Chapter 129 Extra Chapter 2 - The Competition (Part 1)...

"I have a business dinner tonight, so don't wait for me to come home for dinner."

Lu Ting put on the suit that Su Ruyi had prepared for him and said something.

His clothes were neatly ironed, and the excellent tailoring perfectly accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist, making him look tall and handsome.

Su Ruyi looked at him with admiration. She not only liked to dress herself up, but also liked to make Lu Ting look tall and handsome, so that she could feast her eyes on him every day.

No matter how busy Lu Ting is, he never forgets to exercise, so he always maintains an excellent physique. This gives Su Ruyi even more motivation to buy him clothes and help him put together outfits.

After the two got married, Su Ruyi took care of all their clothes, both inside and out. Whether it was for social events or going to the construction site, they dressed up like male models on the runway.

Because of his outstanding appearance and sophisticated attire, Lu Ting was categorized as a young nobleman rather than a nouveau riche.

The wealthy in Qing Province can be roughly divided into two categories: one is people like Lu Ting who became rich halfway through their lives, and the other is people with a solid foundation who regained their glory after the opening up, similar to Old Master Zhang.

These two groups of wealthy people often dislike each other. The former thinks the latter is too pretentious, still clinging to the glory of their ancestors in this new era. The latter thinks the former is unsophisticated, arrogant just because they have some money, and doesn't know anything about the meaning of "refinement."

Lu Ting, on the other hand, was a rare exception, receiving affirmation from both sides. He was also composed and steady, unlike some people who become arrogant after suddenly becoming rich. Nor was he self-righteous and always looked down on others.

While his abilities and behavior are largely to blame, his appearance also played a significant role.

Lu Ting's attire has always been understated yet luxurious, revealing his wealth and status without being adorned with excessive logos and gold chains.

Su Ruyi deserves much credit for achieving this effect.

"Perfect timing, I'm taking my mom and Aunt Mei to the TV station tonight, they want to watch the semi-finals of 'I Love Singing' live."

Su Ruyi personally put a tie on Lu Ting, and Lu Ting put his arm around her waist.

"They've already made it to the semifinals? Wow, that's fast." Lu Ting had watched two episodes of the show and knew a bit about it.

"I Love Singing" is also a program invested in by Su Ruyi. Lu Ting will always take the time to watch any program that Su Ruyi invests in.

This show is currently very popular. Unlike other professional singing competitions, this show is open to the general public. Anyone who likes to sing can participate in the show; they don't necessarily have to be a professional singer.

The program starts with open auditions and is reported throughout the entire process, making it a program with broad public participation.

The judges are not only professional teachers, but also audience members who participate in the voting.

Viewers who want to vote only need to purchase the corresponding product, which can then be sent to the television station to cast their vote.

These products are all from Su Ruyi and Lu Ting's companies, including Ruyi Clothing, Meijie Braised Food, Dried Fruit, and Hongxing Plastic Products.

The more you buy, the more votes you get, and the higher the probability that your favorite singer will win.

This idea didn't come from Su Ruyi. Although Su Ruyi knew that this competition format could be very successful, based on her experience in her previous life, it should only start a few years later, depending on the right time, place, and people.

A successful program not only needs good content, but also needs to meet the needs of people at that time.

Being ahead of the curve or behind it can both lead to the failure of a program.

So Su Ruyi never thought of bringing the wildly popular variety shows she knew about to this world ahead of time.

Su Ruyi wasn't a professional in this field. Although she frequently invested, apart from the low-budget program she made to promote the supermarket, she had never done any program planning since. Others would come to her with proposals.

She will only invest if she finds something pleasing to the eye and if there is an advertising need.

The show "I Love Singing" was presented to her by Liu Quan. The CCTV Young Singers Competition was highly popular and received widespread attention. The Hunan TV station also wanted to hold a singer competition, but with a format different from the Young Singers Competition.

So they came up with this competition, which is aimed at the general public; anyone who loves to sing can appear on the show.

