The look Nie Luo wore that night instantly took over all of Weibo.
Next came Yuan Jing’s styling.
Although he was overshadowed by Nie Luo, Yuan Jing had appeared first, so plenty of people were still dazzled by him before Nie Luo even stepped onto the scene.
However, aside from the two of them, the biggest winner of the night was actually Fan Qing, who quietly accomplished great feats without claiming credit.
Almost everyone took notice of Fan Qing because of the few lines Nie Luo said during his interview.
If many people had previously overlooked Fan Qing simply because he was a manager, then Nie Luo’s interview made them set that identity aside and truly pay attention to him as a person.
Especially Nie Luo’s fans.
“Is Manager Fan actually pretty famous? I only remembered last night—I felt like I’d heard that name somewhere before! So he is really famous, right? Right??”
“He is pretty well-known. I remember that before Brother Nie left, Manager Fan had already taken his artists and left the company ahead of time, right? Looking back, at the very least, he had great foresight!”
“Now that you mention it, that is true! And just look at Brother Nie’s styling today—oh my God, I am absolutely blown away, okay? He really understands! He really understands us!”
“Yes, yes, yes! I was honestly stunned by Brother Nie’s look today. It is insanely good-looking, and that hairstyle especially matches the overall vibe! Of course, it also perfectly matches the version of Brother Nie I have always wanted to see. Hiss, wow.”
“I did not expect Brother Nie and Manager Fan to be such good friends. I would not mind having a few more friendships like that!”
“Yes, yes! Nodding like crazy.jpg For example, a red carpet look like tonight’s—I would not mind seeing another one!”
Nie Luo’s fans were celebrating as if it were Lunar New Year, and Yuan Jing also attracted plenty of attention.
The bright red outfit he wore that night was no less striking than Nie Luo’s. The only thing was that his looks fell slightly short in comparison.
But!
Yuan Jing was a fresh young idol, after all!
And what did that mean?
It meant he still had room to grow!
He might become even more handsome and more striking in the future!
With a potential stock like that, of course people would follow him early.
What if he grew up to be even more outstanding?
As a result, Yuan Jing’s follower count surged that night, rising along with the tide.
Yuan Jing handled it well enough, but Jiang Mian was stunned.
Was this increase in followers actually real?
Was it not a bit too much?
She could not resist sneaking over to ask Fan Qing.
“Um… Brother Fan, you did not buy followers for Yuan Jing, did you?”
The jump in followers just felt too abnormal.
Fan Qing had been staring at the screen. Caught off guard by the question, he slowly typed out a question mark in his mind.
Fan Qing: “What gave you the illusion that Yuan Jing has not even made money for the company yet, and the company would invest that much in him?”
Where did Jiang Mian get that confidence?
Jiang Mian’s expression cracked slightly with embarrassment.
I-Is that so?
That is how it works?
Ah, right. She had almost forgotten. If Brother Fan could manage the company, he probably held company shares.
In that case, he would naturally think more realistically.
Seeing her awkward look, Fan Qing grew even more confused.
“What? Are you unhappy?”
Jiang Mian’s face filled with question marks.
Should she be happy?
Or should she not?
Fan Qing was equally puzzled.
“If the company did not buy followers, that means all of this traffic is completely organic.”
Should that not be something to celebrate?
Jiang Mian jolted upright.
Right!
Only then did it dawn on her—was that not exactly it?
She should be happy!
The moment it clicked, Jiang Mian hurriedly greeted Fan Qing and dashed off.
She had to share the good news with Yuan Jing!
And take the opportunity to carefully plan how he should develop from here on out!
Hehe, so busy!
But so happy!
Fan Qing: …So Jiang Mian had moments of losing composure too.
Once she disappeared from sight, Fan Qing turned his attention back to the screen.
He was checking the updates in the CP fan group.
It was not just Yuan Jing last night. He and Nie Luo had both gained a large number of followers.
Even Yao Ge’s Weibo account had seen a substantial, very real surge in new traffic.
For Fan Qing, however, the most important thing was that the number of CP fans had increased quite a bit.
The CP group was bustling with activity.
New members had barely joined before the veterans stuffed them full of fan content. Before they could even finish digesting it, Miss Yuan parachuted in and dropped fresh content directly into the group.
It was the artwork she had commissioned from Tang Sheng earlier.
White hair and red robes—within the painting, Nie Luo looked less like a real person and more like the kind of ancient-style beauty one might only glimpse in a dream.
And this handsome man was holding a chess piece between his fingers—but what he was placing it upon was not a chessboard, but a pale chest mottled with overlapping blue and purple marks.
The sleeve of the red robe happened to fall across the waist and abdomen, the crimson fabric accentuating the lean lines of that taut midsection and the jade-like elegance of the slender wrist.
The hem of the robe trailed all the way to the edge of the bed, seeming to conceal the intertwined limbs in a way that suggested more than it revealed, stirring endless imagination.
Whether newcomers or longtime members, everyone in the group burst into shrieks the moment they saw the picture.
“Hiss—ha, hiss—ha! So delicious! This picture is too delicious—ahhhhh! I think I am alive again, sob, sob, sob!”
