Reboot the heyday

Chapter 3478 Favoring one and favoring another
The Westin Hotel has a superb location.

Pei Baicai returned to the hotel and rested for a while, then got hungry.

Since it was right next to the Bund, Wang Taika simply took Pei Baicai to stroll around Nanjing Road and the Bund that evening.

There were many tourists, and Pei Baicai dressed very casually, wearing a mask and hat, so she didn't have to worry about being recognized. As long as her face wasn't shown, it wouldn't be a big problem, since Pei Baicai's figure is really just average among idols.

It's not that it's bad, it's just that our standards are a bit too high.

In the magical city, handsome men and beautiful women are everywhere, dressed in their finest attire. Therefore, Wang Taika and Pei Baicai's ordinary attire made them difficult to notice.

Bae Baek-chae really liked this feeling; it was completely different from Seoul. Seoul was the kind of city that looked very upscale, but once you got closer, it felt quite ordinary, really quite plain in the details. Just around any corner, there was a pile of cigarette butts on the ground.

Shanghai's main selling point is its refinement, especially in its core areas, where there's nothing lacking. The streets are bustling yet clean. Most importantly, it's incredibly vibrant, especially its dazzling nighttime cityscape, a spectacle that's hard to find in many other cities.

Koreans love this kind of feeling, and Bae Baek-chae is no exception. Although she didn't take photos or check in everywhere, she was in the mood for shopping to the fullest, and she dragged Wang Tai-ka along as they embarked on their journey.

Wang Taika is fearless, except when it comes to shopping. Even with a girl he likes by his side, he can't shake off that feeling of exhaustion.

But Pei Baicai was unusually happy, and he really didn't want to spoil the mood, so he forced himself to wander around.

What's infuriating is that Pei Baicai seems to only browse without buying anything, leaving Wang Taika no time to even find a place to rest. Nanjing Road is so long, lined with all sorts of shopping malls on both sides; you can go to one after another.

“Didn’t you just say you were hungry?” Wang Taika reminded him.

"Suddenly I'm not hungry anymore, I want to walk around for a while." Pei Baicai looked at Wang Taika: "Are you hungry?"

"No, I was just worried you'd be hungry." Wang Taika didn't want to spoil the mood, so he had no choice but to continue shopping with Pei Baicai.

They passed a shop that mainly sold anime and manga merchandise, but there was also a small photo booth upstairs. Pei Baicai pulled Wang Taika to the photo booth and started browsing with their heads down.

The main reason was to find photocards of her own group. It was rare for Pei Baicai to have a competitive feeling, to see which group's photocards sold better, Red Velvet's or other girl groups' photocards.

That's a bit childish.

After receiving such an answer from Pei Baicai, Wang Taika found it amusing and said softly, "Why don't I go ask the shop assistant?"

"No, it makes it sound like we're talking about corporate espionage." Pei Baicai wanted to laugh too, but after looking around, she said with some surprise, "The cards here all seem to be fake."

Why do you say that?

Pei Baicai continued, "These are photos I posted on Instagram; I've never been a photocard model."

Wang Taika said, "These are self-printed cards, look at the price, only nine yuan and ninety cents. Those are real cards over there, they start at several tens of yuan."

Pei Baicai knew that official photocards weren't cheap, but as an artist, she couldn't make that decision. But she was puzzled by the price of self-printed photocards. Since they weren't official, it made no sense for them to be so expensive.

The main problem is that it seems like the money won't even reach my hands!
With a pout, Pei Baicai said, "Let's go. This half-truth is boring."

Wang Taika pulled out a poster of Pei Baicai and said, "How about I give you this?"

Pei Baicai said irritably, "Are you trying to use a stand-in?"

Holy crap, they're already bringing up old grievances?
Wang Taika grinned and said, "What? A body double? I've never done that. It was just a misunderstanding." "Come on," Pei Baicai exposed, "I know you have a weird sense of humor, and you wouldn't actually do anything. But thinking like that isn't good either. It feels like you can be replaced, and that doesn't feel good."

Wang Taika quickly replied, "There's no one who can replace you; we can't find anyone."

