Asteroid

Chapter 2: Bring you

(TN: I know I tled this as “showing him the ropes” in the summary, but this works as well imo)

 

Xu Tangzhou slept until the afternoon that day when he discovered he used to be on the Flow hot search.

 

The tag #Xing Jing Xu Tangzhou# quietly climbed up to the 30s in the early hours of the morning.
Xu Tangzhou’s live broadcast was replayed many times.
But because he was unknown, his tag was quickly overtaken by other stars’ trending tags.
Once he woke up, he couldn’t even find a trace of it.

However, Xu Tangzhou realized after about 70 to 80 thousand comments in the hot topic, the Xing Jing he just signed with wasn’t just some small company.

 

Xu Tangzhou simply didn’t understand the entertainment circle.
It was purely a coincidence that he entered this circle, he hadn’t even given a thought about becoming famous.

When he saw the Mist model recruitment online, the number of digits trailing compensation money lured him in.
With an attitude of giving it a try, he submitted a personal video.

The day after he submitted the video, he received a phone call from the agent, Huang Qian.

 

“Are you the Xu Tangzhou who walked for Bao Fenni eight years ago?” The other person on the phone asked.

“Yes.” Xu Tangzhou replied, “It’s me.”

 

Eight years ago, Xu Tangzhou was 14 years old.

His wrist line extended past his groin, and his knees were taller than his shoulders while sitting.
As an almost perfectly proportioned Omega, Xu Tangzhou walked on the T-shaped runway the year he turned 12.
His differentiation occurred extremely late, so his secondary gender features weren’t as obvious.
He didn’t appear as lackluster as a Beta, and his neutral beauty was between an A and O.
With these features, he once worked with a few selective big brands.

(TN: putting it simply, the standard for beauty here is long arms and long legs)

But those illusive gilded years have been lost to the flow of time as he grew up.
Xu Tangzhou was surprised that the other person actually recognized him.

 

Huang Qian said: “What a coincidence.
A while ago, I came across a video from a show you were in before.“

Xu Tangzhou understood, the other person wanted the past him to come.
He said hesitantly: “My apologies, but if you need my previous experience, I fear I can’t do it.”

Huang Qian: “Why?”

Xu Tangzhou said: “I had an accident, my memories from those years are completely blank.”

Huang Qian went silent for a few seconds and appreciated his honesty: “As long as you don’t have any problems, then everything else is unimportant.
Our company is one of Mist’s partners, I think you are very suitable for the concept of this advertisement.
Let’s first meet.
If you’re interested, you can sign with me.
We are particularly interested in recommending you to shoot this advertisement.”

 

This time, the newest flavor of Mist’s pheromone blocker was ice cream flavor.
Based on external qualities alone, there was no other Omega more suitable than Xu Tangzhou.

 

After the meeting, Xu Tangzhou looked at the contract.
He could accept the price and the work arrangements weren't too difficult.
He then did some research about this company – Xing Jing.
Their date of establishment was only a few years ago, and it seemed this was a small company.

So he agreed.

 

Who knew that this supposed “small company” wasn’t as simple as he thought.
As long as anyone mentioned only one of their artists, people would recognize them instantly.

The artist’s name was Ling Che.

 

Xu Tangzhou suspected that he was blind at the time.

He reopened the encyclopedia page for Xing Jing, Ling Che’s name was glaring from the first row in the artists' column.
It was clearly so obvious, but he somehow didn’t notice it while researching before signing with the company.

Suddenly, he was petrified.

 

F*ck, that meant that he and Ling Che were in the same agency!!

No wonder there were so many comments after he mentioned signing with Xing Jing last night.

 

Just because this was related to Ling Che, he quietly appeared on the hot search.
In just one night, he gained tens of thousands of fans.
Even the daily comment on the homepage rarely got over ten thousand replies, forming a stark contrast with the other comments with only a few hundred replies.
His Flow account was typically very quiet, but because he said that one sentence in his livestream, it made him understand the might of popularity.

Under his post, aside from a few oddballs berating him for leeching popularity, there were many of Ling Che’s fans who thanked him.

