Fearing that Cheng Jixue might misunderstand, Zhang Chaohe drove incredibly fast, arriving at Cheng Jixue's apartment building in no time. Cheng Jixue's apartment complex was one of the oldest types, with no gatekeepers, no security guards, and even the motion-activated lights at the building entrance were broken.
A small group of elderly people curiously looked at the unfamiliar SUV parked in the shadows. Cheng Jixue, using the pale white light from the gazebo in the community, unbuckled her seatbelt and smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Zhang."
The loudspeakers from the square dancing booths blared, their low, jarring static and drumming shattering the quiet stillness of the old neighborhood, creating a vibrant, lively atmosphere. Zhang Chaohe watched silently as he bid farewell, walking alone into the dark stairwell, a strange, subtle pity rising within him: "Cheng Jixue—"
Cheng Jixue turned to look at him, her eyes clear and bright, half of her face hidden in darkness. For the first time, Zhang Chaohe noticed that his face actually carried a hint of mockery, as if he were both heartless and affectionate.
Zhang Chaohe was like a street thug randomly picking up girls; once he opened his mouth, he had absolutely no idea what to say. He wished he could hide under a car. But when faced with a precarious situation, people often come up with clever ideas in a moment of panic. Zhang Chaohe arrogantly raised his chin and asked, "Do you eat pickled radishes?"
Before long, the G-Wagon sped away, its retreating figure looking somewhat embarrassed as if it were fleeing in disarray. Cheng Jixue was carrying three takeout boxes in one hand—Zhang Chaohe had just carefully rummaged through all the pickled vegetables that the aunt had packed for him by the back door, picking out all the radish and green bean products and stuffing them into Cheng Jixue's hands, his tone tinged with relief: "Eat more pickled radishes, they're good for your health. I'll spare you the green beans."
He weighed the carefully packed lunchbox in his hand, squinted at the radish strips pickled in the dark red broth, hesitated for a moment but still didn't throw it into the trash can at the building entrance, chuckled and turned to go upstairs.
The next day, when Cheng Jixue arrived at the company, she was surprised to find that Li Yimao and Mei Jinghan were also carrying familiar takeout boxes. Li Yimao stammered, "Why did President Zhang send us pickled mustard greens and pickled toon leaves? Is he implying that we're both idle and lazy?"
Mei Jinghan noticed that Cheng Jixue's smile was gradually fading, and immediately tried to smooth things over: "If we're talking about who's bad, we're talking about the two of us. You sang your part very well. We're both bad, we're both bad."
Li Yimao glared angrily.
I'll throw away those rotten vegetables when I get home tonight. Cheng Jixue thought expressionlessly.
Zhang Chaohe upstairs was unaware of Cheng Jixue's inner thoughts. He smugly crossed his legs and used the rollers under his chair to slide around the office.
After returning home last night, Zhang Chaohe deeply reflected on his abrupt behavior, fearing that Cheng Jixue might misunderstand something and affect his image as a good boss. So, he took the initiative to make amends this morning, tearfully picking out two more of his less favorite pickled vegetables from the remaining ones and having his assistant deliver them to Li Yimao and Mei Jinghan.
The boss's love is impartial; everyone should receive one, so we can work together to create a harmonious and stable working relationship!
Tonight we're flying to Shenzhen to prepare for the recording of "Dream Training Camp." Because Zhang Chaohe is there, everyone happily hitched a ride on his private jet. To prepare for tomorrow's recording, we can't drink alcohol or eat raw or spicy food, so Li Yimao had to devour two large bowls of baked rice, while Mei Jinghan was still nervously reviewing her stage moves.
Cheng Jixue ignored Zhang Chaohe—the young boss Zhang reclined his seat as soon as he boarded the plane, put on his headphones, and drifted off to sleep, completely refusing to communicate. Cheng Jixue stared at the other man's shoes for a while before turning his head to look at the clouds.
Dusk was falling outside the window, with a gentle glow of a brilliant sunset cascading over the horizon, and a deep, vibrant blue-green sky further away. Inside the cabin, the lights were bright, and the high-silicon tempered glass reflected his hard jawline and tightly pursed lips.
Cheng Jixue realized that she had lost control slightly, closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. When she opened her eyes again, she was the same Cheng Jixue with gentle eyes, humble and polite demeanor.
As soon as the plane landed, the production team specially sent the artists from Jiasheng who participated in the show to the airport to welcome their big boss. As soon as Zhang Chaohe came out of the VIP channel, he saw three handsome young men wearing masks standing in front of the nanny car, eagerly waiting.
