"Meituan once again, beauty once again, Meituan Preferred for you..."
Even as an iQIYI VIP, there was no escaping the opening ad. In fact, because sponsors wanted to make VIP members feel special, some ads were designed to be only for them.
The show hadn't even started yet, but the bullet comments were already flying:
[Here for Zhou Guowu!]
[I've crossed mountains and rivers, but I can't cross Wu!]
[Guowu should've been a guest long ago!]
[Go, Xiao Wu! You're the best!]
"Huh? Why are they all Zhou Guowu fans?" Xiao Qing frowned in annoyance. "The screen should be dominated by Jiuye."
She completely forgot her dad was sitting next to her as she started hammering out bullet comments:
[Jiuye is incomparable!]
Four or five unique ones in a row. By the time Chu Zhi's name started overwhelming the screen, reason finally reclaimed the high ground in Xiao Qing's brain.
"If the comment section is filled with nothing but Chu Zhi, won't it make regular viewers annoyed?" Xiao Yue remarked. "Even though bullet comments are open for everyone, when one side dominates like that, it looks like his fans are intentionally spamming."
"Maybe," Xiao Qing admitted, "but Guowu's fans started it. This is clearly Jiu-ge's turf. They were the rude ones. I just couldn't hold back."
Turf, Xiao Yue repeated the word silently. It suggested a strong sense of pride and belonging toward her idol.
And the sudden flood of bullet comments had been so intense, it even caused the ad to stutter for a moment. Which meant... she wasn't the only one who felt that way. Xiao Yue didn't really follow celebrity culture, but he tried to understand.
"If Chu Zhi does well, does it make you really happy?" he asked.
"Of course! It's an honor for all of us Little Fruits," Xiao Qing replied without hesitation. "Every step Jiu-ge takes is our pride. We've been with him from the start, from nothing to everything. He climbed the peak with his own effort, sure, but we were there too... even if we didn't help much."
That caught Xiao Yue's interest. Normally, someone who feels proud and connected also feels like they participated. So when she said "he climbed the peak" and emphasized "we fans," it made perfect sense.
"Jiu-ge is our pride. So we have to become his pride too!" Xiao Qing declared firmly.
Xiao Yue suddenly realized something. Before, his daughter was the type to "coast through life with occasional bursts of ambition." But after becoming Chu Zhi's fan, she had flipped to "occasionally coasting, but mostly ambitious." She talked about graduating and building a real career all the time now.
"The influence of idols is much stronger than I thought," Xiao Yue thought.
He knew a little about Chu Zhi. Enough to have heard about the "Orange Community" initiative, where fans and idol encouraged each other to grow together. At the time, Xiao Yue had scoffed. Adults couldn't be changed by teachers or parents, and even high schoolers rarely listened to authority—what good could a stranger on the internet do?
Turns out, better than a ghost possession.
"Are there a lot of fans like you? Wanting to make your idol proud?" he asked.
"Definitely! Jiu-ge has fans from fifteen to fifty. Some made college entrance wishes, others passed grad school exams... they all got Little Stars for their efforts," Xiao Qing recited proudly. "Next year, I bet there'll be even more."
More? Xiao Yue looked at her, puzzled.
"Dad, you have no idea how much 'The Brightest Star in the Night Sky' meant to us fans," Xiao Qing said, then couldn't help but sing:
🎵"Whenever I can't find meaning in life,
whenever I'm lost in the dark, awoo~
the brightest star in the night sky, please guide me close to you."🎵
That third episode where they took fans to see the sea of stars... when Chu Zhi sang "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky," it had a dual effect.
On the surface, it was about microblog rankings, and how star-cluster-themed IDs sold for more. But behind the scenes, most fans were working harder to achieve their app-set goals to earn those Little Stars. It just wasn't flashy enough to make headlines, so marketers and media only focused on the surface.
"Do other celebrities influence their fans like this too?" Xiao Yue asked again, childlike in curiosity.
"Let's talk about that later—it's starting! Jiu-ge's on screen!" Xiao Qing sat up.
The show had already been going for a bit, but the opening segment featured guest Zhou Guowu, so Xiao Qing didn't mind. But now that Chu Zhi was appearing, she was laser-focused.
Being a top idol might mean your skills are still growing, but looks are non-negotiable. And appearing next to Chu Zhi… well, Zhou Guowu was instantly reduced to background noise. In looks, posture, and presence, he fell short in every way.
"I just found a new way to sabotage rival idols," Xiao Qing thought, mentally patting herself on the back. "Let them appear next to Jiu-ge on a show."
Zhou Guowu often looked sharp in press events, but next to Chu Zhi? Wiped off the map.
There was no helping it. Jiuye's appearance was ideal man incarnate. The more she thought about it, the wider Xiao Qing's grin grew.
