A short sentence, barely ten characters.
Inside and outside the livestream room, almost everyone was simultaneously choked by how outrageously flirty Jiang Mian was.
[Aaaah, hurry, hurry, someone come and poison this woman mute for Us!]
[Such a good woman. Who can tell me why she had to grow an extra mouth?]
[Wuwuwu, I’m a hardcore straight girl, and I was just bent a second ago. The moment she opened her mouth, I completely snapped!]
[Damn it, hahahaha, what kind of greasy domineering CEO novels has she been reading? Hahahahaha, holy crap!]
…
Don’t ask. If you did, the answer would be that the apocalypse was just too boring. Jiang Mian wasn’t even keeping a pretty boy on the side or anything—life was monotonous and dull.
Aside from feel-good novels, to be perfectly honest, she’d also secretly read quite a few of those titles like 《Billionaire Wife: Triplets at One Go》 and 《The Cold CEO’s Runaway Sweetheart》, hiding it from her subordinates.
And honestly? Those melodramatic, over-the-top plots were surprisingly addictive. Once you started reading, you really got sucked in—both satisfying and stress-relieving.
Hehehe.
“Pff, cough, cough, cough…”
Almost at the same time, Song Qichen, who had been watching the livestream all along, failed to hold it in and sprayed out all the plain water he had just taken into his mouth. Immediately after, he began coughing violently, as if his lungs were about to tear apart.
At this moment, the contestants on screen were not in much better shape than Song Qichen.
Among them, Zhu Li, who was standing closest to Jiang Mian, suffered the heaviest critical hit, so heavy that her mind had already started to drift.
‘Who am I, where am I, what am I supposed to be doing?’
These three questions kept looping endlessly in her head.
It could be said that if she were not afraid she could not beat Jiang Mian, she would have already rushed over, grabbed Jiang Mian by the neck, and shaken her with all her strength.
‘Give her back to me!’
‘You idiot, give me back that heroic, valiant, sword-wielding, world-roaming female knight from just now, aaaah!’
“Clap clap!”
Amid the silence, two claps suddenly rang out from the doorway of the practice room.
Everyone hurriedly turned their heads, only to see Zhang Qin, a famous beautiful host within the industry, standing at the door with a bright smile.
“I just heard that filming hasn’t even started yet, and some of you already couldn’t wait to start PK-ing with each other? So, how did it go? Is it over? Who won, who lost? We need everyone to head to the waiting hall together now. It’s time to explain the relevant competition rules.”
Zhang Qin’s single sentence snapped everyone present back to their senses.
For a moment, almost all the contestants cast complex yet wary looks toward Jiang Mian at the front.
Leaving everything else aside, this Jiang Mian was definitely the dark horse of this season of 《Heart-Pounding Idol》.
Unlike them, there was an indescribable quality about her. The moment she appeared in a crowd, she would unconsciously draw everyone’s gaze to herself.
It could only be said that perhaps some people are born to be the center of attention.
They needed to pull themselves together properly now. Being lazy and half-hearted would get them nowhere.
As for Xu Xingming, his mood was even more complicated and hard to read. He believed that after so many years of knowing Jiang Mian, he should understand her thoroughly.
But now that he looked at her again, his understanding simply could not keep up with Jiang Mian’s changes.
If the Jiang Mian of the past was like a small flower blooming in a corner, quietly giving off her own unique fragrance, then the current her was more like a dazzling, blazing fire, its fiery red glow drawing everyone’s eyes.
Xu Xingming could not understand how someone could change so completely in such a short period of time.
Not only that, but also… stop liking someone the moment they decided to…
The man clenched his fists tightly, his gaze lowered. No one knew what was going through his mind.
Just as the contestants in the practice room, under Mentor Zhang Qin’s call, were about to head outside.
