Chapter 36: Recording Happy Camp

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“Straight-from-camera photos, with no filters or beauty retouching. Sadly, our Jingyi does not photograph well at all—he is the kind of handsome that leaves you sighing no matter how many times you see him. @Idol Producer—Gu Jingyi”

“Gu Jingyi is a hundred times more handsome in person than in unedited photos—does anyone understand? Actors really are on another level from idols! When he walked over, he was the only person I could see!”

“Gu Jingyi is looking at me! I’m in his eyes! He smiled—there’s a place for me in his heart!”

“I’ve seen Gu Jingyi in person, which puts me ahead of 99.9 percent of his fans. I’ve even exchanged glances with him. I no longer wish to speak with anyone who has never met Emperor Jing!”

“He really is incredibly handsome in person. No photo or video can capture the impact of seeing him live. Who said Gu Jingyi was aloof? I called out to him and told him to eat properly. He heard me and actually responded properly!”

Fans who had never seen Gu Jingyi in person grew increasingly curious as they watched the fansite photographers collectively lose their minds on their homepages.

What was he really like in person? Why had nothing more than a routine shout-out sent all those masters of photo editing into a frenzy?

The online fans thought indignantly: I don’t believe it! Not unless Gu Jingyi shows himself to me too!

Yet their hands remained perfectly honest. One after another, they saved the pictures bearing the fansite photographers’ watermarks.

A little after four in the morning, all the trainees from Classes A and B gathered in the dressing room. They had their makeup applied and their hair styled one by one. Amid the orderly chaos, everyone hurriedly finished getting ready within two hours.

A large van was parked outside the dormitory building. Gu Jingyi boarded relatively early, found a window seat, and closed his eyes to rest. Before long, he sensed another trainee sit down beside him.

Once all the trainees taking part in the recording had arrived, the vehicle set off.

Before long, they reached the airport.

After boarding the plane, the reality of becoming celebrities gradually returned to them.

Justin looked rather excited. “Brother Jingyi, I think I’m really starting to feel like we’ve become celebrities.”

He was referring to the fansite photographers who had come to meet them before they went through airport security, having received word of their arrival.

They held banners printed with adorable chibi portraits of the contestants, one after another.

Their faces were cute yet fervent. Even contestants like Justin, who had already taken part in an overseas survival show, felt as though the whole thing were unreal.

“It’s precisely because of our fans’ love that we need to get plenty of rest. We have to meet them in our best condition.”

Gu Jingyi took out a U-shaped travel pillow and went back to sleep.

He slept soundly. Influenced by him, Justin’s eyelids gradually grew heavy as well. He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

At ten in the morning, the plane landed smoothly at Star City Airport.

A talent manager gently shook Gu Jingyi awake, and the accompanying staff came in as well. They took turns tidying the trainees’ hairstyles.

Everyone’s hair had been somewhat flattened out of shape after sleeping on the plane.

Only after their hair had been restyled did the trainees leave the airport one by one.

Their performance outfits were the silver-gray, school-uniform-style suits they had worn while filming the theme music video two days earlier. Paired with their stage makeup, the effect was exceptionally eye-catching.

“Gu Jingyi! Gu Jingyi!”

“Gu Jingyi, look over here!”

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Although the schedule had not been made public, even that could not stop the fansite photographers’ enthusiasm.

A small crowd of fans had still come to meet them. The security staff immediately formed a human wall to keep the fans from surging forward.

To prevent anyone from being trampled, the trainees merely offered hurried greetings before leaving the airport.

…

Xiang Province Broadcasting and Television Station.

One of the country’s top entertainment and variety-show broadcasters, its entrance saw celebrities coming and going at all hours of the day.

It was no secret that Zhang Yixing would be bringing the contestants from Idol Producer there for a recording. By then, many fans were already waiting outside the broadcasting building.

Most of them were Zhang Yixing’s fans. There were also a few fans of popular contestants such as Gu Jingyi and Cai Xukun. The remaining trainees had only two or three scattered fans each.

When the black van stopped by the roadside, Zhang Yixing’s fans quickly realized that it could not be their idol.

Zhang Yixing had long since left behind the rookie stage when he had to squeeze into a van with other people.

But the young man who stepped out of the vehicle first was strikingly handsome, and the fans did not look away.

