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FLBCP: Chapter 13

Zhao Yao couldn’t help being a bit puzzled by Pei Mingzhan’s familiar tone. Then he noticed the camera not far away and thought it might be the burden of a star in front of the camera.

The two of them simply sat at a blind date table. Pei Mingzhan didn’t stay much longer since he still had his recording duties. He took his partner Xiao Xu in the direction that Zhao Yao had indicated.

Once they left, Yao Bai came over. “My mother kept looking over it. It scared me to death.”

He pulled out the chair opposite Zhao Yao and sat down. “This Pei Mingzhan is quite talkative. He didn’t seem to put on airs.”

“It’s fine.” Zhao Yao had a headache and pinched between his eyebrows. This place was cool but the sun on this hot day made his head ache.

Yao Bai finished speaking and added, “I just watched you from behind. If I didn’t already know that the two of you aren’t familiar with each other, I would’ve thought he had a good relationship with you.”

“Why do you say so?”

“I feel it.” Yao Bai thought of the scene just now. “I always feel that his attention is all on you.”

This was the scene of a recording and he heard that the game was hide-and-seek. Shouldn’t normal guests pay attention to the movement on the other side of the square? Meanwhile, Pei Mingzhan didn’t even look over there and pushed Yao Bai to sit with the girl.

“It would be strange if he looks over there. Paying too much attention will only expose himself. Don’t forget that he is an actor.” Zhao Yao slowed down his words. “It is too far away here. I can’t hear what they are talking about.” It was a bit difficult to observe from expressions alone. The crux of the discussion wasn’t heard.

Yao Bai was shocked. “Do you want to get closer? Isn’t that directly joining the chat?”

Over there, there was a small flower bed that made it easy to listen around the corner. In addition, there was the girl’s parents who were commentating to add a conversation so getting closer wouldn’t make it a three-way meeting.

Zhao Yao was about to say something when he saw a figure walking quickly behind Yao Bai.

The person was wearing the work clothes of the blind date staff and there was a worker’s card hanging from their chest as they walked around. Wasn’t this Ms Yao who scared Yao Bai? She was rolling up her sleeves as she walked and stared straight over here.

“……” Zhao Yao was silent.

Yao Bai was wondering how to persuade his brother to join a group chat to explore the secrets of dating instead. Just then, he felt a chill go down his spine. Before he could turn back, he heard Ms Yao’s distinctive high voice. “Yao Xiaobai!”

Yao Bai, “!!!”

Zhao Yao hadn’t seen Ms Yao for many years. Yao Bai had served as his assistant so early in his life that in his previous life, he hadn’t seen Ms Yao for almost 10 years.

This lady was just as strong as he remembered. She didn’t listen to Yao Bai’s explanation and directly pressed his shoulder to take him to the backstage area of the small cultural theater.

There were many staff members backstage. IN addition to the staff of the blind date meeting, there were several members of the Cultural Tourism program team.

Ms Yao saw that Zhao Yao came here in a wheelchair. She hurried to let him sit in an air-conditioned place and also gave him a few bottles of mineral water. “Xiao Yao, sit here first. Auntie has to go and do something else.”

Zhao Yao replied politely, “You should do your work first.”

Ms Yao was a tough but delicate and gentle woman. Zhao Yao was friends with Yao Bai and he had visited Yao Bai’s house when they were in university. Ms Yao knew that Zhao Yao lived with a housekeeper. When he was studying, she would always invite him and Uncle Wang to have tea at home as long as she was in S City.

Her relationship with Uncle Wang was also good. Every time she didn’t speak, she didn’t have scruples because of Zhao Yao’s identity. She treated him as a child of a relative or friend. She was very close and gentle.

Now… Zhao Yao saw her lecturing Yao Bai on the other side and thought about how to help Yao Bai resolve the siege.

There were many other people in the backstage area of the theater. Suddenly, Zhao Yao heard a soft guitar sound from the corner and vaguely heard someone humming softly. He followed the sound and saw a simply dressed young man sitting in a corner of the theater. He was wearing a cap and holding a guitar.

Yao Bai was arguing with Ms Yao. “I really came here to work. Otherwise, why would I come with Brother Yao? Didn’t I tell you the other day that I am busy with work during this time?”

“What type of work would take you here? Are you lying to your mother?”

