After Transmigrating as the Northeast CEO's Pampered Little Husband - Chapter 43

“Is that Yan Yan? He’s so handsome!”

“It really is him! With such a grand entrance, it has to be!”

“I absolutely must get a photo with him! Ahhh, I’m so excited just thinking about it!!!”

“What’s all the fuss about? Isn’t he just an actor from a web series based on a popular game IP? Tch, he’s not even a professionally trained actor. He doesn’t even have any valuable endorsements. His market value is inflated. I really don’t understand why you little girls and otaku boys are so bewildered by him.”

“Keep it down. He’s backed by the CEO of Emperor Sky Entertainment. Besides, you don’t play games, so naturally, you don’t know how big his audience is. It’s the most popular MOBA game in our country! Even if it’s just a spin-off web drama, it’s still top tier!”

…

The commotion not far away caught Gu Jiaoyang’s attention. According to the handbook provided by Orange Blossom, on the day of the gala, they had to walk an indoor red carpet, sign autographs, and take photos. Although it was just a scaled-down version of a film festival, it infinitely amplified the competitive spirit of some of the content creators.

“Is that a celebrity?” Gu Jiaoyang tilted his head, looking towards the spot surrounded by security guards where the person was blocked from view. That was likely where the invited star was.

He didn’t seem very tall. After all, the security guards didn’t look like they were over 1.8 metres, yet the person was completely submerged in the crowd of guards.

“Oh, that’s Yan Yan. He got famous the year before last starring in Chang’an Like the Wind, a spin-off web drama of Endless Storm. He counts as the top ‘fresh meat’ heartthrob of the moment. In terms of traffic and clout over the past two years, no other young idol can compete with him.”

Zhu Zhengwen knew quite a bit about this entertainment gossip. Seeing that Gu Jiaoyang’s attention was drawn, he casually started explaining.

“However, Orange Blossom must have put a lot of heart into inviting him. You might not know this, but nearly half the videos in the Green Label section are derivative works of Endless Storm. Ever since he played the assassin Tang Rufeng, he’s practically won over half the gaming circle’s fanbase.”

Zhu Zhengwen just spoke whatever came to mind. The content wasn’t just gossip; he explained Yan Yan’s basic history clearly to Gu Jiaoyang.

“That should be quite good then. After all, people in the ACG Anime, Comic and Games community are quite innocent and wonderful. Earning their approval counts as an honour.” Gu Jiaoyang withdrew his gaze as he listened to Zhu Zhengwen’s explanation.

Gu Jiaoyang didn’t really play large-scale games and knew very little about electronic products. However, his Senior Sister had been a hardcore ACG ‘fujoshi’—she was terminally obsessed with games and anime.

Therefore, his perception of this category of people came entirely from his Senior Sister. He knew they were humans who immersed themselves in their ideal worlds, happily minding their own business.

For an ordinary person like him, who only occasionally played single-player collection and simulation games, their fanaticism was sometimes indeed hard to understand.

“There’s still an hour and a half before it starts. Let’s go sit nearby.” Wu Ke checked his watch, adjusted his backpack, and guided Gu Jiaoyang to the rest area to sit down.

The location for the evening red carpet walk was quite far from the rest area, so most people arrived early to wait there.

Gu Jiaoyang, along with Wu Ke and Zhu Zhengwen, occupied a position near the front, silently waiting for the gala to begin.

“Uncle Wu Ke, where is my Sudoku? I’m bored, I’ll do a few puzzles.”

Wu Ke took a folder out of his backpack. Inside were several Sudoku sheets printed out at the hotel. This primitive habit of killing time was cultivated by Gu Jiaoyang’s academic genius Junior Brother. Even after coming to a new world, it was a habit that couldn’t be changed in the short term.

…

“Eh? Who is that?” When Gu Jiaoyang and his group sat down, the other content creators waiting around them noticed them immediately.

Zhu Zhengwen wasn’t particularly conspicuous, though most people had some impression of this big shot from the Food Section. However, most of their gazes lingered on Gu Jiaoyang.

