Chapter 16 Rules

Chapter Summary: As long as you sign this contract...

A tall man with short black hair and broad shoulders stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a section of his tanned forearm with beautifully defined muscles and an air of pent-up power.

The shirt was tucked into a narrow waist, and two long, straight legs were encased in black trousers.

Hearing the assistant's question, He Zhiyue turned around.

His face was too angular, with a pair of amorous peach blossom eyes, a narrow and high nose bridge, a sharp jaw, and a thin line drawn at the end of his right eyebrow, giving his whole face an impatient and aggressive look.

He had two buttons undone on his shirt, his tie was loose, his eyes were downcast, one hand was pressed against the glass window, his middle finger tapping lightly as if he was restraining something, and the atmosphere around him was a little tense.

Assistant Luke was already used to his boss transforming from a meticulous and abstinent CEO in public to this unruly and roguish demeanor whenever it was time to work overtime.

The live stream tipping segment is almost here, and I'm wondering if I should urge the boss again to ask how many spaceships he wants as a tip.

Then they heard He Zhiyue whisper a number.

Luke hesitated upon hearing this. Last time, they had already destroyed 50 ships, but this time... However, when he looked up and met his boss's gaze, the other party's superior authority left no room for doubt, so he hurriedly did as his boss instructed.

After his assistant left, He Zhiyue thought of the live stream he had just watched. The image of Xia Xinyan singing in a pink dress with her sweet smile and her dynamic and hot figure kept flashing through his mind. He also recalled how he felt out of control when it came to giving tips... which made him irritable, so he tugged at his tie again.

He uttered a single word: "Fuck!"

He hated this feeling of being manipulated.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. The image of Xia Xinyan in his mind was replaced by another graceful figure dancing. He opened his eyes, and his deep pupils seemed to blow away the mist, restoring clarity.

Stage performance of "Chasing the Light Girl".

Everyone was staring at the tipping interface on the big screen.

The special effects didn't last long before 10 "spaceships" appeared.

Xia Xinyan's face showed disappointment. Only 10,000 likes, the same as Mu Zhi's? She paused for a moment before remembering to manage her expression, and quickly forced a smile to thank this "die-hard fan".

I couldn't help but worry about whether I could hold onto first place when the rankings were announced next time.

Mu Zhi was also surprised by the result. She believed that the mysterious big shot must have watched tonight's live broadcast. He smashed 50 ships for the first performance, just like he did last time. Logically, this was to ensure that Xia Xinyan could secure first place and even solidify her popularity and debut as the center.

This time, they'll smash even more.

Could it be that... my arrival has caused some changes in this world, leading to the mysterious tycoon's business setbacks and financial crisis?

With that, the third performance has come to an end.

Backstage.

Other trainees came up to Mu Zhi and praised her, saying things like "Congratulations," "Your stage performance tonight was amazing," and "You looked so beautiful tonight."

Except for one person. Lü E stood in the corner without going forward, her gaze towards Mu Zhi burning with jealousy.

Mu Zhi didn't even glance at him as she passed by.

Lü E thought Mu Zhi would boast to her, but she didn't; Mu Zhi simply ignored her, which infuriated her even more. She and Xia Xinyan, who were originally confident of winning first place, had lost to Mu Zhi again.

What hurt her even more than losing to Mu Zhi was that she felt completely invisible tonight.

Now, being ignored by Mu Zhi again, she couldn't suppress her anger and wanted to go up to Mu Zhi...

Director Mei, who was in charge of Mu Zhi's group, came over and waved with a smile: "Mu Zhi, come with me for a moment, Director Xu needs to talk to you."

Director Xu is the chief director of the program "Chasing the Light Girl".

Lü E: ? ? ?

Mu Zhi followed Sister Mei into a lounge. Besides the director Xu Ping, there were two other people there, but she didn't recognize them.

