Yi Heye immediately grabbed his phone: "I'll go online right now and reveal my identity and publish my photos."
Pei Xiangjin expressionlessly took his phone back: "Unless you don't want to work here anymore."
Yi Heye broke down and said, "I don't believe it. You must have another way."
Pei Xiangjin: "You better think of another way. Do you think I, a grown man, want to do some idol training here?"
Yi Heye paused for half a second, then continued to break down: "I don't know anything, how the hell am I supposed to be an idol? Perform a demonstration of disassembling a robot by hand on stage for everyone?"
Pei Xiangjin softened her tone and explained to him gently, "At this stage, you don't need to know anything. Have you noticed? All they care about is a good-looking face and a clean background—you don't actually think that the truck driver is some hidden singing, dancing, and rapping master, do you?"
Yi Heye fell silent once again. He had to admit that Pei Xiangjin's words made some sense.
“What we need to do right now is to package and market you properly, put you in front of them, and let you make smooth contact with them. That’s enough,” Pei Xiangjin said. “You don’t need to do anything at all. You just need to cooperate with us to take some photos.”
Yi Heye was somewhat swayed by what he said, but his face still showed a pained expression of disbelief.
Pei Xiangjin quickly pressed on, saying, "We need to hurry, you promised Miss Gu you would help her."
Yi Heye said, "...I still think it's too much of a stretch."
Pei Xiangjin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Believe in yourself, believe in us. If even broiler chickens can be on the table in a month, I don't believe you can't do it."
Yi Heye had no idea how he had been unwittingly dragged onto Pei Xiangjin's pirate ship.
Before he could even react, Pei Xiangjin had already prepared the account, contacted photographers and marketing accounts, and was about to start packaging and hyping him up.
"These are social media accounts that we bought online that meet our requirements." Pei Xiangjin waved his hand, bringing up dozens of different social media pages.
Yi Heye gritted his teeth and took a look, only to find that without exception, all of these accounts were posting blog articles seeking ways to make money.
Compared to those who whine about being poor without taking any real action, most of them are forced by reality to try all sorts of ways to make money, but in the end they are still trapped in the dead end of poverty and have no way out.
"These are the accounts with the highest authority among those that meet our requirements. Most of them have high single-article readership and are easily indexed by keywords," Pei Xiangjin said. "I specifically selected accounts that haven't posted any photos to make it easier for us to build their personas."
Yi Heye had absolutely no understanding of social networks and the star-making industry; he was completely confused and felt extremely distressed.
“Now let’s create a persona.” Pei Xiangjin said directly to the whiteboard in front of her, “Do you want to come up with an alias for yourself?”
Yi Heye then realized: "I want it!"
He doesn't want to debut under his real name.
He struggled for a long time but couldn't come up with a suitable name, so he could only say, "You guys choose one."
Pei Xiangjin nodded, thought for a moment, and wrote two words on the whiteboard: "He Ye".
"Let's call it this, it sounds the same, so that people won't not recognize it when they call you," Pei Xiangjin said.
Yi Heye was fairly satisfied with the name, and he nodded as he listened to Pei Xiangjin continue.
"Next is your background," Pei Xiangjin said. "You are a high school student, 17 years old this year..."
Upon hearing this, Yi Heye slammed his fist on the table and stood up, yelling, "What the hell do you mean? I'm twenty-five!"
Pei Xiangjin sneered: "You can ask everyone, do you think you look more like 17 years old, or more like 25?"
Yi Heye frowned and turned to look at the rest of the action team with a threatening gaze.
The others were too stunned to speak after he made that move, and just looked at each other in surprise.
Encouraged by Pei Xiangjin, one of the bolder ones mustered up the courage and stammered, "I'm sorry, we always thought the Artificial Intelligence Administration was illegally hiring child laborers..."
Upon receiving this answer, Yi Heye's pupils dilated for three seconds, and he asked Pei Xiangjin in disbelief, "Why is it always like this? What makes me look like a minor?!"
He's got earrings and dyed his hair, so where can you find such a cool underage guy?
To give a hint in the answer, he cautiously added, "Is it appearance, or personality and speech?"
