After a D-List Celebrity and Their A-List Ex-Partner Join a Travel Reality Show - Chapter 17

A wild horse off the reins, impossible to rein in.

He Lan was awakened once again by a series of phone rings. He opened one eye, saw who was calling, and immediately pressed the decline button.

His gaze settled on the person beside him. The phone calls had not bothered Shen Shiqin in the slightest; he was still holding onto his arm, sound asleep.

He Lan’s right arm was completely numb from being pinned down. He lay on the pillow, staring at the ceiling in a daze for a while before using a great deal of effort to rescue his arm from Shen Shiqin’s embrace.

He got out of bed, washed up, and changed his clothes, only then remembering that Zhong Wei had called him earlier.

Shen Shiqin was still asleep, so He Lan decided to go outside to take the call. Before leaving, he went back to touch Shen Shiqin’s forehead, confirming he was no longer running a fever, before heading out the door.

As soon as he pushed the door open, the crisp, cold air hit his face, instantly waking him up.

The morning in Norway was pink. Looking out, the entire fjord in the distance seemed soaked in the nine o’clock morning glow. If one listened carefully, they could even hear the rhythmic sound of waves coming from the fjord.

He Lan stretched, took out his phone, and snapped a photo.

After taking the picture, he tucked one hand into his pocket and held his phone with the other to call Zhong Wei back.

“Hello, Brother Zhong Wei.”

He had prepared in advance this time. As soon as the call connected, he extended his arm, holding the phone away from his ear.

Sure enough, as soon as it connected, Zhong Wei’s roar traveled through the phone from far away: “What did you post? Did I tell you to clarify, or did I tell you to post like that?”

He Lan picked at his ear and said, “I posted it, did I not? I listened to you.”

Hearing this, Zhong Wei was even more furious.

Around four or five in the morning, he had indeed seen He Lan log into his main account and post a proper clarification. The content was as follows:

【@I-Am-He-Lan-Don’t-Remember-Me: Slipped my hand.】

Furthermore, very meticulously, he had attached two pictures. One was the photo from the trending search, marked by netizens with red ink, and the other was a horse rearing its front hooves.

Zhong Wei had thought for a long time without understanding what that horse meant, but at the very least, He Lan had dutifully posted a clarification without causing any trouble.

The content was short, but it worked.

Furthermore, he had already suspected that the trending search was a setup by someone behind the scenes. Once the momentum passed and the goal of smearing He Lan was achieved, there naturally would not be any further movement.

With the company’s series of public relations moves combined with He Lan’s timely clarification, the heat was gradually dying down.

But he had forgotten one thing: the target of the smear was not just anyone; it was He Lan.

Who was He Lan? He was the type of person who, even during his peak popularity, loved to go head-to-head with anti-fans. He was the type who could retort ten times if someone cursed at him once. Rules were nothing to him; he did not follow them. He only believed in one thing: he would not be insulted for no reason.

Anyway, if he did not have a good time, he would not let the trolls have one either. As it turned out, he did not let himself have a bad time.

There were too many comments from trolls to reply to individually, so he just posted statuses to lash out at them.

Back then, He Lan stood at the pinnacle of fame. Unlike Shen Shiqin, who was cautious at every step, like a flower on a high peak, He Lan did not seem to care about anything. Acting was just a job, and his professional creed was that he would not tolerate being wronged or bullied.

Zhong Wei had originally thought that after three years of soul-searching and being out of the public eye for so long, the prodigal son would have toned it down a bit. After all, he had already lost a huge wave of fans, and that was back when he was being roasted by the public.

But just as the heat was about to die down and Zhong Wei was getting ready to go home and sleep, his big star lived up to expectations and went all out.

Trending searches would not disappear entirely just because of the company’s timely PR; there would always be stragglers left behind.

He Lan had plenty of anti-fans, and a large portion of the discussion topics were widely circulated by them, sparking heated debates among netizens.

The internet supports freedom of speech. Some things are said in roundabout ways that machines cannot identify.

But He Lan could identify them.

Zhong Wei watched helplessly as the netizen with the red V verification, “I-Am-He-Lan-Don’t-Remember-Me,” moved like the wind through various anti-fan comment sections.

Whenever someone cursed too harshly, this wind would turn into a tornado, stirring the comment section into a mess, before waving a polite goodbye.

Although he did not exactly approve of his star acting like a wild horse off the reins, he had to admit that he felt quite satisfied reading a few of the retorts.

【hl-Get-Out-Of-Showbiz: I used to think He Lan had sound values, but never expected… hmm.】

【I-Am-He-Lan-Don’t-Remember-Me: Scared? My values are unsound; I will climb your window in the middle of the night and scare you to death.】

【Showbiz-Parasite-Cleaner: Family, we must unite to make this person stop polluting the clean land of the entertainment industry.】

【I-Am-He-Lan-Don’t-Remember-Me: Judge. You are being so passionate, do you not want to laugh at yourself?】

【Wonderful-Life: Just a passerby, why is this hl out again? Was he not blacklisted? Did he get a sugar daddy? Does anyone know the inside story?】

【I-Am-He-Lan-Don’t-Remember-Me: Just passing by, fams in front of the screen, tap 6 if you think hl is speechless.】

Looking at it, almost every few anti-fan comments was followed by that user with the husky profile picture and the little red V.

There was a long comment cursing both him and Shen Shiqin. The little red V replied simply: 【Do not like reading essays. Next.】

Of course, there were innocent bystanders too.

