I really don't want to be the top streamer anymore

Chapter 247 Fortunately, I came here first!
After returning to the capital, it was already near the end of the year.

As expected, Xu Kong received quite a few invitations.

For Xu Kong, the only thing worth appearing on is probably the official Spring Festival Gala.

As for the Spring Festival Gala of the platforms and major satellite TV stations, although the bids are high, given Xu Kong's current popularity and fame, there is hardly any substantive attention.

Even Zhu Yu suggested that if Xu Kong received an invitation from the official Spring Festival Gala, he would still need to think about it carefully.

After all, in the country, a stage like the Spring Festival Gala is absolutely the most important for artists.

In addition to its own exposure and traffic, it also represents a corresponding status, and is an important honor that is worth mentioning.

……

However, the invitation period for this year's Spring Festival Gala has obviously passed.

I guess the program list has already been finalized.

There were fewer problems that bothered Xu Kong.

After all, the review process for the Spring Festival Gala programs alone can be said to be long and exhausting.

In this way, before the Chinese New Year, Xu Kong can concentrate on the post-production of "Sweet Honey".

The post-production of "Sweet Honey" almost took up a lot of time on editing and filters, and there were no special effects.

So in terms of time, it is estimated that it will be officially completed before March.

As for the release time alone, it probably won’t be able to catch up with the schedules with large traffic.

……

"Director Xu, are you going home for the New Year this year?"

Shang Yuxin had just finished filming a movie recently. Although it was vacation, she would still go to Fengge's company headquarters almost every day.

Or to be more specific, he was staying in Xu Kong's personal studio.

It’s just that Xu Kong didn’t have much time to pay attention to the other party because of the post-production work of "Sweet Honey".

"I shouldn't reply..."

Xu Kong opened his mouth and answered.

Shang Yuxin obviously didn't know the specific situation of his family.

That's why I asked such a question.

"That……"

Shang Yuxin was quite hesitant, but still pretended to casually say:
"I'm not going home either, why don't we spend the holiday together?"

Although when filming before, I almost always stayed with Xu Kong.

But it was obvious that Shang Yuxin was not very satisfied.

"Maybe not."

"I have something to do..."

Xu Kong was not deliberately making excuses.

If Shang Yuxin was indeed the first one to ask, he would probably have agreed directly.

It's just that Su Zhi had already asked him to go back to her hometown to celebrate the Spring Festival, so this kind of thing naturally follows the principle of first come first served.

And last year, he spent the New Year at Zhu Yu's place.

This time it’s Su Zhi who takes over, and the main focus is to treat everyone equally.

"Oh~"

"It's okay, I just asked casually."

Shang Lucha always felt that his current state was awkward no matter how he looked at it.

With her previous personality, she would definitely appear quite free and easy even if she was rejected.

But now, when facing Xu Kong, she could no longer remain as rational as before.

"How about next year?"

Xu Kong was not one to spoil the fun, so he made a suggestion.

"Okay!"

Shang Yuxin also agreed immediately.

It’s not because Xu Kong’s proposal surprised her so much.

It’s mainly the other party’s attitude. It can be seen that he is not making excuses on purpose, but that he really has something to do.

And the fact that he was able to add this sentence shows that Xu Kong still cares about himself.

Thinking of these, I can’t help but feel happy.

As for who Xu Kong plans to accompany this year, Song Youyou or Su Zhi, she doesn’t care too much.

……

About a week after Xu Kong returned to the capital, Su Zhi and Song Youyou also returned.

There was no other choice but to start using his expertise in time management.

The good news is that now when Su Zhi is mentioned, Song Youyou won’t react so strangely.

On the contrary, after Su Zhi confessed so frankly, she was no longer as suspicious and anxious as An before.

However, Xu Kong was also somewhat helpless, as Su Zhi seemed to be aloof and cold to everyone almost all the time.

But he is actually quite sinister.

Because Su Zhi would ask Song Youyou about him from time to time.

On the surface, they would ask about Xu Kong's current company or where he was, but in fact, the two of them had already quietly gone to Su Zhi's house, ready for an in-depth communication.

This would not arouse Song Youyou's suspicion.

He willingly became the so-called "spy" for Su Zhi.

Although I'm not too willing in my heart.

But thinking about what Su Zhi had mentioned before, that she confessed her love to Xu Kong and was rejected, he felt a little bit reluctant.

Plus, she thought Su Zhi didn't know about her relationship with Xu Kong.

This further aggravates the so-called sense of guilt.

