Chapter 32 Testing the Waters [Protagonist Cheng Muzhi's favorability towards you increases by 20...]
Half an hour later, in a private room of a private restaurant.
An eerie silence filled the room, and the people at the table looked at each other in bewilderment.
Inside the private room was a large rotating round table. Shi Yao was pushed to the head seat, Fang Xuran occupied her left side, Bai Wenning was on her right side, Qiao Xi was next to Bai Wenning, Pei Zixuan was next to Fang Xuran, and Cheng Muzhi was sitting directly opposite Shi Yao.
Shi Yao looked at the group of people in front of her and pressed her temples with a headache.
How exactly did things get to this point?
She glared at Cheng Muzhi first, thinking it was all his fault for not letting her pass; otherwise, she would have been home long ago.
Then she glanced at Pei Zixuan with some resentment. Although she was grateful for helping her out of the predicament, there was no need to do it in such an embarrassing way.
Pei Zixuan seemed oblivious to the anger in Shi Yao's eyes. Instead of getting angry when she received her gaze, he winked at her.
Cheng Muzhi's face was tense. The silent atmosphere in the private room made him uncomfortable, so he spoke dryly, "Weren't you guys supposed to be talking about something? Why are you all just sitting there without saying a word?"
Fang Xuran gave a sarcastic snort: "There are outsiders present, so I can't say anything."
Cheng Muzhi's face turned ashen, and his once handsome face now appeared somewhat stiff.
Shi Yao and he were old friends. She used to follow him around and even joined the industry for his sake. How come he's now being treated as an outsider?
He couldn't help but retort sarcastically, "You two are very close?"
Fang Xuran: "I do know it better than you do."
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Qiao Xi took the initiative to change the subject and smooth things over: "Yaoyao, how did you become familiar with them? I remember you didn't like socializing much in the industry before."
Upon hearing this form of address, Shi Yao glanced at her thoughtfully and said, "They are all my esteemed clients."
Then, staring meaningfully at Qiao Xi, he said, "Just call me by my name."
Shi Yao's gaze made Qiao Xi's heart skip a beat, and the last sentence she added made Qiao Xi's cheeks burn. She used to call Shi Yao that when they were in school, but after they entered the entertainment industry, their relationship gradually became awkward, and she never called her that again.
I just temporarily chose this name because I wanted to get closer to you.
I didn't expect Shi Yao to refuse so bluntly.
"Client?" Cheng Muzhi frowned, his expression strange.
"I've retired from the entertainment industry and am currently running a studio. I've explained my business scope in my WeChat Moments. If you're interested, you can check it out," Shi Yao said casually, showing no interest in explaining further. It was a pleasant surprise that these two people became clients; if not, she would deal with it later.
Now that she has accumulated a small number of clients, Shi Yao is no longer as patient in introducing things as she did at the beginning.
Especially when introducing ETC to Cheng Muzhi.
Just then, the waiter quietly brought out all the dishes, and Shi Yao took the lead in setting out the tableware and starting to eat, indicating that she did not want to continue the conversation.
Bai Wenning observed her movements closely and followed suit, picking up her bowl and chopsticks. Fang Xuran and Pei Zixuan followed closely behind.
Cheng Muzhi actually wanted to ask a few more questions, but seeing this, he was too embarrassed to speak up and could only swallow his words and start eating in silence.
Several times during the meal, Cheng Muzhi tried to start a new topic, but Shi Yao shut him down with a single sentence, leaving him feeling only three-tenths full and seven-tenths frustrated.
Qiao Xi observed the atmosphere at the table without making a sound and found that Shi Yao's familiarity with the others was indeed genuine. The three of them seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally following Shi Yao's opinions, which surprised her even more.
She basically doesn't eat dinner, and only eats a few simple dishes to maintain her figure, so she was the first to put down her chopsticks.
Noticing that Shi Yao was deliberately ignoring Cheng Muzhi's question, Qiao Xi knew that she probably wouldn't get an answer even if she wanted to ask something, but she had a question she wanted to verify, so she seized the opportunity to probe Pei Zixuan:
"Brother Pei, how's the contract termination going? Is it going smoothly? Shi Yao is handling this for you, right?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the atmosphere at the table became somewhat tense. Pei Zixuan didn't speak, but merely glanced at her indifferently. Instead, Fang Xuran asked, "Old Pei hasn't terminated his contract yet? Where did you hear that from?"
