Extreme narcissism is a disease

The preliminary rounds of Maner Star Show were held in the multi-functional practice room of the TANG Building. The selection process lasted three days, with N contestants narrowed down to 100.

The audition was being broadcast live in the porcelain-style office. Jonathan was called in to scout for promising newcomers, but he was not in the right state of mind. Although his eyes were on the screen, his mind had been wandering for a while.

"What," a hand wearing a Tang Dynasty totem thumb ring reached from the leather executive chair to the table, tapping the surface with an engraved and diamond-encrusted Montblanc pen, "isn't this good enough?"

The middle-aged man with graying temples turned around, his refined demeanor contrasting sharply with his luxurious attire.

Upon hearing "not good enough," Jonathan's long eyelashes fluttered twice, and he immediately focused his attention on the man's hands. However, since he had been daydreaming and didn't know that the question was "what is not good enough," he changed the subject and commented on things that were obviously "good enough."

"This pen suits you well, do you like it?" Jonathan smiled and rested his hand on his cheek, looking eager to know the answer.

Jonah Shine likes flashy, ostentatious things; the shinier, the more expensive, the more valuable, and naturally, good enough that it's hard to give up.

This pen was a gift from Jonathan to Tang Fan not long ago.

In fact, after Jonathan rose to the top, he would send Tang Fan this kind of thing whenever he was in a slump.

Tang Fan put down his pen, sighed, and said, "Let's take a break for a while. There are still nine months until the G-Match, and we can't rush the transformation."

The smile froze on Jonathan's face and disappeared. His eyes flashed, and he suggested, half-jokingly, "Then let's fire Vasin. He's like a human surveillance camera. I can't get any rest when he's watching me."

"No." Tang Fan casually interlaced his fingers in front of him. "During this period, you also need to report your daily routine to Tang Lan every week."

Jonathan's hand swept from his cheek to the top of his head, messing up his meticulously styled hair. He stared pitifully at Tang Fan for a while, and seeing that the other party was unmoved, he knew there was no room for negotiation. He could only let out a very reluctant growl.

“It seems you don’t want to see it here. Then go downstairs and take a look.” Tang Fan opened his hands, picked up the pen again, and casually pointed to the screen above him. “Come back in an hour, and Tang Lan will examine you.”

Jonathan pursed his lips and didn't say anything. He put his hands in his pockets, got up, and stomped out on the carpet. When he saw Vasin standing guard at the door, he rolled his eyes and then pointed his thumb backward, mimicking, "Fan~ is calling you."

“I understand.” Vasin entered the office without the slightest suspicion.

"Hey, you idiot." Jonathan pulled out a master card from his pocket and swiped it to access the elevator. "I'll have him learn to speak Cantonese from now on."

A ring of silver light was drawn out and fell to the ground, hitting the carriage door and then bounced to Jonathan's feet.

Jonathan instinctively picked it up. It was a platinum ring set in black lambskin. After looking at it closely, he remembered that Diamond Ash had found it on the sink in his lounge on Christmas Eve. He had put it in his pocket without thinking much about it.

"Judging by the style, it's a men's ring." The elevator doors opened, and Jonathan, clutching the ring, entered. "The only person who came to my lounge that day was..."

As the elevator descended, Jonathan felt bored and tried the ring on each finger, guessing, "It fits perfectly on my index finger. It can't be that scumbag Ryan. He wears his wedding ring in front of the media, so it must be someone else's."

"It's a pity we won't have the chance to meet again."

-

Outside the practice room on the first floor of TANG, young people were waiting to be assessed.

In the eyes of Jiang Songhe, the child star agent, what kind of nonsense is this: heavy makeup, outlandish costumes, and chaotic dancing?

Jiang Songyun was extremely excited. TANG was the company of his idol Janus, and he longed to one day be like Janus, loved by many people as an independent, mature, talented, and charming man.

And he longed for that day to come as soon as possible after he turned 18.

The people of the Porcelain Kingdom value "keeping a low profile." Jiang Songyun was raised by Jiang Songhe from a young age and was subtly influenced by this. He had made thorough preparations before coming here and was confident. Before making his appearance, he only needed to familiarize himself with the environment and blend in.

He wanted to make some new friends of similar age.

Little did he know that his guardian was always by his side. Before he could even make conversation with the colorful target, the other party saw the straight black aura behind him and avoided him, claiming that they couldn't understand the porcelain script.

Jiang Songyun frantically spread his hands: "I can speak English! Wait! Hey…"

Jiang Songhe crossed his arms and sneered, "Take care, don't bother seeing me off."

