Chapter 45

"Anything else? I heard that after the contract was revised, President Cheng and Brother Zhu personally went to sign it."

"They originally wanted that person to come to the company to sign, but the moment the call went through, Brother Zhu got cursed out. The ladies from HR and Legal were both standing nearby and heard it. Brother Zhu was so cowed that he apologized on the spot."

"They're that impressive?" Several young men and women looked at one another. "Who exactly are they?"

"No idea." The gossiping youngsters all shook their heads. "But judging by this, the company must be planning to heavily promote them after signing them."

Hearing that, someone snorted unhappily. "They're just a newcomer. So what if the company promotes them? Do they dare fight Brother Jie and Sister Lena for resources?"

The group looked at one another, and someone suddenly had an idea. "Hey, do you think the company might break up our existing groups to promote this person?"

As soon as that was said, the entire practice room fell silent. After a long while, a boy with a flashy punk hairstyle snorted. "I don't care. Even if the company really wants to shove someone into our group, I won't allow some talentless paratrooper who only knows how to pull strings into my team to drag us down."

"Exactly! We train so hard every day—why should we be dragged down by useless people with no ability who only know how to pull strings? We're about to compete. If they suddenly shove someone in at a time like this, how are we supposed to build chemistry?" The others began complaining as well.

Someone sneered. "Easy for you to say. We're all artists under the company, and every activity has to follow the company's arrangements. If President Cheng and Brother Zhu really want to promote someone and insist on parachuting in a newcomer to replace one of us, you'd better pray you're not the unlucky one—"

Before he could finish, the practice room doors suddenly opened. Cheng Tianguang and Zhu Jianxin came in with Cheng Yu, who had just signed his contract. Smiling broadly, they said, "...This is where the company's artists usually practice dancing. There are recording studios upstairs too, all equipped with the best facilities in the country. We'll take you to see them later."

Cheng Yu wore a plain white T-shirt and black ripped jeans, with a black canvas bag slung over one shoulder. At first glance, he looked clean and fresh, no different from a high school student still in school. But when Cheng Yu looked over at everyone expressionlessly, every person his gaze swept across unconsciously held their breath, as though their hearts had skipped a beat in that instant.

Looking at the roomful of non-mainstream youths with hair dyed every color imaginable, Cheng Yu could not help frowning. As the CEO of an international luxury brand, he truly could not stand such eye-searing styling. But that was the fashion trend of this era. Cheng Yu could not control others; he could only hope that his future teammates would not be like this.

"Are these all the trainees your company has?" Cheng Yu asked.

Cheng Tianguang glanced at Zhu Jianxin, who immediately explained, "The company does have quite a few more trainees. But these two groups are currently the strongest. If you want to join a group..."

Before Zhu Jianxin could finish, the members of both groups felt their hearts leap. The girl group was relatively calm, but Gu Meng, the leader of the boy group, immediately spoke up. "Brother Zhu, the five of us have been working together for more than two years. Besides, we're competing in half a month. It wouldn't be appropriate to suddenly add a newcomer at a time like this, would it?"

The other members echoed him. "Yeah, yeah. There's too little time. There's no way we could build chemistry."

"Is it your turn to speak?" Seeing the boys chattering all at once, Cheng Tianguang rebuked them sternly. "Have you no manners at all?"

"I think they're right." Cheng Yu did not care much. "Besides, there are too many of them. They're noisy." Cheng Yu disliked overly noisy environments, though the more important reason was that these people's styling looked too ugly. As someone with extremely high standards for appearances, Cheng Yu did not want a group of ugly kids with no sense of fashion as teammates.

The boy group members had not expected Cheng Yu to actually look down on them, and they immediately glared at him indignantly.

Zhu Jianxin smiled. "Actually, it's pretty good to debut solo instead of joining a group. You're so handsome. Whether you sing or do anything else on stage, the judges will definitely let you advance."

That was why Zhu Jianxin could not understand why Cheng Yu insisted on joining a group. Both President Cheng and he preferred for Cheng Yu to debut as a solo artist. After all, if he debuted solo, the audience's and media's attention would all be focused on Cheng Yu alone. The resources Cheng Yu received would not have to be shared with anyone else.

By all rights, given Cheng Yu's temperament, he should prefer to shine beautifully on his own! Why did he insist on debuting in a group—could it be that Cheng Yu had no individual talent at all and would get stage fright in front of the cameras?

Zhu Jianxin secretly let his imagination run wild, but no matter how he looked at him, Cheng Yu did not seem like the sort of person who would be timid!

Cheng Yu glanced at Zhu Jianxin's big fat face and said seriously, "If I go on stage alone, wouldn't I have to talk a lot?"

Everyone present looked at one another, unable to understand Cheng Yu's way of thinking. Cheng Yu clearly had no intention of explaining further and simply asked, "Does your company have any other trainees?"

"The rest are either preparing to compete as solo artists, or they're not quite mature enough in various aspects and are planning to train for another two years..." Zhu Jianxin had only just begun explaining when he saw Cheng Yu's impatience faintly surface. He immediately changed tack and hurriedly said, "But if you're interested, we can go take a look now."

Cheng Yu nodded, turned around, and left without another word. He clearly did not want to spend another minute in that practice room steeped in non-mainstream vibes. Cheng Tianguang and Zhu Jianxin exchanged helpless smiles and followed after him.

The boys and girls left in the practice room looked at one another. After a long while, someone could not help complaining, "With that attitude... anyone who didn't know better would think he was the company's new boss, not a newcomer the company just signed!"

The student Cheng Yu, who had been mocked as a boss descending from heaven, was led by the real President Cheng to the practice room next door. There was only one boy dancing inside. Cheng Yu stood at the door, looking at the figure before the full-length mirror, and suddenly smiled.