“Can I just pass by? Brother Yao heard that you were holding a blind date and wanted to see you while passing by.” He glanced at Zhao Yao and happened to see Zhao Yao’s wheelchair moving to a corner of the backstage. It seemed to be the innermost area where a young man was playing the guitar.

Ms Yao placed her hands on her waist. “Is this true?”

“Why would I lie to you?” Yao Bai thought to himself that accompanying his boss to see people on blind dates was work. He wasn’t lying. Then he glanced at the people inside. “Mom, who is that person playing the guitar?”

“Oh, are you talking about Xiao Ji?” Ms Yao changed the topic. “I met him when I was dancing. His singing is very good. I heard he was a bar singer before but he seems to have fallen out with his boss these days. It is so pitiful that a person living in S City might lose his job. It just so happened that we needed several people to perform here so I invited him to come.”

“Oh.”

So what was Brother Yao doing there? An acquaintance?


The outside square was lively while the backstage of the theater was slightly quieter. The staff performed their duties and the only thing was a small quarrel between the organizer Ms Yao and a young man. Ji Heyu listened to these noisy sounds while huddling in a corner and checking his guitar.

Coming to the cultural theater to perform was just his temporary job. The organizer, Ms Yao, was a member of the Cultural Square Dance Troupe and a regular customer of his performances at night. Ji Heyu used to work in a bar but on his evening shift, he occasionally performed on the roadside when passing by the cultural theater every day. He didn’t make a lot of money but he was relaxed and happy.

This time, Ms Yao invited him to perform at the blind date meeting. The salary was okay so he came. Once it was in the middle of the blind dates, the organizers would hold several performances to warm up the scene. Ji Heyu picked a well-known love song. He had nothing to do so he sat in the corner and practiced the song.

He was halfway through when he noticed a wheelchair appear in front of him. He raised his head slightly and saw a good-looking young man sitting in the wheelchair. He had often listened to his colleagues at the bar talk so he immediately noticed that the watch on the young man’s wrist was worth at least a few million…

“Hello.” The young man in the wheelchair reached out. “What are you called?”

Ji Heyu stood up straight and hurriedly shook the person’s hand. “Hello, I am Ji Heyu.”

“Is it your stage name?” The young man asked.

“No, it is my name.”

“It suits you very well.”

Ji Heyu suddenly didn’t know how to deal with this type of conversation. In the face of the questions, he had to respond.

The young man told him, “You play the guitar well.”

Ji Heyu answered, “I studied it for a few years.”

The young man paused for a moment before asking, “Have you ever been trained in singing?”

“No…” Ji Heyu’s voice slightly weakened. “It is a hobby… I learned it by myself.”

His singing skills actually weren’t very good. In most cases, he sang along with the music. Some skills were learned from online videos but he felt he was still immature.

The young man was silent for a while as he glanced at Ji Heyu from time to time.

Ji Heyu was a bit uncomfortable. “Are you looking for me for something?”

Zhao Yao was purely attracted by Ji Heyu’s voice. This person had average guitar skills but his voice conditions were superior. This type of sound wasn’t like the mellow bass of a mature male but it was a slightly sunny and frivolous youthful tone, making people feel very comfortable.

Zhao Yao wondered, “Do you want better development?”

Ji Heyu had encountered this type of character at the bar before. After being warned by his colleagues, he learned there were many people in the entertainment circle who spread out nets to catch fish. They would first trick people into signing a contract with the company before using the contract to not let them go.

He thought he was a bit self-aware. How bright was the entertainment industry right now? It was harder for newcomers to get a position in it. He couldn’t dance and didn’t have good body conditions. It was just his pure voice that was slightly special. If he entered the entertainment industry, he would be nothing more than a small fish raised in captivity in the big nets of the entertainment companies.

Ji Heyu asked, “Are you a scout?”

“No.”

“So why are you looking for me?”

Zhao Yao inquired, “Do you have a pen and paper?”

“yes.” Ji Heyu took out a post-it note and ballpoint pen from the backpack beside him and handed it to the young man. “Here you go.”

Zhao Yao took it and wrote a string of numbers on the post-it note. “My surname is Zhao. If you are interested in what I said, you can contact my assistant.”

Ji Heyu took the post-it note and pen in a daze.

At this time, someone came from the other side. It was the person who had just been bickering with Ms Yao. He held the wheelchair and turned it around. “Brother, I didn’t look at you for a while and you ended up here. There are many things backstage. Don’t trip over them.”

Zhao Yao asked, “Did you talk to your mother?”

