Chapter 2

Although Gu Zhijing thought the position Sheng Chi had originally wanted was probably the internship, since he was so versatile, Gu Zhijing might as well give him a chance to gain experience in a higher position.

The company was short-staffed these days, and someone who could do everything might well have to do everything. It wouldn't be right to offer him too low a position-

"Captain."

Lost in thought, Gu Zhijing didn't catch on at first and froze. "Huh?"

Sheng Chi's expression remained calm as he repeated himself. "Your future captain."

Chapter 2

Gu Zhijing was stunned for a moment.

The next second, someone pushed open the office door.

Fei Yue walked in carrying a stack of documents. The first person he saw was Gu Zhijing. "You snuck out of the practice room to slack off again, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about, Brother Fei? I was busy entertaining your guest for you."

Gu Zhijing laughed it off, then turned his gaze back to Sheng Chi.

He'd just said captain... what captain? That position wasn't on the job posting.

Wait? Whose captain?

Something clicked in Gu Zhijing's mind.

The next second, his eyes suddenly went wide. "You're not a trainee, are you?"

Sheng Chi nodded.

Gu Zhijing: "!!!"

He was screwed.

Then what on earth had he been talking to him about all this time?!

While Gu Zhijing was dazed, Sheng Chi stood up and politely greeted Fei Yue. "Brother Fei."

Fei Yue paused, then exclaimed in delight, "Sheng Chi?!"

He put down the documents and came over, patting Gu Zhijing on the shoulder. "Come on, let me introduce you. This is Sheng Chi, a bona fide trainee who just came back from South Korea."

He'd wanted to happily add that they'd soon be teammates, but since he wasn't absolutely certain, he held back. He turned to Sheng Chi. "This is one of our trainees, Gu Zhijing."

Gu Zhijing: "...!!!"

He was so embarrassed he felt like his toes could dig a three-bedroom apartment out of the floor.

Sheng Chi was a genuine trainee back from South Korea, yet he'd mistaken him for a college student applying for a summer job and even considered what position to give him.

Luckily, luckily, Sheng Chi probably hadn't realized they'd been talking at cross purposes the whole time.

Fei Yue prepared to send him away. "All right, hurry back to practice. The next month-end evaluation is almost here. If you come in last again, watch out or I'll punish you again."

Gu Zhijing hurried off.

But before leaving the office, he poked his head back in and knocked on the doorframe. "Um, Brother Chi?"

He blinked and said, "Even if there was a bit of a misunderstanding... what I said just now still counts, right?"

Sheng Chi had just put down his glass. He turned at the sound of Gu Zhijing's voice, but couldn't remember which thing he meant. "What?"

The corners of Gu Zhijing's peach blossom eyes immediately drooped, making him look a little aggrieved. "Come on, Brother Chi, I've already called you my big brother. Have you already forgotten you were supposed to look after your little brother?"

Sheng Chi: "..."

Hearing that, Fei Yue looked over. Gu Zhijing immediately behaved himself, shut the door, and slipped away.

Fei Yue listened to his footsteps pattering down the hall before laughing. "Don't take the kid seriously. He talks nonsense all day. You'd be lucky if one thing in ten he said was reliable."

Sheng Chi's eyes shifted slightly as he looked away from the door. He nodded as though he didn't care. "It's fine. Let's get down to business."

Fei Yue hadn't chosen to throw himself into creating a boy group in the entertainment industry at this time purely on impulse for the sake of his dream. He had practical reasons too.

This was an excellent opportunity to develop the domestic idol industry.

Because the domestic idol scene lacked a complete system, it had always been a barren wasteland within the entertainment industry.

But since the "first year of idols," investors had gradually recognized its potential. Idols were no longer an awkward category somewhere between actors and singers, but an emerging group vying for attention in the entertainment industry.

As it happened, talent shows, which had been hugely popular a few years ago, had entered a slump. Their formats had grown repetitive without innovation, and audiences were tired of them. Meanwhile, boy groups from South Korea and Japan had drastically changed their styles over the past two years and were decidedly ill-suited to the domestic market.

