CH 10

Chapter 10: Rural Tourism

The next morning after moving, Gu Qingchi needed to report to Xingyao Entertainment. Ye Li asked Gu Qingchi to arrive at his office at nine o'clock.

Gu Qingchi was practically nocturnal since he used to work either in the afternoon or at night. His sleep schedule kept pace with little Dragon Li, so the human and the cat both slept during the day.

Later, he resigned and didn't have an evening shift anymore, but his sleeping schedule still didn't change. Gu Qingchi liked nighttime.

There weren't many people out at night. It's quiet. Daytime was a bit too noisy for him.

In a sense, his sleep-wake cycle was actually very regular.

For him to suddenly switch it up, Gu Qingchi's whole being seemed to have suddenly withered.

As he was leaving, he stared for a while at the little Dragon Li who had twisted itself into a pretzel in its sleep. He really wanted to wake it up and put it in his pocket. In the end, however, he regretfully gave up his plan to take it with him.

Xingyao Entertainment strictly managed entry and exit. Employee ID badges were required both going in and out. This was to prevent paparazzi from getting in.

Ye Li gave his ID to Gu Qingchi yesterday. He was already a long-time employee at Xingyao Entertainment, so he could get in just by showing his face.

Gu Qingchi obediently hung the ID badge around his neck and entered the front door of Xingyao Entertainment.

Many people were coming and going in the lobby, including white-collar workers in suits as well as artists covered in sunglasses, masks, and trendy brands.

It was around time for work to start. There were many people waiting for the elevator. Gu Qingchi stood behind the crowd of people to wait for the elevator as well.

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion from the door. Security hurried over to help block the swarming media reporters. Several staff members led the way, opening a path through the crowd while apologizing.

"Sorry, so sorry, special circumstances, please make a path."

A man wearing a mask was hurriedly escorted by several people along the path that was made through the crowd.

He was very tall. Even when surrounded by so many staff members, he was still visibly taller by a good bit. His eyes and brows were very sharp. He seems to be in a bad mood, his entire body exuding a sense of pressure.

Several people subconsciously stepped back when he walked by.

The elevator had been stopped for a while. He stepped in without hesitation. After pressing the floor number, he stood in the middle of the elevator with a cold face. The staff quickly followed him in and stood behind him.

Gu Qingchi watched all of this in silence and yawned lazily. When he looked up, he found that the man was looking at him. The two of them just so happened to make eye contact.

The typical person might look away after suddenly making eye contact, but Gu Qingchi did not react. He just indifferently stared back right up until the elevator door closed.

In the elevator, Xie Luyu's anger caused by entertainment reporters suddenly went down a lot.

By the time he reached his floor, it had completely calmed down.

The company truly valued Xie Luyu a lot. The entire seventh floor belonged to Xie Luyu. Besides his office, which was pretty much never used, his entire team was also on the seventh floor.

Xie Luyu's agent had already received news of his arrival.

Xie Luyu’s agent was called Pan Xiaocheng1, but he wasn't small at all. He was a solid 1.9 meters tall, about as tall as Xie Luyu. Furthermore, he was big-boned and liked wearing sunglasses. When he walked around with Xie Luyu, he looked like a bodyguard.

At this moment, he poked his head out of his office, his voice carrying a sliver of hope.

"I heard you got blocked again. You didn't curse anyone this time, did you?"

Xie Luyu pulled off his mask and looked at him with a sincere expression.

The agent understood, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared. The finger that was pointed at Xie Luyu trembled, and he spoke sorrowfully.

"Do have any idea how many bonuses I have to give the PR department every year?"

Gu Qingchi had gotten used to being idle, and so he fell behind the crowd when getting on the elevator. When he entered the elevator, he ended up being at the very front.

Originally, he was rather low-key, dozing off in the back. Only a few people had taken notice of him.

Now, almost everyone around him was quietly observing him. The shyer ones were peeking at his reflection on the elevator walls. The bolder ones had already opened up their phone cameras, pretending to be surfing the web.

