Chapter 17: The Enigma of Lin Ziyao

“Star Week” became an instant sensation. Even before its first episode aired, the show soared to the top of trending searches, propelled solely by a promotional stage that was originally intended for its second round of games.

It utterly dominated Weibo’s trending topics. Among these, the hashtag “Most Dazzling Ethnic Style” directly claimed the top spot.

On the very night of the performance, “Most Dazzling Ethnic Style” was uploaded online via recordings from audience members. Thanks to its incredibly catchy melody and infectious rhythm, it rapidly went viral across the entire internet.

Simply clicking on the trending topic would reveal Lin Ziyao and her group’s captivating performance from that evening.

Even offline supermarkets began playing the song on a loop. Moreover, numerous cover songs and dance videos started appearing on Bilibili.

Furthermore, since no official version of the song had been released, the backing tracks circulating online were incomplete. Resourceful netizens pieced together full instrumental versions, incorporating various instruments and folk singing styles. This gave the song’s spread a quality of collective creation, blooming everywhere on Bilibili.

It was safe to say that Director Chen had struck gold by inviting Lin Ziyao to his variety show. Even before airing, the program garnered waves of unprecedented attention.

Even Lin Ziyao herself hadn’t anticipated that the first song to make her famous wouldn’t be “Invisible Wings,” but rather the electrifying live performance of “Most Dazzling Ethnic Style.”

After Lin Ziyao returned from her break and inquired with the staff, she learned a peculiar detail. They often heard Director Chen’s bursts of laughter echoing from his dreams. Even Xiao Li mentioned that Director Chen would inexplicably burst into laughter during this period, muttering indistinct phrases like, ‘It’s a hit! We’re rich!’

However, among the trending topics related to “Star Week,” besides “Most Dazzling Ethnic Style,” there was another prominent one: “Who is she?”

Clicking on it would immediately reveal Lin Ziyao singing and dancing in a pale purple gown, alongside photos of her demurely hiding behind Qin Yu.

In these photos, she showcased two distinctly different versions of herself. The pale purple gown accentuated the expanse of her fair skin, lending her an inherently noble appearance. Yet, due to her spirited dance, she was instantly pulled from the heavens back to the mortal world.

Meanwhile, the photos of her hiding beside Qin Yu made her appear soft, adorable, and utterly endearing, making one yearn to embrace her and playfully tease her.

If it were Qin Yu describing her, she would likely use this analogy: Lin Ziyao was like a glutinous rice ball with a sesame filling, appearing white on the outside, but revealing a ‘dark heart’ once bitten into.

If an outsider were to click into the real-time comment section of the trending topic, they would encounter a rather unusual scene.

“Wife!”

“Little sister is so beautiful, come into this big sister’s arms!”

Lin Ziyao’s two distinct personas captured the attention of many, prompting them to discover her true identity. After all, the production team hadn’t officially announced the guest information yet, though the audience had recognized some of them from the live stage.

Xu Li, the renowned host.

Yang Tian, the trainee with a million followers.

Tang Wenjie, the drama series regular.

Feng Qiqi, the piano prodigy.

Dai Wen, the cover model.

Qin Yu, the popular idol.

All that remained was Lin Ziyao’s information. Due to strict personal information management online, no details about her had been leaked whatsoever.

At this opportune moment, Director Chen decided to strike while the iron was hot, tossing a stone into the still-boiling water.

The trailer for “Star Week” was released!

This news instantly shot to the top of trending topics. In an instant, viewers eager to discover Lin Ziyao’s identity flooded “Star Week”’s Weibo account, nearly forcing the engineers, who were on break, back to overtime.

The trailer was essentially an edited compilation of the guests’ first day at the villa, alongside their reactions during the talent show that very evening.

Xiao Yang, who was originally at work, immediately started slacking off at her workstation upon receiving a message from a group member, clicking on the behind-the-scenes clip.

– Lin Ziyao, individual trainee. –

Upon seeing this, Xiao Yang gasped. ‘With that stage performance that night, you’re telling me she’s an individual trainee?’

At this moment, as the camera focused on Lin Ziyao, Xiao Yang opened the comment section, revealing a flood of “wife” comments from countless ‘face-worshippers’ inundating the screen.

It proved to be true: Lin Ziyao’s delicate and fragile appearance easily garnered a wave of goodwill from the audience.

The show’s editor was also quite savvy, clearly understanding the focus of this episode, and gave Lin Ziyao abundant screen time. For instance, a clip of her proactively approaching Feng Qiqi was included, though a mute effect was added, making it impossible to hear what she said.

Viewers only saw her pat Lin Ziyao before leaving. The next second, the scene cut to Feng Qiqi, sitting in a chair, covering her mouth with a look of terror. The post-production team thoughtfully added large, special-effect text, asking, ‘What happened to make her so surprised?’

This segment of the behind-the-scenes clip agitated the viewers in the comment section. It was like a serialized novel cutting off at the most crucial plot point, with the author promising to update tomorrow.

“Editor, please give me your home address. I want to send you a gift!”

“No main episode to watch, I’m dying!”

This sentiment was shared even by Xiao Yang, who was watching the video. She longed to see the full episode of the variety show immediately, but for now, she could only continue watching the behind-the-scenes clips to satisfy her craving.

Next were clips of Director Chen with the male guests as they transported ingredients outside the resort, along with the arrangements for the female guests’ tasks.

However, these were all fragmented editing techniques, cleverly designed to keep the audience patiently watching.

At the end of the behind-the-scenes clip, the editor left two pivotal frames. The first showed Qin Yu stepping onto the stage with a guitar, followed by the entire audience erupting in applause.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Yang felt it was clear the production team was hinting that Qin Yu had gained the approval of all the guests on the very first day.

The most surprising part of the entire clip for her, however, was Lin Ziyao, the individual trainee.

She opened Qin Yu’s core fan group, eager to see what other fans thought of the clip.

The first group message she saw read:

“I never expected this little sister to be an individual trainee! She’s my second bias after Qin Yu!” This message came from the ‘dog admin’ who had been muted by the group owner for a day previously.

Xiao Yang initially thought the ‘dog admin’ would be muted by the group owner again, just like last time. Yet, the replies that followed were entirely different.

– +1 –

– +1 –

‘Good heavens,’ Xiao Yang thought, ‘in just a few days, all of you have become ‘double-biases’?’

Even the group owner, who had been quick to act last time, remained silent, seemingly allowing this situation to unfold.

“Don’t you think Qin Yu and Lin Ziyao look incredibly compatible standing together?” At this point, the ‘dog admin,’ who hadn’t been muted by the group owner, continued to ‘sell’ their new obsession in the group.

– ? –

– Something’s off with you? –

[XXX Admin has been muted by the Group Owner.]

Xiao Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. Perhaps the group owner had just been busy and hadn’t seen the messages; otherwise, there was no telling what other astonishing remarks the ‘dog admin’ might have made.

Still, watching Qin Yu and Lin Ziyao together in the same frame, it did have a certain undeniable appeal.