Yet the public's enthusiasm, stirred up during the first year of idols, hadn't diminished in the slightest.

In other words, there was currently a gap in the entertainment industry for idol groups, making it the perfect time to launch a homegrown boy group.

Fei Yue had his own thoughts and judgment and was determined to venture into that gap.

Unfortunately, the quality of domestic trainees varied wildly. To launch a genuine idol boy group, he needed not only to ensure that the whole group was capable, but also to have someone who could command the stage.

A little expectant, Fei Yue looked at the man before him, who was reading the contract with lowered lashes.

Sheng Chi was twenty-one and a former trainee at SPC, a famous South Korean company. He had trained for six years, only to be sent back to China by the company on the eve of his debut.

After returning, Sheng Chi had been introduced to a small company by a friend. After some basic packaging, he'd been rushed into a debut.

But only half a month later, the shell company had absconded with a sum of money, abandoning the empty company and its trainees without a care. His first dream of debuting had fallen apart.

So he was currently a free agent.

As for SPC, it had originally been a Sino-Korean joint venture. Later, a disagreement between the investors had led the Chinese side to abruptly withdraw its investment and return to China. In a rage, SPC had dismissed all its Chinese trainees at the time.

Capital was always ruthless.

But it was the trainees below who suffered.

After returning to China, that batch of Chinese trainees had gone their separate ways. Some gave up on their dreams and went home to become dance teachers. Others, after running into obstacles everywhere, gradually lost their former passion for the stage and signed with whatever company they could find, making a living from a few commercial performances and appearances.

Others, like Sheng Chi, were clearly very capable, but after repeated setbacks, they no longer dared to trust people easily and remained free agents, drifting from place to place.

Fei Yue knew his company was only just starting out and couldn't offer very good terms.

And with three good trainee companies already established in China, he felt even less confident.

Sheng Chi understood that too, of course.

Generally speaking, it was better to sign with a bigger company.

Although the contracts were stricter, the resources and opportunities were beyond what smaller companies could offer.

Unfortunately, none of those three quite suited him.

Setting aside the one that only recruited people under twenty, of the other two, one had an extremely high contract termination penalty and a poor reputation in the industry. The remaining one followed a one-stop route of sending trainees to talent shows and then turning them into actors, which didn't match the direction he wanted to take.

He wanted the stage.

But there really were only a few domestic entertainment companies determined to do right by the stage and create boy groups.

That was why, when Fei Yue contacted him and promised to take the boy group seriously, he was immediately tempted.

Even so, Sheng Chi still found it a little hard to trust a small company.

Having been burned once before, he couldn't help feeling that a company just starting out like this was at risk of going bankrupt and running off with the money at any moment.

Fei Yue took a sip of water, paused, and racked his brains for all sorts of benefits to offer him.

"Once you join, you can absolutely compete for the positions of captain and center."

"I trust your abilities. Passing the evaluation won't be a problem at all. And you can help train this batch of trainees too. It's not out of the question to form a group in a style you like..."

Sheng Chi held the glass between two fingers, lost in thought.

He did have other companies to choose from.

This small company before him hadn't even finished hiring its staff, and its premises weren't very big. Even at the starting line, it didn't look like its development would go very smoothly.

Yet there was one thing that had surprised him.

When Fei Yue had just come in and greeted the trainee named Gu Zhijing.

The two of them hadn't seemed like a superior and subordinate, but more like ordinary brothers or friends.

He was twenty-one this year and had been drifting through the industry for nearly ten years. It had been a long time since he'd experienced anything like that.

Could an investor really treat trainees as friends, rather than tools for making money?

Someone who had experienced failure ought to be more cautious.

But Sheng Chi still wanted to take another gamble.

Fei Yue was still talking on and on when Sheng Chi raised a hand to stop him. "There's no need. I've already decided."

"I'll stay."

In the practice room.

The vocal teacher had taken time off, so the class had been changed to self-directed practice.

