Chapter 233: Like and Like
It was already past seven in the evening when Jiang Shu woke up in a daze. Jiang Shu's parents knew that their son had been exhausted these past few days, so they entertained guests in the first building, which was the villa where his parents lived, and did not bring them to the one where Jiang Shu was resting.
After greeting Bae Joo-hyun, Jiang Shu immediately "collapsed" and woke up on his own after sleeping for more than three hours.
Sleeping in the middle of the day, his biological clock couldn't quite adjust.
He sat up from the bed, looked at the dark sky outside, and picked up his phone, which he had set to silent on the nightstand.
There were three missed calls and dozens of unread messages.
He scrolled through them one by one. Of the three missed calls, two were from his mother, Su Wan, and one was from Li Duohui.
He sent a message to Su Wan asking what was wrong, then dialed Li Duohui's number.
"President Li, what's up?" Jiang Shu asked, his voice a little hoarse.
"Chairman, aespa's preliminary comeback work has been completed. I'd like to report the situation to you," Li Duohui explained.
"Mm, go ahead."
Li Duohui reported aespa's work achievements from their comeback these past few days to Jiang Shu one by one, finishing only after more than ten minutes of continuous reporting.
Although Jiang Shu's vlog was missing, and the trending topic of "Where did Jiang Shu go?" overshadowed aespa's comeback, they successfully maintained their popularity thanks to the infectiousness of their songs and the promotion through various company-affiliated challenge videos.
Nowadays, as the effect of the first challenge video became well-known to various entertainment companies, challenge videos have also become a scheduled activity for every artist.
And DM Entertainment, which owns several of the most popular girl groups, naturally has the confidence to have them participate in challenge videos.
This free promotion is very effective for DM Entertainment, especially for its popular artists. Not only do they help their fellow artists with challenge videos, but they also frequently collaborate with JYP and S.M artists, with whom the company has cooperative relationships.
"Chairman, how much longer until you can return? Director Qin is very opinionated about it," Li Duohui said with a wry smile.
"Just these two days, I'll be back soon," Jiang Shu said, then added, "I've also noticed the situation online. Have Director Qin send me the response draft, and I'll clarify it online."
The online momentum was too great and was already affecting DM Entertainment. Jiang Shu had finished his work now, so it was time to respond.
"Okay, I'll contact Director Qin right away."
"Mm."
Hanging up the phone, Jiang Shu raised his hand to rub his eyes, then opened the messages on WeChat.
Su Xueqi: Bro, we're at the hotel. We got the best suite.
Su Xueqi: We're going to Jin Street tonight, are you coming?
Su Xueqi: Reply when you wake up.
Seeing that the last message was from past five o'clock, he dialed Su Xueqi's WeChat call.
The phone connected after ringing for a short while.
"Hello, Bro!" As soon as the call connected, a noisy sound came through.
"You're already at Jin Street?"
Jin Street is one of the most famous commercial streets in Shu County. Locals primarily shop and dine in 'Two Streets and One City,' and Jin Street is the commercial street closest to Jiang Shu's neighborhood, and also the street with the strongest K-pop atmosphere.
Originally, it was mainly for dining, drinking, and esports, but with Jiang Shu's fame, the street's Person in charge quickly reacted and set up a K-pop street. The entire street plays songs by DM Entertainment artists on a loop every day, successfully capitalizing on the trend and attracting many K-pop fans to visit.
"Yes, we're watching the random dance play. Bro, are you coming?"
"Yes, I'm hungry," Jiang Shu said, rubbing his eyes.
"Okay, then we'll wait for you here."
"Mm, I'll hang up now."
Hanging up the phone, Jiang Shu got up and changed into inconspicuous casual clothes, put on a mask and a baseball cap, and only felt relieved to leave after making sure his face wouldn't be clearly seen.
He had some fame, but not that much fame, at least not like Jay Chou or Lin Junjie, who would be recognized even with a mask on when walking down the street.
No matter what, K-pop is a niche culture in China. Even in Shu County, where K-pop culture is strong, it only started to develop in the last one or two years, and most people aren't particularly interested. Jiang Shu's disguise was basically foolproof.
Soon, Jiang Shu saw a stage surrounded by people from afar, and dynamic music. Coincidentally, the music playing at that moment was IZONE's "again meeting world."
The moment the music of "again meeting world" started, countless watching dancers swarmed onto the center of the stage, dancing along with the music.
"Irene, do you want to go play?" Su Xueqi whispered to Bae Joo-hyun beside her.
"No, it wouldn't be good if I were recognized," Bae Joo-hyun also lowered her voice and whispered.
"Okay," Su Xueqi thought about it and agreed. Bae Joo-hyun would be recognized as soon as she went up. Everyone here was a K-pop enthusiast, so the probability of being recognized was too high.
Just then, Su Xueqi and Bae Joo-hyun simultaneously felt someone pressing on their shoulders. Both instinctively turned their heads, and what came into view was a figure whose face was half-covered by a mask.
"Bro!"
"Chairman!"
Bae Joo-hyun and Su Xueqi both called out softly.
Jiang Shu had one hand on each of their shoulders, standing between them, smiling and nodding.
"There are so many people here, aren't you afraid she'll be recognized?"
"No way?" Su Xueqi said, a little guiltily.
"I wanted to come myself," Bae Joo-hyun said softly from the side, feeling the warmth coming through the thin layer of clothing on her right shoulder, her face slightly flushed under her mask.
"Let's go, the risk of being recognized here is too high," Jiang Shu said, patting both of their shoulders, then lowered his hands.
Neither girl objected, and they quietly left the K-pop random dance play area with Jiang Shu.
Away from this gathering place for K-pop enthusiasts, Jiang Shu and Bae Joo-hyun both relaxed a little.
Here, the possibility of being recognized was much, much smaller.
"I say, Bro, I asked her before if you artists can date, and she said yes, but generally they don't dare. I think she's pretty good. Auntie is always urging you, why don't you just go for her?" Su Xueqi said, smiling as she held Jiang Shu's arm.
"Don't talk nonsense," Jiang Shu raised his hand and tapped Su Xueqi's forehead. "Bae Joo-hyun and I don't have that kind of relationship."
Bae Joo-hyun was a little confused listening to their Chinese conversation, but the word "Bae Joo-hyun" seemed very similar to her Chinese name. Were they talking about her?
"I don't believe it. With my woman's intuition, either she likes you, or you like her!"
"Give it a rest. How old are you to have 'woman's intuition' already?" Jiang Shu said grumpily.
Bae Joo-hyun likes him?
What a joke. This girl is so slow to warm up and shy. What she's thinking, how could a little girl like you figure it out?