Esports world champion, debuted as the center of a talent show

"Your forehead is still a little red and swollen... Does it still hurt?" The makeup artist's tone was a little cautious, her hands moving without stopping, sweeping over the red and swollen area with even gentler pressure.

Jiang Zhiyu's gaze shifted to the slightly red and swollen area in the mirror, then he shook his head: "It doesn't hurt much anymore."

Actually, the area hit by the camera only hurt at first. Later, he could hardly feel any physical pain; instead, he experienced intense, throbbing pain deep in his temples after the onset of the illness.

"Use my hair from the front to cover it up a little," Jiang Zhiyu said after hesitating for a moment, looking at the reddened area.

The makeup artist nodded knowingly and, as requested, curled his slightly long hair into small waves, which just covered the wound.

At this moment, a staff member walked into the dressing room to check the progress. Upon seeing Jiang Zhiyu, he casually instructed, "Zhiyu, we're going to Hall B later to shoot a short video about checking in with fans. Let me know when you're almost ready."

"Hey, don't rush off—" the makeup artist quickly called out to the staff member who was about to leave, "He's all ready, you can go now."

Jiang Zhiyu smiled and watched his makeup artist leave, then followed the staff out, listening to the other person's rambling chatter all the way.

"The area where the support items were placed has been cleared out. We didn't tell anyone that you would be going to check them out separately, so this is a little surprise for the fans."

"But we still need to be careful, since it's close to the outskirts. However, there will be plenty of security personnel on standby, so there's not too much to worry about."

"Filming will begin at the entrance of Hall B. Don't worry about the cameras, just give your most genuine reactions."

Between Hall A, where the fan meeting was held, and Hall B, where fan support items were displayed, there is a large open-air platform with ventilation on all sides.

They walked to the eaves of Hall A, where a staff member held up a huge black umbrella over Jiang Zhiyu's head, making sure it completely covered him before saying, "Let's go, take it slow, be careful of the slippery ground."

Jiang Zhiyu nodded and stepped into the rain.

The umbrella was large enough that not a single drop of rain fell on him, but the fierce wind around him blew relentlessly, making his whole body tense.

The rain was heavy and torrential, but it did nothing to relieve the summer heat. Yet, Jiang Zhiyu felt a chill run down his spine as he walked in the rain.

Stepping back into Hall B, the perfectly temperatured air conditioning failed to dispel the unease. He rubbed his slightly heavy shoulders, pursed his lips, and silently continued walking forward.

As soon as I turned the corner, I heard several female and male voices arguing.

"Please, security guard! We just want to go in and take a panoramic photo! We only managed to take a partial photo before they cleared us out, and I don't see anyone inside now. Could you let us take just one photo? Just one! Thirty seconds will do!"

"Yes, yes, we're worried that the flowers will deteriorate after all the events are over, and the photos won't turn out well..."

The girls' voices were full of pleading.

"Oh dear... don't make things difficult for me..." The security guard's tone was helpless; he had already been pulled here and pleaded for several minutes.

"Okay, let's take the picture right at the door! Ten seconds, then the door opens, and we'll leave!"

The security guard was somewhat persuaded. He understood their enthusiasm for supporting their idol, and finally softened his stance, hesitatingly asking, "Whose support area are you trying to photograph?"

The two girls exchanged a surprised glance and eagerly replied, "Jiang Zhiyu!"

Jiang Zhiyu's support area is located at the far end directly opposite the main gate, so if you stand at the entrance, you can get a full-view shot from the front.

But to everyone's surprise, the security guard's expression changed drastically upon hearing the name, and his tone immediately shifted completely: "No, absolutely not, you should leave now."

He then decisively waved for the two girls to leave.

The girls, bewildered by what had caused his sudden change of expression, exchanged glances. Seeing that there seemed to be no way to resolve the situation, they could only turn away regretfully.

Before leaving, they comforted each other: "It's okay, let's come back to take pictures after the meet-and-greet. Maybe the flowers we chose will last longer!"

The two girls who left were Lu Shanshan and Tao Leqin, the president of Jiang Zhiyu's fan club.

The security guard's reason for refusing was actually quite simple. He had been informed that the trainee to be filming next was Jiang Zhiyu, and the production team had recently issued a level-one alert, prohibiting any safety hazards, especially those related to Jiang Zhiyu.

Therefore, he could not risk opening the doors of Hall B to strangers after the area had already been cleared.

Jiang Zhiyu and his staff slowly approached, and after turning the last corner, they saw the backs of two girls disappear into the distance.

They slowed their pace, and a staff member turned to Jiang Zhiyu and said, "We'll start recording from the moment you open the door. After recording, we'll rush to edit and cut it down. Just be natural."

"Okay," Jiang Zhiyu replied softly.

The security guard wisely stepped back from the door, leaving Jiang Zhiyu with an absolutely independent space for filming.

He walked alone until he reached the entrance of Building B, where he placed his hand on the retro doorknob.

The camera was already on, flashing a red dot, silently aimed at the person in front of the door.

The boy in the video has a tall and straight posture. His brand-new and clean trainee uniform looks particularly neat, highlighting his long legs and waistline. His hair is slightly curly and has been blown back to its usual fluffy look.

The fresh makeup paired with her naturally expressive peach blossom eyes makes her look exceptionally energetic, and even the mole under her eye is made more vivid.

In the recording footage, Jiang Zhiyu stood ramrod straight, showing no trace of his recent dejection.

But only he knew that he was still feeling unwell, his whole body ached and he was exhausted. He had to work hard to maintain his facial expression so that he wouldn't look listless.

He suddenly remembered that Lin Shi had once angrily described him as a stubborn mule who would hold back no matter how much his physical condition or emotional fluctuations were, as if it were his life to be spoken out. It was completely outrageous!

As his thoughts returned, Jiang Zhiyu's gaze fell on his hand gripping the doorknob. He then took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

What comes into view is a vast expanse of blue-green flowers.

Layer upon layer of flowers bloom in a large area directly opposite the venue entrance, forcefully capturing all attention and domineeringly occupying every corner at the far end.

At the very center is a huge floor-to-ceiling flower wall, with a lake blue base color, making the whole design sophisticated and bright.

A giant photo wall is set up in the flower wall, which is currently blank and has no words written on it. It is expected that Hall B will be opened after the fan meeting so that fans can come in to take photos and get autographs.

Next to the photo wall are three life-size standees of Jiang Zhiyu, showing his appearance on the first stage, the first public performance, and the second public performance. In the photos, he looks bright, flamboyant, and spirited.

The standee was also surrounded by countless clusters of flowers, as if it were wrapped in love.

Jiang Zhiyu stared blankly at everything before him, somewhat dazed.

The chill of rain, the crowds, the muddy road, the sharp touch of sand and gravel flashed through his mind, and finally only the blue of the lake before him remained.

Like the warm sunshine of a sunrise when the rain has stopped.