Qiao Xi was stunned, her mind went blank.
No contract termination? How could that be? Pei Zixuan told her back then that he already knew about it, and it even made it to the trending topics. How could he not terminate the contract?
Perhaps sensing her panic, Bai Wenning gently came to her rescue: "Xiao Qiao, did you misunderstand after seeing the trending topic? Didn't you see the subsequent developments?"
"Yuedong has spent a fortune to keep Lao Pei, throwing resources at him every day lately," Fang Xuran scoffed. "I've never seen them so generous before."
Shi Yao also joked, "We have to make up for the three years' difference in one go, so of course we have to be generous."
Pei Zixuan chuckled: "Yes, if we're not generous, then it'll be a breakup fee."
Watching the three of them banter back and forth, Qiao Xi's expression stiffened slightly. She thought that Pei Zixuan would definitely choose to leave Yue Dong after learning about that incident, since he had also expressed the same intention before, but had not made up his mind.
She clearly remembered seeing the trending topics that day, where Pei Zixuan's fans were also talking about terminating his contract. Why would he choose not to leave? Didn't he care about his fans' opinions?
What she knew wasn't anything particularly special; it was just that Pei Zixuan's center position was almost taken away. Jian Mingzhou brought it up himself, and Yue Dong immediately agreed. The fact that his resources were swapped multiple times after his debut was also facilitated by Yue Dong's tacit approval of Jian Mingzhou. The manager who had been following Pei Zixuan was also specially arranged by Yue Dong to keep an eye on him. He didn't have the ability to fight for resources; he could only tip people off.
Pei Zixuan came from Yue Dong's training system. She had already trained at Yue Dong for three years before participating in the talent show. She had a strong attachment to the company, which is why she was able to tolerate it for so long after her debut.
But regarding something that touched on a fundamental principle, Qiao Xi had assumed Pei Zixuan would choose to terminate the contract without hesitation. How could this be...?
After Fang Xuran's reminder, Qiao Xi suddenly realized that Pei Zixuan's resources have been really good lately. Since the incident, he has announced four endorsements, and also landed a luxury brand and a music variety show. These were resources that Pei Zixuan would have had for at least half a year before.
Did he really agree to the resource swap with Hyundai Elantra...?
Qiao Xi looked at Pei Zixuan with mixed feelings, only to find that he was also looking at her. His light black phoenix eyes held a deep meaning, which made Qiao Xi's heart skip a beat, and she forced an awkward smile.
I originally wanted to use this topic to get closer to her, since she had helped me out. Although I was a little late, at least I could leave a good impression.
The attempt to seduce her almost entirely failed, and instead made the other person feel that she had no boundaries.
The meal was unpalatable. After it ended, Qiao Xi rushed to leave, saying she had other plans. When she said goodbye, she didn't even dare to look Pei Zixuan and Shi Yao in the eye.
Fortunately, none of these people cared whether she actually had a schedule or not. The only one who gave her a second glance was Cheng Muzhi, who shared her plight.
Cheng Muzhi had originally squeezed his way in for a meal in order to get some information, but after the meal, he had nothing useful to show for it except for feeling angry. He was very unhappy.
The topic Qiao Xi had just mentioned served as a warning to him. It seemed that the other party knew more useful information than he did. Moreover, after meeting Shi Yao today, Qiao Xi was not as surprised as he was. He was the only one who had been kept in the dark.
After finishing his meal, Cheng Muzhi, still unwilling to give up, tried to stop Shi Yao again, but she dismissed him with "If you're interested, check out her WeChat Moments to learn more and place an order." After tidying up, Shi Yao disappeared without a trace, leaving Cheng Muzhi frustrated and unable to leave.
Finally, the strange dinner party ended, and Shi Yao walked quickly towards the parking lot. Just now at the dinner table, she checked another work WeChat account and found that several photographers had sent her pictures. She had to hurry back and organize them.
Naturally, it was impossible to get photos of the first performance, so Shi Yao stopped pursuing speed and could only hope that her paparazzi would have excellent photography skills and leave her with some high-quality stage photos.
As Shi Yao walked into the parking lot, she unexpectedly bumped into Pei Zixuan. He seemed to have been waiting for her, and he smiled at her as she approached.
