Idol Chapter 47

There were two groups of people at the zoo.

One group consisted of those who followed entertainment news closely, while the other group had little interest in it.

There were more than ten television stations, newspapers, magazines, and major news websites that covered entertainment news. Journalists from the education channel were also rushing to the scene.

Seeing the situation, Uncle Jiang realized something was wrong and made four or five phone calls to the zoo director, asking him to open the back door for him.

The zoo director was still sleeping early in the morning, and he was taken aback when he received a call.

“What time is it? Why are there so many people coming to the zoo?”

“What? The top scorer? Your artist is the top scorer??”

The zoo director couldn’t spare time to answer the continuous barrage of phone calls. He quickly urged his staff to let Uncle Jiang in and urgently deployed security guards to help maintain order.

The elderly people outside the main gate shook their heads in disbelief.

In this day and age, why were children and adults crowding into the zoo every day? It seemed like getting a yearly pass was pointless.

As soon as Uncle Jiang arrived, the makeup artists and stylists were already in place, working tirelessly to style their hair and outfits.

Huo Ren tilted his chin up, making it easier for the makeup artist to apply powder. Uncle Jiang patted him on the shoulder.

“You’re amazing, kid!”

Huo Ren whispered, “You’ve also worked hard. Make sure to get some rest and catch up on sleep later.”

Uncle Jiang, seeing that he wasn’t even slightly nervous, sat down next to him and lit a cigarette to calm himself down.

Other kids studied hard for three years and still couldn’t achieve the same high scores as him. It must be so envy-inducing.

“Cain,” Uncle Jiang called out, “Have you read the interview script?”

“I’ve memorized it.”

“There are too many reporters at the entrance. We’ll definitely have to hold a press conference later,” Uncle Jiang, who had managed many artists in his lifetime, found himself juggling between the education field and the entertainment industry. He took a deep drag on his cigarette and continued, “When they ask you how you studied, how will you respond?”

Huo Ren pointed to his right. “I’ll show them my notebooks.”

On the table next to the makeup station were several notebooks, neatly arranged without a single crease.

Uncle Jiang was stunned for a moment, then abruptly stood up and started flipping through the notebooks.

Indeed, Huo Ren had written them.

Every difficult question and type of problem was analyzed clearly and comprehensively. Even someone like Uncle Jiang, who hadn’t touched a book in centuries, could understand them.

The main content was written in black ink, key points were marked in red, and traps were noted in blue ink.

Uncle Jiang believed that a top student from a prestigious school had written these notes.

It took Uncle Jiang a while to find his voice.

“Damn.”

“I shouldn’t have to worry about that,” Huo Ren calmly replied. “I learned the language and facial expressions control during last year’s training at SPF. I also confirmed it with the other teammates this morning.”

Uncle Jiang, rubbing his temple with one hand while holding his cigarette with the other, couldn’t help but laugh.

This kid was low maintenance.

Indeed, he made the right choice in appointing him as the team captain.

When the manager stepped out of the cabin, it was like a scene of zombies surrounding a castle.

The media held their cameras and camcorders, capturing everything. Some enthusiastic fans even rushed over to get closer. If it weren’t for the four rows of security guards with stun batons stationed in all directions, it’s likely that someone would have stormed the island like a fierce tiger.

The black swans and white swans had never seen such a commotion before. By the time they came out for a stroll, they didn’t dare poke their heads out. They all huddled quietly by the lake, silently preening their feathers.

Uncle Jiang borrowed a megaphone from the staff and first communicated the details with the variety show director. Then, standing at the edge of the island, he cleared his throat.

“Dear media friends and fans, we will hold a press conference in ten minutes.”

“All certified journalists, please line up at the bridge—-entertainment news reporters go to the south bridge, and education news reporters go to the north bridge. Due to the limited area of the island, we can only accommodate the first fifty from each side.”

“Fans, please do not make loud noises or disturb the normal experience of other visitors. Thank you for your cooperation!”

He decided to send Huo Ren to the education channel for about twenty to thirty minutes, while the other five would answer questions from the entertainment reporters first.

