About an hour after the topic trended on Weibo, Xu Zifan received a call from his manager, Brother Li. Brother Li's voice was filled with anger, "You still dare to post on Weibo without permission? What did I tell you? This is a sensitive time. Your trending topic finally came down, and now you're trying to get attention again? Do you want to be discredited enough?"
Xu Zifan said calmly, "Since the company can't solve my problem, I'll do it myself. Isn't that great? My fans are increasing, and nobody's listening to those brainless lies anymore. Things are getting better, so what are you angry about?"
"Good? Good for what? Everyone says you're good for nothing except your face, and you think that's good?"
"What nice things were said about me before? At least now my looks are being praised to the skies, which is much better than before when no one even paid attention to my face."
Xu Zifan's question left Li Ge speechless for a moment, along with a sense of anger at being defied. "What do you mean by this? Are you dissatisfied with the company? Dissatisfied with me?"
"Should I be satisfied?"
"You! Xu Zifan! You think you can stand tall just because you're popular now? You'll break your leg in a few days! Send me your Weibo and Instagram account passwords, I'll personally check them. The company is already very dissatisfied with you, you'd better not act recklessly anymore, otherwise even if you have a good-looking face, it will be wasted, and you'll be blacklisted sooner or later."
Thinking about the original owner's personality, Xu Zifan deliberately remained silent for half a minute, then said in a low voice as if he was very disappointed: "You said the same thing before, I believed you, I've believed you ever since I debuted, but my reputation is getting worse and worse, my fans are getting fewer and fewer, and I'm about to lose my job."
I'm practically blacklisted by the company now. During this show filming, the moment I saw Su Yanchen, I knew he was trying to step on me to get ahead. I'm not stupid enough to not see through these tactics. Brother Li, you said you were doing this for my own good, and Tan Yi also took care of me…"
He paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and said, "Brother Li, I won't say that you can't stand to see me doing well and deliberately arranged some messy jobs for me. I can only say that you don't understand my true nature, and you made me take the path that is least suitable for me, and you have covered up my brilliance."
People say that you hit rock bottom and then bounce back. I've hit rock bottom, so I'll decide for myself what path to take and what jobs to do from now on. If the company wants to sideline me, so be it. It's better than continuing down the wrong path.
Brother Li, thank you so much for getting me started. I won't say much more. From now on, you can relax and don't worry about me anymore.
After Xu Zifan finished speaking, he hung up the phone, silenced it, and tossed it aside to watch TV with great interest.
Brother Li called him several times, sent WeChat messages and text messages, but all to no avail. He was so angry that he almost slammed the phone down. He remembered Xu Zifan saying that his brilliance was being overshadowed, and he scoffed, deciding to ignore it. Anyway, Xu Zifan was in such a bad situation this time that he couldn't get any work and wasn't making any money; it was practically the same as being blacklisted.
He has other people under him, and he's too lazy to waste his energy on a useless person. Besides, it's good for Xu Zifan to experience the despair of the abyss. Xu Zifan is really handsome and young. When he's really desperate, he might be able to introduce him to a wealthy lady and even profit from it.
On the other side, Su Yanchen and his agent were also furious. They had agreed to use Xu Zifan to boost his own popularity, which was why he participated in the show, but now he was being thoroughly humiliated and had become Xu Zifan's foil. Moreover, the promised private favors from the director hadn't materialized; it was a complete disaster.
Naturally, they had to contact the company and the production team, but this time the director was surprisingly firm. He had independently planned the show and put a lot of effort into it. Although he couldn't get any famous celebrities at first due to a lack of buzz, he was still very serious about creating something exciting and original to make the show a hit. Now that the show was performing better than he had expected, he certainly couldn't give up.
Because the people they invited were all people they could offend, the director resolutely refused to budge, speaking confidently to the company and even sending a sample clip to the director. The company, of course, wanted the show to make money, and after seeing the sample clip, they switched their support to the director, infuriating Su Yanchen.
Another person in a very bad mood is Tan Yi.
There was a similar variety show in his past life, but none of the six celebrities who participated knew anything about wilderness survival. The first episode was interesting, but after that, it became boring. They didn't know anything, it was all just awkward footage—what was there to watch?
Moreover, discerning viewers can spot the problem after just a few glances. How could they have so much energy to keep going when they hadn't found any food? It's obvious that the production team provided them with food privately; the whole thing was fake.
Who would watch a fake survival show? Even if it shows a few celebrities having conflicts, arguing, or fighting, it doesn't save the ratings. After all, the celebrities they invite are either washed-up stars or newcomers. Nobody wants to see their gossip. Instead, it makes people question their character. They're supposed to be working on a show, how can they be so unprofessional?
One bad thing about it led to a complete disaster. This show ended quietly in its previous life, without making a splash in the entertainment industry. Most viewers had no idea that such a variety show even existed.
Tan Yi wanted Xu Zifan to suffer on a deserted island, but he wouldn't get any credit. The show would definitely be ridiculed after airing, gradually eroding Xu Zifan's self-esteem, making it impossible for him to continue in the entertainment industry. The day Xu Zifan leaves the entertainment industry, the two of them will naturally go their separate ways and never cross paths again.
