My agency went bankrupt before I even got on stage.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have acquired the mandatory skill: Eight Arts of Life—a combination of skills including calligraphy mastery, god-level fancy signature, basic painting, basic sculpting, basic planting, and the ability to drink without getting drunk. As an idol, you must maintain a high level of sophistication! Music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, flowers, and tea—you don't have to be an expert, but you can't be ignorant of them!]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have acquired the mandatory skill: I'm Not a Casanova—a combination of skills like recognizing a woman by her scent and ensuring lipstick never gets on your teeth. Women are like flowers, meant to be admired from afar, not touched!]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have acquired the mandatory skill: Melon Farmer—a combination of skills such as spending 20 minutes a day browsing Weibo, being a master at gossiping, and being a beginner at avoiding paparazzi. Life is full of gossip, and you're always eating gossip! While enjoying the gossip, only a melon farmer won't be the one being gossiped about!]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have acquired the mandatory skill: "A Cartload of Knowledge"—a combination of skills such as photographic memory and reading for one hour every day. The more famous you are, the more vigilant you should be about whether your mind is full of empty words. Learning is always the best way to make yourself valuable, so please continue reading for one hour every day.]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have obtained a mandatory skill: Culinary Mastery—an upgrade from the Golden Fried Rice skill. After leaving the big company, getting food will probably be a problem for you, so please keep this Culinary Mastery skill handy!]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have acquired a mandatory skill: Diving—an upgrade from freestyle swimming. Recently, diving mermaids have become quite popular on Kuaishou (a Chinese short video platform). You might consider developing a business in this area! One hour of practice per week can effectively help you lose weight!]

……

Lin Fan: (￣ε(#￣)☆╰╮o(￣ Pan￣///)

This heartless system is ripping me off again! They don't even need my permission to upgrade anymore, right? They just deduct 100 million popularity points from me without a warning? System, say no more, we're done!

Break it into pieces!

The system is not responding at all!

That's how tough we are!

Lin Fan: I'm so angry and cold!

However, despite his anger, looking at the upgraded skills, Lin Fan suddenly felt that this time, it was actually quite appealing.

The combination of fragmented skills and the upgrade of all skills made Lin Fan incredibly wealthy. No one expected that after the system was upgraded to level 3, it would be so generous. Not only did it not increase the lottery draw from 10 popularity points to 20, 50, or 100 million, it also combined and upgraded all of Lin Fan's existing skills.

It can be said that Lin Fan has completely upgraded from a slingshot to a cannon!

Advanced musical literacy, a heavenly voice, a master dancer, ambidextrous, an charismatic presence, and a life lived like a play—these skills are enough to make Lin Fan an instant debut and a music superstar!

Social skills, knowledge of not being a playboy, and the skills of a melon farmer will make Lin Fan even more likable. Who wouldn't like someone with high emotional intelligence? In addition, the skills of the Eight Elegances of Life, extensive knowledge, and eloquent speech will enhance Lin Fan's eloquence and cultural background, making him a music superstar with brains!

Weightlifting expert, culinary master, and diving skills may seem unremarkable, but they give Lin Fan a great physique, regardless of whether he debuts or not, or even if he stays at home.

The only thing that frustrated Lin Fan was that he had to read for one hour, exercise for one hour, practice dancing for one hour, practice singing for 30 minutes, and practice playing an instrument for 30 minutes every day. Tsk tsk tsk, Lin Fan felt that his time was no longer his own; it all belonged to the system! Were you trying to work me to death?

This system is so heartless, does it have to be this ruthless?

There's also swimming for an hour every week, and who knows what new skills await him in the future. Lin Fan felt that he was running out of time. If all of this was taken up by these mandatory skills, would he still have time to flirt with single girls?

Lin Fan expressed his concern!

……

The training room door was pushed open from the outside, and a baby-faced person peeked in: "Brother Fan! You two are here! We've been looking for you everywhere!"

It was Li Xiaodong, along with Lu Bingyang and Zhuo Yuanquan.

Chen Xianwu asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Shouldn't they be at the dinner party trying to get close to the bigwigs and make a good impression so they can save face for them in the future?

"Tch!" Lu Bingyang chuckled. "Didn't that guy almost have an accident on the night of the group's formation? He's been called away by the bigwigs at Starry Sky Entertainment, probably getting a scolding right now!"

Li Yingqi's outrageous remarks, though rebuked by Ding Erxun, nearly caused an accident for the entire program, so this matter couldn't be left unresolved. However, he's a favored son of Starry Sky Entertainment, protected by powerful figures within the company, so nothing serious will happen. Even after the reprimand, Li Yingqi will have to go back and toast and apologize to each of the bigwigs, and might even get a beating—it all depends on how angry they are.

Although such a scene is exciting, it's best not to go and watch, lest you incur Li Yingqi's wrath. It's not that I'm afraid, it's just troublesome. The rule in the entertainment industry is that everyone helps those in need, but you should avoid kicking someone when they're down, and if you must, don't do it openly. So, at the urging of their agent, Li Xiaodong and the other two decided to avoid the situation for a while, as a way of giving Starry Sky Entertainment face.

Once outside, Li Xiaodong and the other two didn't know where to go. Waiting at the door would make them look silly, so after a brief discussion, they decided to go find Lin Fan.

"Let's go get hot pot, Fan-ge! We haven't eaten together yet! We didn't eat much at the dinner table, so let's have a hot pot feast!"

Lu Bingyang added, "Yeah, we're already out here, let's organize a get-together and eat by ourselves! We were so busy toasting earlier that we didn't really get to eat much! Brother Fan, you're about to leave the island, and we don't know if we'll have a chance to get together again! Even though the three of us are a group, I doubt we'll have many opportunities to do things together in the future."

That's the truth.

X-STAR has formed, but that doesn't mean the group will always perform together. In the two years since their formation, they've had a few opportunities to perform as a group at most. The rest of the time, they're all living their own lives. Especially for those members who are popular, talented, and have resources, their personal relationships and those of their management companies will try their best to break away from the group and pursue their individual development.

Only those faded members would try to rely on each other's fame and the group's influence to get by. Such members would basically be forgotten by the public within months, not even needing to disband after two years.

That's why people say idol groups reach their peak right after their debut.

On the contrary, those like Lin Fan, who have popularity, talent, and a body of work, are more likely to go further and more steadily. Unlike them, if they don't have any new works later, they will probably fade into obscurity very quickly. It's just a pity that Lin Fan has no intention of debuting.

But there's no point in talking about this now. The future is long, and nobody wants to fade into obscurity.

"Let's go, Brother Fan. The factory cafeteria is open to us tonight. We can help ourselves to the ingredients. I can't say for sure what else we can do, but we can definitely have a hot pot feast. If all else fails, we can always order takeout!" Zhuo Yuanquan also encouraged him.

Chen Xianwu was intrigued: "Brother Fan, we don't have anything to do at the celebration banquet anyway, so there's no point in going back. Once you're done with your work, let's go get some hot pot!"

Lin Fan, utterly disheartened by the system, had no other thoughts: "Let's go then."

There's nothing a hot pot meal can't solve; if there is, then two meals will do!