5: Signed a contract with Lu Jin

Among the artists he had managed, two had already advanced to the first tier. These individuals no longer belonged to the company as artists but were instead business partners, and their Agents had all been replaced by their own family members.

With his schedule now open, Su Jixing was scouting for the next artist to manage. Just then, the company introduced someone named Lu Jin.

Lu Jin was the very person who had swapped places with Lu Qingyu and had been enjoying Lu Qingyu's life ever since.

As the person who had usurped Lu Qingyu's life, Lu Jin had long known his true identity.

After that car accident two years ago, there was a period when his father suddenly changed his attitude toward him.

Once, when he went to find Lu Guozhong in his study, he discovered materials related to Lu Qingyu, along with two DNA reports. The first one was his own and Lu Guozhong's, and it turned out he wasn't Lu Guozhong's son at all; Lu Qingyu was!

For a while, Lu Jin was scared to death. He was afraid that Lu Guozhong would want to acknowledge Lu Qingyu, which would mean he would lose everything. Fortunately, in the end, Lu Guozhong never mentioned the matter, didn't even acknowledge Lu Qingyu, and his attitude toward Lu Jin returned to the way it had been before.

Lu Jin had privately investigated Lu Qingyu, and then he suddenly understood why Lu Guozhong chose not to acknowledge him.

Because Lu Qingyu was too disappointing. He himself had good grades and was handsome; whenever Lu Guozhong took him out, he was always praised. As someone so proud and vain, how could he admit to having a delinquent son who was at the bottom of his class in everything, couldn't do anything, and only knew how to fight?

Lu Jin had even privately hired a bunch of thugs to teach Lu Qingyu a lesson, telling them to drive Lu Qingyu away—or better yet, kill him to be done with it.

Lu Jin loved the feeling of being admired. In his first year of high school, he saw a trainee from an entertainment company in his class. Although that trainee's grades were average, he was very popular with the girls. So, Lu Jin told Lu Guozhong and the others that he wanted to act during his winter and summer breaks as a hobby.

Lu Guozhong had originally intended for Lu Jin to go into business, but after Lu Jin filmed two small web dramas, it unexpectedly boosted the sales of their company's products.

Lu Guozhong recalled how big companies spent large sums of money to hire celebrity endorsers. If his son became a star, he could endorse their family business, so he began supporting Lu Jin's acting career and finding him all sorts of resources.

Lu Jin was already somewhat famous, but after meeting him, Su Jixing said he needed to consider it. Truth be told, he wasn't very interested in Lu Jin; one could even say they just didn't click.

Lu Jin was handsome, could act and sing, and had participated in five or six web dramas—a pretty good achievement for his age. Moreover, he seemed quite polite and didn't have the airs of a wealthy second-generation heir.

If he managed him, given his good family background, he would definitely have some resources, but Su Jixing just didn't like him very much.

So, even though everyone else was fighting to get Lu Jin, Su Jixing still needed time to think it over.

And after seeing Lu Qingyu this time, Su Jixing was even less likely to take on Lu Jin.

The next day, Su Jixing came to the company alone. He said he wanted to sign a new artist to manage personally, which left their boss, Chen Ting, stunned.

"You want to sign a newcomer?"

Su Jixing's face was glowing, as if he had encountered some happy event.

"Yes, Boss. I've spotted a promising talent. I believe he will have great development, and I want to sign him."

Chen Ting was quite curious as he looked at the documents Su Jixing had submitted. Su Jixing's eye for talent was always accurate; someone he called a promising talent shouldn't be bad.

It was just that the contract requirements were too... giving this kind of treatment to a newcomer! Was he really not signing back an ancestor to worship?

However, President Chen Ting ultimately approved it. As a successful president, his biggest secret was leaving industry matters to those who knew the industry.

Su Jixing had been doing this for so many years; he was extremely professional. Since he did it this way, there must be a reason for it.

"Since that's the case, Lu Jin will be managed by Xu Dongcai. Are you sure you don't want Lu Jin? I think he's also a promising talent."

Su Jixing shook his head: "I still prefer the one I chose myself."

Su Jixing took the contract signed by Chen Ting to find Lu Qingyu. After Lu Qingyu carefully read through the contract and signed it, he officially became an artist of Black Pearl Entertainment.

On the other side, Lu Jin had originally thought Su Jixing would be his Agent. To his surprise, after waiting two days, it turned out to be Xu Dongcai. His face still wore a faint smile, but internally, he was already dissatisfied.

Although Xu Dongcai and Su Jixing held equal status at Black Pearl Entertainment, anyone with a discerning eye knew that Su Jixing was the truly strong one. Whether it was his professional capability or the artists he had managed, both were commendable.

"Is Brother Su planning to rest for a while, so you don't want to manage any artists?"

Lu Jin had already inquired about it before; Su Jixing currently had no artists on hand. Since Su Jixing wasn't going to be his Agent, he must be wanting to take a break.

Who would have known that he would hear something hard to accept from Xu Dongcai's mouth.

"Su Jixing signed a newcomer. I guess all his energy is on that newcomer now, which is why he refused."

Hearing Xu Dongcai say this, Lu Jin secretly cursed Su Jixing for being unappreciative.

If Su Jixing didn't choose him, it could only mean he lacked vision. Although Xu Dongcai was a bit inferior, he was still the best Agent at Black Pearl Entertainment besides Su Jixing.

Lu Jin put on a polite and gentlemanly appearance: "Then, I'll be troubling you from now on, Brother Xu."

"I am very interested in acting. Please trouble yourself to find me some resources, Brother Xu, and pick out some likable roles. My father likes to invest; if possible, my father could act as an investor."

Upon hearing this, Xu Dongcai secretly rejoiced that he had indeed picked up a golden egg. That idiot Su Jixing chose a nobody of a newcomer and even signed a profit-sharing contract with them—did he really think he had a good eye? He would just wait for Su Jixing to crash and burn."

After signing the contract, Su Jixing brought Lu Qingyu to the company to meet the boss. Chen Ting was currently in the studio; his music-making itch had flared up again. Recently, he released an album and promoted a song called "Winter Snow," but the response was mediocre, so he was pondering what exactly was wrong that caused such a flat reaction.

It was at this moment that he suddenly saw a video online, filmed by a passerby. It was a scene of a young boy sitting in a square playing the erhu for money. As soon as Chen Ting opened the video, he was captivated by the music's melody.

By the time he finished listening to the whole song, Chen Ting was incredibly excited. This was just too good! The musical style, rhythm, and lyrics, combined with the erhu, were simply unique.

Although the singing skills were average, just based on this musical style, with a bit more training, he would definitely explode in popularity. Such a person must be signed to his company.

Chen Ting was just about to go out and find someone to investigate who this youth was—he couldn't let this person slip away—when he saw Su Jixing bringing Lu Qingyu over.

Lu Qingyu had been taken by Su Jixing in the morning for image management. Now, he had changed his clothes and dyed his hair flaxen brown. He looked incredibly handsome, a world of difference from the disheveled image in the subway. At first glance, Chen Ting didn't even recognize him.

Su Jixing was curious seeing Chen Ting's excited state. Their boss was usually a calm person; why was he so excited today?

"Boss, did you encounter some good news?"

Seeing Su Jixing, Chen Ting immediately showed him the video on his phone.

"Look quickly, I've discovered a promising singing talent. I plan to have someone look into who this kid is. We must sign him to our company."