Chapter 58: Qi is so cold, don't I, the paparazzo, have any dignity?

Accompaniment? Accompaniment is out of the question.

Chen Lin hadn't played more than a few bars before Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong complained that it sounded awful, telling him to take out the electronic keyboard to practice the sheet music.

Hearing this, Jin Li asked curiously, "Do you all carry musical instruments with you wherever you go?"

Gu Cheng said, "They are needed for certain work occasions; the instruments provided by the organizers are never as comfortable to use as the ones we are accustomed to."

Jin Li nodded, "I understand."

She had woken up at six in the morning, gone for a run, paid her respects to Mazu, and carried her breakfast up to the top floor.

It was only six-thirty then.

When she rang the doorbell, she realized it was still too early and was just about to head back, but to her surprise, Gu Cheng opened the door for her the very next second.

Jin Li was very surprised, "You get up this early?"

Gu Cheng looked quite energetic, not at all like someone who had just woken up.

He shook his head, "I wake up around seven, but I asked Sister Fang about your routine beforehand and knew you woke up quite early, so I Match Match Match Match Match Made a point of getting up early today."

"Ah, Sister Fang?"

Gu Cheng glanced at her, suddenly smiled, and leaned lazily against the wall with half his body, "Sister Sister Lizi, you didn't think I'd ask you to come study with me without saying a word to your manager, did you?"

Jin Li blinked, "I really hadn't thought about that."

Gu Cheng said nonchalantly, "But your manager seems to care a lot about this. She knows I'm good at my studies; I told her, and she agreed."

Jin Li also said with deep feeling, "My manager, she treats me so well there's really nothing more to say."

Human hearts are Match Match Match Match Match Made of flesh and blood.

She saw everything Sister Fang did for her.

Whether it was the current her or the original owner from before, the feelings toward Sister Fang were very complex—not the kind of complexity involving a thousand different emotions.

Rather, it was a complexity of wanting to be close, yet not daring to be too close.

The original owner was an orphan with no family.

During those three years when her health was poor and she didn't go out much for work, Sister Fang would come to visit her once or twice every month, which could be considered as making up for her feelings of loneliness.

Including the current Jin Li, deep down, she also regarded Sister Fang as her own sister.

The group struggled on until ten o'clock.

Jin Li stretched her body, happily bounced along with them to a boy band dance, and then threw herself back into her studies.

This time, she asked for the others' opinions and turned on the live stream.

This live stream was for watching video tutorials, and they had to take notes simultaneously.

【The Jin Li live stream you follow has started!】

Today is Sunday, and as soon as Jin Li started the stream, a huge number of people poured in.

The fans were the first to flood in to check in, declaring that they would definitely listen to the lecture and take notes seriously today.

After the fans had their turn, it was the turn of the gossip-loving netizens, who said they were just here to take a casual look.

After these two main forces brought in by the traffic finished posting their comments, it was the turn of the serious students to take the stage.

【abandon, vt. to give up, to desert. n. indulgence, enthusiasm. access, n. passage, visit, entry. vt. to access, to approach...】

【Many countries attach great importance to the comprehensive utilization of seawater resources. Which of the following substances can be obtained from seawater without chemical changes? A: Chlorine, bromine, iodine. B: Sodium, magnesium, aluminum. C: Caustic soda, hydrogen. D: Table salt, fresh water.】

【Which of the following does not belong to the main characteristics of economic globalization? A: Free flow of capital and information. B: High integration of economic interests between countries. C: International large companies become the main body of economic globalization. D: Increased transparency of national labor markets.】

The fans looked at this long list of questions and fell silent.

The netizens looked at these questions and silently muttered that they couldn't afford to mess with this, bowing down in defeat.

Only the civil service exam grinders, high school students, and study-abroad students silently shed tears, wishing they could hug each other and shout, "Fellow countryman! I've finally found you, fellow countryman!"

Jin Li and Gu Cheng each wore a pair of headphones to watch the tutorial videos. Gu Cheng didn't notice while taking notes and turned slightly, and a small corner of his clothing entered the frame.

Some fans who had been staring at the live stream saw it and kept posting comments asking who the owner of those clothes was.

But their excitement was all for nothing.

With tens of millions of people online, there were only a few dozen responses.

The world of the "grind-dogs" is just that pure and silent—ignoring the world outside the window, focusing only on the books of the sages.