 

[5555 Little gege trying his best to fight with antis, I’m in love.]

[When you arrive at the company, you have to comfort my Che, please!]

[Thank you Zhouzhou for helping to speak up for our gege.
From today on, I am one of your passerby fans]

 

Xu Tang still couldn’t snap out of it.

For him, Ling Che is too distant.
Even if he knew that he’d be an actor after signing, he never would’ve imagined that he could truly meet Ling Che.

As a fan, he didn’t even treat the other as a real person.
It’s only because it’s hard for ordinary people to imagine what Ling Che is like in reality.
Ling Che only existed on Billboards, news, the stage, and in his music records.

The deep amber eyes of the other person, his haughty look, as well as his arrogant manner, was simply a demigod-like existence.
Just like that song [Asteroids], belonging to the bright galaxy.

 

It was hard to hide his excitement.
He moved his hand to reply to the hottest comment: I’m very honored, I definitely will!

After he replied did he feel completely embarrassed.
What comfort, he hasn’t even seen Ling Che in person yet!

 

Calm down.

Xu Tangzhou kept telling himself: Take deep breaths, calm down.

Once he stabilized his mood, he went to the fridge to eat the cake he bought the day before.
While eating, he was thinking the news of “I could meet Ling Che” could be considered his surprise birthday gift.

But it’s still so exciting!!

 

Right after eating the cake, Huang Qian came to pick him up.

Xu Tangzhou changed his clothes and went downstairs, standing at the side of the road to wait.

He draped on a thick beige wooly sweater, the thin and tall youth gave off an overwhelming effect.
It was snowing a bit outside and the occasional pedestrian would glance back at him, seemingly recognizing him.

Xu Tangzhou pretended to be idle and thought: Next time I leave the house, I should wear a mask.
I accidentally touched the super hot topic.
It would be bad if I was recognized by black fans… My life is important.

He stood there, his face tranquil and uniquely cold.

 

Once Huang Qian’s car stopped, he climbed into the car and said excitedly: “Huang ge, Ling Che is also in our company?!!”

 

Last night, Huang Qian also watched Xu Tangzhou’s live broadcast and was overall satisfied with the results.
It was good that he was able to bring himself onto the hot search.
After meeting a few times, he started to understand a bit about Xu Tangzhou.
This child could be considered as an outward and inward appearance don’t match- every instant destroying his ice-cold character.

Huang Qian was a bit chubby, so when he smiled, he looked like a laughing buddha: “What, aren’t you his fan? Just realizing it now, aren’t you a bit too unqualified?

 

At the company’s new year’s party, theoretically, every artist in the company would be in attendance.
Xu Tangzhou said with sparkling eyes: “Can I see him tonight? The kind that’s close enough that I could shake hands with him!”

 

Huang Qian used to be an agent’s assistant and didn’t work with celebrities, only recently did he get promoted into an agent.
Xu Tangzhou was the first artist he personally signed, so he was extra mindful, doing everything by himself, and being extremely patient.

Seeing Xu Tangzhou’s expectant and nervous appearance, Huang Qian said: “This isn’t certain, no one can tell Ling Che’s mood.
If he’s happy he’ll come.
If not, then he won’t come.
He’s been spoiled with freedom and no one could control him.
I also don’t meet him often at the company.”

 

Ling Che isn’t an ordinary person.
Even if he signed into the same company as Ling Che, it didn’t necessarily mean that he could meet Ling Che.

Xu Tangzhou belatedly thought of this point, and with a hint of disappointment, let out an “ah”.

 

Huang Qian noticed his reaction: “Do you like Ling Che that much?”

The tips of Xu Tangzhou’s ear went red.
He didn’t pay attention to his image and said: “There should be nobody who dislikes Ling Che? He’s so perfect.
For some time, everyone online all thought he was a holographic idol created as a secret government plan used to target Omegas who don’t want to marry.”

 

The car radio happened to be broadcasting a discussion about Ling Che, and Xu Tangzhou didn’t say any more.

 

Host A said: “…
Some people say that the reason Ling Che could say those words is related to his family situation and how he grew up.”

