Chapter 145: Transmigrated as a Scumbag in a Boy Group Survival Show (27)
He Ci received the news from the magazine organizers, just as expected.
In addition to Jiang Jueming and Li Yanxiao, who had been settled on from the beginning, the magazine had tentatively decided on Cen Yu as the third candidate.
Perhaps they took a liking to the popularity generated by Cen Yu and Mu Fengyin, or perhaps out of some other considerations.
He Ci sat in his office, leaning back in his chair as he pondered over something. Just half an hour ago, Mu Fengyin’s manager had contacted him, stating that Mu Fengyin intended to invite Cen Yu to be a guest star on his variety show.
Even though Mu Fengyin and his agency were currently locked in a dispute over whether or not to renew his contract,
as the manager of the company’s highest-tier star, Zhang Jun wouldn’t resort to petty tricks on a matter that could easily be seen through. Thus, despite the confusion in his heart, he had still established contact with He Ci.
At the same time, the subtext behind his words was an attempt to pry and see if He Ci’s company was planning to poach his client.
In truth, it wasn’t that He Ci’s company hadn’t entertained the thought.
However, they also realized that unless they presented sufficient sincerity, Mu Fengyin wouldn’t hold any interest in their company. After all, the man’s commercial value currently exceeded a hundred million; rather than letting an agency take a cut, it made far more sense for him to establish his own personal studio.
Most of the brand partners who valued his commercial clout were drawn to him as an individual anyway.
Listening to Zhang Jun’s probing on the other end of the line, He Ci swiveled his chair, his gaze shifting toward the floor-to-ceiling window behind him.
Cloudstar gathered nearly half of the top artists in the entertainment industry.
As a senior executive and the chief manager at Cloudstar, He Ci’s office naturally commanded the finest view… He simply gazed at the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling window, as well as the colossal poster of Mu Fengyin displayed outside the high-end luxury shopping mall beneath the office building.
After exchanging a few more perfunctory pleasantries with Zhang Jun on the other end, he hung up the phone.
Old Gao had been in the office the entire time.
He had been summoned to the office by He Ci early this morning, only he hadn’t expected He Ci to be on the phone the moment he arrived.
Unsure of what He Ci had in mind, he could only sit in his office and wait.
“What do you think of Cen Yu?” Having hung up the phone, He Ci swiveled his chair back around to face Old Gao.
Old Gao hesitated for a few seconds. “…An artist with a very active mind.”
“You can just come out and say his brain works differently from normal people,” He Ci remarked.
Old Gao thought to himself: If you already know, why bother asking me?
“Do you think he’s worth cultivating?” He Ci asked again.
Old Gao had been briefed, so naturally he knew that Mu Fengyin had established a connection with Cen Yu. Furthermore, He Ci hadn’t hidden his communication with the magazine staff from him, so he naturally knew the third person selected by the magazine for the print cover was Cen Yu.
Looking at it from this perspective, Cen Yu certainly possessed a stroke of luck.
Yet with He Ci asking like this, Old Gao couldn’t quite grasp his thoughts, and could only test the waters, saying, “At the very least, he’s more worth cultivating than a boring person.”
As an artist—especially one with high exposure—an interesting personality was always better than a dull one.
Old Gao also knew that the company had no intention of expending too much effort on this boy group. Unsure if He Ci’s question implied a desire to focus on cultivating Cen Yu, he could only weigh his answer carefully.
He Ci didn’t speak. “See where he is.”
Old Gao glanced at his phone. “Says he’s inside the building.”
“Then why isn’t he coming up?” He Ci looked at Old Gao.
Old Gao checked the message, feeling his blood pressure spike once more.
“…Forgot his keycard, so he can’t scan the elevator to reach our floor.” Old Gao didn’t dare meet He Ci’s gaze. “So he says he’s going to take the stairs up.”
