Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

"Brother Xu, there's another competition next week, right? Your time is precious, and to take time out from your busy schedule to meet with me offline, I must treat you well,"

Lin Chuan said with a smile, "Plus, my sister has come to support us. Since she calls me brother, we can't let ourselves be at a loss."

"This place was recommended by a friend of mine. She said the fish at Fongyu Garden is pretty good. They're all signature dishes, and since my sister doesn't come often, let's order a few more to try."

"It's okay to waste a little, as long as Brother Xu and my sister are happy, that's what matters most."

"Thank you, is your friend also in Xinghai?" Xu Qingyan turned his head and replied with a smile, "We few can't finish all these dishes."

"Yes, in Xinghai. Brother Xu, you should have an impression of her. A singer I met before, considered a senior to me, her name is Jiang Ling."

Hearing the name Jiang Ling, Xu Qingyan was startled for several seconds.

Jiang Ling... Jiang Ling from Cloud Wing Entertainment? Last time her agent called me, and afterward, she also called me, but I rejected both calls.

"She's in Xinghai too? Aren't big stars usually very busy?" Xu Qingyan asked, but he didn't mean to offend, "Someone from Cloud Wing Entertainment."

"Indeed a big star, should I ask her?" Lin Chuan coughed and couldn't help but laugh, "I'll just invite her over, she's been wanting to meet Brother Xu."

"Sure, you're the host, I'll go with you," Xu Qingyan said, looking up.

Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan's smile immediately became constrained. He stood up with a smile, indicating that he was going outside to make a call, and inwardly he couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive.

If he was the host, he had to take responsibility. If the meal didn't end happily, then it was all on him.

Initially, he didn't want to complicate matters, but he couldn't withstand owing Jiang Ling a big favor. Back when he was a newbie, Jiang Ling took good care of him.

Now the entertainment industry has seen a new wave of talent come through. Times change. The once influential don't hold as much sway, and to be approached just to have a meal is naturally hard to refuse.

Lin Chuan had guessed that Xu Qingyan probably didn't get along with Cloud Wing Entertainment. Originally, he planned to have Jiang Ling make her entrance once the dinner was well underway.

But Xu Qingyan brought it up himself, seeming not to dislike Jiang Ling.

Stepping out of the private room, Lin Chuan dialed Jiang Ling's mobile number and took a deep breath, putting on a smile.

"Sister Jiang, good news, come on over," he said.

.....

The private room was quiet.

Xu Qingyan and Li Yang didn't wait long before the dishes started to arrive.

About ten minutes after Lin Chuan finished the call, Jiang Ling wearing high heels rushed to the private room. She slowed her steps just before the door.

After knocking, Lin Chuan opened the door for her.

As she entered and was about to speak, her eyes suddenly caught sight of a modestly dressed girl timidly sitting next to Xu Qingyan. The prepared greeting in her head came to a halt.

"This is Teacher Xu's sister, she's just arrived in Xinghai for university," Lin Chuan timely introduced.

Li Yang looked up at the flamboyantly dressed woman—tiny waist, exaggeratedly perky chest, the tight skirt drawing alluring curves, legs swathed in black stockings.

Familiar, yet she couldn't recall on which TV program she'd seen her.

"I've heard so much about you, Teacher Xu," Jiang Ling said with a polite smile, not too effusive.

She had already reached out to Xu Qingyan twice before, making this the third encounter. Three visits to the thatched hut, finally facing him, too eager would only show a lack of status.

She just wanted to get to know Xu Qingyan, not to fawn over him.

"Hello, we've talked on the phone," Xu Qingyan stood up and said with a smile, "Since Lin Chuan introduced you, then we're friends."

Xu Qingyan's use of the word 'friends' immediately let Lin Chuan breathe a sigh of relief.

"Let's all sit down and talk," he said.

The three of them chatted for about half an hour, with Li Yang just keeping her head down and eating, occasionally looking up to respond to a question, such as which university in Xinghai she attended, what major she was studying.

Most of the time, it was the three others chatting about things Li Yang couldn't understand.

Lyrics and music, new song.

