WAM CH4

[Partner, do you have any more work later?]

[…]

Hearing this ghost-like voice, Shao Si struggled to flip himself over in the backseat, groggily replying with his mind: [Probably… not.]

The system lowered its voice: [Then can we get down to some real business?]

To this question, Shao Si became serious: [I’ve already thought it through…]

The system held its breath: [Oh?]

Half-asleep, Shao Si answered: [Later I’m going home to take a shower and get a good sleep.]

[…] The system was speechless for a long time, choking on its words: [Are you serious?]

[…You are doubting me.]

[I’m not doubting, I’m heartbroken.]

[It’s not like I’m beating your chest with my little fists. Stop being noisy, I’m really going to sleep.]

After delivering his final sentence, Shao Si fell completely into a deep sleep, his breathing light and shallow.

The system sighed: [What the fuck else can I say, you little tormenting goblin.]

The journey back was quite far. By the time Li Guangzong leisurely woke up, he raised his wrist, calculated the time, and estimated they still had a twenty-minute drive.

He worked on his laptop in the car for a while, opening his email to organize this week’s announcements, and writing a few reports to submit to the company. After the emails were sent, he took off his glasses and began to ponder Shao Si’s future development.

Don’t look at how he usually joked with the word ‘has-been’; he was actually quite afraid of Shao Si fading into obscurity. It was too easy to become a has-been. In today’s social environment filled with fast-food entertainment, how long could even the hottest news stay in the public eye? How many people would remember it? After the novelty passed, how much gossip material would be left? If you didn’t hype up popularity or stir up some drama, you would be crushed on the beach by the next wave at any minute.

Artists needed topicality. It didn’t matter where the topics came from—it could be spreading rumors, or even intentionally hiring internet water armies to smear themselves, only to wash their image clean after a while.

In this circle, too many people would stoop to absolutely anything.

But his “Daddy Shao” looked down on all of it.

Thinking about the various hype strategies Shao Si had rejected just a few days ago gave Li Guangzong a headache.

He had taken over managing Shao Si halfway through his career, and initially, his impression of the man hadn’t been very good. His aura was too cold; just looking at him was intimidating. Because of Shao Si’s outstanding appearance, the company had intended to package him well from the very beginning, listing him as a key cultivation target. The agent assigned to him was also a top-tier ace in the industry, having successfully made many “little fresh meat” idols famous.

Since this matter had nothing to do with him at the time, Li Guangzong hadn’t paid much attention to it, continuing to diligently manage the rookies he had on hand, not knowing when even one of them would ever get famous.

Later, Shao Si had a massive falling out with his agent, leading to a physical fight right inside the company. At that time, Li Guangzong had just returned from a schedule with one of his artists, only to see that ace agent named Qi Ming pinned to the ground and getting beaten up by Shao Si. Qi Ming was beaten so badly his glasses frame cracked, and he was curled up in a ball on the floor. The entire company was in an uproar.

That day, Shao Si was dressed all in black in a cool hip-hop style. He had probably just come out of the dance practice room. The baseball cap on his head was crooked, looking like it could fall off at any moment. If the security guards hadn’t arrived in time, Shao Si would have almost smashed Qi Ming’s skull open with a decorative vase sitting in the hallway.

Li Guangzong didn’t know how the company ultimately handled the matter, but it was suppressed regardless. He didn’t have any other opinions on it, only feeling: this person really is terrifying.

Yet he never expected the company to approach him the next day, asking if he was willing to take over.

…Honestly speaking, he wasn’t very willing.

Everyone up and down the company was saying that Shao Si had a huge temper, was incredibly arrogant, and didn’t follow the rules. He had also thought Shao Si was that kind of person, only realizing it wasn’t the case at all after being forced to take him on.

Later, when the two became familiar with each other, they were joking around once. He mocked Shao Si for having a low EQ, and Shao Si scoffed at the notion.

Li Guangzong: “Don’t deny it, your EQ really is quite low. Otherwise, why would the entire company view you as a bully standing on top of a refrigerator?”

Shao Si massaged the space between his brows: “What the hell? What bully?”

Li Guangzong: “Translated, it means an aloof, cold bully.”

“…”

So that was how ‘standing on a refrigerator’ was used? Shao Si touched his nose: “Why did my image become like this?”

Li Guangzong: “What else could it be? Isn’t it because of that incident with Qi Ming. I’m actually really puzzled. Why did you beat him up? Now he spreads rumors about you everywhere; he’s been at it for four or five years and still isn’t tired of it… Oh right, I heard the company questioned you later, and you didn’t even explain.”

“That matter…” Shao Si tilted his head back, his expression turning a bit grim. “No reason, I just found him an eyesore.”

Actually, this was an expected answer. Li Guangzong wasn’t too surprised. Just as he was about to tell him, ‘Restrain yourself in the future, stop doing purely stupid things,’ he heard Shao Si continue: “He had a total of seven artists under him. Each one of them managed to shoot to fame in a short period of time. Do you know why?”

Li Guangzong’s heart skipped a beat. Anticipating something rather unpleasant, he didn’t dare speak.

“The first time he met me, he threw a chart at me—do you know what it was? It was a persona arrangement chart. Whatever persona he wanted you to play, it was clearly marked on it.” Shao Si curled his lip in disgust. “I can still recite that piece of trash even now. Something about ‘a noble youth stepping out of the ice and snow, unsoiled by the mortal world’. He even told me I couldn’t OOC. Do you know what OOC is? I was so angry I laughed at the time. This dumbass actually had quite a broad range of knowledge.”

