Sounding the Peak: The Music Variety Show Finals, Part Eight

The next round would determine who advanced to the top eight, and Chen Ze did not draw a bye.

He sang the classic song "Drifting" from his previous life, but he changed the title to "Rootless Wild Grass." He thought it better suited the lyrics, and suited him better too.

Whether in his previous life or in this female-dominated world, Chen Ze was like a blade of rootless wild grass. With neither father nor mother, he went wherever the wind carried him.

"Rootless Wild Grass" won over everyone in the audience and all the judges and mentors, successfully advancing him to the top eight.

It also left Giant Loli looking stricken. She knew about Chen Ze's past, so she could feel his loneliness all the more keenly.

Giant Loli quietly made her way to the accommodations the production team had arranged for the contestants. After asking around, she knocked on Chen Ze's door.

"Knock, knock, knock~"

With a creak, the door opened. Chen Ze poked his head out, wondering who had come to visit.

Giant Loli pulled Chen Ze into her arms and cried, "Little Ze, I finally get to hold you! I missed you so much!"

"Ah~" Before Chen Ze could react, she had wrapped him in her arms and pressed his head into that soft mass!

"What brings you here?" Chen Ze asked, his words muffled and indistinct.

"I missed you so much, so I came!" Giant Loli lowered her head and took a deep breath of Chen Ze's scent.

"Let's talk inside. We're still out in the open!" Chen Ze said, patting Giant Loli on the back.

Giant Loli scooped Chen Ze up in her arms and carried him into the room, kicking the door shut behind her.

"Hey, hey, hey! Put me down, put me down!" Chen Ze cried.

Ignoring him, Giant Loli tossed Chen Ze onto the bed and immediately pinned him beneath her. "Little Ze, it's been so long since we kissed. Let me kiss you first!" Before Chen Ze could agree, she kissed him.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm~" Chen Ze could only make muffled sounds!

As they kissed, they gradually lost themselves in it.

No one knew how much time had passed. By then, Chen Ze's shirt had been torn to shreds, and his hands had slipped inside Giant Loli's clothes...

"Ring, ring, ring~" A phone rang, jolting the two of them out of their daze.

Chen Ze shoved Giant Loli away and sat up, his clothes disheveled. He picked up the phone on the table and answered it.

"Damn it!" Giant Loli slammed a fist into the bedsheet! She had almost succeeded!

The call was from Lin Dan, who wanted to discuss the next round of the competition with Chen Ze. She was still busy with the production team.

No sooner had they finished the call than Giant Loli pounced on him again.

"No, not yet. I still have to compete over the next few days!" Chen Ze refused.

"You mean we can after the competition?" Giant Loli asked delightedly.

The question made Chen Ze's face flush crimson. He answered evasively, "We'll talk about it then!"

"I don't care, I don't care. I'm going to have you when the time comes!" Giant Loli said shamelessly.

Chen Ze was thoroughly exasperated with her. "All right, all right. I'll give myself to you then, okay?" He didn't want to hold back anymore either. As a man, there was no need to be so reserved.

"Really?"

"Really!"

Overwhelmed by the enormous surprise, Giant Loli jumped up and down around the room. Then she pulled Chen Ze into her arms again. "Let me hold you a little longer."

The two stayed in the room, cuddling and flirting until evening, when Giant Loli finally said a reluctant goodbye.

Inside the brightly lit Tianmei Entertainment Company, Shangguan Mingyue was discussing business with the head of publicity.

The head of publicity, Piao Caiying, was a breathtakingly beautiful married woman in her thirties. She wore a red, hip-hugging dress, and her wavy brown hair fell over her shoulders. Light makeup adorned her oval face, her lips were a vivid red, and a pair of delicate hoop earrings swayed slightly. A gold chain hung around her fair neck, its heart-shaped pendant dangling deep into her cleavage, constantly drawing the eye.

"Our publicity department has more or less finished promoting Chen Ze for now. President, should we step up our efforts even further?" Piao Caiying asked.

Shangguan Mingyue glanced at the computer. In just a few days, Chen Ze's song "Hometown" had successfully squeezed into the top ten on the monthly chart and currently ranked eighth.

"Yes. There are only two days left this month. Next month, I want all his songs to dominate the charts! Keep ramping up the publicity, and set up an online fan support group for him too," Shangguan Mingyue said.

"All right, I'll take care of it right away!" With that, Piao Caiying swayed her slender waist and walked away, brimming with charm.

