Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

He Xu originally thought that the three-day holiday would pass peacefully in a long slumber.

But he underestimated Jen's patience.

The next afternoon, he was lounging on the living room sofa with a bowl of fruit cut by Marco beside him, idly flipping through TV programs when his phone vibrated on the edge of the coffee table.

Jen's message was polite in wording but utterly blunt in content: "You haven't posted anything on social media for four months. The last update was that official announcement from the production team that you shared before joining the cast—you didn't even type a word, just shared it."

He Xu stared at the line of text for a few seconds, then typed: "I'm filming."

Jen replied instantly: "I know you're filming. But your account lost 100,000 followers."

He Xu's fingers stopped.

He looked at the line of text again, making sure he hadn't miscounted—one hundred thousand. It was indeed a considerable sum, but to say he cared wouldn't be accurate: "...And then?"

"And then? The buzz you built up with Emiko on the 'Ouroboros' stage is slowly fading away on your own. You have to maintain your exposure before the movie's release, otherwise, if you try to cram at the last minute during the promotional period, the effect will be much worse."

He Xu leaned back on the sofa, stared at the ceiling for a while, and typed: "What do you want me to do?"

Jen's reply came quickly, as if she had prepared it in advance: "Live stream. Just one hour, no need to prepare anything. Just chat with the fans, talk about what you're filming, share some everyday moments. Back in 'Absolute Debut,' even when you were being criticized, so many people watched, but now you're afraid to speak normally?"

He Xu stared at the line of text for a while, then typed: "Has anyone ever told you that you're annoying when you talk?"

"often."

He Xu put his phone back on the coffee table, stared at the bowl of sliced ​​fruit for a few seconds, then picked it up again and typed: "When?"

"Now."

"Now?!"

"You're on vacation, so you're just killing time anyway. I've added a live stream link for you; you can start watching by clicking it."

He Xu felt like he was about to "vomit blood".

He stared at the word "now" on his phone screen, feeling like he was being cornered.

He Xu sighed, stood up from the sofa, and shuffled upstairs in his slippers.

While washing his face, he glanced at himself in the mirror—his hair was a mess, like a bird's nest, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes; he was definitely not photogenic.

Oh well, I don't need to wear makeup for live streams anyway.

He changed into a clean black T-shirt, ran his fingers through his hair a couple of times, and it wasn't too bad.

The sunlight outside the window was just right. He found a chair on the small balcony in the corner of the second floor, sat down, leaned against the railing, and looked out at the outline of the distant mountain ridge.

The lighting is natural, the background is clean, and there is no deliberate set design.

He clicked on the link Jen sent, and a few seconds later, the screen lit up.

The number of viewers in the top left corner started jumping wildly the moment he appeared.

He Xu looked at the scrolling comments on the screen, fiddled with his phone, and slowly said, "...I just tried it out, but I didn't figure out how to use it."

His voice came through the phone speaker, carrying a clear, resonant quality and bass resonance unique to his recovery, sounding even cleaner than after his injury.

The moment that sentence landed, the barrage of comments exploded, with layers of white text surging out and covering most of the screen.

"Wait, wait, wait—his voice!! Did you hear that?! What happened to his voice?!"

"Holy crap??? That voice??? Is that He Xu???"

"Your voice is better?!?! Your voice sounds amazing!"

"Completely different from before!! It used to be sandpaper, now it's a subwoofer!!!"

"I thought it was a voice changer!! Is this really He Xu???"

He Xu looked at the comments, his expression unchanged, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly: "I had surgery and I'm almost fully recovered." He paused, then added, "Don't make such a fuss, I'm still me."

The live chat exploded again.

"You are you, but your voice is different now!!"

"Even when someone's yelling 'Help!' sounds good, it's like they're cursing..."

"He Xu, could you say a few more curses? I want to hear them."

He Xu leaned back in his recliner, his gaze sweeping over the rapidly scrolling text on the screen. When he saw the comment "Give me a few more insults," he paused for a moment, then said, "...Do you guys have some kind of peculiar hobby?"