Xiao Yue watched her quietly, then returned to the show.
"Teacher Chu, I've admired you for so long. Finally getting to meet someone who's more handsome and more talented than me," Zhou Guowu said during their on-camera greeting.
"I'm a huge fan of this show. I watch every episode, even the behind-the-scenes clips," Zhou Guowu continued. "I noticed you always read for hours at night. I try to read, but it puts me to sleep. How many books do you go through a day?"
"Because of my schedule, I can only read for three or four hours at night," Chu Zhi answered. "But even then, depending on the book, I might only get through a volume or two."
"I see. Let me introduce you to a dear friend I brought with me—Barbie Doll," Zhou Guowu said suddenly.
Barbie Doll? Chu Zhi didn't react. He waited calmly.
Zhou Guowu pulled a plastic case from his bag. Inside was a pet lizard. Its breed? Blue-tongued skink. Its name? Barbie Doll.
Creative genius.
The two strolled and chatted, the atmosphere quite relaxed. Even the Little Fruits lowered their hostility a bit.
Suddenly, a side quest popped up, sending Chu Zhi off alone. Zhou Guowu headed to the inn by himself.
"Kids from hard times grow up fast. If he's an orphan, he's either withdrawn or incredibly kind," Xiao Yue mused. From the earlier segment, he could tell Chu Zhi had higher emotional intelligence than Zhou Guowu.
The screen split fifty-fifty. Chu Zhi completed the task solo. Meanwhile, the flying guest had reached the inn and was chatting with Zhang Ning and others.
About twenty minutes in, the camera cut to Chu Zhi sprinting suddenly to the side. It looked like he was fleeing a beast, moving with urgent desperation. The camera even shook—rare, considering modern stabilizers—because the cameraman was running behind him.
"What happened?" Xiao Qing frowned.
Xiao Yue frowned too. Maybe the crew gave him instructions through his earpiece?
No need to guess. The next second, it happened.
The earth trembled. Mountains shook. Bricks and concrete collapsed.
Like some hidden dragon rolled beneath the land, toppling roads and buildings like they were made of paper. Without the camera, you'd never imagine the reality of the Otaru earthquake.
If Chu Zhi hadn't sprinted away at that moment… no human body is tougher than concrete. The outcome would've been obvious.
"An earthquake? In Otaru?!" Xiao Yue blurted out. Then he remembered—it was pre-recorded.
Backtrack to October 18: the Ishikari earthquake in Hokkaido. Magnitude 5.9.
"So the crew was near Ishikari then?" Xiao Qing's heart clenched tight.
Not a single hint had been leaked before this! She wanted to lash out online but held back out of worry for her idol.
Chu Zhi said he ran because he had a bad feeling. Sixth sense before a disaster? Not that unusual.
But what he said next was.
Even as the cameraman shook with lingering fear, Chu Zhi, though still shaken, calmed himself enough to say:
"Kobayashi, stay here. Wait for the rescue team. It looks safe for now. I'm going to rescue Zhang Ning and the others.
It might not be ideal, but the faster we get to them, the better. Jiajia, Sister Zhang Ning, Min-ge, the whole staff—they're all in the prime of their lives."
Rescue... people?
His back as he turned was thin, like a brushstroke on white paper—yet it became the most striking line on the whole canvas.
Even Xiao Qing was stunned silent. And so was her father.
"To save others sooner gives them a better chance. But aftershocks could hit any second. What Chu Zhi is doing is not rational," Xiao Yue thought. "If it were me, I'd never go. I have a wife and daughter."
Last month, while watching episode two, Xiao Yue had described him as a non-typical altruist. Now that label didn't even fit. He wasn't just altruistic—he was self-sacrificing. Always putting others' safety ahead of his own.
But one thing was undeniable.
Chu Zhi was a hero.
[Don't go!]
[It's still dangerous, aftershocks could hit!]
[Damn it, if something happens to Jiuye, I'm tearing down the production building myself!]
[You're still in your prime, Jiuye, please protect yourself!]
[If anything happens to him, what will I do?!]
Bullet comments flooded the screen. Xiao Qing's brows knitted in worry, tears brimming in her eyes.
Seeing this, Xiao Yue reassured her, "Don't worry. This was the Ishikari quake. Later, Chu Zhi showed up in Tokyo, representing China at the music gala. It was even aired on national TV. He's fine."
Right. That made sense. She'd just been too panicked.
Back at the inn, Chu Zhi was met with devastation—not entirely rubble, but close.
Thanks to a strong main beam, the guest rooms were still intact. But the hallway, lobby, and restaurant had been flattened like they'd been crushed by a bulldozer.
Instead of charging in blindly, Chu Zhi found a flyer from the reception area. It was mostly bragging about the hotel's long history—but what he needed was the floor plan printed at the bottom.