The investment in such competitions is enormous, but the returns are very limited, so Liu Quan approached Su Ruyi.

After Su Ruyi and Lu Ting got married, Su Ruyi's power increased even more, and Liu Quan clung to her even more tightly.

When Su Ruyi saw the proposal, she thought of the competitions she was familiar with in her previous life.

The producer's feasibility analysis also convinced Su Ruyi that it was worth a try.

So they improved the proposal and readily paid the money.

The show has garnered much attention from the very beginning. Now that VCD players with karaoke functions have entered thousands of households, many people can sing a few songs at home. Therefore, many people participated in the competition with a try-it-out attitude.

During the auditions, it was a chaotic mess, which made the production team wonder if this would really work!

Unexpectedly, it was precisely because of these people's boldness that the show gained more attention.

After round after round of competition, the competition has now officially entered the national semi-finals, pushing the level of popularity to an extremely high level.

Whenever Lu Ting went out for social engagements, people would come up to him and talk about this. They praised his wife for being so amazing, organizing such a competition, getting his wife and kids glued to the TV all day, and buying a ton of stuff, all just to vote for their favorite singer.

The circle of wealthy people in the provincial capital is only so big. Everyone knows that this program was invested in by Su Ruyi, after all, the advertisements are there.

Su Ying and Li Mei were also loyal viewers. Now Su Ying has retired, and the dried fruit factory has a successor. She is usually responsible for external sales.

Qing Province is an important sales region, so I came here and also took the opportunity to see Su Ruyi.

"What do you mean by fast? The whole program took more than three months to complete."

Su Ruyi helped Lu Ting put on his tie, pulled out the watch cabinet, and took out a watch to compare.

"How about this watch?"

"nice."

Su Ruyi rolled her eyes at him: "You say everything looks good no matter what I bring."

"It really does look good." Lu Ting touched his nose sheepishly.

"Of course what I bought looks good, but even the best-looking clothes have to match what I'm wearing today." Su Ruyi asked casually, never expecting anything from Lu Ting.

When Su Ruyi met Lu Ting, his outfit was fine because it consisted of basic styles, and he had a good physique, so she didn't notice anything wrong with it.

If you really let him choose his own clothes, they'll be incredibly ugly.

Previously, when Lu Ting went to another city, he bought several sets of clothes for Su Ruyi, which really made Su Ruyi's eyes go black.

Luckily, she's a fashion expert and managed to put together an outfit that was wearable, living up to his good intentions.

Lu Ting really couldn't tell how much difference such a small watch could make. It wasn't usually visible; it was mostly hidden under his clothes.

He used to think that watches were just for telling time, but now he realizes that they also represent status.

However, he didn't understand, but he never questioned Su Ruyi, because he knew that Su Ruyi was doing it all for his own good.

These days, people respect clothes before they respect people. To get into his position, you not only have to look rich, but you also have to have good taste. Only then will you have a chance to get in.

In the afternoon, Su Ruyi took Li Mei and Su Ying to the TV station. Since they had obtained tickets in advance, they only needed to have their tickets checked to enter.

Su Ruyi did not follow the two into the studio. She did not intend to watch the program live, but went backstage to visit the staff.

Su Ruyi did not disturb everyone's work, but instead served them snacks, fruits and drinks.

"President Su, you're too kind. You've given us so many things."

The person in charge of receiving us was Huang Li, the director's assistant. She had only been at the TV station for a short time and was not yet proficient in many things, so she was assigned to this role.

Everyone is very busy with the live broadcast now.

"Director Chen is busy. There was a slight technical problem just now, so he couldn't come to greet you in person."

Chen Mingsheng was in charge of the "I Love Singing" program. It was such a big program, and it was the first time it had been held, so the station attached great importance to it and assigned him to be in charge.

The live broadcast is about to start, and Chen Mingsheng is very busy right now. Su Ruyi certainly wouldn't ask him to come see her at this time.