Zhu Li, her small face flushed red, was the first to step up to Jiang Mian. She bit her lip hard and said loudly, “Best of three, you won. From now on, whether you want to call me Little Pig or Little Zhu, that’s your right. I accept the bet and the loss. But…”
“Losing to you this once doesn’t mean I’ll lose next time. In the upcoming competitions, I’ll give it my all, with one hundred and twenty percent effort. I definitely won’t lose to you again, Jiang Mian!”
Zhu Li’s words rang out loud and clear.
After saying that, the girl turned around and strode out with her head held high.
“Alright, Little Zhu. I believe you can do it, Little Zhu. Let’s work hard together, Little Zhu!”
Jiang Mian delivered another instant triple combo in one go.
It made Zhu Li stumble mid-step, nearly tripping herself into flying out the door.
‘I hate ‘Little Zhu’!’
When they arrived at the waiting hall, Zhang Qin, as the host of 《Heart-Pounding Idol》, began introducing the rules of their program.
《Heart-Pounding Idol》 would conduct a total of six rounds of assessments over the course of three months.
Note that these were assessments, not public performances. Unlike ordinary talent shows, they would not hold a first public performance, second public performance, or a final group debut stage.
《Heart-Pounding Idol》 would not form a group. It only eliminated contestants. The person who remained at the very end would debut.
As for the assessment content, it covered stage performance, acting competitions, variety show internships, professional role-play, on-set crew internships, and finally the grand debut night stage. Six items in total.
The aim was to respond to the national call and select all-round artists like many of the older generation of performers, people proficient in film, television, music, and even variety show hosting, truly versatile talents.
The more the contestants listened to these program rules, the more uncertain they felt. Why were there so many things to be assessed?
Wasn’t a talent show supposed to be just about singing and dancing and making the stage look good? Why was 《Heart-Pounding Idol》 so different?
It was not only the contestants who were surprised. Off-screen, Assistant Xiao Yan could not help recalling an earlier conversation between the executive CEO of Light and Shadow Entertainment under the Song Group and President Song.
They had talked for a long time back then, and Xiao Yan remembered one particular segment of it.
“…I’m already spending so much money and so much time running a talent show. Why not just do it properly in one go and select people who can do everything? That way, wherever they’re needed, they can be put to use. Otherwise, if I pick a bunch who can only sing and dance, then when they come out to act or host variety shows, I still have to spend extra money training them. What’s the point?”
Back then, Assistant Xiao Yan had only one thought: ‘It made damn good sense.’
‘Stingy President Song, it really is you!’
Today’s President Song had once again reached a whole new level of stinginess!
At this moment, the livestream of 《Heart-Pounding Idol》 had already progressed to introducing the most eye-catching mentors.
You had to know that from the beginning until now, these mentors had only appeared as a few silhouettes. Not a single hint had been revealed the entire time, leaving the outside world’s curiosity hanging high. Releasing everything in one go during today’s livestream was precisely to ride a wave of hype.
Almost at the same time, in a bar within Yanjing City, Song Xiguang smiled as he clinked glasses with the man in black sitting directly across from him.
“Ah Kai, then it’s settled between us…”
“Alright, alright, Xiguang. We’ve been friends for so many years. You rarely ask me for a favor. How could I possibly refuse? Setting everything else aside, that younger brother of yours was really far too ruthless toward you. Even someone like me, an outsider, can’t stand to watch it. Letting him suffer a bit, and helping you vent some anger along the way, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
The man in black, his makeup exquisitely done, smiled as he clinked glasses with Song Xiguang.
“This time, I really have to thank you, Ah Kai…”
“What are you thanking me for between good brothers? Back when I was a complete nobody, if it hadn’t been for you recognizing my potential and signing me to Light and Shadow Entertainment, I’d probably still be washing people’s hair over in Wu City right now!”
“That’s not true. Gold will shine sooner or later. Someone like you, Ah Kai, even without me, would have made a name for yourself sooner or later on your own.”
“Hahahaha…”
Jian Kai, thoroughly delighted by Song Xiguang’s praise, immediately burst into loud laughter.