Crude, but enough. Using the map, he located a storage room beside the restaurant. More rubble.
"This step ladder should work," he said, finding a usable one among the debris.
With the camera set up, the cameraman, Kobayashi, even helped pull it out from under a broken beam.
Splintered wood was everywhere. Even with care, Chu Zhi got scratched a few times moving through the debris.
"Zhang Ning's room is the easiest to access," he muttered.
He propped up the ladder carefully. At 2.2 meters, it reached the window. Through the glass, he saw Zhang Ning lying on the tatami mat, pinned by a collapsed wooden wall. She was groaning.
"Sister Zhang Ning, don't worry! I'll be right there!" Chu Zhi shouted through the glass to reassure her.
Sure enough, when she saw him, her eyes lit up with hope. She tried to speak, but the pain from moving her arm was too much.
Chu Zhi tried to push the window open, but the warped frame wouldn't budge. Without hesitation, he took off his jacket, wrapped it around his fist, and punched through the glass with two solid strikes. The shards scattered, and he carefully cleared the jagged edges.
"System, is there any danger ahead?" he asked internally.
[Support beams show minor damage, no structural compromise. Floor is partially unstable. Avoid those areas.] the system replied.
Good enough. Chu Zhi climbed through the window. His back ached slightly from the movement, but it wasn't bad enough to stop him. Inside, the room looked like it had been hit by a tornado. He moved cautiously and lifted the wooden wall pinning Zhang Ning's arm.
Bit by bit, he got her to a safe zone. The camera hadn't followed him inside, so the audience couldn't see what had happened in the room. All they saw was Chu Zhi emerging with the injured Zhang Ning in his arms—and the fresh wound on his back from earlier.
[Jiu-ge, watch your health! I'd crawl in there to help if I could!]
[His back is bleeding!]
[That beam almost crushed him just now!]
[I have a whole new respect for real rescue workers thanks to Jiuye.]
Watching the scene unfold, Xiao Qing winced. Even through a screen, she could feel the sting of the splinters that had pierced his fingers. But the man himself didn't even flinch. He just pulled them out and kept going.
"These damn splinters are annoying," Chu Zhi thought. "Don't distract me from earning my Personality Points."
To the audience, he was throwing himself into danger for others. Fearless. Selfless. That kind of bravery even moved Xiao Yue.
He rescued one person. Then another.
Never stopped for even a second.
CRASH!
Just five minutes after Chu Zhi pulled the assistant director to safety, the southern side of the inn collapsed like a tower of toy blocks under a kid's weight. Wood chips flew in every direction.
Bang! Bang! Clatter!
Everything came tumbling down.
"..."
The assistant director stared in shock at the spot where he had just been trapped. If they'd been a few minutes later... Even though it was only wood, those beams would've crushed him. Solid wood is heavy, far heavier than composite boards.
"That was way too close," whispered Kobayashi, the cameraman.
Yeah. Too close. Instinctively, Kobayashi took a step back.
It was an honest reaction. He had been helping just moments ago. If he'd stepped forward instead of back...
Facing the threat of death or serious injury, even the brave need time to prepare themselves mentally.
But not Chu Zhi. He didn't pause. Didn't even blink. He just kept going.
Kobayashi even heard him mutter to himself, "Faster, faster, there's not enough time."
"Is he... not afraid?" Xiao Yue murmured.
If anyone had still wanted to argue earlier—that maybe Chu Zhi didn't understand the risks of aftershocks—they couldn't now. He'd just seen the building collapse with his own eyes. Even without an aftershock, the structure was clearly dangerous.
Yet Chu Zhi didn't hesitate at all.
He pressed on, rescuing Lao Qian, Cai Jia, and several staff members.
Splinters embedded in his hands, glass cuts on his skin, nails torn from gripping too hard, falling and tripping—every wound was captured clearly on camera.
Xiao Qing cried. Really cried. Not just sniffles, but heart-wrenching sobs.
"Why does someone who's already been so hurt by the world still throw himself into danger to save others?"
The show recorded it all—Chu Zhi rescuing twenty-eight people.
At the emergency shelter, a medic disinfected and bandaged his wounds. Big ones, small ones—all over his body. It was a painful sight.
"Qing-Qing," Xiao Yue said gently, "If your idol is Chu Zhi, I won't stop you from being a fan. But I don't want you to be like him. I hope you'll be a little selfish."
Xiao Qing didn't answer. This episode had gone beyond anything she could've imagined.
"Sacrificing oneself for others"—a phrase most people learn in elementary school, traced back to Zhu Xi's annotations of the Analects. Not many remember the source, but the meaning is known by all.
How many people can actually do it?
That's why it's rare. That's why it's valuable.
