Fang Yinnian looked away and asked, “Today is essentially a company anniversary team-building event, right? And the boss is treating everyone to dinner after?”
Fu Fei nodded and said, “A mixed family concert is fundamentally company team-building. However, music companies go all out for these events. Shengyao clearly wanted to use the 10th anniversary for promotion—all the singers today trended on hot searches, which must have cost quite a bit.”
He paused, scratched his head, and chuckled, “We got to ride that wave of attention too.”
As Xu Baichuan passed by earlier, he had handed the bag containing their phones to Mo Xun.
Mo Xun distributed the phones to his teammates. When they checked Weibo, they saw their follower counts had increased considerably in just ten minutes.
Fang Yinnian was the first to break 100,000 followers—gaining that many in one night was already quite rapid.
Staff members came to call them to the vehicles, and the five boarded their pre-arranged van.
The boss had completely reserved the Chinese restaurant at the Yaan International Hotel where they were staying, specifically to host a late dinner for everyone.
The five felt inevitably nervous about attending their first business dinner.
Xu Baichuan approached them, saying, “Let me introduce you to several executives.” He brought the five to the main table and respectfully introduced: “This is CEO Zhang of the TaoHe platform… This is Director Luo, who oversees TaoHe’s variety show department…”
With each executive their manager introduced, all five politely greeted them.
The executives nodded back with smiles.
CEO Zhang said, “Old Xu, your group has quite high visual appeal—they’re bound to become popular.”
Xu Baichuan smiled and replied, “Thank you for the kind words. I hope they become popular quickly too.”
CEO Zhang continued, “You young ones must be hungry? Go get something to eat—no need to be so formal. Just coordinate with Director Luo regarding variety shows.”
The woman beside him smiled slightly and looked at the five, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to arrange something for you.”
Xu Baichuan responded, “Very good. CEO Zhang, Director Luo, I’ll take them over there first.”
He gave Mo Xun a meaningful look and led them to a corner, lowering his voice to say, “Get yourselves some food. Don’t leave until I say it’s okay to go back and sleep. Don’t slip away early, understand?”
Mo Xun nodded and sat down with his teammates in the corner.
Business dinners in the entertainment industry were never just about eating—many such gatherings were opportunities to discuss collaborations under the guise of dining.
The executives Xu Baichuan had just introduced them to were the CEO of TaoHe platform and the director of its variety show department.
This concert had been livestreamed entirely on the TaoHe app, indicating that Shengyao Media had numerous collaborative projects with TaoHe. Naturally, Shengyao’s boss would invite TaoHe’s executives to dinner as well, using the occasion to recommend their artists for shows.
TaoHe was primarily a film and television platform, but also produced many original variety shows. Xu Baichuan had mentioned earlier that he would arrange variety show appearances for them. It seemed these arrangements were nearly finalized, which explained why he had introduced them to the executives.
Fu Fei asked curiously, “I wonder what variety show Brother Xu has arranged for us?”
Mo Xun stated, “First, we can rule out music competition shows.”
All four looked at him.
Fu Fei scratched his head, “We’re a harmony group, so shouldn’t we be able to participate in the singer circle? Why exclude music competition shows?”
Mo Xun explained with resignation, “We don’t even have our own songs yet, and our harmony still isn’t perfected. If we went on music competition shows now, with all those heavyweights battling like gods, we’d look completely outclassed. Losing every competition round would drive away all our newly gained fans.”
Everyone: “…”
The captain’s explanation was truly incisive.
Currently, neither their singing foundations nor their popularity qualified them for professional music competition shows.
Fang Yinnian watched music competition shows regularly. The currently popular music variety shows either featured classic song covers and adaptations, mentor-student team competitions, or fully live-mic singer competitions for the title of champion—all extremely competitive.
Music competition shows cater not just to Shengyao Media—but to the entire Chinese music industry.
Mo Xun was right—those were battlegrounds for “gods fighting.”
As newly debuted rookies with limited stage experience and only average vocal skills, going on music competitions would be asking for humiliation.
Even Xie Shiqi had lost in last week’s competition round on “Soul Singer.” Veterans like Luo Hua, who had been in the industry for twenty years, were qualified to be mentors on shows like “Heavenly Voice.”
