Chapter 450: Internet Celebrity
Like the saying goes, fame portends trouble for men as fattening does for pigs.
Prior to this, the reason Tang Xiu kept a low profile was due to his personality. But now he finally tasted the bitter fruit. People pointed fingers at him when as he walked on the road to campus. A few bold ones also came over to converse with him, the female students boldly making confessions. He also became the focus of attention in the classroom, and all the topics that people talked about were almost inseparable from him.
Furthermore, the most frustrating thing that made him helpless was that, when he wanted to leave the campus, when he was not even outside the campus gate, the media, that had slipped inside, blocked him in. If he hadn’t slipped fast enough under the cover of several brothers, he would have been blinded by the flashlights.
The only thing that made him somewhat contented was that the class teacher-in-charge, Han Qingwu, had asked for a leave, and was replaced by another English teacher.
In the male student dormitory.
With a weary smile, Tang Xiu turned off his mobile phone. An immense headache struck him just by merely answering phone calls. While watching the gloating guys around him, he sat on the chair and said, “Guys, any of you wanna help me buy dinner? I really can’t go out.”
The sincere and honest Xue Chao promptly replied after hearing Tang Xiu’s plea, “I’ll go. What do you want to eat?”
“Anything will do, as long as I can fill my belly,” Tang Xiu waved his hand and didn’t bother to elaborate. “Also, the dorm is about to be locked, so I’m going to sneak out. I already spoke to the teacher, saying that I’ll be studying home by myself for the next few days.”
The trio gazed at Tang Xiu with sympathetic expressions. Yue Kai threw the Land Rover’s keys to Tang Xiu and said with a smile, “Well, since you wanna slip out, it’s better for you to have the car. I heard that Internet celebrities are actually no different from big stars. I was doubtful at first, but now, I finally realized that an Internet celebrity also possesses an attraction force that is no worse than that of a big stars’. In other words, internet celebrities are another, alternative from of a big star.”
“I have no interest in becoming an Internet celebrity nor a big star at all.” Tang Xiu forced a smile. “If I could, I’d give you a chance to become one, though.”
“You get what you deserve.” Yue Kai laughed. “Who told you to show off in the freshmen welcoming party? Even Zhang Xinya’s limelight was stolen by you. If you don’t become popular, who would?”
“Ugh…” Tang Xiu helplessly shook his head.
Star City, at a certain upscale villa complex.
After a busy day, Kang Xia dragged her tired body back to her place. She took a shower and then put on clean and cozy pajamas. Out of habit, she poured a glass of red wine and savored it while sitting on the sofa, holding her laptop and surfing the internet.
“Hey, Chief. Open the door! Open the door!”
Andy’s cry was heard outside the villa.
Kang Xia was startled. Though the villa where she lived and Andy’s villa were only tens of meters away, rarely did Andy visit her. After opening the door by pressing the remote control key, Kang Xia saw Andy rush inside and head straight to the second floor. She couldn’t help laughing, “Hey, is the sky collapsing or something? Just look at your anxiousness…”
Raising her hand to interrupt Kang Xia, Andy then pointed at a laptop next to her and said, “Chief, open your browser. You don’t need to search anything. Just look at the headlines.”
The headlines?
Puzzled and confused, Kang Xia opened the browser according to Andy’s instruction. She then immediately saw top news content:
“A Heaven-Defying Saint Of Music Unexpectedly Appeared Singing And Playing The Zither At The Shanghai University’s Freshmen Welcoming Party…”
After Kang Xia got in, a vivid picture immediately appeared in front of her. The image was of a handsome young man playing the zither.
“T-T-This… isn’t this the Boss?”
Kang Xia suddenly looked up and stared at Andy, asking.
“Yeah, that’s our Boss for sure,” Andy repetitively nodded. “Scroll down more. There’s a footage of our Boss playing the zither. You must concentrate and listen to our Boss’s play. You’ll be shocked!”
Kang Xia played the video and calmly enjoyed it. She was instantly attracted by the wonderful musical notes right after the music started. Unknowingly, her entire mind was immersed in the zither’s sound; even the world before she seemed to have changed…
Eventually, she slowly opened her eyes. When she subconsciously wiped away the falling tears on her face, she looked at the somewhat dazed Andy and murmured, “Boss’s zither play and the song are like some magical power. It’s beyond logic and above reason. Truly unfathomable!”
After coming back to her senses, Andy said, “Chief, Boss has become famous. As of now, not only did he become the headline of this website, he has even created rumpus in the entire integrated provider network. According to the statistics of a certain interested people, the footage of our Boss’s singing and playing the zither has already been shared and forwarded over ten millions times. Either it was shared in the headlines of major websites, the front page of various forums, and even chat and messenger tools.”
Hiss…
Despite having good self-control, Kang Xia still couldn’t help but gasp for breath after hearing that. More than tens of millions of video transmissions had almost reached the limit of some of the most important video transmissions in China. With tens of millions of sharings and forwarding, she simply couldn’t imagine how many people and viewers would comment, like, and upvote it.
