Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

Too fucking extreme.

In the cramped dressing room, the spine of Manager Hong felt icy cold, a chill spreading from her tailbone to the crown of her head.

"Jiang Ling, calm down."

She wasn't sure about others, but she had watched Jiang Ling slowly climb from a little singer to the position of a minor diva—although this diva title was quite inflated.

This person had a complicated makeup, a somewhat paranoid character, and in recent years, as she got older, she had become even more insane. What she said was not just talk; she meant business.

If it weren't for her paranoia, desperate to become famous, no sane person would sign the bullshit contract that the company's higher-ups slapped together.

"I'm very calm right now, Manager Hong, and I'm planning to buy songs first."

Jiang Ling touched her face, seemingly contemplative, not hiding her intention to switch companies at all. She plotted loudly without any regard for her agent.

"If the quality of the songs is good and the company does nothing, then I have no choice but to terminate the contract early."

Upon hearing this, Manager Hong couldn't sit still any longer; her pupils dilated. She stood straight up from the sofa, her white suit jacket falling off as she lowered her voice.

"Are you insane?"

"I'm not crazy. I just want to be famous." She articulated each word with extreme seriousness, "All I want to do is sing, I don't care about anything else."

"If you terminate the contract, you'll have to pay a lot of money, and the lawsuit could take years! You can't afford to wait that long!" Manager Hong swallowed her saliva, "If you want to go crazy, do it alone, I'm not joining you."

"I still have some money, worst comes to worst I'll negotiate with the company." Jiang Ling seemed unconcerned, "If they don't let me terminate the contract, I'll just leave a suicide note and jump from the top floor of the company."

Manager Hong: "...."

Fuck, I forgot she was a lunatic.

After that statement, silence instantly fell upon the dressing room, plunging into a deathly quiet. Manager Hong pursed her lips, not daring to utter a word of opposition.

I just took out a mortgage on my house, a full payment of six million, a thirty-year loan.

I'm truly scared that if I push Jiang Ling too hard, this lunatic will hang herself in red clothes right in front of my house. Even if she doesn't succeed, my house will be ruined.

It's true what they say, the sturdy fear the bold, and the bold fear those who have nothing to lose.

Fuck, crazies really ought to die!

Manager Hong cursed inwardly countless times, but she didn't dare say these things out loud in front of her. Who would dare to speak under such circumstances?

She can't wait until she's thirty, she's already twenty-nine this year... so terrifying.

"Jiang Ling, don't worry, I'll contact them for you." Manager Hong suppressed the trembling in her voice, trying to sound as even as possible, "Let's calm down, I'll keep your secret."

"We will definitely become popular, you have to believe in the company, believe..."

"Manager Hong, I'm already twenty-nine." Jiang Ling spoke coldly, enunciating each word, her tone scarily precise, "I don't have much time left."

Agent Manager Hong was nearly mad, goddammit, stop mentioning being twenty-nine!

Otherwise, I'll die clutching my house along with you!

Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!!

What did those idiots in artist development tell me back then, that Jiang Ling was the most obedient of the newly signed artists, the most capable.

A natural-born queen, the future pillar of the stage.

Fucking hell, how hard it is to deal with her, how the hell do you raise a madwoman!! Can someone tell me who the hell forced this lunatic into our ranks?

If my house is ruined, I will make sure they go down with me!

"Hey, Manager Hong, why are you crying?"

"No, I'm not crying." Manager Hong wiped away tears, swallowing her saliva before saying, "I'm just happy for you, Jiang Ling. You will definitely become a superstar that everyone looks up to!"

"Thank you, Manager Hong. You've worked hard." She smiled sweetly, her cheeks dimpling lightly.

Manager Hong forced a stiff smile onto her face, "It's not hard, but life is."

...

The setting sun dipped behind distant skyscrapers as the light in the studio on the second floor gradually dimmed.

The window couldn't be opened, too many mosquitoes.

The office was swelteringly hot, Xu Qingyan sitting at his desk, his shorts had been wet and dried again. He wasn't struggling anymore as his body had gotten used to the temperature.

He'd gulped down three bottles of water from morning till afternoon and hadn't moved an inch.

"Are you hot?" Pei Muchan asked faintly.

It was still the sweltering heat of August, and even after nightfall, the heat lingered. The cicadas, those little jerks in the trees outside the lawn, had stopped singing. Nameless insects picked up the chorus, chirping non-stop.

"I'm not hot, the desk is hot." He remained stubborn.

Looking at the time, it was six o'clock, and Lin Wanzhou's first-day song sales should have come out. He was about to check his phone when it rang.

"The first-day results are in?" Pei Muchan asked with a shaky voice, glancing up at him.

Xu Qingyan's movement to reach for his phone froze, his expression also becoming awkward. He thought to himself was she some sort of prophet, was he that transparent to her?

Had she turned on some sort of x-ray vision?

Their desks were right next to each other, so hiding was actually impossible. He decided not to hide. Pulling out his phone, he openly glanced at it, and gasped in surprise.

"Ninety-two thousand in one day?"

Pei Muchan, who had been lying sickly on the desk with her eyes closed, instantly sat up alert at the mention of ninety-two thousand.

"How much?"

"Ninety-two thousand." Xu Qingyan rubbed his eyes, equally shocked.

Although he knew that "The One I Miss" would perform better than "Qing Tian," he never expected it to nearly break the one million mark on the first day; the results were astonishing.

Even with a bunch of recommendations, it wasn't any large-scale website promotions, just a regular exposure.

"Xu Qingyan." She lifted her eyes.

"Yes?" Xu Qingyan turned slightly, meeting Pei Muchan's chilling gaze.