【Love-Eating-Donuts: Passerby eating melons, have been eating all night, so full.】

Little Red V: 【Nothing better to do.】

Watching for a while, Zhong Wei actually became mesmerized until his staff asked him what to do, at which point he finally came back to his senses to deal with the situation.

Thinking about his sleepless night, Zhong Wei roared at his phone: “Come here, explain to me what you were doing on your main account in the middle of the night.”

Recalling those comments he had posted on the social platform in a fit of impulse last night, He Lan shrank his neck.

After he finished the clarification post last night, he wanted to sleep, but little anti-fans kept pouring into the comments section under his post.

He was already annoyed looking at those comments, but then he saw the trending searches. Goodness, as he scrolled down, there were several more posts cursing him and Shen Shiqin, lined up one after another. Who could take that?

Anyway, He Lan could not endure it. He had not fought with people in so long; at first, he was a bit rusty, but then he gradually became adept at it, chasing one anti-fan until their account showed as “User has cancelled.”

Later, he got sleepy after a while. He could not remember exactly how he fell asleep, only that the person in his arms was pressed tightly against him, feeling quite warm and soft. It was actually quite comfortable to hold.

After a chaotic mess of thoughts, he had fallen asleep.

Unknowingly, He Lan walked back to the lakeside from before. The weather was beautiful today, and the sunlight shone on the lake, as well as on him.

He leaned against the railing, looking at the lake, feeling a sense of peace in his heart.

He replied, “I was purifying the internet.”

“You call lashing out at anti-fans purifying the internet? You are really good at shifting concepts, are you not?”

He Lan laughed and said, “Do not say that. I have not been online in a long time, so I am a bit rusty.” He gestured with his fists at the air, “Next time, I will let them see my He…”

“You still want a next time?” Hearing these brazen words, Zhong Wei interrupted, suppressing his anger.

Remembering that short, minimalist clarification post, he continued to nag: “Look at the clarification script I gave you and then look at the few words you deigned to provide.”

“Also, what were you doing attaching a picture of a horse? A wish for success upon arrival?”

He Lan remembered that picture. He had searched for a long time before finding one he was satisfied with.

How could such a great photo only make Zhong Wei think of a cliché idiom?

He immediately expressed his disdain: “I am not trying to be mean, Weiwei, but can we please not think of success upon arrival every time we see a horse? It is really tacky. Try to be more creative. Weiwei, you are looking more and more like someone nearing forty.”

Zhong Wei’s brows furrowed tightly: “Scram. I am only thirty-five. Where do you get nearing forty?”

Hearing the clearly agitated voice on the other end of the phone, He Lan raised his eyebrows slightly, letting out a short, teasing laugh.

After listening to the nagging for a bit longer, He Lan made promises several times before finally hanging up.

He had stood outside for too long, and the chill was beginning to creep in. He Lan shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled around the lake once more.

Only when he guessed the time was about right did he return to the homestay.

The curtains were drawn in the house, and not a bit of light from outside seeped in; it still looked like night. He Lan stomped the snow off his feet and entered.

As soon as he sat on the small sofa, his phone screen lit up. It was a message from Meng Yichun in the “Find North Group”:

【Little Director Meng: A new message here for the Find North team to check. The recording of the first episode is all finished. At 1:00 this afternoon, each member will have a surprise online live broadcast. The content can be decided by yourselves.

Little Meng would like to remind everyone that the weather forecast says Tromsø will most likely experience another temperature drop. Please take measures to keep warm.

Alright. You can arrange your own time for now. The aurora chasing journey will begin in two days.】

The program “Let’s Depart” belonged to a semi-live category. The core content was recorded, then quickly edited and packaged for broadcast in a very short time, usually not exceeding a day and a half.

If there were no recording tasks, the guests had to cook their own meals. During this period, the program team would also occasionally send “surprise live broadcasts” to netizens to show the most authentic daily lives of the stars.

He Lan and Shen Shiqin had hit the trending searches many times last night, and the internet had not fully calmed down yet. The heat was still there, so it was the perfect time to capitalize on the popularity.

Meng Yichun had already been quite resentful toward the two because of last night’s events, but now that the topic of the two and the program had skyrocketed, he decided to squeeze every ounce of value out of them without a second thought. He immediately added the unplanned “surprise live broadcast” to the script.

The room was a bit dark, and it was not very comfortable sitting in such an environment for long. He Lan got up to pull the curtains open.

The sunlight spilled in instantly, illuminating the room.

The sunlight was warm and felt comfortable on the body. He Lan simply stood by the window to soak up the sun. He was looking down at his phone, replying “received,” when a clinking sound of glass suddenly came from behind him.

He turned his head subconsciously and saw that Shen Shiqin had come out of the bedroom at some point and was leaning against the bar counter, pouring water into a glass.

He was wearing a white sweater on top and only a thin pair of pajama pants on the bottom. The sunlight flowed through the window and shone on him, looking very much like he had been coated with a warm edge.

The kettle and the glass made a crisp sound as they touched. Shen Shiqin picked up the glass, brought it to his lips, blew away two puffs of steam, and looked up to meet He Lan’s eyes.

As their gazes met, He Lan was momentarily dazed, his eyes stung by the sunlight reflecting off the glass in the other man’s hand.

He lowered his eyes, noticing that he was again only wearing snow socks, stepping on the carpet. The words spun on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, he said nothing.

He put his phone away, planning to return to the bedroom to catch a nap.