Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 367 Meng Ziyi: All men are big liars!
There was still some time before the finals began. Meng Ziyi stood in front of the railing of the guest seats, watching with interest the endless cheers from fans, while Meng Bai chatted with Wang Haiping.

“No one expected that Xiao Yang would make it all the way to the end and become a hot favorite on the show,” Wang Haiping said with emotion.

"Normal." Meng Bai said: "Except for her lack of singing and dancing skills, this girl is quite likable in other aspects."

Wang Haiping laughed: "Ha, you're right, my daughter also said when she watched this show before that she thought Yang Chaoyue was quite interesting, and she even insisted on using my phone to vote for her."

Meng Bai raised his eyebrows: "Why, is it okay for you as a boss not to vote for your own artists?"

"Then there will be four people, we can't favor one over the other. But now it seems that only Xiao Yang can stay." Wang Haiping sighed, "Unfortunately, after the group is formed, we will have to take back her operating rights for another two years."

The goal set from the very beginning of "Produce 101" is to "debut as a group". The eleven contestants remaining at the end of the show will form a limited group for a period of two years.

During this period, Tencent owns the operation rights of the players, and Wajijiwa is the executor. Of course, the management contracts of the limited group members are still with their original companies, and the relationship between the parties is a cooperative relationship.

"This is actually not bad. We can develop as a girl group for two years, consolidate her popularity, and see what kind of development path she is suitable for." Meng Bai spread his hands. "Anyway, if I let her come back now, I really don't know what to arrange for her to do. She can't go to film a movie."

Wang Haiping thought about it and felt that this made sense. Although Yang Chaoyue was very popular now, most of it was still focused on her identity as a "girl group member". If she really left, I'm afraid it wouldn't take long for all this popularity to dissipate.

It would be better to let her stay in the group, so that she can at least have a status in the entertainment industry. Moreover, as the first girl group selected by Tencent with great efforts, there must be no shortage of resources, which is really more suitable than keeping it in their own hands.

What's more, except for Yang Chaoyue, although the other three failed to form a group, they also gained a wave of popularity in the show, so it is just right for them to arrange some small-scale film and television dramas to test the waters.

"No, Hani is still in the finals. Are you starting to think that she has been eliminated now?" Meng Bai said.

Wang Haiping said nonchalantly, “Well, she’s still there, but we all know that she won’t make it to the group with her 21st place ranking. But she made it to the final round anyway, her fans increased a lot, and her popularity is not low, so it’s not a complete loss.”

In fact, in the TCG group, when he first appeared, Hanikuzi was more popular than Yang Chaoyue. After all, that exotic face was still very eye-catching.

It's just that Yang Chaoyue's various performances were too brilliant, which led to her being overshadowed. But the fact that she can make it to the finals today is enough to show that she still has a lot of fans supporting her.

"This show is really popular. Unless it is eliminated in the first round, it will always attract a group of fans if it stands out a little bit." Wang Haiping said, "By the way, did Lao Yang tell you that Tencent contacted us some time ago and wanted to raise funds?"

"Round B?"

“No, Round A.” Wang Haiping said, “Taiyang Star’s Round A financing.”

Meng Bai was stunned for a moment: "Are you here for Xiao Yang?"

"Obviously, maybe Hani and the others will be included as well." Wang Haiping said, "Yang Ming plans to ask Tencent about the conditions first, and then bring it up at the board meeting. What do you think as a major shareholder?"

"It's good. Tencent has a good reputation in investment. It doesn't interfere with operations, but can provide resources. Taiyang Star has just been established, and there are many benefits to linking up with Tencent."

Meng Bai naturally would not object, as Arclight already had a partnership with Tencent. Moreover, he held a 40% stake in the newly established Taiyang Star, twice as much as Taiyang Chuanhe. With new financing coming in, his profits would be even greater.

"Okay, I'll tell Yang Ming later, and let's keep each other informed first." Wang Haiping said with emotion: "I never thought that I could benefit from Xiao Yang. Otherwise, under the current situation, few companies can get financing."

Over the past month, the retreat of the capital market has become increasingly obvious, with news of bankruptcies in various industries emerging one after another. As the cold winter approaches, everyone is trying to prepare for the winter.

"Hey, I was thinking of asking before, is there any problem with our tax accounts?" Meng Bai asked.

Wang Haiping frowned: "There is definitely no problem with the new members of your Arc Light department, but as for the ones above... well, you also know that they are all partners, we really don't know their situation very well."

"Then tell them and let them handle it." Meng Bai's face darkened and he said, "Don't let us be implicated if something happens to you."

The two were naturally talking about Huang Xiaoming, Yang Tianbao and Zhou Dongyu, the "big-name artists" of Taiyang Chuanhe.

Needless to say, Huang Xiaoming frequently collaborates with Huayi and has a good personal relationship with Zhao Yanzi, who has already had an accident. Yang Tianbao also follows his husband's lead.

Zhou Dongyu herself doesn’t have much capital, but she has close ties with the Hong Kong circle, which is also a sensitive area.

"Okay, I'll go back and remind them..."

