["Partner, do you have any more work coming up?"]
[...]
Hearing this ghostly voice, Shao Si struggled to turn over in the back seat, responding hazily in his mind: [No... I don't think so.]
The system lowered its voice: [Then can we get down to business?]
Shao Si took this question seriously: [I've already decided...]
The system held its breath: [Oh?]
Shao Si answered in a half-asleep state: [Later I'm going home to take a shower and then get a good night's sleep.]
[...] The system was silent for a while, then choked out, [Are you serious?]
[...You're doubting me.]
[This isn't doubt, it's heartache.]
[I'm not pounding your chest with my little fists, so don't make a fuss. I'm really going to sleep now.]
After saying the last sentence, Shao Si fell into a deep slumber, his breathing shallow.
The system sighed: [What the hell can I say, you bewitching little demon.]
The journey back was quite long. When Li Guangzong slowly woke up, he raised his wrist to check the time, estimating there were about twenty minutes left in the trip.
He did some work on his laptop in the car, opening his email to organize the week's notifications and writing up several reports to send to the company.
After sending the emails, he took off his glasses and started pondering Shao Si's future development.
Though he often joked about being "washed up," he was actually quite afraid of it happening. It was too easy to become irrelevant in today's society saturated with fast-food entertainment. How long could even the hottest news stay in the public eye? How many people would remember? How much would there be left to talk about once the novelty wore off? Without constantly stirring up buzz and creating drama, one could be washed away by the next wave in a minute.
Celebrities needed talking points, no matter where they came from. It could be spreading rumors, or even deliberately hiring internet trolls to badmouth oneself, then clearing one's name after a while.
In this industry, many people would stop at nothing.
But his Daddy Shao looked down on all of it.
Li Guangzong thought about the various hype plans Shao Si had rejected in the past few days, and it gave him a headache.
He had taken over managing Shao Si midway, and initially didn't have a good impression of him.
His aura was too cold, making people uneasy.
Because of Shao Si's outstanding appearance, the company had planned to package him well from the start, listing him as a key trainee and assigning him one of the industry's top managers who had made many young idols popular.
Since it had nothing to do with him, Li Guangzong didn't pay much attention, continuing to diligently manage the new talents under him, wondering when one of them might become popular.
Later, Shao Si had a falling out with his manager and got into a big fight at the company. At the time, Li Guangzong had just returned from a job with his artists when he saw the ace manager Qi Ming being pinned to the ground and beaten by Shao Si. Qi Ming was beaten so badly that even his glasses frame cracked, and he curled up on the ground. The whole company was in an uproar.
That day, Shao Si was dressed all in black, in a cool hip-hop style. He may have just come from the dance studio, wearing a baseball cap tilted to the side, looking like it might fall off at any moment.
If security hadn't arrived in time, Shao Si might have smashed Qi Ming's skull with the decorative vase in the hallway.
It's unclear how the company ultimately handled the incident, but it was hushed up. Li Guangzong had no particular opinion on the matter, only thinking: this person is indeed scary.
But he didn't expect the company to approach him the next day, asking if he was willing to take over.
...To be honest, he wasn't very willing.
Everyone in the company was saying that Shao Si had a bad temper, was arrogant, and didn't follow the rules.
He also thought Shao Si was that kind of person, but only after reluctantly taking over did he realize it wasn't like that at all.
Later, when they became more familiar, he joked once, mocking Shao Si for having low emotional intelligence. Shao Si scoffed at this.
Li Guangzong: "Don't deny it, your EQ is really quite low. Otherwise, how could everyone in the company see you as a bully standing on top of a refrigerator?"
Shao Si rubbed his brow: "What the hell? What bully?"
Li Guangzong: "Translated, it means a cold, aloof bully."
"..."
So that's how "standing on a refrigerator" is used?
Shao Si touched his nose: "Why has my image become like this?"
Li Guangzong: "What else could it be but that incident with Qi Ming? He's still spreading rumors about you everywhere, and hasn't gotten tired of it after four or five years... Oh right, I heard the company later questioned you about it but you didn't explain."
"That thing..." Shao Si tilted his head back, his expression darkening, "It wasn't for any reason, I just couldn't stand him."
This was actually an expected answer, and Li Guangzong wasn't too surprised. He was about to tell him "control yourself in the future, don't keep doing stupid things" when he heard Shao Si continue: "He had a total of seven artists under him, and each one could become popular in a short time. Do you know why?"
Li Guangzong's heart skipped a beat, anticipating something not so good, and didn't dare speak.
"The first time he met me, he threw a form at me - do you know what it was? It was a persona arrangement table, clearly listing what persona he wanted you to play. That trash, I can still recite it now, something about being a noble young man who came treading on ice and snow, not partaking in worldly affairs. He even told you what you couldn't be, you know? I was so angry I laughed at the time, this idiot's knowledge was quite extensive."
Li Guangzong: "..."
