Chapter 19 part 1
The phone rang faster than Berlin had anticipated.
Berlin took a deep breath and prepared to answer.
Wu Hengyao witnessed the whole thing, arms crossed, offering advice: “You don’t have to answer.”
Berlin sighed: “Teacher Wu, have you forgotten that Gege came on the same plane as us and is staying in the same hotel? I don’t know which floor he’s on, but if I don’t answer within thirty seconds, he might take the elevator straight to my door.”
Wu Hengyao: “…”
Xiaolin rubbed his hair and picked up the phone with a heavy heart, preparing himself: “Between a phone scolding and a face-to-face confrontation, I’ll choose the former.”
As a male human whose age was approaching menopause, the manager’s voice sounded furious: “Berlin?”
Berlin, like a chick whose neck was being pinched, responded timidly: “Gege, it’s me.”
Manager: “…”
Sometimes, a questioning tone doesn’t necessarily require an answer, but Berlin’s meek, obedient demeanor as a student awaiting criticism through the phone somehow calmed the manager’s anger a little.
However, even if a parent softens their heart, they can’t let the child see it, otherwise, they won’t have any authority, and the child will become unruly and disobedient.
So the manager’s tone remained serious and fiery: “Are you crazy? Why did you order so many snacks? I told you to eat less during your comeback period because I want you to look better on camera. It’s also based on the unpleasant but true fact that fans are superficial; don’t believe those beautiful words like ‘initially attracted by their face, but truly fell in love with their inner self,’ You look good, then they’ll love your inner self; if you don’t look good, even if you’re the reincarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, radiating golden light, they’ll only sigh: ‘Ah, you’re such a good person.'”
Berlin: “…”
For some reason, Berlin sensed a hint of sadness.
The manager, having seen through the world, viewed the matter with the cold, profit-driven eyes of a businessman, devoid of emotion: “Based on my years of experience, I’ll tell you that the more sincere fans appear to be, the more likely they are to be deceitful. All true love is built on beauty and a good figure. You have the looks; even if you make mistakes or have flaws, as long as you don’t cross the line, fans will choose to turn a deaf ear and automatically ignore anything unfavorable to you, defending you, supporting you. Except for those involved in legal issues, nothing will harm your foundation.”
He took a deep breath: “But gaining weight, getting acne, facial sagging, body shape changes, nasolabial folds, eye bags, dark circles, excessive injections leading to irreversible skin reflection, swelling… it’s terrifying. Terrifying. Turning their backs on you happens in an instant, do you understand?”
Manager: “I’m not talking about you; I’m saying that such precedents exist, and you need to be extremely disciplined.”
Berlin listened obediently, although he believed that true fans weren’t like that, he would only silently stick to his own beliefs without arguing with the manager verbally.
An oft-repeated phrase from older people is: “You’re still so young, what do you know?”
In terms of convincing each other, humans never gave up, but never succeeded.
Besides, Xiaolin wasn’t stupid; he knew that sincere affection only existed in some people. In some cases, what the manager said wasn’t wrong. The fanbase constantly fluctuates; it’s essentially the same group of people, like a flag that changes class every semester; even if a class wins for a year, it might move to another class next week.
The phone wasn’t on speakerphone, but Wu Hengyao still heard clearly, and he frowned and whispered to Berlin: “Why is the manager suddenly introducing himself?”
Berlin: “…”
He instinctively covered the phone’s receiver; the manager on the other end was still giving a lecture, dissecting the cold side of fans, and probably didn’t hear him.
Berlin’s mind flashed with a child’s expression pack he had seen recently: [Why are you still talking? .jpg], and he couldn’t help but laugh.
The clueless Wu Hengyao was bewildered.
Berlin couldn’t explain how he met Chen Qingqiu, so he took the blame: “Gege, I understand. Don’t worry.”
The manager retorted irritably: “No, you don’t.”
