Chapter 2: The Child Looks Too Much Like Him!
Away had disbanded five years ago. Except for Jiang Shulu and Tang Yue, the other members had changed the prefixes of their Weibo accounts.
Jiang Shulu didn’t even use Weibo; he was never one for sharing, and his yearly updates were automatic membership renewal reminders.
Tang Yue was much the same.
After the group disbanded, his contract expired, and he handed over his account, having no intention of starting a personal one.
Unlike the other two members, Yao Lixin and Liu Xicháo, who still used their original accounts.
Many new groups debuted in these years, but many still missed Away, whose visuals were simply irreplaceable.
Current boy groups are lucky to have one or two handsome members, let alone those reaching the level of universally acknowledged god-tier visuals.
Many commented that it was a perfect downgrade in consumption; it was better to chase virtual idols.
But virtual idols always lacked something, unable to perform offline interactive tours, lacking the dramatic interviews or group variety show fun.
Thus, the more new boy group variety shows that came out, the more people hoped for Away’s reunion.
Today, a marketing account, for the sake of KPI, posted a set of popular concert photos from Away’s heyday, sparking countless discussions, with the top comments filled with wails—
–Why can’t they reunite!! Why! You disbanded too early! Look at these mismatched groups!
–@Away Be sensible!! Summon them! Get these people back! Seeing Jiang Shulu’s interview in the financial newspaper the other day almost killed me!
–Live broadcast variety shows are so fun now, why didn’t anyone make one for Away back then?
–This boy group was really born at the wrong time, I envy my sister, she saw a live performance back then.
–I won’t even hope for a stage, just a reunion of the four of them.
–Are you guys crazy, how much is Jiang Shulu worth now, can you afford him?
–It’s the era of same-sex marriage now! If it had been possible back then, at least one pair of them would have been a real couple!
–Thinking back to the Jiang Shulu x Liu Xicháo I shipped back then, unbelievable, there’s an age gap.
–Heh, the ship I bought was still Yao Lixin x Tang Yue, what happened? Yao Lixin actually got married!
–So, there’s still no news of Tang Yue?
The other three members of the four-person group all had some news.
Only Tang Yue, the maknae who was said to be blessed by the heavens, completely disappeared from the public eye.
Even now, in fan polls for idols with a youthful look, old photos of Tang Yue still rank first by a landslide.
Mention a talented singer, people think of Tang Yue; mention a mixed-race boy, people still think of Tang Yue.
After Tang Yue disappeared, there were countless rumors online, saying that Tang Yue might be dead, living in seclusion abroad, etc.
Some also thought the musician Evening who appeared in recent years was Tang Yue.
But there was no evidence, because he only composed music, and it couldn’t be determined if he was a musician who learned from Tang Yue’s style.
Just as #Away’s Hit Concert Photo Collection# climbed into the top five of the hot searches, the long-dormant @Chengkong_Away official Weibo suddenly came back to life.
@Chengkong_away: [Airplane]
Immediately, the official Weibo of a new variety show retweeted it—
@《Journey with Little Ones Through Mountains and Rivers》: Mountains and rivers, old friends, a natural rendezvous, please look forward to it [picture][picture]
This variety show’s official account announced the live broadcast platform and update time on its new Weibo post.
Many people gasped when they saw that the company behind the official account was Chengkong Media.
Chengkong Media had never done a live broadcast variety show before.
Even though they had produced many high-quality idols, they seemed to have no intention of participating in live broadcast variety shows.
Now, their publicity was unconventional, directly dropping the announcement, giving the link directly, and directly… tagging the guests.
@Variety Show 《Journey with Little Ones Through Mountains and Rivers》—
@Away_Jiang Shulu, @Away_Yao Lixin, they will arrive at our first stop with their children for this journey through mountains and rivers.
In just half an hour, the search index on major platforms soared.
Many people had already guessed after the Away group’s Weibo resurrection.
When the official Weibo tagged the members, the atmosphere exploded.
Fans from back then quickly regrouped, changing their profile pictures, leaving messages under the post, so uniformly that passersby thought the group hadn’t disbanded.
The comments section refreshed quickly.
–Am I seeing things!! A reunion variety show?? How did this happen?
–So, was the marketing account testing the waters before?
–Help! Yao Lixin actually added the prefix back, dammit, I almost want to cry!!!
–Jiang Shulu hasn’t been on Weibo for five years, he retweeted it AAAAAAAA!!
–Why did they only tag two people, this isn’t a group variety show anymore, right? What’s with the children? How come I didn’t know Jiang Shulu had a child?
–Look at the pictures! It’s three main guests and two children!!
–I can’t live! A lifetime event, friends, are you going to wait until when to join in?
–Jiang Shulu is the hardest to invite, right? I looked at the show’s setting; it’s a travel variety show? The group variety show I wished for back then actually came true!
–The live stream starts at 8 am tomorrow, so excited.
The first stop of the variety show was a small tourist village. The program team had contacted Tang Yue beforehand, saying that they would pick him up at 8 am.
Tang Yue got up early and checked the things he needed to bring.
He currently lived in a mountain village more remote than a county town; if Tang Mian weren’t preparing for school, Tang Yue might have continued to stay there.