The staff quickly cleared the front and back squares, arranging plastic chairs for the audience. They also put up barriers around the private area of the cabin to prevent media from sneaking in and taking unauthorized photos.

Inside the cabin, the five of them were still joking with Huo Ren, saying, “Huo Huo, when you get into Harvard, there will probably be another wave of commotion.”

“By that time, we’ll probably be retired, perfect timing for a group trip to Boston, right?”

“Let Mei Shengyao be our tour guide. He’s familiar with it!”

Once the styling was done, both press conferences started simultaneously. The entire Baili Island became a gathering place for flashing cameras, non-stop from all angles.

Fans outside the island were growing impatient.

If only I had a press pass to witness the glorious moment of my idol!!

Damn it!!

Uncle Jiang ran back and forth between the north and south bridges, with a dozen journalists following him, and the bodyguards couldn’t stop them.

“Mr. Jiang, may I ask which famous teacher you entrusted to tutor Cain?”

“Did Mr. Jiang anticipate Huo Ren’s current achievements?”

“Has Corona made any special preparations for this year’s college entrance examination?”

Huo Ren finally emerged.

And the entire north of the island exploded.

“Quiet!” Assistant Manager Wang slammed the table. “Please, friends from the education sector, maintain order! Let our captain say a few words first!”

The journalists on this side didn’t expect to come to a zoo in their lifetime to interview a top student. Moreover, they were taking close-up shots of a recently popular celebrity. Before Huo Ren came out, some of them were whispering and asking if they needed to retouch the photos of the celebrity.

When Huo Ren walked out, everyone fell silent for three seconds simultaneously.

No need for any retouching.

He was even skinnier in person than in the posters, tall and with a graceful neck. Just by looking at him, any random person would realize that all the assumptions made earlier were complete nonsense.

“Hello, everyone,” Huo Ren took off the microphone and bowed to them. In the dazzling flashlights, he calmly began his explanation.

He needed to consider SPF’s and Corona’s reputation. He had to speak confidently while explaining the legitimacy and fairness of the exams. At the same time, he wanted to distance himself as far as possible from the baseless blame of “disturbing the order of the exam” while thanking the invigilators.

The press release was written by the head of SPF’s PR department. Huo Ren made a few changes on the spot. He spoke flawlessly, not missing a single word, and his voice was clear and deep, as if he were an official spokesperson specially appointed by SPF.

The journalists had a myriad of questions swirling in their minds, enough to fill Swan Lake, but now they vaguely felt the extraordinary aura of this young man.

He was truly extraordinary, like a top scholar.

At the age of eighteen, in terms of speech, temperament, and aura, there were few who could match him at his level.

“Now, it’s time for questions. Due to our schedule, I hope everyone can keep it within twenty minutes and be concise and appropriate.”

Fifty hands shot up in unison.

Huo Ren signaled them to ask in order, and they stood upright in front of the microphone stand, as composed as ever.

He was dressed very simply today, with the top button of his white shirt fastened, and his trousers accentuated the slender lines of his legs. He looked scholarly and upright, just lacking a pair of silver-framed glasses to show off.

“There are rumors that you took the time to participate in the college entrance examination despite a busy schedule as an artist. Furthermore, you were also involved in magazine shoots during the exam period. Is this true?”

Huo Ren nodded. “It’s true.”

A buzz erupted among the crowd.

“May I ask how many teachers you hired for one-on-one tutoring? What teaching methods did they use? And why did you become the top scorer in the middle school entrance exam but did not continue as a student in high school?”

“I didn’t hire any teachers; I self-studied.”

When he said this, everyone felt that he was being too arrogant. Although they nodded on the surface and continued clicking their cameras, they didn’t take it to heart.

Winning a gold medal in a science Olympiad during middle school and becoming the top scorer in the liberal arts stream in high school-—did he dare to be even more arrogant by claiming that it was all self-study?!

“Can you explain your schedule and exam results?”

Huo Ren thought to himself that they had finally come to the main topic, and he finally placed the stack of notebooks that he had prepared on the demonstration table.

