Chapter 41

After hanging up, both sides were very satisfied with the collaboration.

Ye Zexi knew nothing about it. At that moment, he was unusually not slacking off and was rehearsing in the practice room.

It was not that Ye Zexi did not want to slack off; he simply could not find the opportunity.

Sunday was the finale of "Era Idol," and the competition format had also undergone major changes.

There would no longer be group battles in the finale. Instead, all ten finalists would automatically be placed into one group, with two group performances: one vocal and one dance.

After the group performances, each contestant would have an individual showcase. Naturally, those also had to include both vocal and dance performances.

In other words, in less than a week, the ten contestants had to prepare four performances.

There were only four debut spots, and the only contestants who could debut as a group would be the top four in the voting on Sunday night.

Preparing performances was not difficult for Ye Zexi. What troubled him was that without group PKs, mentors Qu Xiao and Shan Zeyu no longer needed to take turns checking on other groups' training. Now, they spent the entire day in the practice room watching them train.

Whenever Ye Zexi tried to find a sofa and flop down like a salted fish, Shan Zeyu would sit down beside him.

He said nothing, merely looked at Ye Zexi meaningfully.

Ye Zexi: "..."

He did not even dare take out the phone in his pocket.

The novel Ye Zexi had been reading the previous night had just reached a crucial point. The top's

hidden identity

was on the verge of being exposed, yet the author said the next two chapters would not be updated until the following day.

He had waited and waited for the author to update the next day, only to find that Ye Zexi could not read it immediately.

It was right there, but out of reach. His heart was being twisted by a knife!

After enduring another full day of training, Ye Zexi felt that this could not go on. Could he really debut in the group during the finale?

He had to think of something.

Of course, Ye Zexi had not expected an opportunity to come knocking so soon.

*

Time flew by. On Thursday, tickets for the "Era Idol" finale went on sale and were announced sold out after just ten minutes.

Fans who had secured finale tickets began cheering wildly, while those who had failed to get tickets instantly turned into sour lemons.

That same evening, the official blog released its final promotional video before the finale.

The smiling faces of hundreds of contestants flashed past the audience's eyes, forming an enormous poster.

After round after round of selection, contestant photos vanished from the poster one by one, until only ten familiar faces remained.

At the end of the promotional video, there was only one line—"In the final selection, who will rise above the rest? Let us wait and see!"

One hour after its release, the promotional video successfully made the trending searches.

Fans of every contestant immediately lost their composure.

"Ahhhhhh, Ye Zexi is so handsome! Go, Ye Zexi!"

"Go, Tang Tang!"

"Go, Cui Yi!"

"Ye Zexi, fly without fear! Watermelon Leaves will always follow!"

"What are Watermelon Leaves?"

"Ye Zexi's fandom name! Sis, haven't you checked the supertopic? Go look at yesterday's vote."

Quite a few casual Ye Zexi fans only then learned that several days earlier, Ye Zexi's supertopic had held a vote to choose a fandom name. Most fans believed that the words "Watermelon Leaves" immediately made people think of Ye Zexi.

As of nine o'clock the previous night, "Watermelon Leaves" had received the most votes.

"Watermelon Leaves" naturally became the name for Ye Zexi's fans.

The fans took a look around the supertopic, but what caught their attention most was not the fandom-name vote, but the vote for the support banner.

The supertopic moderator had posted the three most popular memes: "Eating a Rich Second-Gen's Meal," "Forcing a Smile," and "For Chasing Someone."

The comments were filled with fans' laughter. It was so loud it practically hurt their ears.

"Does Ye Zexi have no shame? Hahahaha."

"Even though it's ridiculously addictive, it really is so Ye Zexi!"

"Lmao, hahahahaha."

"My favorite is still that Gokuraku Jodo GIF of Ye Zexi. Too bad the banner can't be animated."

"Don't just laugh, everyone! Remember to vote for Ye Zexi too!"

In the end, after round after round of selection, the "Eating a Rich Second-Gen's Meal" meme surged far ahead of the others in votes and was chosen for the Center Position on the finale-night banner.

By Saturday, everything was ready. The fans were rubbing their hands together, waiting only for Sunday night's finale.

Also on Saturday, Gao Shu finally finished reading the initial script He Jinyun had sent him.

It had to be said that it was an outstanding script. Gao Shu's sharp business instincts told him that if Ye Zexi took this movie, awards were not guaranteed, but Ye Zexi would definitely become hugely popular!

Perhaps Ye Zexi could even use this movie to take the big-screen route from then on.

Gao Shu was deeply stirred and extremely excited.

But to be safe, he still needed to ask for Ye Jianbin's opinion.

Ye Jianbin quickly gave him an answer—Ye Jianbin had invested twenty million.

Well, wasn't this just like when the young master had insisted on joining "Era Idol"?

Since the chairman had invested, it meant he thought highly of the film. The young master definitely would not lose out by signing on!

So Gao Shu hurriedly arranged a meeting with He Jinyun, determined to settle the matter as soon as possible.

He Jinyun came with the contract.

Both sides were very sincere. After Gao Shu repeatedly confirmed that there were no issues, he readily signed the contract in the name of Ye Zexi Studio.

There were two copies of the contract. Seeing the studio's red seal in the lower right corner, the weight in He Jinyun's heart finally lifted.

"Happy working together. I'll have to rely on Assistant Gao to take care of things in the future," He Jinyun said, taking the initiative to shake Gao Shu's hand.

Gao Shu smiled. "What are you saying? I should be thanking Teacher He for taking care of the young master."

He Jinyun put away the contract, the corner of his lips curving slightly. "No, I should be thanking Assistant Gao."

After all, without Assistant Gao's signature, he would not have been able to lure the man away.