Du Ze gave a silent sneer. He had just received a call from Song Fei, and he had heard that this young Zhang was quite shrewd and unyielding, not giving him a chance to speak at all. He was afraid that this blockhead might say something he shouldn't have, so he called to test the waters: "Sigh, I just found out that Song Fei was so impulsive. It's my fault for not explaining things clearly, which caused some unnecessary misunderstandings."
"I understand, I understand." Zhang Chaohe leisurely spun around in his chair.
"I heard the company signed a newcomer who came from a theatrical background?" Du Ze asked.
"Brother Du is quite well-informed," Zhang Chaohe said in a flat tone, without a trace of sarcasm. "Now that the contract has been signed, we can start preparing to launch it."
"Since President Zhang thinks so highly of him, why don't we stop having Wang Yin mentor him?" Du Ze said, seemingly offering advice but actually volunteering, "If President Zhang trusts me, why don't you let me mentor him instead?"
Zhang Chaohe secretly rolled his eyes, not bothering to play along, and bluntly refused: "No need to trouble Brother Du, I'm going to hire a separate agent for him to be fully responsible for his acting arrangements."
"Uh..." Du Ze's mind went blank for a moment: "Hire another agent? Mr. Zhang, the best agents in the country have already settled down. It's not that easy to hire an agent with both experience and connections!"
Zhang Chaohe caught that slight pause. He narrowed his eyes. Du Ze's sudden hesitation must be because he realized halfway through his sentence that there was indeed a suitable candidate.
The two exchanged a few words and hung up the phone. Du Ze had already forgotten his original intention for calling. He was pondering what move this was all about. If he invited another agent, did it mean that the Second Prince was preparing to make a major change to the company?
And who exactly is this "Cheng Jixue" that made the Second Prince go to such lengths to find out?
Zhang Yinshan quickly received feedback that a top agent had indeed recently lost a key protégé—Cheng Xuelan. Cheng Xuelan had been managing a young actress who had won a Best Actress award, but after the actress successfully gained recognition, she dumped her mistress, who was also working under Cheng Xuelan, and married into a wealthy family. Cheng Xuelan even turned on Cheng Xuelan, causing a very unpleasant situation between the two parties.
Zhang Chaohe: Oh wow, heaven is on my side!
Chapter 5
"Ms. Cheng, that is Cheng Jixue."
Through the glass, Cheng Xuelan looked at the young man Zhang Chaohe was pointing to. He was sitting on a lounge chair, his head slightly bowed, talking to the man sitting on the floor. His long legs were casually propped up, and he had a relaxed and carefree air about him.
Zhang Yinshan's assistant was extremely efficient, partly because Cheng Xuelan wanted to escape pressure from her award-winning husband; the two met the very next day. Cheng Xuelan bluntly stated that she needed to meet in person to decide whether to collaborate—artists with poor qualifications or questionable character were not within her consideration. Zhang Chaohe readily agreed, and the two quickly went to the training room to meet at their future work location.
Cheng Xuelan squinted at the young man on the other side of the wall. Cheng Jixue was much more attractive in person than the cold photo in the file. She observed him carefully for a while before speaking: "Good prospect, but I don't think President Zhang is a person who is passionate about traditional Chinese performing arts. Where did you find him?"
On the surface, this statement seems to be an interest in Cheng Jixue's background, but in reality, it is a subtle way of asking if Xiao Zhang has any connections with him. The movie queen incident has made her wary of any artist who is associated with a wealthy family, let alone a top-tier wealthy family like Zhang Chaohe.
Zhang Chaohe instantly recalled the scumbag behavior of the original owner of the body who was tempted at the grave, hesitated for a moment, and decided to tell the truth: "At the funeral home."
Cheng Xuelan: "..."
Cheng Xuelan: "You are truly dedicated."
It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it, because the mention of it immediately reminded Zhang Chaohe of the various pressures the original owner had exerted on Cheng Jixue since she lost her job nearly two months ago. Although in his memory it was handled flawlessly, that was only from Cheng Jixue's perspective—if Master Ji wanted to bring up old grievances in the future, he would definitely not be able to hide it. He began to hesitate about whether he should find an opportunity to apologize in advance.
