Chapter 157

A small table for four.

Lu Yan He sat next to Vice President Ma, and Lin Miaomiao sat next to Lin Desheng. This layout made Lu Yan He feel inexplicably awkward.

The previous audition for "The Golden Age" made Lu Yan He realize that Vice President Ma's attitude toward him was in the same camp as Zhou Ping'an's—that is to say, Vice President Ma was one of the people who wanted to kick Lu Yan He out of the company.

But since then, Lu Yan He had not had any contact with Vice President Ma.

Thinking about it now, he had signed back to the company, which must have made Vice President Ma quite unhappy.

Coming back to his senses, Lu Yan He's attention returned to the conversation between Lin Desheng and Vice President Ma.

These two were still talking about follow-up cooperation. Unlike his imagination of such business talks, in reality, most of the time these two were not talking about business, but about some predictions and prospects for the future of the performing arts industry.

At first hearing, it seemed to have nothing to do with the cooperation between the two companies.

But listening carefully, he found it still had quite a bit to do with it.

For example, Vice President Ma's judgment on the idol market made him emphasize many times that Star Entertainment had a reserve advantage in hundreds of young idol artists. Although talent shows had been declining in the past two years, no one knew when the spring breeze of talent shows would blow again. At that time, these young idol artists from Star Entertainment would be resources competed for by major platforms; after all, high-quality idols were always the scarcest resources for a talent show.

Their predictions for the future actually influenced their current layout.

Lin Desheng said that Northern Lights Video would launch programs featuring idol artists in the next few years because he also believed that with economic development, everyone's pursuit of idols would become more and more prosperous. In a society with rapid economic development, everyone would increasingly like more exquisite and fashionable things. It just so happened that the internet environment could extremely expand these concepts and constantly form new trends.

Lu Yan He felt that he had gained quite a lot from listening to the two of them talk.

Just as he was listening, Lin Desheng suddenly turned his head and asked, "Little Lu, you debuted as an idol artist before, right? Are you still planning to be an idol later? I heard from Miaomiao that you changed agents and are going to act in the future?"

Lu Yan He came back to his senses and was about to speak when he suddenly noticed Vice President Ma sitting next to him looking at him with a scorching gaze.

Lu Yan He looked at Vice President Ma in confusion.

He didn't know what Vice President Ma was worried about.

"I'm trying everything out for now," Lu Yan He said. "My agent told me that I'm only eighteen, so I don't need to rush to decide what route to take in the future."

Lin Desheng nodded and said, "Your agent is quite far-sighted, unlike some agents I know who are eager for quick success and instant benefits. You guys should indeed try more things at this time to find the path that suits you best."

Lin Miaomiao immediately said, "That's for sure, Dad. Do you know who Lu Yan He's current agent is?"

Lin Desheng asked, "Who is it? Do I know her?"

Lin Miaomiao snorted and said, "His current agent is Chen Ziyan. Both Chen Bige and Shang Yongzhou were brought out by her."

Lin Desheng was a bit surprised.

Lu Yan He was also a bit surprised; he didn't expect Lin Miaomiao to know about this too.

The matter of him changing agents hadn't spread widely yet; basically, only people in the company knew. How did Lin Miaomiao know?

Lin Miaomiao seemed to know quite a lot about his affairs.

The smile on Vice President Ma's face became a bit forced.

He had been downplaying Chen Ziyan's existence in his external work, especially hoping that Chen Ziyan's figure would not appear in the cooperation led by him.

Now, not only was Lu Yan He pulled in, but Chen Ziyan was mentioned again.

Lin Desheng looked at Lu Yan He and said, "Miaomiao has been praising you to me. I heard your grades are good. Which university are you preparing to attend?"

"I have to wait until the scores come out to know," Lu Yan He said. He didn't directly say he was going to Zhenhua or Yuming again; in front of people he wasn't familiar with, it was better to be humble.

"If you can really get into Zhenhua or Yuming, I'll give you a drama and let you star in it," Lin Desheng said.

"Ah?" Lu Yan He was stunned.

Lin Desheng asked with a smile, "What, you're not happy?"

Lu Yan He hesitated and said, "It's mainly a bit sudden; I haven't reacted yet."

What he didn't say was that he felt they were not related, and suddenly giving him a drama sounded too unreasonable.

Lu Yan He really wanted to act, but he really didn't dare to accept such an inexplicable starring role. It was the same principle as picking up money on the road: picking up a hundred yuan felt like good luck, and he would happily take it to buy things, but if he picked up tens of thousands in one go, he wouldn't be able to accept that money with peace of mind.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

His hesitant expression fell into Lin Desheng's eyes, making Lin Desheng even more satisfied with him.

Today, Lin Desheng showed such great closeness to Lu Yan He in front of others, which was because his daughter had been chanting Lu Yan He's name all day for the past six months.

Lu Yan He's performance today exceeded Lin Desheng's expectations.

