novelraw Chapter 42 Newcomer Bai Lu's Daily Life of Social Anxiety
Chapter 42 Newcomer Bai Lu's Daily Life of Social Anxiety
Zhang Juan left with the documents.
The door clicked shut.
Song Ze turned around and walked to the French windows.
With his hands in his pockets, he looked down at the streets of Shanghai.
The traffic was stuck in a long straight line at the red light.
Signing Bai Lu was a step in his plan to retire from the entertainment industry.
The lessons learned from my past life, where I struggled in the industry only to be arbitrarily suppressed by capital and banned across the entire internet, were too painful.
Starting over, relying solely on selling songs for royalties is too slow.
The 80 million yuan penalty for breach of contract is a wall. To break through this impasse quickly, we must control the core assets.
The most profitable businesses in the film and television industry are those with a large and loyal fanbase.
Bai Lu possesses extremely rare qualities.
Once the path is paved, within three years, this ordinary person with no background will transform into a cash cow for Xingyao Entertainment.
By then, the so-called exorbitant breach of contract fee would be nothing more than a fraction of the salary she would receive for filming two S-level historical romance dramas.
MH District, Shanghai. A company-provided studio apartment.
Bai Lu kicked the security door shut.
The shoe flew off and landed in the corner of the entryway.
He collapsed into the beige fabric sofa.
Open your mobile banking app, and your first base salary is already sitting in your account balance.
The money is in hand.
Buying bags, putting together outfits, and checking in at trendy restaurants are all forgotten.
The thumb slipped into the food delivery app.
Thirty spicy crayfish, extra spicy.
Ten skewers of lamb, ten skewers of beef tendon, grilled cold noodles with two eggs.
Two bottles of chilled cola.
Forty minutes later, the living room carpet was covered with packing boxes.
The chili oil sizzles and bubbles, and the aroma of chili and cumin hits you right at the ceiling.
Bai Lu put on disposable gloves and peeled the shells with a snap.
The shrimp roe bursts open, and one bite makes you gasp for breath from the spiciness.
He grabbed the plastic cup and gulped down half a bottle of cola.
After eating and drinking my fill, I let out a loud burp.
I took off my gloves, took a picture of the red paint all over the ground, and posted it on my WeChat Moments.
The accompanying text reads: "A person who eats rice has a soul who eats rice."
Open my Weibo side account.
The capital on the trending topics list changes extremely quickly; yesterday's top influencer can be today's prisoner.
My finger swiped across the messy gossip and clicked into Song Ze's homepage.
The Weibo post welcoming the new junior sister has over 300 comments.
She swiped the screen, scrolling down to the next page.
"This person's looks are absolutely stunning. Xingyao has really struck gold this time."
"I'm in love! Who wouldn't love such an adorable junior sister?"
Bai Lu rolled over on the bed, sprawled out on her back, and kicked off the air-conditioning blanket.
Looking at the string of praises on the screen, his mouth stretched to his ears, and his gums were fully exposed.
The finger hovered over the comment: "This bone structure is amazing, definitely all-natural."
She turned her head and looked left and right, but the room was empty.
Reach your finger towards the red heart icon for liking and light it up gently.
He abruptly withdrew his hand.
No, this is a smaller size.
If the company's PR department finds out, and he's already established a narcissistic persona before even debuting, he'll definitely get scolded in tomorrow's physical education class.
Cancel immediately.
My heart is itching intensely.
Light up the heart again, then cancel.
One last time, I pressed the like button hard.
He threw his phone at the foot of the bed and pulled the blanket over his head.
A burst of silly laughter, like the sound of a barbell, erupted from under the covers.
The next morning at 10:30, on the third floor of Xingyao Entertainment.
Song Ze flipped through the detailed documents sent by the Ministry of Justice.
The solid wood door was pushed open, and Zhang Juan strode in, her high heels clicking rapidly on the floor.
A stack of documents was slammed onto the mahogany table.
Zhang Juan braced her hands on the table, her chest heaving: "The final audition list for 'I Am a Singer 2017' has been leaked."
She pulled out a sheet of paper and pushed it to the center of her desk.
Song Ze looked down, his gaze sweeping over the names of several veteran singers at the top, his finger pointing to the second-to-last line.
Lin Youjia.
Zhang Juan pulled out a chair and sat down: "The first champion of the Taiwan Super Star Avenue competition, personally supported by Warner Music, and nicknamed the Psychedelic Prince in the industry."
She pulled out a background check report from the bottom of the file: "This guy is tough. He doesn't rely on screaming for high notes, and his transitions between his true and falsetto voices are seamless. What's most terrifying is his stage presence; he can pull an entire variety show studio into an atmosphere of extreme emotional tension."
"Hunan TV is determined to grab the ratings this time. Warner Music has also made a bold statement, saying that sending Lin Youjia over is like having a straight-up king of singers."
Zhang Juan interlaced her fingers: "It's not just a battle of singing skills. They need to solidify their position in the music scene across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong by strongly supporting talented singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan."
"The arrangement of 'Left Finger Points to the Moon' is of nuclear weapon level, but in the face of a seasoned and powerful artist, once he counters with extremely restrained breath and emotion, your ultimate high notes will be labeled by the judges as excessive virtuosity. This is a double attack from capital and strength."
