Chapter 1

Summer, evening.

In the public lounge of Tianhe Entertainment, Ye Qing had been sitting there for almost four hours.

During this time, people were constantly coming and going in the lounge, discussing new movies, new variety shows, and the recent incident of a "famous young idol singing off-key on stage." These people also saw Ye Qing resting there—but they quickly turned away and continued their conversations, completely ignoring him.

This guy!

Ye Qing muttered to himself: Although they say I'm washed up now, I'm still a signed artist and a once-popular singer. Yet, appearing here, no one pays any attention to me...

He lifted the brim of his cap:

Am I really this washed up now? The company doesn't even think about rescuing me?

Well, the company indeed hasn't thought much about it.

In this ever-changing entertainment industry, the younger the artist, the more they seem to be favored by both the company and the market. The company signs young artists because they can earn money for the company for a longer time in the future, while the market trend is inevitably towards young idols and internet celebrities.

Ye Qing is twenty-five this year.

At this age, he's not considered old. Some artists even become popular close to thirty and can still attract a wave of young fans, becoming young idols.

But that's just a minority.

In most cases, if an artist hasn't shown any signs of popularity by this age, people start to panic. And if they've already been popular and then faded, they may not be seen as valuable by the company anymore.

Naturally, the same applies in the eyes of others.

Gradually losing value.

After all, the entertainment industry is never short of washed-up artists, especially those who faded after participating in talent shows—every year, there are too many talent shows in the country, producing a batch of new talent show participants. Even if you were popular at the time, the next batch can still overshadow you...

The night of the talent show debut.

Or the night of elimination, is the peak moment for ordinary talent show participants, and once the show ends, they start to fade away.

Once washed up, they remain so until today.

Given the young age at which artists in the entertainment industry debut nowadays, he has been jokingly called "old cured meat" by his friends. Although it's a teasing term, it's true that he's no longer in the naive and ignorant age.

So, when the company scheduled a meeting with him today and the person was late?

He didn't say much about it.

...

Ye Qing, male, graduated from Beijing Film Academy.

He is also a washed-up artist.

Nearly five years ago, he debuted in the famous talent show "Super Boys" on Hunan TV, placing fifth, which made him somewhat well-known. Achieving this result was no easy feat—he had already signed with Tianhe Entertainment before participating in the show, so he entered the competition with a contract.

Making it to fifth place...

Can be considered a favor from Tianhe Media, as they co-produced the show with Hunan TV to promote their own signed artists.

After debuting, Tianhe Entertainment was not a major company at the time, so Ye Qing's popularity was more of an experiment for them: good popularity? Then take on all kinds of commercials, bad films, fan-exclusive songs, and commercial performances...

In short, the company needed to make money.

New artists sign contracts, and this is the time to exploit them—just a five-year contract.

So Ye Qing quickly faded.

However, during this period, the entertainment industry rapidly developed, and Tianhe Entertainment rose quickly through self-produced TV series and films, gradually expanding their business and eventually becoming a decent entertainment company.

The future looks promising.

But a good company doesn't necessarily mean good for the artists, so the most likely scenario for Ye Qing is to continue staying with Tianhe Entertainment as a washed-up artist, participating in some mixed events and using the company's leftover resources.

When his five-year contract is about to expire, he won't renew and will leave the industry.

But...

At this point, something unexpected happened—Ye Qing from Earth and Ye Qing here swapped lives, and he crossed over to this parallel world.

Oh, this is interesting.

After more than two weeks of adjustment in this parallel world, Ye Qing found that many things haven't changed, such as the social environment; but some things have changed, like the entertainment industry: some movies, TV series, stars, and singers, as well as other aspects.

For example, the company is currently busy with the pre-promotion of a major production called "War," which Ye Qing has never heard of.

Completely baffled.

Fortunately, he has some vague memories left by the original Ye Qing, and the internet, so after gradually accepting the reality, he didn't have any immediate plans and was also curious about the life of an artist, so he decided to follow the plot...

Or rather, follow the company.

Ride the donkey and read the account book—wait and see.

...

Another hour passed, and the person still hadn't arrived.

Ye Qing idly played with his phone and accidentally scrolled to the trending list, where he saw a poster of the company's new rising star, Zhang Chu. The poster showed his ancient costume smile, which was charming and a bit腻... but no one would say that.

Who could blame him for his last show being a hit?

The first thing you learn in an entertainment company is that you only have the right to talk about other things when you're popular. If you're not popular, you end up like Ye Qing, waiting patiently.

