Chapter 71
It's another back-to-school season, but for professional fangirls like Liu Yue, holidays have long lost their meaning. If she didn't make an effort to keep track, she wouldn't even know what day of the week it was.
Random Entertainment hadn't updated any content about their trainees for a month. Rumors were even circulating online that the boy group project had been scrapped and the trainees were going to be disbanded.
Liu Yue looked at these messages online, then glanced at the person lying in her contact list.
"..."
Since their accidental encounter during the final performance live stream, the two of them hadn't met again. Even after the final rankings were announced, their dormitory group chat had been in an uproar for a while, and Liu Yue, who had been present at the event, didn't dare to make a sound.
Months had passed, and now Liu Yue wasn't even sure if Jiang Juyou had recognized her at that time.
Because of this, she didn't dare to ask, and could only look at the name on her list to comfort her fellow fangirls.
"Come on, how could the project be scrapped? Didn't they all go to a concert together just the other day?"
"They say it was the last team-building activity."
"..."
"Stop scaring yourself!"
"But it's true that the focus in China has shifted to girl groups. I heard they're going to make a female version of '21'."
"Let's not talk about that. There's a talent show final the day after tomorrow, do you want to go watch?"
"The day after tomorrow? Are there still tickets available?"
"No need for tickets, I can get you in."
"Random Entertainment's management is trash, even worse than Yang RPing."
"I'm upset if my bias doesn't debut, but I'm even more upset if they do..."
"I heard they're preparing for the debut competition."
"Whatever, I just want to know about Sang Mo. I can't take it anymore, there's been no news about Sang Mo for a month!"
In reality, there are only so many celebrity followers online. It's impossible to have daily content for one's bias, so during periods without updates, everything happening in the entertainment circle is like a bustling morning market.
If they discover an interesting new artist while browsing this market, their previous favorite might be temporarily set aside.
They say they're just climbing over the wall to take a look around, but once they climb out, it's hard to climb back.
The group following Random Entertainment's trainees has been slowly dispersing recently, and it's all because of Random Entertainment's terrible management and the dazzling fireworks-like brilliance of China's entertainment industry.
The talent show craze reignited by "21 Heartbeats of Youth" made this year's winter and summer holidays particularly lively. The final live broadcasts were getting more and more grand. With Random Entertainment setting an example, they learned quite a few new ways to make money, and the trading card craze swept through the Chinese entertainment industry.
Outside, it was as lively as New Year's. The group following Random Entertainment initially observed with a sense of superiority, after all, those talent shows were copying "21 Heartbeats of Youth", and they had to reclaim some ground for the original. But as online marketing increased, they gradually succumbed, falling in love with other contestants while Random Entertainment took their trainees abroad.
The contrast in these few weeks was even more evident. Two of the most drawn-out and fiercely contested talent shows chose to end this week. Learning from Random Entertainment, they set up their finals as concerts, booking venues that could accommodate over ten thousand people.
All online celebrity followers were flooded with posts about these two finals. Ticket sellers were working hard to sell tickets for these two events, and fans of each group were going all out to organize group tickets.
As for the fans who firmly stood by Random Entertainment, they were all in spectator mode, ready with sunflower seeds, cola, and small stools, commenting and cursing Random Entertainment's management at the same time.
"Group Name: The Shrimp Soldiers of Deadlock Entertainment"
"Although I always curse Deadlock Entertainment's management, I have to say, they really know how to control their fans... We weren't this chaotic back then."
"Their show was a mess from start to finish, the contestants look messy, the competition system is messy, and the offline events are even messier, just like my homework, copying from everywhere."
"Looking at it this way, Deadlock Entertainment was really foresighted in not allowing individual fan support."
"A bunch of copycats riding on my husband's coattails, they copied during the show, and they're still copying after it's over!"
"I'm so disappointed! What's wrong with Deadlock Entertainment's management! If only they could put half of their money-making skills into actual management!"
"Didn't they say the debut battle is coming soon? It should be soon, right?"
"I saw that Jiang Jiang is coming back from Korea tomorrow, she's been there for over a week this time."
"Who's going to pick her up at the airport tomorrow? If you go, can you ask if your company's management is still working?"
"Hahaha, I'll ask for you!"
"Sister Jiang, is your company's management still working?"
Jiang Juyou, who had long been accustomed to being surrounded at airports, was also used to facing various questions. She would answer what she could, and for those she couldn't, she would put on headphones and play music.
But unfortunately, today she wasn't wearing headphones.
The young assistant was pulling the suitcase behind her, while Jiang Juyou tilted her head and frowned, asking back, "What did you say... about management?"
She couldn't understand why they would ask this, but she still answered, "Yes, they are."
As soon as Jiang Juyou answered, the young girls around her immediately started chattering:
"Wow, your company actually has a management position!"
"That's nice, not working for a month and still getting paid!"