"It was bad enough making me act like an idiot, but I couldn't tolerate him arranging for his artists to be set up with sugar daddies, getting them drunk and sent to bed - what's with that look? ... I didn't say I was the one being sent to bed."
...
Well, it turns out he was just a hot-blooded youth standing up for others.
Just as Li Guangzong was lost in thought, the driver had already stepped on the brake, parking the car by the roadside. He turned his head to remind him: "Brother Zong, we've arrived."
This time, without Li Guangzong calling him, Shao Si lifted the blanket on his own initiative. He must have heard the words "we've arrived" in his half-asleep state, as he groggily opened the car door, not forgetting to put on his mask and sunglasses before getting out.
Li Guangzong watched him jump out of the car and immediately turn right, hurriedly calling him back: "What are you doing?! Where are you going?!"
Shao Si walked languidly, squinting his eyes and saying without turning back: "Going home to sleep."
Sleep your head!
Li Guangzong also jumped out of the car, catching up to Shao Si in a few steps and pulling him back. As the two struggled, Shao Si suddenly stopped moving, standing there woodenly as if he had lost all hope to live on, pointing at the tall buildings in front of him and saying: "Wait... why did you bring me to a hotel? Shouldn't I be happily standing at the entrance of my apartment complex?"
"Didn't I tell you yesterday? The company is throwing a celebration party. The low-budget drama that the company invested in recently got really good feedback," Li Guangzong said while dragging him inside, reminding him, "Qi Ming will be there later, don't be impulsive. You must stay rational, no matter how he provokes you, don't pay any attention to him, okay?"
Shao Si took off one side of his mask, following him with a displeased expression: "Are you trying to kill me..."
"We'll just make an appearance, eat a little, and then leave, okay?" Li Guangzong led Shao Si to the front desk, gave the CEO's name, and a staff member led them to the third floor. "Don't look so gloomy, it doesn't look good. People might think you're playing that noble young man treading on ice and snow again..."
"Stop bringing up my dark history," Shao Si's mouth twitched, "Twenty minutes, I'll stay for just twenty minutes, not a second more."
At the banquet, as expected, Qi Ming started mocking Shao Si as soon as he saw him, harping on about how Shao Si had taken on Director Wang's new drama that wouldn't make money, while snidely boasting about how his newly signed young idol was getting nearly ten million yuan per drama. The young idol played along, occasionally saying in a silly tone, "Oh no, how could that be? I've only just debuted, I'm just a bit lucky, how could I compare to Senior?"
Shao Si ate casually, and after finishing, he sat with his legs crossed, burying his head in his phone. He paid little attention to Qi Ming and the young idol's performance, perfunctorily responding, "Oh, not bad, keep it up."
Qi Ming took a sip of red wine smugly, like a rooster that had won a fight. After a short while, he patted the "ten-million-yuan" young idol beside him, his intention couldn't be more obvious: "Go on, greet your senior."
The fresh-faced young man was called Yang Ze. He had a sunny, healthy appearance and was quite handsome. When he smiled, it was as if his right ear stud would light up. He stood up and raised his glass, saying, "Senior Shao, I've long admired you. I'll drink this glass first as a sign of respect. Please drink at your leisure."
Shao Si was indeed leisurely, so leisurely that he didn't drink at all.
Li Guangzong secretly pinched him, but couldn't budge him. Resigned, he stood up to deflect the drink for Shao Si, apologizing with a smile, "I'm sorry, but little Si hasn't been feeling well these past couple of days. The doctor said he should avoid alcohol and cigarettes."
But Yang Ze wasn't done yet. He enthusiastically tried to serve Shao Si some food. They were sitting quite far apart, and as he reached over with his long arm, whether intentionally or not, he knocked over the juice in front of Shao Si, splashing it all over him.
Li Guangzong let out a surprised cry and quickly grabbed some napkins to help wipe him down.
Yang Ze stood frozen, at a loss for words, "I'm so sorry... really sorry, I didn't mean to. I just wanted to serve you some food."
Shao Si pulled away a napkin with one hand, hurriedly sending the text message he had been composing for a while, then focused on cleaning his clothes, but it only seemed to make the stain worse. He simply stood up and said, "It's fine, I'll go to the restroom."
Ten minutes later, he was standing in the restroom with his phone, and let out a curse: "...Shit."
It wasn't because of his clothes, but because of the text message he had just sent.
He had spent quite some time composing that message, intending to send it to the makeup artist to continue probing about Yang Yin Yin's situation.
Although it was just a greeting and wasn't particularly flirtatious... he had sent it to the wrong person!
Shao Si stared at the line 'Want to grab a meal sometime?' on the screen, his emotions complex.
How would Gu Yanzhou react when he saw it?
...He really hadn't meant to ask him out.
Shao Si scratched his head, realizing that at this point, adding a "Sorry, sent that by mistake" would make him seem particularly calculated and insincere.
How annoying.