Of course, in fact, I can't help but feel a little fortunate.

Of course, she was very confident in herself, but compared with Su Zhi, she was not sure of winning.

So I am still more lucky:

Fortunately, I came here first!
Otherwise, Brother Xu Kong would probably belong to someone else.

……

"You didn't get an invitation either?"

Xu Kong was also quite surprised at this time.

With last year's album "Su Xu", plus the two major music awards of the recent music festival and Golden Melody Awards, the other party directly won the three major awards for the album of the year.

Afterwards, she only won two Best Female Singer awards, but this achievement was definitely the first for a female singer in the domestic entertainment industry in the same year.

"The selection criteria for the official Spring Festival Gala are somewhat special."

"The first thing to consider is whether the song itself is suitable, and the singer is the second factor."

Su Zhi opened her mouth to explain.

For Su Zhi, she had already performed on the Spring Festival Gala before.

So even though it is a relatively important resource, it is not something I can decide after all. I can only let nature take its course, and I have a pretty good attitude towards it.

"By the way, is there anything that Aunt and Uncle like?"

Xu Kong suddenly remembered something and asked.

Instead, Su Zhi reacted slightly, and then spoke:
"Do you really want to go with me?"

"I just mentioned it casually..."

Su Zhi did talk nonsense at that time.

After all, his relationship with Xu Kong must not be made public.

Not to mention meeting the parents openly.

So I just suddenly wanted to tease Xu Kong.

However, when he saw Xu Kong taking the initiative to bring it up and looking like he took it very seriously, although his expression remained as cold as ever, it was inevitable that some ripples arose in his heart.

"I mean, if you're busy, then you don't have to."

Seeing Xu Kong's strange expression, Su Zhizhi started to explain.

But Xu Kong shook his head firmly. "No, I have to eat your New Year's Eve dinner."

……

Seeing that Su Zhi did not continue to refuse strongly.

Xu Kong then understood that the other party was still not averse to him meeting his parents.

However, what Xu Kong didn't know was that Su Zhi had never mentioned it to him. They had met once before via video call, and every time they received a call from home, his parents would inadvertently mention Xu Kong's name.

This year the Spring Festival comes earlier.

The Chinese New Year is in mid-to-late January, so Xu Kong has arranged his time and schedule in advance.

Song Youyou also took the initiative to invite Xu Kong to her home to celebrate the New Year.

Even Song Fuquan took the initiative to call him.

The excuse Xu Kong gave was that he had to go back to his hometown to take care of some things.

Knowing Xu Kong's family situation, the Song father and daughter tacitly did not ask any more questions.

……

It’s just obvious that plans cannot keep up with changes.

Xu Kong suddenly received a strange phone call. The person on the other end was not a stranger, but an old acquaintance of his.

Liu Qiliang, the director of last year’s Beijing New Year’s Eve Gala.

The other party is the deputy director of this year's official Spring Festival Gala.

Xu Kong was not surprised by this position. When the two of them first met, Xu Kong knew from other people that Liu Qiliang had an official background.

Although he is a director of Beijing TV Station, he actually often appears in official projects.

Although Beijing TV is a local TV station, it is indeed different from Mango and Tomato TV stations due to its special geographical location.

"You mean, you want to invite me to participate in this year's Spring Festival Gala?"

Xu Kong was quite surprised.

The program list before the Spring Festival Gala should have been determined long in advance.

In fact it is.

But it seems that it was because of a certain first-line singer who had originally been confirmed to have a lot of traffic.

Some scandals broke out some time ago.

Therefore, in order to avoid risks, we can only temporarily change people and programs.

Logically speaking, it should be decided from the list of candidates who have participated in the previous program review.

But because Xu Kong’s song "Rice Fragrance" some time ago was so popular.

Moreover, the style and theme of the song itself are quite suitable for the Spring Festival Gala stage.

So the director team of the Spring Festival Gala, based on some people's suggestions, decided to invite Xu Kong.

Of course, the person who made the suggestion was naturally Liu Qiliang, one of the assistant directors.

After all, they had previously cooperated in the Beijing New Year's Eve Gala, and he was even able to meet the TV station's targets largely because of Xu Kong's joining.

The song "A Bridge of Fate" sung by the other party and Hua Hongjuan was probably the most popular song among all the New Year's Eve parties on all platforms at that time.

……

"Since Director Liu has come to ask in person, there will naturally be no problem on my side."

Xu Kong spoke.

