Chapter 3: Contract Signing
Su Jinli is still somewhat afraid of humans.
When he hadn't yet become a spirit, but was already enlightened, he was a koi fish kept for people to admire in a private school's pond.
That private school was quite renowned, having produced many talented individuals, with many students becoming top scholars.
He was influenced by the school's teachings from the window and became a fish that occasionally ate ink.
However, at the mention of them, Su Jinli would shudder in fear.
People didn't know that the refined and elegant young official's son would throw stones into the pond after feeling frustrated, causing Su Jinli to have to dodge around everywhere.
People didn't know that a certain young university scholar went fishing at the pond with some colleagues, caught Su Jinli, and wanted to grill and eat him.
After trying the first koi and finding it not to their liking, they released the other one and Su Jinli was lucky enough to survive.
Su Jinli only once felt fortunate to have a pure yin physique and be small enough to be left behind, instead of being killed and skinned by those people.
Now, he suddenly encountered a human with such strong yang energy that he trembled in fear, and he recalled his unbearable past once again.
He instinctively swallowed his saliva and nervously looked up, meeting An Zhiyan's gaze. In that moment of eye contact, Su Jinli felt his entire body covered in goosebumps.
An Zhiyan felt as though he was looking at a startled little kitten. The kitten's eyes curved and widened instantly at the sight of him. One phrase came to mind for him, a mediocre student who disliked studying: "Huarong pales".
Upon careful consideration, it was quite fitting for the handsome young man before him.
Noticing the white skin and delicate facial features of the little kitten, he [JL] seemed even more...appetizing after being scared, as if he [JL] could be easily handled, which made him [ZY] feel more hungry.
He wasn't sure if it was because he hadn't eaten breakfast and was feeling a bit hungry.
"Young Master An." An Zhiyan's assistant Jiang Pingqiu reminded him at this time, "The underground parking lot is full of reporters. The driver has brought the backup car to the entrance."
"Oh..." An Zhiyan nodded and didn't pay any more attention to Su Jinli, striding towards the door.
When he reached the door, An Zhiyan instinctively turned around and saw Su Jinli and Chang Siyin running into the elevator, so he didn't stay any longer.
"You don't even know An Zhiyan?" Chang Siyin was particularly shocked by Su Jinli's reaction.
"I just came out of the mountains. We don't have phones, TVs, and we don't know many people."
"Don't you have the internet?"
"What internet? Fishing net?" Su Jinli became wary of Chang Siyin again.
Chang Siyin was shocked, "You don't know anything at all! Of course it's not a fishing net, it's the internet...how do I explain it, it's a wireless network that allows people to connect with each other and learn about world events."
"Wow, that sounds amazing..." Su Jinli replied, relieved.
"An Zhiyan started out as a child star, and his family owns an entertainment company. They're one of the top three companies in China. Compared to them, Muzitao is like a small workshop. An Zhiyan has had excellent resources and public relations skills since he debuted, making him extremely popular despite his not-so-great personality. If he posts something on Weibo, it's sure to make headlines."
Su Jinli nodded, seeming to understand but not really, trying to digest the information in his head.
The yang energy man from earlier was named An Zhiyan, and not only was he powerful, but he also had a bad personality. Plus, his family background was impressive, like the eldest son of the Duke's mansion in the private school.
"I'll avoid him," Su Jinli replied.
"???"
"Hide from him?"
A popular idol is rarely seen and many people can't even get a glimpse of him, but he's actually avoiding them?
When they arrived at the audition location, they found that almost forty people were already waiting.
Chang Siyin took a deep breath and sat in a chair, waiting silently while humming a song.
Su Jinli didn't know anything and just followed along nervously.
They had to wait for two hours before it was their turn.
The people who came out of the audition room before didn't look too happy, which made them even more nervous.
The two of them huddled together, looking so lonely, helpless, and vulnerable.
The applicants were entering in batches, but since they had applied together, they naturally went in together.
After entering, they were asked to... take off their clothes and only leave their underwear.
When Su Jinli came down from the mountain, he was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. Although his shirt was a bit dirty from carrying his bike, it still looked decent.
However, when he took off his clothes, he revealed his very tasteless underwear.
His grandpa had bought it for him, and it was a particularly flashy red color with a monkey printed in the center. The little bulge in the front was right where the monkey's nose would be, making it look ridiculous.
Chang Siyin tried to keep calm, but ended up giggling for a long time and whispered, "Your taste is quite unique."
Su Jinli smiled sheepishly and looked at the male candidates in front of them.
They had to line up to measure their height, weight, and check their physique, as well as perform a few fitness exercises to test their balance and physical fitness.
He heard the judges sigh and say, "Why are they all so thin? Don't they know that having some abs and chest muscles would look good?"
After Su Jinli came in, he hid in a corner. One reason was because his underwear was a bit weird, and the other reason was that all the guys in the room were full of yang energy, which made him feel uncomfortable and instinctively hide.
