Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Monday afternoon, Penguin Building, Shenzhen.

The 23rd floor is the director's office of the "Rising Star" program.

The chief director, Liang Boyuan, had the contestants' information spread out in front of him for the three tracks.

He is 47 years old this year and has been working in variety shows for 22 years, climbing from a junior director to the chief director of a top-tier variety show on the entire network.

Assistant director Lin Xiaoqing pushed open the door and came in, holding a freshly printed form.

"Director Liang, Li Cheng's direct entry spot has been confirmed."

Liang Boyuan took the form and glanced at it.

"Jiang Fan?" he said, reading the name. "Which company?"

"Not affiliated with any talent agency. An amateur."

Liang Boyuan's finger stopped on the paper.

"Amateur?"

"Yes, Li Cheng personally recommended him to participate in the solo talent show. Apart from a name and ID information, there is no background information. He has not registered a musician account on any platform."

Liang Boyuan took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

He knew Li Cheng too well.

He was the youngest top agent at Sheng Hai Entertainment back then, and he managed two superstars and one superstar.

Later, due to a falling out with investors, Sheng Hai Entertainment was forced to abandon Li Cheng.

Although he made a comeback this year and still has connections, he no longer has any notable artists to his name.

"Wasn't this spot originally supposed to be for Sheng Hai?" Liang Boyuan asked.

Lin Xiaoqing nodded: "Li Cheng did have contact with Sheng Hai before, but for some reason, he changed his contact at the last minute."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Liang Boyuan's cell phone rang in his pocket.

He glanced at the caller ID and frowned slightly.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear."

Upon answering the phone, Liang Boyuan adopted a businesslike tone: "Hello, Mr. Cao."

"Old Liang!" The voice on the phone was strong and energetic, with the characteristic warmth of a businessman. "Busy, huh?"

"I was just looking at the players' profiles."

"That's perfect." Cao Hongliang chuckled twice. "That's why I called you. You've heard about Li Cheng's direct entry spot, haven't you?"

"I just found out."

"He had promised to give the spot to Lu Ming from Shenghai. The contract was even drafted, but he changed his mind at the last minute."

Cao Hongliang's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction: "Old Liang, tell me, wasn't this a bit unethical?"

Liang Boyuan switched his phone to his left hand, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"President Cao, Li Cheng's nomination is his own right, and I can't control that."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Old Liang, don't you still have one spot left?"

Liang Boyuan put down his teacup.

As the chief director, he did indeed hold the last direct qualification spot.

He originally intended to give this spot to a singer who transitioned from a talent show, as the singer had solid singing skills and a good sense of variety.

It also comes with millions of fans, which can guarantee the show's initial buzz.

"President Cao, the spot I have already been filled."

"Old Liang, don't be so quick to refuse," Cao Hongliang said in a low voice.

"If you look into Lu Ming, you'll know he trained at SM Entertainment in South Korea for two and a half years. He's excellent at both singing and dancing, and his looks are exactly what young girls like these days. He's a natural-born star just by standing on stage."

Cao Hongliang paused for a moment: "He missed the audition window because he returned to China a little too late."

Liang Boyuan did not speak.

Cao Hongliang continued, "Shenghai's cosmetics brand 'L'Oréal' has a budget of 200 million yuan for variety show advertising this year. Lao Liang, you're a smart man, so I won't beat around the bush. Lu Ming got on the show, I'll help you negotiate that money."

Two hundred million.

Liang Boyuan tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

The total sponsorship of the previous season of "The Rising Star" was only 120 million.

If he can secure 200 million yuan in sponsorship for the second season, he will have exceeded his KPI for the year and could even compete for the position of deputy director of the station.

But he also knew what taking this money meant.

Sheng Hai's hand will reach into the production team.

The competition format, camera angles, and advancement slots all had to be designed to pave the way for Lu Ming.

"President Cao, send me a copy of Lu Ming's information," Liang Boyuan said.

"That's right! I'll have my assistant send it over immediately."

"But I have a condition." Liang Boyuan's tone hardened.

"His performance on the first stage has to be passable. You know Lao Xue's temper; if he kicks someone off the stage during the live broadcast, no one's face will matter. I can't protect him then."

Cao Hongliang smiled: "Don't worry about that. Lu Ming's skills rank among the top three in the Korean trainee assessment. Even Li Cheng took a liking to him before, which shows that this kid has real talent."

After hanging up the phone, Liang Boyuan leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for half a minute.

He took out his phone, opened a WeChat chat window, and typed a message.

"Sorry, bro, the spots have changed. Let's work together again next time."

After sending the message, he immediately deleted it.

Lin Xiaoqing was still standing at the door. She heard everything, but said nothing.

Liang Boyuan looked up at her and said, "Go check the information on that ordinary person, Jiang Fan. The more detailed the better."

"OK."

Lin Xiaoqing turned and left.

Liang Boyuan put his glasses back on and opened the contestant database on his computer.

He typed "Jiang Fan" into the search bar and pressed enter.

The system returned: No matching results.

There are no records of his works on any music platform, and he has no performance experience.

Clean and tidy.

It's like someone appeared out of nowhere.

Liang Boyuan touched his chin.

His industry intuition, honed over two decades, told him that things weren't that simple.

Li Cheng is not the kind of person who would joke about his future.

This is not logical.

Unless, of course, the value of this ordinary person far exceeds the resources that Sheng Hai can provide.

This may not be revealed until the first stage performance.

He closed the database, casually opened Douyin (TikTok), and saw that the video for "Sorrow" had already reached number eleven on the trending list.

Liang Boyuan clicked in and took a look.

The picture was blurry and the sound was noisy; you could feel how bad the recording environment was even through the screen.

But when the young man whose face was obscured plucked the strings...

When you open your mouth and sing the first line.

Liang Boyuan's hand stopped.

He watched the video from beginning to end, and then watched it again.

Then he logged out of Douyin and sent a WeChat message to Li Cheng.

"Old Li, is that 'ordinary person' you're talking about the one who sings 'Sorrow' on Douyin?"

The message was sent, but Li Cheng did not reply.

But Liang Boyuan no longer needs answers.

He sighed, opened Lu Ming's file, and quickly browsed through it.

She has a good appearance and an impressive resume.

I trained in Seoul for two and a half years and received an A grade in both vocal and dance.

This kind of talent would make them the perfect idol material for any talent show production team.

But Liang Boyuan has been in this industry for too long.

He has seen too many trainees with impressive resumes fall on stage.

Korean trainees are mass-produced products; their skills are sufficient.

But it lacks that one thing that can strike the audience's soul.

He recalled that blurry video again.

Liang Boyuan turned off the computer screen, picked up his coat, and went outside.

As he passed Lin Xiaoqing's workstation, he knocked on the partition.

"Let's rearrange the camera positions for next Friday. Add two more close-up shots to the Duxiu track."

Lin Xiaoqing looked up: "Why?"

"intuition."

............

Meanwhile, rental houses in the north of the city.

Jiang Fan had been practicing with the guitar for four hours straight.

His fingertips were chafed raw, and his throat felt tight.

Jiang Fan closed the violin case and picked up his phone from the table.

I booked a flight to Shenzhen online for the day after tomorrow; it's the cheapest flight of the day.

The account balance fluctuated, and there was less than five thousand yuan left.

Fortunately, Queen Xu gave him hush money.

I glanced at the cold, hard numbers on the system panel again.

[Remaining lifespan: 7 days]

Another day has passed.