Looking at the final list of pros and cons, Jiang Xiaoman had to admit that Jiang Xia, that die-hard fan, was sometimes somewhat useful.
At the very least, having spent many years in the fan circle (in order to chase after celebrities), Jiang Xia is much more aware of the many shady dealings within this circle than the average person.
The problem is, this is Jiang Cancan's life. No matter how much they analyze the pros and cons here, they ultimately have to take responsibility for their own lives. The only one who can make decisions for herself is Jiang Cancan herself.
Chapter 65
It's too much to ask a child who is not even ten years old to decide how to live the next few decades of their life.
However, considering Jiang Cancan's family situation, Jiang Xiaoman could only point to the completed form and explain the reasons behind it to Jiang Cancan in as simple a way as possible.
After all, she has already made it into the top 30, and if nothing unexpected happens, she should be able to make it to the finals.
Rather than being forced to make a decision at that time, it's better to take the initiative and choose the option that is most beneficial to you.
"Why can't we choose both Aunt Xu and Brother Wei Sheng?" Jiang Cancan asked Jiang Xiaoman in surprise.
“Look, Brother Wei Sheng acts and dances, while Aunt Xu sings. They are completely different! I can learn to dance from Brother Wei Sheng and sing from Aunt Xu, so I can earn two salaries! Brother Xiao Bai said this is called a part-time job.”
Jiang Xiaoman: "..."
Forget it, I'll just hand you over to your agent.
Wei Sheng's agent, Zhou Mingxing, has rushed over despite his busy schedule.
He hasn't mentored any new talent in three years. The station's leaders are practically begging him to stop, because if he doesn't mentor new talent soon, their company is facing a talent shortage...
Other agents are also desperately recruiting new talent, but their approach is to sign several or even a dozen seemingly promising artists at once, and then frantically try to secure resources through every channel. In any case, if the artist fails to become popular, it's simply because they weren't destined to be famous.
Want to terminate the contract? You'll have to pay them a hefty termination fee!
But if one of them becomes famous, they can get a cash cow for free without much effort, it's a sure thing!
The problem is that this laissez-faire training method doesn't plan for the potential and characteristics of newcomers at all. The probability of success is about the same as winning the lottery jackpot.
Anyway, in the ten years since the TV station's entertainment company was established, only the four people brought up by Zhou Mingxing have truly become top-tier or popular stars.
In recent years, countless aspiring stars have tried every means to pull strings and find connections in hopes of joining Zhou Mingxing's company.
Unfortunately, Zhou's manager was as firm as iron and his original intention remained unchanged: he only wanted the best talents, and he wouldn't even give a second glance to those who were second-rate!
What Jiang Xiaoman and Jiang Cancan didn't know was that no matter how many tables they compared behind the scenes, as long as Zhou Mingxing took a liking to Jiang Cancan, J Province TV Station would sign her at all costs!
They didn't really believe in Jiang Cancan's talent; after all, she was still a child, and who knew if the voice changer would cause her any problems later. The TV station executives truly believed in Zhou Mingxing, a man renowned in the talent agency circle for his Midas touch!
Moreover, Jiang Cancan is only nine years old this year, and she has such a beautiful voice that God has blessed her with. After a few years of careful training, once she has successfully passed the voice changer, she can be shown on the provincial children's channel to become a familiar face.
By then, they'll be around the right age, and they can officially debut on an auspicious day. They'll be able to make money for the company starting in their teens, and over the next few decades, this cash cow will grow stronger and stronger, with immeasurable commercial value... It's so exciting to think about!
The first thing Zhou Mingxing did upon returning was to "interrogate" Jiang Cancan's homeroom teacher, carefully inquiring about Jiang Cancan's daily words, actions, and habits, including the character of the parents who accompanied her. These were all factors he considered.
In recent years, the government has tightened its control over the entertainment industry, especially regarding the character of artists and their families. If you don't conduct background checks beforehand, you'll suffer greatly later!
