UCS Chapter 59

Gao Shi looked down at the scout’s business card, chuckled softly, and took it.

Standing in the shadows, his expression was unreadable, but seeing Gao Shi take the card, the scout felt a surge of hope.

In the entertainment industry, many stars are pushed into showbiz by their parents—especially child stars. Wanxing has signed several such kids.

Kids, especially young ones, are always at a disadvantage with their parents.

These days, child stars earn money more easily than adults. Seeing those fair, tender faces on screen, many parents can’t help but open their wallets. The money flows into the parents’ pockets and the company’s accounts. Who cares if the child star wants to shoot commercials? Who cares if the kid gets bruised correcting their posture for an ad?

Who cares.

So as the scout watched Gao Shi studying the card, he ignored Gao Gusheng and enthusiastically launched into the company pitch, not noticing Gusheng trying hard not to laugh.

“…Our Wanxing Entertainment is very famous in the industry. Stars like Qin—She Tingxie, the nation’s sweetheart, are with us. There’s Zhou Qi, Feng Ai, and the recently famous child star Pipi Baby—they’re all our artists. You can rest assured.”

Gao Shi replied with a noncommittal “hmm.” Hearing this, the scout was greatly encouraged. “Your son has excellent qualities. Many young people want to enter the industry, but the requirements are very high.”

“Your son went viral online once, and it hasn’t been long since. It’s best to capitalize on that momentum and cash in quickly. The internet’s memory is very short—if you miss this window, there may not be another chance like this.”

The scout subtly applied pressure—he was used to this. Many parents, whether for their own gain or their child’s future, would become decisive after hearing this.

He didn’t rush, patiently waiting for Gao Shi’s response, studying Gao Shi’s profile in the dim night: high nose, sharp jawline. He couldn’t help but think this man might be as good-looking as his son.

If he couldn’t sign the son, maybe the father would do.

The scout was startled by his own thought and wanted to slap himself.

No matter how handsome, a man in his forties can’t debut singing and dancing. The industry is about girl groups, boy groups, youth idols—what would it mean to sign this dad? An uncle group?

Oh wait, only the good-looking ones are called “uncles.” The not-so-good-looking ones are just “old men.”

He was under orders from the CEO, had made a bold promise, and sped out of the company, only to end up signing an “old man” and forming an “old man group” to debut?

Does that make sense?

But despite these thoughts, Gao Shi’s wild driving had somehow given the scout a strange sense of confidence. He felt this man had a unique charisma, walking the line between reliability and madness, mesmerizing like the aurora.

“Actually, after my son was cyberbullied by Qin Shi, I learned a bit about the entertainment industry,” Gao Shi said casually, dropping the taboo words about the industry and Wanxing.

The scout snapped out of his daze, thinking, “Crap.”

No parent would have a good impression of the company whose star had led the cyberbullying of their child.

He was about to pull out a contract to try to recover the situation when Gao Shi added, “Actually, Rose Entertainment also approached Lele before, offering generous terms and a chance to act alongside the movie king.”

The scout thought, “Trouble.”

Rose Entertainment is run by movie king Xiao Yusheng and is slowly growing. Wanxing pushes traffic stars, while Rose’s newcomers might not be famous at first, but once they get popular, they have solid works, and their fanbase grows slower but is more loyal.

The two companies are more like a battle between popularity and substance.

Older folks tend to prefer substance and good works.

But the scout wasn’t giving up. Since the man in front of him mentioned this, it meant he was open to bargaining.

After all, compared to the “strength school,” the “traffic school” (popularity-driven stars) has one big advantage—quick monetization.

The talent scout took out a contract from his bag.

He had prepared three contracts before coming, originally planning to raise the offer step by step, but now that Rose Entertainment was involved, he could only offer the highest contract right away.

The penalty for breach of this contract was terrifyingly high—an ordinary working-class family might not be able to pay it off in a lifetime.

Seeing Gao Shi’s gaze linger on the penalty clause, the scout smiled confidently, “The penalty is only to restrain artists who break the contract. As long as Gao Gusheng doesn’t breach the contract, it’s just a number.”

Gao Shi asked, “Can I take a photo?”

The scout quickly replied, “You can’t take photos unless you sign. This is a confidential contract.”

Gao Shi nodded, then began reading the contract word by word. The scout knew that unless someone was a seasoned lawyer, they wouldn’t spot the tricks, but for some reason, he felt uneasy.

He reassured himself: this guy can’t see through anything anyway, just let him look—hopefully, he’ll sign after reading.

After a while, Gao Shi said, “Since this concerns my son, I can’t agree right away.”

The scout nodded repeatedly, “Of course, that’s natural.”

Gao Shi smiled in the dark, “I wonder if I could see your company’s environment? For example, the filming environment?”

The scout hesitated, “How about we exchange contact info? I have to get permission, since the filming locations are strictly managed. You wouldn’t want your son to be harassed by stalkers, right? I hope you understand.”

Gao Shi: “I understand.”

The scout took out his phone, intending to add him on WeChat, but was surprised when Gao Shi pulled out a Nokia.

Nokia??

