Before Zhen Dongjun arrived, Bai Youlou and Old Zhou had indeed been discussing Huaxing.
It was because of that girl An Luning. She was terrible at keeping things to herself.
She had eagerly revealed to Zhang Xiaorong that Sister Hong was planning to have the company "buy them back."
After Zhang Xiaorong asked whether this needed to be kept confidential and received a negative answer, she immediately relayed the exact words to Bai Youlou and Old Zhou.
To be honest, Bai Youlou was not very interested in signing with a major company and making a comeback.
However, there would indeed be more chances to deal with them in the future, such as soliciting investment or continuing to work with them on film distribution.
But he genuinely wanted to get Zhang Xiaorong a good price. Ahem, he wanted to find her a reliable company.
Huaxing was indeed a pretty good choice.
After signing with them, she would also have An Luning looking out for her.
Besides, it was not as though Bai Youlou would stop writing songs for Zhang Xiaorong. He could keep writing them and simply have Huaxing pay for them.
With extensive promotion, Bai Youlou could earn more royalties from those songs as well.
At the same time, with Huaxing's marketing resources behind her, she could become the next diva of the music industry in at most two years.
And then this buddy Zhen Dongjun showed up and started spouting his "sugar daddy culture" nonsense!
It had honestly left Bai Youlou at a loss. He felt that An Luning did not really seem like a kept woman. After all, the Bai Youlou of the past had still been him, and he had all those memories.
Although that girl had rejected him back then, the shyness and helplessness on her face had been genuine.
The Bai Youlou of that time had not noticed anything, but now that the old lecher Bai Youlou thought back on it, he could guarantee that the girl had never been in a relationship or been with a man.
What the hell?!
If this had been a romance novel, that single question alone would probably have led to several chapters of digressions, misunderstandings, and pointless wrangling.
But Bai Youlou chose the simplest approach.
He directly sent Zhang Xiaorong a message, asking her to inquire with An Luning herself.
Zhang Xiaorong:
This quiet, gentle girl felt for the first time that Bai Youlou was being a little too much!
Even when she had seen him flirt with Host Xiao Liu, she had never felt this speechless.
Ask An Luning whether she had a sugar daddy? How was she supposed to get those words out?
Of course, she did not ask An Luning such an outrageous question. Instead, she immediately messaged Bai Youlou: "Luning doesn't have a sugar daddy!"
Even through the phone, looking at those cold lines of text, Bai Youlou seemed able to sense the girl's "anger."
He actually felt a little regretful that he had not been able to see her expression directly.
"So what do you think of Huaxing?"
"I'll follow you."
The words were simple, but they expressed Zhang Xiaorong's resolve.
All right, now Bai Youlou no longer needed to worry about what kind of person Lin Juntao of Huaxing was.
He could not be bothered to persuade Zhang Xiaorong, either. Bai Youlou was not the nagging, mother-hen type.
He would not use a "this is for your own good" tone to send her toward some supposedly brighter future.
If she wanted to go, then she should go. If she did not, she could stay with him and have some fun.
He could not guarantee they would become hugely famous and make so much money their hands went numb, but they should be able to have a great deal of fun.
She might not have been curious, but Zhang Xiaorong herself could not quite hold back. She felt that Bai Youlou would not have asked such a question for no reason.
However, she did not use Bai Youlou's overly blunt wording. That would practically be asking for a beating.
Instead, she changed her approach.
She called An Luning and chatted as usual, then casually asked, "Luning, what's your relationship with your company's boss? You seem to have so much influence over there."
An Luning sounded quite pleased by that, but after hesitating briefly, she said, "Sister Zhang, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else, okay? This has to stay secret."
"I promise I won't tell anyone!"
"Actually, I'm Lin Juntao's great-aunt."
Zhang Xiaorong: ???
That sounded especially like the classic, "I am Qin Shi Huang."
"Great-aunt? Is that... his pet name for you?" Zhang Xiaorong asked uncertainly.
An Luning grew anxious on the other end of the call. "What pet name? I mean it literally. I really am his great-aunt. We're related. My generation is higher."
"Your seniority is way too high, isn't it?!"
"What can I do? It really is that high~"
Her words sounded helpless, but An Luning's tone was actually full of pride.
Zhang Xiaorong reckoned that An Luning had often used this fact to tease the company boss. With her seniority suppressing him, who could withstand that?
A sugar daddy?
That would be completely upside down. There were three generations between a great-aunt and a sugar daddy!
Unable to hold it in, Zhang Xiaorong burst out laughing.
Hearing her laughter, An Luning immediately added, "So, Sister Zhang, don't worry. Once you come over, I'll be there. Even the boss will have to listen to us."
Zhang Xiaorong could not guarantee that she would go, of course. After all, she did not know what Bai Youlou was thinking.
After hanging up, she rested her chin in her hand and stared at the chat window, which had received no further reply. She found herself wondering what Bai Youlou was doing at that moment.
Bai Youlou?
He was dealing with Zhen Dongjun.
He had not had time to deal with him because he had been messaging Zhang Xiaorong. Now that he had finished, naturally he had to properly teach this guy a lesson.
Spreading filthy rumors?
You really are something! No wonder you're washed up!
Zhen Dongjun was also a common example of the greasy middle-aged entertainers in the industry. He was not doing well himself, his wife had cheated on him, and his heart was full of resentment. He saw everyone as being involved in casting couches and improper relationships between men and women.
It was understandable, but who could blame Bai Youlou when Zhen Dongjun had happened to run straight into his line of fire? Understanding him did not mean Bai Youlou would put up with him~
As it happened, Host Xiao Liu came over cheerfully on behalf of the production team to check on the situation.
Because Bai Youlou and the others had turned off the cameras in the rehearsal room, the production team was curious about what they were up to. They simply sent Host Xiao Liu over with a cameraman to take a look around.
The moment she opened the door, she saw that Mentor Zhen Dongjun was suffering workplace bullying and violence.
Host Xiao Liu froze for a moment and exchanged a glance with Bai Youlou.
Bang!
She immediately shut the door.
The girl did not forget to tell the cameraman, "There's no one inside."
Cameraman: ???
He had clearly heard the sounds just now. Never mind. Host Xiao Liu had the final say—who could blame her when she had connections?
Inside, Zhen Dongjun's heart was filled with despair.
You're just going to stand by and watch me die?! What's wrong with this host?
"No, at least let me die knowing why?!" Zhen Dongjun wailed miserably while loudly protesting.
Old Zhou exchanged a glance with Bai Youlou. After Bai Youlou nodded, Old Zhou took out his phone and displayed a photograph.
It was a group photo Old Zhou had taken before they set out.
Teacher Zhang was smiling beautifully.
After seeing it, Zhen Dongjun was dumbfounded. He looked at Bai Youlou again, his eyes seeming to look at a ghost!
"She's your woman too?!"
Bai Youlou smiled and gently patted Zhen Dongjun on the shoulder. "Wrong. Even you are my man."
Summary!
The mentor, the host, and the rival—all of them are my people. What could you possibly use to fight me?!
Yet, looking across the entire The Voice stage, it seemed that no one actually wanted to fight him.
Damn, I've drawn my sword and looked around in confusion.
He could not even find a "villain" in this production team to slap in the face!
It might have looked as though Bai Youlou was being cursed to death by everyone outside, but that was only on the internet.
If the contestants on The Voice had not been ordered by the production team to keep their mouths shut and stop talking nonsense, they would have loved to drag in a few keyboard warriors and say, "Here, you! Come over here and deal with this guy!"
It was simply a dimensionality-reducing strike.
Before you continue