Chapter 9: Signing Artists
Assistant Guan was stunned for a moment but quickly went to summon Shang Liu, the deputy general manager who had provided these documents, to Yin Chengjue’s office. He then investigated the few individuals Yin Chengjue had singled out and indeed uncovered some irredeemable stains on their reputations.
So, he gathered the materials on these tainted artists and brought them to Yin Chengjue’s office. After knocking and entering, he placed the stack of incriminating evidence—thicker than the artists’ profiles—right in front of Shang Liu.
Initially, it was Shang Liu who had instructed him to deliver these artist profiles to Yin Chengjue.
Yin Chengjue was new to his position and had gotten it through nepotism, so many in the company didn’t respect him. In the beginning, Yin Chengjue had indeed struggled with management, leaving most of the work to Shang Liu. Documents were only brought to Yin Chengjue for his signature when necessary—essentially treating him like a human-shaped signing machine.
At first, Assistant Guan had tried to review the documents for Yin Chengjue, but as the workload grew, he became overwhelmed, occasionally missing things.
Like today—Assistant Guan had only checked that the artist contracts were legally sound before delivering them to Yin Chengjue.
Fortunately, Yin Chengjue himself had noticed that these artists had questionable character and irredeemable stains on their records. Signing them recklessly would not only fail to bring profit to the company but also damage its reputation.
If that happened, the higher-ups would only blame Yin Chengjue for incompetence and question his suitability for the role, while Deputy General Manager Shang would remain largely unaffected.
After all, before Yin Chengjue’s sudden appointment, Shang Liu had managed Huansheng Entertainment perfectly well.
Was this intentional?
Assistant Guan glanced at Shang Liu, who was seated across from Yin Chengjue.
However, before Shang Liu could speak, Yin Chengjue took the initiative: "I know Deputy General Manager Shang didn’t do this on purpose. He just overlooked it. When managing so many people, there are bound to be some with ulterior motives." A few contracts with tainted artists weren’t worth souring relations with Shang Liu over.
Shang Liu clearly understood this as well and took the offered way out: "It’s a relief that General Manager Yin understands. I’ll make sure to discipline those with impure intentions when I return."
"That’s your business, Liu Liu. Actually, I called you here today for another important matter." Yin Chengjue interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them.
"Liu… Liu?" Shang Liu’s eye twitched.
"I recently came across a show featuring many newcomers, some of whom aren’t signed to any company yet. If they’re suitable, I’d like to sign a few." Yin Chengjue pulled out his phone, opened the official Weibo page of Hey Brother, Let’s Debut!, and placed it in front of Shang Liu.
Shang Liu waved dismissively. "I’ve seen plenty of talent shows. Most are rigged, and the majority of contestants are already signed to companies. Those without backing get their screen time cut repeatedly—no one remembers their names, so they don’t get votes. No matter how talented they are, the audience never sees them. In the end, only those with company support and PR manipulation make it."
His gaze at Yin Chengjue seemed to say: You’re still too green, as he drawled, "Contestants without company backing get eliminated early. No matter how skilled they are, they won’t get popular. Signing them is pointless. As for those already signed, you’d have to pay breach-of-contract fees, and most of them only got their rankings through vote manipulation—their actual skills are watered down. They’re not worth the compensation. In an era where new stars are a dime a dozen, they’ll be forgotten in a year or two."
Yin Chengjue pulled up a trainee’s photo and performance video and showed it to Shang Liu again. "I want to sign this one. He’s not under any company."
Shang Liu’s previously dismissive expression froze the moment he saw the image. "This face… and he’s unsigned?"
Yin Chengjue smiled. "I checked. He’s not in a group or signed to any agency—just him alone. With looks like this, even if his screen time is minimal, even if it’s just a flash, it’s enough to catch attention."
The ML?
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