Viewers of music competition shows didn’t care if you were an idol—if you sang poorly, “terrible singing” would trend on hot searches in minutes.
They needed more practice. Once their vocal abilities reached a certain level, they could try music competitions. Of course, boy bands rarely appeared on music shows anyway—the specific arrangement would depend on their manager’s planning.
For now, they could only participate in lighter game shows or reality shows. These programs didn’t care about singing ability—as long as the manager could negotiate successfully, even unknown artists could appear to gain exposure.
Fang Yinnian was quite curious about what type of variety show Manager Xu would arrange for them.
At the main table, He Yan had already begun toasting the executives. He seemed to have exceptional social skills, chatting and laughing comfortably with the leaders.
In the entertainment industry, besides personal ability, social connections were extremely important. The five of them knew nothing, but fortunately their experienced manager had extensive connections and had arranged everything for them.
Fang Yinnian lowered his head and quietly ate his late-night meal.
They had eaten dinner around 4 PM, so he was actually quite hungry.
Since the rookies didn’t need to sit at the executives’ table, they focused on eating, and everyone ate quite a lot.
Their manager unusually left them unsupervised, allowing Fu Fei to secretly eat two extra pieces of mousse cake.
—
By the time they returned to the hotel, it was already 1:30 AM.
Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun shared a double room. Their suitcases sat on the floor while their clothes were neatly hung in the closet by Fang Yinnian, each taking half the space.
Mo Xun said, “You shower first.”
Fang Yinnian nodded and took his sleepwear into the bathroom.
Mo Xun took out another phone from the drawer, logged into his alternate Weibo account, and checked FTM’s super topic and hashtag forum.
FTM’s super topic had gained several thousand new fans. Their fan name had been pre-determined as “Music Notes,” with official moderators in place and many new fans spontaneously campaigning to become assistant moderators.
The topic had several million views, but today’s promotional effect was modest. The main reason was that their hashtag #FTMBoyBandOfficiallyDebutsToday# only remained on the hot search list for half an hour before being pushed off by other entertainment news.
It was the weekend, and besides Shengyao’s anniversary concert, there was a top-tier magazine’s fashion event where many A-list celebrities walked the red carpet. Marketing accounts were posting screenshots comparing their outfits and appearance.
The public was more interested in the star-studded red carpet show than Shengyao’s family concert.
To maintain trending status, a topic needed extensive ongoing discussion.
Under FTM’s debut hashtag, although some netizens were discussing and following them, these discussions remained small in scale. At the general public level, “boy bands” themselves didn’t possess high appeal.
This result was within Mo Xun’s expectations.
In the entertainment industry, scandals like marriages, divorces, or cheating controversies “explode” the fastest, with public gossip keeping them on hot searches for days.
A single concert performance could never achieve that kind of explosive popularity.
Today’s achievement—letting many concert-watching fans and casual viewers become aware of their group and recognize FTM’s existence—was already sufficient.
Old Xu was right: they just needed to successfully debut and then steadily progress forward step by step.
After both finished showering, they turned off the lights and went to bed.
Mo Xun was just starting to feel sleepy when Fang Yinnian, too excited to sleep, turned toward Mo Xun’s adjacent bed to chat.
“Mo Xun, don’t you think our starting point is too high? Debuting at a stadium with 40,000 people and soon having variety show resources?”
Chatting in the dark felt strange, so Mo Xun reached out to turn on the small night light at the bottom of the bed. Turning to face Fang Yinnian, their eyes met.
This guy was still confused about many aspects of the entertainment industry. Under the warm-colored night light, Fang Yinnian’s eyes revealed both the clarity of a newcomer and concern.
Mo Xun couldn’t help but smile: “We’re backed by Shengyao Media—this is normal.”
Fang Yinnian thought for a moment: “Is it like this for everyone backed by a big company?”
Mo Xun explained: “Big companies naturally have more resources and will give you more opportunities, but they also expect you to generate more profit for them. Companies aren’t charities—the executives are promoting our group to compete in the boy band market, which is a powerful money-making tool.”
Fang Yinnian nodded, listening carefully. He had limited knowledge of the entertainment industry, but Mo Xun had trained in Korea for several years before returning and was now FTM’s captain, seemingly more knowledgeable. Fang Yinnian habitually turned to Mo Xun with questions.