He stiffened almost imperceptibly, then slightly adjusted his expression, striving to appear more elite and aloof, walking out with the artists and assistants behind him in a grand procession like an emperor on a tour of the country.
He glanced at the cameraman holding a video camera beside him, and then got into the car with a tense expression.
In the footage shot by the cameraman, after shaking hands with each of the celebrities who came to pick him up at the airport, Mr. Zhang naturally glanced at the camera with an arrogant look, then took a long stride and quietly got into the van.
On the contrary, the artists, who should have been more sensitive to camera angles, were not in a good position during the shoot. Under Mr. Zhang's strong aura, the students from Jiasheng who came to pick them up were all crushed like dumb geese, and were not even as natural as the three challenge guests.
The production team originally wanted to edit together a behind-the-scenes clip of the airport pickup as a bonus, but after receiving the footage, they all fell silent. The Zhang family had already given instructions not to allow any malicious editing of their son's story, and even less to arrange malicious scripts. But even just this airport pickup scene, no matter how it was edited, looked like "an artist groveling to greet a diva-like company CEO," potentially ruining the image of one of the trainees who was cultivating a "rich and handsome" persona…
After much hesitation, the production team could only edit out the clip of Zhang Chaohe casually glancing at the camera as a mystery trailer. At least in that clip, only the slender profile of the new challenger guest was visible, so the unfortunate contestant wouldn't be affected.
The comments under this mysterious teaser were incredibly simple—Zhang is not an artist and doesn't have professional fans controlling the comments, so popular comments like "His eyes killed me" were full of praise, and even the newcomer who only had a side profile was brought up and lauded. Compared to the monotonous and uniform comments under the behind-the-scenes footage of the three trainees waiting to be picked up at the airport, the popularity was much higher.
The production team immediately realized that as long as they filmed handsome men, they would get attention!
So for the rest of the trip, Zhang Chaohe was constantly surrounded by paparazzi who were determined to capture every single detail, down to his pores. Initially ignoring them, Zhang Chaohe eventually became extremely uncomfortable, finally pushing the camera away and asking the paparazzi, "Why are you filming me? Film them more; at least they have some buzz."
The cameraman thought to himself, "Mr. Zhang, you don't know this, but right now you're the most popular guy in the whole car," but he still said it very tactfully: "The director told us to film more handsome guys."
Zhang Chaohe felt incredibly pleased by the unspoken flattery. He pointed at Cheng Jixue with delight and said, "He's more handsome than me, you go flatter him."
Cheng Jixue waved her hand shyly, displaying the typical reserved demeanor of a newcomer.
Li Yimao's heart skipped a beat, fearing that the production team might be audacious enough to maliciously edit the footage. He immediately pretended to protest and changed the subject: "President Zhang, you're being too biased. Isn't Lao Mei handsome? Aren't I handsome too?"
The cameraman, who was initially disappointed that he couldn't edit out Mr. Zhang's favoritism, perked up immediately upon hearing this! He often managed to capture various clips of guests tearing each other apart and sarcastic remarks on the show, generating revenue and buzz for the production team. At this moment, Li Yimao's protest instantly caught his attention, and he was so excited that he almost shoved the camera in Mei Jinghan's face.
Mei Jinghan, as expected of a veteran member of a boy band, has seen her fair share of drama and knows that the production team is waiting to use their conversation to generate buzz. She immediately shifted the blame to the production team: "It's all the production team's fault for not arranging more cameramen. Otherwise, everyone would have one, and no one would have been able to escape!"
The teacher, unable to uncover a topic, angrily moved the camera away.
The trainees also noticed the unspoken chemistry between the guests, but eager for screen time, they all tried their best to join in. Li Yimao and Mei Jinghan were both seniors, and the trainees were afraid of being accused of trying to ride on their popularity by approaching them directly, so they started with the newcomers, bombarding them with questions:
"Brother Cheng, may I call you that?"
"Brother Cheng's skin is so good, you can't even tell he's wearing makeup, unlike me..."
"How tall is Brother Cheng? You look really tall—"
Zhang Chaohe couldn't bear to listen any longer, so he decisively closed his eyes and pretended to be deaf.
Cheng Jixue politely replied to each of them: "I dare not accept such praise."
"Because I wasn't wearing makeup."
184.
Li Yimao also closed his eyes, mourning for these trainees. Who would have thought that they were like old Pu'er tea spilled on a 304 stainless steel plate—gone and never to return.
It wasn't until one of the trainees finally revealed his true colors and used his seasoned arguing skills from the training base to ask, "Brother Cheng's nose is really straight, did you get it done?" that Cheng Jixue finally got the stage to show off his skills.
