Chapter 7

"......His chest was tied with a whole row of buttons!!"

The theater was very quiet.

In other situations, the audience's quiet attention to the actors on stage would be a comforting and encouraging thing for the performers. But for a comedian, especially when the performance has already passed the halfway mark and there is no laughter, and the audience becomes even quieter, the situation... becomes somewhat awkward.

Zhou Xiao stood on the stage in a semi-new, semi-old suit, with the bright lights overhead scorching him. However, the gazes of the audience in front of him were clearly more uncomfortable for Zhou Xiao.

From his entrance to now, he had already performed three skits, and the result of these three skits was... not a single laugh!

On both sides of the stage, connecting to the backstage, many of the previous performers and staff were nervously watching Zhou Xiao's performance. Among these people, some were watching with worried and anxious hearts, like Uncle Jingshang. Seeing Zhou Xiao perform poorly and create a cold atmosphere on stage, Jingshang was very disappointed.

Zhou Xiao was able to perform in this small theater mainly because of Uncle Jingshang's decision. No one thought Zhou Xiao would become a great star, but Jingshang felt that a young person who wanted to be an entertainer deserved recognition as long as he was sufficiently hardworking and serious.

Initially, Zhou Xiao surprised Jingshang quite a bit. Despite his young age, he was full of energy, and the few skits he had accumulated had good effects. Moreover, perhaps due to his age, Zhou Xiao's skits were mostly modern and trendy, involving things like mobile phones, the internet, and typical school content. As a result, Zhou Xiao quickly won the affection of many audience members, especially young viewers.

However, Zhou Xiao soon encountered trouble. The conflict with Sakaguchi was just a trigger. The real reason for his decline was that, after all, he was still just an 18-year-old young man. Such a newcomer, after entering a circle and using up his initial material, would naturally face some difficulties. This barrier that stops newcomers is very common not only in the entertainment industry but also in sports and cultural circles.

Jingshang was not originally in a hurry. Being a comedian is a career that can last for many years and one that requires a lot of accumulation. For 90% of comedians, the first ten years of their career are mainly about accumulation and learning. Under normal circumstances, a comedian will only have a relatively stable income after the age of 30.

Of course, while this industry has no entry barriers, the dropout rate is also very high. The unstated premise of having a relatively stable income after ten years is that you must still be in the entertainment industry after ten years. More comedians have long since switched to other careers by then.

What truly made Jingshang nervous about Zhou Xiao was actually Sakaguchi, who was standing next to him, smirking as he watched Zhou Xiao's performance. Although Jingshang was the manager of the theater, he was just an employee. Compared to Sakaguchi, who was related to the theater owner, Jingshang's importance was far less. Therefore, Jingshang had no way to stop Sakaguchi from suppressing Zhou Xiao; he could only try to help and encourage Zhou Xiao.

Having worked in this industry for so many years, Jingshang knew all too well what it meant for a senior to suppress a junior. It meant that as long as the senior wanted, they could bully the junior at will, and even make it difficult for the junior to find work.

If the junior had exceptional talent and overwhelming popularity, it would be one thing. But if the junior was just an ordinary person, they might be suppressed to the point of being unable to turn things around and would eventually have to leave the industry in disappointment.

Unfortunately, in Jingshang's eyes, Zhou Xiao was just such a child with no particular talent.

Zhou Xiao's performance today further confirmed this. Jingshang was very familiar with his skits. In the past, although the effects were not great, at least Zhou Xiao could control the timing. Even if the effects were not great, he could at least use these skits to last 20 minutes and earn 5000 yuan.

But today, Zhou Xiao couldn't even control the timing he usually managed well. The skits were disjointed, and he forgot many lines, leading to a complete failure in timing!

Jingshang nervously glanced at his watch. Zhou Xiao had already been on stage for over ten minutes, and he was almost out of skits. In the next few minutes, if he had no other material, would he just stand there awkwardly? That would be the most embarrassing thing in the world.

"Fujiwara! If he can't remember, you go up and replace him! You have backup skits, right!?" When Zhou Xiao's skits entered the last one, Jingshang finally realized the true state of Zhou Xiao's performance today and anxiously pulled another comedian to the side.

In special situations, replacing someone is a very normal thing. As long as an artist has been in the industry for some time, they usually have more than one skit in their repertoire. So, the comedian Jingshang called out to was not too surprised. He nodded and prepared to go on stage to replace Zhou Xiao.

But at that moment, a voice stopped him.

"Don't replace him! This is how he grows! If you replace him now, he might develop a sense of dependence! He won't be able to truly grow then!" Sakaguchi reached out to stop Jingshang and Fujiwara.

These words sounded righteous, but if the people present didn't know Sakaguchi's true nature, they might have been deceived.

"Sakaguchi, you're going too far! Can this help him grow? He's still a newcomer; what he needs most is confidence! If you don't replace him, he might develop a fear of the stage after this! Then a new star will be ruined by you and me!" Jingshang was also angry and sternly said to Sakaguchi.

"Going too far!? I'm doing this for his own good! In any case, he's not allowed to come down until he performs for 20 minutes! No one is allowed to go up without my permission!" Sakaguchi stood in front of everyone and said.

"You...!" Jingshang was almost furious, but when he turned to look at Fujiwara, he felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him.

Fujiwara, who had originally agreed to go on stage, backed down in the face of Sakaguchi's obstruction! There was no way around it; Sakaguchi's current position in the theater was such that he could say one thing and it would be done. Fujiwara had no way to argue with Sakaguchi.

Looking at Fujiwara's face, Jingshang easily read the meaning in his expression: "It's not worth offending Sakaguchi for Zhou Xiao. I don't want to lose my job because of one person."

What to do? Watching Zhou Xiao on stage, whose face was becoming paler and whose speech was becoming more hesitant, Jingshang felt a chill in his heart.

Beside him, Sakaguchi was secretly smiling as he watched Zhou Xiao on stage: "Hmph, to this extent, losing so much face, how can you still have the nerve to stand on stage in the future!"

Halfway through the skit, sweat started to flow down Zhou Xiao's face. The sweat on his face was one thing, but his back was already drenched, soaking through the shirt under his suit.

"What to do now, there's still so much time left!" After performing the last skit, Zhou Xiao's heart turned cold.

The theater had been very quiet before. The audience was listening to Zhou Xiao's continuous, somewhat cold skits. Every time Zhou Xiao reached a punchline and expected the audience to laugh, he would pause. But what greeted his pause was always an eerie silence. At that time, Zhou Xiao felt that nothing was more awkward than this silence.

But now, when he paused, he realized that the current situation was even more awkward than the previous monologue!

Because the theater was clearly full of people, but everyone was staring at each other in silence! No one spoke!

Zhou Xiao nervously turned his head to look at the backstage, where he saw an even more chilling scene: Sakaguchi was blocking everyone, with a smile on his face that Zhou Xiao recognized all too well!

"Now, let's see how you get off the stage!"

"In the future, the lineup should be adjusted. After a performance, the audience should evaluate who did well and who did poorly. The best performer should get the most money, and the worst performer should get nothing. Otherwise, some people are too comfortable with their salaries!" Sakaguchi said to Jingshang.