Chapter Seventy-Eight: Campus Assault (Part One)

After leaving Li Yimei’s house, it was already close to midnight. Once in the car, Li Ran continued driving, taking Jiang Yihan to the practice room for their routine rehearsal, which was essential. Tonight’s practice session was cut short, for they had to rush to their next schedule—a late-night event. The reason for this was a campus surprise performance.

The campus surprise, as the name suggests, involved a secret collaboration between the production team and school administration. The team would set up the stage equipment in the school auditorium overnight, and the next day, under the pretense of a school-wide meeting, all students would be summoned. As the meeting drew to a close, the celebrity guest would burst onto the stage to perform, delivering a shock of delight to the entire student body. This program had gained immense popularity across Korea, with schools clamoring to apply, and the invited artists were typically those riding a current wave of public favor.

Jiang Yihan, aside from promoting his film, was in the midst of his promotional cycle for his latest single. His rapidly rising popularity made him the ideal guest for this edition of the campus surprise. The chosen university was a massive institution with 6,000 students, so the artist had to be renowned enough to electrify such a crowd. Although Jiang Yihan performed impressively in 2005, his reach had been limited to young people in their teens and twenties. But with the overwhelming success of “Can I Love You?” over the past month, he had become a household name throughout Korea, which brought him this “formidable” task.

Before heading to the surprise campus event, Jiang Yihan stopped by his home to shower. As he came downstairs, discussing the upcoming schedule with Li Ran, a group suddenly surged toward him. Startled, he exclaimed, “Ah! Who are you?”

“Young master, we’re all from Castle,” the girls replied shyly.

Hearing their answer, Jiang Yihan took a closer look at the dozen or so girls before him. Some seemed familiar—though he couldn’t recall exactly where he’d seen them—but they must have met before. He asked, puzzled, “Why are you all still here so late? Aren’t you going home? It’s dangerous to be out here.”

“Young master, we just wanted to see you once, and we have some gifts for you, so we stayed until now,” several girls bashfully handed him their boxes.

He smiled wryly, “If you want to give me gifts, you can do it during the day, when I have events, or send them directly to the company—I’ll pick them up. If you stay out here so late, not only will your families worry, I’ll worry too. If you get into any trouble because of me, I’d feel guilty, wouldn’t I? So, for my sake, you shouldn’t linger out here so late.”

The girls, a mix of excitement and embarrassment, gazed at him, entranced. Even without makeup, the lines of his face, his pursed lips, curled lashes, and the beads of water still clinging to his freshly washed hair lent him a sensual air. His eyes, dark as midnight, seemed to draw them in. None objected; all were captivated.

Seeing their reactions, Jiang Yihan could only sigh again, “Come on, get in my car—I’ll take you home.” He ushered them into his van.

The five or six girls were beside themselves with excitement.

“Alright, just this once. When you’re home, don’t tell anyone about it. If you come out like this again, disregarding your safety just to wait for me, I’ll be angry,” he said sternly, hoping there would be no next time.

“Young master, where are you headed so late?” one girl asked curiously.

“I have to rush for another schedule, so I can’t rest tonight,” he replied casually.

“Ah, young master, you’re so hard-working. Having to work through the night,” a girl said, her tender tone making Jiang Yihan laugh.

“Young master, are you going for the campus surprise?” another, more perceptive girl guessed immediately.

But Jiang Yihan didn’t confirm, only smiling at them. “Remember, don’t wait for me downstairs again—I’ll be angry.”

After dropping the girls home, Jiang Yihan, Li Ran, Jiang Ziyi, and Xu Xian hurried to their destination. They arrived at the university at 2 a.m. The staff led Jiang Yihan and Li Ran through the route for tomorrow’s surprise, then began planning the operation.

After lively discussion, they decided that in the morning, Jiang Yihan would pose as a school discipline inspector at the entrance, checking students’ appearance—with makeup, of course—and see who recognized him. After two classes, there would be an assembly on “neatness and appearance,” culminating in the main event: the campus surprise.

Jiang Yihan was quite eager about his imminent appearance in front of everyone as their inspector.

With a few hours left before 8 a.m., they had to record an interview. Jiang Yihan and the host settled into a classroom to prepare.

“Let’s welcome everyone’s prince, Jiang Yihan!” the host began.

“Hello everyone, I’m Jiang Yihan,” he smiled at the camera.

“People call you the CD Prince because your live performances sound as good as the CD, and you’ve always sung live since your debut. That’s impressive!” The host brought up a new nickname, one Jiang Ziyi had already mentioned to him; Jiang Yihan felt shy, “That’s just everyone exaggerating. Singing live is a principle I uphold. Of course, there are differences—breathing, rhythm, those are never quite the same as in a CD. So sometimes the live show goes well, sometimes not. I hardly deserve all this praise,” he said modestly.

