Midnight.
The agent carefully took out his cell phone with a full charge.
He was shivering a little, this was Qiong Ren’s first job offer in three years since his debut, and he was afraid that if he didn’t say the right thing, it would be a disaster.
The agent dialed the number with a shaking hand, barely able to hold the phone, and hurriedly shoved it into Qiong Ren’s hand.
Qiong Ren: “……”
“Hello, is this Mr. Yang, Qiong Ren’s agent?”
The phone was connected, and there was a male voice on the other side. The voice was quite pleasant, with the ending sound gently floating upwards, making people feel calm.
Qiong Ren glanced at the shivering agent and lowered his voice, trying to portray an image of a confident and calm middle-aged man, “Hello, I’m Qiong Ren’s agent, what’s your name, sir?”
“Just call me Secretary Jin.”
“Good name, as soon as I heard it, I knew you were particularly handsome,” Qiong Ren eagerly complimented him, “We are willing to accept your company’s invitation, I don’t know about this contract ……”
The opposite side was silent for a moment, his tone was full of doubts, “Are you really willing to accept?”
Qiong Ren: “Why not?”
He was simply too eager to accept.
The opposite party was silent again.
Qiong Ren tried, “Could it be that you think that a hundred thousand yuan is an unreasonable amount?”
He could lower the price.
Truly.
He’d do it for free as long as he was allowed to perform in front of living people and he didn’t have to pay venue fees!
He was too eager to be on stage.
“We didn’t want to offer Mr. Qiong Ren a hundred thousand either, but ……” Secretary Jin on the other end didn’t say any more, “Anyway, it’s great that you’re willing to accept the invitation.”
There was no need to be so polite, he was super willing to accept!
“Ninety thousand yuan in advance, the final payment will be after the show. Please give me the bank account number and the full name of the payee.”
Qiong Ren: “Ninety thousand yuan in advance ……” What was the difference between that and full payment.
The other side clearly misunderstood him.
“In fact, we would like to give you the full payment, but we f…… our company has a rule that the performance contract payment must go in the form of an advance payment and a final payment, please forgive.”
“I forgive. Ah, I mean …… the payment method is not important.” Qiong Ren’s heart thumped, his long, slender fingers jumped on the virtual keyboard and quickly edited the account number and account name into a text message.
As he pressed the send button, he suddenly remembered the scam routine from Today’s Law. The police repeatedly reminded in the program that account information shouldn’t be told to just anyone.
On the off chance that these people were scammers, would they transfer the money from the account that the company had assigned to him?
Qiong Ren thought about it then immediately relaxed.
There was no money in his account.
“Text message received, the money has been transferred,” Secretary Jin said quietly, “We’ll send a car to pick you up downstairs at 8:00 p.m. on July 10th. Bye.”
Secretary Jin hung up.
Ding–
Ding-
His agent’s cell phone received two text messages.
[Tail number 0003 card (Black*Rope) transferred (performance money) RMB 90,000.00 to tail number 2333 card at 00:05 on July 8th. [Tiandi Bank]]
[Your Tail No. 2333 card on July 8, 00:05 received (show money) RMB 90,000.00, the balance of 90010.13 yuan. [Tiandi Bank]]
July 10th, 8:00 pm.
Qiong Ren’s heart was racing as he got his makeup done, put on his show clothes, and stood in front of the nanny van sent by Black Rope to pick him up.
The driver was a very spirited young man, he also wore sunglasses in the evening, making Qiong Ren very worried about the safety of the car.
As soon as he saw Qiong Ren, he shook hands and said that he was a hardcore fan.
But, even in the summer, the young man’s hands were cold, and when Qiong Ren shook his hands, it was like holding onto a piece of ice.
Qiong Ren and his agent got into the nanny van and took their seats one by one. The agent moved clumsily, and his skin suddenly burned, he quickly looked down. It turned out that there was an incense stick stuck in the car, which he stumbled over.
The agent hurriedly put the incense back in, but the incense head had already gone out.
The car started slowly, and Qiong Ren texted his agent.
So poor: how should I greet the boss in case I meet him? I don’t know, I’ve never been to a big event like this.
Losing weight is miserable: keep a polite smile on your face the whole time
[I’ve been thinking about this for a few days. Tiandi Bank sounds familiar, but I’ve never seen it on the street.]
Losing weight is miserable: Maybe it’s the gold father’s bank.
Losing weight is miserable; no using cell phones in the car
Losing weight is miserable: it’s not good for your eyes, do you have money for a full femtosecond?
So poor: QAQ, no.
Qiong Ren immediately put down his phone, saw that the driver was still wearing sunglasses, and looked out at the dark night outside the window, he couldn’t help but worry about whether he’d even get to the destination.
“Wearing sunglasses at night doesn’t interfere with driving?” Qiong Ren asked.
The driver hemmed and hawed, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
“Don’t worry, driving on this road doesn’t depend on your eyes.”
