Chapter 58: Everyone?

“Could it be that Lulu likes me?”

This thought only flashed through Lin Xiyue’s mind for a brief moment before she immediately passed on it. Thinking like that felt a little too narcissistic.

Liking to ship yuri CP ≠ being yuri herself. In this small circle, everyone clearly separated hobbies from real life. The probability that Bai Lulu actually liked girls was, in truth, quite low.

“Forget it, forget it. No point overthinking random nonsense. What matters most is handling what’s in front of me.”

She tossed her phone aside. The girl rolled back and forth on the bed several times before finally closing her eyes and drifting into dreamland…

***

The next morning.

Bai Lulu went to work as usual. But for some reason, she felt that Little Xi-sama was acting strange today—almost as if she were deliberately keeping some distance from her.

“Maybe… I’m just overthinking it?”

Bai Lulu muttered to herself before continuing her work.

Recently, business collaborations flying toward Lin Entertainment had been coming down like snowflakes—almost all of them specifically requesting Lin Xiyue and Xia Jinnian to work together.

However, the two of them only had so much time and energy. And they couldn’t slow down their long-term growth for short-term gains. So in reality, they had only accepted a carefully selected few deals.

As for the rest, while politely declining, Lin Entertainment recommended other artists within the company to the clients. Quite a few of those offers were successfully retained, allowing many artists to share in the benefits.

Everyone knew exactly who had brought this prosperity. As a result, the level of respect for Lin Xiyue within the company rose even higher.

“Four million followers~”

Lin Xiyue looked at her personal homepage on Fanxing Network, her expression filled with surprise and gratification.

Today, her rating on Fanxing Network had jumped directly from quasi–third-tier to quasi–second-tier—skipping the third-tier stage entirely. And her follower count had officially surpassed four million.

What did four million followers mean? Sure, first-tier and super first-tier celebrities often casually boast tens of millions of followers. But how many artists could actually reach that level? The higher you climb, the wider the gap becomes. Mid-tier artists’ numbers are nowhere near that glamorous.

Take Zhou Li, for example—the veteran second-tier singer who once tried to snatch the singing rights for Meteor Shower from her. Despite having works with decent circulation for years, she had accumulated only a little over three million followers.

And how long had Lin Xiyue even debuted? She had already broken four million—most of which were new followers from just the past month. The activity level of these fans was frighteningly high. If artist rankings didn’t take so many dimensions into account, she would have rushed into second-tier status long ago based on follower count alone.

As for Xia Jinnian, her follower count was slightly lower—just over two million—placing her at third-tier.

It was somewhat ironic. Originally, Lin Entertainment had intended to heavily promote the exceptionally talented Xia Jinnian. Lin Xiyue had merely been a temporary addition to fill a slot. Yet now she had more followers than the “main” candidate.

But Lin Xiyue knew this was only because she had more exposure recently. Xia Jinnian’s real talent advantage hadn’t even begun to shine yet—she was the type who flourished in the later stages.

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to bow whenever I see Superstar Lin from now on. Forever beneath you, huh—”

Xia Jinnian sighed dramatically. Even though Lin Xiyue knew her best friend was joking, she hurried over to comfort her.

“Oh come on, what are you saying? Our Jinnian is the real powerhouse. I just benefited from marketing, that’s all~”

“Pfft, I was teasing you. Honestly, being able to get this far already far exceeds my expectations—and it’s all thanks to you.”

Xia Jinnian made a face. If someone had told her before that in just over a month she would debut, win the championship upon debut, and even sing the theme song for a well-known movie, she would have thought they were dreaming.

But now it was reality. She truly owed it to her best friend. Without Lin Xiyue, she’d probably be working a summer job at some restaurant right now, saving up tuition for university.

“I told you—we’re a golden duo. Believe me now?”

“I believe you, I believe you~”

“So, calling me ‘wife’ now wouldn’t be too much to ask, right?”

“You only ever think about that, don’t you?!”

“Come onnn~”

“Sigh—there’s really no dealing with you.”

Xia Jinnian let out a long sigh. Her cheeks slowly flushed red. After holding it in for what felt like forever, she finally forced out the words in fragments.

“Xi-Xi wi… wife~”

“Yay! Hehe~ Jinnian wifey!”

Lin Xiyue was practically bouncing with joy. This was absolutely a historic moment. Though Xia Jinnian saw it as nothing more than a playful little punishment, Lin Xiyue felt immensely satisfied.

Take it slow. Desensitize first. When the day came that she could casually make orange jokes with Xia Jinnian without the other girl reacting at all… that would probably mean the timing was right.

***

Outside the door.

At that moment, Bai Lulu happened to arrive at the recording studio entrance. The door wasn’t closed. She was about to step in to discuss promotional matters regarding the audition event with Lin Xiyue.

“Xi-Xi wifey—”

“Jinnian wifey~”

Just as she was about to enter, she heard the exchange from inside.

The girl froze mid-step, rooted to the spot. Entering felt wrong. Not entering felt wrong.

Years of shipping experience told her that things between those two couldn’t possibly have progressed that fast. At most, it was just a slightly ambiguous joke.

But even so, it triggered a massive sense of crisis.

It meant that Little Xi-sama had already begun trying to gradually bend Xia Jinnian—and had even made some progress.

If she didn’t want to end up as a completely defeated loser with nothing left in the end, she would have to speed up her own progress.

After deliberately waiting outside for a while, she finally walked in with the documents in hand and gave a light cough.

“Ahem, Little Xi-sama. About the audition event we mentioned earlier—how large of a scope should our company set?”

By convention in C-country’s entertainment industry, so-called auditions were essentially recruitment tests held by entertainment companies.

Generally, they would accept resumes and demo submissions from all interested applicants within the designated scope. After professional screening, selected outstanding candidates would be invited to the company. The company would cover travel, accommodation, and provide a symbolic audition fee.

In other words, it was no small expense. The chosen scope would greatly affect costs. Typically, there were four levels: nationwide, selected provinces, within the province, or within the city.

“Let’s set it to within the province first. Test the waters.”

Lin Xiyue thought for a moment. After all, auditions had only just been restarted, so it wasn’t wise to take too big of a step.

“Alright. Then our promotional line will be that everyone can participate, correct?”

“Mhm~”

“Everyone can participate?”

“Of course. Why? Is there some kind of restriction?”

“Nothing. Then I won’t disturb you any further, Little Xi-sama~”

The girl nodded, then turned and left…