Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 1: Calling by your job title when working
“Slow down…”

It was soft, almost a whisper caught in the throat.

The bed was in a mess, and Cheng Xiao was lying on his side.

The scattered long hair spread on the wrinkled bed sheets, charming and elegant.

"Really? I've never seen you so squeamish before."

Gu Jingyi chuckled and looked up, just as a drop of sweat dripped from the side of his neck.

It bounced twice in the air, where the trail of dust could be seen, and landed on Cheng Xiao's shoulder.

The steamy sweat dripping onto her body was like adding boiling iron to a cup of water. It quickly set off a chain reaction, and Cheng Xiao's body began to move unnaturally.

Sweat beads slid down as her shoulders swayed, and she could no longer hide the beauty of her chest.

Then, through the sunlight coming through the gap in the window, Gu Jingyi clearly saw how the sweat drop fell from the deep ravine.

He looked up and could see the water mark.

Gu Jingyi was stunned for several seconds before looking away. His Adam's apple moved slightly, and he said in a teasing tone:
"Isn't it just that I was a little slow in replying to messages? Why did you come to me? Senior Cheng Xiao~"

Cheng Xiao is a member of Cosmic Girls. After she became famous for her rhythmic gymnastics performance at the Idol Games, she became more popular than the entire group and often traveled back and forth between China and overseas.

There aren't many Chinese working in Korea, so whenever a new face shows up, they're pulled into a group to keep each other company. The group chats are lively, and they even have dinner together from time to time.

After a few times, Gu Jingyi and Cheng Xiao got to know each other.

Especially after Gu Jingyi withdrew from the "Produce 202" "Three Public Performances" due to a huge gap, he also became a member of the returning young actors. The two of them have been in contact more and more, but when did the relationship with Cheng Xiao start to deteriorate?

Gu Jingyi himself couldn't remember clearly...

Facing Gu Jingyi's provocation, Cheng Xiao was neither anxious nor annoyed.

She raised her hand and rubbed the side of Gu Jingyi's neck with her index finger. Gently lifting the hair that she had accidentally stuck to it, she smiled softly:

"It's been almost a year, why are you still so keen on maintaining this relationship with me?"

She turned the tables without a second thought, and the two of them had indeed been acting intimately over the past year.

Gu Jingyi and Cheng Xiao don't meet every weekend.

Sometimes when Cheng Xiao is busy, he will tell Gu Jingyi on WeChat;
Sometimes when Gu Jingyi is busy filming, he will also tell Cheng Xiao about it on WeChat.

Most of the voice messages are just a few seconds long and end quickly.

Gu Jingyi's agent Lin Ze had heard these voice messages once.

He thought for a long time before slowly commenting that Cheng Xiao had a sweet and melodious voice.

When speaking fast, he sounds a little strong, but once he slows down, his voice sounds like a marshmallow dipped in sugar.

That kind of cuteness will directly hit your face and gradually melt like cotton candy.

Gu Jingyi's relationship with her has lasted for almost a year, so his understanding of this is naturally much deeper than Lin Ze's.

What is familiar becomes a habit, which can be easily captured without much effort.

Now, Cheng Xiao spoke very slowly. She asked slowly, with a smile on her face:
"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"

The girl's sweat-soaked bangs were plastered to her forehead, making her look very cute. However, this was in stark contrast to the words she was saying.

Gu Jingyi was already accustomed to these things. After getting to know Cheng Xiao, she would occasionally say something earth-shattering after releasing some pressure.

"Is it possible that I'm just used to it?"

Gu Jingyi smiled and gently passed his fingertips over her body.

The cold air followed his fingers and took the opportunity to stick to Cheng Xiao's damp skin. The strong temperature difference made her shudder instinctively and struggle to get up.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Weren't you very satisfied just now?"

Gu Jingyi grabbed her wrist with a hint of dissatisfaction and leaned closer.

Cheng Xiao finally saw his face clearly. He was just as handsome from the side, and his presence was proportional to his distance.

Even though Cheng Xiao had known him for a long time, he was still shocked by his sudden approach.

Her first reaction was not to move closer, but to retreat.

As expected of the "former C position" who has repeatedly broken the circle with his handsomeness, even after a year of returning to China, the fans brought by "Produce 202" have not all gone away. They will gradually "climb the wall" to search for Gu Jingyi's whereabouts in China.

Like a puzzle, carefully piece it together bit by bit as it grows and collect it.

Cheng Xiao's face turned red when he realized that he was once again staring at Gu Jingyi in a daze.

