How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 399: Get past me first

Liu Haiyang arrived at the training department and went straight to practice room number 9, which was frequently used by the future girls.

When he pushed open the door and entered the room with a gloomy face, he did not see Chen Silu and the other four group members, except for some trainees who were offering incense to the God of Literature.

"Have you seen any members of Future Girls?" Liu Haiyang asked the trainees, his face drooping as if someone owed him money.

"No." Everyone shook their heads.

Liu Haiyang raised an eyebrow, glanced at his watch, and saw it was already 8:40. Even if he didn't want to participate in the event, it was time to come to the company for dance rehearsal.

He walked out of the practice room with a gloomy face and went straight to the office of the training department director to inquire about the future girl group.

Faced with the unfriendly expression of the deputy general manager, Xu Qingyu replied with a blank look that she didn't know.

Zhao Tong and others have already debuted and officially become artists. They are no longer trainees in the training department. If you want to find the future girl, you should ask her manager. How would she know where she is?

“Where else could they be besides coming to the training department? Ask your staff if anyone has seen the five of them,” Liu Haiyang said.

"Mr. Liu, what's wrong?" Xu Qingyu asked curiously, thinking: Did the future girl group make Vice President Liu angry again?
But then I thought, Zhang Wen is now in charge of all the affairs of the future girl group. Even if something goes wrong, it should be Zhang Wen who is angry. Why should Vice President Liu be angry?

"I arranged an activity for them, and we agreed to meet outside the company at 8 o'clock today. It's almost 9 o'clock now, and my assistant still hasn't seen them," Liu Haiyang said through gritted teeth.

"You arranged activities for them?" Xu Qingyu was taken aback, wondering if she had misheard.

She was there when Zhang Wen represented Zhao Tong and others to re-sign the contract with the company. She clearly remembered that Vice President Liu said that the company would not spend a penny on the group or provide any commercial resources. How could they go back on their word after only a month?

Does this mean the company sees the commercial value of the girl and is therefore preparing to heavily promote her?
But doesn't the contract state that each member of the group only needs to pay two million per year?
Giving more resources is still a waste.

"This is Mr. Li's idea, to arrange some activities for the group to generate revenue for the company," Liu Haiyang said.

"..."

Those who can rise to the position of department director are all shrewd and astute, and Xu Qingyu immediately understood what President Li meant.

This is because they saw that Future Girl became popular and felt that ten million was not enough, so they wanted to bleed more money off Future Girl.

"Director Xu, please help me find them quickly. The organizers are waiting for them to perform," Liu Haiyang urged.

Although Xu Qingyu felt that her boss was wrong, she didn't dare to disobey him. So she went to the outer office area, clapped her hands, and waited until all the employees looked over before asking, "Did any of you see any members of Future Girls in the company today?"

Standing to the side, Liu Haiyang's sharp eyes scanned everyone present, hoping someone would step forward and answer, "I saw it."

They looked at each other, and everyone shook their heads.

"No."

"Didn't you rehearse in the practice room?"

"did not see it."

I didn't see them yesterday.

"Now that you mention it, I don't think I've seen Zhao Tong and Chen Silu these past two days either."

Upon hearing the employees' discussion, Liu Haiyang frowned and looked at one of them, asking, "Didn't those five come to the training department yesterday?"

"I don't know, I didn't see it," the employee honestly replied.

Liu Haiyang looked at the employees in the office area and asked loudly, "Did any of you see any members of Future Girls yesterday?"

"..."

The scene was silent; no one answered.

Seeing the eerily quiet office area, Liu Haiyang's expression grew increasingly grim.

He approached Future Girls the day before yesterday to arrange for the group to participate in an event, but the five members didn't come to the company the next day, and they didn't come today either. He himself doesn't believe it has nothing to do with the event.

This is clearly a protest through concrete actions.

“President Liu, we don’t know where Future Girls is. Why don’t you ask Zhang Wen? He’s the group’s manager, he’ll definitely know,” Xu Qingyu suggested.

Liu Haiyang's lips twitched. Did he not know to call the group's leader? But he didn't want to make that call.

However, with the event date fast approaching, if things continue to drag on like this, the organizers will definitely be furious and demand an explanation.

Thinking of this, he reluctantly took out his phone and dialed Zhang Wen's number as he walked out, secretly praying that the other party would consider the company's interests and prioritize the overall situation.