He gave a bitter smile, lowering his head slightly to hide the disappointment in his eyes. Every movement, every angle, was flawless, as if meticulously designed: "I have indeed felt inferior, and I want to become more perfect, but I have no money. I still have three million in debt..."
Zhang Chaohe: You're talking nonsense! I clearly paid you back that three million!
A note from the author:
Years later, when Master Ji recalled the first gift he received from Boss Zhang, who had won a million-yuan prize in a Weibo raffle, it turned out to be pickled radishes ⚹3…
I'm such an idiot! I didn't notice the one-click thank-you list button! Thank you so much for your support, everyone! Looking at the comments section occasionally while writing really lifts my spirits, and I hope it helps me lose less hair...
Thank you so much for the food, little cutie! Please let me know if I missed any baby!
Chapter 10
There was a two-second silence in the car.
The program even gave a huge close-up of the top Versailles master's textbook-perfect high nose bridge as a form of condemnation.
The student who had just started the trouble was speechless—there are indeed many people in the industry who were forced into it due to financial difficulties, but everyone agrees to never admit that it was because they were short of money, probably because they don't want to leave the public with a mercenary impression.
Cheng Jixue bluntly stated that he was short of money, which was simply a lack of martial ethics; he laid the truth bare.
Zhang Chaohe was very satisfied with his move to cut off the source of the problem, thinking that he could finally have some peace and quiet. However, the student was ungrateful and dared to bring up the topic with him, saying in a self-deprecating way, "Haha, Mr. Zhang should give Brother Cheng more bonuses to pay back the money."
Zhang Chaohe raised an eyelid and retorted without any politeness: "Deduct it from your salary?"
The student's face stiffened: Zhang Chaohe hated those online self-proclaimed benefactors who patronized others with their own words. Coupled with the other party's incessant chatter, which was incredibly annoying, he added insult to injury: "Three million? With your current salary, that'd be deducted for decades, right?"
After he finished speaking, he closed his eyes to rest. The boss was furious, and all sorts of demons and monsters fell silent. Everyone sat up straight and turned to look at the scenery outside the window, pretending to be considerate of leaving the boss a comfortable resting environment.
This trainee was a well-known rising star under agent Brother Du, and was highly favored by his fellow trainees and fans on the show. Now, having been ruthlessly humiliated by his boss, he stubbornly bit his lip, twisting his fingers with his head down, his red eyes gradually welling up with tears.
The cameraman immediately gave him a close-up, and the editor sitting opposite the monitor saw this scene and even came up with ideas for special effects. However, the assistant to General Manager Zhang coldly said, "Your production team should know how to edit this, right?" This completely stopped the production team's eager hands from making cuts.
No one dared to offend Mr. Zhang—at least in this car, Mr. Zhang still held absolute dominance.
The van sped to the base building, where the other trainees gathered to greet the newly arrived CEO and the challenger. The scene was incredibly lively, with everyone giving their best to welcome CEO Zhang.
Mr. Zhang is different from other CEOs. He has far more resources than others. Even if you don't stand out in the show, it would be good to get on Mr. Zhang's big ship!
However, reality dealt them a blow—most of the trainees were not as tall as Mr. Zhang himself, and some might not even be as handsome as he was so proud of…
Song Fei's heartbreaking experience that day was replicated on a large scale. Several teenagers had already given up and started chatting with the challenge guests brought by President Zhang. However, a few particularly outstanding and confident students still clung to President Zhang, trying to get the camera and attention.
One of the trainees, Zhao Qin, was the most proactive. He was a member of a previously unpopular group, and if he didn't seize this opportunity to revive his career, he would really be abandoned by his company. Therefore, he was called a workaholic by fans on the show, and his positive and hardworking persona gained him a lot of fans.
At this moment, Zhao Qin, using his familiarity with Mei Jinghan as an excuse, insisted on introducing the base facilities to General Manager Zhang. Mei Jinghan frowned frequently, trying to pull him off General Manager Zhang. Just then, Fu Ziming, the student who had been causing trouble on the bus, stepped forward: "Qin must be the tallest in our dormitory, right?"
They were all in the same Class A dormitory. Fu Ziming didn't dare to make a move against his colleagues, so he could only attract attention by arguing with Zhao Qinqi.
This is what Du Ze advised him at the time—who cares about whether someone is famous or not, as long as they generate buzz, they're truly famous!
Zhao Qin instantly became alert. He didn't know what the other party was up to this time, and with Zhang Chaohe still nearby, he couldn't openly embarrass his company's artists. So, he cautiously replied with a straight face, "I think so."
Fu Ziming's face lit up with delight. He waved with a smile and said, "Brother Cheng is 184cm tall! Ah Qin, your profile says you're 185cm, right? Come and see who's taller between you two!"
