The door to the recording studio closed.
“Oh, so he’s your agent… I thought he was your boyfriend.” Chu Han scratched her head. “I was wondering why young people nowadays are so clingy, sticking together even for a song recording.”
Thinking of the sweet love of youth made Chu Han put on a world-weary face and start complaining.
“Sigh, to be young is so nice.”
“Haha…” Shen Yu felt a bit awkward.
‘Is Teacher Chu’s train of thought a bit too jumpy?’
“Alright, alright, that’s enough talk about young people…” Chu Han clapped her hands. “Everyone, get ready. Let’s record!”
“Yes!”
“Okay, that was pretty good. Everyone, take a fifteen-minute break.”
Chu Han stood up, stretched, and walked out of the recording studio.
The heavy soundproof door clicked shut behind her.
She massaged her aching temples. The lingering fatigue made her crave a bit of nicotine to refresh her mind.
To be honest, she didn’t like mentoring newcomers because it was too exhausting. Why risk her life for a salary of less than 10,000 a month?
She turned the corner of the corridor and pushed open a metal door marked as an emergency exit, which led to a small, semi-open ventilation platform.
This was her secret base for stealing a smoke.
The so-called art of working was to get the most money with the least energy, and Chu Han had already mastered this art.
The early autumn afternoon breeze blew in with a chill, dispersing some of the stuffiness from the recording studio.
Chu Han fished a heavily crumpled half-pack of cigarettes from her shirt pocket, pulled one out, and bit it, then fished out a cheap plastic lighter.
*Click.*
The flame jumped and lit the tobacco.
She took a deep drag, letting the spicy smoke swirl in her lungs before slowly exhaling, watching the grayish-white smoke dissipate quickly in the cool wind.
Ah… refreshing.
Just as she leaned against the wall with her eyes squinted, enjoying this moment of emptiness, a slight cough came from the shadows on the other side of the platform.
“Cough, cough.”
Chu Han turned her head lazily with the cigarette still in her mouth.
It was that agent.
Lin Luan was squatting there playing on his phone, his back against the cold wall. It seemed he had been waiting for Shen Yu to finish recording and hadn’t left.
Chu Han raised an eyebrow. ‘Normally, an agent shouldn’t need to be this inseparable.’
“Why are you here?”
“Uh… I was afraid of disturbing Shen Yu’s recording.”
Lin Luan put away his phone and replied.
Chu Han saw his hesitant look as he glanced at the cigarette in her hand and understood what he wanted.
“You don’t smoke?”
“No.”
“You’re in your twenties, right? Young people don’t even smoke?” Chu Han increased the speed of her smoking.
“I have a younger sister at home. It’s not good to be covered in the smell of smoke.”
Chu Han froze for a moment.
‘Is this kid calling me out?!’
She originally wanted to finish it quickly, but since Lin Luan had said that, she could only extinguish the cigarette while it was still half-finished.
“Teacher Chu,” Lin Luan spoke first, “was Shen Yu’s recording smooth today?”
Chu Han didn’t answer immediately. She crushed the cigarette butt on the ground with her foot.
Only after the butt had no more sparks did she speak.
“You’re her agent; why don’t you go in and listen? You can even watch through the glass.”
Lin Luan was somewhat speechless.
‘Wait, didn’t you just kick me out?’
“I don’t understand these things. I leave professional matters to professional people. I’m afraid I’ll distract her if I go in, and… it’s not according to the rules.”
“Rules?” Chu Han sneered. “In this circle, rules are set for people without backgrounds or luck.”
She added with a meaningful tone, “And you don’t look like someone who doesn’t understand the rules.”
These words were a bit sharp.
Chu Han could see that Lin Luan didn’t seem like someone who specialized in being an agent.
His behavior and demeanor revealed a sense of nobility. Even though he wore very ordinary clothes, there was a very strange feeling.
“I just hope she can sing well, Teacher Chu. She loves music very much and works very hard.”
“There are plenty of hardworking people.” Chu Han remained noncommittal, tucking her purple-dyed hair behind her ear.
“Hard work alone is useless. You need luck and someone to push you. Newcomers like them need resources. Simply put, they need to accept investment.”
“They will only be needed by the company if they show their value, and only then can they survive in this circle.”
“There are many ways to show value, not just talent and hard work… If you don’t have ability, having something else works too.”