Despite the seemingly perfect order on stage, the backstage environment is always chaotic, no matter how well-organized it may appear. There can be no room for complacency, otherwise, a live broadcast accident could occur.

Su Ruyi waved her hand: "No need to be so polite with me. Everyone must be exhausted. Eat something to replenish your energy."

Huang Li didn't stand on ceremony. After distributing the snacks to everyone, she grabbed a small pastry and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Tonight is especially important; the whole country is watching. We haven't had a proper meal all day, so bringing us some snacks is a lifesaver."

The TV station provides lunchboxes, but when things get busy, there's no way to sit down and eat properly.

The snacks that Su Ruyi sent were perfect as a supplement.

Behind-the-scenes workers at television stations work incredibly hard; working through the night is common, and their mealtimes are often irregular.

The pressure on the Economic Television Station is still very high, and the competition is more intense than that of ordinary television stations, so everyone is working hard and dares not slack off in the slightest, for fear of being eliminated.

This mechanism has also enabled the television station to cultivate many outstanding workers.

"You still need to take care of your health. I'll bring you some late-night snacks after the show tonight."

Huang Li was very happy: "That's great! We were just discussing what to eat after the show."

Although the show has ended, the work of the behind-the-scenes staff has not ended and they still need to keep busy.

Su Ruyi is always generous, and the late-night snacks she sends are always top-notch.

Everyone likes joining the program team invested in by Su Ruyi, not only because she is generous and likes to give all kinds of things, but also because they feel valued and respected.

Moreover, Su Ruyi wouldn't interfere with experts' work, nor would she arbitrarily give orders or send people in haphazardly just because she's the big spender.

"You go about your business, don't worry about me, I just came to check on things."

Knowing Su Ruyi's personality, Huang Li didn't stand on ceremony and went about her own business.

Su Ruyi went to the singers' rest area because the costumes were all provided by Ruyi Clothing, so she had to come and check on the situation.

"I Love Singing" is not simply a singing competition. It's not about who sings the best to be the most popular. It also considers whether the singer has audience appeal and whether their stage presence is attractive. It's about creating stars.

The previous competitions were fine, but now that it's getting closer to the end, the requirements for makeup and styling are getting higher and higher. This season's production team has hired excellent stylists from Hong Kong and Taiwan who will create special designs based on the contestants' characteristics.

The contestants who made it to the semi-finals all have their own unique skills. Regardless of their appearance, they all need to have their own style in order to attract more support and fans.

Su Ruyi was wearing a staff vest, and her outfit was rather simple today, so she didn't attract much attention.

Su Ruyi didn't want to disturb everyone, so she just glanced at the contestants' outfits. It has to be said that the stylist they hired at great expense was truly skilled, giving the otherwise plain-looking ordinary people their own unique style.

The contestants did not all wear the outfits provided by Ruyi Clothing; they only wore one or two individual items.

This design is not only diverse, but also serves as an advertisement for Ruyi Clothing.

Su Ruyi came quietly and prepared to leave quietly, not wanting to disturb everyone's work.

The semi-finals are about to be broadcast live, and everyone in front of and behind the camera is very nervous.

The snacks, fruits, and drinks that Su Ruyi brought were only eaten by some backstage staff who had a spare moment. The contestants basically didn't dare to eat anything at this time, for fear that something might go wrong when they went on stage.

Su Ruyi originally planned to leave through the back door, where there were fewer staff members coming and going. If she hadn't frequently visited the TV station, she wouldn't have known there was such a small alley.

I had only taken a few steps when I heard someone talking in the corner.

Su Ruyi originally didn't intend to pay attention to it, because there were few people here, so some staff members would come here to smoke.

But after hearing one sentence, Su Ruyi stopped in her tracks.

"If you don't sign a contract and cooperate with us, it's impossible for you to enter the top ten."

Su Ruyi narrowed her eyes slightly. She was the sole sponsor of the show "I Love Singing". Other advertisers who wanted to join had to get her approval and could only get a very small share.

The reason she is so assertive is that she doesn't want any messy things to happen on the show, which would end up being a mess.