It couldn’t be helped; the young man sitting next to Zhu Zhengwen was simply too eye-catching. Especially since he had someone beside him who looked like a bodyguard, and he even pulled a folder out of a backpack to review documents on the spot.

coupled with the expensive casual suit he was wearing, he looked just like the young master of some prominent family.

“I don’t know. Could he be one of the sponsors?”

“Do you think the clothes he’s wearing are real?”

“I don’t know. For the sake of appearances at this gala, I spent half my savings to buy a BL handbag. It cost 130,000! I’ve never bought such an expensive luxury item in my life!”

“It’s probably fake, right? Look, I searched it up. A matching tie from BL costs 80,000 alone. How much would that casual suit on him cost? If he had that kind of spare cash, would he come here to be a content creator?”

“I think so too. I can’t find it online. Honestly, why are people so competitive nowadays? If you can’t afford the genuine article, just don’t wear it. Why wear a fake just to show off here?”

The female content creator speaking chewed on her straw, her eyes, heavy with makeup, slanting towards Gu Jiaoyang. She was a ‘poverty/budget’ shopping haul influencer. She usually livestreamed about how to spend the least amount of money to decorate one’s life, flying the banner of opposing consumerist values.

“Tch, shameless.” The budget shopping influencer, Li Lili, opened her phone, secretly took a photo of Gu Jiaoyang, and posted a status update.

OrangeBlossomGala Sigh, what is wrong with this world? I thought this would be a great exchange gala, but I didn’t expect everyone to be competing for status, wearing fake luxury goods to show off everywhere. I really don’t understand these people’s values.

As soon as Li Lili posted it, fans began to comment and like, unleashing a barrage of verbal abuse at the person in the photo, with all sorts of derogatory remarks emerging endlessly.

…

“Song Jia, look.” Another small group of female creators waiting nearby also began to whisper, but their topic was related to Li Lili.

“Look, that Li Lili. She’s clearly a gold-digger who’s someone’s mistress, yet she sets up this persona of a hardworking ‘white lotus’ from the slums. It’s truly nauseating. Tch, she doesn’t even recognize a BL Private Commission. Mindless hatred of the rich is really…” The woman speaking placed her phone in front of Song Jia. It displayed the status update Li Lili had posted just seconds ago.

“Why bother with her? Sigh, I really want a bespoke piece from BL too, but poor me, growing up in Country G, I can’t even afford the local luxury bespoke items. When my dad comes home, I need to talk to him about work!” Song Jia didn’t pay much attention. Even though Li Lili had specifically targeted her before, she didn’t want to bicker about such things with someone from a different world.

“Fine, you’re the kind-hearted one. By the way, Schroder-Loch released a new diamond clavicle chain! I want to buy two! Help me see which colour…”

The gala began at precisely 8:00 PM. Gu Jiaoyang drew number 34. Orange Blossom only invited creators with over a million followers to walk the red carpet, so there were only 36 appearances in total. The rest could only squeeze around the red carpet to film vlogs.

Excluding those who abstained or didn’t meet the physical conditions, there were only 13 people participating in the game livestream. The first round of the game would eliminate a few people, so the competitive pressure was relatively mild.

“Yan Yan is the grand finale, right after you! Wow, the Official Account is last, hahahaha, fair enough. The poor Official Account is also a million-sub big shot. You have such good luck, drawing third from last. Everyone knows Yan Yan was predetermined to be the finale, so there will definitely be double the crowd there by then!”

Zhu Zhengwen’s appearance number was in the middle, so he wasn’t anxious at all. He even crossed his legs and played a few rounds of PUBG mobile. He was infinitely more relaxed than the creators who started filming video material for vlogs right from the start.

There weren’t many camera positions at the gala, and the red carpet wasn’t long, but it was packed with spectators. Everywhere you looked, people were holding up phones or cameras, snapping away.

It was over an hour later when Gu Jiaoyang’s name was finally called. Upon hearing it, Gu Jiaoyang stood up from where he had been queueing near the entrance, straightened the little suit Dai Gucan had given him, and walked very calmly towards the “Gateway of Glory”.