Yao Bai had escaped from the sea of suffering. “I told her I came here for work and came to see her along the way. Fortunately, I went out with you or she wouldn’t have believed me. Let’s withdraw as soon as possible. We won’t be able to leave once she reacts.” There had been too many things on this day. First, they ran into a celebrity filming a show and then he was caught by Ms Yao. Once the master came to check his brother’s Feng shui, he would also ask if he was unlucky this month.

Zhao Yao nodded politely to Ji Heyu before allowing Yao Bai to push him out.

Yao Bai waited until they were far away before asking, “Brother, do you know that person just now?”

“I don’t know him. I thought he sang quite well so I asked him if he was interested in continuing to develop.” Zhao Yao explained.

Yao Bai was stunned when he heard this. “Continue to develop? Do you want him to enter the entertainment industry? No, Brother, do you really want to enter the entertainment industry?” His brother had just talked with Huihua a few days ago. Now he saw someone who sang well on the roadside and asked the person if they wanted to enter the entertainment industry.

“The matter with Huihua hasn’t been settled yet, right?” Yao Bai couldn’t understand it. Things were going too fast.

“I’m not in a hurry regarding Huihua. If Chen Xi doesn’t want to cooperate then I won’t force it.” Zhao Yao continued, “His voice is in good condition and he hasn’t received any proper training. He has a bit of talent. His appearance conditions aren’t bad but his body is too thin.”

Yao Bai was dumbfounded. “Do you want to change to become an agent?”

Zhao Yao glanced at him. “I’m not right. There are many excellent agents in the industry. I’ll just poach a few of them.”

Huihua’s Chen Xi was Zhao Yao’s target but he wouldn’t force it if the person didn’t want it. Now and the future was the era of entertainment. After taking over the Zhao family, he had planned to enter the entertainment industry but before he could implement the project, he ended up in the medical facility due to physical reasons.

Since he wanted to invest in this industry, he still understood some things.

“You asked this question. Did he treat you as a scout?” Yao Bai didn’t know that his brother would look at an amateur. “Besides, we aren’t professionals. Can this be accurate?”

Zhao Yao’s expression was casual. “I like his voice very much. I just mentioned a path.”

Yao Bai muttered, “If this was a TV series, you would just spend money.” If a person like his brother encountered someone he liked, shouldn’t he throw a love contract like the overbearing president in a novel before having a happy ending with the little wolf dog? His brother didn’t understand the routines at all.

They left the backstage area and a sultry heat hit them. Yao Bai was still talking about the modern dog-blood drama he had watched in the last two days when he heard Zhao Yao suddenly ask, “Xiao Bai, what do you think a rich person is?”

“A rich person?” Yao Bai’s mind returned. “Brother Yao, isn’t it you?”

“I don’t count. You should be more careful.’

Yao Bai, “……?”

Had the threshold for being rich in society been raised?

“People who win the lottery are suddenly rich. The range is too wide.” Yao Bai thought for a moment before continuing, “Different people have different opinions. You need to compare them to know. For example, ordinary people see millions of family assets as being rich but for a rich second generation, millions is just a sports car.”

Zhao Yao smiled. “It seems I still have to be a rich person first.”

The entertainment industry was one of the big leaders in the future. There was an entertainment company under the Zhao Group that wasn’t managed much. It wasn’t a problem to discuss with Zhao Changshuo about getting it.

It was completely fine to use his spare money and the assets left by his mother to start an entertainment company. Once the time came, he would hire a professional team to do the work and not have to worry too much. This left had just begun and he didn’t want to do everything himself. He still remembered the physical exhaustion caused by work in his previous life but he also had to earn money. There was still some time before his old age.

Yao Bai wondered, “Brother, I don’t understand what you want to do.”

Zhao Yao was calm. “Make money.”

Yao Bai felt that his brother hadn’t just become strange recently, even the words were elusive. It was as if the conversation that had been normal just now was entering the field of philosophy.

Ji Heyu walked up to Ms Yao. He watched the wheelchair getting further away and couldn’t help inquiring, “Aunt Yao, who was that gentleman just now?”

“My son’s boss. He just passed by on a business trip. “Ms Yao noticed the post-it note in Ji Heyu’s hand. “I just saw him talk to you. Don’t you know him?”

Boss? In other words…

Ji Heyu was stunned and answered with difficulty, “He just asked me if I wanted to continue to develop…”

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