“How do you practice singing live, especially with breath control? You have many fast songs—it must be hard to keep your breath steady,” the host asked, getting technical.

“Yes, controlling your breath is tough,” Jiang Yihan explained. “In practice, I use a treadmill—two parts: first I run fast until I’m out of breath, then slow down and sing; second, I start slow, then speed up while singing. At first, my breathing is chaotic, but with practice, it becomes smoother.”

“That sounds difficult—how long did it take to get this result?”

“Actually, I’ve been practicing since before my debut, and I still do. There are always things to improve; you have to keep practicing. I plan to stick with it,” he said earnestly.

“It’s clear you work hard—without effort, you wouldn’t be where you are today. Have you ever had any accidents or interesting moments during live performances?” the host asked.

“Of course, especially last month, on Valentine’s Day,” Jiang Yihan’s expression darkened momentarily, but he quickly composed himself—personal matters couldn’t interfere with work. He pressed down his frustration and continued smiling. “That Valentine’s Day, I went to Busan for an outdoor concert to promote our film. When I arrived, the staff told me the sound system was broken, so I couldn’t sing live; I’d have to lip-sync. But I refused—live singing at an outdoor venue is different; the echo, the breath control, the feeling is unique. Lip-syncing would be obvious. I owed it to myself and my fans, so I rejected the idea.”

He paused, the host nodded.

“My manager negotiated, and eventually we compromised: they’d play the CD, but my microphone would stay open, volume lowered, so my live voice would be the main sound. That was the best limit they’d accept, so we settled.”

“When it was my turn, I was supposed to sing ‘Don’t Want to Say Goodbye’ first, then ‘Can I Love You?’ I kept emphasizing the order. On stage, the first track was correct, so I gave it my all, sharing the live experience. After that, I interacted with the audience, then began the second song—but then the problem arose.”

Everyone listened intently; only Li Ran, knowing the whole story, kept a straight face, secretly amused.

“The second song should’ve been ‘Can I Love You?’ but instead, they played my CD’s third track, a duet with Kim Jaejoong, ‘Secretly Loving You.’ Hearing the intro, I was stunned—it was a duet, and I was alone. Luckily, Jaejoong was there to promote with me; he heard the intro, grabbed a mic, and quickly joined me on stage to sing together. No mishaps.”

Just as everyone felt relieved, Jiang Yihan continued.

“But midway through our duet, the staff realized the mistake and pressed next. My CD’s fourth track began—a duet with Lee Hyori, ‘Confession.’ Jaejoong and I were dumbfounded.”

The crowd burst into laughter—it was a comedy of errors, and they became even more eager to hear what happened next.

“I was hesitating, unsure what to do, when Lee Hyori came up—she was the headliner that night, so she was present. Hearing the song, she realized the mix-up and rushed onstage. Jaejoong sang half, then hurried off, and Lee Hyori took the mic to sing with me. It was a fast song, so we sang and danced together—everything was fine. But then the staff switched songs again.”

Everyone thought the ordeal was over, but Jiang Yihan added another twist.

“This time, they finally got it right—my CD’s first track, ‘Can I Love You?’ Hyori and I were still dancing when the music stopped; we exchanged awkward glances, then she quickly exited, and I finally sang the song I was meant to.”

The story wound down there. Everyone let out a sigh, finding it absurd yet hilarious.

“That night was really ridiculous—if Jaejoong and Hyori hadn’t been there, who knows what would’ve happened; I couldn’t sing duets alone. Luckily, the mic stayed open, so I could talk between songs; otherwise, it would’ve been a complete disaster,” Jiang Yihan said, still frustrated.

Despite the drama with Li Yimei that night, the preceding event remained an entertaining memory for him.

“Haha, so many coincidences all at once! Clearly, there are lots of interesting moments in your busy schedule,” the host said. “Jiang Yihan, your new song ‘Can I Love You?’ has topped every music show and online chart for seven weeks straight—how do you feel?”

He replied modestly, “I’m just grateful for everyone’s support. The film helped too—thank you all so much.”

“Speaking of the film, I’ve seen it myself—it’s really good,” the host said, unable to hide his excitement.

“Haha, thank you for liking it,” Jiang Yihan bowed in gratitude.

“The movie is so pure—the only physical contact was that kiss. Tell us, what was it like?” The host posed the question everyone was curious about.

Jiang Yihan chuckled, embarrassed, “When we filmed that scene, Jaejoong and I poured a lot of emotion into it. When the shot succeeded, it felt like we really were the characters. The kiss felt very normal—soft and warm, haha.”

His words sent everyone present—and future viewers—into vivid daydreams.

Having said this, Jiang Yihan blushed deeply, irresistibly charming.

The interview lasted an hour and a half and finally wrapped up as 4 a.m. approached. Jiang Yihan and Li Ran spent the last precious moments taking a nap in the van.