Hasn’t that been obsolete for eight or nine years? How does anyone still use such an old phone? Can you even use WeChat on that?

The scout was full of questions. This wasn’t about being broke; he could only assume Gao Shi had a hobby of collecting old phones. But after waiting a while, Gao Shi didn’t pull out a second phone.

The scout’s face turned a bit awkward, and he felt a little annoyed, thinking he was being played.

He looked up, about to speak, when he saw the phone screen’s light illuminating Gao Shi’s face.

His features were hazy in the moonlight, but his eyes reflected the screen’s glow, like a river of stars pouring into them.

The scout gasped. His instincts and professional training as a scout overwhelmed him. “Mr. Gao, perhaps… would you consider entering the entertainment industry yourself?”

Gao Shi’s hand paused. “?”

Do you know what you’re saying?

Gao Shi wondered if he was hearing things. He turned to see the scout’s face flushed, his eyes shining with a frightening light. “Mr. Gao! Your personal qualities are outstanding! If you sign, I guarantee you’ll be famous nationwide within a year!”

Gao Shi’s glance struck the scout like a blow to the heart. The scout, as if drunk, waved his hand grandly, his face saying, “Look! This is the empire I’ve built for you!”

“Mr. Gao, if you’re worried about your son in showbiz, you can debut together!”

Gao Shi: ???

What is this? Father and son conquering the entertainment industry? A father-son duo?

The scout was completely lost in his fantasy, even imagining the comments after their debut—

“I’m here to join this family, not to break it up!”

He spun around excitedly, no longer minding the Nokia, and enthusiastically opened the contacts page. “Come on! Let’s exchange contact info, you can reach me anytime!”

Gao Shi gripped his phone cautiously. “I’m a government employee. I have no plans to enter showbiz.”

The scout nodded repeatedly, “I understand, I totally understand!”

I don’t think you understand anything!

Beside them, Gao Gusheng was dumbfounded. He never expected that his dad, trying to shield him, would almost end up getting himself signed instead.

This is like throwing a meat bun at a dog—gone for good!

Frightened, Gao Gusheng rushed over, “Dad, it’s late, Daoist Ying—Uncle Ying is still waiting for us at home!”

The scout clung to Gao Shi’s arm, “Come on, let’s at least exchange contacts, no rush!”

Gao Gusheng wanted to smack him on the forehead. He yanked Gao Shi’s arm into his own, determined to protect his dad, “We’re in a hurry! Uncle Ying is starving at home!”

In the end, the scout saved Gao Shi’s phone number, watching longingly as their car drove away, like a wife waiting for her husband to return.

If Gao Shi weren’t so cautious, he wouldn’t even have needed to turn on the headlights—the scout’s eyes were shining like two flashlights lighting their way.

The black sedan’s exhaust, no matter how you looked at it, seemed a little like a panicked escape.

＊＊＊

In a pitch-dark room, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

A low growl.

No response. Only the man’s heavy, rough breathing echoed in the silence.

After a long time, footsteps sounded. Heavy curtains were drawn open, and dazzling sunlight lit up the man’s face.

His features were sharp as if carved by a knife, extremely handsome, but no one dared look at him directly.

Li Mochen.

The man in charge of Wanxing Entertainment.

His expression was cold and hard, but there was no sign of the earlier loss of composure.

So much had happened in just twenty days that he felt a looming sense of crisis, as if someone was watching him from the shadows.

First, Qin Shi’s reputation collapsed, Wanxing Entertainment’s top traffic star fell from grace, and that fool ended up in jail.

Then came the land auction: a plot with a cap of eighty million was sold for 130 million. Just today, he used special means to learn the government’s land plan in advance—a high-speed rail would pass right through that land. In an instant, a plot once seen as a wasteful purchase multiplied in value dozens of times, and the Li family’s chance to expand its business was lost.

Then came the recent string of incidents: She Tingxie and several others were taken into custody on charges of group debauchery and coercion into prostitution, and are currently in a legal battle with Bai Shi. Two more artists under the company were found to be involved in group drug use—both of whom had the potential to become top-tier stars, but now not only have their careers been ruined, they might also spend years in prison.

All these things happened at once, like a streak of bad luck, and Li Mochen couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was manipulating everything behind the scenes.

Artists are the foundation of an entertainment company.

Everyone is waiting for Wanxing Entertainment to collapse so they can carve out a share for themselves.

Many people who originally didn’t pay attention to the entertainment industry or know which company a star belonged to were suddenly made aware when a blogger listed all the Wanxing artists recently involved in scandals, and somehow it ended up trending.

Now, Wanxing’s reputation has already been subtly damaged.

Although these artists’ contracts are with the company and they can’t just run away, it will definitely affect future signings.

So now, they need to launch someone—an artist who can suppress all these rumors.

Gao Gusheng is a very good choice.

Moreover…

Li Mochen recalled that stunning first glance when they met: the youth’s clean brows and bright eyes, skin so fair it was almost translucent, like a white porcelain cup—beautiful and fragile.

He wondered what it would look like if that youth’s eyes, red from crying, had all hope shattered within them—what a captivating sight.

He and It both wanted to know.

 

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