Chapter 41: The Cold-Resistant School Grass

……

……

Fifteen minutes passed...

Gu Qing and the other three members of the Blue Team arrived at the cave entrance, chatting and laughing, ready to take on the mission challenge.

"Whoa, it's pretty dark in there," Old Deng remarked in surprise, staring into the pitch-black cave where one could not see their own hand in front of their face.

"Chen Chichi, you go first," Gu Qing said, pushing Chen Chichi to the front.

"Why?"

"Because you aren't afraid of anything! You're the strongest man among us!"

"Don't be like that, I'm actually really weak," Chen Chichi replied, shaking his head with a miserable expression.

"Useless."

Deng Chao displayed his captain's charisma, switched on a high-powered flashlight, and led the team into the cave.

As soon as they entered, the cold and damp air sent goosebumps running down Yang Ying's arms.

Suddenly, a bat flew over their heads.

"Qingqing, I'm scared!"

Terrified, Yang Ying's face turned pale. She hid behind Gu Qing, clutching his arm tightly.

"Chao, I'm scared too," Chen Chichi added.

His ridiculous mannerism made Deng Chao want to punch him.

After walking for about three to five minutes, the path was completely blocked by a massive, sealed foam wall.

"Are they planning to make us chip through this with tiny pickaxes?"

Deng Chao tried striking the wall with a pickaxe, but the small amount of foam that fell away was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the thick wall.

The group began the arduous process of "moving mountains."

"I dig, I dig, I dig-dig-dig!"

After Deng Chao had worked himself into a sweat, Chen Chichi took over the pickaxe, turning the labor into a form of self-entertainment.

"Xiao Gu, your turn!"

"I dig, I dig, I dig-dig-dig..."

Gu Qing even composed a nursery rhyme from his previous life: "In what kind of garden, dig, dig, dig... What kind of seeds to plant, what kind of flowers to bloom... In a tiny little garden, dig, dig, dig..."

"You guys are being too childish."

Surrounded by three 'problem children,' Baby sighed, resting her head in her hand.

She decided to save herself!

*Thump, thump—*

She tapped the left side, then the right, and suddenly heard a hollow echo from a corner of the foam wall. "Qingqing, it seems like this part is easy to dig through."

"I'll do it!"

Deng Chao took the pickaxe, humming Gu Qing's brainwashing nursery rhyme as he dug vigorously.

The results were significant; the corner of the hollow foam wall was quickly broken through.

"Move aside."

Gu Qing, with his lean build, crawled through the opening and pushed aside the top layer of the foam wall, successfully creating a gap.

They thought the mission was over, but the exit was locked. According to the prompt, they had to return to the original passage to find a password to unlock the key and pass through.

At the same time, the Red Team, who possessed more props, followed closely behind, bringing both teams to the same starting line.

"Xiao Gu, what are you doing?" Deng Chao asked in confusion.

"I'm going to see if I can crack it."

Everyone looked over to see Gu Qing tinkering with the combination lock by himself. He remembered the password from his past life; it seemed to be the four digits '2310.'

"Xiao Gu, if you can actually solve this, I'll personally..." Chen Chichi was about to mock him.

*Click—*

"It's open!"

The combination lock fell to the ground. Gu Qing turned back to look at him.

"..."

Chen Chichi felt as if his throat had been seized, looking much like the duck in the mud from earlier.

"That actually worked?" Deng Chao and Baby exchanged bewildered looks.

"Screw you guys!!" the four members of the Red Team shouted.

The production crew: "!!!"

"That actually worked?" Lu Hao, watching from behind the camera, was stunned.

The entire production staff stood before the lens and swore in unison, "If this was scripted, I'll take my life in atonement!"

"Director, what do we do?" Gu Qing spread his hands innocently. "You're not going to say we cheated, are you?"

"Fine, fine, I'll let you win, alright?" Director Lu said, feeling like crying. He gave a thumbs up. "Xiao Gu, you are the God of Luck in my heart!"

With that, this episode's recording concluded with a victory for the Blue Team. Although the result felt somewhat surreal, the process was undoubtedly spectacular.

...

Next, Gu Qing flew back to Shanghai.

His life gradually became more disciplined: filming *Keep Running*, accepting endorsements, and studying scripts.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed, and the recording of the first season of *Keep Running* was nearing its end.

During this period, the three episodes of the South Korean trip that aired became massive hits, trending heavily on Weibo.

Among the highlights were Ou Di and Lin Genxin's snoring, Li Chen's "earth-shattering fart," Wang Baoqiang and Gu Qing's "death scene," and Old Deng's "We are Fa Mu Lei." All of them became instant internet memes.

But the one who truly broke through the ceiling was Gu Qing.

For nearly a month, his name appeared on the entertainment industry's trending searches almost every day.

First, after the second episode aired, he created a personal blog account and achieved the feat of "gaining three million followers in a single day" and "reaching ten million followers in seven days."

To the general public, these were staggering achievements. To industry insiders, it was a miraculous marketing myth.

An entertainment "top stream" star—and the most sought-after "male top stream"—had been created out of thin air in less than two months.

Moreover, no one felt his stardom was hollow. Gu Qing's performance in every episode of *Keep Running* could be described as nothing less than "brilliant."

His "trending sibling" chemistry with Baby and his position as the "group darling" of the *Keep Running* cast earned him the deep affection of every member.

The three episodes in South Korea were particularly impactful; the topic "Gu Qing is too pitiful" stayed on the blog's trending list for three whole weeks!

From "hilarious," to "blown away by a fart," to "tortured by snoring," "sinking in the water," and "face-planting"...

Anyone watching these hilarious scenes would think: *This kid is so unlucky, so pitiful,* causing their favorability toward him to soar.

However, fortune often brings misfortune.

The entertainment industry is a giant cake. The rise of one top star inevitably means taking a slice from others. Would a rival company quietly hand over their piece of the cake?

And so... one night, Gu Qing was "suppressed"!

In the entertainment industry, "suppression" refers to using artificial means to limit the exposure or reputation of a specific artist or work to prevent them from rising too quickly or seizing resources.

There are generally two methods

1. **Suppression of Screen Time/Exposure:** Deliberately reducing an artist's appearances or screen time in a program to diminish their popularity. For example, producers might use editing to weaken a newcomer's presence.

However, this was impossible here. *Keep Running* was currently the most watched program on Moon TV. No matter how much traffic an artist's agency had, they couldn't compete with a major television station.

That left only the second method: **Public Opinion Manipulation!**

This involves spreading negative news (such as scandals or rumors) or controlling the direction of public discourse to limit an artist's development.

But what gave the rival companies a headache was that Gu Qing was like a newcomer who had popped out of a crack in a rock; there were no previous video materials to find, and there were absolutely no scandals or rumors.

Fortunately, if you look hard enough, you can find flaws in an egg—why not in a person?

And what was the most criticized point about Gu Qing?

It was this: He had been a trainee in South Korea!

With the current prosperity of the Hallyu wave in China and the specific fanaticism of its fans, this fact caused a great deal of discomfort and resentment among the general public and fans of other artists.

Soon, companies began to exploit this sentiment to promote their own artists.

"Anti-Hallyu Pioneers," assemble!

...

...

(End of Chapter)