In the early autumn weather, Tang Yue wore a loose thin fleece sweatshirt, and cotton sweatpants that looked large, making him look even thinner, and he didn’t look like a star at all.
Tang Yue checked the time and decided to peel the eggs before waking his son.
It was a detached single-story house, with an old wall, an old iron gate, and a small vegetable garden.
The interior furnishings were also very old-fashioned; the floor tiles looked like a 90s trend, making one’s eyes tired after staring for a long time.
There was a round archway between the living room and the bedroom. The white walls were no longer white, and there were height markings drawn with an unknown pen, measuring the child’s height year after year.
There were also many crayon drawings.
And the child’s clumsy handwriting, writing Dad, Baby, and the crooked name Tang Yue.
However, next to the name “Tang Yue”, there was always a “Tang Mian,” the characters “目” (eye) and “民” (people) were far apart, making it look like a three-character name at first glance.
While peeling the eggs, Tang Yue thought, I should have repainted the walls before leaving.
His phone was a five-year-old model, and the latest text message on the screen was from the staff who were coordinating with him on the variety show—
- Mr. Tang, hello, we have set off and expect to arrive at your door in forty minutes.
- Are you awake?
Tang Yue replied “Yes” after washing his hands.
He was about to call Tang Mian when he saw the boy rubbing his eyes and coming out.
The child was five years old this year, with slightly curly hair, which was even more obvious in the morning.
He shouted a loud “Good morning, Dad,” saw the suitcase, and asked Tang Yue, “Are we leaving now?”
Tang Yue: “In forty minutes.”
Tang Mian: “Yay.”
He went to wash his face, humming a song while brushing his teeth.
Tang Yue’s phone didn’t have any social software; he hadn’t even downloaded WeChat, still communicating with the staff via text messages.
This was very strange to the coordinating staff.
But the producer said everything was up to Tang Yue.
Further questioning revealed that it was the wishes of the wealthy investor.
At 8 am, the live stream for the variety show 《Journey with Little Ones Through Mountains and Rivers》 officially opened.
Live broadcast variety shows had been popular in recent years, with increasingly advanced technology, allowing viewers to easily switch between the cameras of the guests they wanted to watch in the app.
The variety show had been promoted for a day, and at 8 am, it almost crashed the live streaming software’s servers.
Away’s appeal was undeniable, even the program team was shocked by the millions of viewers joining the live stream.
After the official announcement yesterday, overseas fans had scheduled their viewing time.
Away had only been disbanded for five years, but that was enough time to hold a generation of fans’ youthful memories.
The nostalgia for youth and the tag of former top idol group meant that this variety show didn’t need publicity costs; it stayed on the hot searches for a whole day.
The first person to appear on the live stream was Yao Lixin.
He set off from his home, with his wife sending him and his little nephew, Yao Xuan’yu, who lived with them, off.
Most of the audience were familiar with Yao Lixin, because he had become popular with a street dance variety show.
The dance leader of the top idol group was a top-notch dancer, and his patience in guiding the trainees made countless old fans feel emotional, while new fans were recommended Away’s content and vertically fell into the pit.
The second scene was a back view, and the background showed the room was luxurious.
The wealthy heir didn’t appear in formal attire, as was the common perception in recent years. He was casually dressed, even wearing what looked like his private clothes from his idol group days, yet his demeanor was still incredibly noble.
Jiang Shulu got into the program’s car and asked the staff: “Can’t I look at my phone?”
Staff: “Not now.”
「How come he gets more handsome every year??」
「The captain wants to see someone else, right…」
「Aren’t you guys curious?」
The program team then went to pick up Tang Yue.
Tang Yue’s scene was vastly different from the other two; it wasn’t a mansion, nor a high-end apartment, or a well-off residential area.
A sparsely populated suburb, with farmland in the distance, and a small dilapidated house.
「No way!! Tang Yue actually lives in a place like this?」
「What happened to him? Did he go into seclusion?」
「The key is that he has always been a person with no parents and no family, a triple-no person, woo woo woo, my baby, I’m about to cry.」
But it could be seen that the yard was well-maintained, and there were faded New Year couplets on the gate.
The gate was knocked open, and the person who opened it was wearing a light blue sweatshirt, the material looking particularly soft.
When the camera showed his face, the barrage suddenly filled with ah ah ah.
Tang Yue’s blue eyes were as clear as before, even though the youthful greenness in his brows had faded, he still had an aura of fragility and vulnerability, yet he also had a calm tranquility.
He said “Come in,” and the audience also heard a clear childish voice—
“Come in!”
The voice was so clear, when the camera moved down, everyone saw a boy of about five or six years old.
The barrage went from full of “ah” to blank, as if everyone lost their ability to express themselves with words, staring at the child in disbelief through the screen.
Then it erupted—
「Am I not mistaken!!」
「This child… is Tang Yue’s child??」
「So alike, even if you use your toes to think, it must be biological, right?」
「Isn’t Tang Yue the maknae? The child is this old already? I can’t breathe, I want to cry!」
「Didn’t expect Tang Yue, you handsome guy, to be the first to become a father?」
「Wait, don’t you guys think this child also looks like Jiang Shulu?! It’s very similar to the P-shopped baby photo of the captain x maknae that the poor people on the forum made back then!」
「What? Tang Yue had Jiang Shulu’s child???”」