“But it’s not okay if I see someone who looks like others. I empathize with them. No matter what, my conflict with them is an internal conflict, and I don’t need others to interfere,” Pei Baicai retorted.

Wang Taika asked in surprise, "You even know what internal conflict is?"

“I’m trying my best to study too, okay?” Pei Baicai glared at Wang Taika.

I left the small photo shop without buying anything. Outside, however, various idol videos were playing on a loop, including interviews and music videos.

Wang Taika stared at it for a while, and sure enough, there was a Red Velvet logo. After all, they are a popular girl group, and SM Entertainment's reputation is undeniable.

In the video, Bae Baek-chae faced the camera and stammered out a few words of Chinese, clearly reading each word carefully from the prompt board. The video's comments section was filled with emotion and sympathy; fans felt Bae Baek-chae was incredibly thoughtful, having learned Chinese specifically for her fans—it was truly admirable.

Wang Taika laughed in exasperation and pulled Pei Baicai away.

Pei Baicai, not knowing why Wang Taika suddenly seemed a bit emotional, asked, "What's wrong? Was there a problem with my interview just now?"

“No, it’s just that,” Wang Taika said helplessly, “I think Chinese fans are a group with a really low average IQ. You’ve known me for so long, and your Chinese is still so bad. In that video just now, there were less than ten words in a sentence. I feel like that’s not hard to learn, right? But you still had to utter each word one by one. It’s obvious that you didn’t put in the effort, and there are still a group of people who are moved and feel sorry for you for having specially learned Chinese. It’s just brain-dead.”

Pei Baicai pouted: "Are you subtly insulting me? I admit I didn't have time to learn it back then. But that was a long time ago. My Chinese is okay now, but not really. So after being with you for so long, I'm really sorry that my Chinese is still so bad!"

Wang Taika pouted: "Look at you, you're getting anxious again. I wasn't talking about you, I wasn't talking about you. If you don't want to learn, then don't learn, no one is forcing you to learn."

"I'm learning." Pei Baicai knew Wang Taika was petty; learning Chinese was indeed necessary. To put it bluntly, learning a foreign language depends on the language. English is a must-know, Japanese should be mastered as much as possible, but Chinese is really irrelevant.

Whether you learn it or not is actually irrelevant. It's not worth learning such a difficult language for the sake of Chinese-speaking fans. Because whether you learn it or not, the Chinese-speaking fans don't care.

Furthermore, even if you only know a few everyday Chinese phrases, you can market yourself as someone who speaks Chinese. It's easy to do without any barriers, and your fans will naturally believe it, fill in the gaps in your lies, and then start to feel smug about themselves.

That's why K-pop groups are so eager to enter the Chinese market, because it truly has the best fans in the world.

You have to find ways to maintain relationships with fans in other countries, but with Chinese fans, you don't even need to. They spontaneously form fan teams, handling everything from comment control and whitewashing to marketing and promotion. Just sit back and wait for the money to roll in. You can't argue with that.

Bae Baek-chae's Chinese is actually quite good now, but that's entirely because of Wang Tai-ka. Otherwise, to be honest, she really wouldn't have the time or inclination to specifically learn Chinese.

After all, idols are so busy, they definitely want to maximize their impact. If learning it makes no difference, then there's no point in learning it. This is a practical consideration, and no one can be blamed.

This isn't just Pei Baicai's problem; most idols are like that. Those who are favored are always fearless. Spoiled people aren't scary; what's scary is those who spoil others.

Therefore, someone like Chong'er is truly rare and precious. This is why Wang Taika was willing to break the Korean ban he had created for Chong'er. Because some people truly deserve it.

That said, Wang Taika's Chinese is quite good. Although it's a bit halting, he can generally communicate without much trouble. While it's possible he learned Chinese to try and switch to the Chinese market after the group's situation, judging by actions rather than intentions, Wang Taika is at least satisfied with his attitude.

Since Stupid Card is being so nice, next time, let's extend her time by five minutes as a reward.

If it's my darling, let's add another ten minutes; any longer and she won't be able to handle it.

(End of this chapter)