But he never expected that the online sentiment would shift, albeit slightly, but it was enough to make him wary. He also learned about Su Yanchen's complaint to the company: Xu Zifan was surprisingly adept at outdoor activities and completely outclassed everyone else on the show.
He had always been on good terms with Xu Zifan, his high school classmates, but they mostly played basketball together and talked about school. He rarely heard Xu Zifan mention his family. Later, when he went to university and Xu Zifan went to work, he really didn't know what Xu Zifan was good at.
Hearing that the director was convinced the show would be a hit, he became very anxious.
Unfortunately, he didn't see the sample footage and didn't know the specifics, so he couldn't do anything about it. After all, he was just Bai Xue's boyfriend, whom she hadn't publicly acknowledged yet, and he couldn't interfere too much in the company's other programs.
To maintain his public image, he couldn't openly suppress Xu Zifan, and suddenly he felt constrained, as if things were slipping out of his control. This was the first time since his rebirth that he had felt uncertain, and he was extremely uneasy.
He feared that Xu Zifan would become famous again, just like in his previous life, and that Xu Zifan would once again overshadow him. Xu Zifan was like a mountain in his life, a psychological hurdle, and he was determined to destroy it!
After thinking it over, Tan Yi decided to call Xu Zifan to test the waters, but he couldn't get through no matter what he tried. He then called Brother Li and asked tentatively, "Brother Li, have you contacted Zifan? It seems like his show is having some trouble. I tried calling him but couldn't get through, and I don't know how he is."
Brother Li said irritably, "Don't even mention him. He actually said we harmed him. What kind of precious gem does he think he is?"
Tan Yi's heart tightened. "Zifan said we harmed him? What did he say? That's impossible."
Brother Li said angrily, "He didn't say it directly, but whatever he said, we helped him and chose the wrong path for him, overshadowing his brilliance. He also said that he trusted me but things got worse and worse. Anyway, that's the gist of it. He thinks we're deliberately trying to make him happy."
Yes, he did have some bad days on those shows, but if you hadn't spoken up for him, he wouldn't have been able to get on those shows at all. Now he's not only ungrateful but has also turned against me, refusing to answer my calls. I'm not going to care about him anymore; let him do whatever he wants. Someone like him won't last long.
Tan Yi, I really feel sorry for you. You owe so many favors for getting gigs for Xu Zifan, and he doesn't even appreciate it. I think you should just ignore him from now on. If you have any resources, you could help out Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin is a promising member of Brother Li's team, but Tan Yi has no interest in him. He's already in a bad mood, so he just gave Brother Li a few perfunctory words and hung up.
That night, Tan Yi smoked a whole pack of cigarettes and didn't sleep a wink, as if possessed by an inner demon. Meanwhile, his inner demon, Xu Zifan, was leisurely cultivating in his spatial dimension using spiritual spring water.
He wasn't afraid at all that anyone would discover he was different from the original owner, because the original owner had always lived alone and had no close relationships with anyone. Even Tan Yi was just a high school friend, and there were too many things they didn't know about each other.
He can cook, knows how to survive in the wild, and recognizes herbs. No one can find anything about him, and even if they do, he and Shaohua can make it disappear.
So all he needs to do is find an excuse to change things, hit rock bottom and bounce back, and realize that Tan Yi and Brother Li are not sincere towards him is the best reason.
After several days of continuous cultivation, Xu Zifan's cultivation level finally improved by a small step. He boarded the plane in high spirits and was in the best condition among the entire "Survival on a Desert Island" team. Dressed up, he attracted a lot of attention wherever he went.
Chen Zaimin looked at Xu Zifan in amazement, puzzled, "Little brother, how come you don't get tanned? I'm already three shades darker. If it weren't for the good herbs you made, I think I would have gotten sunburned, and my wife would definitely scold me when I get home."
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "That's just my body type. I don't like being tanned or fat."
Xue Ninglu said enviously, "He's naturally beautiful! So handsome and he doesn't get tanned or gain weight. Zifan, you have the kind of physique that so many women want."
Xu Zifan gave a faint smile in response, without saying anything. Chen Zaimin picked up the conversation, and Song Yunjian joined in, changing the subject.
Although they seemed to be having a good time, Xue Ninglu could clearly sense that Xu Zifan was isolating her and not communicating with her at all. She was a little depressed, having come all this way without getting any benefits. It seemed that the only thing she could do was to create a CP (couple pairing) with Su Yanchen. The two of them interacted a lot and even acted ambiguous, so there were bound to be some good scenes. Hopefully, this would attract a wave of CP fans.
When the group arrived in Yanjing and exited the airport, they happened to run into a large group of fans who were there to welcome the popular young idol. Before the idol even arrived, some of the fans gathered around them, and then suddenly spotted Xu Zifan wearing a mask and sunglasses.
Someone shouted, "Xu Zifan! Xu Zifan, I'm your fan!"
Xu Zifan looked up and saw a teenage girl waving at him from the crowd.
A portion of the fans who like young, handsome male celebrities are actually fans of their looks, so why can't they become his fans?
Xu Zifan took off his sunglasses and pulled down his mask, smiled and waved to the girl, "Thank you, be careful."