Chapter 5 Signed Female Idol
At 2 p.m., in the atrium of a large shopping mall not far from them, a group of underground idols were taking a break during a performance.
The girls, dressed in thin performance costumes, still felt a chill despite the constant temperature in the mall.
The Star Federation's holographic technology is quite advanced, allowing fans to experience the feeling of sitting close to their idols through virtual screens. Very few celebrities still insist on offline activities.
But this is clearly not the case for the ITOUCCH girl group.
After operating for almost half a year, the ITOUCH fan group has only accumulated about 400 members, making it impossible to generate revenue online. Even music festivals don't invite such an unknown group to participate.
Strictly speaking, they can't be considered a girl group at all; at most, they are part-time dancers who travel around to increase foot traffic in shopping malls.
None of them signed labor contracts with the boss; such a crude operating method doesn't require a contract.
This so-called boss was actually more like a labor intermediary. After receiving payment from the merchants, he divided 50% of the payment into five equal parts and paid them to the girls.
Tong Qinglu joined ITOUCH only half a year ago, and her relationship with her teammates has always been lukewarm, with the atmosphere not exactly harmonious.
She could understand them; after all, once she arrived, the others would receive even less money per event, and no one would be happy in that situation.
She also went to other idol project auditions in private. If she could get a better opportunity, Tong Qinglu would not want to stay here.
However, she is a typical person with bad luck. The two agencies she signed with went bankrupt one after another, and when she switched to the third agency, she was directly frozen for two years, which wasted her golden age as an idol.
She dragged it out until she was over twenty-six. Large recruitment programs would just glance at her age and throw her information in the trash.
He debuted seven years ago and has been in four different groups. It's not that he hasn't worked hard, but he just hasn't quite made a name for himself.
Perhaps she was just born a little unlucky than others; after all, who could possibly encounter such a low-probability event as both of her companies going bankrupt?
Tong Qinglu nervously tugged down her overly short skirt, then saw another message on her personal terminal indicating she had failed the interview, and sighed softly.
"Girls, it's time to go on stage." The male agent's hand was about to pat Tong Qinglu's shoulder, but she subtly dodged it.
As fast-paced music started playing, she and her teammates strode onto the stage.
Nearly a hundred onlookers gradually gathered in the mall's atrium, some raising their devices to record videos, and a short girl carrying a camera at the front.
Nowadays, not many people use cameras anymore. Tong Qinglu looked at the camera with curiosity for a few more seconds, her face beaming with a sweet, professional smile.
The images from the dream overlapped with reality, and Qin Yi saw Tong Qinglu's face through the viewfinder, gently pursing her lips.
With a "bang," it was as if something exploded along the lines of their intersecting gazes.
The scene in her dream drifted further and further away, so distant that she almost doubted whether the dream in class was an illusion. But the stunning beauty in reality suddenly came very close, and the fragrance emanating from the other person almost wafted onto her face.
"Hey, boss, don't you think she's on a completely different level of beauty compared to everyone else?"
"...How come someone so beautiful isn't more popular? That's strange." Qin Yi muttered to herself, snapping photos incessantly.
There's nothing strange about it.
Fang Zhuo stood quietly in the crowd, arms crossed, watching the performance of the girls on stage. If it hadn't been for human intervention, Tong Qinglu should have been appreciated by a famous director two years ago, becoming an overnight sensation with a family-themed TV series, and thus becoming one of the four most beautiful actresses of the new generation, a rising star and a new queen of controversy.
The reason she has been stuck in the entertainment industry for so many years without making a name for herself is inextricably linked to Ruan Zihan's deliberate suppression.
The renowned director who brought her into the industry was the lead actor in the fifth chapter of "Brilliance," and is currently signed with Ruan Zihan's agency.
Since the director had already been signed by Ruan, Tong Qinglu's original opportunity disappeared, and Qin Yi, who was supposed to join the crew and film with her, also had his life trajectory changed.
Before Fang Zhuo came, he had done some research on the StarNet. He found that several actors promoted by that director in the original work had all disappeared from the public eye. Some had undergone plastic surgery and ended up disfigured, while others suffered from depression and weight gain. Their careers were all in vain.
He suspected that Ruan Zihan might be mentally unstable, as he kept doing such foolish things that harmed others and himself.
"Sister, take a look, this is a photo I just took of you." As soon as the performance on stage ended, Qin Yi took the initiative to pull Tong Qinglu aside.
"You are so beautiful. I feel like I've seen you in my dreams. Seeing you makes me feel so familiar and warm."
Tong Qinglu said thank you shyly.
The signing process went exceptionally smoothly. Fang Zhuo barely spoke from beginning to end, while Qin Yi chattered on and on, explaining the contract to the other party and even thoughtfully showing off Giant Entertainment's industry certification card, praising the company to the skies.
[System notification: All investment slots have been filled for the first time, meeting the conditions and unlocking the [Perspective Mode] attribute [Loyalty]. The host can now view others' loyalty to them through this mode. Go try it out!]
[Loyalty] Note: This attribute will fluctuate depending on the status of other characters. When this value is greater than or equal to 8, there is a chance to trigger a rebate critical hit.
[Investment Target Number Four: Tong Qinglu]
[Intelligence: 5][Stamina: 3][Appearance: 9][Emotional Intelligence: 4][Loyalty: 8]
[Initial valuation: 7800]
The moment the system notification popped up, Fang Zhuo briefly shook hands with Tong Qinglu.
Tong Qinglu felt so excited that her fingertips went cold. Although she didn't know how the agency had discovered her, she had a feeling that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn her life around.