Like the hedgehog girl, she pouted proudly and deliberately talked about the success of her "former teammate" in front of him.

"Gu Jingyi, Wanna One just won the Best Male Group award."

"Yeah, I see."

Gu Jingyi picked up his clothes from the messy floor and slowly put them on. His face was calm, without revealing the slightest flaw.

Cheng Xiao was a little discouraged, and she continued to fan the flames: "Do you regret it? If you hadn't withdrawn, you would have most likely debuted as the center. Wanna One became a top-tier boy group in Asia right after their debut. If you knew the outcome, would you regret withdrawing?"

Gu Jingyi raised his eyebrows and spoke calmly:
"I'm not envious, not at all."

As a reborn person, how could Gu Jingyi lose himself in the prosperity of the "former group"?

In his previous life, he created many classic shots and million-score live-shot stages in "Produce 202".

From the first public performance, his ranking was undoubtedly the C position.

Because he had no company and was alone in a foreign country, on the night of the finals, his debut position was blatantly manipulated by the production team.

The ranking was pushed down from first to fifth for debut. The lower ranking meant fewer singing segments and a place for marginal performers.

Since his debut, he has had zero business opportunities and his company would reject any endorsements that came his way.

Gu Jingyi wasted two and a half years like this, and his popularity dropped from "top of the gap" to "top line".

Even though on May 2020, 5, the Seoul court announced that Ahn Joon-young was imprisoned for allegedly rigged votes for the "Produce" series, Gu Jingyi's injustice was redressed, but he could never return to the golden age of the traffic era.

In his previous life, he was like most small-time traffic stars, starting out by appearing on variety shows.

After gaining a certain degree of recognition, he joined various crews and started to gain popularity by playing supporting roles.

It was not until the movie "The Beginning" starring him became a hit that Gu Jingyi became a popular young actor.

After being reborn, the best thing he did was to withdraw from "Produce 202".

Sooner or later, they would return to China anyway, and before the "first year of idols" arrived, they could use the popularity accumulated through overseas talent shows to get a head start, gaining leverage and expanding their advantage like a snowball.

Winner takes all, that's what Gu Jingyi wants to do. The low-budget youth campus drama "A Little Thing Called First Love" was his first target after returning to China. Gu Jingyi, with his own popularity, directly replaced Hu Yitian as the male lead.

This drama just started airing two days ago.

Cheng Xiao was stunned by Gu Jingyi's answer, but quickly lowered her eyelashes, composed herself, and smiled at him. "Congratulations! 'A Little Thing Called First Love' has been gaining momentum since its premiere. It's already climbed to third place in the site's search index after just two days."

"I also saw 'A Little Thing Called First Love' on Weibo's trending searches these past few days. Gu Jingyi, you have quite good taste. Who would have thought that this low-budget youth campus drama would actually become a dark horse?"

"Gu Jingyi, how many followers do you have on Weibo now?"

"210, what's wrong?"

"You can do it then. You've seen a good increase in the past two days. I feel like you're about to become a top star."

Hearing these somewhat childish words, Gu Jingyi wanted to laugh.

If only everything were that easy.

"A Little Thing Called First Love" is a typical "March limited" hit drama, and Hu Yitian was only popular for a short time.

This kind of popularity is like Junjunzi from "Dangai 3.0", "July Boyfriend" and "Top Streamer Meng Arthur".

Actors have a limited margin for error, and their popularity almost exclusively lasts while the show airs. If resources aren't sufficient after the show ends, fans will, after three months, differentiate between character and actor, reversing any previous leniency given to the actor based on the character.

Once an actor's subsequent resources cannot keep up, he will quickly flop.

Who could have imagined that a year later, Hu Yitian would only be able to film "Go Go Squid!" as a supporting actor, being outshone by the unknown Li Xian, and all his efforts would go to waste?

Gu Jingyi has gained a lot of fans thanks to "A Little Thing Called First Love", but most of them are "March drama fans".

The time when these fans are most active is probably when the drama is airing.

Gu Jingyi wanted to film good scripts to consolidate his superficial popularity, but due to his age and image restrictions, the scripts that came to him were mainly youth and campus themes, and all of them were bad dramas that failed to make any waves after being broadcast.

The only TV drama projects produced by the "IP giant" Huace at the moment are "Sweet Combat", "First Encounter Light Years Away" and "My Dearest You".

It can't be said to be particularly bad, it's just a waste of time. Domestic actors' films are not broadcast until they are completed, and it takes at least a year for the "inventory" to be released.

If the popularity of the drama is average, broadcasting the drama ineffectively will only consume the popularity of the actors themselves.