Of course, the invitation from his acquaintance Liu Qiliang is one thing, at least it can ensure that nothing bad will happen to him when he participates in the Spring Festival Gala this time.

Although the Spring Festival Gala program team all have official backgrounds, there are bound to be conflicts of interest wherever there are people. It is just a matter of whether they dare to express them obviously.

With Liu Qiliang as assistant director, there are fewer troubles that Kong doesn't want to encounter.

In addition, the most important thing is that for him now, the popularity and fame that the so-called variety shows or evening parties can bring are actually quite limited.

Sooner or later, you have to be on the Spring Festival Gala, it’s just a matter of doing it sooner rather than later.

……

"But this is a temporary change of program after all, so we may still need to conduct a corresponding selection..."

Liu Qiliang explained somewhat embarrassedly.

Of course it was his suggestion to invite Xu Kong, but similarly, some of the other programs that had been screened out before were even prepared for a long time specifically for the Spring Festival Gala.

If we give the spot directly to Xu Kong, people will still gossip about it.

The best solution, of course, is to conduct a public trial and selection for the program as before.

While ensuring that fairness will not be questioned by anyone, it also complies with relevant procedures and regulations.

Moreover, this time it is just a temporary replacement of people and programs, so there is no need for the previous first, second, and third trials, which saves a lot of trouble.

But he was the one who took the initiative to invite her, so even if he thought so in his heart, he still had to explain it clearly to Xu Kong.

"It's okay, just follow the rules of the Spring Festival Gala."

Although he was not surprised, Liu Qiliang still felt a little relieved after hearing Xu Kong's answer.

In fact, he mentioned Xu Kong when the Spring Festival Gala was just being prepared.

It was just that the director and the program crew were considering that Xu Kong was currently filming in Hong Kong and was obviously very busy.

There is a high probability that the subsequent Spring Festival Gala program reviews and rehearsals will be delayed.

So I passed it.

However, with the temporary replacement and the matching of the theme and lyrics of Xu Kong's song "Rice Fragrance", Liu Qiliang is still quite confident that Xu Kong will eventually be included in the Spring Festival Gala program.

As for Xu Kong himself, it's not like they haven't gotten along before, and he's probably not the type of person who would worry about not being selected.

……

It is impossible to go home with Su Zhi to celebrate the New Year.

When Su Zhi received the news, she did not seem sad. Instead, she was happy for Xu Kong because he could be on the Spring Festival Gala.

After all, when she received the invitation from the official Spring Festival Gala, she was excited for a long time.

In comparison, Xu Kong is relatively calm.

And unlike her own reserved personality, Xu Kong obviously didn't take it as a big deal.

Of course, Su Zhi couldn't help feeling a little disappointed for a while after receiving the news.

Xu Kong also noticed it keenly.

But he didn't say much.

It is still unknown when it will end, and he cannot make any specific promises.

Sometimes, a surprise is a better way to deal with something than an uncertain promise.

……

The efficiency of the Spring Festival Gala program team is quite high.

Two days after Liu Qiliang called Xu Kong, Xu Kong received a call from the Spring Festival Gala staff, confirming the time for the subsequent program selection.

The types of programs for the Spring Festival Gala were decided long ago.

So the programs that were temporarily replaced this time were all solo programs.

However, for Xu Kong, who lives in Beijing, selection rehearsals are quite convenient.

But when he arrived at the venue that day, Xu Kong didn't expect to meet an old acquaintance.

Yang Jiangjie is a so-called talented newcomer who was hyped up online in the first half of this year.

Of course, after meeting Xu Kong at the "Autumn Concert", it seemed as if everything suddenly started to go badly.

She frequently becomes Xu Kong's background board, and even the album that was originally scheduled to be the best album of the year has recently become Su Zhi's runner-up.

Obviously, Yang Jiangjie was stunned when he saw Xu Kong in this situation.

At this point, he has been in the industry for almost a year, and has put away his previous eye-catching edge and looks much more pleasing to the eye.

But Yang Jiangjie was not so calm.

I just think that enemies will always meet each other, so why can I meet Xu Kong everywhere?
He didn't care about Xu Kong before, but now, he feels like he is almost living under his shadow.

Of course, it’s not just Yang Jiangjie.

At this time, the singers who had received temporary opportunities to perform on the Spring Festival Gala were all quite desperate when they saw Xu Kong.

Everyone originally thought that they had some chances, but Xu Kong's sudden joining made people lose confidence for a while.

……

(End of this chapter)