What Is an Idol?

In a hugely popular girl group survival show, Huo Xiaoxing, who comes from a remote mountain village, is considered a frontrunner as soon as her promotional photos are released, thanks to her stunningly pure first-love face and innocent gaze. During the contestants' pre-competition interviews, the host asks with a warm smile, "Once you make your debut, you'll become a sparkling idol. How do you feel about that, Xiaoxing?" Huo Xiaoxing stares blankly at the camera, her eyes as startled and helpless as a deer's. After a long pause, she asks softly, "...What's an idol?" After the show airs, Huo Xiaoxing becomes famous. Famous for being hated. Labels like "fake innocent," "pretentious," and "she thinks she's an idiot and treats the audience like idiots" are slapped on her. Netizens curse her with relish, their insults flying thick and fast. No one thinks she's being unfairly criticized. After all, who would believe that someone hoping to become an idol doesn't know what an idol is? * Huo Xiaoxing began learning opera at three and took the stage at thirteen. At sixteen, before dawn could break, she died alone in a dark, filthy alley. When she opens her eyes again, the world has been turned upside down. Towering buildings stretch row upon row, people wear bright, neat clothes, and they hold strange objects while saying things she cannot understand. Confused and timid, like a fledgling in its nest, she gives this world her first cry: What's an idol? Later, Huo Xiaoxing finds out. Idol is a transliteration of the foreign word "idol," meaning an object of admiration. But she still doesn't understand: How does singing and dancing make someone an idol? How could she possibly become someone so great? Later, she hears even more words she doesn't understand. What's hype? What's a fandom? What's the difference between fans and antis? What's organized voting? What's traffic? Huo Xiaoxing seems to understand, and yet she doesn't. Someone flicks her forehead and laughs, calling her foolish and saying she is beyond teaching. She doesn't deny it. But at least she has come to understand one thing: she can stand on the opera stage again. That is enough. This time, she will keep singing. 1. The heroine is from the Republican era. She performed opera and died on the eve of dawn, then was reborn in modern times in the body of a young idol who has just entered the industry. 2. This is an entertainment-industry story, but it may not be a traditional wish-fulfillment story about the entertainment industry, nor is it a takedown of the industry. I simply want to write about the entertainment industry from the heroine's perspective. 3. I changed the premise of this upcoming novel. Its original title was I'm the Top-Tier Star's White Moonlight. After consuming too much entertainment-industry gossip in July and August, I felt I wouldn't want to write the original premise for at least a few years. This idea came to me while I was following the gossip, so I switched to this one. Apologies to everyone who added the original premise to their reading lists. Theme: In every moment, be able to face heaven and earth with a clear conscience.