He calmly said, “The college entrance examination is a very serious matter, so I shouldn’t have any false modesty.”

“The first point I need to explain is that I completed all the high school courses when I was in the first year of middle school. My middle school teachers can testify to this.”

“The second point is that I have an eidetic memory, which I can explain in detail later.”

“The third point is that even if I meet the criteria of the first two points, it still requires systematic analysis and organization of key knowledge points. It’s not possible to achieve high scores just by memorizing the entire textbook.”

A pair of well-defined hands appeared on the makeshift demonstration table, opening the notebooks and placing them in front of everyone.

“I will provide a five-minute explanation on this matter.”

Everyone raised their voice recorders and cameras high, completely disconnected from their imagination.

They were professionals in this field and dealt with top scorers in the middle school and college entrance exams every year. The clichés they used were mostly the same, and after a certain point, it became routine work to follow the script.

But today—-this completely challenged their perception of the world!!

They were actually going to listen to a popular idol share his study experience!!!

“Let’s start with the humanities and social sciences section.”

The fair and slender fingers turned a few pages, showcasing their own categorization and analysis of related question types.

On the left, is a notebook for question types, and on the right, are excerpts of typical incorrect answers.

“The multiple-choice questions in the humanities and social sciences section test knowledge recall and logical reasoning. Additionally, political science and geography provide calculation questions to differentiate scores based on different domains.”

“The key is to master the content from the textbook, including formulas and theorems related to latitude and longitude, sunrise and sunset times, inflation, and currency exchange rates.”

Huo Ren was fully immersed in the state of learning and didn’t even notice the blank expressions on the faces of the audience. He calmly and systematically continued his explanation.

“As for the subjective questions, Chinese language, history, geography, and political science have high similarities.”

“The short-answer questions test reading comprehension and information extraction skills from lengthy materials, while the long-answer questions can be answered well as long as you understand the patterns and have a clear memory of the textbook content.”

“The subjective questions in history and geography require making connections to economic situations, population and resources, the overall environmental situation, labor costs, transportation costs, neighboring regions, and corresponding policies.”

“At the same time, attention should be paid to details in smaller contexts and narrower scopes.”

He casually flipped through a few pages, giving them enough time to capture the content on the big screen, and then began discussing the revision plans and answering techniques for the other subjects.

After he finished explaining all six subjects, Huo Ren moistened his lips and gestured for other reporters to ask questions.

The total speaking time was 4 minutes and 55 seconds.

The reporters were left dumbfounded.

Is this person really an entertainer?? The kind who can sing, dance, and hold concerts??

Why isn’t he attending the prestigious Shidu University Youth Program and instead pursuing a career in the entertainment industry??? Is he striving to revitalize our country’s cultural industry???

Suddenly, a male reporter stood up, took the microphone, and quickly asked, “People believe that you achieved such results through cheating in the exam. How do you respond to this?”

He clearly belonged to the faction that suspected cheating, and with a slight regional accent in his pronunciation, he deliberately increased his speaking speed, clearly wanting to see Huo Ren’s spontaneous reaction.

A group of journalists from various educational platforms turned their bodies to look at their colleagues, thinking that this guy was truly fearless. He dared to challenge even a celebrity and wasn’t afraid of being attacked by fans.

Huo Ren remained composed and calmly responded.

“My response is that I can always accept investigation and verification, but I do not accept any malicious speculation and smear. (English)”

It was an Oxford accent of the same standard as the BBC News.

He grew up in a poor family and didn’t have the opportunity to learn the authentic way foreigners express themselves. He completely relied on self-study of grammar and understanding of BBC broadcasts to develop his spoken language skills.

At this moment, it was a perfect display.

“My response is that I am always willing to undergo investigation and verification, but I do not accept any malicious speculation or smear campaigns. (Chinese)”

The male reporter was taken aback instead.

He thought this young celebrity would at least hesitate or say something like “um,” or “pardon,” but instead, he found himself unable to keep up with the conversation. Now he couldn’t even continue asking questions based on that response.