He Ci let out a cold sneer. “If there’s any wilderness survival or military boot camp variety show coming up, don’t look for anyone else. I think he’s just right for it.”
The moment Cen Yu pushed open the door to the emergency stairwell, he found He Ci standing right by the doorway, clapping his hands three times without a sliver of expression—
“Impressive.”
“Coming to the company to get a workout in, are we?”
Cen Yu had just climbed 30 flights of stairs in one breath and was still panting. Seeing He Ci mock him, he immediately cupped his hands together in a polite greeting—
“I dare not accept the praise, Boss. You flatter me, you flatter me.”
“I wasn’t complimenting you,” He Ci turned on his heel instantly. “Follow me.”
Cen Yu drew a massive breath, following behind He Ci as they made their way into his office.
“Sit,” He Ci pointed to the seat in front of his desk.
“I’ll pass,” Cen Yu replied. “I just took the stairs up, so I’ll stand for a bit.”
He Ci drew a deep breath. Turning his head, he stared at Cen Yu. “What else did you discuss with Mu Fengyin yesterday?”
Cen Yu pondered for a second. “I sent him the compilation of his manager’s unhinged rants.”
“Go on.”
“Then he said he wanted to recommend me as a guest star for a variety show.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Haven’t you found out today anyway? Cen Yu thought to himself, though his surface demeanor remained respectful. “I thought Teacher Mu was just joking.”
“How could an obscure flop like me dare take it seriously and think I’m actually getting a slice of a major pie?”
He Ci knew he couldn’t take Cen Yu seriously, or he would be angered to death by this guy sooner or later. He simply stated what he wanted to convey directly, “The magazine has finalized the last cover slot.”
He Ci stared intently at Cen Yu’s face, unwilling to miss a single micro-expression.
He had originally assumed that upon hearing this news, Cen Yu would either be secretly pleased or at least celebrate with joy.
Yet he hadn’t expected Cen Yu’s expression to instantly turn awkward.
…Awkward?
He Ci genuinely found himself unable to understand Cen Yu. “You don’t want to be on the magazine cover?”
“…Um…” Cen Yu pondered how he ought to phrase it, “…It’s not that I don’t want to…”
“But I don’t particularly want to be on the magazine cover either.”
He Ci summarized it for Cen Yu, speaking with absolute composure, “What are you thinking? Care to share your genius thoughts with me?”
Cen Yu was too embarrassed to say it out loud, fearing that He Ci might faint if he heard his true thoughts.
—He felt that after his scandals broke out later on and his career collapsed, the fans who had bought his magazines to boost sales figures would be pretty pitiful.
Who knew how long they would have to spend tearing up those magazine covers!
It might be better to just avoid appearing on the magazine in the first place, so his fans wouldn’t tire out their hands tearing things up later.
“…I feel like my fans don’t have much money,” Cen Yu manufactured an excuse. “Let’s save them a bit of cash.”
“If you appear on the digital magazine, they’ll buy it all the same,” He Ci stated.
After all, the magazine invited them onto the cover specifically for sales figures, and they would even set up individual, exclusive purchase links to drive sales.
“Sigh, fine, I’ll tell you the truth then!” Cen Yu looked at He Ci—
“You know Jiang Jueming and Li Yanxiao have a massive CP fan base, right?”
He Ci knitted his brows. Naturally, he knew. In a fan-driven economy, CP fans and fan service were hardly news. As the two most popular members, it was entirely within He Ci’s expectations that Jiang Jueming and Li Yanxiao commanded a massive CP fan base.
“What does that have to do with you not wanting to be on the magazine cover?”
“I’m worried their fans will point fingers at my spine, cursing me as the homewrecker and third wheel breaking up their ship,” Cen Yu lied through his teeth. “I don’t want to tear lovers apart.”
He Ci stared at Cen Yu, then suddenly let out a faint chuckle.
“Cen Yu.”
“Spout any more nonsense to me, and I can tear you apart right now.”
