Peninsula: I created the golden age of girl groups

When Jiang Yuhe received Pei Zhonghan's message, he was in his office, sighing over a stack of resumes.

When he first set out the trainee recruitment plan, he anticipated that the initial stage might not be too optimistic.

He hadn't expected things to be this pessimistic.

Almost a week has passed.

Despite the official recruitment page being publicly available, the number of resumes received remains very small, and the quality is questionable.

Most of them are young people with unrealistic dreams who have no preparation or foundation whatsoever.

She's not particularly good-looking; she's just here to try her luck.

Jiang Yuhe casually flipped through a few documents and couldn't help but want to sigh and rub his forehead:

Please, even if LOEN is just a new company, it doesn't accept just any shady characters, okay?

As for the talent scouting outsourcing business, this part is mainly handled and promoted remotely by Bae Jong-han. The two have been in contact, but there are many matters involved, so it can't be rushed.

As for open drafts...

Jiang Yuhe glanced at the meager number of resumes on the table and immediately dismissed the idea.

If we send in a few mediocre or substandard individuals, we won't be able to make a name for ourselves; the company's reputation will likely be ruined first.

"well……"

Jiang Yuhe rubbed his temples, his face full of helplessness.

Having foresight is an advantage, but when it comes to execution, it can be quite challenging for him.

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

"Please come in."

The door opened with a sound, and Pei Zhonghan walked in, looking travel-worn.

His face was etched with undisguised fatigue, his chin was covered in bluish stubble, and his coat was casually draped over his arm, but his eyes shone brightly.

"Chung Han!"

Jiang Yuhe's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up and strode forward to meet him.

"You're finally back! You must be tired from the journey. Come on, sit down and rest for a bit."

As he spoke, he filled a glass with warm water and handed it to Pei Zhonghan.

After all, Pei Zhonghan was the only person he could use, and judging from the current situation, his abilities were quite good.

No wonder he will become IU's long-term manager in the future.

Pei Zhonghan took the warm water, and his heart warmed.

From being transferred to the artist headquarters to being entrusted with important responsibilities by Jiang Yuhe... the trust and authority given to him by the other party made him feel like he was willing to die for a friend.

"Thank you, Supervisor Jiang!"

Pei Zhonghan sat down on the sofa and drank most of a glass of water in one go before he could recover.

"How's it going? Is everything going smoothly?" Jiang Yuhe sat down opposite him and asked with concern.

"It's alright, better than I expected."

Bae Jong-han nodded, his face beaming with excitement. "Perhaps it's because of BIGBANG's rise to fame and the resulting idol craze that many young people are more enthusiastic about becoming trainees and debuting as singers."

"So I've been mainly visiting middle schools and arts high schools lately, and I've received quite a few resumes."

"BIGBANG?"

After a moment's thought, Kang Woo-hyuk remembered that BIGBANG's Taeyang seemed to have come from Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province.

Since their debut in 2006, the group has accumulated considerable popularity.

However, they can only be described as having some fame at present.

But Jiang Yuhe knew that their era was about to begin, and it would be in just a few months...

The creation of that song, "Lies," will completely change everything.

As he spoke, Pei Zhonghan took out a thick stack of resumes from his briefcase and handed them to Jiang Yuhe.

"So many?"

Jiang Yuhe was somewhat surprised and took it to weigh it.

It is indeed a bit heavy.

Pei Zhonghan gave a wry smile. "These are the ones I kept after initially screening out a portion. You had no idea how many resumes I saw piled up on my table every night when I returned to the hotel those days..."

Although Jiang Yuhe had not seen it with his own eyes, he could already imagine the scene.

He also knew that this was just a microcosm of the frenzied wave in South Korea's entertainment industry.

The era of idols has arrived.

Almost every year, hundreds of thousands or even millions of young people flock to major entertainment companies.

There's even an exaggerated claim that on the streets of Seoul, on average, one out of every five young people you encounter is a trainee.

But in the end, probably less than one percent will actually make it onto the stage.

Even so, countless people still risk their youth, one after another...

"Let me take a look first!"

Jiang Yuhe collected his thoughts and began to look through the resume in his hand.

For him, this wasn't too much of a burden.

After all, he could tell at a glance whether the name was familiar or not, and whether the person ultimately debuted.

However, the further he flipped through the pages, the more his brows furrowed.

He flipped through most of the thick stack of resumes, but didn't see a single name that looked familiar to him, let alone Lee Ji-eun, whom he had been longing to see and who was supposed to join LOEN this year.

"How's it going? Have you found any particularly promising talents?"

Pei Zhonghan observed Jiang Yuhe's expression and roughly understood the situation, but still asked with a glimmer of hope.

Jiang Yuhe slowly shook his head, putting the resumes aside. "I feel... they're not very good. Although saying that might be a bit arbitrary."

"Actually... I had a similar feeling when I was screening candidates in private."

Bae Jong-han also sighed, "Most of them have average talent, or they're just passionate."

"Thank you for your hard work, Chung Han. It's really nothing. These things don't happen overnight. Just take it slow."

Jiang Yuhe offered words of comfort, then changed the subject, "By the way, did you encounter anything interesting this time you went down there?"

"Something interesting?"

Pei Zhonghan leaned back on the sofa, looked up and recalled for a moment, then suddenly sat up straight. "Now that you mention it, there really is one, but if I had to tell you, it would probably be a rather heartwarming story."

"Oh? Tell me about it." Jiang Yuhe became interested upon hearing this.

"The incident happened at Shin-gu Junior High School. When I was doing promotions there, a PE teacher happened to be passing by after class. He saw us recruiting and, perhaps out of curiosity about our line of work or maybe remembering something, he came over and chatted for a bit."

"That teacher told me that he used to teach a female student who sang with great feeling and had a good voice. But unfortunately, the girl moved away in the second year of junior high school due to family reasons. He felt it was a pity and said that if the girl had persisted in singing, she might have succeeded."

Hearing keywords like Shintani Junior High School, physical education teacher, and the girl singing well...

Jiang Yuhe felt his heart suddenly start racing.

But he wasn't sure, so he gestured for Bae Jong-han to continue.

"Of course, this is only the teacher's side of the story, so I can't be sure if the girl really has the talent he described."

Pei Zhonghan smiled, took out his phone, found the forum, and opened one of the posts. "Look, that teacher is quite interesting; he showed me this. He said it was a post that the girl made on an online community seeking help because she was worried about school activities."

Jiang Yuhe took the phone; the screen displayed a post from an online community forum.

The title is:

Please help me choose a song to sing at the sports meet.

Upon seeing this title, Jiang Yuhe felt as if he had been struck by something.

Memories that had been dormant in my mind resurfaced...

He was certain that he had seen a screenshot of the post.

The person who posted this message is none other than IU, Lee Ji-eun!