Song Ze leaned back in his swivel chair, tapping his fingers on the table.
His mind is extremely clear. The expert-level singing skills on the system panel are always ready, representing the hard skills extracted from national team athletes.
No matter what prince or king they are, in the face of absolute vocal dominance, all the emotional build-up is just a paper tiger.
The office door wasn't closed properly, and half a head peeked through the crack.
Bai Lu swaggered in, carrying a ceramic cup with a cartoon pattern printed on it.
He walked with a nonchalant gait. He had barely approached the table when he keenly sensed the tense atmosphere.
She leaned over and glanced at the list at the top: "Psychedelic Prince."
He took a sip of water and carefully examined his ID photo: "This hairstyle, these facial proportions, it's so depressing."
Turning his head to look Song Ze up and down, he said, "No chance. He looks like he can't fight. He's far inferior to my senior brother."
The oppressive atmosphere was ripped open by this assertion.
Bai Lu put down her cup, stood with her legs slightly apart, and straightened her back.
He made a loose fist with his right hand and held it to his chin like a microphone, closed his eyes, and tried to portray the restraint and repression described by Zhang Juan.
"I am the King of Illusions—"
The first half of the scale was entirely under control, but when the pitch rose to its highest point and he attempted to switch to falsetto, a cracking sound pierced the entire office area.
Airflow backflows into the intake pipe.
She suddenly bent over, braced her hands on her knees, and coughed violently.
A large patch of red quickly spread up her neck from the base, and her ears turned completely red as well.
Song Ze, who had been maintaining an upright sitting posture, completely lost his composure and burst into loud laughter.
He quickly pulled out his phone with his right hand, unlocked the screen, opened the recording app, and pressed the red button.
Record the entire powerful cough and the cracking sound at the end of the note, then click to save.
Bai Lu finally calmed down, straightened her back, and raised the back of her hand to wipe away the tears she had coughed up from the corners of her eyes.
He pounded his chest forcefully: "That off-key voice is absolutely awful."
He picked up the warm water on the table and gulped down two mouthfuls to calm his nerves: "Senior brother, the heavy responsibility of saving the earth and fighting against the giant monster can only be entrusted to you."
She patted Song Ze on the shoulder: "I'm going to pack my things and go to the opera troupe to level up by slaying monsters. Once you've defeated this prince, I'll treat you to a whole theater of thirteen-spice crayfish."
Looking at the extremely chaotic scene, Zhang Juan helplessly pinched the bridge of her nose, and her tense shoulders did indeed relax a bit.
She pulled a notice stamped with a red seal from the bottom of her briefcase and handed it over:
"Yu Zheng's studio has completed the procedures. The audition for the role of Deng Chanyu, the female general of Chaoge, will be held next Wednesday at 2 PM. The company doesn't have suitable resources to exchange for her, so whether we can get the role depends entirely on our performance on the spot. There are two popular young actresses as competitors."
Bai Lu took the notice, glanced at the address and time, folded it twice casually, and stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans: "Leave it to me."
With everything explained, we prepared to retreat.
Looking down, her gaze precisely fell upon Song Ze's phone screen on the table.
The screen was lit, and the recording interface remained steadily on the latest file.
The duration is fifteen seconds. The filename is clearly stated: "Junior Sister's Psychedelic High Notes".
Bai Lu froze completely.
"Song Ze—" A bloodcurdling roar shook the water in the ceramic cup violently. "You old bastard, you actually recorded this!"
She pressed her hands against the edge of the table, used the momentum to leap up, and fell to the other side of the table, chair and all.
Song Ze reacted extremely quickly. He pushed off the floor with his right foot, causing the office chair to slide half a meter. He then straightened up, grabbed his phone, and held it high above his head.
"It's a valuable vocal training material for new employees in the company."
"Keep it? You big idiot! Delete it!"
Bai Lu ignored everything and pounced straight up on the desk, bypassing it.
Song Ze had a significant height advantage; with his left hand blocking, Bai Lu couldn't reach the edge of the phone at all.
She grabbed Song Ze by the hem of his coat, and the two began a tug-of-war between the sofa and the coffee table.
Zhang Juan quickly picked up the documents and retreated to the corner, afraid of being accidentally injured.
As Song Ze moved, his right hand touched the metal doorknob, pressed it down to open the soundproof door, and he dashed into the outer corridor.
Bai Lu rushed out the door after him, yelling, "If you don't delete this today, I'll take you down with me!"
The corridor floor is paved with polished and waxed marble, which has a very high reflectivity.
Song Ze strode to the corner of the right-hand passage, pressed his body against the wall, and made a clean turn.
Bai Lu chased after him in a hurry. When she reached the corner, the friction of her high heels failed, and her feet slipped on the floor. Her body fell forward due to inertia.
boom.
Instead of the expected pain of hitting a wall, I slammed solidly into a warm lump of flesh.
Bai Lu quickly looked up and apologized, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."
When she saw the other person's face clearly, she froze on the spot.
The person who arrived was none other than Lin Shishi...