When she returned to the backstage dressing room to pack her things, the gloom that had lingered on her face for years vanished, and she refreshed herself as she happily stuffed all her clothes and cosmetics into her suitcase.
"Oh, beautiful lady, are you tired of your life?" the male real estate agent said sarcastically upon seeing her.
"We have another show this afternoon, aren't we coming?"
Tong Qinglu had had enough of the harassment and said coldly, "I'm not coming here anymore. I've signed with a new company."
The other person cleared their throat, spat a wad of phlegm on the door, and said with a smile, "Don't be like that. Give me some face, I'll take you to a perfume store. Didn't you post on social media yesterday that you wanted the newest LM perfume?"
The man then handed her a bag containing lipsticks. She had never accepted such gifts before, but she had always politely declined them in a friendly manner, fearing that offending the labor agency would make it impossible for her to stay in the group.
Since she was leaving anyway, she didn't care about falling out with the other party.
She grabbed the bag and slammed it onto the dressing table, then dragged her suitcase to the door: "I'll repeat myself, I don't want your stuff. I've signed with another agency. My friends are waiting for me outside, so don't bother me."
The man chuckled softly twice: "What company would be willing to sign you?"
Giant Entertainment.
The dressing room erupted in even louder laughter. The man laughed so hard he was doubled over: "Hahaha, don't kid me, I've never heard of such a company. Where did this fly-by-night operation come from? Don't be fooled, beautiful lady."
"It's okay if you didn't know before, you'll hear about it later."
Tong Qinglu raised her chin and closed the door amidst the other person's mocking and sarcastic gaze.
That evening, the account 'Ah Yi Doesn't Take Pictures Today' posted a set of photos.
The background of the photo is still the same shopping mall, but it has been modified to resemble a large stage setting. In the photo, blue-purple spotlights shine through the girl's hair, and her face is backlit, but the details of her facial features are presented even more perfectly and stunningly.
With large almond-shaped eyes and a pointed chin, her eyes always seemed to hold a pool of water, and no matter how much she moved, her facial expression never faltered.
Especially in the middle picture, the girl's gaze is perfectly directed at the camera, not deliberately, but rather giving a breathtaking feeling of looking directly at her through the photo.
This account already had over 200,000 followers, and as soon as the nine pictures were posted, a large number of real-person comments appeared.
[Wow, this is incredible! Is this face even real? Blogger, you never heavily edit your photos, Yi, have you forgotten your roots?!]
[The entire internet is offering a reward for information on who the woman in the photo is. When did a new concubine arrive in the palace? I had no idea! If anyone can find out, please tell me!]
[This is clearly not heavily edited; the image is so clear you can see even the pores when zoomed in. The costume looks a bit like an idol's; could it be cosplay?]
[Ahhh, my love for my wife is like secretly pulling up my pants pocket in winter. Everyone can see, but only I know how warm and comforting it is inside. It's so warm and reassuring. My new wife is so beautiful, hehehehehe]
[Come to an agency and sign her right away! It's such a waste that she doesn't act in dramas. I'm already ready to spend money!]
[Someone on the forum is saying that Tong Qinglu from ITOUCCH is almost 27 this year... a bit too old, so I'm not betting on her.]
What kind of group is ITOUCH?
[An independent group with no registered capital and no registered brokerage firm is completely bankrupt.]
[A repost from the forum - Tong Qinglu, who debuted through an offline talent show seven years ago. Her first group was NIX under Starlight Entertainment, which went bankrupt the following year.]
After the company went bankrupt, she signed with Yu Media, which formed a traditional Chinese style girl group with her as the core. However, the group only operated for less than half a year before it went bankrupt due to a broken capital chain.
After the bankruptcy, Yingying Goddess signed her, but Tong seemed to have a bad temper and had conflicts with her teammates. Three years later, she paid the breach of contract fee and left the group; only after that did she go to ITOUCCH.
[...An incredibly unlucky soul, let's find an expert to take a look.]
[No wonder she's so stunningly beautiful but hasn't become famous all these years. She begged my boss to sign her, even performing a ritual to wish for our company to go bankrupt.]
The post became even more popular than Qin Yi had anticipated. Within just three hours of being posted, it garnered tens of thousands of likes and shares, and by midnight that same day, it had even made it onto the main website's trending topics, quickly becoming the most liked and shared post on her homepage.
When she woke up the next morning, her private messages were flooded with hundreds of messages from talent scouts, all frantically asking her for Tong Qinglu's contact information and latest news. Her own T account had also gained more than 50,000 followers.
Qin Yi felt a sense of pride and sent a screenshot of the comments to Boss Fang: [Rich guy, when are you planning to get the beautiful woman to film a drama?]
[Wait a bit longer, it's not trending enough yet]
Qin Yi stuck out her tongue: [Not satisfied with this level of buzz? Even popular young actresses didn't have this much fanfare before their debut.]
Fang Zhuo lightly tapped his finger on the armrest. What he was actually waiting for wasn't the heat of the moment, but rather to see how Ruan Zihan would react.
Before Tong Qinglu is officially added to the team, the other side will probably be unable to hold back and make some moves.
The system displayed a new achievement notification: [Congratulations, host! You have achieved the achievement 'Over 500,000 discussions related to your artists']
[Company's current reputation value: 8]
[The conditions have been met, and the forum and live streaming features in the social section have been unlocked for you. You can now communicate with cashback system operators from other dimensions through the forum.]
[Current live stream level: lv0]
[Cumulative Points: 0]
Unexpectedly, the system also had a built-in forum, and Fang Zhuo immediately clicked on it.
A note from the author:
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