Shi Yao looked at him with some surprise. If she remembered correctly, she had left before Pei Zixuan, so how come he arrived first?
"Wait for me if you need something?" Shi Yao unlocked the car, threw her backpack inside, and then turned around to ask the person who was standing obediently behind her waiting for her.
Pei Zixuan nodded obediently and said earnestly, "Thank you for your help with Yue Dong."
Shi Yao waved her hand: "It's no trouble at all. You placed your order with me, so it's only right that I provide after-sales service."
Pei Zixuan smiled slightly: "Then I have to thank you, otherwise my contract termination wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
Shi Yao glanced at him teasingly: "Didn't you just say you wouldn't terminate the contract?"
Pei Zixuan's lips curled slightly: "How can I reveal all my information to others?" Especially when they came to test him on purpose.
Shi Yao nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Qiao Xi's seemingly concerned but actually probing words made her realize that the other party had probably talked to Pei Zixuan about this before, just like in the original plot, but hadn't received the feedback from the plot, so this time she came to test him.
She didn't see Qiao Xi very clearly at the moment. Unlike Cheng Muzhi, she didn't wear her thoughts on her sleeve.
She felt that Qiao Xi must have wanted to say something to her when she came to dinner today, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to say it due to the atmosphere at the table, and left alone because of the awkwardness.
This person is really a bit mysterious.
However, it won't affect anything. If nothing unexpected happens, Qiao Xi will definitely get the role, and there will be opportunities to meet again. Whether the other party wants to test her or what, there will be plenty of time.
No matter what Qiao Xi wanted to do, Shi Yao had only one thought: to place an order with her.
Otherwise, don't bother her.
She had no interest in reminiscing.
After gathering her thoughts, Shi Yao looked at Pei Zixuan again: "You came all this way just to say thank you, right? Is there anything else?"
Pei Zixuan didn't care about her bluntness at all; instead, the smile in his eyes became even more obvious. He straightened his expression and said seriously, "I'd like to place another order with you. Since it's not listed in your business scope, I specifically came to ask if you're interested in album production."
Shi Yao raised an eyebrow. Album production? That's just...
In the original storyline, Qiao Xi helped Pei Zixuan terminate his contract with Yue Dong. To express his gratitude, Pei Zixuan collaborated with Qiao Xi on his later official album, which helped Qiao Xi's rise to stardom. As a result, he became associated with Qiao Xi, and the rumors about them intensified.
Now, the person who helped Pei Zixuan terminate her contract has become Shi Yao, so the plot has changed again, and the person Pei Zixuan wants to collaborate on an album with has also become Shi Yao.
Thinking about the album production direction the other party chose in the original plot, as well as their subsequent career development, Shi Yao suddenly shuddered and realized that she really had to agree.
Pei Zixuan is a high-quality client who can bring her long-term benefits, so she can't let her career suffer because of him.
When it comes to album production, Yao is completely unfamiliar with it. If it were in the past, she would definitely have hesitated about this invitation, but now she is not worried at all.
She had already experienced the power of the useful items in the system, and she remembered clearly that albums were among the available useful items, so there was no need to worry about making them.
However, she hasn't yet unlocked the option to exchange favorability points for useful items in the shop. The items she drew last time were exchanged for scripts. Currently, the rewards for the fourth main quest include a useful item of grade A or higher, but it's hard to say when she'll be able to complete that quest.
After a moment's thought, Shi Yao said sincerely to Pei Zixuan, "I can accept it, but I need some more time. Right now... I don't have enough time. Can I contact you later when I'm free? Or are you more anxious about this?"
Actually, she had enough time; she could easily take on more orders, but since she couldn't get the useful item rewards for a while, she couldn't complete them even if she took them.
Fortunately, the client didn't mind, and Pei Zixuan readily agreed to her request:
"It's okay. I don't have enough time to produce the album right now. I just wanted to make a reservation with you first. The album production cycle is very long. Let's talk about it when we're both less busy. There's no rush."
Shi Yao breathed a sigh of relief. This was a big order, and she would have felt a pang of regret if she had missed it.
The more she looked at Pei Zixuan, the more satisfied she became. He was generous and considerate, and he became a repeat customer so quickly without making any unreasonable demands. He was truly a perfect customer!
