Chapter 9

Xiao Hu was skilled at reading the room and knew this meant he should continue.

"Young Master did amazingly well. He took first place in the very first performance, and he even made the trending searches last night. He still hasn't dropped off today! I just checked, and Young Master's Weibo is already close to a million followers!"

Xiao Hu deliberately picked the good news, making it sound vivid and exciting. "Looks like the audience and netizens really like our Young Master. I'm even planning to watch the next livestream and vote for him. I'd say Young Master might really become famous throughout the entertainment industry this time!"

The elevator doors opened, and Ye Jianbin stepped out first with a cold snort. "He's just fooling around. Did I not know he joined that show to chase someone? With the way he is, can he really become famous?"

Xiao Hu hurriedly said, "Chairman, you don't know—Young Master already promised on the show that he won't chase that Xiao Tang anymore!"

Ye Jianbin glanced at Xiao Hu. "Really?"

Xiao Hu quickly took out his phone, found the video he had saved early that morning, and handed it to Ye Jianbin.

It was the clip of Ye Zexi apologizing to Tang Jing on the show.

Only then did Ye Jianbin's tightly furrowed brows relax somewhat.

After the video finished, Xiao Hu put away his phone. "I think Young Master has truly made up his mind to work hard this time. This morning, when I delivered documents to Mr. Wei, Mr. Wei even praised Young Master to me."

That caught Ye Jianbin's interest. "Is that so?"

"Of course!" Xiao Hu said. "Mr. Wei even gave Young Master Wei a scolding, saying that if he'd known earlier, he would've sent Young Master Wei to join the show too. Speaking of which, Young Master Wei cast quite a few votes for Young Master this time. I heard he mobilized all the employees in his company to vote for our Young Master."

Ye Jianbin nodded and said nothing further.

The driver opened the car door, and Ye Jianbin got in first.

Xiao Hu sighed inwardly, opened the front passenger door, and got in. Just as he fastened his seat belt, Ye Jianbin's voice suddenly came from the back. "Since Mr. Wei's company is helping vote, our company can't sit this out either. Draft a notice telling our employees to vote for that brat too."

Delight flashed across Xiao Hu's face. Knowing that the chairman's anger had subsided, he immediately replied, "All right."

Ye Jianbin added, "They won't be helping for nothing. Every employee who votes will get an extra five hundred in their end-of-month bonus. Once you finish the notice, send it to the internal group. The branches will follow the same policy."

The smile on Xiao Hu's lips widened. "All right! I'm sure everyone will be willing to vote for Young Master."

Ye Jianbin responded blandly, as though he did not care in the slightest.

Xiao Hu asked again, "Should I send Young Master's performance video to the chairman later?"

Ye Jianbin gave a cold snort and said carelessly, "What's there to see about that brat? I've watched him grow up."

Yet his crossed leg, cocked upward beneath him, kept swaying from time to time, seeming to betray an impatient restlessness.

Xiao Hu watched his nose, and his nose watched his heart. He decided to send the video to the chairman right now!

If this counted as not wanting to watch it.

Heh. Men. Men who said one thing and meant another!

Compared to Ye Jianbin's insincerity, Xiao Hu was sincerely cheering Ye Zexi on. His sixth sense told him that their Young Master was really going to become famous this time!

Xiao Hu's premonition proved remarkably accurate. The tag #YeZexiReallyLivesOffTheRichSecondGeneration# rose and fell on the trending searches for an entire day.

More and more netizens saw it, and Ye Zexi's reaction memes spread farther and farther, becoming a popular catchphrase.

Open any Weibo post at random, and the comments would be full of people using the meme—

"What are you eating today?"

"Rich second-generation food!"

Even plenty of netizens who had no idea what had happened began using the meme after getting the background explained to them. Memes filled the internet.

In less than a day, Ye Zexi's line, "rich second-generation food," had completely broken out of its circle.

Even the production team had not expected Ye Zexi to become popular on the strength of a single sentence.

But clearly, the production team had no intention of letting such a perfect promotional opportunity slip away. They took the chance to announce the presale date for tickets to the second performance, and the official Weibo post naturally followed the trend by using Ye Zexi's freshly made meme as its accompanying image.

The fans and viewers loved it too, and the comment section was filled with everyone joining in the fun.

"Hahahaha, official account, you're really cheeky!"

"Buying! I'm going to the venue to support Ye Zexi!"

"Same as above. I think we should make a banner out of the meme too. That'd be so impressive!"

"Hahahahahahahaha, damn! You're all antis, aren't you?"

"What nonsense? We're all genuine fans!"

"Hahaha, Ye Zexi is seriously so entertaining. He's handsome and talented too. Even I, a passerby, kind of want to become a fan!"

"If you want to stan him, come on over! Sis, don't hesitate! Supporting Ye Zexi is definitely a profitable investment!"

In just one day, Ye Zexi had become the most talked-about contestant on "Era Idol."

The news online spread among the staff as well. For a time, many people looked at Ye Zexi differently, their gazes filled with undisguised envy and even a little ingratiation.

The contestants were even more envious.

With Ye Zexi's face, he was born to make it in the entertainment industry. Not to mention that singing voice even Shan Zeyu had praised—it was practically stealing food from their bowls!

The contestants marveled at Ye Zexi's background and envied his sudden popularity. Some even sighed over how, despite already being so rich, Ye Zexi still trained so diligently.

"Maybe that's what it means to have talent and still work hard!"

Someone nearby could not help replying, "Are you sure he's working hard?"

The person froze, then instinctively asked, "What do you mean?"

Following his teammate's gaze, he looked over and saw Ye Zexi sitting on the sofa.

Ye Zexi wore a simple set of light-colored casual clothes and reclined halfway against the sofa. His pink hair had grown a little long and was casually tied into a small tuft at the back of his head, revealing only half his profile, soft and handsome in outline. At a single glance, even those of the same sex found it hard to look away.