Chapter 40 Is this... is this the feeling of being favored by a domineering president?
As soon as Qiao Lele's performance ended, there was cheers from the audience.
"Wow~~~ It's so captivating!"
“What a great dance!”
"If this isn't number one, it would be totally unfair!"
Someone else whistled, "Girl! Take off your veil and show your face!"
Qiao Lele smiled and took off her veil without hesitation.
Revealing a stunning face.
Cat demons are called cat demons because even after transforming into human form, they retain a certain "cat-like" quality. Simply put, they tend to have flat noses, round noses, and wide faces. Qiao Lele, however, has none of these flaws. Instead, she has an oval face, a high nose bridge, and deep features. The only difference is her eyes, which are round and bright, like a cat's, with slightly upturned corners, revealing a cunning and clever look.
"Fuck! This girl is so beautiful!"
"Aren't you planning on debuting with this look?"
"Don't worry, sister, we all vote for you!"
This dance competition has two scoring methods: one is scored by professional judges invited by the brand, and the other is voted by the audience. According to the rules, the two scoring methods each account for half of the total.
Qiao Lele, a dancer since elementary school, performed exceptionally well and received a high number of votes from the audience. She left the stage with a confident smile on her face. Her performance, however, completely undermined the confidence of the contestants behind her, who all performed poorly.
She was the third to last to perform. Less than 20 minutes after Qiao Lele's performance ended, it was time to announce the rankings.
"Just wait and see." Ye Shiqing whispered, "This girl will definitely be number one."
On the stage, the host said a lot of polite words. When he thanked the brand, everyone was expecting Qiao Lele to take first place.
But when the list was announced, the result was beyond everyone's expectations.
"Third place, 'Loulan Dance', Qiao Lele! Second place..."
"What? No way!" The audience roared. "They danced 'Loulan Dance' so well, and yet they didn't win first place?"
"This team, even though someone was slow to take the shot, still managed to take first place?"
"It's really a competition organized by a business. It's not professional at all. What kind of judges are they?"
Qiao Lele had been full of anticipation, but upon hearing the result, her face was filled with disbelief. When she went on stage to receive the award, she was almost in tears, her big eyes welling up with tears.
The audience in the audience felt so distressed that they offered their condolences.
"Don't cry, girl. We've filmed you and will help you get online to become famous. Then you can participate in a formal dance competition."
"Think about it, first place was only 200,000, and now third place is 150,000! I'm still lucky!"
"Yes, but it's 150,000 yuan!"
Qiao Lele finally burst into laughter and said in her acceptance speech: "Here, I want to thank the audience who supported me! You gave me confidence and courage!"
Du Wanwan couldn't help but smile when she heard this.
This girl is really simple-minded.
At this point in the competition, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the competition was solely for the purpose of promoting first and second place, hence the significant difference in prize money between third place and first and second place. The sponsoring brand likely didn't anticipate the emergence of a dark horse like Qiao Lele, who would be so well-received by the audience; otherwise, they wouldn't have held an audience vote.
Now, the audience has voted for Qiao Lele, and the judges can only force a lower score.
Therefore, no matter how outstanding Qiao Lele's performance was, she could only get third place.
However, as the audience said, third place is more than enough!
Qiao Lele's eyes were red at first, but after receiving the bonus, she smiled happily again. She didn't even have time to change her clothes, so she went to the brand store with her big backpack on her back.
The organizer is a newly established jewelry brand in China that specializes in jade, especially jadeite. Qiao Lele had long since taken a fancy to a peace locket among the items and wanted to buy it as a birthday present for her grandmother.
Du Wanwan arrived at the store before her to prevent any accidents.
In the original novel, Qiao Lele's experience is similar to what happened now. She entered the competition with full confidence, thinking that her performance would definitely win first place, or at least second place. The peace locket she had her eye on was exactly 100,000 yuan, so she should have been able to buy it.
However, due to behind-the-scenes manipulation, she only took third place. In the original story, the third-place prize was only 50,000 yuan, which was far too small to afford the peace locket she had set her sights on. Qiao Lele went to the organizer's jewelry store and tried to settle for a small pea pendant, but the clerk said that the pea pendant wasn't sold separately and required a 1,000 yuan processing fee. Qiao Lele couldn't afford it, and the clerk ridiculed her and refused to sell it to her.