The person who had been sitting on the ground with his back to them suddenly stood up to grab his guitar, revealing his face. Cheng Xuelan laughed, her rose-pink nails lightly tapping the glass: "Oh, is this Li Yimao? He's quite the troublemaker. Did they know each other before?"
"Huh?" Zhang Chaohe looked over, completely bewildered.
⚹
Li Yimao got up early, ate breakfast with a vengeance, and rushed to the company, ready to outwit the newcomer forced in by the higher-ups. Song Fei's subtle embellishments, coupled with Du Ze's advice to think more positively, made the image of the newcomer in his mind extremely demonized.
He hummed the tune of a new song as he pushed open the door to the practice room. Inside, a young man sitting on his phone looked up at him—the man was tall, handsome, and exuded an aura that suggested he was some top celebrity he didn't recognize.
"Did I go to the wrong room?" Li Yimao looked at the door number suspiciously, and realized that it did seem to be the right room. He casually tossed his backpack onto the floor by the door. The young man had already put away his phone, stood up, and looked at him with a smile.
Li Yimao noticed that he was really good-looking, but he searched his memory frantically and still couldn't remember the face.
“Dude, there’s a rehearsal in this room later,” Li Yimao said politely, “Why don’t you change rooms?”
"Li Yimao?" The other person glanced at him up and down quickly.
Li Yimao looked at him warily, a bad feeling creeping over him: "You are..."
"Hello, senior, I am Cheng Jixue." The young man extended his hand politely and respectfully, "I'll trouble you to take care of things later."
Li Yimao: "Pfft!!"
Li Yimao was shocked: "You are Cheng Jixue?"
Isn't this newcomer some kind of monster?! It's said that because he's so ordinary, even though he's a relative, he didn't even dare to take a spot on a solo stage!
You call this ordinary?!
"Yes, hello?" Cheng Jixue tilted her head, her outstretched hand hovering steadily in mid-air, waiting for Li Yimao to shake it back.
Li Yimao snapped out of his daze and quickly cupped the other hand in his hands, shaking it up and down as if in a daze. He looked Cheng Jixue up and down, a bitter but harmless sour feeling welling up inside him: "You are much better than I thought... much better."
After setting aside his prejudices, Li Yimao felt more and more compatible with the other person as they talked, and he didn't even realize that a third person had arrived.
The third person is Mei Jinghan, who was one of the first members of a boy band in China—unfortunately, only those who become famous are called veterans, while those who fade into obscurity are called outcasts of the era. He is definitely more worried than Li Yimao, because according to the information his manager has received, one of the people he is working with this time is a notorious troublemaker at Jiasheng, and the other is a person with connections who squeezed out Du Ze's resources, which can be described as a chaotic mess.
When Mei Jinghan came in, she was surprised to find that the troublemaker and the person with connections were actually chatting happily. Moreover, this person with connections did not look like someone with poor business skills, but his demeanor did not seem to have the style of a boy band member.
He came over and greeted us, "Are you a trainee at the company?"
Cheng Jixue smiled slightly, his eyebrows and eyes were smooth and relaxed, but his eyes were gentle and reserved: "I sing Peking Opera."
Mei Jinghan looked him over with interest: "Do you sing the kind of songs about Bao Zheng or Zhuge Liang?"
“I sing the song about Yang Guifei,” Cheng Jixue said.
This time, it was Mei Jinghan's turn to be shocked: "You're kidding, right?!"
Cheng Jixue cleared her throat, casually tapped her palms with her phone, and began to sing: "The moon rises over the island, the jade rabbit appears, and the jade rabbit rises early again—"
The performance of "The Drunken Beauty" was exceptionally authentic, with a clear, sweet voice and a rich, melodious singing style, truly like jade beads falling and spilling from a silver bottle. Even laymen like the two of them couldn't help but praise it.
Seeing that Mei Jinghan also looked bewildered, Li Yimao finally found a subtle psychological balance: "We talked about the songs we're going to sing for the group stage before you came here."
"Do you have a direction yet?" Mei Jinghan was happy to have someone to worry about him. Singing and dancing were not his strong points. He debuted in a boy band before simply because his temperament and facial features were very much in line with the aesthetics of that time. He was forced into the group by his manager to play the role of the visual center.