He spoke earnestly and sincerely: “Are you determined to reach 200 kilograms within a month to test your fans’ sincerity?”
“I’ll tell you, they will immediately unfollow you without hesitation and turn against you. Even appearance fans will raise the banner of career fans, saying that you have betrayed yourself, betrayed the shining young man you were.”
The manager concluded gloomily: “Love without beauty is like loose sand; it will scatter after three hundred bags of potato chips.”
Berlin: “…”
His head was spinning; he felt like he was back in elementary school, after the parent-teacher meeting, being individually advised by the teacher: “Xiaolin’s mother, this past semester, Xiaolin was caught sneaking potato chips in my class nine times.”
The teacher presented her evidence, opening the lesson plan with Xiaolin’s name neatly marked; the potato chip column diligently recorded the number of times Berlin had secretly eaten snacks in class, sadly shaking her head: “Look, you only need one more stroke to make two ‘zheng’ characters!”
Little Berlin: “…”
Xiaolin’s mother suddenly realized: “I said he couldn’t finish the sweet and sour pork ribs I made, so that’s why! Teacher, don’t worry, I will confiscate his allowance for next month as a warning.”
Nine-year-old Berlin wanted to clarify that he didn’t like sweet and sour pork ribs because Xiaolin’s mother always got sugar and salt mixed up and used cooking wine instead of vinegar—but he wanted his allowance next month to buy potato chips, so he decided to remain silent.
Berlin was lost in his memories, pulled back by the manager’s words: “…By the way.”
Berlin: “Mmm?”
Manager: “Someone from the company told me they saw sasaeng content on Xiaolu Shu, with photos and location; it was taken in front of your room door, at midnight? Did that happen? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Berlin had almost forgotten about it; he scratched his head and comforted him: “It’s nothing; I’ve already driven the sasaeng away.”
Manager, full of suspicion: “How? Did you open the door?”
Berlin: “Of course not, I have my limits, Gege.”
Manager: “Report any actions to me in the future. Although you’re not the type to speak harshly or give a cold face, if not handled well, it will lead to backlash. Online and offline are different; if these people are emotional and do something, it’s hard to prevent… So what did you do?”
Berlin: “Uh, I just played the Great Compassion Mantra on repeat through the door, and she left. First month VIP only costs 3 yuan, and it can be reused many times!”
The manager burst out laughing: “…Are you trying to be environmentally friendly? Reuse?”
Berlin instinctively felt that this was a trap, so he remained silent.
The manager decisively made a decision: “For safety reasons, I’ll assign you a bodyguard. The industry’s top bodyguard just retired from actor Lu Ya; I’ve worked with him briefly, and I’ll hire him to protect you.”
Due to the special nature of the entertainment industry, most popular second- and third-tier artists usually have bodyguards to prevent accidents. The reason SKYE didn’t have bodyguards was that the non-human members negotiated with the company—to be honest, sasaengs posed no threat to them, and having someone follow them all the time was inconvenient.
Berlin didn’t know how his teammates talked to the company; he wasn’t at the meeting, only notified of the final result.
So he asked suspiciously: “But wasn’t it said before…”
The manager’s tone was uncompromising; he had obviously made up his mind: “Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter if they disagree; this bodyguard will only follow you, it has nothing to do with them.”
He paused for two seconds and added: “This is Xu’s decision.”
Berlin was stunned: “Ah?”
The manager probably had many things to deal with; after a few words, he hung up. Berlin didn’t need to relay the content; his teammates would have heard it clearly.
Unexpectedly, Berlin thought his teammates would be unhappy or annoyed, but Wu Hengyao and Han Yuzhe didn’t say anything, seemingly accepting it.
Berlin thought for a moment and said: “If we hire a bodyguard, he will follow us whenever we go out. If you feel inconvenient…”
“It’s fine.” Han Yuzhe slowly sipped his cocktail without saying much. “Let’s do it this way.”
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