The ringtone sounded through the microphone, the music played for a long time, and finally the operator gave a mechanical reply.

"The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."

The familiar voice and smell gave Liu Haiyang a whiff of conspiracy.

Could it be that Zhang Wen and the group conspired to not answer his calls?

Liu Haiyang was unwilling to give up and dialed again.

The same music played, and just when he thought no one would answer again, he heard a "click" sound from the microphone.

I accepted it.

"Sorry, Mr. Liu, I was discussing the script with Director Han and didn't notice my phone. Is there something you need?"

Hearing the other party's polite voice, Liu Haiyang felt a little better. He had initially thought that the disappearance of Chen Silu and the others was a deliberate arrangement by the other party, but now he felt that it was possible that Chen Silu and the others had acted on their own initiative.

If the other party knew, they certainly wouldn't have acted this way.

"Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Zhang. I hope I didn't disturb you and Director Han's work?" Liu Haiyang asked.

“No, we just finished talking,” Zhang Wen said.

"Oh, is that so? Do you know where the five members of Future Girls are?" Liu Haiyang asked.

"I know, what's wrong?" Zhang Wen deliberately left the question unfinished, just to make the other person anxious.

Upon hearing this, Liu Haiyang immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good that no one is missing.

"Where are they? Can you have them come to the company?" Liu Haiyang asked immediately.

"Mr. Liu, do you need to see them?" Zhang Wen pretended not to know anything.

Uh……

Liu Haiyang hesitated.

The reason he didn't reveal the reason for looking for Future Girls immediately was that he didn't want them to know that the company was arranging work for the group, which was also the boss's idea. But now that they've asked him like this, he can't keep quiet.

Knowing that the organizers were still waiting, Liu Haiyang could only tell the truth. "Teacher Zhang, it's like this, in order for the group to develop better, I arranged an event for them. There are many of their fans at the event. I made an appointment with Chen Silu and the others the day before yesterday, but who knew that they suddenly changed their minds today and disappeared. I haven't seen them yet. Isn't this putting me in a very difficult position?"

"Is that so?" Zhang Wen asked in surprise, as if he were hearing it for the first time.

“Yes, the organizers are getting impatient. If the five of them don’t go, with so many fans at the event, it will definitely have a big impact on the group’s image. You should get them to come to the company as soon as possible,” Liu Haiyang said.

As the company's vice president, he was extremely unhappy that he couldn't command even a few artists.

"Mr. Liu, you should probably send someone else. It seems Zhao Tong and the others won't be able to make it today," Zhang Wen said.

"Why?" Liu Haiyang unconsciously raised his voice.

He has already made his point very clear, but the other party still disagrees. Isn't that disrespecting him?
"Mr. Liu, it's like this, I arranged for them to attend an event this morning, so they probably won't have time for the next couple of days," Zhang Wen explained.

Liu Haiyang's expression froze, and his eyes narrowed into slits. He strongly suspected that the other party knew that the company had arranged work for Chen Silu and the others, so they deliberately made up this excuse to evade the issue. Otherwise, given the courage of those five artists, even if they were given a few more lives, they probably wouldn't dare to disobey the company's arrangements.

"Teacher Zhang, what activity did they go to participate in? Can't they spare a little time?" Liu Haiyang asked.

“Mr. Liu, I can’t make it. They received an invitation from China TV to participate in this year’s New Year’s Eve Gala. They’re meeting up today. How can I find the time for this? I can’t just leave halfway through a conversation, can I?” Zhang Wen had already prepared an excuse.

"What? An invitation from China TV's New Year's Eve Gala?" Liu Haiyang exclaimed in surprise, asking incredulously, "Teacher Zhang, you're not kidding me, are you?"

It's unheard of for a new group to receive an invitation from China Television.

"Mr. Liu, look at what you're saying. How could I joke about something this big? If you don't believe me, go ask Director Fang of China TV's main channel. We were in contact just a few days ago."

"..."

Liu Haiyang unconsciously swallowed. The other party spoke with such certainty, even bringing up the leaders of China TV. How could he dare to doubt them?
Seeing that Vice President Liu remained silent, Zhang Wen's eyes flashed with a hint of mockery, and he decided to continue to annoy the other party.