First, she was tricked into placing third by a black-box scheme, then ridiculed by the store clerk. Qiao Lele was just 19 years old, from a well-off family, having been pampered since childhood. Otherwise, she wouldn't have used her 50,000 yuan prize to buy a pendant as a birthday present. Unable to bear the humiliation, the girl ran out of the jewelry store in tears. Ding Zhiyuan, guided by the system, waited at the door.
As soon as Qiao Lele walked out, she ran into his arms.
Immediately afterwards, Ding Zhiyuan "gently and considerately" offered Qiao Lele milk tea and deliberately asked her what was wrong. Qiao Lele cried and told her what happened. Ding Zhiyuan then asked her if she wanted to make money. Qiao Lele said yes. Just like that, Qiao Lele was taken upstairs by Ding Zhiyuan and signed a contract with G-Light Entertainment.
Although Runjia Group has an entertainment group under its umbrella, it primarily focuses on film and television production. Prior to this, none of its subsidiaries had signed artists. Ding Zhiyuan started the process, and G-Light Entertainment secured Qiao Lele's contract. Knowing that every drama she starred in would be a hit, Ding Zhiyuan forbade her from accepting other companies' productions.
Qiao Lele signed a thirty-year contract, a full thirty years of which Ding Zhiyuan controlled her, her body, her heart, and her work. She was a natural actress, possessing a keen understanding of roles. She had countless opportunities, countless excellent roles offered to her. However, Ding Zhiyuan stated that his women were forbidden from having intimate scenes with other men, and even when acting, they were forbidden from showing anything below the neck or above the knees.
So, Qiao Lele has been playing the role of a sweet girl in ancient costume all her life.
Indeed, she played the role of sweet girl to the extreme, showing the differences of each sweet girl and becoming the representative of sweet girls.
But she would never have another role to play in her life, even if that was what she wanted to try. But Ding Zhiyuan didn't allow her, so she couldn't.
She had to follow Ding Zhiyuan for the rest of his life without any official status, along with all of his concubines.
What a pity, Du Wanwan felt from the bottom of her heart, what a pity.
So, she increased the bonus from the beginning.
Du Wanwan didn't object to brands promoting their own people and spending money on competitions. It was understandable that they had their own purposes, and no one's money would just fall from the sky. But she didn't want a genius like Qiao Lele to fall into Xi Yimiao's hands due to a series of mistakes without Ding Zhiyuan.
Now, even though Qiao Lele is still in third place, she has 150,000 yuan, which is enough to buy the gift she wants. When Qiao Lele leaves the jewelry store, she will appear with Ye Shiqing again, just as if she had watched her performance and accidentally discovered that she wanted to invite her to act.
It's just an actor's contract.
For Qiao Lele's agency contract, Du Wanwan will personally arrange an entertainment company that is responsible for artists and will make long-term plans for them, so as not to waste this excellent seedling.
But what she didn't know was that when she and Ye Shiqing were standing on the first floor watching Qiao Lele's performance, Xi Yimiao was sitting in the coffee shop on the second floor right above her with the best view.
One of them was upstairs, the other downstairs, so they were both in each other's blind spot, and neither of them noticed the other. But coincidentally, their target was Qiao Lele.
Early this morning, Xi Yimiao was assigned a task by the system, asking him to wait at Honglong Department Store at 12 noon to complete a task called "Comfort and Sign Qiao Lele." The task included a detailed description of what to do.
When Xi Yimiao heard this, he thought, comforting someone? That's easy, isn't it? So he leisurely drank coffee in the cafe on the second floor and waited for the game to end.
Unexpectedly, an episode suddenly occurred in the middle. Someone actually provided additional sponsorship and increased the prize money of the competition, raising it to 150,000 in one go!
That wouldn't do. The system quest had stated that the key to signing Qiao Lele was to not only prevent her from buying the coveted "peace locket" but also to have her taunted by the jewelry store clerk. She felt wronged and ashamed, so she cried and threw herself into his arms. He gently comforted her, and she finally signed the contract.
If Qiao Lele could successfully buy the peace locket, how would he continue his play?
No way, no way.
Or, should he go downstairs and buy the peace locket first?
