Chapter 77

In a 24-hour café in Jinling, Li Mu and Chen Wan found a seat by the window and sat opposite each other.

At first, the two of them inquired about each other's lives during the time they hadn't seen each other.

Li Mu's life was colorful. He had just sold an external hack, and there were a bunch of other things like specialty stores, Yi Ting website, and online water armies that he was pushing forward simultaneously. He didn't hide anything from Chen Wan and gave her a general introduction to each project.

Chen Wan was utterly impressed by Li Mu. She racked her brains but couldn't find any other boy of Li Mu's age who could start from scratch and accumulate nearly a million in just over half a month. Moreover, Chen Wan keenly felt that Li Mu's first pot of gold was just the beginning of creating more miracles.

However, compared to Li Mu, Chen Wan's life was much simpler. Although she was interning in Shanghai, it was summer vacation, and her school dormitory was closed. So she rented a single apartment near the TV station. According to her, if her daily movements were drawn, they would be a mess, except for the straight line from the apartment to the TV station, the rest was chasing news all over the city.

Li Mu expressed deep sympathy.

No matter what industry, the life of an intern was not easy. Li Mu knew this well. They earned the least money, did the most miscellaneous work, and hoped that every regular employee could be their boss, giving them orders, which was incredibly miserable.

Chen Wan didn't mind, smiling and saying, "Apart from being a bit tiring, there's nothing else. I can still hold on."

Li Mu nodded and asked, "When does your internship end?"

Chen Wan replied, "At the end of August. If I'm lucky, I might intern at Shanghai Satellite TV for half a year as a formal intern in the second half of my senior year. I'm working hard now to increase my chances of success."

Li Mu raised his eyebrows, surprised, "Didn't you say you planned to intern at our Nan Su Provincial TV?"

Chen Wan pouted, "It was you who said Nan Su Provincial TV had no future. So I thought I'd try my best to see if I could sign with Shanghai Satellite TV after graduation."

Li Mu felt relieved. If Chen Wan had the idea of staying in Shanghai, it meant her life trajectory had already started to change. If she didn't return to Jinling in the end, her husband from her previous life would likely be avoided, right?

But thinking about it, Li Mu felt it wasn't entirely safe.

Who knew who her husband from her previous life was? What if they met at work? What if he was her childhood friend? What if he was the child of her father's friend? Or even one of Zhang Kexuan's buddies...

Li Mu carefully considered. In her previous life, Chen Wan wasn't very popular at Nan Su Satellite TV; she was just a host of a niche program, known locally but not a celebrity. However, if she could go further in the hosting industry and become the host of a super popular program or even the top host of a satellite TV station, her status would rise, and her choice of spouse would also improve accordingly. This would be more secure.

It seemed that to change her future choice of a partner, the first step was to change her career path.

Chen Wan didn't know what Li Mu was thinking as he stared at her with a furrowed brow. She tentatively asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh."

Li Mu came to his senses and chuckled, "Nothing much, just that Sister Wan, you are so beautiful and have such great temperament. If you aspire to be a host, don't position yourself as an ordinary host."

"What is an ordinary host?"

Chen Wan didn't understand what Li Mu meant.

Li Mu smiled, "Hosts of news, weather, talk shows, special programs, and competitive programs are ordinary hosts."

Chen Wan was confused, "Aren't hosts just these? What other extraordinary hosts are there?"

Li Mu smiled meaningfully, "A host who can stand firmly in both the hosting and entertainment industries is an extraordinary host!"

"Entertainment industry..." Chen Wan laughed awkwardly, "Is it that easy to mix in the entertainment industry now? The hosting industry isn't easy either."

Li Mu looked profound, "Being in the entertainment industry doesn't mean you have to sing or act in TV dramas or movies. It means using hosting to influence the entertainment industry."

Currently, TV programs were not as diverse as they would be in the future. In the future, Xiangnan Satellite TV successfully launched several extraordinary hosts, such as He Jiong, Xie Na, and Wang Han. They all had a common feature: they hosted popular variety shows, had a large fan base, and then leveraged fan economy to take ads, release albums, and act in movies.

Among them, Teacher He was the most impressive. He left only one signature song, "Magnolia Blossoms," in the music industry, but this four-minute song was somehow turned into a movie over a hundred minutes long. The most terrifying part was that Teacher He's fans contributed nearly 400 million yuan in box office revenue for this movie.