In recent years, the station has recommended so many newcomers to him. In fact, there are good talents among them, but Zhou Mingxing is so shrewd. After asking around, he found out that...
This high school already has quite a few "good girls," including one who started meeting female fans privately before she even became famous, another who received "special attention" from a big shot as soon as she entered the industry, and yet another whose family evaded taxes in their business... Would he dare to mentor her?
After finding out about Jiang Cancan's family background and character, and hearing Wei Sheng's "complaint" that Xu Ying also wanted to sign this newcomer, Zhou Mingxing stroked his chin and surprisingly said, "Sister Ying has been an old friend of our station director for decades. Why not collaborate?"
"After all, Jiang is a flower of the motherland, nurturing talents for the country. How can we only assign one teacher to her?"
Zhou Mingxing chuckled and buried his head in searching for Xu Ying's agent's phone number.
Seeing his manager's familiar expression, Wei Sheng couldn't help but shudder—a shudder for Xu Ying (and her manager)—
Based on his years of experience (being scammed), Zhou Mingxing must have even schemed against Xu Ying, a veteran actress!
Jiang Xiaoman knew nothing about any of this.
After the top 30 competition, there will be a two-week intensive training period. Music academy mentors and industry guests invited by the TV station will take turns teaching the students according to their respective strengths. Of course, teaching is secondary; the main purpose is to let them get to know each other and prepare for the group stage.
"Hey, Brother Xia, my new house is finished and we're having a wedding banquet. My dad asked me to ask you for help with setting the date..."
When Jiang Xiaoman said those words, she felt so ashamed that she wanted to bury herself in a hole in the ground!
What a disaster for the kid! What's wrong with his dad again? Didn't he already see through this little shaman's true colors? He's just a brainless fan of the movie star! He's even neglecting to farm the land because of his idol, how can he be expected to choose a good date for him?
“I reckon it’s about time. Okay, you wait here! I just brought my divination tools with me.” Jiang Xia skillfully pulled his suitcase out of the hotel cabinet and calmly took out the divination tools that his father had passed down to him.
"You take this with you when you go out?" Jiang Xiaoman squatted down with a curious look on her face.
"Nonsense! How am I supposed to run my online store without this?" Jiang Xia rolled her eyes.
"An online store? Brother Xia, you run an online store too? What do you sell?" Jiang Xiaoman immediately became interested.
We all run online stores, so we might be able to drive traffic to each other.
"You couldn't even guess this? Isn't this my family's old business?" Jiang Xia opened her phone, randomly clicked on a product link from her online store, and sent it to Jiang Xiaoman. "Fortune telling, good luck summoning, divination, all kinds of talismans... By the way, do you want to get yourself a God of Wealth? After all, we're in business, so I can give you a 20% discount since we're acquaintances."
Jiang Xiaoman: "...Thank you, but I don't believe in that."
He calls himself a God of Wealth? His God of Wealth is none other than his fans. Instead of worshipping a God of Wealth, he should make more videos to give back to his fans.
but--
"Do you have any talismans here that can help a celebrity's career? I'll get one for Can Can."
"I wonder what Wei Sheng's agent is like. Sigh, we can only rely on luck."
This time it was Jiang Xia's turn to say "...".
However, his online store business over the years has mainly targeted the entertainment industry. He does have talismans that can bless a star's career and fortune, and they are the number one seller in his online store. Most of them are bought by fans of celebrities and given away as gifts to their idols.
After all, their idols have everything except good luck in their careers. Even if he's a movie star, we still need to bless him to keep winning awards in his next film.
"Please be sincere. I'll send you the link, and you can place the order yourself. I'll then ship it via express delivery, and you'll receive it. That's how you create a complete closed loop," Jiang Xia instructed him earnestly.
"Wait a minute, bro~ you sent the package from this hotel room, and I filled in this address, so the courier came to pick it up and then delivered it back the same way?" Jiang Xiaoman was completely stunned.