The comments section was filled with laughter.

"He Xu, you admit your voice is really charming when you're cursing."

"His tone just now!! That phrase 'special hobby' sounded so awful it made my ears pregnant!!"

"Teacher He, could you read a passage from the text? Just one passage?"

He Xu looked at the comments, picked up the bowl of fruit beside him, took a bite, chewed and swallowed before slowly saying, "I'm not reading the text. If you want to hear some swearing, I suggest you watch NOVA's training clips. I was much fiercer when I was swearing at them."

"Hahahahaha"

NOVA: ??? What does this have to do with us???

"He Xu, how can you criticize them all by yourself abroad? By making videos of it?"

"Video." He Xu said calmly, "They called me crying when they were exhausted from the tour, and I scolded them and they perked up."

The live chat was flooded with comments like "He Xu, you're such a good teacher," "Swearing is also a form of love," and "NOVA is so pitiful."

The live stream continued intermittently.

He Xu didn't actually say much.

Most of the time he just sat there, occasionally taking a bite of fruit, and occasionally glancing at the comments on the screen, picking a few to reply to.

A viewer in the live chat asked him, "Is the movie finished filming?" He replied, "No, it will take a while longer."

A viewer in the live chat asked him, "You've lost weight, is it because the food on set is bad?" He replied, "It's not that the food is bad, it's that I'm exercising a lot."

When asked in the live chat, "When are you going back to China?" he replied, "I'm not sure."

His answers were brief, occasionally tinged with sarcasm.

For example, when someone asked, "He Xu, why aren't you saying anything during your live stream?" he glanced at the screen and said, "You guys are talking too much, I can't get a word in edgewise."

When someone asked, "Are you nervous?" he replied, "Nervous about what? They can't just shut me down."

Someone asked, "Aren't you cold wearing so little?" He looked at the screen and said, "It's 25 degrees Celsius in Los Angeles this afternoon. It's cold where you are, isn't it?"

After each reply, the chat would erupt in laughter.

Then a comment popped up asking, "Teacher He, do you miss home when you're all alone abroad?"

He Xu's finger paused for a moment on the edge of the phone.

He looked at the comment, paused for two seconds, and then spoke, his tone a little softer than before: "...It's alright. When I'm busy, I don't have time to think about it, and I'm not completely alone—this isn't outer space."

The live chat was flooded with "hahaha" comments.

However, many comments also expressed a different sentiment – ​​“Teacher He, we miss you”, “We’ll wait for you whenever you come back”, “Your friends are all waiting for you in China”.

He Xu looked at the words, lowered his eyes, and did not reply immediately.

After a few seconds, he picked up his phone, readjusted the camera angle, and his tone returned to its usual flat, slightly disdainful tone: "Alright, stop acting like you're not coming back."

He paused for a moment, then said, "If you really think that way about me, remember to buy a lot of tickets when the movie is released."

The comments section was filled with laughter again.

"He Xu, you really can't stop talking about selling tickets."

"Okay, I'll buy ten tickets. You'll treat me to the premiere when you get back."

"How did it suddenly turn into a movie promotion event???"

He Xu glanced at the time; nearly fifty minutes had passed.

He finished the last piece of fruit, put the empty bowl on the small round table, and then said to the camera, "That's about enough for today."

The live chat immediately erupted with messages pleading for them to stay.

"Let's chat a little longer!!"

"He Xu, when will you be doing your next live stream?"

"Please don't go, okay? Waaaaah!"

He Xu looked at the text, paused for a moment, and then said, "Next time? Let's wait until the movie is finished. There should be an official announcement then, just follow the official news." He paused, then added, "But if Jen forces me to do promotions again next time, I might do it again."

"Hahaha, Jen, you're our goddess!!!"

"I'm relieved to hear you say that, He Xu."

"Could you please broadcast it for a little longer next time??? An hour is really not enough!!!"

He Xu didn't reply, but simply raised his hand and waved casually at the camera: "Alright, I'm going back. You guys go do what you need to do, don't delay important matters."

Then he turned off the live stream.