The male reporter’s face turned red, and he stammered a “thank you” before shrinking back to his seat, never uttering another word.

Several people nearby couldn’t hide their schadenfreude smiles.

Does it hurt to have your face slapped? Huh?

Did you understand what he said? Instead of responding, you just said “thank you”? Is “thank you” the cure for all ailments, buddy?

With authorization, the reporters from Shidu Education Channel broadcasted the press conference live on their program.

The gems and Bleis all received the news and were blown away. They rushed to the living room, watching the TV and frantically commenting and screaming on their phones as if they were watching the Spring Festival Gala.

“I never expected to see my idol again on the education channel!”

“What? He actually has exam notes?? I want the notebook that Huo God touched in the next five minutes! Immediately!”

“Blei is crying online. I never imagined that besides looking at album sales, magazine endorsements, we could also look at his exam scores—”

As soon as Huo Ren appeared in a white shirt, countless screenshots for wallpapers were captured without any need for editing.

@Huo God’s Little Gem: What kind of white shirt is this, godlike male idol!! What kind of guy can perfectly blend the scholarly and hormone-filled vibes, making it evident at first glance that he’s definitely an idol with excellent grades!

@Did my OTP get married today: Awslslsl, this is the perfect demonstration of being versatile, both a top and a bottom, able to be aggressive or submissive—-I can’t believe he managed to button up to the first button, so obedient and restrained, how does he do it!!!

@Round-faced Stranger: This white shirt looks like he’s about to tear it open with one hand and pin someone down on the bed! He could also sit on his lover’s waist, biting his lip, unbuttoning them one by one, or forcing the other person to help him unbutton, then getting closer and immediately initiating a passionate kiss with intertwined lips and tongues, making them succumb to his control! Who saved the galaxy and can be with me, Huo Huo Huo—”

@Whose Art: What are you saying, sis? My boyfriend will finish the press conference and then come back to our cabin to teach me how to solve problems. Don’t cue him, thanks.

Huo Ren’s brief introduction on stage was a massive fan-captivating moment.

With high school seniors being idle after exams, they were curious about this top scorer outside their circle. Many people watched the live broadcast.

Then, almost unconsciously, they took out their phones and searched for albums and information on Baidu.

Damn, this guy is amazing.

Damn damn damn, I’m going to fall in love.

Some parents were also curious about the identity of this top scorer and searched alongside their children while exclaiming in awe.

“This kid usually dyes his hair like a monster, but he looks quite energetic in a proper student outfit. What songs does he sing? Daughter, let me listen.”

“Mum, he just dyes his hair silver. Why does that make him a monster?”

Then, Huo Ren brought out a stack of notebooks.

He began discussing his study experiences seriously, and the big screen displayed his collection of incorrect questions and a compilation of question types.

Today, the five major forums were completely dominated by him and Corona, and other celebrities who released news about relationships or stayed out late struggled for attention. The entire page was discussing today’s explosive news.

“A collection of incorrect questions?? My idol was doing problems and studying on the plane while endorsing Blue Blood?? Is he even human???”

“What the hell, I don’t even know whether to praise or criticize the cameraman. Now I want to see my white-shirted male god and his notes at the same time. Ahhh, my eyes aren’t enough. The soon-to-be high school seniors are going crazy—”

“Huo God’s handwriting! It’s a running script! My favorite running script! Young Master Zihou’s unconventional handwriting with an elegant and wild flow!!!”

Then came the moment when the male reporter challenged him in English, only to be instantly shut down and silenced in confusion.

Since it was a live broadcast, there were no subtitles on the TV. The entire conversation had to be understood through listening alone.

When the male reporter spoke, there was chaos in Blei’s discussion group, with many people either understanding or not. They all cursed at him, but then Huo Ren seamlessly responded in English, causing the live chat to be flooded with question marks.

“?? What are they talking about??”

“????”

“??? Do I have to practice English hard to chase after a star and pass the CET-4 exam early?”

“My mom saw me practicing listening on TV and happily brought me some fruits…”

On the other side, the other five members were smiling and accepting questions from the reporters.

