Chinese Entertainment King: Starting as a Fat Boy and Becoming a Singing King

Cat's Tree Studio.

After director Yuan Shuang reported on the work, Xu Kai, the behind-the-scenes boss of Cat's Tree, asked in confusion, "Director Yuan, why are you in such a hurry to appoint a new actress as your go-to actress? This... is not in line with your work style. This newcomer doesn't seem to have any representative works."

Director Yuan Shuang of "Cat's Tree" explained with a smile: "First, Bai Lu is indeed very spiritual, which is rare. But that's not the point."

"Oh, what's the key point?" Boss Xu Kai asked curiously.

"The key point is that Xu Yao will definitely become popular and will become the most sought-after male singer in the Chinese entertainment industry in the future." Yuan Shuang said with a firm expression.

"What does that have to do with Bai Lu? Xu Yao specifically chose Bai Lu? You mean, they're a couple?" Boss Xu Kai's gossipy speculation began.

Yuan Shuang continued, "I don't know their relationship. What I can say for sure is that Xu Yao values ​​Bai Lu very much. If we can secure Bai Lu, then we will be the first choice for collaborating on every music video for Xu Yao's future songs."

"I spoke privately with this young man, Xu Yao, and he hinted very clearly that he hoped I could promote Bai Lu."

"Mr. Xu, I predict that Xu Yao's future achievements will surpass those of Hua Chenyu, the rising star singer currently being heavily promoted in Hunan. Cat's Tree will take off in the industry because of Xu Yao. So, Mr. Xu, you absolutely must not have any designs on Bai Lu. Don't lose sight of the bigger picture."

Yuan Shuang was naturally aware of the boss's style and approach, and made a point of reminding him immediately to dispel some of his ideas.

The days of The Voice of China contestants' tours are like a treadmill that never stops.

The tracks kept turning, and the trainees kept running.

Xu Yao has lost count of how many cities he has visited.

Zhengzhou, Jinan, Qingdao, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Tangshan... each city is looking more and more alike.

The same hotel, gray building with blue sign.

In the same shopping mall atrium, a temporary stage was set up, with a banner behind it that read "China's Best Voice National Tour".

In the same audience, some people stopped to watch, some took photos with their phones, and some pushed shopping carts past the stage without even stopping.

Occasionally, you'll encounter real audience members.

They held up light boards, shouted your name, and sang the chorus with you from below the stage.

At those times, the trainees' eyes would light up, they would instantly be fully recharged, and sing with great passion.

There was a contestant named Liu Jun who was the first to appear. Xu Yao had a vague impression of him. He was from Wang Feng's team. He sang a rock song during the blind auditions and made it into the top 16, but was later eliminated during the group assessment.

He posted a photo.

The photo shows the atrium of a shopping mall, but there are no sound systems, lighting rigs, or even banners on the stage.

The so-called stage is just a square area on the ground marked out with tape.

Liu Jun commented below the photo: "Sister Lin, what does this mean? There's not even a stage? Am I supposed to sing standing in a duct tape box???"

The group was silent for about thirty seconds.

Then messages started popping up one after another.

"Wow, bro, where are you? Are you performing in a basement? At least I had a stage in Linyi last week." The message was from Qi Qin's team, who sang a folk song during the blind auditions.

"The station in Linyi? The one where the sound system exploded?"

"Don't even mention it, the sound system blew up halfway through the song, and the organizers made us sing it a cappella."

A contestant named Zhao Ke posted a long message: "What happened to me today was even more outrageous. They made me sing on a stage at a food festival, while everyone in the audience was eating skewers. When I got to the chorus, the smoke from the lamb skewers next to me blew over and almost made me unable to continue singing."

Someone replied with a string of "hahaha," and someone else said, "Then why didn't you grab a couple of skewers while you were at it, and then, like Xu Yao, pick up a bottle of beer and say, 'All I have is music and beer.'"

Zhao Ke posted another message: "@Sister Lin, Sister Lin, can I make a suggestion? I can tolerate where I sing and what stage I perform on. But if you arrange another drinking party for me next time, I will quit. You can freeze me out if you want, I don't care."

The group chat suddenly fell silent; no one responded.

About two minutes later, Li Jiage posted a photo.

The photo shows a round table covered with beer bottles and liquor glasses. In the background, you can see the backs of several middle-aged men, with one of them holding a glass of liquor towards the camera.

The corners of the photo were partially obscured by her hand, making it appear as if it was taken secretly.

Li Jiage posted a message under the photo: "@Sister Lin, I also want to say something. I'm here to sing, not to drink with customers."

The group chat went completely silent; no one posted "hahaha" anymore.

Chen Yongxin quickly followed up with a message: "@Sister Lin, me too. Last week at the event, the organizers were blocking the entrance to the dressing room, trying to add me on WeChat. I hid inside the dressing room and didn't dare to come out."

"@Sister Lin, the organizers asked me to sing 'Little Apple' for today's show." The message was sent by Yu Feng.

Finally, someone in the group chat chimed in: "Aren't you an R&B singer?"

"The organizers said that 'Little Apple' is a huge hit right now. I said I can't sing it, and they said they would just play the original version and I could lip-sync."

"Holy crap, they're even lip-syncing. What do they take us for, clowns?"