Huasheng Entertainment Company was one of the few entertainment companies that could stand shoulder to shoulder with Tianmei Entertainment Company, though it had been going downhill for the past two years.

At that moment, in an office in the Huasheng Entertainment Company headquarters, a somewhat effeminate-looking man nestled in the arms of a potbellied middle-aged woman. In a sickly sweet voice, he said, "General Manager Wang, where did this dark horse suddenly come from? I'd only just squeezed into the top ten a few days ago, and now I've fallen out."

This General Manager Wang was the general manager of Huasheng Entertainment Company, while the effeminate-looking man was Li Xiaojie, an artist under Huasheng Entertainment. Over the years, he had used the industry's unspoken rules to latch onto General Manager Wang as a shortcut, sparing himself quite a few detours.

"Don't worry, baby. I'll put more money into it right away and get you back into the top ten!" General Manager Wang said, pinching Li Xiaojie's cheek.

"You're so good to me, General Manager Wang!"

Wang Xiaojie's voice grew even sweeter, making General Manager Wang's beastly blood boil. She hurried to her feet and pressed Wang Xiaojie down onto the executive chair.

Just as General Manager Wang was about to lift her skirt and sit down, someone suddenly kicked the office door open, and a group of people rushed in!

"Wang Fugui, for the past two years, you've embezzled company funds, abused resources, and appointed your own cronies. You're fired!" a white-haired old woman said coldly.

General Manager Wang stumbled in fright and fell straight onto Wang Xiaojie, her obese body pressing down on him until his eyes rolled back.

General Manager Wang had no time to pay Wang Xiaojie any mind. She hurriedly pushed her obese body up with her hands and feet, then pounded over to the old woman and dropped to her knees. But she was too fat to kneel, so she could only plop down on her backside.

"Chairwoman, I know I was wrong. Please give me another chance!" Wang Fugui wept as she clutched the old woman's leg.

"I gave you chances, but what did you do with them? Huh? The company has been running a deficit for the past two years, and business has declined sharply. And what have you been doing? Keeping a man in your office? Or holding orgies in those villas of yours?" the old woman said angrily.

Wang Fugui's fat face turned deathly pale. Sobbing, she pleaded, "Auntie, I really know I was wrong. I'll change, I swear. I'm your niece, after all. Please, for my father's sake, spare me this once!" Wang Fugui played the family card, hoping her aunt would let her off for the sake of their kinship.

"Save whatever you have to say for prison." The old woman closed her eyes in pain. Her niece had gone far too far, leaving her no choice but to harden her heart and send her to prison.

The police who had rushed in took Wang Fugui away. The old woman looked at Wang Xiaojie, who was still sitting in the executive chair, and said, "You, get out too!"

As if granted a pardon, Wang Xiaojie hurriedly scurried out.

"Grandma, please calm down. Someone like her isn't worth getting angry over!" said a young woman who had been standing by silently.

"Ah! Little Jing is the sensible one!" The old woman looked kindly at her granddaughter. "Little Jing, you should take over as general manager. Your mother passed away young, and you've had a hard time all these years!"

"Grandma, how can I? I've only just graduated from university. I don't know anything yet!" Wang Jingjing said.

"Little Jing, you're naturally gifted and bright. You've shown extraordinary talent since childhood. Besides, Grandma is old and doesn't have many years left. If you don't take the position, who else can?"

"All right," Wang Jingjing said, looking reluctant.

"While Grandma can still get around, come ask me whenever there's something you don't understand."

"All right, Grandma!" Wang Jingjing said.

The old woman turned to the middle-aged woman waiting nearby. "Manager Wang, do your best to assist Little Jing from now on."

"Yes, Chairwoman!" Manager Wang said respectfully.

After the old woman left, Wang Jingjing seemed like a different person. She swept a cold glance over Manager Wang and said, "Throw out all the desks and chairs in here. Also, I don't want to see anything connected to that woman."

"Yes, Miss!" Manager Wang answered in a tone even more respectful than the one she had used with the chairwoman.

"Don't worry. As long as you work hard for me, I certainly won't treat you unfairly!" Wang Jingjing said.

As it turned out, Wang Jingjing had bought Manager Wang over long ago. For the past two years, the two of them had been gathering evidence of Wang Fugui's crimes. Only recently had they found an opportunity to let the chairwoman see it "by accident," leading to the scene just now.