"Brother! What are you doing?!" Jiang Songyun's features contorted in pain as he glared at Jiang Songhe and stomped his foot. "I'm just an ordinary person in Man'er. If you do this, people will say I'm trying to play the victim. You've ruined my public image, how am I supposed to compete?!"

Jiang Songhe thought to herself, "If I can't compare, that's fine too." After weighing the options, she decided to stick to the conversation and say, "Nonsense, would an ordinary person have an agent?"

Jiang Songyun huffed and puffed out, then turned away, saying, "Then leave."

"Then let's not compete." Jiang Songhe stretched out his long arm, held the two people's passports between two fingers, and waved them in front of Jiang Songyun.

Jiang Songyun's inner monologue: "How can that be? I almost cried, made a scene, and threatened to hang myself just to come here."

"Alright, alright! I am electricity, I am light, I am the only myth! Could you please buy a cup of coffee for the superstar to reduce the swelling? An agent can't let their artist appear on camera with a swollen face, can they?" Jiang Songyun did the opposite.

Jiang Songhe: "What kind of coffee do kids drink?"

Jiang Songyun: "I drank quite a bit on set too."

"..." Jiang Songhe suddenly realized that she had been too busy with social engagements in the past two years and hadn't stayed in the crew to take care of her younger brother, so she softened her attitude and said, "If you're thirsty, just drink water."

Then she pulled out a light blue Little Prince thermos from her black nanny bag, a style that was completely out of place with her own.

Jiang Songyun's face flushed red instantly, and she took a big step back, refusing to reach out and take it: "Please spare me! I'm seventeen already!!!"

The two brothers, scaled up to the same size, stood out in the crowd. Their Beijing accents, when spoken hastily, sounded like they were arguing. Jiang Songhe, realizing she was being stared at, felt embarrassed and silently shoved the water bottle back into her hands. But she wouldn't budge an inch on the matter of buying coffee: "If you don't want it, then tough it out."

"Can I have something sweet if I have low blood sugar? Can I drink juice?" Jiang Songyun looked like he was about to catch his breath again.

Jiang Songhe's heart skipped a beat, but he hesitated again when he remembered the last time he cried wolf. Just then, a step in the right direction came from above—"Producer Xu" called.

"Tsk, what kind of juice do you want?"

-

Jiang Songhe, ignoring the incoming call display, first went to the coffee shop on the first floor for a look around. The coffee shop didn't sell pure juice; everything contained caffeine. He also glanced behind the counter; the concoction of technology and ruthless labor was worse than not drinking it at all.

He went out for another walk and found a vending machine with slightly better fruit and milk options.

Finding no one in the corner, he inserted a few Mandocoins, retrieved the last can of milk from the shelf through the pick-up slot, checked the production date, and then called Xu Qin back: "Hello?"

"President Jiang, Shen Zongli has admitted to the domestic violence. He was at a family dinner in Jingyan that day, and he got drunk..."

The milk carton snapped open with a "crack" as Jiang Songhe pushed open the door and entered the stairwell.

Jiang Songhe said in a deep voice, "Get to the point."

"...He will pay the paparazzi hush money in full."

Jiang Songhe breathed a sigh of relief: "Well done."

"Yes, Mr. Jiang. Also, the detailed comparison table of real-scene reshoots and AI face-swapping has been sent to your email. You might not be able to see it right now, so I'll just give you a brief report on the key points..."

As Jiang Songhe listened to the string of numbers Xu Qin reported, he raised his left hand and used the pad of his thumb to scrape a white mark around the base of his middle finger.

"This detailed list is yours; do not divulge it to anyone else."

After hanging up the call, Jiang Songhe felt like smoking, but the cigarettes were in the nanny's bag, so she thought about washing her hands instead. As she turned around to head out of the stairwell, she was suddenly pushed in the upper abdomen and slammed into a corner.

The milk he bought for Jiang Songyun was immediately sold, rolling down the stairs from the first floor to the ground floor.

That's the last can!

Jiang Songhe glanced down and saw a white-haired man grabbing his throat with one hand and pulling him upwards, while pinning him against the wall with the other. Because he had encountered too many white-haired men in a short period of time, and was certain that the other man was no match for him, confusion outweighed anger. He asked, "Are you sick?"

"No wonder you refused, so you like kids who look like you... oh boy~" The white-haired man raised his face, his narrow eyes flashing with a provocative and mocking smile, and then, as if he had caught his prey's vital point, he stepped into Jiang Songhe's inescapable territory.

"This kind of extreme narcissism is what's sick."