Only when gossip about the industry came up did Li Yang perk up her ears to listen. Occasionally, she'd hear familiar celebrity names, but it was all trivial gossip.

The dinner went on until nine o'clock, and Li Yang stood up to go to the restroom, while Lin Chuan said he would go to the front desk to hurry up the desserts.

In the private room, only Xu Qingyan and Jiang Ling were left.

"I won't beat around the bush, I want to approach Teacher Xu for a song," Jiang Ling got straight to the point, taking a deep breath, "I asked Lin Chuan to set up this dinner, he didn't know I was coming originally."

Without anyone else, Xu Qingyan visibly relaxed.

In his eyes, Jiang Ling was just a nobody, especially since she was from Cloud Wing Entertainment, and Lin Wanzhou had said that no one from Cloud Wing Entertainment was normal.

The man had no special virtues except for one: he was open to advice.

When a colleague said not to shake your legs, Xu Qingyan would ignore it completely, thinking, what's wrong with shaking legs? Mind your own business. Yet when someone mentioned that shaking legs could scatter one's wealth, he felt he should change this bad habit.

Riding his bike, he loved to ride over manhole covers with a clang. When he heard that running over manhole covers could bring bad luck, he instantly avoided them.

Initially, he was skeptical, but Lin Wanzhou mentioned that Yun Yi's music division was constantly losing money. Getting involved would be bad for his finances, and that dispelled his thoughts entirely.

Now, looking at Jiang Ling, he was even more convinced that Cloud Wing Entertainment was losing money.

"I still stand by what I said, I won't collaborate with anyone from Cloud Wing Entertainment," Xu Qingyan leaned back in his chair and sighed, "I'm too busy now anyway."

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't trust the people from Yun Yi, the atmosphere there isn't good," He glanced at Jiang Ling, "I don't want to take the risk and make an arduous, unrewarding profit."

"Does that mean, if I weren't from Yun Yi, you would consider writing a song for me?" Jiang Ling inquired.

At her words, Xu Qingyan fell silent.

"Why are you so insistent on me writing a song? I'm just a mediocre lyricist and composer who, up to now, hasn't gained much fame," he said.

"With your current status, it shouldn't be hard to find an established lyricist and composer to write a song for you, right?"

She didn't have much time and had to cut the long story short.

"The people at Yun Yi have too complicated intentions, and the internal strife is too severe. I've lost hope in them; the promised resources never materialized," she explained.

As she said this, Jiang Ling took a deep breath, closing her eyes. An aura of frustration spread across her face like a falling autumn leaf about to hit the ground.

"The clothes I borrow for events are all out-of-season, you have no idea what that means for a female star. Our industry doesn't allow aging," she said.

"I'm running out of time. If I don't get famous soon... I'll have no chance to turn things around. I don't want to just vanish, I'd rather..."

She stopped short of saying "die," realizing it wasn't the right occasion, and instinctively reached into her bag for a pack of cigarettes. Her hand paused mid-air, then she put it back.

Lin Chuan and the sister Xu Qingyan had brought would be back soon, and smoking wouldn't be appropriate.

Xu Qingyan's hand rested on the table, and he leaned back in his chair.

He gazed at Jiang Ling with depth, the woman in front of him as ripe as a peach. The tangible anxiety hit him head-on; her obsession with "fame" far surpassed the ordinary.

Tap, tap, tap went his fingers on the tabletop, the mood heavy as water.

Today, Jiang Ling wore a beige-fitted dress, her lips aflame. Her makeup was meticulously applied and impeccable under the light.

She couldn't see through the man before her, whose half-lidded eyes seemed contemplative, yet he never lacked confidence.

From "Qing Tian," "I Miss," to "Always Quiet," Jiang Ling had always followed the works written by Xu Qingyan, each more stunning than the last.

There was even a rumor that a certain music contest show was dominated by the twin young divas.

Jiang Ling didn't even need to guess to know whose handwriting those songs bore. Xu Qingyan was undeniably a new generation of songwriting genius, with a path to fame no different from those of popular songwriters.

And now... was the best chance to place her bets. If she wanted to become famous, she couldn't wait until she was thirty.