When he heard the judges say this, he secretly observed the body of the guy who was praised by the judges and quietly changed his own body. His originally slender and weak body gradually developed muscles, not particularly exaggerated, but also looked handsome and healthy.
While waiting, Chang Siyin turned back and looked at Su Jinli, suddenly feeling something was off. She looked carefully and asked, "Did you...get stronger than before?"
"It's just hot and cold. It's too hot in here."
"???" Chang Siyin felt strange, but didn't pay too much attention and continued to be nervous about her own interview.
After measuring their height and weight, Chang Siyin was 185 cm tall and weighed 70 kg, while Su Jinli was 184 cm tall and weighed 65 kg.
"Do we really have a 10-jin difference?" Chang Siyin exclaimed in confusion. "Generally speaking, with your good physique, your body fat percentage should be lower than ours, and we should weigh more."
"Uh... maybe my bones are lighter."
"Could be..." After Chang Siyin finished speaking, they went to the mat and started doing the movements required by the judges. Su Jinli followed his movements from behind and finished quickly, putting on his coat again.
After that was the personal interview, and Chang Siyin went in first.
He was somewhat prepared, could sing and dance, and although he was nervous, he did well overall.
Su Jinli went into the interview room after him and stood in the open space, looking at the several reviewers across from him.
"Introduce yourself," a woman said first.
"My name is Su Jinli."
They waited for a moment and the woman spoke again, "Is that it?"
"I am 184 cm tall and weigh 65 kg."
It seems to be a good-looking boy who occasionally does silly things and is quite cute. The lady couldn't help but smile and asked, "Do you have any talents to show?"
He originally wanted to say that he was good at swimming, but thinking about the fact that his scales would appear when he touched water, he hesitated.
"I know a lot of ancient poetry," Su Jinli replied.
"Anything else?"
"I can do calligraphy and Chinese painting."
"These are not suitable...Do you know how to sing?"
Su Jinli thought for a moment and shook his head.
"What about dancing?" the lady asked again.
Su Jinli continued to shake his head.
"What can we see from you then?"
"I can endure hardship."
Several judges looked at each other and seemed a little helpless.
One of the judges couldn't help but sneer, "Do you really think you can enter the entertainment industry just because you look good? Do you know how many years of effort the other candidates who came to audition with you have put in? What gives you the courage to come here when you don't know anything?"
Su Jinli was criticized and knew it was his own recklessness, so he lowered his head in guilt.
"You coming here like this is just wasting our time." The lady also frowned slightly and said, "Look at your shirt, it's still dirty, and you haven't even prepared your outfit. How confident are you to think we would choose you? This is also disrespectful to us."
"The likes of you becoming famous, I might as well jump into the Huangpu River." The judge who first scolded him finished and said directly, "Get out, you're just wasting our time."
Su Jinli nodded and, before leaving, glanced at the judge's name tag.
His original form was a fish, and a fish's memory only lasts for 7 seconds.
After they became spirits, they spent more than a hundred years trying to make up for their memory deficiencies.
Su Jinli's magic were not as good as other spirits', so he makes up for the gaps in other areas. He has a good memory, close to photographic, so he remember the names of the judges at once.
The name of the female judge is: Qiao Yuhua. The name of the male judge is Hu Haigao.
It wasn't that Su Jinli held a grudge, but rather he subconsciously remembered the name. He knew himself that his impulsiveness in coming to the interview was careless, so it was normal to be described as such.
Unlike Chang Siyin, who had probably been striving for years and contending for such opportunities in several companies, how could he compare?
He just wanted to remember the names of those who had educated him.
He felt that they were right.
Before leaving, he still bowed and said, "I'm sorry."
Walking out of the Muzitao company building, Chang Siyin didn't get Su Jinli's contact information and the two parted ways.
He was a little disappointed, standing outside the Muzitao company's door, staring at the recruitment advertisement for a long time. What should he do next?
He didn't know how long he had been standing there when suddenly he heard someone calling his name. He turned his head and saw Xiao Mi standing next to him, smiling at him.
Su Jinli was a little surprised and asked, "Ah...are you still here? Have you been waiting for me?"
Xiao Mi replied, "No, Yura asked me to find you, so I came back."
Su Jinli asked, "Find me?"
Xiao Mi nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, she only remembered later that you left with no money, so she asked me to give you some money. She said you know the password."
Su Jinli immediately reached out and took the card that Xiao Mi handed to him, and said, "Ah...thank you."
Xiao Mi continued, "Yura also said that if you can't make it and are struggling, just let me take you back to the mountain. She also said that you are not suitable for being out here, and it is safer on the mountain."
This kind of statement sounded like something that Yu Jie would actually say.
Su Jinli smiled awkwardly. In fact, he had just considered going back to the mountain.
As the two were talking, a short, chubby man walked over with a smile and asked Su Jinli, "Hey handsome, are you an artist from Muzitao Company?"
Su Jinli immediately shook his head and said, "I...I didn't pass the interview."