After all this trouble, he just checked and found that all the blessing items in Jiangxia's online store do not include shipping. He would have to pay an extra eight yuan for same-city delivery and trouble the delivery guy to make two trips. Why bother?
"So you mean you find praying for blessings too troublesome and just sit at home waiting for the gods to bless you?" Jiang Jiwu gave him a sinister look.
"Fine, I'll just let the delivery guy make the trip!" Jiang Xiaoman shuddered and decisively decided to spend eight yuan for peace of mind.
After taking the photos, Jiang Xiaoman, out of curiosity, took advantage of Jiang Xia's preparations for choosing an auspicious day to browse through Jiang Xia's online store. What he saw made him so jealous he almost had a heart attack—
A special birthday blessing ceremony for an idol is priced at 6666 yuan. Even though it comes with a full set of essential household talismans for blessings, exorcism, and warding off evil spirits, plus three free fortune telling sessions a year, it's still expensive!
Specialized blessings for things like starting a business, signing a contract, or releasing a new song are cheaper, costing a few hundred yuan, and come with a free "May all your wishes come true" talisman.
There are even "ticket-grabbing charms", "long-lasting single charms", "lucky charms for attracting love", and "lucky charms for cutting off unwanted romantic advances"... and they all sell quite well. No wonder he spends all his time chasing after celebrities, doesn't raise pigs or farm, and hasn't starved to death yet.
After choosing a date, Jiang Xiaoman stayed in the provincial capital for another day, asked Jiang Cancan for half a day off, and took her to buy some gifts for her grandmother and younger sister.
Jiang Cancan now has a "salary". The provincial TV station is still rich. After being selected as one of the top 100 contestants, each person receives a living allowance of 200 yuan per day. Although many parents have spent more than that amount of money just on gifts to the program's leaders, Jiang Cancan has never given any gifts. So her living allowance has been sitting unused. This time, she bought some things and asked Jiang Xiaoman to take them home.
"Where are we going? To the supermarket?" Sitting on the subway, Jiang Cancan nervously tugged at Jiang Xiaoman's clothes.
"Let's not go to the supermarket, things there are too expensive. Let's go to the wholesale market instead." With only half a day, there wasn't enough time to browse the supermarket at a leisurely pace, and besides, things there were very expensive. Jiang Xiaoman had already asked on the local forum, so the two of them took the subway straight to the wholesale market.
The wholesale market in the provincial capital is very large. After getting off the subway, they found the bus stop, carefully checked the road signs and stops, and then boarded a bus.
"Didn't you want to buy some new clothes and shoes for your grandma and Yueyue? I've inquired and found out that the goods sold at the market in our village are all from wholesale markets. Let's buy the clothes and shoes first, and then go to the nearby secondhand market. That's where we can find some good stuff."
Even if Jiang Cancan hadn't mentioned it, he was still going to browse the flea market. His house was newly built, and the interior was just painted with a layer of whitewash. All the beds and furniture in his house had collapsed under the weight, and he had to buy new ones.
As for large items like beds and tables and chairs, his father had already planned to have someone come and make them at home. Back when Jiang Xiaoman was admitted to university, Jiang Youliang had cut down several large trees that had been planted at home for more than ten years, intending to make a set of sturdy and durable furniture for Jiang Xiaoman when he graduated and got married. The wood had been stored for several years and was just right for use.
Other things can only be bought with money.
Transportation to and from Langshan is very inconvenient, and goods from outside are very expensive when they are brought in. When Jiang Xiaoman went to the market to buy vegetables, she asked about the prices and decided to come to the provincial capital to buy them. Even if she had to send them back via postal parcel and pay for postage, it would still be much cheaper than buying them at home.
Chapter 66
"This place is huge!" After getting off the car, Jiang Cancan felt her eyes were about to blur when she saw the wholesale market that was at least eight stories high and the road signs covered with labels.
