Studio Superstar: Chapter 59 Part 2

Shen Tingyan’s words were very accurate. The next day, Xue Xiao was called alone to a small meeting room in Building 1.

A male agent from Guanying’s Economics Department was waiting for him there.

The other party got straight to the point. He said that if Xue Xiao signed this contract, he would directly become the number one brother of Guanying.

It sounded like a pie falling from the sky, but the agent said very bluntly that Guanying had only been established for a few years and there weren’t many artists under it. The quality of the professional actors among them wasn’t very good.

This was also the reason why the bosses first considered doing a variety show like Studio Superstar.

—Although it went astray at first and almost became a garbage variety show that promoted garbage actors, the bosses were really focused on the amateurs, group performers, and extras.

Select outstanding unknown actors, use the show for them to gain popularity, and finally sign them to the company.

Traffic was harvested, and the reserve army was enriched. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.

With Xue Xiao’s popularity, he would definitely be the company’s focus if he joined. All resources would be tilted toward him.

The large-scale variety show that Guantian was preparing, the self-made drama they were preparing… Xue Xiao had the opportunity to participate in all of them.

“You don’t have to go back to the film and television studio to act as a background character. You will only become more and more popular in the future.”

“Of course, there will definitely be other companies that will contact you. We won’t stop you, nor will we interfere with your next two rounds if you choose to sign with other companies. The audience will be watching.”

The agent spoke objectively. “But you have to think clearly. Guantian’s resources are all on the surface. They can be seen and touched. We can even directly add the next few resources into your contract. Can other companies do that?”

“No matter how nice it sounds, a blank check isn’t as good as your current contract.”

Xue Xiao listened very carefully but didn’t forget Shen Tingyan’s reminder. He politely said, “Okay, thank you. Can I think about it before I reply?”

“Yes, make a decision, and feel free to contact me.”

After Xue Xiao returned to the dormitory, he inquired and found that Chang Yun, Gu Ling, Zhao Dong, and Jin Xiaochen had all been called to talk.

Not all the remaining 16 participants who hadn’t signed a contract had been contacted, but Guanying was indeed coming in force.

Chang Yun picked at his feet and asked, “What do you intend? Are you going to sign or not?”

Zhao Dong lay on the bed and closed his eyes to rest. “If no other company comes to contact me, just sign. Then again, even if other companies contact me, it might not be as good as Guanying.”

Jin Xiaochen also came to visit. “Yes, if you go to Guanying then you won’t have to worry about jobs, right?”

Zhao Dong shook his head. “That isn’t necessarily the case. If you really mess up after the show, you might only be able to earn a basic salary and then have to go to work part-time. It is a bit like a college student receiving offers after graduation.”

Everyone laughed.

Dou Mingjian came to visit with Xiao Jin. Xue Xiao found that he was a bit silent and asked doubtfully, “Brother Dou?”

Dou Mingjian’s mind returned, and he saw everyone looking over. He smiled bitterly. “I haven’t been notified yet.”

Jin Xiaochen said without thinking, “It isn’t your turn yet. They will definitely call you over tomorrow.”

Dou Mingjian sighed. “I don’t think there is much hope.”

Zhao Dong sat up on the top bunk in a confused manner. “That shouldn’t be the case. Your performance in competitions has been good so far. How could Guanying not sign you? Didn’t Director Feng also say that he wanted to find a friend to sign you?”

Dou Mingjian shook his head.

Saying it was one thing and doing it was another. Dou Mingjian had never received any contact from anyone. He also knew that the circle was like this. Sometimes he couldn’t take people’s words too seriously.

So no matter how excited he was when he was affirmed on stage, his mind cooled down later.

“I am 45 years old this year. No matter how good the competition results are, young people will definitely have more room to develop.”

It wasn’t that the audience only liked young handsome men and beautiful girls. After all, many of the participants weren’t following the path of idols at all.

From the perspective of the market, the popularity of the uncle type was also very high.

However, there were still too few film and television works with non-young leads that had the potential to be popular.

Excellent scripts had long been snatched by the veteran actors who weren’t young. For someone like Dou Mingjian, who was only considered a ‘novice’ at the age of 45, how much effort did it take to get a chance?

Appreciation from the directors, producers, and investors were all metaphysics.