The two were interrupted in the middle of their conversation by the sound of music, and a thunderous cheer came from the audience seats in front of the stage.

As the fans cheered, the lights on the stage suddenly dimmed, leaving only a small pink light strip faintly visible on the ground.

From where Meng Bai and the others were standing, they could clearly see rows of people pouring out of the aisles on both sides of the stage, lining up to walk onto the stage, and then standing in position.

The next second, the song "Pick me pick me up" that had been playing for half the summer rang out, and the lights suddenly brightened. All the contestants who had participated in the show, whether they had been eliminated or not, stood on the stage and danced to the theme song for the last time.

It’s really a pleasant experience to watch more than a hundred beautiful girls dancing together on the stage.

However, Meng Bai also discovered the flaw in their position. Although they were very close to the stage and could even hear the contestants' own voices directly, the angle was too biased and those in the closer area could only see their backs.

"...

Pick me pick me up
Pick me pick me up
The more you like me, the cuter I am.

......"

Meng Ziyi was also very excited. He sat aside, swaying his body and muttering the lyrics.

Meng Bai frowned and listened for a while, and couldn't help but ask: "Do you have to sing it?"

"What's wrong?" Meng Ziyi, who was stopped, looked innocent, "I think I sang very well, just like on stage."

The only person on the stage is Yang Chaoyue, who is the same as you!

Meng Bai glanced at her, then looked at Yang Chaoyue in the center of the stage, who had obviously not kept up with the rhythm for several of her movements. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart - it's no wonder that they have a good relationship, a perfect match.

When it comes to acting, Meng Ziyi is indeed gifted. In his senior year of high school, he suddenly had an idea and took the art exam as a cultural student. As a result, he passed three of the four film and television colleges.

But when it comes to singing...

The only school she failed was the PLA Art Academy, because during the second round of assessment, her singing was considered too bad.

Although Meng Bai doesn't know how to sing, it doesn't affect his agreement with the military art examiner's point of view.

"Change to one with less artistic content, and forgive yourself and others."

"Tsk, you talk as if you're a good singer." Meng Ziyi pursed his lips and muttered to himself.

Although she had never seen Meng Bai sing, she had heard from Li Yitong that her uncle's singing style was mostly steady and balanced, without any ups and downs.

So from the perspective of singing alone, the two people's levels are about the same.

Just as the program team had previously announced, the hosts of the finals were replaced by Huang Bo and Hou Peicen.

To be honest, when Meng Bai saw these two people for the first time, he thought he was at a film awards ceremony like the Golden Horse Awards.

Huang Bo certainly did not come here for nothing. Like Jiang Wen, his main purpose was to take advantage of the popularity to promote his upcoming movie "A Good Show".

Meng Bai recalled that he had heard a few days ago that Shen Teng’s new movie “The Richest Man in Xihong City”, which will be released early next month, also plans to find the debut group of “Creation 101” to sing the promotional song.

It can be said that throughout the summer season, except for the first released "Dying to Survive", most of the other popular movies are basically gathered here.

Meng Bai sat in the audience and touched his chin.

If I had known that Yang Chaoyue is so popular now, I should have let her make a cameo appearance when filming "Psychological Crime: City of Lights".

After the group dance on the stage, the 22 finalists gave solo performances.

As a popular contestant, Yang Chaoyue was the last to go on stage. She wore a blue and white checkered skirt and performed a simple little house dance, but she couldn't keep up with the rhythm.

It’s cute, but the food is really bad.

"Come on, Asagi—"

Meng Ziyi lay on the fence, clasped his hands together and shouted towards the stage, cheering and encouraging his good friend.

Unfortunately, there were too many fans cheering at the scene, and Yang Chaoyue was trying hard to think about the next dance moves, so she couldn't hear it.

Even so, Meng Ziyi kept shouting until she finished and left the stage before sitting back to rest.

Meng Bai glanced at Meng Ziyi, whose face was flushed with excitement and sweat on her forehead. Although he always teased her, this girl was really nice to her friends.

"Wipe it off." Meng Bai asked the staff for a pack of tissues and handed it to her. "Thank you, uncle!" Meng Ziyi was still immersed in excitement and said excitedly: "I think Chaoyue actually danced pretty well, right?"

"Your friendship filter is too strong."

"Hey - who do you think dances best?"

Meng Bai looked towards the stage, and just then a girl wearing a pink tube top and white leggings walked up.

I don't know if it was because of her big movements or some other reason, but the microphone on her waist fell down. But she didn't panic, she grabbed the microphone cable with her backhand and threw it upwards, and then caught it in mid-air with one hand. The whole movement was smooth and flowing, and it was obvious that she had rich stage experience.

"This girl is pretty good." Meng Bai said, "I remember her name should be Wu Xuanyi, and she ranks ahead of Xiao Yang."

He has watched a few episodes of the show and still has an impression of the top three popular contestants.

Hearing this, Meng Ziyi glanced at Wu Xuanyi, who had a thin waist and long legs and a sweet smile on the stage, and snorted: “I knew that you, little uncle, must like this kind of man!”