Everyone in the company was someone who had already seen all kinds of beauties. All kinds of celebrities came and went without them so much as blinking an eye. It was only when a big name like Xie Luyu showed up that they would give him some face and crowd around.

Gu Qingchi had always been a little dull about these things. He always thought that he was ordinary and unremarkable. He just focused on living his own life and rarely turned his attention to people and things that had nothing to do with him.

The usually lively elevator was unbelievably quiet today. Gu Qingchi was here for the first time and assumed that this was how it always was. He had always liked quiet, so he didn’t think there was anything wrong.

However, the other people in the elevator were a little unused to it. It seemed that they thought the atmosphere was too awkward, so a few people in the elevator began to talk.

"Hey, who was that earlier? Their aura was so strong."

"Are you new? Who else could it be? It was Xie Luyu. There’s no one else in this company more famous than him."

"That's Xie Luyu?! I’m such a huge fan, my god! I was so close to my idol just now! I joined this company because of him."

Third floor. Gu Qingchi had arrived at his destination.

As soon as he left, the people in the elevator immediately switched topics, enthusiastically discussing their new point of interest.

"Who was that?"

He didn't specify who he was referring to, but the others immediately understood what he meant.

"I don't know. He’s definitely a newcomer to the company. There’s no way I wouldn’t remember someone like him."

"I’ve seen him before. He was trending online for a while. Here I was wondering when he was going to debut. I didn't expect him to be from our company."

"No, there hasn’t been any news on him for a while now. Besides, I saw the ID badge he was wearing. It was a blue one, for agents."

"No way! What’s this kind of person doing as an agent?"

"What the hell, the agents these days look more like artists than the actual artists."

That day, the human resources department received a lot of inquiries about any new agents that just joined the company.

Gu Qingchi didn't know that he had already become well-known in the company during his first day on the job.

He was now in Ye Li’s office.

Ye Li looked at Gu Qingchi, raising an eyebrow.

"Sit. What, did you stay up late?"

Gu Qingchi didn’t try to hide it.

“Mn, couldn’t sleep.”

Ye Li didn’t say anymore. He brought a document.

Ye Li didn't relax his standards because of his two previous failures. Rather, he became even stricter. Before, he would give them time to get adjusted to his standards, but this time he would not.

This time, he made his attitude crystal clear from the very beginning.

"I know I stressed this a lot when we signed the contract, but I will say it again. I hope that you are clear about your responsibilities. Since you chose to become an artist, you must have at least a basic sense of professional ethics."

He paused.

"For example, maintaining a good condition. I’ll get involved in managing that in the future.”

"Another thing, I asked you about your relationship status. You said that you’re currently single. I trust you. If there are any changes in the future, whether it’s a man or a woman, please report to me first."

"Finally, you and I are business partners. Our interests are the same, so trust me."

Gu Qingchi nodded. He knew about all of this already. Other than his sleep-wake schedule, he didn’t have any problems with anything else.

Ye Li began talking about the main matter at hand.

"You’re already twenty-two this year, so you can't take the path of a trainee debut. The fact that you’re an industry outsider isn’t impossible to work with, but, when it comes to outsiders, the audience will subconsciously feel that your overall qualities aren’t as good as those who are professionally trained, true as it may be.”

He explained it in more depth.

"But, if you appear in front of the audience like this, people will label you an amateur. This initial label will be hard to get rid of. Of course, if this label is dug up and brought out later in the future, it can serve as proof of your hard work and talent, but, right now, it will only make audiences write you off as a pretty face and nothing else. No matter what you achieve in the future, people will say that it’s just because of your looks.”

Xie Luyu had also suddenly burst into the entertainment industry, but his acting talent was real. His talent was truly terrifying, and anyone with eyes could see it.

The status of an amateur would only add to his brilliance.

But Gu Qingchi was different.

There were too many people trying to squeeze their way into the entertainment circle with just their faces, which wasn’t good for gaining goodwill. This circle was small, but it was cruel.

Especially in recent years, with the development of technology, more and more beautiful people were appearing before the lenses. It wasn’t uncommon for celebrities to edit and photoshop their images.