This was what Li Mu saw as a host with one foot in the hosting industry and one foot in the entertainment industry. To become such a host, one must host a very popular variety entertainment program. There was no other way.

Chen Wan didn't understand what Li Mu meant. The hosting field was far from as diversified as it would be in the future, so Li Mu didn't explain in detail. He just thought that if there was an opportunity in the future, he would have to think of some ideas or create some opportunities for Chen Wan. If she could host a nationally popular variety show, she would definitely become famous.

...

Chen Wan and Li Mu sat in the café until 11:30. Her father called to ask why she hadn't arrived at the hotel, as everyone else was there, and she was the only one missing.

Chen Wan quickly pulled Li Mu out and hailed a taxi to Heng'an Grand Hotel.

In the car, Chen Wan said to Li Mu, "If you don't want to participate, wait for me at the entrance. I'll be out in at most ten minutes, and then we'll go to the station together."

"Okay."

The taxi arrived at Heng'an Grand Hotel. Li Mu waited at the entrance, while Chen Wan ran into the hotel and headed straight for the banquet hall. The atmosphere in the banquet hall was lively. The ten parents were impressed by the simple plan for today's performance and had completely changed their views on their children playing music.

Zhang Kexuan's father, Zhang Zicheng, was the most proud. He said confidently, "Since the children have this talent, I think we should support them wholeheartedly! The four of us will work together, and after the children participate in the competition, we'll find the best record company in the country and fund them ourselves!"

The other three parents also nodded in agreement. To them, the entertainment industry was just about money and connections. Since their children had this talent, with everyone's joint efforts, they would surely become famous faster.

At this moment, Zhang Kexuan shook his head, "Dad, we're not planning to sign with any record company for now."

"I know," Zhang Zicheng smiled, "You want to wait until you win the championship before signing, right?"

"Even if we win the championship, we won't sign," Zhang Kexuan remembered Li Mu's instructions and smiled, "We have a very capable agent who will help us with these issues. We will follow his advice on the band's development."

Zhang Zicheng was surprised, "Where did you find an agent? Is he reliable?"

"Very reliable!" Ye Tianming blurted out, "Uncle Zhang, our agent is very capable. It's all thanks to him that we've gained such high popularity in a short time."

"Is that so?" Not just Zhang Zicheng, but the other parents were also surprised. They racked their brains but couldn't think of any entertainment agents in Jinling.

Ye Tianming's father, Ye Youdao, had heard about this before and now said to the other parents, "Since the children have their own ideas and have already taken the first step, we shouldn't interfere with their path. What we need to do is provide them with sufficient financial support. The rest, I believe they can handle."

Ye Tianming gave his father a thumbs up, "Dad, you're absolutely right!"

The other parents smiled at each other and didn't say more. As long as the children were on the right path and had already achieved something, they were very pleased.

At this moment, Chen Wan pushed the door open. Seeing her, Zhang Kexuan quickly asked, "Xiao Wan, where's Li Mu?"

"He didn't come," Chen Wan didn't dare to say that Li Mu was waiting downstairs, so she said, "Brother, I still need to go to the station later. I just came to congratulate you and have a drink with you, and then I'll leave."

Chen Wan's mother said, "Xiao Wan, don't rush to leave. I'll drive you to the station later."

"No, Mom, stay with Dad. I have a friend with me."

"Then I'll take your friend along."

"Oh, really, there's no need. So many people are celebrating for my brother, you don't have to trouble yourself to take me to the station. It's not far, and I'm not going alone."

Zhang Kexuan seemed to guess that Chen Wan's friend was Li Mu and said, "Aunt, don't worry. I know Xiao Wan's friend, so you can rest assured."

Chen Wan's mother quickly asked, "Male or female?"

"Female," Zhang Kexuan thought quickly.

"Oh," Chen Wan's mother nodded slightly and then said to Chen Wan, "Then go straight to the station after you leave the hotel and meet your friend there. Don't go anywhere else, understand?"

"Got it," Chen Wan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed, giving Zhang Kexuan a grateful look.

Zhang Kexuan blinked and acted nonchalant, but he was thinking, "My silly sister, could she have something with Li Mu? But it's not bad. Li Mu is young, but he's definitely talented. They are a good match."

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