Host B made an “oh” and asked: “So what did they say?”

Host A said: “Think about it.
Of Ling Che’s two mothers, one is president of the famous luxury brand Bao Fenni named Ling Zhi.
Isn’t she a mixed-blood female Alpha? Everyone knows this.
But the fact that his other mother is a Beta, not as many people know about it.
Speaking of which, after he debuted, his agents and assistants were all Alphas if not Betas.
From his family to his work, no matter if it was intentional or not, one could say there were no Omegas around him.”

Host B said: “Oh~~ So it was like this.
No wonder Ling Che would have some suspected ‘Omega discrimination’ remarks appear.
He simply doesn’t understand Omegas at all.”

Host A said profoundly: “Perhaps.
Of course, this is only a guess by the netizens.
Perhaps Ling Che just happened to not have any Omegas near him? We can’t randomly make any conclusions.
After all, the person in question hadn’t made any statements yet.
It’s been reported that Ling Che has once said that he has been in a relationship before.
Although he did not specify the gender of the other person, what if the other person was an Omega?

Host B said: “Then how about I guess that Ling Che has suffered emotional injuries from being hurt deeply by an Omega?”

 

The two hosts burst into laughter.
It was hard to hear what they implied, and they quickly passed the topic.

 

Huang Qian finished listening to the discussion and reminded the little artist who spoke boldly during the live broadcast: “These people are best at making groundless accusations.
Zhouzhou, you are an Omega and you have to protect yourself well.
When you face the media in the future, you must remember to never expose any prior dating experience.
They would fully make up how you’ve been marked.”

This matter wasn’t without precedent in the entertainment circle.

Xu Tangzhou attempted to recall: “I… probably haven’t dated anyone before.”

His private medical examinations revealed that he hasn’t even been temporarily marked.

 

Huang Qian: “???”

Xu Tangzhou smiled awkwardly: “I’ve been single for twenty-two years, but my theoretical knowledge… is quite rich.”

 

Huang Qian was truly astonished.

Nowadays, medical treatment has developed to the point where Omegas have achieved a degree of physiological freedom.
As an adult Omega who completely crushed others in every way imaginable, this child still hasn’t fallen in love yet?

 

Xu Tangzhou looked away: “Please don’t say any more, I want some face.”

(TN: Chinese care a lot about their reputation/appearance, thus where the phrase “want face” comes from)

 

*

 

Xing Jing’s annual meeting is a grand gathering where all the artists gather every year.
This year, the super-rich people reserved the top two floors and an indoor pool of an expensive hotel, wanting to create a theme of summer during winter.

When the news caught wind of this, many reporters were blocking the sidewalk by the entrance trying to use the cover of the night to stop Ling Che’s car.

Xu Tangzhou looked at the cameras, microphones, and signs held by the paparazzi and protestors.
These people clearly treated the new year’s party as a factory for spewing out explosive news.

 

[Sternly requesting Ling Che to apologize]

[Oppose Omega discrimination, create a civilized country]

[We are born as a human, all genders are equal]

 

Huang Qian directly drove the car into the car garage.
He seemed to have experienced this type of event often as if he had experienced many things before, turning a blind eye to the poster signs on both sides.

When the two took the elevator heading up, Huang Qian said to Xu Tangzhou: “Aside from you who I signed back, I also have a few artists given by the company.
You haven’t officially gone to the company, so they are all your seniors.
Once you meet, you should greet them properly.
You are a newcomer with no experience and making a few artist friends is useful.”

 

Xu Tangzhou was standing in the corner of the elevator.
Because the commotion downstairs was a bit startling, things seemed to be more serious than he originally thought.

He reeled his thoughts in, and said seriously: “Got it.”

　　

After Huang Qian discovered that he hadn't fallen in love before, he felt Xu Tangzhou was even more well-behaved.
He satisfactorily said: “I’ll arrange all of your work afterward, no need to worry about it.
If an opportunity arises, I’ll find a more experienced person to bring you.”

 

The author has something to say:

Ling Che: Hadn’t fallen in love yet? Heh, who said that being in love needs to bite the neck.