At 10 p.m. that night, Tang Shu’s personal Weibo page was updated with new content.
Apart from celebrating the fan milestone, she also added a nine-square grid of portrait photographs, all high-definition pictures of her from drama sets or variety shows.
This Weibo post once again triggered a wave of fan screams, as netizens clicked in one after another.
"Damn, uncle’s fan count is skyrocketing too fiercely!"
"emmm~~ The surprise came so fast, I can’t even react?"
"Wasn’t I just lamenting last month about not winning any prizes when we hit forty million fans? Are we doing another draw this month?"
"Muhahaha this time it’s definitely my turn, going to the capital to watch a stage play, they even provide travel expenses, how awesome!"
"Five hundred spots, wow that’s really a lot this time, what kind of bad luck has Starshine Media run into taking uncle on, just pouring money in!"
"Pfft hahaha what you said is absolutely right, it’s not like we’ve bought any posters or merchandise, we’re just contributing to the TV drama’s viewership."
"Who needs play tickets? Isn’t that beauty in the nine-square grid irresistible?!"
"Hurry up and save, save, I can unabashedly change my screensaver again ying ying ying~~~"
A single Weibo post started a stampede of fan comments, and when tens of millions of netizens exerted their power, Tang Shu, far away in Tang Village, had already fallen into a dream.
And that night, a new Weibo account was quietly created, joined the VIP ranks, and published its first post.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Father Tang sent the two of them off from the village with a gloomy face.
"Eat more for three meals a day. Don’t you have a little assistant who can cook? Look at how thin you’ve become, you’re not trying to diet like everyone else, are you?"
"There’s someone at home who cooks, I can eat three bowls of rice per meal, you know that."
Father Tang nodded. That was indeed three bowls of rice, after all, he watched her eat every day, but he hadn’t seen her gain any weight back. He really didn’t know where all that rice was going.
"Then eat more, home-cooked meals are nutritious, don’t just eat random things outside."
Father Tang glanced at Jing Yu without a trace, the implication was self-evident.
Tang Shu inexplicably glanced at the two of them and belatedly realized that ’outside’, as referred to by her father, meant the Jing Family.
Great, her dear father and Uncle Jing were at odds again.
— From Tang "Lacking-a-screw" Shu.
"I got it, dad. Take care of yourself at home, and call me if there’s anything."
"Heh, what could happen to me?"
Father Tang waved his arm, "Once you get to the capital, say hello to your mom and let her know you’re safe."
After bidding farewell, Jing Yu, who only said "Goodbye Uncle Tang," pulled Tang Shu’s suitcase with her to the nearby town, earning a disdainful "I never want to see you again" look from Father Tang.
An hour later, the two arrived at the nearest airport and received a call from Luo Lin as soon as they disembarked.
With the ring of a cellphone, Tang Shu hadn’t freed her hands when Jing Yu took the phone for her.
"You answer, I’ll hold on to it, someone will pick us up once we’re out of the airport."
This earned her a ruffle from Jing Yu on her fluffy head.
"Little Ancestor, are you back?"
"Just arrived at the airport, Sister Luo, what’s so urgent?"
"Remember the two scripts I gave you before the New Year? ’The Tree in Front of the House’ crew has already posted on Weibo that they’ll start filming in a month, and auditions begin next week."