Chapter 12

Although the situation was dire, Qiao Yuqi couldn’t help but inwardly mock the other person after hearing their words.

These people, who made a living by exploiting young people’s dreams, had the audacity to say that he underestimated the entertainment industry?

However, this also showed how unreliable Jiang Muti’s words were, making them so shocked that they forgot their own unscrupulous position.

But Jiang Muti wasn’t pleased: “What kind of talk is that? Is this the sincerity that should be present in a collaboration?”

“I’ll make it clear right now. Don’t look at him as the slightly better-looking one, but the real core of this duo is me. He’s just a supporting role, a prop.”

“You know the famous duo, Sparrow Legend, right? It’s the same thing. He just needs to show up, and when it’s time to sing, he’ll shout a few simple rap lines. Actually, whether he’s there or not, it doesn’t really make a difference.”

“Is this fat woman crazy? Has she never looked in the mirror? The little gigolo’s looks are just ‘slightly better’ than yours?” One of the men said.

“We handle business, but since we’re in this line of work, we still have some standards of beauty. Who is this fat slob insulting?”

This shameless and utterly clueless statement left everyone from the black-hearted agency in awe, let alone Qiao Yuqi.

He had now realized that this person was here to help him, but how did she know he was here, and why did they suddenly appear alone?

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like this person was sent to deliver his head on a platter.

In a flash of thought, Qiao Yuqi quickly tried to find a way to save himself.

He decided to take advantage of the situation and said to Jiang Muti: “How did you get here so quickly? Weren’t you supposed to go visit your uncle at the police station first?”

Jiang Muti thought to herself, this guy really lived up to his reputation of thriving wherever he went, his brain working fast.

Although these sly, experienced people wouldn’t necessarily believe his words, they were already involved in illegal activities, so they weren’t afraid of a thousand risks, just the one unexpected one.

The most important thing was that Jiang Muti’s appearance did indeed differ from the plan and previous communications, and Qiao Yuqi’s response was flawless. This guy was also a good actor, he didn’t even blink when lying, showing no signs of guilt.

It made it very hard to gauge what was real or fake, and those who were a bit more suspicious might even think this chubby person was originally set up by him as a backup plan for his own safety.

Qiao Yuqi felt that if it were Jiang Muti, she would probably react quickly and cooperate seamlessly with him.

After all, this person was so quick-witted that even he had underestimated her intelligence. Not to mention that she had easily resolved the previous collective targeting incident.

But he never expected that she not only didn’t pick up on his cue but instead started seriously arguing with them about the position in their debut.

“I’m not happy with what you just said. She’s a girl, after all! She’s been eating a lot of sweets lately, and with staying up late and hormones getting all messed up during her period, it’s completely normal for her condition to sometimes look a bit off.”

“I didn’t come here in my best state, and that’s my responsibility, but this severe underestimation and suppression from you—what, you’re trying to pressure us into worse contract terms?”

As she spoke, she flipped open the contract on the coffee table and quickly skimmed through it.

Qiao Yuqi, seeing her act so seriously, felt a headache coming on. But trusting her intelligence, he thought she must have some plan, even if he didn’t know what she was up to.

Fortunately, although she didn’t pick up on his cue, she didn’t make a foolish comment like “What uncle?” either, so it didn’t interfere with his own performance.

Just as he was about to say something, she suddenly slammed the contract back onto the coffee table.

“What are these clauses?” she looked up, glaring at everyone around her. “Hey, I said, you guys really don’t have an ounce of sincerity just because we’re young, huh?”

“What are all these arrangements? What kind of bottom-of-the-barrel jobs are you offering in the beginning? Are you seriously planning our careers?”

The contract had clearly shown it was full of exploitative clauses—anyone with eyes could see that.

However, most people would be concerned with the salary and profit-sharing ratios. The initial work arrangements, though, were sufficient for young people just starting out and unfamiliar with the industry.

The studio’s head gave a half-smile, almost mocking, and said, “Oh? Is it just the work arrangements you’re unhappy with?”

Jiang Muti replied, matter-of-factly, “Of course. It’s not about the money being low, it’s fine if there’s no money at all. I didn’t get into this industry for a few measly coins, but since we’re making such a huge concession on the compensation, then you should show more sincerity in return.”

“How so?”

“Like this clause, where it says I’ll be a supporting role in fashion shows and ad shoots? What does that mean? Are you just treating me like a backdrop? You had the nerve to say that? With my qualifications, even if it’s not a high-end runway show like C or G’s, at least it should be something like the ^[1]“Weimi” (萎靡) in the text is likely a play on words referring to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (维密, Wéimì). The character 萎 (wěi) means “wilted” or … Continue readingWeimi event, a major national commercial gathering, right?”

“Don’t take on work you can’t handle. I thought you were capable from what you said earlier, but it’s clear now that it’s all him failing to communicate properly.”

She also shot Qiao Yuqi an accusing glare, muttering, “If I had known you guys were this incompetent, I wouldn’t have bothered to come.”