Although she doesn't expect the program to be completely problem-free—she can turn a blind eye to minor irregularities in TV stations due to various factors—the overall program must be fair.

This was something Su Ruyi had agreed upon with Liu Quan beforehand: the top ten had to be fair, just, and transparent, and absolutely could not be decided arbitrarily; it had to be determined according to public opinion.

She, as the largest investor, didn't place anyone inside or interfere with the rankings. Where does this person get such a big mouth?

The other person remained silent. Su Ruyi quietly moved closer and vaguely saw a girl being cornered by a man.

Because most of their faces were blocked, Su Ruyi couldn't see what the two looked like.

"You'd better think this through. If you don't make it into the top ten, you won't get the prize money, you won't be able to participate in the subsequent concert tour to earn money, and your mother's illness will be incurable," the man threatened.

Su Ruyi seemed to have guessed who the girl was. Among the contestants who entered the semi-finals, only one girl's mother was sick.

The girl's name is Xu Fei. She is a very pretty and likable girl. Although she is not a professional singer, she has a naturally good voice and a high singing IQ. She is a gifted singer.

Moreover, through repeated competitions and vocal training organized by the program team, her singing skills have improved more and more.

Although she is still inexperienced, everyone has high hopes for her and thinks she has great potential.

When shooting promotional photos, it was discovered that she also had a great sense of the camera. She could always quickly understand what the photographer wanted and then take beautiful photos.

During the filming of the promotional video, the production team discovered that she also had a talent for acting, and the TV station's film and television department considered inviting her to participate in the filming of a self-produced drama after the competition.

Although it was just a minor role, it still showed how highly they regarded her.

Although Su Ruyi did not participate in this program, she was quite clear about the situation of the top five contestants in each region.

Moreover, Su Ruyi herself has been watching the show and has a very good impression of Xu Fei. She thinks that Xu Fei's overall strength is very high and that her future path may be broader than that of other singers.

If we're only choosing the best singer, it's hard for her to rank high, but she has strong overall abilities and is very popular with the audience, so she still has a chance to be among the top.

Even if she can't get in, given her abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for her to enter the circle.

Although the treatment of artists in this era is incomparable to that of ten or twenty years later, they still earn money more easily than ordinary people.

Su Ruyi had planned beforehand that regardless of whether Xu Fei made it into the top ten, she would collaborate with her and have her endorse her newly launched youth casual wear line.

Her appearance is very youthful and energetic, and she has a sweet smile. She is very popular among teenagers and is very suitable for that series. However, her ranking will determine how much she can be paid.

To avoid putting psychological pressure on other contestants, no prior contact was made.

After all, as the biggest sponsor, Ruyi Apparel's clear statement before the competition that it was very optimistic about a certain player was bound to attract gossip.

It's one thing if Xu Fei didn't make it into the top ten, but if he had, people would definitely suspect there was something fishy going on.

"I want to think about it some more," the girl said softly after a long pause, her voice filled with hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Su Ruyi became even more certain of her guess: the girl was indeed Xu Fei.

Her voice is very distinctive; you can tell it's her as soon as you hear it.

"The live broadcast starts in an hour! There's no time for you to think it over. Do you really think I'm going to sign you? If I didn't pity you, there are plenty of people who want to work with us. Yang Cancan even knocked on my door last night and took off her clothes as soon as she came in, just wanting me to give her a chance."

Su Ruyi frowned even more. Yang Cancan was also a contestant who had entered the semi-finals. She was also very good in terms of appearance and was a competitor of Xu Fei.

Both are girls, and they are both good-looking and have decent singing skills, but they are popular because of their performances, not because of their singing.

Yang Cancan has a great stage presence and is very charismatic on stage. She may not be as pretty as Xu Fei, but she is tall, skilled in dance, and has excellent fashion sense.

Although the two have different styles, their audiences overlap significantly, thus creating a competitive relationship.

