The live broadcast of "Idol New Museum" was playing on the TV, and Jiang Juyou was sitting on the living room carpet, reading a book while waiting for the appearance of her three groups of artists.
The music blended with the distant sound of the washing machine, a noise that was also a sound of life.
Jiang Juyou, who was always busy with the company, hadn't slowed down for a long time. Although it was a weekend, she actually had some fragmented work every weekend.
Such a rest day, especially one without her sisters disturbing her, had not been encountered for a long time.
She hadn't read much of the book's content, just sitting there comfortably enjoying her solitary life.
But this tranquility was soon broken—
A series of beeps came from the door, and the password lock was unlocked.
"…You're home, hey! Jiang Liuxing said you're going to study abroad, what's going on?" Jiang Tang, dragging two large suitcases and carrying bags, came in and couldn't help but ask when she saw Jiang Juyou sitting in the living room.
Jiang Juyou quickly put down her book, went over to help, and let Jiang Tang's assistant go back to rest first, "You go back first, go back early to rest."
"Yes, go back by taxi, I'll send you the taxi money."
"Okay, then I'll leave first. Take a good rest, Tang Tang, and goodbye, Jiang Producer."
"Bye."
After closing the door, Jiang Tang first took out her phone from her pocket and sent a hundred yuan in taxi money to her assistant, then directed her sister, "Put that suitcase in the laundry room, it's all stuff I need to wash, and move this one to my room."
Jiang Juyou, who had only enjoyed a few minutes of a leisurely weekend, was forced to move, and after half an hour of hard work, she straightened up after helping her sister tidy up the room, letting out a long sigh, "I guess I'm getting old, can't do any physical work."
Jiang Tang heard and slapped her sister's butt, "If you're old, then what am I?"
The two rolled up their sleeves and walked to the kitchen to get some water.
Jiang Tang then brought the topic back, "Oh right, what's this about you studying abroad?"
After pouring water for both of them, Jiang Juyou took a big gulp and then answered, "Still preparing."
Hearing this, Jiang Tang finally believed it, but she didn't know how to continue the conversation.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Juyou saw her sister pause and looked up to ask.
Jiang Tang hesitated, "Hmm… It's something you'd do."
Jiang Juyou continued, "But you don't know why I made this decision, right?"
"Yeah." Jiang Tang drank some water and looked away.
As the sun was setting, the sky outside was like a splash of orange juice, dreamy and dazzling, with a sweet and sticky feeling.
The two leaned against the island in the kitchen, looking at the sky outside, and for a long time, neither spoke.
After a long silence, Jiang Juyou organized her thoughts and spoke again, "…I've recently truly felt that I've grown up."
"That kind of outward growth."
"My age, my appearance has changed, but the inside of me is still like a child."
Jiang Tang looked at her.
"I might need some time to let my soul grow up a bit," Jiang Juyou said.
Due to family reasons, the three of them were forced to grow up early. As the eldest sister, Jiang Tang took on the family's financial burden and started working in society early.
The pain of losing their parents was borne by Jiang Juyou alone, facing the death certificate from the doctor, the questioning from the police, the accusations from the victim's family, and handling the funeral arrangements for their parents alone.
At that time, Jiang Tang was in her final year of high school and living in a boarding school, under tremendous pressure and emotionally fragile. Upon hearing the news of her parents' car accident, she fainted from crying and was hospitalized for a week on tranquilizers.
Jiang Juyou, still in middle school, had to step up and deal with these matters.
It was from then on that she was forced to grow up.
She didn't have time to grieve because there were too many things to do, no time to cry.
In the days that followed, the three of them were more concerned with making a living than with their studies. They were more worried about how to eat and pay rent and utilities.
Jiang Juyou spent that time either working or working, and during university, she even skipped some classes to work.
Now that they no longer had to worry about their livelihood, they had higher spiritual needs.
"The major I want to apply for is Fashion Management, which is a commercially oriented major, very helpful for future group operations and brand management."
"…Even if I learn now, I'm still an amateur, an amateur player, so I want to go abroad for formal study."
Jiang Juyou's decision to study abroad was for this purpose, to take a break and improve her professional abilities.
After saying this, she looked at her sister, waiting for her response.
Holding a cup, Jiang Tang looked ahead, feeling Jiang Juyou's gaze.
"If you've decided, then follow your plan," Jiang Tang had no reason to disagree because it was her life.
