquettish than girls, speaking in sickly sweet tones that made people's skin crawl.

If Zhou Miao joined them, he feared he might lose control one day and shout, “I’ll take on ten of you!”

Fame is all well and good, but he didn’t want it this way. Whether others called him proud or brainless, this was what he thought—and this was how he acted.