A Misaligned Season with the Boys

At 17, Ningmeng was struck by the brilliance of Typhoon Teens onstage during a university lecture and became a devoted fan. She witnessed the turmoil of the group’s disbandment and reformation, and anxiously rooted for the seven boys during Typhoon Teens: The Transformation Battle. When they started anew under the name Era Boys, they became the brightest point of reference in her youth. Later, while following her idols, she also got to know the eleven boys of TF’s third generation and watched them go from awkward figures in the practice room to rising stars onstage.

A month before starting graduate school, Ningmeng happened to see a job posting for an agent at Time Fengjun. Driven by the desire to “get a little closer to my dreams,” she resolutely sent in her résumé. After passing round after round of assessments, the 21-year-old officially joined the company as an agent working with both the second and third generations. From helping Ma Jiaqi pick sequins off his performance outfit to reviewing vocal-class recordings with Zhu Zhixin; from handing Ding Chengxin throat lozenges backstage to explaining stage blocking to Zhang Ji at three in the morning, she used her thoughtful, big-sister perspective to protect the boys through their tears and triumphs. Together, they weathered the entertainment industry’s ups and downs and wrote a story of “growing in sync through time out of place.” She was both a seeker of the spotlight and a builder of dreams.