Chapter 31

After parting ways with the Zheng sisters, Zhang Chengyuan got into Park Byung-ryul's car to head home. In the car, Park Byung-ryul suddenly said, "Those two sisters have great potential. If they are well-trained, they have a good chance of becoming famous in the future."

Although he didn't say it clearly, Zhang Chengyuan, who had been working with him for a long time, naturally understood that he meant the two sisters, Xiao Shuijing, had excellent looks and temperament, with the potential to become stars. Zhang Chengyuan asked indifferently, "If that's the case, why don't you think of a way to bring them into the company?"

Park Byung-ryul chuckled, "Do you think our Logosfilm Advertising Agency is a large entertainment company like SM or DSP? Our company doesn't have the resources to cultivate potential stars for a long time. They are twelve and six years old, respectively. By the time they mature, the company might have gone bankrupt. You should know that many small entertainment companies like ours go bankrupt every year. Only those who can start making money immediately after a bit of training are our company's hiring strategy. Of course, if we get lucky and the company grows, we will also recruit many trainees for professional training."

Zhang Chengyuan was the most valued talent for Park Byung-ryul at the moment, almost considered the lifeline of the company. He was counting on Zhang Chengyuan to bring in substantial profits and opportunities for the company's growth after he became famous. Knowing that his company was too small to offer Zhang Chengyuan much benefit, and understanding that Zhang Chengyuan was a person who valued emotions, Park Byung-ryul tried to deepen their friendship through emotional connections, using various methods to strengthen their bond so that they could cooperate for a long time, even for a lifetime. With this in mind, Park Byung-ryul was always sincere and open with Zhang Chengyuan, speaking and acting without any reservations, treating him like family. After a year of effort, their relationship became even closer, and they got along very well, almost indistinguishable in terms of hierarchy and roles.

Zhang Chengyuan was not concerned about the development strategy of the advertising agency. He knew nothing about it and couldn't offer useful suggestions even if he wanted to help Park Byung-ryul, so he remained silent.

Park Byung-ryul, accustomed to Zhang Chengyuan's brevity, immediately changed the topic when he saw that Zhang Chengyuan was not interested. He said, "I plan to find a high-quality female model. Even if she can't match you, she should at least be on the level of Yoon Eun-hye, who worked with you today. What do you think?"

Zhang Chengyuan pondered and said, "Yoon Eun-hye is indeed excellent! Your idea is also good! At least we won't have to borrow models from other companies every time we need one." Logosfilm Advertising Agency currently had a few decent female models, but they were not qualified to work as the lead in advertisements with Zhang Chengyuan.

...

The next day, Zhang Chengyuan and Yoon Eun-hye worked together for another morning, completing the remaining scenes of the school uniform advertisement in one go. After a mediocre "wrap party," they exchanged contact information and parted ways.

This collaboration left a good impression on both of them, and they both had the idea of strengthening their friendship. After all, the entertainment industry is complex and competitive. Having more friends to rely on increases the chances of success and can even save one's career when things go downhill. However, perhaps due to Yoon Eun-hye's strict company schedule, the two did not meet again for a long time, only talking on the phone a few times.

On the other hand, the young girl Zheng Xiujing, after getting Zhang Chengyuan's phone number during their first meeting, often contacted him, telling him about various interesting and unfortunate events in her life, even sharing family secrets like how her mother scolded her and how her sister bullied her. She would seek praise, comfort, and even small gifts from Zhang Chengyuan, treating him like her own big brother.

Over time, Zhang Chengyuan also felt as if he had gained a cute, affectionate little sister. Zheng Xiujing's parents, learning about Zhang Chengyuan from Zheng Xiuyan, also appreciated and recognized him after a few interactions. They were happy to let Zheng Xiujing freely contact Zhang Chengyuan.

Whenever he had free time, Zhang Chengyuan would disguise himself and take Zheng Xiujing to various places in Seoul, trying all kinds of street food, taking commemorative photos, hoping to leave her with some beautiful childhood memories before she left for the United States.

Although Zheng Xiujing was of Korean descent, she held American citizenship and had grown up and been educated in the United States. Her parents did not plan to have her return to Korea for school, so she was about to go back to the United States to continue her education.

During these days, she had a great time running around with Zhang Chengyuan, completely forgetting about her return to the United States. However, all good things must come to an end. Despite her tears and protests, she had to leave Korea, following her father back to the United States. She left a message for Zhang Chengyuan to call her often and asked him to take good care of her sister, Zheng Xiuyan.

Zheng Xiuyan did not go to the United States but stayed in Korea as a trainee, and specifically, a trainee of one of the top large entertainment companies, SM Entertainment. The young girl was worried that her sister might be bullied, so she entrusted her most trusted person, Zhang Chengyuan, to take care of her sister. Zhang Chengyuan readily agreed to her request.

Before meeting Zhang Chengyuan, Zheng Xiuyan had already been discovered by SM Entertainment's talent scouts and passed their audition. She was supposed to enter the company earlier for formal and intensive training, but due to a certain degree of camera shyness, which affected her training, the company asked her to go home and adjust her mindset until she overcame this psychological barrier.

After seeing Zhang Chengyuan and Yoon Eun-hye perform confidently in front of the camera a few times, Zheng Xiuyan's fear of the camera suddenly disappeared, perhaps realizing that the camera wouldn't harm her. After overcoming this issue, Zheng Xiuyan became a formal trainee of SM Entertainment and began her busy and arduous training.

However, SM Entertainment had countless trainees, and many new talents were constantly joining. Among them, there were many who were as talented or even more talented than Zheng Xiuyan. For Zheng Xiuyan to debut was not easy. Compared to Zhang Chengyuan, it would be dozens or even hundreds of times more difficult. Fortunately, she was young and highly malleable. As long as she worked hard and practiced diligently, she would eventually achieve her dream.

Zhang Chengyuan had no doubt about this. Even if SM Entertainment did not give Zheng Xiuyan the opportunity to debut, Zhang Chengyuan believed that by then, he would have the ability to help Zheng Xiuyan realize her dream, finding her a management company that could help her debut. This was not difficult. At least a small company like Logosfilm Advertising Agency would be very interested in a well-trained Zheng Xiuyan and would be willing to invest resources to help her debut.

Zhang Chengyuan did not dislike Zheng Xiuyan, but he did not particularly like her either. Out of respect for her being Zheng Xiujing's sister, he would greet her and chat a bit when they met, but that was all. His willingness to help and take care of her was purely out of consideration for Zheng Xiujing.

This might be because Zhang Chengyuan and Zheng Xiuyan had similar personalities, both being cold on the outside but warm on the inside. They usually did not take the initiative to get close to others, which made their relationship far less intimate than that between Zheng Xiujing and Zhang Chengyuan. Although they were not completely incompatible, they were not much better.

Originally, their futures seemed to have no more intersections. However, Zheng Xiujing's request for Zhang Chengyuan to take care of her sister before leaving made Zhang Chengyuan and Zheng Xiuyan a pair of step-siblings who were sometimes cold and distant, and sometimes caring and supportive over the next few years.