The man's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he immediately shook hands with Su Jinli warmly and said, "Hello, I am the star agent of Guyu Studio. I could see from afar that your image is very good. Would you be interested in coming to our studio to be an artist?"
As an assistant for two years, Xiao Mi immediately recognized what was happening and approached Su Jinli, whispering, "They are just a small studio trying to poach people. Today, Muzitao Entertainment is having a large-scale interview, and they are just waiting outside to pick up the scraps. Look at him, his back is all sweaty. They are always struggling to recruit new talent and the studios can easily go bust. No one wants to work for them."
"Uh...oh, I see..." Su Jinli nodded in confusion.
The short and chubby man continued to introduce, "As long as you come to our studio, you will be our top artist and the focus of our training."
"How many artists does your company have?" Xiao Mi asked.
Xiao Mi is a young woman in her early twenties, with a decent appearance. The short and chubby man assumed she was Su Jinli's girlfriend or a classmate, so he didn't neglect her and answered her questions. After asking a few more questions, Xiao Mi turned to Su Jinli and asked, "Are you interested?"
In fact, when he heard that they provided food, accommodation, training, and a fixed salary, he was a little tempted.
So after whispering with Xiao Mi for a while, the two of them got into the short and chubby man's van. Xiao Mi planned to personally accompany Su Jinli and help keep an eye on things.
It took about 40 minutes for the car to arrive at their destination.
Xiao Mi stared out the window, watching the car drive out of the city, almost thinking they had been kidnapped. Just as she was about to pull out her phone to call the police, they finally arrived.
This place is near the fourth ring road and is a developing area. Most of the nearby buildings are under construction, and there are few restaurants nearby.
Their studio, contrasted against the surrounding buildings, was relatively better.
The storefront had a large signboard with the name of the studio written on it. After entering, Xiao Mi couldn't help but exclaim, "It feels like we've walked into a beauty salon."
"This place used to be a beauty clinic. After it went bankrupt, we took over. Many areas are still incomplete, and the renovation work hasn't been completed." The short and chubby man took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and led them to the conference room.
After sitting down, the short and chubby man began to introduce their company.
They were a studio started by a high-level leader in a large company who went solo after the recent rise of the film and television industry.
The studio was only established at the beginning of this year.
Their main members are currently musicians, advertisers, and media personnel. Although they have the idea of entering the film and television industry and purchasing IP to shoot web dramas, they have not yet started the implementation.
They also just started looking for artists a few months after the establishment of the company.
The short and chubby man introduced himself as Hou Yong, who used to be a broker at Huasen Entertainment and jumped ship to here.
"Huasen? One of the three giants of the entertainment industry, why are you here?" Xiao Mi couldn't help but ask.
Hou Yong chuckled and hesitated for a moment, but didn't explain and continued talking.
Su Jinli could see that there was a dark mist surrounding Hou Yong, which meant that he was also plagued by bad luck, not much better than Yura. He was probably a broker with a story.
"We are indeed a new company, but we also have our own ideals. And our team is very young, able to connect with young people." Hou Yong continued to introduce.
"Well, saying that your team is young means that the company hasn't been around for very long. Talking about ideals to employees means you're not planning to raise salaries. These are all cliches. Let's talk about compensation directly." Xiao Mi was not polite at all. She didn't want Su Jinli to sign with them.
Hou Yong wiped his sweat and continued to introduce.
The studio was indeed just established and had no strength, but they also had ideals and wanted to last long-term.
If Su Jinli signs with them, he will be the studio's first batch of artists. The chubby man guaranteed it with his entire body of fat that he would treat the signed artist seriously. Seeing that Xiao Mi was so hesitant, he made a concession and was willing to sign a short-term contract with Su Jinli. The contract would be for one year, and after that, if Su Jinli thinks it's okay, he can renew the contract. If not, he can leave at any time.
This time, Xiao Mi finally stopped saying anything and just helped study the contract that Hou Yong handed over, line by line. She also occasionally sent messages to ask her friends if there were any problems with each clause.
Later, they also discussed the issue of revenue sharing with Hou Yong.
Perhaps because Su Jinli didn't earn much money in the first year, Hou Yong made a big concession. As long as they recouped the cost of training in the early stage, they would only take 20% of Su Jinli's income.
After quietly consulting with Xiao Mi, Su Jinli agreed and signed the contract with Hou Yong.
Su Jinli's idea is very simple. He has just come down from the mountain and doesn't know anything. He came to this studio to receive training, get in touch with society, and learn something. It's quite good.
Here, they provide room and board, and also give him a fixed salary every month, which is enough for him to live on.
The contract is only for one year. If Su Jinli has any other ideas after one year, he can make other plans.
After signing the contract, Hou Yong finally smiled easily and walked over to shake hands with Su Jinli again.
He was also grateful to Hou Yong and naturally showed his courtesy.
At the moment the two shook hands, the black mist around Hou Yong miraculously dissipated.
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Notes: Thanks so much for reading! Hope you're all having a wonderful day!
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