But even a popular influencer with one foot in the entertainment circle would have a hard time making a debut.

When influencers first appeared online, it wasn’t that nobody tried signing them to make them a celebrity, but not many succeeded.

Influencers lived in front of the live stream camera. They only appeared within the short duration of a live broadcast. Meanwhile, celebrities lived before any and all cameras. Media reporters, paparazzi, fans; celebrities were subjected to all of their lenses for every minute and every second.

So many trainees entered the company every year, most of them having trained for at least five years. They had all been thoroughly trained in dance, attitude, instruments, etc. They could hold the attention of any camera. Each one was a perfect package.

A pretty face was only the threshold. It wasn’t capital.

Gu Qingchi was an exception. His beauty was practically an art form, his very existence a miracle.

It could almost be considered cruel if Ye Li were to sign on an amateur for the first time and let him be silently drowned out and forgotten by the current of the times.

There was a saying that tragedy is to destroy beautiful things for people to see. In this case, such a thing would be the most glorious tragedy of all.

Ye Li wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen. He believed he could personally create the greatest masterpiece.

"Modeling, you should debut as a model. It can't be a Taobao model. I contacted the store owner to buy out the photos you shot earlier. No one will know that you were a Taobao model. Don't let it slip in the future. You are a professional model. I have been sitting on a couple of resources for some magazine cover photoshoots. I’ll contact them for you in the next couple of days.”

Ye Li’s enthusiasm was very high. He wrote something down on a document and twirled his pen.

"The popularity of your trending topic is still there. You can't waste it, but you haven't taken any classes on dance or musical instruments yet, so it's difficult..."

He spoke aloud to himself.

"There was that thing recently, uh, the variety show where you cook food and wash clothes. I’ll ask about it for you.”

Ye Li called Pan Xiaocheng directly.

"Hey, it's me. I won’t waste your time. It's about that variety show where you wash clothes and chop wood on Mango TV. Give me a spot in the next episode."

Pan Xiaocheng laughed.

"What are you talking about, washing clothes and chopping firewood, it’s a reality show! The theme is rural tourism.”

"So long as you know what I’m talking about, it’s fine. I'll invite you to dinner another day."

Pan Xiaocheng had some connections with the producers of the show, and they got along well. It was indeed the fastest way to get on the show.

Agents all had a bit of contact with each other. They paid attention to their relationships with each other. If they owed someone a favor, it would typically have to be paid back by an even bigger favor. Ye Li wouldn’t allow himself to owe someone so easily.

Obviously, Xie Luyu didn't need Pan Xiaocheng to fight for resources for him. Nowadays, all the good resources delivered themselves to his doorstep.

This favor would have to be returned some other way.

Pan Xiaocheng happily agreed.

He hung up the phone and turned his head to see Xie Luyu next to him. His happiness disappeared in an instant. His head hurt just looking at this thing.

Xie Luyu was slumped on the sofa, lying on his back, looking as if he had nothing important to do.

"Can you stop arguing with the media all day long? Can't you pick up a script?"

"I did, there’s still half a year until shooting starts. I don’t really have anything I need to do. Besides, I don’t argue with them all day, sometimes I go online to check up on my fans."

Pan Xiaocheng was in despair.

"Can that even be called “checking up”? The one who argues with them the most is you!”

Xie Luyu tossed an apple up and down in his hand.

“Nowadays, young people have a lot of improper thoughts. Can I allow my fans to have problematic values? Of course not.”

Pan Xiaocheng held a hand over his heart and sat on his chair. He frowned and waved his hands.

"Stop talking, my heart hurts."

Xie Luyu stopped and sighed. He spoke helplessly, like coaxing a child.

"Forget it, just pick up a variety show for me."

Pan Xiaocheng instantly jumped up.

"You’re the one who said it, don’t back out on it later."

Pan Xiaocheng thought happily, Mango TV’s rural tourism show just happened to have sent him an invitation, and the pay wasn’t bad. It would also be convenient to get a spot on the show for Ye Li along the way, killing two birds with one stone.

Footnotes:

1 The xiao(小) in Pan Xiaocheng means small, little.↩