“President Liu, I really didn’t know you had arranged work for Zhao Tong and the others. Otherwise, when I made an appointment with Director Fang, I would have definitely changed the date. In the future, if the company wants to arrange work for future young women, you can come directly to me and I will see if they are available.”

The implication is: If you want to leech off the girl from the future, you'll have to get past me first.

Liu Haiyang thought to himself: If I told you, wouldn't all the labor fees end up in your pocket?
He realized that the other party was trying to keep a close watch on the company and prevent it from profiting from the Future Girls group.

Moreover, the other party definitely knew that the company had arranged work for the group. They were putting on an acting show for him. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the trip to Huaxia TV was scheduled for this day?
This little fox!
Liu Haiyang silently complained to himself.

It seems the boss's plan to make money off the future girl is going to fall through.

"I understand. Tell Chen Silu and the others to do their best on China TV. This is a rare opportunity, so they must seize it," Liu Haiyang instructed, having completely lost his temper by now.

No matter how important his business is, could it be more important than attending the China TV New Year's Eve Gala?
"Thank you, Mr. Liu. I will definitely pass on your words," Zhang Wen said earnestly.

Liu Haiyang gave a wry smile, thinking to himself: Keep pretending, then.

After hanging up the phone, he immediately called the person in charge of the event organizer, apologizing profusely like a grandson, almost to the point of calling him grandfather.

He pleaded and persuaded them, and finally promised to send another singer to save the day, someone whose fame was definitely greater than that of the Future Girls group, which finally calmed the organizers' anger.

"What kind of mess is this?!"

Liu Haiyang sighed, shook his head helplessly, and then walked towards the general manager's office.

Such a big thing has happened, he needs to report it to the general manager, and in the future, he shouldn't be asked to do this kind of thing again.

He's offended both the event organizers and the artists; he's now caught in the middle, like Pigsy looking in the mirror.

Even though he was just an employee, he still had his pride.

"Dang Dang Dang!"

Liu Haiyang gently knocked on the door.

"Come in."

A woman's voice came from the office.

Upon hearing this, Liu Haiyang took a deep breath and then reached out to push open the door.

The boss was sitting behind his desk, holding a document in his hand.

"Mr. Li, are you busy?" Liu Haiyang stopped in front of the desk.

"Oh, it's Lao Liu. What's up?" Li Lehua asked with a smile.

"Mr. Li, didn't you ask me to arrange jobs for the Future Girls? I've already arranged the jobs, and they were supposed to come today, but... but they didn't come. I called Teacher Zhang, and he said he'd arranged for the group to go to China TV at the last minute, and that if I wanted to arrange jobs for the group in the future, I could contact him directly..."

Liu Haiyang's voice grew softer and softer until even he himself could not hear it.

Li Lehua's expression changed, and her smile visibly disappeared.

"Did the Future Girls group really go to China TV?" Li Lehua asked in a deep voice, his tone filled with doubt.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound fake. If it wasn't on China TV's New Year's Eve Gala, wouldn't the lie fall apart on its own?" Liu Haiyang said after thinking for a moment.

“He can simply say that the show was cut,” Li Lehua said.

Liu Haiyang was stunned. How come he hadn't thought of that?

Even if I had thought of it, I would have to wait until the New Year's Eve gala to confirm it, so there's nothing I can do to Teacher Zhang right now.

"Mr. Li, what do you mean...?" Liu Haiyang asked tentatively.

“Continue to assign work to the group, but not like this time. Next time, we need to be more unexpected. After assigning work to the group, have the assistant keep an eye on them. Also, don’t notify them in advance. It’s best to tell them a day in advance or on the same day. Understand?” Li Lehua shared her experience in dealing with artists.

"I know, I know," Liu Haiyang said, feeling in his heart that the boss had become so heartless in order to leech off the future girl.

They won't stop until they get blood.

"Is there anything else?" Li Lehua asked.

"That's all, Mr. Li. Then I won't disturb your work any longer." Liu Haiyang understood his boss's meaning and left the office on his own initiative.

The moment the door closed, Li Lehua's face darkened.

You can't even do something this simple right, you're just useless.

She looked at the door, a cold smile appearing on her face.

You can run away from the monk but not the temple; you can dodge the first day of the month but not the fifteenth.

A three-year contract, there's plenty of time ahead.

She didn't believe that any guy surnamed Zhang could protect those five people forever.

……

(End of this chapter)