star of the peninsula

At the beginning of July, the biggest event in the South Korean entertainment circle was that C headquarters started the first round of trainee interviews.

If the registration of more trainees in June was not enough to make everyone feel the reality, now that the interview work is in full swing, everyone will definitely realize that C headquarters has become more complete and more powerful.

"How many more days do I have to sit here?"

The thick makeup couldn't hide Chen Chen's haggardness, and his mouth trembled when he spoke.

Following the entire interview process with the trainees was a torture for Chen Chen from the very beginning, and the degree of torture doubled in the following days.

He cannot play with his phone, cannot be absent-minded, must control his facial expressions, must appear kind, and must respond positively to the cheers of the trainees. Chen Chen is just a wooden stake, and maybe putting a robot there would have a better effect.

No, putting a robot there will definitely be better! Repetitive mechanical activities must be done by machines, not to mention that programming is not difficult at all!

However, the torture did not end there. What was even more torturous was that the interview contents Chen Chen had to watch were mostly of male trainees.

If it was a female trainee, Chen Chen could rely on his own understanding to try to match it with the image in his head. As long as he could match one, Chen Chen would be so excited that he could sit here honestly for the whole day.

But male trainees are not eligible. Chen Chen’s knowledge of boy groups stopped at the end of 2020, but “now” is already the middle of 2021.

In other words, it doesn't match at all! Even if it does match, Chen Chen doesn't dare to accept it, because there will definitely be news "later", top bad news.

Although he doesn't pay attention to boy bands, Chen Chen can never avoid shocking news and knows something about it.

"There are about three days left. The overall schedule is a week." Li Shungyu also wanted to sigh, but her condition was much better than Chen Chen's. "Too many people signed up. The attraction of C headquarters is too exaggerated."

"What's wrong, President? You're not the type that gets tired so easily, right?"

Goo Hara interrupted with a smile.

"It's mainly torture." Chen Chen made up an excuse. "Look at the level of performances I usually watch, and then look at what I'm seeing now. The gap is too big!"

"Trainees are a group of young people who need to grow. It's normal for them to be a little ugly." Lee Sun-kyu encouraged: "Persevere and work hard. Think about the happiness these trainees will bring you when they become successful!"

"Come on, just bear with it." Chen Chen didn't feel that he was comforted at all, "What else can I do if I can't bear with it?!"

"Dingling bell~"

The cell phone suddenly rang, and Lee Sun-kyu and Goo Hara took a few steps back to distance themselves from the president.

"Oh, Kwang Soo. I'm not busy right now. What's wrong?"

As soon as Chen Chen said this opening remark, the two women quickened their pace and caught up.

I always have to answer Lee Kwang Soo's phone calls, just in case something interesting happens.

"Thank you?" Chen Chen was a little confused. "If you want to thank me, shouldn't you have said it earlier? Why did you wait until today? If it's about Xianbin, then I remember you should have said it."

"I've received your response to my previous request, so of course I have to come here to express my gratitude again." Lee Kwang-soo said sincerely, "Sunbin has indeed received generous treatment in the crew, and we are all very grateful to C headquarters."

"Haha, is it possible that Sunbin is treated normally?" Chen Chen joked, "Han Sunhwa is KEYEAST's own, and Eunji is Cube Entertainment's own, so even if you don't say anything, Sunbin will be treated well? After all, if you show favoritism on the set, you will be dragged out for criticism."

"You must be kidding me." Lee Kwang Soo was still so sincere, "I am also an actor, I know very well that Sun Bin's treatment in the crew is not ordinary treatment."

"Oh, when did you become an actor?" Chen Chen asked in surprise: "Isn't Lee Kwang Soo a comedian?!"

"I have always been an actor, PD Chen, not long after my debut!" Lee Kwang-soo followed Chen Chen's wishes and acted eagerly, "I have acted in movies in the past two years, and they are very good movies!"

"Okay, okay, it's not too late for me to understand now." Chen Chen said, "Since you are here to thank me, let's not just express our gratitude verbally, okay?"

"If you need any help from me, please let me know. I'll be happy to help you."

Lee Kwang Soo sounded a little nervous.