"Look here, this is the floor guide sign. Children's clothing is on the third floor, and clothing for middle-aged and elderly people is on the basement level. Let's find the corresponding floor first, and then find the right store."
The "suitable shop" Jiang Xiaoman referred to was certainly not the shop with the best-looking clothes, but rather—
"See? These are all discounted clearance items. These kinds of shops are usually located in wholesale markets. Some wholesale stalls have clothes that are out of size or slightly defective and need to be returned. It's too much trouble to return them to the factory, so these shops usually open nearby. They specialize in buying these clearance items at low prices from various shops and reselling them. These shops also sell individually, you can buy just one piece, but you have to be careful when choosing."
Jiang Xiaoman only discovered this after she went to university.
Previously, he would just buy socks, vests, underwear and the like from wholesale stalls to sell at his own stall. Later, he accidentally discovered that there was such an opportunity to "find a bargain". However, he didn't need much, so he couldn't take everything like other people who opened shops. Even though he found that doing this seemed to be quite profitable, he didn't have the ability to open his own shop.
"Wow, there's so much stuff here! They have everything!" Jiang Cancan looked up and was amazed to see that the clothes in the store were almost hanging from the ceiling. Her eyes were practically dazzled by the sight.
"The clothes are different in each season. In summer, there are all kinds of short-sleeved shirts, shorts, socks, hats, and so on. In winter, there are all kinds of thermal underwear, fleece-lined vests, and knee pads. Come on, let's pick some out for Yueyue first!"
As she spoke, Jiang Xiaoman pulled Jiang Cancan along to carefully select items in the store.
Since Yueyue is still at home and not in school, there's no need for her to wear anything too fancy. Based on his own preferences, Jiang Xiaoman picked out two pairs of mosquito-repellent pants and two long-sleeved mosquito-repellent shirts in the same color scheme for her.
This fabric is comfortable, soft, and absorbent, making it perfect for wearing in rural areas. During this season, if you go to a market, you'll see children everywhere wearing this cotton-silk children's clothing.
Seeing the children's sun hats next to her marked "2 for 10 yuan", she ran over and picked out two more sun hats. Rural people generally don't buy hats for their children, and the straw hats for adults are too big. Jiang Xiaoman knew that Jiang Yueyue, a child her age, already needed to help with chores at home, so she actually needed a hat.
Compared to Jiang Xiaoman, Jiang Cancan had much broader standards for choosing clothes for her younger sister.
I saw a bunch of blue and white tracksuits that looked a lot like their current school uniforms, so I bought them!
I saw a pink dress with lace trim. My little sister has never worn such a pretty dress before. I bought it!
Seeing a pile of defective items marked "All Five Yuan" next to her, she pounced on them...
"Xiaoman, can I buy all of these? I checked the sizes, and the girls in my class can wear them too, and they're only five yuan a piece! They're selling for fifteen at the market!" Jiang Cancan looked over with a slightly pleading look in her eyes.
She dared not call Jiang Xiaoman "brother" anymore. Brother Jiang Xia had specifically reprimanded her for this, saying that an elder addressing a junior with a respectful title would cause Jiang Xiaoman, her "nephew," to lose a lot of life...
Jiang Xiaoman walked over and counted the items, mentally calculating what the two of them needed to buy, before going over to chat with the shop owner.
The shop owner looked quite young. From the moment they entered the shop, he kept staring at his phone watching the live stream. To save time, he even pre-recorded the welcome message through an electronic loudspeaker.
The most terrifying type of boss is the one who is laid-back and indifferent, making it very difficult to negotiate prices.
Jiang Xiaoman paused for a moment, but decided to give it a try anyway, just in case she could successfully negotiate a lower price.
"Um, miss, does your shop do wholesale? I'd like to buy some stuff to resell..." Jiang Xiaoman started to speak, but the female shop owner waved her hand—