The trainee Xu Linyuan had gone outside to get a glass of water and a clean towel. When he returned, he saw Gu Zhijing curled up alone in a corner, staring into space.

He was about the same age as Gu Zhijing, and they usually got along well. He was also the one who had reminded Gu Zhijing about putting up the job posting and helped him out of an awkward situation earlier. Knowing Gu Zhijing's usual temperament, he found it strange to see him like this. "What's wrong?"

He teased, "Don't tell me you're worried about this month's evaluation?"

"How could I be?!"

Gu Zhijing scoffed, propping up his chin and narrowing his peach blossom eyes. "I'm thinking about the new trainee."

Mm, Sheng Chi doesn't look easy to get along with, but he really is good-looking.

And he's back from South Korea, so he must be really talented. He might even be better than Jiang Yu.

Wait, didn't he just say he was going to compete for captain? If I remember right, Qi Wang has his eye on that position too-

Sharp as ever, Xu Linyuan quickly picked up on the important point. "...What trainee?"

Gu Zhijing was just about to answer when a group of people crowded around them.

"What? What new trainee?!"

"Gu Zhijing, you saw that parachute hire?!"

"Didn't you go out to put up job postings just now? What else did you hear?"

Gu Zhijing: "..."

He hesitated for a moment and was just about to dodge the questions when someone else returned from outside the practice room and shouted as soon as he came in, "Breaking news! Brother Fei is signing a contract with a newcomer!"

"No way, the parachute hire really came?!"

"What's his background?! Does he count as first generation or second generation?"

Someone gave Gu Zhijing a push. "Say something, Gu Zhijing. That's the one you were just talking about, right?"

With everyone watching, Gu Zhijing could only answer vaguely. "...Anyway, I think he's probably pretty good."

Qi Wang had been leaning against the practice room railing. At that, he gave a soft scoff. "If he's really capable, why would he come here? If you ask me-"

He narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of flippant mockery in them. "Who knows what he relied on to get in."

He deliberately stressed a few of the words, as though hinting at something.

The two trainees beside him joined in with suggestive laughter.

Gu Zhijing frowned at that, a little indignant.

He thought for a moment and was just about to say something when the practice room door was abruptly pushed open.

Fei Yue came in with Sheng Chi.

Because the weather was hot and the sun was blazing, the curtains in the practice room had all been drawn, leaving it rather dim.

But when Sheng Chi entered, sunlight from the hallway swept in with him, and the whole room seemed to brighten for an instant.

Gu Zhijing looked up at Sheng Chi, and for an instant, his heart seemed to give a sudden leap along with the light.

His expression was cold, but his presence was imposing, and everyone in the room fell silent at once.

The things they had just been saying behind his back seemed to linger in the air. They didn't know whether any of it had reached the ears of the man they'd been discussing.

Fei Yue acted as though he hadn't heard a thing. His expression unchanged, he briefly announced that Sheng Chi would be joining the company and training with them from today on. After a few more instructions, he left.

The door shut with a thud, and the atmosphere in the room instantly became as still as stagnant water.

After a long while, Xu Linyuan, the resident peacemaker, was about to speak up and ease the tension, but Qi Wang, leaning against the wall, spoke first.

He raised an eyebrow, a clear hint of provocation in his voice. "New guy, aren't you going to introduce yourself first?"

Sheng Chi glanced at him calmly. "Sheng Chi."

"I believe some of you may have doubts about my joining on short notice."

He paused. His tone was unruffled, but several people in the room who had ulterior motives suddenly looked uncomfortable. "You think I relied on connections or used some unconventional means to get in."

"That's fine."

He raised his eyes, and the sharp edge that had mostly been concealed by his cool demeanor finally revealed itself.

"There's plenty of time anyway.

"I'll prove just what it was that got me here."

Chapter 3

After Sheng Chi finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room froze solid.

After a moment, Qi Wang suddenly raised his hands, clapped twice, and smiled. "Welcome, welcome.