“No need to cook for lunch today, yay!”

Uncle Jiang tapped each of their foreheads and said, “Can’t you open your mouths a little wider? Smile with all eight teeth showing, like this, right? Right??”

Chi Ji covered his head and said, “I’m just really happy. It’s impossible not to be happy…”

“Stay calm, be composed! Don’t smile like five big fools or little fools!”

But then the first reporter stood up to ask a question, and before he could finish speaking, Mei Shengyao covered his mouth and desperately tried to hold back his laughter. The other members also failed to manage their expressions, and everything fell apart.

The reporter helplessly asked, “So, do you have any thoughts on Cain’s professional performance this year?”

Long Jia took the microphone and forced himself to look serious. “Our captain has always been serious and responsible in his work. He prioritizes company tasks in his daily life, followed by album creation, and finally, hahahaha, sorry, let me laugh again, hahaha. He actually scored 708—”

Uncle Jiang gave up glaring at them and covered his face, turning his head away.

Can’t you guys have some dignity…

The reporter continued with the next question, “Have you guided him in his studies?”

Xie Lianyun raised his hand and said, “Yes, Mei Shengyao and I guided him. He just passed the Grade 8 examination in the Emperor of Music theory. Would you like us to explain the process in detail?”

The audience didn’t expect this twist and had to take out their phones to search for what exactly the Emperor of Music theory was.

Uncle Jiang looked at them fooling around during the Q&A and thought, forget it, let these brats have their freedom to play. No matter how chaotic they are, it won’t make much of a difference.

He was worried that Huo Ren would be teased and challenged by those unfamiliar journalists next door. After all, there was SPF here to control the situation long-term, and not many people dared to openly offend them. So he stayed on the Southern Island for a while and then hurriedly went to the Northern Island.

Just as he arrived, the interviews on the Northern Island were coming to an end.

The atmosphere remained relatively mild and friendly in the last ten minutes, with reporters smiling and trying to get closer to them.

It was at the moment when Uncle Jiang arrived that a female reporter stood up and asked without hiding her intentions, “Since you possess such exceptional talent, have you considered serving the country’s scientific research and engaging in constructive work?”

Her question caused an uproar throughout the venue.

Everyone had thought about this question, but first, it wasn’t necessary to make educational news so sharp, and second, this kind of question would usually be smoothly deflected. Bringing it up would probably result in no satisfactory answer and offend people.

But now, someone asked it directly!

Uncle Jiang’s expression turned cold, and he quickly stood by Huo Ren’s side, prepared to deflect this question for him.

But Huo Ren’s mind worked even faster. He looked directly at the female reporter and responded with a counter-question, “The term you used was ‘more constructive work,’ right?”

Uncle Jiang didn’t expect this kid to dare to engage in such a conversation. In an instant, four emergency PR plans popped up in his mind, but he didn’t interrupt and let him continue speaking.

“Yes,” the female reporter replied frankly, “I believe that singing and dancing are not as important as the development of scientific research.”

“With such exceptional intellect, you should have pursued higher education and engaged in more meaningful work to make practical contributions to society.”

Huo Ren suddenly raised his gaze and smiled.

With his naturally long eyebrows and deep eyes, without the teardrop mole drawn today, his sharpness was even more apparent.

His smile had a kind of fierce beauty to it.

“In terms of industry development, although Corona has many outstanding seniors and juniors, the group has never won the Asian OSC Crown Award.”

“This is the highest honor in the pop music industry within the Asian cultural sphere and holds significant weight in the field of art. It is also the reason and goal behind the name ‘Corona’—to attain the crown.”

He put away his smile and assumed a serious and mature demeanor.

“Furthermore, ma’am, as an individual and not just the captain of Corona, I need to add something.”

“The meaning of being an idol is to bring joy and happiness to millions, tens of millions of people.”

To provide them with motivation, fulfillment, and pleasure.

To drive away their pain and help them forget their sorrows through music.

To become an endless beacon of light that illuminates their lives.

“—I will never regret this choice.”