Within a single hour of the broadcast announcement, Inspiration had already reached a high level of trending heat. Among the comments, there was no shortage of mockery directed at Jiang Xuxu.
"I guessed she was going to debut when everyone was talking about her scholarship, and I was right!"
"Abandoning elite universities like Peking University and Tsinghua University for a Taoist Academyis that stunt not enough? She must have planned this all along just to pave her way for today!"
"First a spokesperson appearance, then a wave of internet topics, and finally a variety show debut. Her team is pretty capable!"
"Although... I'm totally digging this girl's looks!"
"Agreed. Her visuals actually match my brother Jingmo quite well."
"The person above, get lost. Don't bundle her with our brother! No shipping!"
"I'll make a prediction now: this girl's script for the show will definitely involve a 'CP' ship! If not, I'll take a dump while doing a handstand."
"Who wants to ship with her? Marketing dogs, go away! Our brother will be the first to refuse."
"Our Yining will be the second to refuse."
"Then our Ling Zhenzhen will be the third to refuse."
Ling Zhenzhen was the only metaphysics influencer among the guests.
The final cast of Inspiration consisted of four men and two women. Besides Gu Jingmo, Xue Yining, Shang Lu, and Ling Zhenzhen, there was Jiang Xuxu and another popular starlet, Zhou Chacha. Out of the six, only Gu Jingmo and Zhou Chacha were the heavy hitters responsible for the show's traffic.
Zhou Hehe had been closely monitoring the online discussion after the announcement. When he saw the talk about "shipping" CPs, he felt a bit guilty. To be honest, he had indeed planned to play up some ships at first. After all, if Jiang Xuxu, Gu Jingmo, and Zhou Chacha stood together, their visuals alone were enough to make people imagine a dramatic love triangle.
But that was before. After witnessing Jiang Xuxu's abilities, Zhou Hehe didn't dare to casually use her for shipping. If he offended her and something went wrong on the show, he wouldn't even know who to turn to for help.
Zhou Hehe had already decided to treat her like a revered elder. While the other two guests had reputations, Zhou Hehe hadn't seen their skills with his own eyes. By comparison, he found Jiang Xuxu much more convincing.
Now that he had made up his mind, Zhou Hehe couldn't let Jiang Xuxu be targeted by various fanbases. He immediately ordered his own paid internet trolls to intervene and shift the public's focus toward anticipation for the show itself.
The reactions within the Jiang family to Jiang Xuxu participating in such a show were varied. Jiang Cheng's face was particularly sour after reading the comments claiming Jiang Xuxu had planned her debut step by step.
Given the Jiang family's status, none of their members needed to gain attention in such a sensationalist way. It lowered the family's prestige.
Even if she really wanted to debut, she should have done it through a proper, professional route. Like his second uncle, who had achieved his current status by debuting based on his singing talent.
Or, even if she didn't follow the uncle's path, she could have gone to a proper film academy like An Xing did. Jiang Xuxu's current method made Jiang Cheng feel like he was losing face. In his social circle, influencers were often seen as mere appendages of the wealthy.
"I really don't know what she's thinking." Jiang Cheng felt his dislike for his cousin was justified. "It's one thing to enter a Taoist Academy; the family went along with that. But now she's debuting through a variety show. Is she that desperate to be famous?"
After their previous encounters, Jiang Cheng had learned not to say such things to Jiang Xuxu's facemostly because she clearly didn't care what he thought. However, he felt a desperate need to vent.
Lu Xuexi was the one who listened quietly to his complaints. "Xuxu has always had her own ideas. Besides, since the family doesn't object, it won't do you any good as her cousin to speak against her. You shouldn't say these things in front of her, either, or she might be sad."
Jiang Cheng sneered inwardly. A person like Jiang Xuxu wouldn't be sad; she was far too capable for that. His eyes were full of disdain for Xuxu, but his attitude was gentle when facing Lu Xuexi. "Don't worry, I won't say these things to her face."
Ever since Jiang Han had been "muted" for a week, he had clearly learned his lesson and wouldn't dare say a word in front of Xuxu. If Jiang Han had learned his lesson, Jiang Cheng certainly wasn't going to charge into the line of fire himself.
Lu Xuexi smiled at him, but then added with a touch of regret, "It's normal for girls to dream of being a star. But at our age, we really shouldn't be chasing hollow things, especially since Xuxu has such good grades. I feel like the family is letting her go down the wrong path by allowing her to debut like this..."
"She wanted it herself. Who can stop her?"
Lu Xuexi sighed. "Don't say that. She is our family, after all. We can't just watch her go astray and do nothing." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Xuxu probably thinks things are more wonderful than they are. Once she's actually in that circle and faces some setbacks, she'll probably understand."
Listening to Lu Xuexi, Jiang Cheng felt inspired. After a moment of thought, he suddenly said, "You're right. She should face some setbacks. She needs to know that the entertainment industry isn't as easy as she thinks!"
As he spoke, Jiang Cheng pulled up a number on his phone. He had a few contacts in the industry. If he wanted Jiang Xuxu to learn a lesson without the family finding out, he could only ask them for help. Jiang Cheng told himself that he was doing this for Jiang Xuxu's future, not to target her out of spite. He wasn't that kind of person.
Lu Xuexi sat beside him, watching as he walked away to make a call. A gentle, faint smile played on her lips as she elegantly sipped her flower tea.
Jiang Xuxu paid no attention to Jiang Cheng's plans. In truth, she didn't even care about the comments online. Her only goal in participating in this show was to see if she could get her master to come to her. Since the methods of the profound gates hadn't worked, she would try a more public approach.
Jiang Xuxu held onto this plan, but she didn't expect that her first day with the Inspiration crew would bring a different kind of "surprise."
When she arrived on-site, she unexpectedly saw an "acquaintance." Or perhaps, "acquaintance" wasn't quite the right word. It was Li Qingzi's younger sister, Li Qingyuan. Although they had only met once, it didn't stop her from recognizing that familiar color of Rotten Peach Blossoms on her.
However, the color was different from what she had seen at the teacher appreciation banquet. In the midst of the rotten peach blossom hue on Li Qingyuan, there were now faint traces of deep crimson blood.
That was Malignant Qi. It represented a single truththis person was about to die.
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