Chu Han spoke eloquently with her eyes closed. This wasn’t nonsense, but solid experience. She had seen many geniuses, but most of them didn’t have good endings.
After all, talent was one thing, but whether one could sit in the position they deserved in the circle actually had little to do with their ability.
Such words should be enough to make this agent back down.
‘This is the dark side of this circle, young man. You’d better run early. This is advice from an elder.’
‘And it’ll make it easier for me to slack off.’
Chu Han nodded with a smile.
‘Plan successful.’
“I believe in Shen Yu. If anyone has ill intentions toward her, they’ll have to answer to me first.”
Lin Luan suddenly spoke. When he said this, there wasn’t a hint of emotion in his voice, as calm as if he were chatting about daily life.
Chu Han was slightly stunned.
Her eyes, which were always critical, sized up Lin Luan once again.
‘This kid… is quite interesting.’
“Heh.” She let out a short laugh, this time without any mockery.
“You have a big mouth. Looking at your clothes, you don’t seem like a very wealthy person. You’re a mud buddha crossing a river yourself, and yet you still want to protect someone else?”
Lin Luan didn’t argue, only smiling faintly. There was a bit of self-deprecation and a bit of frankness in that smile.
“A mud buddha is still a buddha. I’ll block what I can.”
Chu Han didn’t take that bait. She suddenly changed her angle and looked at Lin Luan’s face more carefully.
The lighting in the recording studio had been dim earlier, and she had been full of impatience, so she hadn’t paid much attention.
Now, in the relatively clear afternoon light, she found that this young man… actually looked quite good.
It wasn’t the refined, boyish handsome, but a feeling that was hard to describe, a sense of worldliness.
This type, if cleaned up and thrown in front of the camera, wouldn’t necessarily be worse than the popular young actors nowadays.
“Hey,” Chu Han said, “you look decent, and your figure is alright. Why be some crappy agent? How much can you make running around? It’s just a bunch of trouble.”
She leaned forward half a step, squinting like a picky craftsman evaluating a piece of uncut jade.
“Are you interested in being an actor?”
Lin Luan: “…?”
He doubted he had heard her correctly and subconsciously stepped back to pull some distance.
“An… actor?” Lin Luan thought he had misheard. “Teacher Chu, don’t joke around. I’m not that kind of material.”
“Who’s joking with you?” Chu Han rolled her eyes.
“I’ve been in this circle for over a decade. I’ve seen more people than the rice you’ve eaten. This face, this body, and this aura… tsk, it has a sense of story and isn’t greasy. The market is currently lacking your type.”
“What’s so good about being an agent? It’s a job serving people. Be an actor. If you act well, the paycheck for one show will be enough for you to be an agent for ten years.”
The more she spoke, the better she thought the idea was.
Anyway, mentoring one newcomer was the same as mentoring two.
Besides, what this young man had just said made her feel that he had some character, which was better than those empty-headed pretty boys. If she could get him into the company and sign him under her… maybe in the future…
“How about it? Think about it? Although you’re not exactly young and you’re starting late, with luck and the right role, you might not fail to become popular. It’s better than squatting here as an invisible person, right?”
Lin Luan was completely stunned. He had never expected the conversation to suddenly take this turn.
He looked at the serious expression on Chu Han’s face and didn’t know how to respond for a moment.
‘Is this woman’s thinking a bit too jumpy?’
He had just broken away from being a rental boyfriend; he didn’t want to enter any other circles.
“Teacher Chu, thank you for your kindness, but I’m really not that kind of material. I don’t know the first thing about acting, and I’m not interested in it. I’m… doing just fine right now.”
Chu Han stared at him for a few seconds. Seeing that his eyes were clear and there was indeed no hint of being tempted, she couldn’t help but curl her lips.
“Tsk, no ambition.”
She muttered. A forced melon isn’t sweet, and Chu Han didn’t push it.
“Forget it, suit yourself.” Chu Han waved her hand and glanced at the S-engraved watch on her wrist. “The break is almost over. I have to go back. That girl needs to be polished a few more times.”
She turned to open the door. When her hand was on the doorknob, she paused and looked back at Lin Luan.
“Hey, agent,” her tone was still stiff, “what’s your name?”
“Me?” Lin Luan pointed at himself.
“Who else?”
“My… My name is Lin Luan.”