Obviously, Gu Jingyi is in trouble now.

Whether it is an internal company drama that requires him to "nurture newcomers" or a bad drama, it is all consuming his own popularity.

He urgently needed an opportunity to calm down his somewhat superficial popularity.

Just then, "Idol Producer" found Hua Ce.

The Kiwi platform promised Gu Jingyi a three-year contract if he participated in Idol Producer. The Kiwi platform also offered him two or more S+ productions a year, allowing Gu Jingyi to choose one of them as the male lead.

It only takes a few months of transition for Gu Jingyi to be able to board the battleship of the Kiwi platform. S's ancient idol dramas and major IPs are all available in front of him for him to choose from.

The dilemma before him will be easily solved!

With Gu Jingyi's popularity, the Kiwi platform is even more confident about the success of "Idol Producer." Furthermore, Gu Jingyi holds a significant position as a centerpiece in overseas talent shows, and his participation in "Idol Producer" will undoubtedly boost the hype.

With "Idol Producer", Gu Jingyi has been able to transform his "March drama fans" into the most loyal, capable and most likely to spend money on "show fans".

Not to mention Gu Jingyi, even Hua Ce gave in after feeling Kiwi's deep sincerity.

As soon as the news that Gu Jingyi will participate in "Idol Producer" was released, many passers-by on Weibo became more looking forward to "Idol Producer".

Cheng Xiao looked at Gu Jingyi and sighed, "Gu Jingyi, I never thought you would actually participate in Idol Producer. Until now, it feels like a dream to me."

Gu Jingyi smiled and said nothing.

Cheng Xiao blinked and asked naively, "Gu Jingyi, will Idol Producer really be a big hit?"

"It will be very popular, and may even change the domestic top streaming landscape in one fell swoop."

Gu Jingyi looked into her eyes and spoke word by word.

Since the premiere of "A Little Thing Called First Love" two days ago, Gu Jingyi's super topic has received more than 2 sign-ins.

Since the launch of the super topic, the number of people signing in to the Weibo super topic has become one of the standards for measuring popularity in fan circles.

Currently, Gu Jingyi is just a newcomer with a little fame.

If he develops according to the normal trajectory, it will probably take until the end of January 18. By the time the finale of "A Little Thing Called First Love" is broadcast, Gu Jingyi's popularity will reach more than 1.

This data sounds good, but the third episode of "Idol Producer" was also broadcast at that time.

The most unexpected thing is that with the airing of the third episode of "Idol Producer", Cai Xukun, who was unknown before participating in the show, has also seen 96967 people sign in on his Weibo account.

Cai Xukun caught up with Gu Jingyi's efforts in one month.

What is even more incredible is that after the "Idol Producer" group was formed in April 18, Cai Xukun jumped from a small-time celebrity to a top star, and his popularity slightly surpassed that of Long Ge, who became a top star with "Guardian".

Cai Xukun's sudden emergence has broken the perception of domestic entertainment.

Not to mention endorsements, not to mention fans spending money and showing off their loyalty.

Just based on the number of people signing in on the super topic, Cai Xukun, who just debuted from "Idol Producer", has a dehydrated data of more than 30.

This number is completely worse than Gu Jingyi who was unable to participate in the draft.

In fact, Cai Xukun's strengths are not particularly outstanding in all aspects, he is just more comprehensive. If he were to be put on an overseas program, it is still unknown whether he can debut.

How could he be compared with Gu Jingyi based on strength alone?
Even if Cheng Xiao were told about these things that would happen in the future, he would not believe it.

Just like Yuehua couldn't have guessed that next year's "Creation Camp" would allow Cheng Xiao's other two teammates to overtake her in popularity.

I don't know when the wind started blowing outside, the clouds were very low and it looked like it was going to rain soon.

Gu Jingyi picked up the car keys and stood up, not wanting to stay any longer.

This was also the tacit understanding developed between him and Cheng Xiao: leave after finishing the work and don't stay for long.

The relationship between them can be summarized by an immoral word - fire friends.

"and many more"

A slightly hoarse voice suddenly sounded from behind, and Gu Jingyi's gaze subconsciously stopped on Cheng Xiao.

There were still red marks on her face from being pressed by the pillow, and her delicate voice did not match her somewhat dry voice.

"You know, I'm the dance instructor of 'Idol Producer'."

Cheng Xiao raised her hand to push the hair aside from her face. Squinting her beautiful eyes, she smiled faintly.

"The next time we meet, it will be during the show recording. Remember to call your name when you're working~"

(End of this chapter)