"C Headquarters may send you a variety show invitation in the near future. If you really receive it, you must think carefully before making a decision." Chen Chen said bluntly, "C Headquarters, SM Entertainment and Netflix are going to focus on variety shows and need the help of various artists."

"I know, I will seriously consider it."

Lee Kwang-soo's answer did not disappoint Chen Chen.

"..."

After chatting casually for a while, Chen Chen hung up the phone.

"Wow~ The way you say that just means you want others to accept your invitation to the variety show, are you trying to repay a favor?" Goo Hara yelled.

"What else?" Chen Chen glanced at her. "Is there no price to pay for asking someone of my level to help? Or is he qualified to ask me to take care of his girlfriend given his status?"

"He should be happy if I ask him for a price."

"Asking him to pay means we are even. If I don't want anything, it means that this move will cost us the relationship."

"Compared to a little price and the relationship between him and me, which one is more worthwhile, I don't need to say more, right?" Chen Chen's tone was as flat as the road, and the ups and downs of his words seemed to make people ride a roller coaster. "It's not easy for an actor of his level to establish a relationship with me."

"I understand." Goo Hara quickly lowered her head.

"The idiom is well used, the timing is right, the context is appropriate, and it is well done."

Chen Chen ignored her and instead praised her.

……

For the next few days, Chen Chen continued to sit in Division I, like a walking corpse.

He originally said that he would use this time to think of a way to get Lee Soo Man to work for him, but after watching the interview process, his brain was completely frozen and stickier than paste, so he naturally couldn't come up with any solution.

Then, headquarters C and its branches came to a complete halt.

The epidemic has struck again, and tens of thousands of cases have been confirmed in just a few days. The final number of confirmed cases is expected to reach 100,000. South Korea’s fourth pandemic has officially appeared.

In order to avoid the epidemic, Chen Chen did not go out and worked from home to handle various tasks. When he was not working, he would discuss the latest programs, latest idols, etc. with Bae Joo-hyun in the living room.

"It seems that everyone is restless during the holidays. After returning from vacation, everyone spreads the news of the epidemic."

Chen Chen is still in the mood to joke with Pei Zhuxuan because C headquarters handled the situation very well and was not greatly affected. Also, Pei Zhuxuan and her friends have not had much work recently and are not at risk of infection.

"C Headquarters always does a great job. This is something we should all learn from." Pei Zhuxuan's eyes sparkled. "How did they do it?"

"Because we have never taken it lightly." Chen Chen curled his lips, with a hint of disdain in his tone, "The epidemic prevention measures have not been changed significantly since they were made public. If everyone can stick to it, the situation will be much better than it is now."

"Didn't everyone fail to do it?"

"My C headquarters has always done very well in what no one else has done, so the gap will naturally be reflected in the results."

"In addition, as Integrate is the anti-epidemic ambassador, we at C Headquarters must be 120% motivated to do this well. Everyone knows this."

"Plus, Headquarter C has previously dismissed a number of employees who were uncooperative or had problems, so it shouldn't be too difficult to do this well overall."

"I have set a good example. It's not my fault if others don't follow my example." Chen Chen shook his head. "How can a global pandemic that is crushing everyone be avoided by being cunning and sly? Maybe it's possible for an individual to get lucky, but if a company of this size doesn't do its job well, how can you avoid it!"

"Oh, that makes sense!" Bae Joo Hyun nodded and couldn't help but feel worried. "I hope nothing will go wrong with Division I. If something goes wrong there, it will affect too many people."

"There will definitely be problems with Division I." Chen Chen said with a wry smile, "We have such a large flow of people in just one week. If there are no problems, then God is too kind to me."

"Are you prepared for the response?"

Pei Zhuxuan asked anxiously.

"I've done it. Don't worry." Chen Chen patted his cheek, looking embarrassed. "It's really hard for our staff. They have worked several times overtime these days."

"I'm not afraid of overtime, just give me good compensation." Pei Zhuxuan breathed a sigh of relief and took a bite of the apple on the table. "C headquarters is not short of money. If not now, when will it be spent?"

"C headquarters has done a great job and stands out from the crowd. Many people want to see me fail in the fight against the epidemic." Chen Chen was not too worried. "But if I implement this set of measures, it will be almost impossible for big problems to occur. Whoever deliberately makes a big fuss about this is looking for trouble with me. I can accurately catch the mastermind behind it."