The client was considerate, and Shi Yao wanted to put their mind at ease as well. She patted her chest and assured them, "Don't worry, it won't take long for me to finish here. I'll contact you as soon as it's done."
In a good mood, Shi Yao said goodbye to the other person and drove home without stopping.
As soon as she got home, she turned on her computer and started processing the photo packs. All ten photographers that Shi Yao had pre-ordered successfully took photos of the performance. The fan site admin she ended up buying out even more professionally took three 1000p large photo packs for her.
From greeting people on stage before the performance, to the formal introduction, to stage photos, and then to campaigning for votes after the performance, the other party took a lot of pictures of her.
After settling all the final payments, Shi Yao carefully selected photos from the vast sea of images to ensure they met her standards, and then adjusted the parameters and did some simple layout work for them.
Editing photos isn't difficult for her, but once the quantity increases, even if Shi Yao is skilled, she can't speed things up much.
She wasn't in a hurry; quality was paramount. With so many people producing images, having your own unique style was the most important thing.
When she got home, she had already checked Weibo. Previews were already posted everywhere, and some fast-moving fansite admins had even posted the final edited photos. There was no need to rush.
Since it's already the top-ranked site, Shi Yao should just maintain the quality and let her casual fans know that she's still consistently producing quality content.
Shi Yao took her laptop into the acting classroom and meticulously polished each of the selected images.
Actually, although she bought a lot of pictures for this round of performances, there weren't any amazing pictures that made people think "wow" at first glance. Most of them were just above average. Anyway, Yingxu is good-looking, so she won't look bad no matter how she's photographed.
Although she really hoped to get one or two amazing photos, she could understand that the paparazzi hadn't managed to get any. After all, it depends on timing and makeup, and requires the right combination of factors: the idol's expression management, the stage design, lighting, makeup, and the photographer's skills.
The performance venue was very small. Although security seemed to be lax today, the small space made it difficult to take photos.
Shi Yao spends several hours editing each image. She doesn't like to use templates or apply the same parameters to all images. Instead, she chooses the most suitable adjustment parameters based on the lighting and visual perception of the image. She also made adjustments to several images with slightly off-center perspectives.
By the time she came out of the space, almost an hour had passed outside.
Shi Yao opened Weibo, arranged the first set of pictures, and posted them in the super topic with the hashtag.
Her Weibo account is frequented by many fans who urge her to post pictures. As soon as she posts, the number of reposts and comments skyrockets.
Shi Yao checked the Yingxu supertopic and found that twelve fansite admins had posted preview images before her, and four had posted the full video.
The first fan site admin to post a preview has already garnered over 10,000 reposts. Judging from the posting time, it must have been right after the performance ended.
She then browsed the supertopics of several other popular trainees, where many fan sites posted preview pictures or full videos. However, the earliest release time was by Yingxu's fan site, with the others being about ten minutes later.
That's quite a pace.
Shi Yao reasonably suspects that these fan site admins carry laptops and portable signal boosters with them, and rushed to the door to post the pictures as soon as the performance ended.
Signal jammers are usually installed around the venue to prevent people from sneaking in their phones and leaking information.
Only well-equipped fan site admins can react to such situations so quickly.
You're really famous now, people are even bringing you signal boosters just to grab a spot in the first preview.
It's not uncommon for contestants to be the first to perform, especially among popular ones. All the fans know that today is the recording day for the performance. The people inside have been recording all day, while the people outside are waiting for the performance to start.
The signal inside was poor, making it difficult to send messages out in a timely manner. So, the fans outside kept waiting and constantly refreshing the Weibo feed, afraid of missing the latest news.
It's safe to say that at this time, the first fan site admin to post a preview image will be the center of attention. Not only will the fans of the trainee who posted the image pay attention, but fans from other groups who have been waiting all day will also flock to the site.
Moreover, the speed and number of people posting pictures can also reflect a trainee's true popularity.
Who has the most fan site admins, who has the most fans attending offline events, and whose fan site admins have the best aesthetic sense and skills—these are all topics of comparison among fans of the show.
The number of people posting pictures, the time of posting, and the quality of the pictures are basically proportional to the trainee's real popularity.
The more people who follow a person offline, the more die-hard fans they have. This is basically an unspoken consensus among fans.