Xi Yimiao was thinking as he prepared to leave the coffee shop. Just as he stood up, he suddenly heard a female voice, gritting her teeth and saying, "I'm telling you, that old pervert Luo Teng must have taken a fancy to that little devil! Didn't you see how that little devil twisted her waist just now? Luo Teng's soul was almost hooked! You said there were so many places to compare it, but he had to choose his shop! It really pissed me off! If Old Luo wasn't watching, I really wanted to go up and break that slender waist!"
Wait! This woman was saying she was the boss of the show's organizer... Never mind if she was his wife or his mistress. Did she have connections to the organizer? And money? And was she planning on teaching Qiao Lele a lesson?
This is like giving someone a pillow when they are sleepy!
Xi Yimiao waited for her to finish her rant and just as she hung up the phone, he came over and shouted, "Don't be angry, beauty. I'll teach you a way to vent your anger. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
The woman looked at him warily: "I'm not the boss's wife, what can I be angry about?"
Her name was Zhou Simeng, and she was just Luo Teng's outside woman. Although she was also the woman who had been with Luo Teng the longest, she had a place in his heart.
But after all, she is not the main wife, so she cannot tear other women apart.
"You're not the boss's wife, but you have money." Xi Yimiao pointed downstairs and whispered, "That girl went to Hongyi Jewelry for the money. After winning the prize, she must have gone to Hongyi Jewelry Store to buy something. After finally winning the prize in the competition, every item she set her sights on was bought by someone else. How could the girl not cry? As for what to do with the jewelry you bought... keep it or return it? Isn't it up to your President Luo to say a word? As long as you can humiliate the girl, you can vent your anger, right?"
Zhou Simeng's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but smile: "Handsome guy, why are you suddenly helping me?"
"You can't bear to see a beautiful woman angry, can't you? Beauty, listen to me, I guarantee you'll be happy." Xi Yimiao winked and left.
He was good-looking, and in a well-cut suit, he didn't look rich at all. Zhou Simeng felt flattered when such a young, handsome, and wealthy man suddenly expressed his affection. She quickly lost her guard and felt that what he said made sense.
So that's it?
Zhou Simeng paid and went downstairs. As soon as she arrived at the door of Hongyi Jewelry Store, she saw Qiao Lele running towards her.
She hadn't removed her makeup or changed her clothes, still wearing her Western-style dance costume, revealing her soft and slender waist. She was holding her phone, the screen still on, showing a text message notification about her bonus.
The clerk also knew about the competition, and seeing this, she smiled and asked, "Hello, miss, how can I help you?"
"I want this!" Qiao Lele ran over to the peace locket she had been eyeing, waved her phone, and said excitedly, "I just won your brand's competition prize. It should be enough to buy this, right? Can you take it out and let me see it?"
If a business comes, the clerk will certainly not refuse: "Okay, please wait a moment."
She took out the peace locket and introduced it, "Miss, you have a really good eye. This is A-grade jadeite, without any artificial enhancement. It's also a glutinous jade, blessed with a magic talisman. It can prolong life and keep the wearer healthy. It's a real peace locket..."
"This one is good." Before the clerk finished speaking, a sweet voice rang out, "I want it. Please wrap it for me."
"Ah?" Qiao Lele was stunned when she saw Zhou Simeng, who was carrying a small sachet and wearing branded clothes.
"Um..." she reminded quietly, "I wanted this peace locket first."
Zhou Simeng didn't even look at her: "You wanted it? Did you pay?"
Qiao Lele quickly handed over the phone: "I can pay now! Right now!"
"Wow~~~150,000? That's a lot of money, hahaha~~~" Zhou Simeng covered her mouth and laughed exaggeratedly. "Little sister, you should go back to school and study hard. You haven't even grown up yet, and you dare to imitate others and buy luxury goods?"
After she finished speaking, she tapped the table with her fingers and said coldly, "Didn't you hear what I said? Wrap it up, I want it!"
"This..." The clerk recognized her as the boss's woman and didn't dare to offend her, so he could only choose to bully Qiao Lele, who looked very poor. "Sorry, miss, please choose something else. We have many other jade ornaments in our store."
"But this is the only peace locket you have in your store! And... and I was clearly here first!" Qiao Lele was first defeated in the competition, and then she was bullied when she bought something. She almost cried and sobbed, "How could you do this!"
