Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

I didn't sleep all night.

But Xiao Tong didn't feel sleepy at all; she was very excited and felt lightheaded.

She lay on the bed in the hotel-style apartment that the company had temporarily arranged for her, refreshing her phone again and again, looking at her 1.23 million followers on Douyin, 980,000 on Weibo, and 850,000 on Bilibili.

My inbox and WeChat were flooded with messages.

A primary school classmate she hadn't contacted for years sent her warm congratulations, saying she had long seen that she was no ordinary person.

Even distant relatives who have no real connection to her affectionately call her "the pride of our family."

There were also private messages from various people claiming to be MCN agencies or brands, offering very attractive cooperation terms.

Xiao Tong felt like she was dreaming.

Just a day earlier, she was an ordinary girl silently sweating in the dance studio, unaware of her future.

Now, because of that song that went viral across the internet, she has become the "Goddess of Hegang" that everyone is talking about.

All of this is because of that man.

She clicked on Gu Ming's WeChat profile picture, and the chat window was still showing the message Gu Ming had sent her early yesterday morning: "Get some rest, there are new plans for tomorrow."

Xiao Tong hesitated for a long time, typed a line in the input box, thought about it, and then deleted it.

I typed another line, but it still felt pretentious, so I deleted it again.

Just as she was struggling with this decision, the doorbell rang.

The company staff usually call in advance.

She walked to the door and looked out through the peephole. The person standing outside made her pause for a moment.

Li Li?

Why did she come?

Xiao Tong and Li Li were not best friends; they were just distant relatives from their mothers' side.

Because Li Li came from a wealthy family and had a respectable job, Xiao Tong's mother always encouraged her to spend more time with Li Li. However, Li Li always treated her poor relative with indifference, displaying an undisguised sense of superiority.

Xiao Tong thought for a moment, then opened the door.

"Xiao Tong! My superstar!"

As soon as the door opened, Li Li gave her a warm hug, as if they were long-lost sisters.

Li Li was dressed very elegantly today, and she was carrying a nicely packaged paper bag with the logo of a high-end coffee shop in Hegang printed on it.

"I bet you didn't have breakfast, so I brought you your favorite croissants and lattes!"

Li Li placed the breakfast on the table with a warm smile.

Xiao Tong was a little at a loss.

She doesn't like croissants or coffee.

Clearly, Li Li didn't know either.

"Sister Lily, what brings you here?"

"Oh my, you're a big celebrity now! How could I, as your older sister, not come to see you?"

Li Li pulled Xiao Tong down to sit, praising her incessantly.

"Let me tell you, your music video is all over our school right now. All the teachers and students are your fans. They know you're my sister, and they're all trying to curry favor with me. Isn't that ridiculous?"

Li Li's tone was full of boasting, as if Xiao Tong's success was partly due to her.

Xiao Tong was a little dizzy from her praise, and her vanity was instantly satisfied after becoming famous.

"Come on, let's take a picture together!"

As Li Li spoke, she skillfully took out her phone and opened the beauty camera app.

"I need to post this on WeChat Moments right away and tell them I'm having breakfast with our family's superstar! They'll be so envious!"

Without saying a word, she moved closer to Xiao Tong, raised her phone, and flashed what she thought was her most beautiful smile.

Xiao Tong was a little taken aback by her practiced movements and subconsciously prepared to smile at the camera as well.

Just then.

"Click".

The apartment door opened.

Gu Ming walked in.

He stayed up all night, and his gaze fell on Li Li, who was about to take a selfie.

"Teacher Li."

Li Li's hand, which was holding her phone, froze in mid-air, and the smile on her face also froze.

"Mr. Gu... what brings you here?"

"This is my company, these are my artists, why am I here?"

Gu Ming walked up to them, not looking at Li Li, but saying to Xiao Tong:

"Go wash your face and change your clothes. Wang Min will pick you up in ten minutes to go to the company for a meeting."

When Xiao Tong saw Gu Ming, the dizziness she had felt earlier vanished instantly. She immediately nodded obediently and ran into the bathroom.

In the room, only Gu Ming and an embarrassed Li Li remained.

"Teacher Li."

Gu Ming finally turned his gaze to her, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

"Please put your phone away."

That wasn't a request, that was a command.

Li Li's face flushed red instantly.

"I...I'm just related to Xiao Tong, it was just a photo..." she stubbornly insisted.

"relative?"

Gu Ming smiled sarcastically. "I remember not long ago, at the matchmaking table, Teacher Li didn't mention that she had such a relative."

Li Li's face turned from red to white.

"Xiao Tong is currently a contracted artist with Star Media."

"Her image has commercial value. I want you to understand that it's okay to ride on someone else's coattails, but don't try to ride on my coattails."

He paused, then added an even harsher remark.

"Our company put in a lot of effort to make her look pure, yet with a sense of brokenness, like an immature girl."

"Any social relationship that doesn't fit this persona will damage her commercial value."

"For example... calling a sophisticated egoist who loves to show off on social media 'sister'."

These words made Li Li's face burn with embarrassment, and she couldn't bear to look at them.

"you!"

Li Li was trembling with anger, pointing at Gu Ming, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Everything she was most proud of was, in Gu Ming's eyes, something so shameful that it needed to be distanced from.

Gu Ming glanced at the beautiful breakfast on the table.

"In addition, Xiao Tong's diet is now strictly managed by the company; she cannot touch high-calorie foods. Thank you for your kindness, Teacher Li."

These polite words finally made Li Li lose her composure.

She grabbed her bag, forgetting even to say goodbye to Xiao Tong who had just come out of the bathroom, and rushed out of the apartment without looking back.

That figure looked disheveled.

The room fell silent.

Xiao Tong looked at Gu Ming, not daring to breathe.

"Boss..."

You'll get used to it.

Gu Ming said calmly, "The more famous you become, the more people like this will appear. You don't need to pay attention to them, just follow my instructions."

He took a new script out of his briefcase and handed it to Xiao Tong.

"The popularity of 'The Sky Over Hegang' is still going strong, so we need to strike while the iron is hot. This is the script for the next video, which will continue the style of the previous one and tell a story about finding hope in the city."

Xiao Tong took the script and looked at it carefully.

Gu Ming pointed to one of the pages.

"Here, there's a small change."

"In this scene, you would sit at an old bar counter, holding a bottle of liquor, staring at it blankly."

"A specific bottle of wine."

Gu Ming looked into Xiao Tong's eyes and said, word by word.

"Guofang 1915 is a high-end product line of Longquan Winery."

"Remember this name."

Xiao Tong vaguely sensed that this was no longer just about shooting videos.