Chapter 179: Chapter
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
Fang Zhao voluntarily applying for military service on planet Baiji and getting approved caused a huge stir in Yanzhou's entertainment circles.
This was the first time a celebrity had voluntarily applied for a military service program with a high difficulty. Even though Fang Zhao's status in the industry was not very high yet, his popularity over the last two weeks had soared.
This was not just because of Fiery Bird's annual gala. Experienced members within the entertainment circles could tell right away that there was a team behind them hyping it up, but all they thought was that Silver Wing was stirring up the news to make Fang Zhao's presence felt one last time before he left.
They just had to wait and watch. After one month's time, after Fang Zhao started his training in the military district, all news of him would be sealed off; nobody would remember him. Silver Wing was just trying to squeeze out every last bit of Fang Zhao's value before he enlisted for military service.
Regardless of what outsiders thought, after Fang Zhao's application was approved, he bade his goodbyes to the two Fang elders, left Yanbei City, and returned to Qi'an City. After that, he requested a flying transport from the company and brought Curly Hair to Muzhou.
Fang Zhao was on the verge of enlisting and would only be able to return after a year. In that year, leaving Curly Hair in Muzhou was the most appropriate. Although it would be slightly inconvenient, at least he would have lots of freedom in Muzhou and sufficient fields to run around in. The attitude of the people of Muzhou toward dogs was the best among the 12 continents. Furthermore, Su Hou's batch of puppies had not grown up yet, and he planned for Curly Hair to lead his team in the next cycle of sheep-herding competitions. The new kennel had already been constructed and Su Hou was just waiting for Fang Zhao to deliver the dog.
Any traces of the "accident" that had destroyed the house at Dongshan Farm could no longer be seen. A new residence had already been constructed in the same area, and it was double the size of the previous one. Also, the parking area had been shifted away from the residence by 200 meters.
Su Hou had shared with Fang Zhao all his plans for the year. After all, Fang Zhao was also an investor in Dongshan Farm. Even if Fang Zhao would be away the entire year, he should still know the plan.
After Fang Zhao left Muzhou, he visited each continent's Cemetery of Martyrs in succession. When he was done, it was mid-February, about two weeks before he was to report for training in Yanzhou's military district.
Nowadays, Fang Zhao rarely went to the company. On this day, he dropped by Xue Jing's place and went to the hospital to visit Ming Cang's son, Ming Ye, who was still receiving treatment. On his way home at night, a piece of news popped up.
"According to the latest news from Huangzhou, "Project Starlight," which has been shelved for 50 years, might be rebooted!"
Every year, after Memorial Day, military leaders from all 12 continents would convene in Huangzhou to discuss some crucial development issues or determine some significant policies.
Many youngsters might not know what "Project Starlight" was, nor would some older people that did not pay attention to entertainment news.
The "Star" in Project Starlight referred to celebrities. Whether they were sports stars, e-sports stars, actors, or singers, they all belonged to the same category.
"Project Starlight" had first been proposed by the Ministry of Education with the aim of letting celebrities set a good example and guide even more youths to realize their value and potential in human society. However, in the end, this plan had not been successfully implemented. The reason why this project hadn't truly been able to take off was because there had been too many pretentious stars in the trial stages. Not only had they plotted against one another, they had competed with each other for resources, which had caused the market to be really chaotic, hence there having been no other choice but to halt it. With that, many people had started pondering: just how many years would it take for the Ministry of Education to reboot this project?
Unexpectedly, before the Ministries of Education decided, the project was proposed by military district leaders!
Due to the proposal to reboot the project, there would still have to be a trial stage. The only concern was that the trial representatives had to be selected carefully. Thus, the 12 military district leaders would select candidates. Yanzhou's side had recommended three people, and one of them was Fang Zhao.
Before the news of Project Starlight had been released, Duan Qianji had inquired with Fang Zhao about his opinion and asked whether he was willing to continue shining and burning brightly in a different place. If Fang Zhao had not approved, then he would have been eliminated as a candidate early on.
Fang Zhao had agreed. If he were really selected, he would be part of the project, but he would not be allowed to change his military service application and would still be sent to Baiji.
Two days later, the results of the military district leaders came out. From the list of 30 over names, the final five had been selected. Fang Zhao was among the five and was the only one not to have undergone military service.
Among the five stars, Fang Zhao's status in the entertainment circles was the lowest. He was also the youngest.
Fang Zhao had been selected for Project Starlight's first batch. As for why he had been selected? Not just because he had been popular recently, but also because Fang Zhao had voluntarily applied.
It was rumored that when the leaders of each continent's military districts had been coming to a decision on the final name list, an old general had seen that Fang Zhao had voluntarily applied for military service on Baiji and had praised him: "This young fellow is really sensible! He deserves to be commended!"
There was still a very huge difference between people voluntarily applying and being automatically assigned their vocations.
This was what Duan Qianji had meant by "staying calm and not being impatient!" This policy was assistance from the heavens!
When Project Starlight's five chosen representative were announced, the news dominated the headlines for three days straight. Silver Wing once again started to stir up the news, and the companies behind the others did the same as well.
Some of Silver Wing's competitors had relaxed, thinking that once Fang Zhao left for a year, he would vanish really quickly. Never had they expected that he would reappear with Project Starlight!
However, people not from the industry had different views.
Some felt that Fang Zhao was going to be pretentious, just like those stars in the past.
There were also some who felt that his spirit was laudable and other people who had not yet done their military service should learn from him.
But there were some people who focused their attention on something different.
Dancers and actors could perform, singers could sing, but Fang Zhao? Was he going over to lead the people on planet Baiji in playing games? Or was he going to compose songs for them to listen to?
"Fang Zhao, you must set a good example. Whether the project can be successfully implemented all depends on your performance," Wayne said.
The government hoped that this popular star could shine and burn brightly on another remote and frigid place. But Fang Zhao wasn't really too sure how to shine.
"What do I have to do?" Fang Zhao asked.
"You are in charge of delivering warmth."