Director Xu Ping put down his phone and chatted casually with Mu Zhi for a few minutes, praising her with a smile: "Your performance in the last two performances was very good. You have a lot of fans supporting you. It's clear that your company has put a lot of effort into cultivating you. Keep up the good work."

They expressed optimism that Mu Zhi would debut as part of a group.

From Director Xu's words, Mu Zhi grasped two key points: the company and debuting as part of a group. It's unclear whether the director was testing Xinghe Culture's attitude towards her debut, or Mu Zhi's personal stance on debuting as part of a group.

Mu Zhi didn't give a direct answer, but brushed it off with a flattered and perfunctory response.

Finally, Director Xu clarified the main reason for calling Mu Zhi over:

Tomorrow morning, the person in charge of the Owl platform will come over and want to meet with Mu Zhi.

Mu Zhi finally understood that Xu Ping was the chief director of the "Chasing the Light Girls" program, but he had no say in the matter of forming a group and debuting; he was just a middleman.

Mu Zhi had a general idea of ​​what the person in charge wanted to talk to her about when they met tomorrow, and she agreed.

Back to the "castle".

The production crew handed out cell phones to the trainees, but when it came to Mu Zhi, they said, "We'll collect them again tomorrow at noon."

Mu Zhi thought the production team was quite thoughtful, as they had specially left her their phone number.

So that she can talk to her agent and company in advance about her meeting with the head of the Owl platform tomorrow and make preparations?

After getting the phone, Mu Zhi immediately went online to surf the internet.

Half of the trending topics were related to "Chasing the Light," with Mu Zhi appearing on two high-ranking trending topics:

#Muzhi Huo Yuanjia Dance# #2nd on trending searches

#MuzhiPopularityKing# #12th on trending searches

The first trending topic was some bloggers related to ancient Chinese dance, who shared a video of Mu Zhi performing the Huo Yuanjia dance tonight. Some fans also posted a cut of Mu Zhi's performance of "Jia Ren" with the hashtag #MuZhiHuoYuanjiaDance#.

The top-ranked Weibo post received an astonishing number of likes and reposts.

Open the comments section, and you'll find netizens showering Mu Zhi with compliments:

"Who is this young lady? She's so beautiful!"

"In the North there is a beautiful woman, peerless and independent!"

"I heard it's the stage for 'Chasing the Light Girls'? I'm going to catch up on the show!"

"Her looks far surpass those of other young actresses in the industry, and her charisma and presence are absolutely stunning!"

In a word: beautiful! I highly praise Mu Zhi for her classical beauty!

Mu Zhi clicked on the #MuZhiPopularityKing# topic again, browsed for a while, and then opened the Owl Video app to watch the replay of tonight's third performance live. The netizens' reactions to her winning the popularity award tonight were roughly as follows:

"The vase branch is worth it! Congratulations!"

"This season's three-way battle for supremacy is incredibly fierce!"

"Mu Zhi was absolutely stunning tonight; Xia Xinyan's center position is in jeopardy."

...

Interspersed among these were comments from Xia Xinyan's fans and Mu Zhi's haters, with rather sour tones:

"Hilarious, let's wait for the next rankings to come out before we start bragging."

"Mu Zhi won the popularity award tonight mainly because of her beauty; her skills are no match for Xia Xinyan and Liu Cai!"

"Take Xinyan with you, a true Ace refuses to be copied!"

He criticized the comments that he "only won first place by selling his beauty".

Mu Zhi didn't care. In her original world, she was already numb to being called a "pretty face" and a "resource-backed star." No one could deny that good looks could indeed bring commercial value to an artist. The industry values ​​talent, but it also values ​​appearance.

No matter how talented the female lead Xia Xinyan is, she wouldn't have so many fans if she had an ordinary appearance. Fans are hypocritical and have an extremely high level of censorship on their idols.

