Chapter 125 Behind the Scenes

Chen Ziyan and He Heng sat in the last row of this conference room.

They are both agents and have known each other for a long time. Chen Ziyan also helped He Heng a lot in getting Jiang Yuqian to become a top-tier female star. The two have a very good relationship.

However, as agents, their faces are rarely familiar to the young artists in the company, since they rarely meet, and when they do, they don't pay attention to their appearance.

"The young people the company signed, is it still the same aesthetic? Are they all going to debut as boy groups?" Chen Ziyan recalled the faces she had seen that afternoon. "Out of hundreds of people, the ones who left the best impression on me were still those kids who debuted three years ago."

“Those guys were genuine idols who rose to fame through competition. Later, the talent show was canceled, and they all became trainees,” He Heng said with regret. “But they weren’t very lucky. After their debut, their popularity started to decline. There was still no stage for boy groups in China, so it was hard to maintain their popularity. These kids were very young and didn’t have many opportunities to act. A year ago, MX suddenly appeared, and their careers declined even further.”

Chen Ziyan: "MX is a standard boy band style, is there a market for it?"

“Now online variety shows and music festivals are much better than they were three years ago. When Feng Zhi debuted three years ago, there weren’t many stages, but MX had mature stages and programs from the start to keep them in the spotlight and increase their popularity,” He Heng said. “It’s all about timing and fate.”

"Not necessarily. These kids, Feng Zhi and the others, all have certain qualities. If they are handled properly, they might become famous. Especially the ones who auditioned today. None of them have studied acting, but they all acted quite well. Especially the last one, Lu Yanhe, right?"

Chen Ziyan's gaze fell on the boy who was looking down at a book in front of her to her right.

"To be honest, the role he was auditioning for was originally recommended to Director Luo by Yuqian, but after Vice President Ma and Zhou Ping'an communicated with Director Luo, it turned into today's open audition format." He Heng sighed again with regret, "I don't know how this kid offended them."

Chen Ziyan nodded and said nothing more.

"Sister Yan, are you really planning to bring a few more people with you this time?"

"Hmm." Chen Ziyan nodded. "After resting for half a year, I've had some free time and I'm feeling bored."

"I wonder which newcomer is so lucky to have won your favor," He Heng said with a smile.

-

Dozens of people waited until 6:30 p.m. before Zhou Pingan finally arrived.

"Everyone, please disperse. The results will not be announced on the spot today."

In an instant, public outrage erupted.

Why didn't you say so sooner?

"Yes, we've been waiting here all afternoon."

"You made us wait for nothing!"

...

Zhou Ping'an didn't bother with the young people's complaints and left after finishing his sentence.

Li Zhi cursed, stood up, and said, "Let's go, what are you still doing sitting here?"

Lu Yanhe put away the book.

"Shall we have dinner together before going back?" Li Zhibai suggested.

Cheng Hai shook his head: "I have plans tonight, so I won't be eating with you guys."

"Oh, who did you meet up with? A woman?" Li Zhibai asked immediately.

Cheng Hai said helplessly, "Don't talk nonsense. Don't let Zhou Ping'an hear it, or it'll cause a lot of trouble."

Cheng Hai left, Tu Song was gone, so it was just the three of them.

Li Zhibai drove them directly to a restaurant.

But it happened to be rush hour, and the car was stuck in traffic, which was frustrating.

Li Zhibai tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, the tapping sound ringing out rhythmically.

"But why weren't the results announced on the spot?" Li Zhibai suddenly asked.

Yan Liang shook his head. "I don't know, maybe there's no consensus."

"What kind of consensus can we expect? Isn't this all up to Director Luo?" Li Zhibai said. "Besides, judging from today's performance, who could be better than Lao Lu?"

Yan Liang glanced at Lu Yanhe, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Could it be that Brother Ping An is obstructing things from the middle?"

"He doesn't have the ability to stop Director Luo. He acts arrogantly in front of us, but in front of Director Luo, he's just a small-time agent," Li Zhibai said.

Looking at the stationary traffic outside the car window, Lu Yanhe said, "Who knows what's going on? Don't guess. Anyway, we won't have a result today, but we'll have one in a couple of days."

-

"Director Luo, thank you for your hard work today."

With a smile, Vice President Ma stood up with Luo Yuzhong. "We've booked a private room near the company. How about we have a casual meal together later?"

Luo Yuzhong waved his hand and said, "I've been meeting people all afternoon, it's exhausting. I'm getting old, and my energy isn't what it used to be. I won't eat, Mr. Ma. Let me go back and rest first. We can get together again when we have time."

Vice President Ma sighed and said, "It's precisely because you've been so tired and stressed that we've arranged a massage and foot bath for you after dinner. That shop is absolutely amazing. You've given our child so many valuable suggestions, we can't let you go back so exhausted. That would be like us being inconsiderate."

Luo Yuzhong turned around and glanced at Jiang Yuqian.

Jiang Yuqian understood immediately, smiled slightly, and said, "Mr. Ma, Director Luo's wife has been urging him several times, asking when he will go back, but Director Luo is embarrassed to say."

"Oh? So it's your wife urging you to go home?" Vice President Ma immediately said with a smile, "Where do you live? I'll arrange a car right away to pick up your wife and have dinner together."

Luo Yuzhong: "Alright, Mr. Ma, thank you for your kindness, I appreciate it, but it's really inconvenient today. We'll definitely have a chance to get together next time."

He patted Vice President Ma's hand and said, "You've worked hard today too. Get some rest. I'm leaving now."

Vice President Ma wanted to keep him, but Jiang Yuqian calmly stopped him, exclaiming, "Alright, President Ma, Director Luo is really tired today, so please don't force him. There will be plenty of opportunities to have dinner together later. I'll go see Director Luo off first."

After saying that, Jiang Yuqian quickly caught up with Luo Yuzhong.

She accompanied Luo Yuzhong into the elevator.

Inside the elevator, there were only them and their assistant.

Luo Yuzhong sighed and said, "This Mr. Ma of yours is really difficult to deal with."

"That's how he got to his current position," Jiang Yuqian asked. "Director Luo, are you satisfied today?"

Luo Yuzhong chuckled twice and said, "You little girl, didn't you see it? Do you even need to ask?"

Jiang Yuqian said, "I'm just worried that your standards are too high. I wasn't even confident when I auditioned for your role, let alone when they auditioned."

"Heh, please don't say that. Everyone around me is thrilled that you're starring in this film," Luo Yuzhong said with a smile. "They all say I can finally escape the situation of being critically acclaimed but not commercially successful."

"Not at all. I'm only able to film a movie that's both critically acclaimed and commercially successful because I'm working with you," Jiang Yuqian said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)