Instead, Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong suddenly received a call from his manager.

The manager asked suspiciously, "Are you still at the hotel near the production set? A paparazzo contacted me, saying they'd captured a huge scoop related to you and wanted me to pay tens of thousands of Liu Liu Yuan before they'd tell me what it was."

This was just the fee to buy the information.

Once the information was bought and they knew what the scoop was, they would then consider whether to buy the scoop from the paparazzo.

That would be another price entirely.

But the manager was especially confident in the boy band Three Days. They had experience training overseas, could endure more hardship than domestic trainees, and had experienced the cruel elimination PKs abroad, so they cherished the hard-won opportunities in China very much.

Therefore, the manager didn't worry that they would mess around, and upon receiving the message from the paparazzo, he came to ask Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong immediately.

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong asked, "The hotel near the production set?"

He looked up at the window. The window was open for ventilation, but the curtains were drawn. Occasionally, when the wind was strong, it would blow a corner of the curtain, revealing a bit of the scene inside.

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong understood.

It was probably just that corner revealed that had been captured by the paparazzo.

However, with such scattered angles, he didn't know what the photos would look like.

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong said, "You don't need to worry. We are studying with Teacher Jin Li. We opened a presidential suite at the hotel near the Mazu Temple, and right now, everyone is working and studying seriously together."

The manager was stunned, "Studying, Mazu Temple, working?"

How strange.

He understood the meaning of these words when said separately, so why did they sound incomprehensible when put together?

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong: "We'll clarify it in a moment; this matter is very easy to solve. Actually, working with Teacher Jin Li has Match Match Match Match Match Made our efficiency fly.

I've already written most of the music for the new song, Luo Yi has written most of the lyrics, and Xiao Lin is being urged to practice his sheet music, so his piano level has improved. As for Gu Cheng, he says he wants to take the college entrance exam and get into a domestic university."

He finished in one breath.

The manager beamed with joy when he heard the first part, but his mouth twitched when he heard the latter part.

He was speechless for several seconds, his mouth opening and closing, closing and opening, and finally, not knowing what to say, he said helplessly:

"Just mind your boundaries. Next time you record a variety show, I'll come along to see what kind of sacred being this Teacher Jin Li is, that she can actually keep you all in check."

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong glanced at Jin Li and Gu Cheng, who were still listening to the lecture seriously, and sighed, "Nothing else, just 'grind-dogs'."

Staying with these two people, one would feel a sense of guilt even if they didn't work hard.

After finishing the call.

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong thought for a moment, then went to the curtains and pulled them open.

After pulling them open, he even waved at the window.

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong looked around outside; he could only say that the paparazzo's lens was truly powerful, as he couldn't find where they were at all.

Everything that met the eye was wide open space.

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong turned his head and said, "Teacher Jin Li, a paparazzo captured photos of us. Why don't we go into your live stream room to explain?"

The live stream room had already recorded Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong's voice. After he spoke, he had Match Match Match Match Match Made up his mind, believing Jin Li wouldn't disagree.

Sure enough, Jin Li said without thinking, "Sure, come on over."

【What's going on, what's going on? I think I heard my boyfriend's voice?】

【Tell me carefully, how many boyfriends do you have? Doge. jpg】

【Not many, just enough for me to change one every day. Green doge. jpg】

The camera suddenly shook, and Gu Cheng took the phone.

He filmed a circle around the presidential suite, then filmed some of the lyrics and music scores, as well as the "Five-Three" workbook and notes on the table.

Finally, the boy band Three Days and Jin Li appeared in the frame together.

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong said, "Haha, appearing suddenly, I don't know if we startled you. We didn't mean to!

There's one thing to clarify here: after recording the show, we went to play nearby, and Teacher Jin Li happened to be nearby too, so she took us to play.

Today, Teacher Jin Li wants to study, and we also need to create lyrics and music scores, so we asked Teacher Jin Li to come over and study together.

We all knew she was live streaming. My manager just called me to say a paparazzo had captured us, and I was afraid they would spread rumors, so I clarified it directly through Teacher Jin Li's live stream room.

We are all working seriously, don't spread rumors!"

After clarifying, Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong returned the phone to Jin Li.