Qiong Ren: “……”
Now he was really afraid to relax!
The nanny van quickly drove away from the city, the route getting more and more remote.
The car drove fast but very smoothly, positively confirming the driver’s driving level, and Qiong Ren slowly relaxed, with the sound of the agent and the driver chatting in his ears.
The agent mentioned that adolescent children were difficult to manage.
The driver especially agreed, “My daughter is seventeen this year, her rebellious period seems endless, she and her mother fight a lot.”
Qiong Ren was confused, the driver looked to be twenty-something years old, how could he have a seventeen-year-old daughter, was he three years old when he became a father? What a medical miracle!
His thoughts didn’t go any deeper and he soon fell asleep.
“We’re here, get off.”
Qiong Ren heard his agent call him and opened his eyes in a daze, kind of wanting to rub his eyes, but before touching his eyelids he suddenly remembered that he had put on makeup today, and immediately put down his hands, and in his heart he screamed “so close”.
He followed his agent, and when he got out of the car, he briefly rested on the car door, only to feel that the car door’s touch was thin and rough, a bit like the paper used to tie flowers.
Qiong Ren felt strange, but he didn’t study the car body material carefully before his agent pulled him away.
“Don’t procrastinate too much when you’re getting our of the car, people will think you’re acting like a big shot.”
Qiong Ren laughed, “I don’t even have any backing to act like that.”
A brilliantly lit multi-story antique building was reflected in his eyes. To be able to hold the annual meeting in such a place, it seemed that Black Rope Company was really rich and powerful.
But if it was so rich and generous, why did it have to invite him, an unknown star? Could it be because of his cost effectiveness?
The driver helped him carry his things, “Go in first and rest for a while, the annual meeting won’t start until zero o’clock.”
Qiong Ren’s heart tightened, why would the annual meeting start at zero o’clock?
He couldn’t help but think of the papier-mâché feel of the car door, and quietly glanced at his cell phone, the signal was full.
Good, horror movies had taught him that tragedy often began with a failure to make a phone call.
With a signal, there wasn’t much of a problem.
Outside the tavern stood a hundred or so people in a variety of costumes. With Qiong Ren’s shallow common sense observation, the age of the costumes on these people almost spanned the history of Chinese civilization.
At a glance, they looked messy, but at a closer look, it was deeply shocking.
Qiong Ren sighed: “Your company wears clothes with great style.”
The Driver laughed dryly.
“We have a more liberal corporate culture.”
Clustered in the middle of the group was a pleasant-looking young man who was dressed in a particularly grand fashion, similar to the Qin Shi Huang statue in the history textbooks.
Qiong Ren understood that he was cosplaying as an emperor.
As soon as these hundred or so people saw him, their eyes lit up.
Qiong Ren: “……”
It might be that he didn’t know what to expect, but he suddenly felt as if these people were all his fans! He had watched from the sidelines how other people’s fans looked at their idols, and it was similar to how these people looked at him.
The young man dressed like an Emperor walked quickly down the steps and excitedly reached out his hand, wiping it on his waist again before shaking Qiong Ren’s.
“Cub, daddy finally met you, daddy loves you.”
Qiong Ren understood in a second, this was a daddy fan, a rare breed in the fan circle.
He took it in stride, “Thank you for liking me.”
The young man looked at him with a loving and sincere expression, “I am Emperor Song. You can call me father.”
Qiong Ren: “……”
Secretary Jin lowered his voice and reminded in Emperor Song’s ear, “How can you just say you are Emperor Song? This will reveal your identity as the Third ruler of the Underworld! Besides, how can you let him call you father? You’ll be taken for a pe.rvert!”
Emperor Song’s heart took a blow and he couldn’t think of words to remedy the situation, so he could only continue to hold Qiong Ren’s hand and shake it enthusiastically.
Qiong Ren’s smile was stiff with tenacious politeness, and with his hand firmly grasped by Emperor Song, he could only subtly kick his agent’s shoes.
The agent immediately spoke, “Mr. Song’s name is really domineering.”
Emperor Song: “Domineering? You’re very discerning, but my last name is Yu.”
What was the operation of Emperor Song’s surname being Yu? Could it be that the golden father was called Emperor Yu Song? Wouldn’t this name be a little too kingly and domineering?
Secretary Jin reminded him with a lowered voice, “Your Majesty, living people don’t shake hands for so long.”
Emperor Song immediately let go of his hand.
Qiong Ren moved his knuckles, which were clenched to the point of pain, and struggled to find a few words to say.
For the first time in his life, he was face-to-face with a live fan, and his nerves were so intense that his brain was in knots.
“Song, Mr. Yu is really a talented man. It’s an honor to be liked by Mr. Yu.” Qiong Ren’s voice gradually smoothed out as he spoke, “You guys have designated the performance piece ‘Light Chaser’, is this your favorite of my songs?”
Emperor Song: “No, it’s not. It’s a short song.”