Compared to most creators who hadn’t experienced such scenes, Gu Jiaoyang was much more composed. After all, the scale of the Cultivator Tournament in his original world was much grander than this. That tournament was national; this was merely an activity within a small circle.

The attendant beside the “Gateway of Glory” bowed and opened the gaudily decorated doors. The moment the doors opened, the gazes of everyone in the hall converged on him. The clicking of shutters and the host shouting his introduction crossed in his ears, giving Gu Jiaoyang a rare sense of nervousness.

But it didn’t matter. He was the little tyrant of the Chaos Sect, who punched the Southern Mountain Nursing Home and kicked the Northern Sea Spirit Garden!

Facing the teeming crowd around the red carpet, Gu Jiaoyang flashed his trademark smile, waved his fair, tender little paw, and unleashed his full, domineering aura, scattering spiritual energy along with it.

Click, click!

“Is that Yan Yan? He’s too damn good-looking!!! Holy crap, I’m alive again!!!”

“Blimey! Is he that handsome? He smiled, he smiled!!! So cute!!! And those little canine teeth, oh my mother!!”

“That’s not Yan Yan… I don’t care, he’s so cute sob sob!!!”

“Haute Couture BL? It’s a private commission! And that watch! That’s a whole apartment on his wrist! Quick, take photos! This is a viral hit! I didn’t expect there to be such a tycoon playing on Orange Blossom!”

“Eh? Whose young master is this? The Cheng family’s?”

Compared to the previous few creators, everyone’s lenses were clearly much more enthusiastic towards Gu Jiaoyang.

His pleasing appearance, expensive clothes, high-end accessories, and an elegant, decent temperament that showed no nervousness in his gesturesif they hadn’t known in advance that this was just a video site’s gala, they would have thought they were at a film festival!

Shoot, shoot, shoot! Shoot with all your might! Just a close-up of this young man’s face would earn their self-media accounts an unknown amount of traffic!

They had even thought of the headlines!

Shocking! Peerless beauty appears at a certain gala!

Mystery! Who exactly is the priceless figure appearing at the gala.

Conspiracy! Young Master of a prominent family attends gala, suspected of controlling shares in Orange Blossom!

Therefore, when Yan Yan, who was somewhat exhausted from just finishing a fan service session, appeared, there was a moment of silence in the red carpet hall.

Yan Yan thought his aura had stunned the photographers of this broken little gala. Coupled with the fact that he was unwilling to attend such an obscure event that wouldn’t increase his value, his smile was stiff throughout. He didn’t stay long, perfunctorily walking the red carpet, signing his name, and leaving the stage.

“Tell my agent, if I’m made to come to this kind of rubbish gala again, I’ll guilt-trip the fans. I’ll tell them the company is exploiting me!” After leaving the stage, Yan Yan pushed his assistant away with an unhappy expression and left via the VIP channel.

Once the Official Account finished walking the red carpet and closed the show, everyone began to evacuate in a chaotic bustle.

“Why do I feel like Yan Yan wasn’t in good form today?”

“I think so too. His complexion was a bit yellow, he had dark circles, and his posture wasn’t upright at all. Sigh, the pictures these stars release are all photoshopped. Seeing them in person is really a world of difference.”

A photographer who had run over specifically to shoot Yan Yan fiddled with the dial on his DSLR. Looking at Yan Yan’s stiff smile in the unfiltered photo, he felt like deleting the eye-sore from his precious camera. But alas, this was the photo that would put food on the table, so it had to stay.

“He wasn’t as good as the creator before him. Look at that temperament. Even if he wasn’t tall, his leg-to-body ratio was top-tier!”

“Exactly. My sister specifically asked me to video Yan Yan. I really don’t know what’s so great about chasing such an ordinary man.”

“Who knows? I don’t play games. Maybe his acting is good. His image is just average.”

The photographers slowly dispersed. Few of the other creators were star-chasers, so they just filmed Yan Yan as a traffic gimmick. Even if they felt Yan Yan wasn’t as heavenly as he was made out to be online, they would still blow his trumpet a little in their video material.

After all, his fans occupied half of the derivative section. No one wanted to offend such a united group online.

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