"Because I'm a VIP customer, you know? VIP customers have priority." Zhou Simeng looked at her proudly. "How much money have I spent in this store? How much will I spend in the future? Don't they know that? A poor guy who won the prize money for your competition is offending a VIP customer like me? Don't you think about your status?"
As she spoke, she looked at Qiao Lele's red eyes and felt refreshed. All the anger she had just felt at being thrown at by Luo Teng was released.
His words, actions and expressions became more and more proud.
"Hehe~ If you have the guts, why don't you pay to become a VIP customer? I'm telling you straight up, I've got my eye on this peace locket, and even if I buy it and smash it on the spot, I won't sell it to you!"
How could this happen! Qiao Lele couldn't stand this grievance, and tears fell from her eyes. Seeing this, Xi Yimiao, who was not far away, secretly clenched his fists.
This Zhou Simeng was truly amazing! With just a few words, he had already made the little beauty cry! Next, he waited for the little beauty to burst into tears and throw herself into his arms!
Xi Yimiao shook his suit jacket and waited in front of Hongyi Jewelry with full confidence.
In the store, Qiao Lele couldn't stand the humiliation and was about to leave. But before he turned around, he heard a cold voice saying:
"etc."
The embroidered sandalwood screen in the VIP area was suddenly folded up. Zhou Simeng turned around and saw it, and his face changed immediately.
There were two men and two women sitting behind the screen. One of the men was fat and it was Luo Teng!
The young woman sitting opposite him was incredibly beautiful, yet also frail and delicate. At first glance, she was an alluring sight.
This old pervert! Zhou Simeng glared fiercely at the extremely beautiful woman. He had just seen the slender waist, and now he was carrying her on his back to see the beautiful lady!
"Oh." Du Wanwan smiled immediately, "Mr. Luo, your sweetheart is glaring at me. I'm afraid she's misunderstood something."
Luo Teng was so embarrassed by her words that he quickly stood up and pulled Zhou Simeng over, cursing in a low voice, "What the hell are you doing here? Is this a place you can be in? And you're offending my big client! What else can you do with your eyes besides seeing money?"
Zhou Simeng had never been scolded like that before, and she was so angry and embarrassed that she wanted to twist Luo Teng. But as soon as she raised her hand, Luo Teng slapped her hand hard.
"Behave yourself! Otherwise, pack your things and get out! Do I need a woman?"
Luo Teng cursed viciously, then quickly turned around and said with a smile, "Boss Du, I'm sorry, that... was embarrassing. I really didn't mean it... This bitch disturbed you. I'll have her bring you some tea and apologize."
As he spoke, he shouted to the clerk, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and pour some tea!"
"No thanks." Du Wanwan raised her hand to stop everyone's movements and asked politely, "I just want to know, am I a VIP customer of your store?"
"You are!" Luo Teng smiled flatteringly. "Boss Du was impressed. He once gave us a piece of purple jadeite and asked us to make it into a set of jewelry. How could you not be? You are our brand's SVIP customer! Boss Du, you... you have your eye on something?"
Luo Teng almost trembled when he asked the last sentence.
He recently got a piece of good material and wanted to find a customer first to make a custom piece and a complete set of jewelry. Unexpectedly, today he got lucky and met the eldest daughter of the Du family!
If the young lady is willing, this deal will earn him at least hundreds of millions!
"Mr. Du, you..."
"I didn't have anything I wanted, but I just heard this lady say that VIPs can buy other people's things. So, as an SVIP, I guess I can also buy this lady's things, right?" Du Wanwan raised her head, "Assistant Pei, buy that peace locket."
"Yes." Pei Xingyao immediately followed suit. "Please wrap it up. Someone please let our young lady scan the code to pay."
Although the clerk didn't understand what was going on, wasn't this the assistant who had just come to the store and said he wanted to sponsor the competition and increase the prize money?
Don’t offend the big moneybags.
The clerk quickly packed the peace locket and handed it over with both hands: "Du, Mr. Du..."
Du Wanwan didn't answer the call. Instead, she smiled and looked at Qiao Lele, who was confused about what was going on. "Hey girl, I don't have my phone with me. Can you pay for me first?"
