Chapter Twelve: Leisure, An Invitation to the Stage

Those who find it difficult simply don’t understand; those who understand, don’t find it difficult.
Although the young examiner said the third test was easy, two candidates failed right away at this stage.
As for the fourth test, it was even more challenging.
"Damn, I was so close, just a little more and I would’ve passed the fourth test."
"Failed again."
"This is so embarrassing, how did I mess up on the turn signal again?"
…
In the end, except for Lin Xing and Duan Hai, everyone else failed.
With that, the recording session was over.
The young examiner had also finished his part.
"Lin, Lin, Teacher Lin, can I take a photo with you?"
The young examiner asked nervously.
"Of course," Lin Xing replied with a smile. "Thank you for your help today."
"No trouble at all," the young examiner quickly took out his phone and took a photo with Lin Xing.
"Thank you, thank you, Teacher Lin. I believe you’ll make your comeback to the top," he said earnestly.
"Thank you," Lin Xing replied, suddenly realizing why the examiner had seemed eager yet nervous to offer advice—he was a fan.
After taking the photo, the young examiner left happily; he was simply Lin Xing’s fan.
As for the others, he didn’t even know them, let alone like them.
"I really didn’t expect this," Wu Bing said with a smile as she watched from behind the monitor. "I thought Hong Fei and Guan Peng would pass too."
"Who didn’t? We even arranged special instructors for them, but it didn’t help."
"But the show turned out great."
…
All the main crew members were present for today’s recording. They thought Lin Xing was more than just impressive—he was the standout.
"And did you notice? Lin Xing really holds his composure," Xia Lin, chief planner of the show "Farming With the Stars," said admiringly. "Look at Wu Yao, ever since his scandal, his popularity has skyrocketed—normally, you’d expect some change in attitude. But what happened? Not to mention the dinner the night before, just look at yesterday’s recording, and today’s as well."

"Xia Lin’s right," Long Chuan, the camera operator, added. "Lin Xing is really professional."
Professionalism—how rare is that?
Are there any stars who still take their work seriously?
It’s almost unheard of, especially for someone like Lin Xing, a young idol and traffic star. Ten years ago, the leading illiterates probably didn’t even know what 'professionalism' meant.
So, from the start, the "Farming With the Stars" production team had their own expectations.
They’d seen plenty of stars act out with their 2.08 million followers.
But Lin Xing’s performance these past two days had been nothing but surprise—surprise, and more surprise.
"Wu Bing, you and Xia Lin don’t need to be on set tomorrow. Make sure post-production edits this episode well. We need to ride Lin Xing’s current momentum and air it as soon as possible…"
Feng Gang paused before continuing, "After all, Lin Xing is still trending right now."
That’s right.
Lin Xing was still trending online.
But this time, it was negative.
Since the backlash had already started, there was no stopping it, especially with Wu Yao’s fans needing an outlet. They flooded Lin Xing’s social media comments.
Lin Xing’s latest post was a landscape photo with three words: "See you next year."
Under this post, insults abounded.
Hypocrite.
Despicable and shameless.
Backstabbing teammates.
And there were also memes—clips from interviews during Lin Xing’s five years in the group, all making fun of his illiteracy.
Since last night’s backlash, after a night of fermentation, today even random people joined in.
People’s dislike of traffic stars was well-known; ten years ago Lin Xing was illiterate, and after ten years, he was still remembered that way.
Apart from his looks, he had nothing.
This was the deep-rooted impression for many.
Popular bloggers stirred the pot, saying that competing to be the worst was pointless.
In an instant, all Lin Xing’s positive deeds were overshadowed.
How could anyone believe there was no organized backlash?
"Despicable, shameless, vile, bastard, too much,"
On the way back to the hotel, Lin Miaoyin gritted her teeth. "Brother Xing, are you just going to let them smear you like this? You need to respond!"
Lin Xing looked at her and chuckled. "Respond to what?"

"Of course, send a lawyer’s letter…"
Before Lin Miaoyin could finish, Lin Xing interrupted her, saying, "These trolls can’t cause real trouble, but if I send a lawyer’s letter, wouldn’t the public instantly think I’m the villain?"
Lawyer’s letters are now the most annoying thing online, ruined by celebrities.
Lin Xing really didn’t care about the online gossip, just as he’d told Sister Dao last night—they can do what they want, there’s no need to pay attention.
To Lin Xing, every profession requires composure.
Being a celebrity especially so.
Otherwise, today you respond to backlash, tomorrow you respond to attacks on your resources and endorsements, and if you keep following their lead, you’ll always be beaten down.
Of course, Lin Miaoyin didn’t understand this, but Sister Dao did.
So last night, Sister Dao returned to the capital overnight and instructed the operations and PR teams to simply monitor the situation.
So for a whole day, there was no response online.
All those attacks felt like punches thrown at cotton—weak and ineffective.
Subsequent tactics lost their impact.
By evening, Sister Dao’s mood had taken a complete turn and she couldn’t wait to call Lin Xing.
"Xingxing, how did today’s recording go?"
She asked with concern, "Nothing went wrong, did it?"
Lin Xing replied with a smile, "It went smoothly."
"That’s great. Xingxing, I have good news," Sister Dao said, her excitement barely contained. "Today I got a call from the casting director of the drama 'Only Waiting for You.' They invited us to play a role, and I accepted immediately. Once you finish tomorrow’s recording, you can join the crew for filming."
Lin Xing was surprised, "No audition required?"
"Of course not, the role isn’t big, and I guess they saw your recent popularity and your image fits perfectly for the part…"
Sister Dao continued happily, "But this drama is an S-level production, so even a small part is a big boost for us."
Lin Xing understood. "Alright, I got it. Then that’s settled, Sister Dao. Get some rest…"
After a brief exchange, Lin Xing hung up.
"Only Waiting for You?"
Lin Xing prepared to look up the drama online.
…
…