As she thought up to there, Kang Xia immediately opened a certain forum. When she saw the number of comments, likes, and upvotes in the forum, her mouth twitched, as she then looked at Andy with a strange expression.
“Boss is so damn amazing, isn’t he, Chief?” Andy laughed.
“He’s great. Truly amazing.” Kang Xia forced a smile. “But I can tell that our Boss surely got an awesome headache right now!”
“Yup, given his low-key personality, now that he became an Internet celebrity, I’m hella sure he’s pretty depressed right now,” Andy giggled. “He should be hiding somewhere.”
Kang Xia took out her mobile phone and dialed Tang Xiu’s cell number. Soon after, she dropped her mobile phone at the side. With an expression of being at a loss whether to cry or laugh, she said, “Well, Boss turned off his mobile phone.”
“Pretty sure Boss’s cell number got fried by so many people calling him. He got so vexed and annoyed that he turned his phone off.” Andy laughed. “Anyways, I just browsed the music forum and found dozens of top domestic musicians openly posting their acclaims there. Many people are even publishing their acclaims on their own microblogs to show their thoughts and feelings loudly. By the way, we had once met the music maestro, Du Wen, in Beijing. Do you know what he said?”
“What did he say?” Kang Xia curiously asked.
“He said he once thought that he was already at the highest realm of music, to extent that he said he couldn’t find a way to make another breakthrough in his entire life. But after he watched the video and listened to our Boss’s song and zither play, he then realized that he was just like a frog in a well. He realized that he’s still at a low level, and even publicly stated that if our Boss is willing to accept him as his apprentice, he’s willing to acknowledge our Boss as his Teacher.”
“T-T-This…”
Feeling daunted and apprehensive, Kang Xia dazed. It must be noted that Du Wen’s name in the music industry was simply like a thunderclap piercing the ear, even to people outside the music industry. Such a prominent figure, a great professor who had been in the music world for decades, openly expressed his wish to acknowledge their Boss as his Teacher?
Bo… Boss, isn’t he too amazing and heaven-defying?
“Chief, I knew that our Boss was a deity; a worthy idol to admire for the rest of my life.” Andy giggled. “That architectural complex he designed made many of the country’s top painters to candidly admit defeat. And now, he once again used music to make countless of the music industry’s top musicians to gasp with admiration. I just realized that I love Boss more and more.”
Shaking her head with a smile, Kang Xia felt sweet inside. The more amazing Tang Xiu’s performance was, the more she felt that her foresight was correct.
In Jingmen Island, at the Everlasting Feast Hall.
Ouyang Lulu was driving her Land Rover—Range Rover series to quickly enter the parking lot. Now, the only person who dared to enter and park there in the whole Everlasting Feast Hall was no one else but her. It was because she was the Boss’ and Gu Xiaoxue’s friend, so the patrol members turned a blind eye to her behavior.
“Lulu, you phoned me in such a hurry, what’s the matter, girl?” With a curious look on her face, Gu Xiaoxue, who had been waiting at the edge of the parking lot for some time, immediately asked in a doubtful tone upon seeing Ouyang Lulu quickly get off the car while holding something in her hand.
Ouyang Lulu opened the zipper of her handbag and took out a laptop from the inside. After booting it, she then passed it to Gu Xiaoxue and said, “Tang Xiu is on fire.” [1]
“Huh?” Baffled and bewildered, Gu Xiaoxue received the laptop and asked, “Grand Master is on fire? Why did he become furious? Did someone provoke him or something?”
“No, he’s not catching fire. It’s his fame! His fame is blazing.” Ouyang Lulu waved her hand and said, “Just open a websites’ homepage and have a look at their headlines.”
After hearing that, Gu Xiaoxue browsed a relatively famous website and then opened the headlines. After reading it for two minutes, she had a strange expression on her face. However, after she finished watching the video and listened to Tang Xiu’s song and zither play, her eyes turned red. She raised her head in silence and said, “Yes, this is indeed Grand Master.”
“That’s him, I know. But he’s way too amazing, and that zither play and song of his are simply godlike!” Ouyang Lulu sighed, “He’s now become a big celebrity, and tons of people are idolizing him.”
“Grand Master was already amazing and powerful, to begin with.” A wisp of a smile appeared on Gu Xiaoxue’s face as she said, “I feel it’s only natural no matter what kind of sensation he causes. Besides, I suddenly realized that Grand Master is so handsome.”
Ouyang Lulu broke into laughter and then said, “He is indeed very handsome. Anyways, I’ve decided to leave for Shanghai to find him.”
“You want to go there?” Gu Xiaoxue curiously asked, “What are you seeking Grand Master for?”
“What else but chasing after a star?” Ouyang Lulu said, “Besides, I’ve recently been doing something, and the preparation is almost done. To sum it up, it should be ready in the next few days. After which I’ll go to Shanghai.”
“What are you preparing, exactly?” Gu Xiaoxue asked.