"Surprising, didn't expect Random Entertainment to have a management position."
Even if she wasn't the brightest, Jiang Juyou could sense the sarcasm. She probably understood where the issue was coming from, "Ah... you mean about the trainees' recent situation? That was my instruction, I told them not to release anything this month."
She couldn't explain the specific reason because there were still arrangements to be made. All she could disclose was this.
The young girls who had just been wearing strange expressions immediately changed their tune when they heard it was Jiang Juyou's own arrangement:
"Oh? Is that so..."
"But why? If you don't release content often, fans will leave. You don't know how lively the entertainment industry has been recently. What if the fans leave?"
"Jiang Jiang, you should know that the whole company is relying on the trainees right now. The other departments haven't produced anything yet, we can't afford to keep having no content like this!"
These few fans of Jiang Juyou seemed even more career-oriented than she was. Every time they met, they would remind her that the film and variety show departments still hadn't achieved anything, and that they needed to produce results quickly, not just relying on the group of trainees.
But after hearing this, she just smiled. Today was no different; she patted the earnest fan beside her, comforting her, "Don't worry, everything is within the company's plan."
Some things still in the planning stages couldn't be revealed, so all she could do was comfort her fans who were anxious on her behalf.
There were different voices among her few fans, and seeing that this topic was getting too sensitive, another person changed the subject: "So when are the trainees coming back? Next month?"
It was almost September 1st, and those trainees were all middle and high school students, so they should come back at least once, that's what they meant when they asked.
But Jiang Juyou replied in the most calm voice: "They're back already. Their overseas training has ended, they're flying back on a charter flight today."
"Huh?"
"Ahhhh!"
"What?!"
The screams of seven or eight young girls attracted the attention of everyone around.
Because the news came so suddenly, these fans were shocked into silence, each covering their mouth and frozen in place.
Their sudden stop caused Jiang Juyou to stop as well, turning back to see what was wrong with them.
Jiang Juyou raised her eyebrows in confusion and asked, "What's wrong?"
They felt that Jiang Juyou couldn't understand the feelings of these career-minded fans. This statement meant that Random Entertainment wouldn't have to go without content anymore. Just the trainees going to and from the company every day would be enough to sustain many fan sites, and with Random Entertainment's practice of inviting fan site owners to dinner, their company would soon be saved!
The excitement of the few was evident, and they even performed a dance of buzzing bees and ants on a hot pan for Jiang Juyou.
So Jiang Juyou stood there in the airport lobby watching these girls hugging each other and going crazy. But happiness is contagious, and although she didn't know what source of excitement they had derived from that statement, Jiang Juyou was also infected by their joy and started laughing along.
As she was laughing, she suddenly rememberedβ
"Oh right!"
She raised her hand to stop the few people who were still dancing excitedly, then turned and pointed to the luggage cart pushed by the small assistant. Jiang Juyou pointed to several shopping bags and said, "I brought back gifts for you when I returned. They're all small snacks that you can eat on the way back."
Jiang Juyou had bought some expensive chocolates at the duty-free shop, thinking that they were always running around like this, waiting for a whole day, and could easily get low blood sugar, so she bought chocolate gift boxes.
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the eyes of those little girls hugging each other slowly brighten, like little cats begging for food with round eyes, and then they made whimpering sounds, "Hmm woo woo woo woo~"
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Not long after Jiang Juyou got in the car, the news of Random Entertainment's trainees returning to the country spread across various social media platforms, and was quickly reposted by marketing accounts to everyone's attention.
Then--
#Random Entertainment trainees return to China#
#Random Entertainment#
#End of overseas training#
These hashtags climbed up the entertainment hot search list.
"Holy crap, what did I just see?"
"Pure Yuan is back!!!!"
"Grandma! Your baby has come back!"
"Good! It's good they're back! The domestic entertainment scene will be livelier!"
"It's getting intense, seeing my dreams come true!"
"They're finally back!!! Quickly let my darling out to interact with fans!"
Tomorrow there will be a finale for a talent show, and Random Entertainment hitting the hot search today seems a bit like stealing the spotlight.
After learning that this was a show cooperated with Yang RPing's company, this feeling became even more obvious.
Random Entertainment's few career fans finally found their footing on this hot search and felt vindicated for a while. Yang RPing's show had been riding on Jiang Juyou's coattails before it even aired, and later even tried to create a CP buzz with Jiang Juyou at public events, which disgusted them terribly.
Today they finally got a little counterattack--
"Feels good, I suggest we hit harder!"
"If only they would announce the debut competition show today, directly stepping on their popularity to rise up!"
"Although I want that too, but with Jiang Jie's slow way of doing things..."
"Tomorrow is their finale, let's go disrupt their hot search tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow let's show them the power of the Train Conductor Sisters!"
"I've already prepared comparison pictures!"
There's another wave of reinfections recently, everyone please be careful!
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