Jin Li didn't know what to say either, so she said, "Everyone has heard it. The boy band Three Days has a great desire to study—no, to work—so we must try our best to satisfy them. Now, let's continue studying."

As soon as she finished speaking, she switched back to the lecture channel.

The members of the boy band Three Days looked at each other; Teacher Jin Li was indeed Teacher Jin Li, not trying to ride their popularity at all, and she didn't need to either.

For "grind-dogs," whoever grinds harder and grinds more brilliantly is more worthy of attention.

【Ah, Li Bao's crisp and decisive attitude is just like a heartless woman abandoning me T^T】

【So the boy band Three Days and Li Bao are actually such good friends that they can study together?】

【Good, good, good, study, study, study! I support all your decisions!】

Jin Li was still studying on her side.

On the other side, the paparazzo who took the secret photos was having a miserable time!

They were actually here specifically to stalk Jin Li.

It was no secret that Jin Li would stay at the Mazu Temple every time she came to record the show.

Some diligent paparazzi would squat near the Mazu Temple to take secret photos, seeing if they could dig up any big scoops.

But Jin Li's daily routine is truly too abnormal.

It is abnormal for a celebrity, but among ordinary people, it is a very healthy level.

After following Jin Li for several days in a row, getting up earlier than the chickens, the result of all that filming was only morning runs, praying, and buying breakfast.

The paparazzi angrily flipped the table; they went through so much trouble and effort, not to film these kinds of things!

After camping out for several days, they finally caught Jin Li in the same frame as San Yue Tian, and they even entered and exited the presidential suite together.

The paparazzi's eyes lit up; this must be a huge scoop!

After finally managing to snap a few ambiguous photos and getting in touch with San Yue Tian's manager, just as they were about to negotiate the price, who would have thought that Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong would pull back the curtains.

And even wave at them!

Wave your mother, do you think you're walking a dog!

Seeing Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong greeting them so openly and honestly, the paparazzi had a bad premonition in their hearts, and shortly after, his subordinate said:

"Boss, the San Yue Tian boy band appeared in Jin Li's live streaming room together; it turns out they were studying. Sigh, these photos were a waste to take; why are celebrities these days so competitive?"

His subordinate continued to chatter: "Boss, should we still release these photos?"

The paparazzi rolled his eyes: "Release your head, you idiot, delete them! Letting these photos occupy my camera's memory, even for a second, is a waste of the camera's value!"

……

They continued to study for another hour.

Approaching noon, Jin Li saw that it was getting late, so she ended the live stream.

Everyone discussed it and felt that the hotel food was a bit greasy, so they decided to cook for themselves; after all, the presidential suite was fully equipped with kitchenware, and the refrigerator had water and wine.

Gu Cheng asked specifically: "Teacher Jin Li, can you eat barbecue?"

If it were that previous body, Jin Li would not be able to eat it.

However, she planned to go pray to Wang Mu before leaving, so she said: "No problem, my body is better now, I should be able to eat it."

Gu Cheng: "Alright then, we'll have barbecue for lunch."

They didn't need to prepare the ingredients themselves; one phone call, and the waiter would automatically deliver them to the door.

Upon learning that they wanted to have a barbecue, the hotel even thoughtfully asked if they needed skewers, a grill, charcoal, and the like, and even a chef; they could all be prepared for them.

Except for the chef, the San Yue Tian boy band let the hotel handle all other materials and tools, counting it as part of the service fee.

This was Jin Li's first time eating barbecue, and also her first time trying iced cola; smelling this scent of human life, she smiled and curved her eyes.

Gu Cheng handed her a skewer of chicken wings, and seeing her happy, he couldn't help but ask: "Haven't you tried it before?"

Jin Li shook her head: "In the past, my schedule was too busy, and at noon I would just hastily eat a boxed meal; I rarely had the leisure to eat like this."

Later, her health was too poor, and she didn't dare to eat things like barbecue; she couldn't even drink iced water, and could only cook simple, plain meals with little salt, sugar, and oil, eating everything as lightly as possible.

Today's barbecue was her first time eating it.

As for even earlier, that experience of working before becoming a celebrity, that goes without saying.

We are all workers.

Some people drink coffee at work and eat barbecue after work.

Some people do manual labor at work, and after work... they just want to go home and rest, not wanting to move at all.

Gu Cheng heard this and said: "When you have time in the future, I'll take you to eat all kinds of delicious food, but it also depends on whether your body can handle it."