Pei Xiangjin said sincerely, "It's all the same. Believe me, you at 17 were just being yourself."
This answer immediately crushed Yi Heye's spirits. Pei Xiangjin patted him on the shoulder again, offering a perfunctory word of encouragement, and then continued, "His character is a 17-year-old high school student who has lost both parents and is in dire financial straits due to huge debts incurred to treat his father's illness."
Yi Heye nodded; such a script wasn't particularly difficult for him.
“We plan to fabricate some fake work experience for you,” Pei Xiangjin said. “After all, you will definitely engage in a lot of social work in order to make money. To prevent us from being exposed, we will urgently supplement you with some relevant knowledge and details. If there is time, we can take you to experience it on-site to make it more immersive. We can also refine the specific experiences of the people involved step by step. If necessary, we can contact the original owner of this account and have him introduce his personal experience to you.”
"No need," Yi Heye shook his head. "I'll just make one up for you."
This was the first time Pei Xiangjin had heard Yi Heye take the initiative to participate in this project, so he looked up and listened attentively to what he had to say.
“At the age of 14, I officially became an orphan with huge debts. At an age when I should still be studying diligently in my parents' arms, I had already entered society to make a living in order to survive,” Yi Heye said very skillfully.
“At first, my body wasn’t fully developed, and no construction site dared to hire a child as young as me. So I went to the nearby garbage dump to collect some old electronic components to resell. As long as you’re quick-witted enough, reselling electronic components can indeed be a lucrative business. However, the competition among people in this industry is also very fierce.”
“Because I was young and engaged in monopolistic practices, I was quickly targeted by my competitors in that area. Seven or eight adult men surrounded me. I know a little bit of kung fu, but it’s impossible for me to beat so many people.” Yi Heye raised his mechanical arm. “This hand was cut off by them. They also said that if I came back to steal their business, they would not only cut off my other hand, but also cut off my legs, chop up my head, and rip my internal organs apart.”
"So I gave up my business," Yi Heye said. "After borrowing money for surgery, I tried many jobs. I learned to repair cars by observation, borrowed money to buy a motorcycle to transport goods, and later even worked as a sparring partner at a martial arts school..."
As he spoke, he realized that he might have been talking about things after he turned 17, so he said, "Is that enough? I think this character doesn't need a story about defying fate with force, passing the civil service exam, and reaching the pinnacle of life yet."
Pei Xiangjin hadn't expected him to spill all this information at once. He wisely refrained from pressing for details about the story's origin and simply nodded, "Okay, very good. Let's move on to the next step."
Then, he switched the screen in front of him to the next interface.
“We’ll select the account with the highest authority from among them, publish some of your photos, and then help you buy some exposure and promotion,” Pei Xiangjin said. “Send us a few selfies in a bit, and we’ll upload them directly to the internet for you.”
Yi Heye: "...I don't have any selfies."
Pei Xiangjin snapped his fingers, and then a group of technicians carrying cameras for on-site evidence collection surrounded the area.
Seeing this, Yi Heye hurriedly retreated to the corner of the wall, which was even more frightening than having a circle of sniper rifles pointed at his head.
"Relax, Comrade Yi Heye." Pei Xiangjin revealed a devilish smile. "It's just taking a picture, it's not like it's going to kill you."
But right now, Comrade Yi Heye, who is clearly afraid of the camera, is simply unable to "relax".
Cameras swarmed around him, snapping away. Under the flashing lights, Yi Heye curled up and shrank into the crack of the door.
Little Cloud, on the other hand, got excited and ran in front of the camera, wiggling her bottom and striking a pose, blocking Yi Heye's way. This resulted in many very photogenic photos.
Pei Xiangjin worked up a sweat alongside everyone, only to find that everyone in the frame was just a fat sheep. They finally managed to snap a few clear photos of Yi Heye's face, but they were either like fugitive photos taken on a wanted poster or pale, mournful portraits.
"..." Pei Xiangjin looked at Yi Heye speechlessly.
"..." Yi Heye collapsed and shrank into the crack in the door.