"I'm used to it. Last week I was scheduled to sing 'Good Days' at an opening ceremony."

"Hahahaha, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed."

The messages keep popping up faster and faster.

Someone was arranged to sing at a promotional event in a building materials market, while the audience was scrambling to buy toilet seats.

The tone of the group chat shifted from anger to self-deprecation, and then from self-deprecation to a strange competition of who could have the worst time.

Everyone is sharing the most outrageous performance they've ever experienced.

Xu Yao scrolled down the list one by one without sending a message.

He was the champion, and the company also provided him with resources to release singles and music videos. The worst commercial performances he received were at shopping mall level.

Zhou Shen didn't say anything. He was the runner-up, and the performances he received were relatively good. He was only criticized for being neither male nor female once or twice.

When Sister Lin and the production team saw the situation escalating, they disbanded the tour work group.

The tour is still ongoing.

There's another match tomorrow, and another one the day after tomorrow.

There was widespread discontent, and the time was ripe.

Xu Yao picked up his phone, scrolled through his contacts, found Sister Lin's number, and dialed it.

"Xu Yao?" Sister Lin's voice carried a hint of surprise, probably because he rarely made phone calls on his own initiative.

"Sister Lin," Xu Yao feigned weakness, "my body can't take it anymore."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"These past few shows, my vision has been going black when I come off stage after a performance. Today I almost fell down the steps." Xu Yao paused for a moment. "Sister Lin, could we postpone the upcoming shows? It's not that I'm canceling them, it's just that I need a couple of days to recover."

Sister Lin remained silent for a while.

Xu Yao immediately added fuel to the fire: "Sister Lin, I've noticed everyone seems quite down lately. How about we take a couple of days off?"

Sister Lin was most afraid that Xu Yao, the champion, would lead the way, so she immediately replied, "Okay, I'll talk to the company and get back to you."

"Thank you, Sister Lin."

The phone hangs up.

With the music video filming completed, the next step is the promotion and release of the single, which marks the end of the resource support that Dream Voice provides to the champion contestant.

After winning the title of The Voice of China champion and releasing her debut single MV.

Xu Yao knew that terminating his contract with the company was about to be on the agenda.

Today's phone call was a small test, a probe to gauge the company's bottom line.

Inside the office building of Canxing Culture.

Mr. Liu sat behind his desk, a report spread out in front of him, filled with dense numbers.

He looked up and saw Sister Lin, then put down his pen.

"It's Xu Yao on the phone." Sister Lin sat down across from him. "He said his body couldn't take it anymore and he wanted to take a two-day break to go to the hospital for a check-up. He also suggested we give our students a two-day break."

Xu Yao had a history of fainting, so everyone believed it to be true.

Mr. Liu did not speak immediately. He leaned back in his chair, and anger gradually appeared between his brows.

"I told you we shouldn't have promoted Xu Yao in the first place. What commercial value does a fat guy have? To this day, he can't get any gigs, his commercial value is zero, he only has commercial performance value."

"Mr. Liu, he's not fat anymore," Sister Lin hurriedly explained.

"So you're not weak just because you're not fat?" Mr. Liu was still furious, and even couldn't help but tap the table.

"Only a few days into the race? And you're already exhausted. All our initial worries have come true. Even the champions aren't going to lead the charge, and we can't get any big commercial gigs."

Sister Lin didn't say anything.

"Tell Xu Yao that the commercial performance will continue." President Liu turned a page of the report. "Let him tough it out. We'll deal with it when he faints. It's not a serious illness, just a bit of weakness and low blood sugar. It's not like he's never fainted before."

Sister Lin tried to speak up: "Isn't this inappropriate?"

"What's wrong with that? She fainted, so they bought articles about it. The Voice of China champion performed while sick, how dedicated! It even generated a wave of attention and traffic."

Sister Lin's lips moved slightly: "What if he refuses?"

Mr. Liu remained calm: "Then tell him that the post-production and release of the single's music video are to be terminated immediately. Moreover, if he doesn't fulfill the contract, he can expect to pay compensation."

"Okay." Sister Lin nodded and left.

"But the check-up still needs to be done, just in case something goes wrong and it causes trouble. On days when there are no performances, send someone to take him to the hospital for a check-up, get him the necessary medication, and supplement him with the necessary nutrients. Also, you must record a video of the process as documentation for the company to use in case of future trouble."

Sister Lin added, "Mr. Liu, we're either performing or on our way to a performance. Because Xu Yaozhou and Zhang Bichen are both very popular, this year is the year with the highest popularity of The Voice of China contestants. There's almost no time when we're not performing."

"Why don't you schedule a trip to the hospital between performances? Do I really need to tell you how to do something so simple?"

"Also, control the trainees' negative emotions, especially those few who are complaining about how tiring the tour is. Which artist didn't go through this? Now that they have the opportunity to perform, they're starting to pick and choose? These people are either idiots or brain-dead. Then put them on hiatus, without even a tour, and see if they can understand what a difference in status is, what it means to be a frog in a well."

"What right do you have to complain about being tired? Have you forgotten what kind of people were on 'The Voice' before? You're all ambitious but lack the ability to work properly. You can't even be a beast of burden."

After Mr. Liu gave a few more instructions, Sister Lin finally left.