Chu Zhi's entire rescue effort was captured by the handheld cameraman. There were several moments where collapsing beams nearly crushed him.
And yet, despite all the danger, he saved over twenty people.
The Buddhist saying goes, saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. If that's true, Chu Zhi had earned the merit of over a hundred pagodas.
That comparison might sound a bit crude. The "seven-story pagoda" is meant to enshrine a great Buddha. So to rephrase it—according to Buddhist teachings, Chu Zhi's actions held more merit than building twenty temples.
The media exploded.
"That Moment He Chose to Save Lives." —Sina News
"There Will Always Be Someone Who Turns Back." —NetEase News
"From Public Enemy to National Idol—This Video Has the Answer." —The Paper
"Chu Zhi: A Star Born in the '90s, With the Spirit of the '50s." —Tencent News
Among the most emotional reactions were from fans of the other guests.
"Thanks, Jiuye. That 'ye' title is well deserved. If he hadn't pulled my wife out in time, it could've been so much worse."
"The hell you talking about? Since when is Cai Jia your wife? Everyone knows she's mine. Jiu-ge, thank you on her behalf."
"When it comes down to it, Chu Zhi's the real deal. Remember when Korean fans attacked that firefighter? Most celebs wouldn't lift a finger. But Chu Zhi... he's different."
In an industry full of "foodie" personas, "gamer girls," and "athletic queens," Cai Jia stood out. She had stunning looks and real gaming skill—no wonder she had so many male fans.
And now, Chu Zhi's actions were naturally gaining him more fans too.
Veteran singer Luo Jianhui didn't seem to have much traffic on Weibo. His posts barely got a few thousand comments.
But remember—his fans weren't gone. They were just older.
His song "Dreams Never Disconnect" suddenly shot up on trending, claiming spot #4 under the tag:#DreamsAlmostDisconnected#
In this climate, reaching top four was proof of lasting popularity.
"Dreams Never Disconnect" was one of Luo Jianhui's signature songs. Many students sang it at graduation. A nostalgic anthem, comparable to "Tong Zhuo De Ni" (You at the Same Desk) in its emotional weight.
"Half an insider here. Chu Zhi has always had a good reputation. Everyone who works with him says he has a great personality. I used to be skeptical, but after this? I don't care if he's 'nice' or not. That man turned back without hesitation to save lives. I'm speechless."
"I couldn't do it. Really. If it were me in his position, I wouldn't dare run back in."
===
Hi everyone~ Just dropping by with a little update ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
One of my other translation projects, titled My Daughter is the Empire's Lucky Charm, is now fully translated!
Yup, I've completed the whole thing! ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶
It's still updating on the site, but you can look forward to daily releases until the end.
As for my next project, I'll be diving into a post-apocalyptic rebirth story. The female lead is a mother who survived two years after the world ended, only to be reborn before the apocalypse began. In her first life, she was mistreated and used by her husband and his mistress. But in this second life, she's determined to protect her daughter and live for herself. Revenge? Oh, absolutely. But her child comes first.
Like most apocalypse+rebirth stories, she has a space with still-time storage. Alongside her daughter, she forms a small survival team: a male gym instructor, a college student, a women (I forgot her exact pre-apocalypse jobs) with her grandmother. Oh, and if I remember right... there's a dog too!
This isn't a zombie apocalypse, by the way—it's a full-blown natural disaster apocalypse.
What left the deepest impression on me was the twist near the end. I honestly didn't see it coming. Without spoiling too much, let's just say that by the final chapters, most of humanity is wiped out by a disaster so bizarre and illogical... it actually works as a narrative gut punch.
After that novel, I plan to return to ancient Chinese historical fiction, specifically set during the Qin Dynasty and though it shares some vibes with Lucky Charm, but it's at least twice as long. Expect more intense kingdom-building, politics, and national development!
I'm also eyeing a novel where the female MC is the daughter of Wu Zetian, the first Female Emperor in Chinese history. I haven't read it yet, but the premise sounds fascinating, so I've added it to my list of upcoming translations. Both are fairly long works, but I think you'll enjoy them!
On the flip side, I've decided not to pick up that popular novel about a female police officer transmigrating to ancient times, fleeing danger, and becoming an empress. While the story has its strong points, the heroine's core beliefs just don't align with mine. I enjoy kingdom-building and strategic development, but one of her major principles really grated on me. And since translation is more than just a one-time read, forcing myself to work on something I clash with would feel like mental torture (´-﹏-`). I wouldn't be able to bring my best to the table that way.
I might also start working on a yuri-themed ancient historical novel—daily updates, maybe one chapter per day. That one's still in the planning stages though, so no promises yet!
Thank you for reading my ramblings and for supporting my work! Stay tuned for more exciting stories ahead~ (≧▽≦)💕