"It's a Chinese-style rap song that I wrote myself." Li Yimao handed over the tablet, and Mei Jinghan carefully flipped through it before asking, "Are you planning to make the climax right at the beginning?"
“Yes, I was worried that the song wouldn’t have enough staying power,” Li Yimao patted Cheng Jixue on the shoulder, “but now, we have him!”
“But this kind of…” Mei Jinghan didn’t know how to describe Cheng Jixue’s singing style for a moment, and could only vaguely gloss over it: “Doesn’t it not quite match the mood of the whole song?”
“I can also play the role of an old man,” Cheng Jixue pointed to the middle section of lyrics originally marked “Xiqiang” and the last long section of (harmony) notes, “This section can also be given to me.”
Li Yimao was deeply moved. The difference between hell and heaven couldn't be more extreme. In just twenty minutes, he had completely forgotten about Song Fei's crazy farting and Du Ze's insincere comfort: "Shall we get to know each other first? We'll test the effect when the piano teacher arrives!"
So when Zhang Chaohe and Cheng Xuelan arrived at the training room, they saw Li Yimao chatting wildly with Cheng Jixue, Mei Jinghan practicing intensively in seclusion to maintain her image as a veteran of the boy band, and the three of them happily waiting for the piano teacher together.
Cheng Xuelan pushed open the door and came in. All three of them looked up at the same time—Zhang Chaohe swore that Cheng Jixue smiled at him! He stood under the bright lights, his eyes as clear as water, and looked at Zhang Chaohe with a smile. He had just suppressed the memory of the original owner chasing after him, and now that he saw Cheng Jixue smiling so sincerely, he felt even more guilty and took the initiative to nod as a greeting.
Neither Li Yimao nor Mei Jinghan had met the newly appointed General Manager Zhang before. Cheng Jixue gently reminded them, and they immediately greeted their boss obediently: "Hello, General Manager Zhang."
Cheng Xuelan rarely appears in public—and even when she does, she's not someone these newcomers, fourth-tier celebrities, and washed-up stars would ever meet. With a smile, she looked around at the three of them and asked, "First time working together?"
Li Yimao felt puzzled, but this woman looked shrewd and capable and was standing next to President Zhang, so she must be an important person. He briefly put away his prickly demeanor and replied meekly, "Yes."
"You two seem to be having a good conversation. Do you know each other before?"
"Not familiar." However, Li Yimao couldn't change his nature, and his tone remained nonchalant.
Cheng Xuelan nodded: "Then you guys continue, I'll stay here with President Zhang and watch for a while."
Mr. Zhang, who had no say in the matter: The rest chairs in the training room were a long, low wall covered with a layer of thick, gaudy cushions. Zhang Chaohe, dressed in a business black suit, looked completely out of place with the teddy bear cushions. In addition, none of the company's artists dared to talk to him, so he sat there awkwardly. He simply crossed his arms and leaned back, coldly watching them work out.
It's no exaggeration to say that the room temperature dropped by at least three degrees just from his cold expression as he sat there. Li Yimao dared not chat anymore, and Mei Jinghan became even more withdrawn. Only Cheng Jixue understood his despair and spoke to him softly: "President Zhang, will you be giving us a score on the day of the show?"
Li Yimao perked up his ears.
“I won’t score you. I’ll only score the trainees who participate in the training camp, and the evaluation standard will be whether I’m satisfied with their training results.” Zhang Chaohe thought this mechanism was pretty good. After all, there are dedicated managers responsible for screening and signing promising newcomers. It’s rare for the president to directly intervene in the management of artists, so it’s relatively fair and reasonable for the program team to reduce the voting power of the parachuted CEO.
Cheng Jixue joked, "Oh dear, I was hoping that President Zhang would go easy on me, but it seems that's not going to happen."
Zhang Chaohe couldn't stand it anymore. He felt like a parent following a classmate reunion, which was really too much of an eyesore. He was hesitating whether to find an excuse to leave first when the training room door was pushed open again!