One, two, three…

More and more young men climbed out of the van, more than twenty in all.

Every one of them was tall and slender, with broad shoulders and long legs. Though they were some distance away, their superior features were still clearly visible.

The group of young men quickly attracted the attention of the fans waiting outside.

“Is this some new boy band from the domestic entertainment scene? How come I don’t recognize a single one of them… But wow, they’re kind of handsome.”

The Zhang Yixing fan had initially wanted to say “so handsome,” but out of loyalty to her idol, she hastily pulled herself back and changed it to “kind of handsome.”

Especially the guy at the very front—his legs were insanely long.

Even a comic artist would not dare draw proportions like those!

She aimed her camera at Gu Jingyi and zoomed in, then enlarged the image again.

The picture in her viewfinder grew clearer and clearer until it finally focused on Gu Jingyi’s face.

“Oh my God, it’s Jiang Chen! What is he doing here? I thought the drama A Little Thing Called First Love had been given eight hundred layers of filters…”

She muttered under her breath, looking utterly incredulous.

Zhang Ling, who had won tickets to the recording of Happy Camp, happened to be standing beside the Zhang Yixing fansite photographer.

Hearing the other fan’s astonished complaint, she chimed in proudly. “Shocking, right? At first, I thought it was all because of the filters too.”

As a modern college student, Zhang Ling spent all her time outside class watching dramas and variety shows.

When she won the Happy Camp tickets, she had been nearly delirious with joy.

Especially after learning that Zhang Yixing would be bringing the trainees from Idol Producer along for the recording, her happiness reached its absolute peak.

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Ever since A Little Thing Called First Love began airing, Gu Jingyi had rarely appeared in the public eye.

Viewers knew only that he had participated in Produce 202. They knew very little else about him.

After watching his first-stage performance and being swept straight to the bottom of the pit by Gu Jingyi, Zhang Ling herself did not know what had come over her. She had simply booked the latest flight to Star City, just to see him once from behind the barriers.

“Coconut, aren’t you going?”

“No, I’m not a fan girl. Besides, I’m not particularly interested in survival shows.”

Zhou Ye smiled as she gently declined.

It might have been a little crazy, but when Zhang Ling traveled across mountains and rivers to reach the Happy Camp recording venue, all her exhaustion vanished. There was only the delight of finally seeing Gu Jingyi.

At that moment, Zhang Ling finally understood why a routine shout-out lasting only a few seconds could send all the major fans on the homepages into a frenzy.

In person, a truly handsome man would always draw the attention of fans from every corner of the fandom.

Gu Jingyi needed neither the departure from the camera nor photo editing to look impressive. The fansite photographers’ claim that their pictures were “straight from the camera, completely unretouched” contained not the slightest exaggeration.

The reactions of Zhang Yixing’s fansite photographers alone were proof enough of his impact.

Click, click, click.

With every press of the shutter, another image was frozen in time.

“Brother Jingyi, why do I feel like there are so many fewer fans at the venue today?” Justin asked in a lowered voice from the waiting room, sounding somewhat disappointed.

“That’s only natural. Zhang Yixing debuted in a phenomenal overseas boy band at the end of 2012 and returned to develop his career here in 2014. Whether in popularity or in body of work, he has far more than we do at present.”

Gu Jingyi smiled and explained it simply to Justin.

“Idol Producer hasn’t even aired yet. Even if we’re merely waiting for our moment to explode, that process still takes time. Believe in yourself. We can ride this wave and get ahead of the other rising stars.”

His confidence was so abundant that even Cai Xukun, who was still locked in a lawsuit with his former agency, found himself infected by it and greatly encouraged.

That episode of Happy Camp featured not only Zhang Yixing but also a host of other major stars.

Gu Jingyi and the others exchanged only brief greetings with the Happy Camp hosts before waiting in the dressing room for their appearance.

Fortunately, there were so many of them. The time passed quickly as they sat around chatting.

The cameras from Idol Producer beside them were filming everything simultaneously. The footage would later be added as behind-the-scenes material to the companion variety show.

“You can head to the studio and get ready now.”

Just before it was time for them to go on, a staff member knocked on the door to notify them.

More than twenty trainees rose in a flurry. Dressed alike, they followed the staff toward the back of the stage.

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