"No one would want to mess with the current C headquarters. Either they can't afford it or they have no reason to." Pei Zhuxuan stuffed the apple she had bitten into Chen Chen's mouth. "At least they have to do better than you to have such an idea, but who can do better than you? So don't worry, just eat your apple!"

"You eat a few bites and then you don't want to eat anymore so you stuff it into my mouth, right? You are amazing!" Chen Chen took the apple out of his mouth and said, "I still have to go out in a couple of days to pick someone up at C headquarters."

"The actor from Namoo Actors?" Bae Joo Hyun frowned. "I heard that C headquarters won a great victory in the competition for the actors who left Namoo Actors."

"How did they win so completely? The biggest fish named Chi Sheng was not caught by C headquarters." Chen Chen patted her head, "You, don't believe everything you hear. Things are complicated here."

"Wow~ Ji Sung!" Bae Joo Hyun couldn't help but change her expression, "Kill Me Heal Me is super popular. Getting his C headquarters is definitely a big step for me."

"And Wen Caiyuan also missed us."

Chen Chen teased her deliberately and said another name.

"Moon Chae-won didn't get it either, so who on earth is saying that C headquarters has won a great victory?"

Bae Joo-hyun was a little confused by this name.

"Yes, I wanted to ask that too. Who said that C headquarters won a great victory?" Chen Chen asked curiously, "Where did you hear that from?"

"I heard from the actors at SM Entertainment that I often went there to hone my acting skills." Bae Joo Hyun stuck out her tongue awkwardly, "I never thought their information would be so unreliable."

"It's not that the staff's information is unreliable, but it's easy to exaggerate because everyone treats it as a chat instead of a serious message." Chen Chen took Pei Zhuxuan into his arms, "In fact, it's not a big deal to say that C headquarters won a great victory. Jin Xiangqi's gains alone are enough to be called a great victory."

"Excellent academic performance, proven acting skills, visible potential, and most importantly, she is still young, born in the 2000s."

"She's a treasure to C Headquarters, because she has a good chance of growing into a top actress during her contract with C Headquarters. By then, C Headquarters will be very successful."

"Of course, she has her own limitations." Chen Chen touched his nose, "She is just over 1.5 meters tall, so she can't play many roles. Even if she can grow taller in the future, but..."

Chen Chen didn't say the rest of the words. His girlfriend was also a little kid, and it would be inappropriate to say it out loud.

"Who are you going to take over this time?" Bae Joo-hyun was a little curious.

"Shen Shijing." Chen Chen replied: "A very beautiful vase, the horse bone from Qianjin City in our C headquarters."

"A thousand gold coins to buy horse bones?" Pei Zhuxuan scratched her hair, "Is this another historical allusion that is unique to you Chinese people?"

"Yes, it's very famous." Chen Chen adjusted his posture to make it easier for his girlfriend to hear. "It was more than 2,400 years ago."

"Is it this far?"

The first sentence confused Bae Joo-hyun. Although she had heard such stories many times, she still couldn't get used to the historical depth of Chinese civilization.

"Well, more than 2,400 years ago during the Warring States Period, there was a..."

……

"Welcome to join Headquarters C."

Chen Chen received Shen Shijing in his office.

"It's my honor to be received by Mr. Chen." Shen Shijing stretched out his hand and shook hands with Chen Chen. "I hope I can make progress together with C headquarters and have a pleasant cooperation."

"It will definitely be like this." Chen Chen said a few good words, "C headquarters has the resources, and actor Shen is capable. Our result will only be a win-win situation of cooperation."

"I never thought that one day I would get compliments from Boss Chen." Shin Se Kyung smiled happily, "This makes me happier than any other person complimenting me ten thousand times."

"There will be plenty of time to be happy later." Chen Chen pushed a document in front of her. "Here is the publicity notice. Do you think there is anything that needs to be changed?"

Shin Se Kyung picked it up and took a quick look at it, then respectfully pushed the document back.

"I have no opinion. Everything is decided by the company."

……

On July 10, 2021, Shin Se Kyung signed with C Headquarters.

...(End of chapter)