Qiong Ren: “Huh?” Does the Golden father think my song is hard to listen to? Is two minutes and fifty-nine seconds the limit of his tolerance?
Secretary Jin: “Our head office has a rule that the salary of performers entering the company to perform for the first time should not exceed one hundred thousand yuan, but we feel that the value of your performance far exceeds one hundred thousand yuan. In order to minimize your losses, the track with the shortest duration was picked.”
Qiong Ren: “!” I’m willing to sing a few more songs for you guys ah, it’s not a problem to sing for three hours!
Emperor Song: “I was going to give you ten million yuan, it’s all Yan …… cough cough, a superstar like you is willing to take such a cheap commercial performance, I’m really touched, don’t worry, next time I’ll definitely give you more money.”
Not only was the gold father a fan of his, he was also so focused on his commercial value, and also promised to raise his money next time!
What kind of godly fan was this!
Qiong Ren’s eyes were unknowingly moist, and before the tears flowed out, he suddenly felt that something wasn’t quite right ……
Huh?
Mega star?
Who was he talking about?
Me?
Qiong Ren entered the gilded restaurant surrounded by the crowd.
He pretended to look at WeChat and quickly opened Weibo to search for any other stars named Qiong Ren. The search results told him that, not to mention a star, the name was unique in the country and there were no duplicates.
Could it be that he had already become popular when he didn’t know it?
Qiong Ren opened his Weibo page. The homepage showed 9998 fans, less than 1000 views from yesterday, and 1 interaction.
Not only was he not popular, he even lost a fan.
The gold father sent him all the way to the backstage lounge, “Cub, no, Mr. Qiong Ren, I won’t interfere with your rest and rehearsal, if you need anything, you can ask Secretary Jin, I’m looking forward to your performance.”
Qiong Ren and his agent closed the door and the two looked at each other.
Qiong Ren: “He called me a superstar ……”
Agent: “He wants to pay you 10 million yuan to perform ……”
Qiong Ren: “Did you see that Mr. Yu and his subordinates looked at me with eyes that were passionate as hell, like they were all my fans.”
Agent: “I saw that.”
Qiong Ren: “Am I still dreaming in the car ……”
The agent pinched his arm then cried out, “We, Qiong Ren, finally has fans.”
Qiong Ren pulled out a tissue and handed it over.
The agent wiped his tears and looked at his watch, “It’s just about ten o’clock now, will you rehearse or rest first?”
Qiong Ren: “Rehearsal first. The stage lighting for The Light Chaser is very important, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to feel comfortable until I’ve rubbed elbows with the lighting technician.”
It was his first time performing in front of live fans, and even if it was just a commercial stage like the company’s annual meeting, it was a precious opportunity for him.
There was no way for him to sit comfortably in the lounge, he had to do something, he couldn’t relax.
Turning to the stage, Qiong exchanged a few words with the staff and rehearsed briefly, and immediately felt plunged into a dream scenario.
The background of the stage was completely built according to the content of his song “Light Chaser”, the lighting was especially on point, and the quality of the sound was so good that he couldn’t help but begin to speculate about the cost of building this stage.
At the end of the first rehearsal, Qiong Ren was shocked by the sound effects and couldn’t help but ask, “How rich do you restaurants have to be to be able to afford a stage of this quality, I’ve accompanied dancers at many parties, and the equipment at big TV stations isn’t as good as yours ……”
Staff: “This was specially purchased by Emperor Song for your performance, since it’s for your use, of course it all has to be the best.”
Qiong Ren: “……”
He turns his head and asks his agent in a low voice, “Can I recognize the golden boss as my father?”
Agent: “Wake up, he looks the same age as you.”
Qiong Ren: “But he’s my daddy fan. My real dad left me in an orphanage and my daddy fan bought me millions of yuan of equipment. I think daddy fan is more like a dad than he is.”
Agent was stunned: “That won’t work either! People will misunderstand that you have some unspeakable relationship.”
Qiong Ren regretted, “Okay.”
He turned his head to the staff, “It’s tough on you guys, rehearse with me a few more times, it’s my first time performing my own work on stage and I don’t have a clue in my heart.”
Zero point zero minute zero second.
Qiong Ren stood in the darkness, waiting for the opening, this was the first time in his idol career that he stood on stage as Qiong Ren and performed his own song.
His heart was pounding, and he could vaguely hear people whispering offstage.
He silently mentally built himself up.
Don’t be afraid, don’t panic, you are an unknown star, you don’t have room to decline, but there is a lot of room to rise, if you get two fans tonight, your followers will be on the five digits!
Qiong Ren’s hands were cold, his palms were seeping with sweat, and he was afraid to wipe it off as he was worried that the show would start at any moment.
A staff member’s cue sounded in his ear piece, “Get ready.”
He took a shaky, deep breath.
“Five.”
“Four.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
The lights came on, illuminating up and down the stage.
TN:
See ya ‘morrow ✌️
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