"Of course, I've decided," Jiang Juyou looked back out the window, at the sunset.
Jiang Juyou was not the type to leave a mess for others.
Ever since she had the idea of studying abroad, she had been preparing for it.
Building an ecosystem for the domestic idol market was her preparation before going abroad.
Familiar music sounded, and on the projection screen was the stage of AIcho, Pei Zhiping had her signature high ponytail again, but this time she wore a cat ear headband, reducing some of her sharpness.
Jiang Juyou watched the screen and smiled.
-
"To build an ecosystem for the domestic market, just one song stage is not enough."
"These are several programs we've planned recently for idols and singers, which can be used for promoting songs and themselves."
Lin Jie stood in front, introducing the contents of the PPT, while Jiang Juyou sat in the main seat watching, looking serious.
"Besides the programs, the way they are carried out and the platforms they are launched on are extremely important."
"Our main customer base is still young people, so the platforms we choose for cooperation are mainly those with a young audience or a wide user base."
After the introduction of two platforms, several program planning introductions followed.
Unlike heavy-produced programs like the song stage, the programs they planned were more lightweight, requiring only two or three photographers, a director, a few program editors, and some editing.
They integrated the style of YTB with the programs, using popular artists as fixed MCs, and carried out in a weekly format.
Random iWatch even launched a special section to encourage the public and bloggers to create their own variety shows.
Recently, they started experimenting, and many school new media clubs have joined, broadcasting their self-made campus love variety shows on Random iWatch.
"How's the attention and click rate of this section?" Jiang Juyou asked after Lin Jie finished speaking.
Several people in the same project team in front frantically flipped through the materials, passing notes to Lin Jie.
"Uh… Currently, after three weeks of experimentation, the click rate has been steadily rising each week…" Lin Jie read out a few data points, which sounded pretty good.
Sitting there, Jiang Juyou still frowned, "I don't want it to rise steadily."
"When it has the same attention as the other sections, wouldn't it still take a few years?"
The person in charge of this project was Lin Jie, but the main work was done in the variety department.
The variety department had many groups, each responsible for different programs, and the employees who entered this project were mostly newcomers or interns from the variety department.
Lin Jie asked them to form teams freely, come up with program content on their own, edit it themselves, and judge by data, with programs with good data being retained and supported.
This might be a good growth opportunity for the variety department, but for Jiang Juyou, she didn't have time to wait for them to grow up.
Jiang Juyou changed her posture, flipped through the materials in her hand, "Which programs are better in content?"
Lin Jie quickly answered, listing the programs she thought were interesting and had good data.
"Good wine also fears a deep alley. Find a few cooperative studios to promote it externally, focusing the promotion on the program content first, and then shifting the focus to the section later."
Jiang Juyou finished speaking and set down the documents in her hand, straightened her clothes, and stood up, saying, "Alright, that's it for today. Everyone, go have lunch quickly."
The nearly one-hour meeting finally came to an end, but no one could gauge Jiang Juyou's opinion on their work.
"Is this good or bad?"
"She didn't scold us, so it must be good, right?"
"It's been a long time since I felt this anxious. The last time I was this anxious was when Random iWatch was about to go live."
In the meeting room, a few people were still packing up and chatting when suddenly someone knocked on the door.
"Has Jiang Juyou gone upstairs?" It was the head of the Flos Dendranthema operational team who came to ask.
Lin Jie nodded, holding her computer, "Yes, she went up."
"How was her expression? Was she in a good mood?" she pressed further.
At her question, the others fell silent, "Uh..."
Lin Jie understood her, directly answering, "If you want to ask about the debut of Flos Dendranthema... it should be fine. You can just go up."
"OK!" She happily made a heart gesture, walked out, and then suddenly turned back, "Hey? Isn't the self-made section of Random iWatch handled by you guys?"
"Yes," Lin Jie nodded.
The person at the door rolled her eyes, "Forget it, I'll go up and find Jiang Juyou first to see what she thinks, and then come down to tell you."
-
Upstairs, Jiang Juyou was on the phone, as she had many procedures and preparations to worry about for her study abroad. She was busy discussing school selection with the study abroad agency at the moment.
She stood by the window, looking at the traffic outside, when the desk phone suddenly rang.
Jiang Juyou turned her head to look, said sorry to the person on the phone, and then walked over to pick up the call.
"What's the matter?"
"Chen Miaoyu from Flos Dendranthema is here."