"I've arrived at the company."

"Okay, I'll handle this. I'll take a break anyway."

"Alright, see you."

Ten minutes later, finally, a voice came from the stairwell, and a mature woman hung up her phone and walked in.

"Hello, Sister Hua."

Ye Qing was slightly surprised.

Sister Hua, clearly used to the artists' respectful demeanor, nodded: "Yes, let's talk in my office."

After a moment of shock, he immediately got up and followed.

He didn't expect her to come?

Sister Hua, without exaggeration, is the top agent at Tianhe Entertainment and is well-known in the industry. She didn't originally belong to the company but was poached by the boss, and since then, the company has truly thrived, thanks in part to her efforts.

Such a top agent is often very resourceful.

But then again, the company's agent department called Ye Qing to discuss a new agent—his previous agent had left. So could it be that Sister Hua suddenly saw his potential and was preparing to take him under her wing...

"Sit."

Once in the office, Sister Hua didn't care about his thoughts.

She took out some documents from her bag, clearly printed on the spot and not bound, and succinctly stated: "Don't guess, Ye Qing. I'm here to discuss being your agent."

"...What?"

Ye Qing was genuinely surprised: joking aside, he was just thinking. Sister Hua usually handles either popular artists or those about to become popular, so why would she suddenly come to him?

Could it be...

My inherited main character aura has finally arrived?

...

"Stay calm."

Sister Hua's words calmed Ye Qing's emotions. From her expression, this main character aura might be a pay-on-delivery type.

The shipping platform is Pinduoduo.

She pulled out a few pages from the stack of documents, arranged them on the table, and handed them over, continuing: "I have conditions for being your agent. The first is that you will participate in a talent show called 'Trainee 101.' What do you think?"

Participate in another talent show?

Be a talent show retread?

This term means "someone who has already debuted or has their own works and fans, participating in a talent show again to gain more fans"—but clearly, Ye Qing is neither a trainee nor has many works or fans, and he might not gain many fans...

Ye Qing inwardly complained but maintained a serious expression:

"Okay, Sister Hua."

Whatever, participating again is definitely better than his current washed-up state, and he doesn't have any lingering pride from his past fame. With his contract about to expire, participating in a show to earn some money before leaving is a good idea.

He couldn't find a reason to refuse.

"Alright, but that's not the only condition."

Sister Hua was a bit surprised by Ye Qing's good temper today—had he always been like this, the company might have tried to promote him more. But she didn't think much of it and continued: "Since you're willing to participate in the show, the company has further options for you."

"What?"

"Promote the newbies."

Sister Hua bluntly revealed the reality: "The company has four trainees who are quite good, and they will form a group with you to participate in the competition."

"In the early stages, they will use your fame to open the way—the company will do a wave of nostalgia marketing when the show starts, and later, the company will focus on promoting them."

"Of course, the company will also help you, but the focus will definitely not be on you."

...

So, I'm here to引流for the newbies...

No wonder they want me, who has never been a trainee, to participate in this 'Trainee 101' show.

As for the nostalgia marketing, it's essentially using the audience's memories of their youth to quickly gain attention, but this attention is often short-lived and can be excessive.

But the company has its own plans.

Sister Hua only needs to generate some initial attention for her newbies. With this attention, it will be seen who can stand out—later, the company's PR department will follow up to increase the trainees' popularity, and all kinds of strategies can be used.

The company's plan is clear.

For Ye Qing, participating is fine, but promoting the newbies could lead to the company or the show over-marketing and draining his remaining value...

He remained silent for a moment before asking:

"Sister Hua, what benefits do I get from this?"

"There are benefits."

Sister Hua, surprised by Ye Qing's unusually cooperative attitude tonight, handed over another page of documents and continued: "Your contract expires in six months, right? I'll take you for six months, and if you perform well, we can renew the contract."

This move clearly didn't work on Ye Qing.

After all, promises of future benefits are not realistic.

So, seeing that the young man in front of her showed no other emotions, Sister Hua was even more satisfied and finally revealed the real deal: "And, the company will provide you with two B-level resources in these six months, such as film or TV roles or single releases, which can be negotiated."

"Two B-level resources..."

Ye Qing mentally compared the options.

B-level resources are already quite good for a washed-up artist, and promoting newbies isn't a difficult task—promising A-level or even S-level resources would be unrealistic.

He turned and sat down, saying:

"Alright, I'll do it!"