Chapter 74: "The Temporary Firefighter, Zhou Xiaoran"

“Hahaha, Zhou Ran, looks like you’re going to be very busy today!” Chen Yi teased Zhou Ran just as he was about to get up and head to the stage to accept his award.

“Oh, please don’t tease me, Mr. Chen,” Zhou Ran replied, a little embarrassed by Chen Yi’s jest, his voice reflecting his bashfulness.

As he stood, Zhou Ran couldn’t help but marvel at how his seat hadn’t even warmed before he had to head up for another award.

While Zhou Ran walked onto the stage to receive his honor, many lyricists in the audience applauded him, a testament to their genuine admiration for his talent.

A phrase has been trending lately among lyricists: “If only you were as freakishly talented as Zhou Ran.” This saying captures their recognition of him—losing to Zhou Ran isn’t shameful. In fact, when boasting to others, they can proudly claim they once competed against Zhou Ran and lost. This year, truly no one in the lyricist circle could surpass Zhou Ran; just his song “A Thousand Degrees” alone was enough to dominate. Since no one could win, mutual mockery simply didn’t happen.

This way, their status rises instantly. Losing is acceptable, but it matters whom you lose to—the more famous the person, the greater your own prestige. Lose to an unknown, and you’re sure to be ruthlessly mocked.

When Zhou Ran stepped onto the stage, Ma Yan was the first to greet him with a hug.

“Hello, Mr. Zhou Ran, congratulations!” Ma Yan said as she embraced him, not forgetting to offer her congratulations.

“Ah, thank you, Ms. Ma Yan!” Zhou Ran was a bit surprised by Ma Yan’s hug, but he didn’t dwell on it, choosing a polite embrace in return.

“Wow, Zhou Ran is really handsome!” Ma Yan, seeing him up close during the hug, was struck by his flawless looks—there truly was not a single bad angle.

Still, after the hug, Ma Yan made no further moves; she simply wanted to embrace him, nothing more.

But even such a simple gesture stirred jealousy among Zhou Ran’s fans both at the event and watching the livestream.

“Ahhhh! Let go of Zhou Ran and let me do it!”

“Why does she get to hug my big brother?”

“Woman, release him!”

“Zhou Ran is so handsome, this profile shot is perfect!”

“Let go of Ma Yan and let me take her place!” (Ma Yan’s fans chiming in)

This scene not only incited jealousy among Zhou Ran’s fans on-site and in the livestream, but even Zhang Xiaofeng, far away in Star City, felt a pang of envy.

“Ahhhh, why does she get to hug Zhou Ran? I’ve never hugged him! Damn that woman!” Zhang Xiaofeng’s jealousy soared as she watched.

Even Chef Huang, observing Zhou Ran’s award ceremony nearby, sensed a shift in the atmosphere—though he couldn’t pinpoint it, there seemed to be a whiff of jealousy.

Fortunately, Zhang Xiaofeng’s envy faded quickly. As soon as she recalled that Zhou Ran would return tomorrow, her jealousy melted away. After all, his return meant they could spend time together again—so what was there to be jealous about? Besides, Zhou Ran called her “sister,” a privilege no one else enjoyed.

Reflecting on this, Zhang Xiaofeng felt much more at ease.

Once on stage, Zhou Ran joked, “What a coincidence—I feel like I just saw you all last time. My seat wasn’t even warm yet, and for a moment I thought I’d traveled through time.”

Zhou Ran’s light-hearted remark broke the ice, showing everyone what trivial banter looked like.

Some audience members laughed outright at his words, while others remained unmoved, secretly hoping Zhou Ran wouldn’t appear again.

After all, every time Zhou Ran came up, it meant less for them—fierce competition indeed. Their greatest wish was for Zhou Ran not to return to the stage.

Winning the newcomer award was enough, but they knew that was only wishful thinking; the best album and best newcomer awards still awaited Zhou Ran. At least one of those two was bound to go to him.

They could only sigh in resignation—Zhou Ran’s terrifying talent, is this really a newcomer? He’s playing the game like a true overlord!

After his joke, Zhou Ran lightened the atmosphere and then took up the microphone to deliver his acceptance speech.

Since he’d already said most of what he wanted during his previous best newcomer award speech, this time Zhou Ran stuck to a formal note, reading aloud the speech prepared by Li Mi.

Yes, you read that correctly—Li Mi didn’t prepare just one speech, but one for every award, and even more incredible, Zhou Ran memorized each of them.

However, all the speeches were largely repetitive.

The process was standard: thank the fans, colleagues, family, the TV station, and so on—no mistakes, but nothing outstanding.

After finishing the speech, Zhou Ran hurried back to his seat, planning to rest a bit.

The next two awards had nothing to do with him: Best Band and Best Idol Group, two new categories created by the Chinese Golden Melody Awards to keep up with current trends.

But unexpectedly, Zhou Ran was still needed—the organizers had another task for him.

He’d just sat down for a minute when the organizers rushed over.

“What? You want me to step in?” Zhou Ran was a little bewildered by their request.

It turned out that after the Best Band award, there was supposed to be a performance by a veteran superstar. But just before the show, he suddenly felt ill—probably food poisoning from something he ate—and had to be rushed to the hospital. He wouldn’t recover any time soon.

So, the organizers needed someone to fill the gap, and Zhou Ran was the first person they thought of, hoping he could step in and help out.