Li Guangzong: “…”

“Making me play myself into a retard is one thing, but arranging sugar daddies for the artists under him, getting them drunk, and sending them to bed—I couldn’t tolerate that routine. Just breaking the bridge of his nose was getting off lightly—what’s with that look in your eyes? …I didn’t say the one being sent to bed was me.”

…

Well then, it turned out this guy was actually just a hot-blooded youth stepping up for a just cause to protect others.

Li Guangzong was deep in thought, reminiscing, when the driver stepped on the brakes, parking the car by the roadside. He turned his head and reminded him, “Brother Zong, we’re here.”

This time, Li Guangzong didn’t need to shout. Shao Si voluntarily threw off the blanket himself. He probably heard the words ‘we’re here’ in his sleep. Groggily, he pulled open the car door, not forgetting to put on his mask and sunglasses together before getting out.

Li Guangzong watched him jump out of the car and immediately turn right. He hurriedly called him back: “What are you doing?! Where are you going?!”

Shao Si’s pace was sluggish. Squinting his eyes, he replied without turning his head: “Going home to sleep.”

Sleep my ass!

Li Guangzong also jumped out of the car, pulling Shao Si back in a few strides. During their tug-of-war, Shao Si suddenly stopped his movements. Looking completely dumbfounded, as if he had lost all hope of living, he pointed at the towering skyscraper in front of them and said: “No… why did you bring me to a hotel? Shouldn’t I be standing happily at the gate of my residential complex right now?”

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday? The company is throwing a celebration banquet. The trashy drama the company funded and bought the IP for recently got a really good response,” Li Guangzong instructed while dragging him inside. “Qi Ming will be there later too. Don’t be impulsive, you absolutely must stay rational. No matter how he provokes you, ignore him, do you hear me?”

Shao Si pulled down one side of his mask and followed him, looking unwell: “Are you gonna let me live or not…”

“Let’s just eat a bit to show our face and then leave, okay?” Li Guangzong brought Shao Si to the front desk and gave the boss’s name. A waiter then led them up to the third floor. “Stop wearing that stinky face, it sets such a bad impression. People who don’t know better will think you’re back to playing that noble youth stepping out of the ice and snow…”

“Stop bringing up my dark history,” Shao Si’s mouth twitched. “Twenty minutes. I’m only staying for twenty minutes. Not a single second more.”

At the banquet, true to form, Qi Ming started mocking Shao Si the moment he saw him. He stubbornly clung to the topic of Shao Si taking on Director Wang’s unprofitable new film, while sarcastically showing off that the new idol he was managing was earning a salary of nearly ten million for a single project. The young idol was also very cooperative, occasionally chiming in with a feigned innocent tone, saying, “Oh, you flatter me. How long have I even been in the industry? I just got a little lucky, how could I compare to Senior Brother.”

Shao Si casually ate some food. After finishing, he crossed his legs and buried his head in his phone, letting the duo’s chorus go in one ear and out the other. He gave a careless, perfunctory response: “Oh, not bad, keep up the hard work.”

Qi Ming smugly raised his wine glass and took a sip, looking like a victorious rooster. He didn’t stay quiet for long before patting the “ten million salary” idol beside him. His intention couldn’t be more obvious: “Go say hello to your Senior Brother.”

The young idol was named Yang Ze. He looked sunny, healthy, and very handsome. When he smiled, it seemed to sparkle just like the stud earring in his right ear. He stood up and raised his glass: “Senior Brother Shao, I’ve looked up to you for a long time. I’ll drink this cup first as a token of respect; you do as you please.”

Shao Si was indeed very pleased to do as he pleased, and very casually didn’t drink.

Li Guangzong secretly pinched him but couldn’t move him. Resigning himself to his fate, Li Guangzong stood up to block the drink for Shao Si and apologized with a smile, “I’m sorry, Xiao Si hasn’t been feeling well these past two days. The doctor said he needs to avoid smoking and drinking.”

But Yang Ze still didn’t quit. Showing exceptional enthusiasm, he wanted to serve some food to Shao Si. The two of them were sitting quite far apart, so he stretched his long arm over, and—whether intentionally or not—knocked over the juice in front of Shao Si, splashing it directly all over him.

Li Guangzong let out a cry of alarm and hurriedly grabbed a bunch of napkins to wipe him down.

Yang Ze stood frozen in place, looking entirely flustered. “I’m so sorry… I’m really sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose, I just wanted to serve you some food.”

Shao Si yanked the napkin over with one hand. In a rush, he tapped send on the text message he had spent forever drafting, then focused on wiping his clothes. As a result, the more he wiped, the dirtier it got. He simply stood up and said, “It’s fine, I’m going to the restroom.”

Ten minutes later, he stood in the restroom holding his phone, bursting out with a curse: “…Fuck.”

It wasn’t because of his clothes, but because of that text message just now. He had spent ages drafting that message, intending to send it to the makeup artist to continue prying for information about Yang Yinyin.

Although it was just a greeting and wasn’t particularly flirtatious… he had sent it to the wrong person!

Staring at the line on the screen reading, ‘Are you free to grab a meal?’, Shao Si felt complicated.

What would Gu Yanzhou’s reaction be when he saw it?

…He genuinely didn’t do it on purpose to ask him out.

Shao Si scratched his head, realizing that if he followed up with a ‘Sorry, sent to the wrong person’ at a time like this, it would make him seem incredibly scheming and pretentious.

So annoying.