"…Let her in."
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Juyou first said to the person on the phone, "Sorry, I have some work matters to attend to right now..."
"No problem, no problem, we'll continue the conversation when you're free."
"Alright, thank you for your trouble, thank you."
As soon as she finished the call, Chen Miaoyu entered.
She pushed open the office door, wearing a fawning smile, mimicking the gesture of rubbing hands like a fly, and walked in, not forgetting to coo, "Boss~"
Jiang Juyou: "……"
"Is it about the early debut again?" Jiang Juyou sat down on the sofa, ready to see what she had to say.
Chen Miaoyu pouted coquettishly, "Oh, boss!"
"Our debut album is all set, and we even found a master who said we'll be on fire if we debut in the first half of the year. We can't help but be popular."
"Look, we have a spring and a summer, one is the revival of all things, the other is the scorching summer, how can we not be on fire?"
Jiang Juyou: "……"
The heads of the various teams are all a bit crazy.
She should have realized it when they submitted the group name and team concept—Chen Miaoyu is just a bit crazy.
Jiang Juyou, feeling a headache, pressed her temples. Seeing this, Chen Miaoyu immediately stepped forward to relieve her fatigue.
Then she continued to fawn, "And look, our company has launched Equals3 and AIcho in the first half of the year, both of which have garnered a lot of attention and are doing very well."
"Isn't it time for us to strike while the iron is hot and introduce a new group?"
Jiang Juyou stared at her without speaking.
Chen Miaoyu had already approached her before, proposing the idea of an early debut.
But Jiang Juyou had rejected it, giving her reasons at the time.
"The company just launched two new groups recently. They debuted one after the other because they are completely different and not in the same style."
"Equals3 and Timetrain are of different types, with different fan base compositions, and AIcho is a girl group with a different audience."
"It's fine for them to debut one after the other."
"But your group is different. You are also in the traditional idol style, which clashes with Timetrain, and you can't compete with the currently popular AIcho, so it's better to wait."
"The end of this year or the beginning of next year would be a good time to debut."
"Slightly extending the timeline will make you memorable. Otherwise, the outside world will just think Random Entertainment has launched another new group."
Jiang Juyou had explained it to her, but she still wouldn't give up, "But our kids are ready."
"Ready for the debut album, ready for the first comeback album?"
"We've prepared three albums. While making the debut album, the other albums were also being produced simultaneously."
Jiang Juyou had her considerations and understood Chen Miaoyu's urgency. Random Entertainment was currently on fire, everything went smoothly, whether it was the movies released or the TV dramas aired, the results were good, even the newly launched self-made variety show section had some attention. In the idol department, they were even more self-contained with traffic.
The productions of "21 Heartbeats of Youth" and "Time Train Countdown" were at the level of national idol chases, with high popularity. Timetrain didn't worry about attention at all.
Even viewers who hadn't watched the show could name all five of them, and the few albums released could be hummed after hearing the tunes.
Timetrain's popularity was phenomenal, and the two groups that followed it gained some light, or even inherited a lot of fans.
The family fan base of Random Entertainment was quite large, with many fans liking both Timetrain, Equals3, and AIcho.
Chen Miaoyu wanted to debut Flos Dendranthema while the attention was high, inheriting some fans from the previous three groups.
They were unlike Timetrain and AIcho, with programs to attract traffic, nor were they like Equals3, a rare idol band type in the country.
Most of Flos Dendranthema's members were latecomers to the company, with a few appearing on the show but not being very popular. After more than a year of training, it's uncertain if they still have fans.
Therefore, a sudden announcement of their debut is not a good way for them to debut.
Especially when they have to wait for the company's push for the group's popularity to pass, debuting at the end of the year or the beginning of next year, the hope of getting attention becomes even more slim.
No matter how Chen Miaoyu argued, Jiang Juyou did not agree to launch another group in the short term, and she could only give up in the end.
At this time downstairs in the practice room, Ke Youming was leading the team members in practicing the debut song.
Each group had its own music style. Timetrain was youthful and melancholic, AIcho was confident and lively, and Equals' music style varied according to the three members' colors and preferences.
Flos Dendranthema's music style was obvious from their group name, a mix of melancholy and healing.
Because of the different music styles, the dances they learned were mostly modern dances, relying on limbs and formations to form dance languages.
This was too difficult—
Seven people sat in front of the screen, carefully watching the dance video they had just shot, each with a frown, some unable to bear to look directly.