Mo Xun asked: “You know which group is the most popular currently, right?”
Having recently studied up on this, Fang Yinnian replied: “Xingmang Entertainment’s Bluewind—they have millions of Weibo followers.”
Mo Xun continued: “Exactly. That group pioneered the Chinese-language boy band market and holds a stable position. This year, Xingmang launched another group with 12 members, each representing a zodiac sign—called Twelve Star Group for short. They also started with a high debut point. Additionally, Huayue has a competition show-formed group this year, Sonic boy band.”
“As Shengyao’s boy band, we’ll naturally be benchmarked against these top-tier groups from major companies.”
“It’s like in martial arts novels—you’re a disciple from a major sect, so your master gives you the best training manuals, and senior disciples help you practice. When you venture into the martial arts world, you’re not aiming to defeat small, obscure sects, but to compete in the finals of major tournaments against top masters.”
Fang Yinnian quickly grasped Mo Xun’s meaning.
Mo Xun had a clear perspective on issues. As team captain, he was also the most steady among the five.
Fang Yinnian had previously worried their high starting point might attract resentment, but now realized their starting point had to be high.
As Mo Xun said, they were disciples of a major sect. Backed by the substantial support of Shengyao, their competition wasn’t small, unknown groups from minor companies. They would be pushed toward the highest level to compete for market share with top-tier boy bands.
Fang Yinnian blinked and asked seriously: “Are you confident about competing with top-tier boy bands? Bluewind has millions of Weibo followers—we don’t even have 200,000, less than a fraction of theirs.”
Mo Xun smiled and said: “Do you really believe over ten million people across the country like them? Zombie fans and alternate accounts make up more than half. In Chinese entertainment, having 20,000 active fans lets you walk with your head high, and over 100,000 makes you a top star.”
Fang Yinnian asked puzzled: “What does ‘active fans’ mean?”
Mo Xun explained: “Those who buy products you endorse, watch your shows, follow your daily activities—the fairly dedicated core fans.”
Dedicated core fans? Fang Yinnian thought carefully—they probably didn’t have such core fans yet.
Most people following them today were just “curious onlookers.”
The comments on his Weibo were mostly along the lines of “handsome young man, following you” or “beautiful voice, keep going.”
The enthusiasm of these casual viewers would likely fade in a few days.
Core fans would be those who genuinely liked them enough to follow their every move, stay with them long-term, watch all their performances, support them during difficulties, and defend them when they faced criticism.
Such fans would require continued effort to gradually accumulate.
Of course, besides core fans, general public goodwill was also important. Most ordinary viewers wouldn’t buy celebrity endorsements or search for every show starring a particular celebrity, but they would recognize certain stars, feel positively toward them, listen to their songs, and even attend concerts.
Artists like Xie Shiqi and He Yan with high national recognition had casual viewers participating in their concert ticket rushes too.
Fang Yinnian had initially hoped to develop along the path of a “singer” with broader national appeal. But it was too early to discuss this—their entire boy band was still unknown, let alone him individually.
Thinking about this, Fang Yinnian joked, “If fans of top-tier boy bands heard our little unknown group talking about competing with their idols in the future, they’d tear us apart, right?”
Mo Xun lowered his voice: “I’m just saying this privately to you. Before forming the group, Old Xu selected me as captain and talked with me—our group was launched by the company specifically to compete at the top level. So, the tasks ahead will be demanding, and the pressure… might be intense.”
Fang Yinnian was silent for a few seconds before responding seriously: “That’s okay. Pressure is also motivation—we’ll face it together.”
“Mm.” Mo Xun smiled and turned off the night light. “Let’s sleep. It’s almost 2 AM.”
Fang Yinnian replied, “Okay, good night.”
The room grew quiet.
Fang Yinnian closed his eyes, silently cultivating sleepiness. He suddenly realized that debuting as a group was actually quite good.
Someone like him, with limited understanding of the entertainment industry, would probably struggle even more going solo, right?
Now, as a member of FTM, whatever happened in the future, he wouldn’t be alone. He had teammates beside him—they could discuss issues and face challenges together.