Upon hearing this, Su Ruyi knew that the man was talking complete nonsense, clearly taking advantage of Xu Fei's young age and ignorance to spout off.

Yang Cancan is not an ordinary person; she comes from a wealthy family, and her family's main business is in the south.

She went abroad during high school and only recently returned. Because she loves singing and dancing, she signed up for the competition.

However, she has never mentioned her experience of studying abroad. Otherwise, given the current craze for studying abroad and the admiration for foreign countries, she would have been more popular and received more attention because of her status as an international student.

Su Ruyi knew this because Grandpa Zhang had introduced her to Yang Cancan's parents.

Yang Cancan made it clear that she would participate in the competition based on her own strength and would not let her parents get involved. However, Yang Cancan's parents were worried that there were too many messy things in this circle, which would affect Yang Cancan.

So they secretly sought someone to protect their daughter, and that's how they ended up targeting Old Master Zhang.

Yang Cancan's parents did not demand that Su Ruyi give their daughter any particular ranking, but they wanted to ensure her safety and fairness in the competition.

However, although Yang Cancan's parents didn't ask Su Ruyi to pull strings and get her a pre-selected spot, they secretly bought a lot of products to get votes for their daughter and also did a lot of publicity to make everyone aware of Yang Cancan.

How could someone like that possibly resort to underhanded tactics for the sake of rankings?

If Yang Cancan wanted to rise to the top through underhanded means, her parents wouldn't have supported her in such a roundabout way; they would have just approached her directly.

Su Ruyi has a lot of influence on this show, but she doesn't like to do these things. Even if she has a favorite singer, she never thought about making sure that singer gets first place.

But if you were to actually give her a large sum of money, Su Ruyi wouldn't dare to say that she could truly uphold her principles.

Xu Fei was also shocked, finding it hard to believe that such a thing could happen.

The entire competition process was transparent; she got to where she is today thanks to the audience.

Although she was in competition with other contestants on the show, they actually got along very well off-screen.

Her relationship with Yang Cancan was just so-so, mainly because they didn't have anything in common.

Although Yang Cancan never revealed it, Xu Fei could tell that Yang Cancan came from a wealthy family and had never worried about money. Xu Fei felt somewhat inferior in front of Yang Cancan.

Xu Fei couldn't believe that Yang Cancan would do such a thing.

"This, how is this possible..."

"Hmph, that's how this industry is. If you want to climb up, you have to use tricks. If you want to survive in this industry, you have to find someone to back you up, otherwise you'll be devoured until there's nothing left. Do you think those opportunities come from somewhere? There's always something going on behind the scenes."

The man began to grow impatient. "I only got this contract for you because we're from the same hometown. If you don't agree, then forget it. Forget about making the top ten; you won't even get many shots. Don't be fooled by your current popularity; without screen time, all your fans will leave."

Xu Fei was extremely conflicted. Although she was young and hadn't experienced much, she felt there was something wrong with the contract.

Unfortunately, there was no one she could consult with, and she couldn't ask for anyone's opinion.

"I'll wait one more minute. If you're not going to sign, then forget it."

The man raised his hand and began to look at his watch, putting immense pressure on Xu Fei.

Su Ruyi came out at this moment, asking, "What are you doing here?"

Xu Fei and the man were startled and turned around to look.

Su Ruyi then saw the man's face clearly; she had no recollection of him.

This person is not a core member of the TV station; otherwise, she would definitely recognize them.

The man glanced at Su Ruyi's attire and assumed she was just an ordinary staff member.

So young, and I've never seen him before, he can't possibly be an important figure at the TV station.

Su Ruyi's outstanding appearance caught his eye a couple of times, but he didn't pay much attention to her.

There are plenty of pretty girls these days, but not all of them are worth investing in, and he wouldn't dare to mess with the TV station staff easily.

"We need to talk here, you go and do your thing."

Su Ruyi, however, had no intention of letting him off the hook: "I just heard you say something about signing a contract. What contract?"

Upon hearing this, the man's face immediately darkened: "What else did you hear?"