After a long pause, Pei Xiangjin sighed and said, "You need to get yourself together. You must deliver a suitable photo by this afternoon. This is no joke, Yi Heye. The speed of our operation is related to the safety of many people's lives."
Yi Heye lowered his eyes and watched as the technicians, carrying cameras full of beautiful photos of Xiaoyun, hurriedly left the office.
He pinched his brow in pain, and as soon as he picked up his phone to take a selfie, his mind was filled with memories of his childhood, when he was surrounded by a group of adults and photographed like evidence.
But he still wanted to finish the mission as soon as possible—Pei Xiangjin was right, they weren't playing around, they weren't doing a childish role-playing game. Every second he wasted on unnecessary things now would bring Ke Yu and the other missing people into unpredictable danger.
If Jian Yun were free, he wouldn't be afraid of taking pictures, and I could even spruce him up and send him out into the entertainment industry.
Thinking of this, Yi Heye couldn't help but sigh deeply.
He took a deep breath, steeling himself to take a picture of himself, just as the familiar voice from the office projector came through again:
"Wow~ Let me see our big star~"
This guy really is just like he said; he'll show up the moment someone wants him.
Turning around, a little lamb was smiling at Yi Heye.
He wore a beret and had a vintage-style camera around his neck; his every move exuded the air of a photographic artist.
As soon as Yi Heye turned around, he heard a "click" and the flash went off.
Before he could react, the camera in the little sheep's hand started printing out the photos.
In the photo, Yi Heye is sitting by the window, the bright sunlight in Zone B caressing his face, melting his usually cold and hard features into a warm curve.
This is a look back that was unintentional yet somewhat premeditated.
In the scene, his bloodshot eyes showed no killing intent or bloodlust, only a hint of bewildered confusion, and a small, barely concealed joy at the sight of someone he had been waiting for.
He wore a clean white shirt, his gentle face and pure eyes creating an exceptionally refreshing photograph in the afternoon sunlight.
It's just like the first love in a youth campus movie, and the boy in that first love.
"Look, we're big stars, we're so photogenic!"
The photographer, nicknamed "Little Sheep," said with a smile.
Author's Note:
Exclusive photographer following Idol Wild, you're such a big star!
Chapter 93, number 093
Yi Heye was stunned for a few seconds before he realized what had happened.
He panicked for a moment, but when he saw the lamb's calm and sincere expression, he slowly calmed down his subconscious fear.
He was just thinking of quickly taking the photo out to hand it in when Little Lamb leisurely put it away:
"No, I'm keeping this photo for myself."
Yi Heye was stunned: "But I need to submit photos."
The little lamb laughed and said, "Don't be in such a hurry. How can a big star debut with just one photo?"
Yi Heye started to feel uneasy, but Xiao Yang ignored his little mood and instead flew to his shoulder with her camera, wanting to take a picture with him.
Seeing Xiao Yang's intention, Yi Heye still subconsciously felt a little resistant. Xiao Yang didn't force him to look at the camera, but instead put down the camera, circled around in front of him, and asked, "Do you think my new hat looks good?"
Faced with this natural question, Yi Heye lowered his guard. The excellent photographer snapped another picture.
The lamb is the main subject of this photo. When he took the picture, he was completely unlike Yi Heye, who was reserved, or Xiao Yunduo, who was deliberately affected. He was as natural as a beautiful wallpaper that was casually taken from a movie.
Yi Heye felt like he was going crazy. Being single for so long, even a sheep seemed handsome to him.
But when he connected the sheep in front of him with the long-lost Comrade Jian Yunxian, he felt that everything made sense—although he was unwilling to admit it, some people's personal charm could indeed attract him beyond their physical appearance.
In this photo, Yi Heye is still caught in the frame without any precautions. He looks at the lamb intently, like a handsome senior in an art academy carefully examining a painting, his eyes focused and sincere.
The little lamb examined the photo and said, "Our big star looks good no matter how he's photographed!"
Such praise made Yi Heye feel a little embarrassed, but as it turned out, as long as he didn't realize he was being photographed, he was indeed a handsome man who met the general public's aesthetic standards from any angle.
He looked at the photo again and said, "This one can't be used either, you're in the picture."