During the first round of the competition, most of the tickets were given to the media, and not many fans went in. There were even fewer fansite admins. Only a few contestants who were popular before the competition had fansite admins successfully enter. Those who started to gain fans and popularity after the theme song or the start of the broadcast could only lose slightly.
However, the fansite admins won't give up easily. Even if they can't get in, they can buy pictures.
Starting from the second season, the production team would have its own people take photos of the stage performances and resell them to familiar fans who couldn't get into the venue. This is a gray area, and it all comes down to connections.
Therefore, most of the popular contestants during the first public performance have performance photos, but there aren't many of them.
Due to pre-existing conditions, it wasn't convenient to compare fan sites during the first performance. However, during the second performance, everyone was eager to compete. After the fan sites posted pictures, they immediately started compiling a list to judge whose popularity was the most genuine and whose popularity was more inflated.
As of the moment the photos were posted, Yingxu was temporarily in first place, and the trainee behind Xiaobi, who was ranked second, had ten photos posted by fansites, two fewer than Yingxu.
The surge in popularity of the promise was tangibly witnessed by everyone for the first time, giving them a real sense of its impact.
His popularity has indeed skyrocketed; it's not a flash in the pan or just empty talk. His die-hard fans are growing at an alarming rate every day, and no one will question whether he will secure a debut spot in the second season.
Perhaps when he first emerged, some fans of popular trainees wanted to prevent him from being criticized, but the subsequent video went viral and even expanded the show's reach beyond its original audience, so those who had such ideas had to give up.
Now, no one can stop the promise of his ascension; he has truly entered the top ranks of popularity.
Another debut spot is gone.
Shi Yao's set of pictures is very popular. Although she didn't post them very early, the resolution is the highest among all the pictures posted so far, and there are also several comparison views.
With Shi Yao's modifications, the background color was darkened, making Yingxu's gaze even more captivating.
Within an hour, the photos were forwarded over 10,000 times, and all the fans who posted new posts in the Super Topic changed their profile pictures to those of Shi Yao.
Meanwhile, Shi Yao's fan site account also gained tens of thousands of followers.
...
When Cheng Muzhi returned home, Fang Xuran's words kept replaying in his mind.
Their vans happened to be parked in the same underground garage, and they bumped into each other again when they went to get their cars. Cheng Muzhi was still thinking about the question he hadn't been able to get an answer to on the table earlier, so he grabbed Fang Xuran and asked her again.
As a result, Fang Xuran went on and on praising Shi Yao, exaggerating her abilities to the skies, saying that she was all-around talented, had excellent professional skills, and was good at everything. Cheng Muzhi was speechless.
As a result, after getting into the car, he heard another shocking message from his agent. After the audition, he asked his agent to check why Shi Yao was in this group. After checking, the agent told him that this group was formed because of Shi Yao.
She is the original screenwriter of the script "Under the New Sun Tree"!
Cheng Muzhi was stunned. He felt like he didn't recognize Shi Yao anymore. How could a person change so much in such a short time?
Fang Xuran and her agent's words kept echoing in Cheng Muzhi's mind. For some inexplicable reason, he thought of the studio that Shi Yao and the others had mentioned earlier.
Why don't he give it a try?
Let's see just how amazing they are that these people are praising them like this.
Cheng Muzhi suddenly felt a strong urge to take a closer look at Shi Yao's business scope, but when he reached for his phone, he realized he had already deleted Shi Yao from his friends list.
He bit his lip, but finally pressed the add friend button.
You have new verification information.
Shi Yao unlocked her screen and saw that it was a friend request from Cheng Muzhi. She rejected it without hesitation.
They can add people whenever they want, and delete them whenever they want, without any explanation.
No more than fifteen seconds after she pressed the refuse button, a mechanical voice suddenly rang in her mind:
[The protagonist, Cheng Muzhi, has increased his favorability towards you by 20 points.]
Shi Yao: ?
nerve.
Author's Note: Domestic variety shows generally don't allow early leaks, especially closed-recording shows like talent shows. Usually, fans only start posting pictures after the performance airs. However, in foreign talent shows, preview images are everywhere right after the performance recording. We're in a fictional world, so please accept this real-time image posting setting.
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-06-20 20:52:09 and 2024-06-21 20:12:09!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Ranyin (3 bottles); Dilireba and Xixi (1 bottle each);
Thank you so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