Song Xiguang, seated across from him, also smiled as he drained the red wine in his glass. He then turned his gaze downward, his smile unchanged as he looked at the frenzied, chaotic dance floor below, a flash of dark light passing through his eyes.
Jian Kai—the hottest top-tier traffic star in the entertainment industry right now.
Without someone like him serving as the initiator of 《Heart-Pounding Idol》 and the representative of the National Producers, he really wanted to see how Song Qichen planned to clean up this mess.
The first livestream of 《Heart-Pounding Idol》 was still ongoing. Inside the broadcast, Zhang Qin had already revealed the stage mentors, acting mentors, variety show mentors, and even the professional assessment mentors.
Now, only the National Producers’ representative, Jian Kai, remained unrevealed.
Even though Jian Kai’s name and photo had not yet been officially disclosed, fans who had already gotten insider information were flooding the livestream chat with Jian Kai’s name. They had even pushed him onto the trending searches.
And it was precisely at this moment,
“President Song! This is bad…”
Assistant Xiao Yan knocked on the door of Song Qichen’s office at once, his expression serious and anxious.
“What’s wrong?”
Song Qichen asked without stopping his work.
“The people from Jian Kai’s studio called. They said that during the recording of 《Heart-Pounding Idol》, Jian Kai himself ran into a bit of a physical issue and has already been admitted to the hospital. He probably won’t have any time to come out and record the show next…”
Hearing this, Song Qichen’s hands paused slightly as he was typing. He lifted his head and looked toward Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan continued explaining,
“This is most likely just an excuse, because afterward, the caller made it very clear. They’re dissatisfied with the compensation the program is offering. If we really need Jian Kai to come and record, it’s not impossible for him to free up time, but… we have to pay more!”
Song Qichen: “……”
“How much more?”
He tried his best to keep his voice sounding calm.
“Eight… eight thou… eighty million.”
Song Qichen: “……” His fists clenched hard.
“But… but this is just the initial price. Our people are still negotiating to bring it down. Jian Kai just won the Green Peony Best Newcomer Award recently, so it’s normal for his market value to rise. His traffic is extremely high. Hiring him would be all benefits and no drawbacks for us, President Song…” ‘Please calm down!’
The last four words were what Assistant Xiao Yan was screaming internally.
“Heh, heh heh, hehehe.”
Song Qichen was so furious that he laughed instead.
“Eighty million?”
“I have a question. This Jian Kai, this so-called top-tier traffic star, aside from being an actor, has he ever developed any other kind of side business?”
“Huh, side business?”
Assistant Xiao Yan was completely baffled by Song Qichen’s question.
“Robbery.”
Song Qichen spat out the two words expressionlessly.
“Eighty million. If I remember correctly, over the course of three full months, he only needs to record for twenty days. At most four hours a day. That’s a total of eighty hours. Which means an hourly rate of one million!”
Song Qichen ground his teeth.
“Hah, at a price that high, why shouldn’t I just do it myself? Why would I hire him?”
After all, he finished his daily work both quickly and efficiently, and still had time to develop some hobbies and side ventures. But what kind of side business could possibly compare to an hourly rate of one million!
Assistant Xiao Yan: “……” ‘What you’re saying makes so much sense that I can’t even argue.’
At that very moment, Assistant Xiao Yan, already exhausted to the bone because of this whole mess, suddenly noticed that his President Song’s eyes were shining like two multi-hundred-megawatt headlights as he stared straight at him.
A very bad premonition suddenly swept through Assistant Xiao Yan’s heart.
“Yeah. Why don’t I just do it myself?”
The corner of Song Qichen’s mouth lifted unconsciously as he repeated it again.
Assistant Xiao Yan: “!!!”
‘Think it through, President Song!’
‘Money can’t be saved like this, President Song!’
‘President Song!!!’
Unfortunately, his President Song was already not listening to anything anymore…