"You're being sarcastic...Aren't you two the same type?"

"Nonsense!" Meng Ziyi said seriously, "Don't I look better?"

"…I should have asked you to sign up in the first place, so that you could give these people a good-looking shock!"

"Thank goodness you have good taste, little uncle."

"I'm not praising you."

"It's okay. I'll take it as a compliment from my uncle."

……

The pace of the finals was lengthy, with the contestants' performances lasting nearly three hours.

But what is meant to end must end, and with the two hosts returning to the stage, the show's final voting channel closed.

Next, it’s time for the final ranking.

Meng Bai finally saw Jiang Wen, who was present as a special guest, as well as the two leading actors of "Evil Does Not Suppress Justice", Liao Fan and Eddie Peng.

Three people stood in a row, plus Huang Bo beside them...

Well, now it's more like a movie awards ceremony.

It can be seen that Jiang Wen and the other two really didn't watch the show much, and they were just here to take advantage of the popularity and publicity. Therefore, they didn't do anything fancy, and announced the final list of members in a standard manner.

"Fourth place, Duan Aojuan, total votes..."

"Fifth place, Yamy, total votes..."

"..."

"Eleventh place, Xu Mengjie!"

Every time a name was read out on the stage, the fans below would burst into shouts of excitement, loss, or regret, and the voices became louder as time went on.

Until the last member's name was read out, the atmosphere on the scene reached its climax.

At this point, the contestants whose names were not called out and their fans finally gave up their last hope. Although the top three have not been announced yet, there is no doubt that everyone knows who those three people are.

"Third place, Yang Chaoyue, total votes..."

"Second place, Wu Xuanyi..."

"First place, Meng Meiqi..."

As expected, the show's three favorites remained in the final top three.

In the audience seats below the stage, all kinds of noisy sounds drowned out the entire scene.

The top two positions of Meng Meiqi and Wu Xuanyi were predictable. After all, they are from Lehua Entertainment and previously debuted in South Korea as part of the group "WJSN". They brought their fans into the group, so it was no surprise that they took the first and second places.

But Yang Chaoyue, who ranked third, really surprised everyone.

Born in the lower class, not very talented, good at singing and dancing, good-looking, extremely lucky, and a comedic effect...

It can be said that with the confirmation of her debut as a member of a group, this girl's future development path is destined to be full of controversy.

But at this time, Yang Chaoyue could not think that far. She sat on the steps of the stage, with tears in her eyes, staring blankly at Chen Yihan who was happily congratulating her.

"Congratulations, Chaoyue, you finally made your debut!"

"But why couldn't you be with me?" Yang Chaoyue said crying.

"It's okay, it's just that the show is over. It's not like we can't meet again in the future." Chen Yihan looked at her with a smile: "Come, give me a hug."

Looking at the two girls hugging each other on the stage, Meng Ziyi, who was sitting in the guest seats, frowned in dissatisfaction.

"Humph, this woman is really a playboy!"

Meng Bai on the side glanced at her and said, "You are not her boyfriend, why are you jealous?"

"Friends are much more important than boyfriends." Meng Ziyi said, "If your friend has a better relationship with someone else, wouldn't you feel bad?"

Meng Bai sighed: "I don't have any friends..."

When Meng Ziyi heard this, her heart tightened and she pursed her lips and looked at him.

Yes, my uncle’s career is getting bigger and bigger, and his status is getting higher and higher. The friends he used to have a good relationship with should have become distant now. I’m afraid he really doesn’t have many friends left.

Looking at Meng Bai's emotional expression, Meng Ziyi suddenly felt a little distressed.

Just as I was about to comfort him, I heard Meng Bai continue leisurely: "...I have no friends, only a bunch of rebellious children, alas!"

Meng Ziyi: (へ╬)
It turns out that what they say on the Internet is right, men are all big liars!
Even more so for those who are handsome!

With no place to vent his anger, Meng Ziyi walked to the fence and shouted at the stage with all his might: "Yang Chaoyue!"

Not sure if it was because the sound was too loud or because it was too close, but Yang Chaoyue, who was still feeling sad, suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from the side of the stage.

Looking in that direction, Meng Ziyi's face came into view not far away.

Why is Sister Meng here?

As soon as this thought came to mind, Yang Chaoyue looked around subconsciously, and then a look of joy appeared on her face.

Sure enough, I knew the boss must be there!
……

One hour later, backstage.

Yang Chaoyue, who had just changed her clothes, walked out of the lounge in a hurry.

"What's wrong, Chaoyue?"

Meng Meiqi, who debuted as the center and temporarily served as the captain, asked a question.

Yang Chaoyue, who was caught, paused and said, "It's okay, I'm going out to meet someone."

"There will be a team interview soon, don't be late."

"Don't worry, I'm right at the door."

Yang Chaoyue shouted, then quickly walked out of the lounge.

Sure enough, as soon as I went out, I saw Meng Bai standing not far away and chatting with someone, and next to him was Meng Ziyi who saw me and secretly greeted him.

(End of this chapter)