Jin Li readily agreed: "Sure!"

After lunch, the group went to the Wang Mu temple to pray, and then went their separate ways.

Jin Li was still in her casual daily attire, calling a taxi back to the company herself.

Don't say, her casual attire looked quite low-key.

Plus, the sun outside was scorching, so she followed the crowd and put on sun-protection sleeves to cover the skin on her arms.

The whole person looked ten years older, and walking on the road, she didn't attract any attention at all.

After Jin Li left, the San Yue Tian boy band got into the nanny van sent by the company.

Unlike other top celebrities who want to solidify their fan base, their whereabouts are not disclosed to the public, so fans basically rarely get to camp out for them.

Plus, the security specifications sent by the company are high; no matter what activities they go to, they always have four bodyguards.

The bodyguards are all dressed very low-key, looking like their assistants, but in reality, they are always observing the surroundings.

So when San Yue Tian goes out, they don't worry about safety.

After getting in the car, Chen Lin said: "Sister Jin Li is really down-to-earth; she is the most simple celebrity I have ever met."

Luo Yi nodded: "She has absolutely no celebrity baggage, appearing completely bare-faced, not worried at all about being filmed or criticized."

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong also agreed and said: "Her skin is very good, and she looks quite good without makeup; if I had skin like hers, I would also be willing to go bare-faced every day."

Gu Cheng said thoughtfully: "That's true; she just applies a color-changing lip balm, and it's like she's wearing makeup; her natural foundation is good."

Chen Lin's expression shifted slightly: "Anyway, in my contact with Sister Jin Li, I feel that she is straightforward and generous, and doesn't fuss over small details; how about we invite her to our upcoming group variety show?"

Luo Yi asked back: "Aren't you afraid of rumors?"

Chen Lin thought for a while: "Inviting one female celebrity is easy to be speculated about, so how about inviting two? Sister Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Qinglian is also familiar with us; can we invite her?"

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong shook his head: "No, these two female celebrities have too much overlap in business with us, and both participated in 'PICK~Next Station Diva'; if we invite Sister Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Qinglian, netizens will ask why we didn't invite Lian Lian Lian Lian Lian Lian Lian Baozhi, engaging in that kind of show bullying."

Chen Lin was stunned, and only after a long while did he say: "That's true."

Gu Cheng suddenly spoke: "Didn't Sister Sister Lizi say that the other members of the Pink Girl Group also have very good personalities? We can try inviting other members instead of Sister Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Qinglian.

And it's also good for external promotion; our boy band and their girl group have both stood at the peak of team popularity; if we do a variety show together, it can also make people nostalgic."

Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Yan Xingdong pondered: "This idea is good; I will communicate with Brother Zhang Guang later."

While Jin Li was taking a taxi back to the company.

After 'PICK~Next Station Diva' finished airing the second episode, and after a one-day delay, the elimination rules for the second episode were finally announced—

Full team elimination battle!

The thing the trainees were worried about finally came; the elimination for this talent show is not based on individual units, but on group units!

Jin Li was originally closing her eyes to rest in the car, listening to foreign language listening exercises with headphones, when she was disturbed from her focused state by a vibration from her phone.

Opening her phone to look, it was a message from the girl group chat, and even the boy band's group chat was eating the same melon.

Jin Li flipped to the first message; the link was shared by Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Qinglian, and she couldn't help but sigh at her vigorous energy, being able to eat melons seamlessly while working.

She is truly a master of time management!

Clicking into the link, it automatically jumped to the blog hot search.

The tag #PICK~Next Station Diva Launches Full Team Elimination Battle for the First Time# had already landed at number one on the hot search.

【Damn, waited so long, it's actually full team elimination?】

【At the time, hearing that the third episode would still be recorded with the same groups as the second episode, there was speculation about whether it would be group elimination, but I always felt that Penguin didn't have the courage; now looking at it, it's interesting!】

【It's over, the group where the contestant I support is located has very low overall popularity; will she be eliminated?】

【So, the current popularity value is no longer based on individual popularity, but on team overall popularity??】

【Oh, doing a team talent show should be done like this; how exciting!】

Jin Li looked at the updated team popularity ranking.

There are 12 teams in total, and 2 teams will be eliminated in the second episode.