Especially when he said he would give Lu Yan He a drama, the latter's reaction was not overjoyed or excitedly thanking him, but rather he didn't dare to accept it. This caution and calmness in the face of huge benefits made Lin Desheng quite appreciate him.

After talking in the sky garden, Lu Yan He did not participate in their subsequent itinerary.

Lu Yan He whispered to Lin Miaomiao about having to attend classes in the afternoon and prepared to return to his rehearsal room first.

Lin Miaomiao stopped him and asked, "Why weren't you very happy when my dad said he would give you a drama?"

Lu Yan He didn't know how to explain it to Lin Miaomiao.

"It's not that I'm not happy, it's just that it's such a big gift, and he and I are not related, so I can't afford it," Lu Yan He finally said directly to Lin Miaomiao. "He gave me this opportunity because of you."

Lin Miaomiao frowned. "Are you unwilling to accept it because of me?"

"No." Lu Yan He didn't know how to explain it to Lin Miaomiao for a moment.

Many things cannot be explained clearly so easily.

He wanted to say that he knew it was good intentions, but he didn't want to accept such good intentions.

But the reason would hurt Lin Miaomiao—because our relationship hasn't reached that point yet, and accepting such good intentions would make me feel ashamed.

In the end, Lu Yan He became the one with nothing to say.

"Forget it, whatever you want." Lin Miaomiao curled her lips. "Anyway, you have Chen Ziyan as your agent now, and you won't be bullied by Zhou Ping'an in the future."

Lu Yan He looked at her in surprise.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lin Miaomiao asked.

Lu Yan He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Actually, I've always wanted to ask you, how come you know so much about my affairs?"

Lin Miaomiao's eyes suddenly became evasive, and the gaze that was originally looking directly at Lu Yan He suddenly turned to one side.

"I, I just heard some things from others," Lin Miaomiao said. "You still have the nerve to ask me? You were bullied so much by your previous agent, why didn't you know how to fight back?"

In Lin Miaomiao's eyes, Lu Yan He was just a good-tempered bun; he was about to be kicked out of the company by Zhou Ping'an, yet he still honestly signed the termination agreement.

She heard most of this news from Hou Jun, the director of "Small Song Gathering."

When she heard it, Lin Miaomiao was very angry and wished she could help Lu Yan He vent his anger. She had been mentioning Lu Yan He to her father for the past six months, implying that she wanted her father to help Lu Yan He.

Lin Desheng was shocked at first, thinking his daughter had been "cabbaged" by someone, but after an investigation, he found that his daughter had met the person no more than three times in total, and their relationship was as clear as water, which could be seen clearly at a glance—it was his daughter who had a crush on the person.

Because Lin Miaomiao had not been in good health since she was a child and had to go to the hospital every few days, Lin Desheng had always pampered her and gave her almost whatever she wanted.

After investigating Lu Yan He's situation and looking at his past experiences, Lin Desheng actually developed a lot of good feelings for Lu Yan He.

A child from the countryside, without parents, with no one to rely on, who didn't become popular after debuting but kept gritting his teeth and persisting, and when he was abandoned by the company in his senior year, he started studying desperately, and his grades rose very quickly—it could be seen that he was really gritting his teeth to learn.

His character was also good, he had quick wit, and he had courage. How could a few people be so calm when they encountered a murderer hijacking them?

For such a young man, Lin Desheng was happy to help, which led to today's actions.

Lu Yan He didn't know the inside story and didn't dare to easily accept other people's good intentions. After thanking Lin Miaomiao, he left.

Lin Miaomiao looked at his departing back, bit her lip, and wanted to say something, but stopped herself.

In the rehearsal room, Chen Jing was still practicing dancing.

Wei Zhuoran and Qu Yousong passed by outside and saw Chen Jing inside through the glass wall.

Wei Zhuoran immediately sneered.

"He's secretly practicing extra."

Seeing Chen Jing, Qu Yousong curled his lips with some disdain.

"Isn't he always like this? He always likes to work hard secretly by himself, wanting to outshine everyone on the scene."

"Ma Zhiyuan taught him a lesson before, telling him not to steal the limelight, but he didn't listen at all," Wei Zhuoran said. "Should we tell Ma Zhiyuan? If he knows Chen Jing is practicing secretly here, he'll definitely be furious."

"Last time at the Henglan Music Festival, Chen Jing's dance part had a better reaction from the audience than Ma Zhiyuan's. After Ma Zhiyuan got off the stage, he threw a huge temper at Chen Jing. If you tell Ma Zhiyuan now, he might even make Chen Jing quit this afternoon's program recording," Qu Yousong chuckled and said.

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhuoran said, "If that's the case, then of course we have to tell Ma Zhiyuan."

Qu Yousong: "You're dark-hearted enough."

"Same to you," Wei Zhuoran retorted.

Wei Zhuoran took out his phone, took a photo of Chen Jing practicing dancing in the rehearsal room, and privately sent it to Ma Zhiyuan: Chen Jing is secretly practicing dancing again. Captain, this person is determined to step on you to get ahead.