Zhang Chaohe: So, vicious cannon fodder have to be recycled?
He swore he saw Zhao Qin grit his teeth—the original body was only 182 cm tall, but after putting on leather shoes, it was about the same height as Zhao Qin wearing sneakers. It must be that at least 4 cm of the 185 cm figure was rounded up.
Zhao Qin hadn't figured out how to escape this predicament yet, since Cheng Jixue didn't seem like the type to collude with the other trainees in the base who voluntarily rounded up their height.
The other person spoke first: "The shoes I'm wearing today have hidden heels, so they can't be considered my real height. Let's compare them another time."
Zhao Qin was taken aback and secretly cast a grateful glance at him. Fu Ziming was about to say something when Cheng Jixue naturally walked to his side and jokingly gestured to the top of Fu Ziming's head: "See, wearing shoe inserts to increase height is still useful. I'm almost ten centimeters taller than you."
Now it was Fu Ziming's turn to freeze. His profile stated his height as 178cm, and he was wearing platform sneakers. If they didn't admit that Cheng Jixue was wearing height-increasing insoles, then his height was fabricated, and even more so than the implant in his nose.
So all he could do was offer a dry, perfunctory reply: "Yes, yes, it's really very useful."
The students who had been torn apart and tied up by Fu Ziming before were secretly pleased, and their smiles became much more genuine. The guests from Jiasheng were receiving an unprecedented welcome.
The four mentors had been waiting in the auditorium for a long time. As soon as Zhang Chaohe entered, he shook hands with them warmly, and the director began to formally introduce the four mentors who would be participating in the recording of the program the next day to Zhang Chaohe.
The first one is a top idol who came from the first generation of boy bands. He and Mei Jinghan are from the same period. He has now successfully transitioned into a mentor. He was filled with mixed emotions when he hugged Mei Jinghan.
The second is a leading singer in the Chinese music scene, with a distinctive and versatile personal style. His signature style has swept across the country, and he should be considered a powerhouse among the mentors. After shaking hands with him, Li Yimao excitedly rubbed his hands together, feeling a sense of satisfaction as if he had met his idol.
The third mentor is named Zhang Xijing. Coincidentally, he was originally a Peking Opera actor specializing in male roles. He was later discovered by a talent scout because of his good temperament and appearance and switched to acting. He just won the Best Actor award last year and is now one of the most sought-after top stars.
Upon hearing this setup, Zhang Chaohe knew he was probably doomed. Although he had only read up to the part where the original owner died in the original novel, and this TV King didn't have many scenes, just hearing this life story made it clear that at best he would become the contrasting character for the protagonist, and at worst he would end up homeless and killed by a truck.
Zhang Chaohe looked at him with pity.
Zhang Xijing: ?
Unlike typical idol drama actors who strive for a fragmented, ethereal beauty, Jang Hee-kyung possesses striking, strong facial features, with arched eyebrows and phoenix eyes. He is not only naturally suited to playing old male roles, but also highly appealing to audiences on the big screen.
He didn't know why Mr. Zhang was looking at him like that... He could only smile sincerely.
Then he saw the newcomer behind General Manager Zhang smile at him, with sharp eyes and a curved mouth, but he felt a chill down his spine.
Zhang Xijing: I really don't understand you guys at Jiasheng.
The fourth mentor is the only female one, a well-known variety show personality. She rose to fame through feuds on a talent show, and her reputation has always been poor, though she is rumored to have a very powerful background. However, given her established reputation, the production team was happy to let her generate buzz, so they invited her.
The production team was criticized for almost a month, but since they had already gained some viewership, they simply pretended to be dead and gave up.
The footage for this segment has been filmed, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the cameras were turned off. The director then led everyone through a script review. However, most of the script focused on the restrictions imposed on the mentors and the trainees of this program. The guests from Jiasheng only received the flow script; the rest was guided by the directing team.
The female instructor clasped her hands together, looking very embarrassed, and said, "Tomorrow I'm using a script that's designed to stir up trouble, so my words might not be very pleasant. If I offend anyone, please apologize in advance—"
Everyone immediately expressed their understanding. It seems that she apologizes every time a new group of guests arrives, and the other three mentors have already gotten used to it.
Zhang Chaohe was soon able to leave early, while Li Yimao needed to take Cheng Jixue and Mei Jinghan to film the stage rehearsal to test the effect, and also communicate with the music teacher about the accompaniment for the performance and other tedious matters. Zhang Chaohe had not yet heard the final rehearsal effect, and could not suppress his curiosity, so he went to the audience to watch them rehearse their stage practice in advance.