Mei Jinghan looked over hopefully, hoping the piano teacher would come to the rescue and dispel the tense atmosphere, but instead, Du Ze's smiling, round face appeared behind the door! He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a wide face, making him seem kind and good-natured. Du Ze first greeted Zhang Chaohe: "President Zhang is here too."
"Brother Du?" Li Yimao asked in surprise.
Du Ze waved to him as a greeting, his gaze subtly sweeping over Cheng Jixue. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, then he strode towards the woman, laughing heartily as if meeting an old friend: "Isn't this Busy Cheng! Long time no see!"
"Manager Du, it's been a long time." Cheng Xuelan stood up politely and shook hands with him.
"Why did Sister Cheng come to Jiasheng?" Du Ze asked knowingly.
Li Yimao pressed his tongue against his cheek—the woman surnamed Cheng who could make Du Ze so polite must most likely be the top agent, Cheng Xuelan.
The two had a long history of friction in the early days due to their competition for resources for artists, and even had several public conflicts. The current peace is merely a facade after the resource conflicts have decreased due to their different target markets. Du Ze thought Cheng Xuelan would politely brush off the topic, but Cheng Xuelan instead launched a powerful attack with a smirk: "Because Cheng Jixue is about to sign with me, and my team will be planning his acting career!"
Cheng Jixue herself remained unmoved, only slightly raising her eyebrows, but Li Yimao exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap!"
Du Ze's expression shifted, as if he had swallowed Li Yimao whole: "Does Sister Cheng mean she's going to switch jobs and interfere with Jiasheng?"
Cheng Xuelan turned to look at Zhang Chaohe, who had been watching the whole thing unfold, and said in a light tone, "Mr. Zhang, you can't afford to hire me and my team, can you?"
Zhang Chaohe chuckled haughtily, perfectly portraying the arrogant and unruly nature of a domineering CEO: "There's no corner of the earth that I, Zhang Chaohe, can't poach!"
Cheng Xuelan patted non-existent dust off her right hand—she had just shaken hands with Du Ze before extending her hand to Zhang Chaohe: "Pleasure doing business with you?"
Du Ze: Damn it!!
A note from the author:
This inspiration came from my own experience. I was assigned a group project that involved collaborating with students from another class in my department. Because I wasn't very familiar with the students I was assigned to, they started badmouthing me. I thought they were really bad and was even considering putting in my best effort, but then...
Chapter 6
Cheng Xuelan lived up to her reputation as the "bulldozer of the industry." As soon as she appeared, she made a big splash and defeated Du Ze. After not fighting for several years, Cheng Xuelan became even more unreasonable and asked again, "Hey, Li Yimao, do you want to change your agent?"
Li Yimao never expected that watching from the sidelines would cause trouble for his own little boat: "Me? What does this have to do with me?"
Cheng Xuelan clasped her hands together, like an invincible female general: "Do you want to be a traffic star or a singer?"
Li Yimao was stunned—it was as if the knob of an old-fashioned radio with rust clicked softly in his mind. His throat tightened, and for a moment he lost the ability to speak. He could only stare blankly at Cheng Xuelan.
"Li Yimao!" Du Ze shouted, then suddenly stopped, "You should think about this more!"
Cheng Xuelan didn't say a word to Du Zezheng. She stared directly at Li Yimao, her gaze as firm and sharp as a steel knife.
"General Manager Zhang!" Seeing that Li Yimao didn't speak, Du Ze quickly looked at Zhang Chaohe. Cheng Xuelan dared to challenge him, not only because of her more than ten years of professional experience and reputation, but also because of the young man behind her. He was the king general who commanded his troops to charge into battle!
“Ms. Cheng’s vision is far more professional than mine in this regard,” Zhang Chaohe said, his expression cold and stern, but his posture casual and relaxed, making him look like a handsome playboy who does whatever he wants. “I can only promise that the company will unconditionally support everyone’s choices.”
Du Ze was so angry at Zhang Chaohe's blatant bias that he couldn't speak. He pointed at Li Yimao and sneered, "Don't jump into the pit!"
“It’s just a third-rate, low-volume business,” Cheng Xuelan said slowly. “Why does Manager Du seem so anxious?”