If he waited too long, the audience would forget about him.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible to grab some supporting roles to maintain exposure, but once the competitiveness wasn’t enough, the supporting roles of this age that could be grabbed were often… to a certain extent, they were no different from extras.

Then should Guanying be asked to create a script specifically for Dou Mingjian? It seemed it hadn’t reached this level yet. At the very least, they hadn’t considered it yet.

Therefore, in all aspects, Dou Mingjian might be very powerful, but the return on investment when signing him was too low.

This market was fickle.

Countless netizens had criticized this, but changing this market was difficult and took time.

Maybe Guanying was still thinking about it, but who knows?

There was silence in the dormitory.

After a moment of silence, Xue Xiao broke the silence.

He said with certainty, “At present, the audience has only seen to the second round of the competition. There are three more rounds to come. I think there will be a chance, Brother Dou.”

He said seriously and solemnly, “Someone will definitely want you.”

Dou Mingjian smiled and rubbed his head. “I accept your auspicious words, Xiao.”

……

Xue Xiao didn’t say these words simply to comfort Dou Mingjian. No matter what he thought, he didn’t think Dou Mingjian would be buried like this.

As a result, his words came true faster than anyone could have imagined…

The next day, Xue Xiao received a WeChat message.

It was only then that he realized what Shen Tingyan’s reminder to him yesterday meant.

His heart was pounding as he reported it to the show’s staff. Once he opened the door of his dormitory, he bumped into Dou Mingjian, who also opened the door and came out.

“Brother Dou… what a coincidence!”

“Yes, what a coincidence, Xiao.”

The two of them walked out the camp gate together, talking and laughing.

“Brother Dou, are you going out too?”

“Yes. Where are you going?”

“The place I’m going to is quite close. I can just walk there.”

“Me too. What a coincidence. Let’s go together.”

The two of them crossed the road together, passed by a large shopping mall, and continued eastward. As the route got further and further, the two of them increasingly felt that something was wrong.

“Our paths really overlap. Hahaha…”

“Yes…”

Eventually, they entered the same cafe.

Xue Xiao glanced at his phone. “Brother Dou, I should go to table 10…”

Dou Mingjian had just finished reading the message on his phone. “What a coincidence. Me too…”

Not far away, at table 10 by the window, Fang Lei stood up and waved his little hands cheerfully toward them.

Xue Xiao and Dou Mingjian glanced at each other. They were dumbfounded as they said in unison.

“—So you were also called to negotiate the contract?”

Fang Lei ordered a cup of iced coffee for each of them. After sitting down, he said, “It is hot today. It is hard work to travel all this way.”

Xue Xiao and Dou Mingjian immediately said politely that it wasn’t hard work.

Fang Lei naturally represented Shen Tingyan’s studio. He said, “I guess Guanying’s side must’ve told you that the resources can be written into the contract, blah blah blah.”

Looking at Xue Xiao’s expression, Fang Lei knew that he had guessed correctly.

He chuckled and continued, “I understand their routine. I can also write these contents, but this type of agreement is actually meaningless. The period after the competition is definitely the time when you have the most resources. If they don’t feed you the most resources at that time, why should they sign you? No matter how nice Guanying speaks, they won’t be able to promise you resources after one year. In the end, it still depends on your personal development.”

Xue Xiao also considered this yesterday.

“But there are artists on Guanying’s side who will compete with you. Even if there are fewer artists on their side, and no matter how poor their quality, Guanying can’t put all their energy into you all the time. Our side is different.”

“Your boss—” Fang Lei spoke too smoothly, and he couldn’t help coughing here. “If you are willing to sign—what about your future boss? He had no plans to sign other artists for the time being. You will be the only one in the studio. There are two of you. As long as he is still in the film and television industry, you don’t have to worry about running out of movie jobs.”

Compared with Guanying, the competitive pressure in Shen Tingyan’s studio was definitely less.

Xue Xiao and Dou Mingjian had different development paths. There was no need to worry about competing with each other.

Not to mention…

Their boss was Shen Tingyan.

This man seemed to be careless about everything, but he was by no means a speculative person. He was serious about acting. Naturally, he was also serious about his artists.

Fang Lei talked a lot before saying, “…You can go back and think about it carefully. However, it is best to make a decision as soon as possible. There should be various resources approaching you recently. You have no experience, and it will be very difficult for you to deal with it.”