"The movements are correct, the force is also used, but it's just weird somewhere," Ke Youming gave this comment after watching the video a few times.
The others couldn't refute, as he was right.
"It's too hard to jump out the feeling the teacher said, one wrong move and it's just flailing arms."
"…Feels so defeated."
"The teacher will check later, I don't even dare to dirty her eyes."
"The teachers made such a good dance, and we danced it like this."
Their group had strong vocals and dance skills. They felt it was easy to record the debut album, finishing it in two weeks.
But when it came to dancing, it took two days to learn the movements and two weeks to refine the details, and even now they weren't dancing very well.
Ke Youming led them through the dance routine again, checking for any differences in their movements compared to the teachers. Just then, the door to the practice room opened, and in walked Chen Miaoyu.
Seeing Chen Miaoyu enter through the mirror, the few gathered around the screen quickly stood up straight.
"Good afternoon, Chen Zhi—"
"How's the practice going?" Chen Miaoyu inquired as she entered.
At that moment, the group fervently wished they were deaf and were grateful they weren't the team leader.
As the team leader, Ke Youming was pushed forward. "It's... okay."
"Okay?" Chen Miaoyu paused her steps towards the sofa. "What do you mean by 'okay'?"
Ke Youming quickly corrected himself. "It's good!"
Chen Miaoyu sat down on the sofa, composing her expression. "The company has planned for your debut by the end of this year, depending on your preparation. If you're not ready, we'll push it to early next year, or even later."
"I want your debut to be perfect, with everyone eagerly anticipating it."
"Don't let the anticipation build up, only for you to show up with a bunch of rusty junk."
Even though she had been in charge of the group since their trainee days, Chen Miaoyu still analyzed the situation objectively.
"Sometimes we think you're great, but the company executives might not agree. Even if the executives do, the general public might not recognize you."
"What you need to do is surpass us, surpass the executives, and stand before the public to gain their approval."
"There's still plenty of time—more than half a year. You don't need to be in the practice room every day."
"Pay attention to your studies too. After all, you're about to debut. Low grades won't reflect well on your image."
"As for other matters, I hope you keep your wits about you and don't cause trouble at this critical juncture."
"If anyone tarnishes the group's reputation at this time, I'll come to your house and rip your head off."
Hearing this, the group couldn't help but gulp. They wondered who in the company had spread the rumor that Chen Zhi was gentle and loved to smile. They really wanted to drag that person over to listen.
"Understood?" Chen Miaoyu asked.
The seven of them tightened their shoulder blades, straightened their backs, and replied loudly, "Understood!"
"Alright, carry on with your practice," Chen Miaoyu said as she got up, patted her pants, and walked out with her hands behind her back.
"Goodbye, Chen Zhi."
After the practice room door closed, they all touched their necks. "I still want my head."
"Have you started dating?"
"What nonsense. I've been single my whole life. Are you asking me to date you?"
"Ke Youming, did you hear that? He has inappropriate thoughts about me!"
"I'm done. Someone needs to cure his narcissism."
Ke Youming: "..."
"Title: Gossip Discussion / Latest Sjyl New Boy Group Leak!"
"Can't see their faces, all wrapped up pretty well, but they've kept the Sjyl tradition of not accepting anyone under 1.8 meters, so they're all quite tall."
"Can't confirm the others, but the Golden Triangle is there. Those three are too clingy, always sticking together (original poster said)."
Aliali: 675e95b59234b3e7f2f07a3d"Judging by the number, it seems to be a seven-member group."
Comment section:
"Is the name 'Golden Triangle' a bit too cheesy? What were their parents thinking?"
"Reply: Hahahahahaha, the Golden Triangle refers to three people, not a person's name!"
"Reply: I knew the first comment would be a gem, hahaha!"
"The Golden Triangle refers to Ke Youming, Lu Zhao, and Xu Zhiyuan. They are the TOP3 among the trainees, with the main vocalist, main dancer, and main visual. No weaknesses. They have always been in different groups during trainee performances, but they are classmates from the same school and have a good relationship, hence the name Golden Triangle, which is also their CP name."
"Though I don't know any of them, this introduction piqued my interest."
"Wow, you trainee fans have it good!"
"I thought it was just fan hype about the main visual, but I just checked out the photos. They do have some charm (smirking)."
Family Fans: [Smirking]