The young lady went out without any money? How could that be possible? Qiao Lele was stunned at first, then she understood what was going on. She was so excited that she couldn't speak. She nodded quickly and paid the money.
With a beep, the payment was successful. Du Wanwan took the jewelry box from the clerk and placed it in Qiao Lele's hand. She smiled gently and said, "Okay, now this peace locket is yours!"
"I..." Qiao Lele didn't know what to say. She clutched the box tightly with both hands, tears welling up in her eyes again. "Thank you!"
Luo Teng finally understood that Du Wanwan was just trying to stand up for this little beauty! But he was a little confused about how she did it.
"Mr. Du..." he asked carefully, "How are you and this lady..."
Du Wanwan didn't answer, the expression on her face clearly said: Is it your turn to ask this question?
"Mr. Luo," she said calmly, "My assistant did some research and discovered that in the previous competition, the first and second place teams had your son on one team and your nephew on the other. The judges also told my assistant that someone had instructed them to give low scores to the other contestants. I don't think this competition is worth the additional prize money."
Luo Teng was stunned. What kind of wealthy family was this? They were investing and even expecting to get their money back? But Du Wanwan's status was there, a potential major financial backer, and he didn't dare offend her. He could only say repeatedly, "Yes, I'll return the money right away. Quick, transfer it to Mr. Du..."
Du Wanwan: "I want 200,000 yuan in cash."
She knew the competition was originally going to feature a cash prize gimmick. But she added to the prize money, and the organizers, unable to secure more cash, switched from cash prizes to mobile payments, with the money transferred to the winners' cards.
"Okay, okay." Luo Teng immediately changed his tone: "Quick, bring the 200,000 yuan in cash to President Du."
The clerk quickly took out a canvas bag with the bank's logo printed on it and handed it to Du Wanwan respectfully.
Du Wanwan took it and turned around.
Qiao Lele felt a sinking sensation in his arms. He looked down and saw a canvas bag inside. He opened the bag and found two large bundles of red money, each containing 11,000 yuan in small notes, all tied with banknotes.
At that moment, countless thoughts popped up in Qiao Lele's mind.
Ah...it turns out that 200,000 cash is such a small bundle?
I actually have 200,000 cash in my arms?
This... is this the feeling of being favored by a domineering president?
"I originally thought I was investing in talent, but I almost invested in a lie. Fortunately, there's still time to give the prize money to the most talented person." Du Wanwan smiled, "Ms. Qiao Lele, your dance just now was beautiful. I loved it."
Qiao Lele felt like she was dreaming: "Give...give it to me?"
"Yes, that's right." Du Wanwan nodded. "Besides that, my friend wants to ask..."
Ye Shiqing, who had been holding back her words, immediately asked excitedly, "Sister, are you willing to play my leading lady?"
Qiao Lele suspected that he was dreaming.
She had only come to participate in a dance competition and wanted to buy a gift for her grandmother, but she didn't expect the prize money to be more than enough to buy the gift, and she even got an extra 200,000 yuan. What's more, she was discovered and was about to go into acting?
Actress? Filming a TV series?
Become a star?
Qiao Lele hugged the money tightly in his arms and nodded repeatedly: "I do! I do!"
Pei Xingyao handed over a business card, and Du Wanwan said, "I think this happened too suddenly. Although my friend is indeed very sincere, we hope you will make a careful decision and discuss it with your family first. This is my friend's business card. Once you make a decision, feel free to contact him."
After saying that, Du Wanwan nodded slightly and said gently, "Goodbye, Miss Qiao."
"Goodbye, goodbye." Qiao Lele's eyes were full of stars as she watched her leave. At this moment, there were only three things in her eyes and heart:
1. Hurry up and give the gift to grandma and wish her a happy birthday.
2. Hurry up and deposit the money into your card, this is her personal property!
3. Hurry up and confirm with others whether she can really be the heroine of the TV series invested by Runjia!
"I'm going to be famous!" Qiao Lele cheered and ran out of the mall without looking around.
She simply ignored the young man at the door who stretched out his hand to stop her.
"Sister..." Xi Yimiao, who had already prepared himself for the beauty to throw herself into his arms crying, looked at Qiao Lele who ran away like the wind with a dull expression.
Where's his sister? Where's the sister the system sent him?
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