Other trainees' trending topics on the hot search list:

#Xia Xinyan's solo dance#

#Xia Xinyan and Qin Luefeng's Sweet Duet#

#Ning Yaomuzhi Liu Caijiaren#

#Zhou Jingzhu Chubes Close Dance#

#Liu Cai in drag#

#LiuCaiFingerDance#

......

While many netizens shipped the two as a couple on the trending topics list, the comment section was still dominated by individual fans controlling the comments. Regardless of whether it's a male or female celebrity, fans all want their idols to shine alone and focus on their careers...

Mu Zhi remembered that she had won first place and wanted to post a Weibo to thank her fans.

Opening her Weibo homepage, she remembered seeing that she had over 600,000 followers last week. She wondered how many were "zombie" followers. Now she had almost 1 million followers, a significant increase.

There were no pictures on her phone, but Mu Zhi saved two unedited photos posted by fans on her social media page, without removing the watermark.

Chasing the Light Girl Muzhi V: Thank you to every producer who voted for me. I will continue to work hard. See you in the next episode! [Heart] cr: Meizhi's Little Sun

The fan was thrilled to see that their idol had used their picture, tagged them, and even tagged them, leaving a comment: "Ahhhhh, I actually got noticed! Zhibao, I'll always support you! [Crazy kisses]"

Mu Zhi replied to the fan, "Thank you, you made me look beautiful in the photo [winking emoji]"

Other fans were so envious!

"Ahhh, Zhibao is so cute!"

"I want to be noticed by Mu Zhi too! Pretty lady, look at me~"

"Go, Michie! Make your debut as the center!"

It feels like the distance between us and our idol has suddenly shrunk. Initially, most fans followed Mu Zhi because of her looks, but after the last two performances, Mu Zhi has brought them a huge surprise.

What could be more satisfying than "being a fan of an idol and being questioned for being blind, only to have the idol turn things around through hard work and prove that your support was worthwhile"? The sense of accomplishment from nurturing an idol is incredibly fulfilling.

Tonight, Mu Zhi's victory as the most popular contestant has given her fans a huge boost of confidence and made them even more excited. Their goal is no longer just to debut, but to debut as the center!

In the #MuzhiSuperTopic#, fans are calling on everyone to work hard to like and vote.

We need to help our idol debut as the center!

After getting a general idea of ​​how people perceived her online, Mu Zhi went offline, put away her phone, and returned to her dorm without calling her agent.

10 a.m. the next day.

Mei took Muzhi to meet with Qiu, a senior executive of the Owl platform, one of the heads of the film and television business department, and the general manager of the "Chasing the Light" project.

He doesn't beat around the bush; he gets straight to the point.

A contract was presented.

Mr. Qiu's conversation with Mu Zhi subtly conveyed that with Mu Zhi's current popularity, securing a spot in the debut group based on her individual talent wouldn't be a problem. However, given that Mu Zhi's company, Xinghe Culture, hadn't reached a cooperation agreement with the "Chasing the Light Girls" project, and with several episodes remaining, it was uncertain whether she would debut as part of the group.

Then, changing the subject, he said that Mu Zhi was very outstanding and that he was very optimistic about Mu Zhi's future. He added that it would be everyone's wish for Mu Zhi to debut as part of a group.

A contract was presented to Mu Zhi.

"As long as this contract is signed."

Mu Zhi knew that there were many unspoken rules within the industry.

The artists promoted by the platform through talent shows don't want to benefit others.

By establishing cooperative relationships to our advantage, we can extract the greatest value from them.

Just like filming a movie, even if you audition and are a perfect fit for the role, and the director and screenwriter are very satisfied, the role will be given to another actor simply because that actor and his company have a strong financial relationship with the movie.

"Take a good look at the contract these next couple of days, and once you've reached an agreement, give me your answer."

Such a big matter, I know that Mu Zhi, a mere artist, cannot make the decision.

Give her time to discuss things with the company, weigh the pros and cons carefully, and then make a decision.