Starting from a Bar to Sign Internet Celebrities-Chapter 175 - 148: We’re Screwed! What’s the Meaning of Showing Your Hand Directly?
The color drained from Hu Zhicong’s face. Only then did he remember.
Previously, in order to secure an investment, he had signed a highly unfavorable guarantee agreement with President Li. The agreement was just as predatory as the ones he used on his own artists.
He just never imagined Company CYH would run into trouble. As long as it developed into a 4-star Guild, he would have been fine. Who could have predicted this would happen?
How could he possibly afford to pay that kind of compensation?
After hanging up, he collapsed to the floor. Desperation gave way to malice.
Naturally, the artists at Company CYH also received the news very quickly.
Many of them were already tired of being exploited and had been considering their options for a while. Now that things had come to this, their minds started churning with new ideas.
「In an apartment.」
Little Maru was deeply troubled. She had a background in music, and her biggest dream was to become a pop star. To that end, she had spent three years as a trainee, but with no connections, she failed to debut with a group.
When her contract expired, she decided to try the online influencer route. Now, one of her videos had gone viral, but her boss, Hu Zhicong, had made several advances toward her. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his implications; he wanted to leverage the promise of fame to coerce her into sleeping with him.
’Why is the world so filthy?’ she wondered.
’The entertainment industry is like this, and so is the influencer scene. Hu Zhicong is ugly and short. Even Wang Qiqi looks down on him, so how could I possibly be interested?’
’The real question is whether he could even make me famous.’
’He kept telling me how many resources, how much hype, and how much money he’d poured into paid promotions for this video, but in the end, the gap between me and Wang Qiqi is still huge.’
At this thought, an image of Chen Jincheng surfaced in her mind. ’He really is incredible.’
’I don’t think I’m any worse than Wang Qiqi. My figure, looks, and singing ability are all on par with hers. But after just one video, the public sees me as miles behind her.’
’Chen Jincheng can also write songs. If he wrote a song like "Can’t Help Falling in Love" for Wang Qiqi, the gap would become even wider.’
’I’m starting to regret not going to Second-Life Star instead of Company CYH.’
’If I had, I wouldn’t have to be dealing with that old lecher Hu Zhicong right now. If I reject him outright, I’m afraid he’ll blacklist me once the hype from this video dies down.’
"Xiaowan, good news!" her sister exclaimed, walking in from outside with a joyful expression.
"Sis, what good news could there be? I don’t even know how to handle Hu Zhicong. It’s driving me crazy," Chu Xiaowan said, looking completely exasperated.
Her sister quickly explained, "You don’t have to deal with Hu Zhicong anymore! Chen Jincheng just revealed online that Company CYH’s contracts aren’t legally binding. He said any lawsuit against them is a guaranteed win! We can sue Company CYH for breach of contract and leave."
"And you can use those recordings of Hu Zhicong’s inappropriate suggestions. That way, you won’t be accused of being ungrateful."
"Really?" Chu Xiaowan’s face lit up. Her sister then pulled up the video of Chen Jincheng’s exposé for her to watch, explaining, "I’ve already consulted a lawyer, and it’s true. It looks like Company CYH is finished this time."
"That really is good news," Chu Xiaowan said.
But her sister immediately added, "That’s not even the good news I was talking about. Sister Hong from Second-Life Star contacted me! She said you have a lot of potential and that if her boss takes a liking to you, he might even write a song for you. Don’t you want to be a pop star?"
"Chen Jincheng?" Chu Xiaowan was genuinely surprised.
"Mhm," her sister nodded, adding, "Everyone is saying that whoever becomes a Miss Cheng is guaranteed to get famous. Jiang Xiaobai, who sang ’Can’t Help Falling in Love,’ is a Miss Cheng, and now Wang Qiqi is one too."
"A Miss Cheng... it’s not that easy," Chu Xiaowan sighed.
Her sister nodded. "That’s true. Everyone says the ’Miss Cheng’ girls all have ambiguous relationships with Chen Jincheng. What Hu Zhicong exposed probably wasn’t a lie."
"This world is just filthy. You can’t avoid it anywhere!" Chu Xiaowan suddenly sighed. "Sis, help me contact Sister Hong. Tell her I want to speak with Chen Jincheng personally!"
’Since it’s unavoidable, I can at least choose for myself.’
「Second-Life Star.」
Back in his office, Chen Jincheng started watching the drama surrounding Company CYH unfold. It didn’t take long before a female influencer from Company CYH with three million followers went public with her accusations, announcing she would be filing a lawsuit.
"Things are escalating faster than I thought!" Chen Jincheng laughed.
He was very satisfied with the result.
Just then, Sister Hong came in to report. "Boss, I did as you asked and contacted some of Company CYH’s influencers. A few are willing to jump ship, while others are still considering. It seems other companies have smelled blood in the water and are reaching out to Company CYH’s talent as well."
"That’s not surprising," Chen Jincheng said with a smile.
The tide of public opinion had turned. Anyone could see that Company CYH was about to implode. ’It’s just like in my previous world,’ he thought. ’Everyone rushes in to take a bite. It’s far more cost-effective to poach an established influencer than to spend resources building one from scratch.’
Sister Hong added, "That influencer, Little Maru, said she wants to speak with you personally. Should I send you her WeChat contact?"
"That girl really does have potential. I actually have a song that would be perfect for her sweet-sounding voice." Chen Jincheng smiled and nodded. "Go ahead and send her my WeChat."
"Okay!" Sister Hong nodded and took out her phone to do just that.
A moment later, Chen Jincheng received a WeChat notification. It was a friend request, recommended by Sister Hong.
He accepted and sent a direct message: "This is Chen Jincheng."
The next moment, his phone chimed with a reply on WeChat.
He opened it and was surprised to see she had sent a very sexy bikini photo.
Chen Jincheng recognized her at a glance—it was Little Maru. ’She’s not just pretty,’ he thought, ’her proportions are incredible.’
’Sending a photo like this right off the bat... this girl is certainly up to something.’
As he was thinking this, another message came through: "One song on the level of ’Can’t Help Falling in Love’! In exchange, I’ll sign with Second-Life Star and accept any ’learning arrangements’ during the recording period!!"
’????’ Chen Jincheng was stunned.
’I figured she was up to something, but I never expected her to be *this* up to something. She just laid all her cards on the table.’
’This is a first for me.’
Meanwhile, after mustering the courage to send her reply to Chen Jincheng, Chu Xiaowan stepped into an elevator and pressed the button for the floor Company CYH was on.
Her sister and their lawyer were right behind her. They were here specifically to terminate her contract with Hu Zhicong. Given the circumstances, and with the recordings as evidence, she was very confident.
The elevator doors opened, and she stormed into the Company CYH office, but the scene inside made her stop in her tracks, utterly dumbfounded.