The head of the studio wiped his face and stood up from his chair. “Then tell me, according to your expectations, what step do you think we should have reached to make this acceptable?”

Jiang Muti curled her lips. “Looking at your scale, I can’t expect too much. This is the domestic market, and your influence is certainly limited. I didn’t have high expectations anyway.”

“However, even if you guys are useless, with my talent, making me as big as Taylor Swift shouldn’t be a problem, right? You should thank me. To be honest, your role here isn’t that significant, after all, my talent is what’s really at play.”

For a moment, the studio fell into silence. Before this, they had used all sorts of coercion and inducements to get newcomers to sign contracts.

But today, they encountered someone even more shameless than themselves.

Whether the fat woman was really out of her mind or just pretending to be crazy, either way, they couldn’t let her mouth keep running.

Work should be done happily, stressing yourself out mentally serves no purpose.

The head of the studio waved his hand. “Get the fat woman out of the way. We’ll figure it out later, but first, let the kid sign the contract.”

Two people came forward to drag Jiang Muti away, and Qiao Yuqi furrowed his brows. No matter how smart he was, in this situation, it was like a scholar encountering soldiers.

But Jiang Muti wasn’t reacting yet. Was the time for delaying too short?

He quickly stopped the two people. “Enough, I’ll sign the contract, but I just saw the second page. Let me finish reading it, that’s not too much to ask, right?”

They weren’t patient anymore. “After all this, do you think our time is free? Sign it now.”

“It’s pointless even if I sign it,” Qiao Yuqi said bluntly. “Actually, I lied about my age. I’m still not yet sixteen.”

The head of the studio sneered. “Kid, this kind of trick, we’ve seen a thousand times. Even if you’re not of age, there are ways around that.”

As he spoke, two more people came to control him. Qiao Yuqi thought a beating was probably unavoidable and could only hope that the backup plan for the other side would arrive before they did anything worse.

At this moment, Jiang Muti’s voice rang out, full of disappointment and feeling betrayed:

“So, you guys don’t have the resources to support us? You brought us here under false pretenses?”

She continued, seemingly unable to accept the reality: “I don’t care, you must take responsibility, or what happens to my dream of being a singer?”

The head of the studio felt a headache coming on. “Shut her up.”

Before anyone could move, the door was suddenly opened again.

But this time, the way the door opened wasn’t as friendly as when Jiang Muti had entered.

The door didn’t break open directly, but it slammed into the wall with a loud crash, startling everyone in the room, even Jiang Muti, who had been prepared.

Turning around, they saw a group of muscular men standing at the door, arms crossed, glaring at them.

The leader was a mixed-race, handsome man, whom they recognized as the owner of the gym next door.

The head of the studio frowned and said, “What’s the meaning of this? Although we work on the same floor, we’ve always kept our distance.”

Marco ignored him and instead couldn’t help but tease Jiang Muti, “I’ve been listening outside for so long, and I never realized that Miss here has such a strong desire to perform.”

At this, Jiang Muti stood up, pulled Qiao Yuqi over, and switched the stance of both sides.

She picked up the contract and sneered twice, “This thing, it takes away the best years of so many young people, draining them dry.”

She then tossed the contract to Marco. “Since they refuse to sign me, I’m starting to doubt whether this place even has a legitimate talent agency license.”

“Please hand these over to the police. And there’s definitely more surprises in the studio. I’ll have Old Yun contact you later. If there’s any trouble, let me know.”

Marco understood her intention. This small, and shabby agency might not have real resources, but that didn’t mean they were just a bunch of amateurs.

Given how long they had been operating, they probably had some connections or a background.

He smiled and said, “Well, anyone with the ability to open shops everywhere usually has connections, and they certainly aren’t the only ones.”

“Besides, they’ve harassed my clients and staff more than once, so I’m not really doing you a favor.”

That was true. Marco had plenty of handsome men and beautiful women on his side. As for those here trying to develop their business, they would occasionally use temptation to persuade young people, which was a considerable lure.

The agency now realized they had kicked a rock. The person in charge immediately changed his tone, dropping the previous arrogance.

However, many seemed to think Marco was the one leading the show, and the two kids were just hired to catch people in the act.

Jiang Muti didn’t have the patience to deal with the aftermath, the matters that needed to be handed over to the police were left to them.

As the two left the building, even though Qiao Yuqi was still at odds with her, he knew this matter had to be handled with her help.

If she hadn’t brought people here, the consequences today could have been unimaginable.

But after being so used to feigning gentle kindness, he found it hard to thank her sincerely.

After a long pause, Qiao Yuqi said, “I owe you one. I’ll repay it in the future.”

Jiang Muti waved her hand dismissively. If she had to go through a dangerous martial arts world, this male lead would definitely give off a villainous aura. It seemed like his promise might be useful—possibly even life-saving at a critical moment.

But in a peaceful world, if something happened that her family couldn’t handle, no one else would be able to help either.

So she said, “What are you thinking? Acting like we have some kind of friendship or goodwill.”

“You don’t need to thank me. Helping you out isn’t because I’m kind-hearted, it’s because I see benefits to be gained from you.”