Currently, the TOP 1 girl group only has one contestant in the top ten in popularity, and the others are all in the top 20.

But when calculating the overall popularity of all members, this girl group, which is not the best but better than the worst, jumped to first place.

Jin Li flipped down again.

The team where Gong Gong Gong Jiajia is located is in the middle, eighth place; this result shouldn't be worried about being eliminated.

Suddenly, Jin Li was stunned, seeing a contestant in the top ten in popularity in the tenth-place team.

So, will this contestant become a victim under the sickle of this cruel rule?

Jin Li returned to the company.

She found that even Sister Fang was eating the melon of the talent show, and the first thing she asked after seeing her was: "Have you seen the news? Full team elimination battle."

Jin Li: "Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Ji Qinglian shared it with me; I have to say, Penguin really put their heart into it this time!"

Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Lingfang clicked her tongue in wonder, "They have to be ruthless; although 'PICK~Next Station Diva' was a top hit when it started airing, compared to the grand occasion when the San Yue Tian boy band debuted two years ago, the difference is huge.

The San Yue Tian boy band appeared in the first episode and swept the entire show with an absolute advantage, with all four of them directly having a popularity gap.

Originally, that show was supposed to select 8 members, but their popularity was too strong, directly forcing the production team to change the rules, becoming only the four of them forming a group.

But look at this girl group talent show; which contestant can do what the boy band did?"

Jin Li pondered: "The boy band and girl group have different directions of effort and cannot be compared together, but just looking at popularity, it is indeed inferior."

She asked curiously: "Did the production team not invite trainees from abroad back?"

Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Lingfang clapped her hands: "They did, why wouldn't they? They even invited more than a dozen trainees who originally planned to debut abroad to return to the country for development, but they just couldn't make a splash.

The stage art is top-notch, the lighting effects are top-notch, and the stage given is also top-tier. Although it is popular, this popularity really cannot be counted as top-tier in the domestic entertainment industry.

The San Yue Tian boy band performed on an old, broken, and small stage back then, and in the first episode, they could directly reach number one in popularity; compared to the current girl group popularity, it has multiplied many times over.

The variety show has already reached the second episode, and everything still hasn't met expectations; I think Penguin is going to ruthlessly torture the fans to boost popularity."

Jin Li did not express any evaluation on this.

She hasn't done a show and doesn't understand what the production team really wants.

She said: "I hope they do this without having the opposite effect."

Coming to the company this time was mainly to discuss the endorsement of the Mao Zhao live streaming room.

Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Lingfang showed her the contract and explained the general terms.

"Mao Zhao live streaming originally wanted to sign you for a full-site endorsement, that is, a general endorsement, but I think it's not quite appropriate; your appeal is only in the 【online video education】 sector, not in other aspects.

In case Mao Zhao signs you as a spokesperson and then starts some singing and dancing, live streaming PK, or big eater projects, using your popularity to do some strange projects, we will be very passive here."

Jin Li is definitely going to make a comeback and become a first-tier star.

The endorsements signed now have to last at least two or three years, no matter what.

If Jin Li manages to reach first-tier status by next year, the previously signed endorsements won't be a match, and she will be mocked by the industry.

That is why Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Lingfang is very cautious about Jin Li's endorsement contracts.

"I talked to Maozhao again and negotiated a separate Public Welfare Ambassador role for you, specifically to manage their upcoming public welfare projects and the video education sector; you can cooperate with Maozhao to carry out some publicity."

Jin Li asked curiously: "Will they agree to that?"

Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui Lingfang: "They didn't agree at first, but later, I don't know what happened internally, but they agreed. Looking at the contract they sent me afterward, they seem to be planning to launch a lot of public welfare content; it's quite positive and uplifting."

Hearing this, Jin Li had even fewer objections, "Fine, then let's sign it."

Continuing to ask for monthly votes! This month, I want to join the competition for the overall ranking; I don't know if I can make it on there even once, hhh. There is a special sales ranking for new books on the shelves; I hope everyone won't "stockpile" the chapters. We can still make a dash for this ranking~

PS: The reason I say not to "stockpile" chapters is because the data during the serialization period determines whether this book can get more exposure and more promotional opportunities. Good writing is meant to be shared; let more people see this book. If you think it's written quite well, please follow the updates~ If you could leave a comment, that would also be excellent.





(End of this chapter)