“…Holy hell (as a verb). Sister Lili is supreme! Sister Lili is incredible! May Sister Lili and the artist live forever! I never imagined shipping a CP could come with treatment like this. Content this high-quality—am I really getting to enjoy it without paying? It is too good, way too good!”
“One day I am going to lose my mind in this group!”
“? Sister above, something is off about you.”
“You are the one who is off!”
“You are extremely off!”
“What do you mean ‘sister’? I am a man! Are men not allowed to ship CPs?!”
The male fan’s declaration was thunderous. The group went silent for two seconds before the chat began scrolling wildly again.
“No problem, no problem—ship! Ship giant bowls of it! Ship with all your might!”
“Good brother! Now that I know you are a guy too, I will not hide it—I am a boy as well! I used to be a career fan of Brother Nie, you know? But love really is sweeter than career, sob, sob, sob. I was so foolish—how did I not realize there was something this good to ship? For more than twenty years of my life, what have I been missing?”
This one was even more heavyweight.
As he wailed dramatically, the sisters in the group were stunned.
That said—
“It is fine if you have not followed many before, but not every CP gets this much high-quality content to enjoy.”
“Exactly. Sister—oh, brother. Big bro, let me tell you this: out of all the CPs I have shipped, this is the only one that produces so much content so quickly and still guarantees quality. If I did not have years of experience shipping CPs, I might have thought, like you, that shipping CPs was always this blissful.”
“Right? The content our group produces is on a completely different level. I will be honest, everyone—I used to ship a super obscure CP. I only jumped ship because my roommate ships this one and kept howling about it every day, and honestly, it smelled so good that I made a decisive switch!”
“Hahaha, actually, same here!”
“Me too…”
“Scratching my head—has our group’s content always been this high-level? Who even started producing content in the first place?”
Fan Qing: Hm?
That question was a bit problematic.
His fingers tapped lightly against the desk.
It was not as though he had never anticipated that a CP fan might ask this, so he had already prepared for it.
Just as Fan Qing was about to start typing, Miss Yuan’s account popped up.
“Lili on the Plains: ??? Obviously me! Did you not see that picture just now? I spent a huge amount of money commissioning the artist, okay? I even paid extra to push my order to the front and rush it so you all could see it today. So, should you not be praising me?”
Knock!
If they did not, she was going to make a scene.
Miss Yuan glared at the screen, displeased.
The group jolted upright at her words.
Well then—did that not call for lavish praise? Praise to the heavens?
They immediately shifted gears and began complimenting her at high speed.
“Yes, yes, yes! Sister Lili is amazing—! She is the richest, most generous, most beautiful, kind-hearted, and best-taste sugar mama I know!”
“Facts! Sister Lili, my wonderful rich queen—you are the lighthouse guiding my voyage, the dawn breaking through the night, the air I cannot live without, and the rice bowl I cannot eat without! So, rich queen, please feed me.”
“Hehe! Praise! I will praise loudly! I will praise at the top of my lungs! Sister Lili, can you hear how hard I am praising you?”
Fan Qing slowly withdrew his fingers from the keyboard.
Not bad. This chess piece—Miss Yuan—was even more useful than he had imagined.
Miss Yuan was very satisfied as well.
Even though the group’s compliments were completely insincere, she did not care at all.
She only cared about the outcome; how they got there was irrelevant.
Besides—hiss.
As expected of the artist. The creativity, the composition—it was truly brilliant.
She looked at it again and again, unable to resist typing.
“Do not forget to praise the artist too, okay? The entire concept and composition were her own ideas. I am completely convinced by this creativity. She even gave me an excellent suggestion—I have already placed an order for another piece! Just wait until the day it is released and be dazzled!”
Her words set the entire group off again.
“Yes, yes, yes, Sister Lili is right! The artist is incredible! She does not draw pictures—she paints the beautiful dreams in my heart!”
“What? The composition and concept were all the artist’s? Damn! As expected of a master—beyond the imagination of mere mortals!”
“The artist is a goddess in the heavens! The artist is the best!”
“Artist, you are the greatest, so keep drawing! The next piece absolutely must leave me stunned, okay?!”
The CP fans howled wildly.
Fan Qing slowly sank into contemplation as well.
He glanced at the enlarged image on the screen.
The position of that chess piece was almost too perfect.
If both hands were placing pieces at once, it would practically rival a mosaic in terms of suggestiveness.
So…
That idea had actually come from Brother Sheng?
He had thought it was Miss Yuan’s concept.
Fan Qing slowly lifted his head and looked toward Tang Sheng in the distance.
Tang Sheng looked back at him with an equally speechless expression.
After a long moment, the two of them spoke at the same time.
Fan Qing: “I did not expect your composition to be this suggestive, Brother Sheng.”
Tang Sheng: “I did not expect your CP fans to be just as perverted as you.”
Fan Qing: ?
How were the fans perverted?
Tang Sheng: ?
Was that not basically an erotic drawing?
The two locked eyes.
At that exact moment, Jin Yi stepped in—and walked straight into the scene.
He froze for a full three seconds, then asked cautiously, testing the waters.
“…Are you two together now?”
Then what about his big brother and Old Nie?