Non-cooperation

Early the next morning, Chen Xiaoyong called Shen Tong, saying she had taken on an advertisement and might not be at the company for a few days.

Shen Tong quickly called to report this to Sister Lan. Sister Lan said she already knew about this. Shen Tong felt very depressed - why did she, as Chen Xiaoyong's manager, not know about this, while the people above her knew first? But it was also good, as it meant less work. For now, she only had to manage one artist, Su Xiao, and could devote herself wholeheartedly.

When Shen Tong arrived at the company, she was surprised to find that Su Xiao was already there. She asked, "How come you're at the company so early?"

Su Xiao asked coldly, "Who sent me to the hotel yesterday?"

"I did," Shen Tong admitted without hesitation.

"Oh. Thank you." Su Xiao's proud face didn't seem to show much sincerity in his thanks.

But Shen Tong didn't mind. Instead, she asked puzzled, "Why don't you ask what you did after getting drunk? Or what I did?"

Su Xiao said with contempt in his eyes, "I behave well when drunk." Then he looked Shen Tong up and down suspiciously and said, "What could you do?" After that, he was about to go practice singing as usual.

Hearing this, Shen Tong's face turned black. Did he trust his drinking behavior and her character that much?

Just as Su Xiao was about to step out the door.

"Wait, Su Xiao, I need to discuss something with you," Shen Tong seemed to remember something and looked for the paper Liang Xiaoyuan had written for her last time. After searching for a while, she finally found the paper and spread it out for Su Xiao to see. "These are all the shows you need to participate in."

Su Xiao just briefly scanned it with his eyes and said proudly, "I don't want to participate in them."

"You must participate," Shen Tong took a firm stance and said unequivocally, "Now Miss Chen has already climbed up using rumors and taken on an advertisement. Now you're the only one who's not famous. You must become popular no matter what."

Pointing at the shows on the paper, she started asking from the first one, "This one first?"

Su Xiao shook his head, looking very displeased.

"This one first?"

He shook his head again.

Su Xiao shook his head for all the shows. Shen Tong was so angry she wanted to jump. "You've finally filmed a new show and become a little bit famous. If you don't take advantage of this momentum to record more shows, you won't be able to become famous even if you want to in the future."

Su Xiao looked out the window, not knowing if he had heard her or not.

After a long silence, with only the busy footsteps outside occasionally heard, stepping on the ground and on the heart, the prolonged silent tug-of-war continued. Finally, Shen Tong gave in. She softened her tone and said, "How about just participating in one show?"

Su Xiao stood up. Finally, he took a step back and said, "Then you arrange it." He then walked out of the studio.

It was a compromise from both sides, Shen Tong thought happily. As long as he was willing to give in, there would be more opportunities in the future. This was also small progress.

But things were far from being as simple as imagined. Far from being that smooth.

Shen Tong contacted a quite good, somewhat famous variety show to arrange, and immediately set up the recording for tomorrow. She reported to the company, and the company also agreed to this schedule.

Shen Tong was overjoyed. She could finally arrange a solo show recording for him.

But then she had a horrifying thought: with Su Xiao's proud and cold personality, he acted like everyone owed him money. Wouldn't the atmosphere be terribly awkward during the live recording? But they had just finalized the details, and refusing now would bring negative impacts to Su Xiao. Shen Tong was really in a dilemma now. It seemed like a dead end no matter which way she chose.

Shen Tong decided to have a good talk with Su Xiao. She took the elevator to rush to the singing practice room, wanting to call Su Xiao for a good chat. But she was attracted by Su Xiao's singing voice.

This was the first time she heard Su Xiao sing. His voice was somewhat husky, and when he sang, it immediately felt different. The slightly husky voice seemed to be able to penetrate into everyone's heart, planting a small seed. And it sounded very sad, resonating with people's hearts.

Shen Tong was immersed in listening to a whole song, not even realizing when Su Xiao came in front of her.

"What's the matter?" Su Xiao asked proudly.

Only then was Shen Tong pulled back to reality by Su Xiao. Pointing at a show and looking at Su Xiao, she said, "I wanted to talk to you. I've decided to let you participate in this variety show. This one is quite popular."

"Whatever," Su Xiao said indifferently.

"The key point is, can you talk a bit more when you're participating in this show? There will only be you and the host recording at that time. If your response is too cold, it won't be able to go on at all, and people will say you're acting like a diva," Shen Tong said, looking at him earnestly.

Su Xiao remained indifferent and didn't speak. It was as if he had rejected Shen Tong's request.

"If you don't talk much, there will be no way to continue the recording," Shen Tong blinked her eyes, looking pitiful. She knew how to use her advantages. "Not being able to continue the recording is equivalent to doing useless work."

Su Xiao looked at her. He wanted to refuse, but when he opened his mouth, what came out was, "I'll try my best." After saying this, he turned around and focused on reading the music score.

Shen Tong was about to explode with anger. What does "try my best" mean! It's not her recording the show, yet she had to lower herself to ask Su Xiao to talk more. It's not her who wants to be famous! Now there's no other way, she could only put all her hopes on his "try my best"!

The next day.

Su Xiao and Shen Tong arrived at the recording location. Shen Tong first cordially greeted everyone at the recording site. The first step was to gain the favor of everyone on site, so that things would go smoothly. Su Xiao went to get his makeup done.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, rehearsal recording starts!" the director of the site shouted.

"Hello, Su Xiao," the host smiled warmly.

"Hello, host," Su Xiao's expression seemed a bit better than usual.

"I heard that you filmed a new movie with Sister Linda as a newcomer. What do you think about this?" the host asked with a smile.

"Very excited," Su Xiao said concisely.

Shen Tong below almost cried. Last time your answer was "Very good," this time it's "Very excited." Although there's progress in word choice! You expressed your feelings! But, it just changed from one word to another word, what's the difference!

Look, now the atmosphere is so awkward. She knew his "try my best" couldn't be relied upon.

The host laughed awkwardly, "So what do you think of Sister Linda? Did you learn a lot from her?"

"She's very nice, I learned a lot," Su Xiao answered, giving face to the fullest extent, his expression proud.

Shen Tong almost knelt down in her heart. Could it be any more concise! Could it! Fortunately, she had warned the host in advance, saying he was a rather cold person, hoping for more tolerance.

The host asked several more questions with a stiff face, all receiving concise and lukewarm answers. Shen Tong below was about to cry, her anxiety evident on her face.

Finally, the director couldn't bear it anymore, "Cut!"

He shouted at Shen Tong, "What's wrong with your artist? He just answers one question with one answer. And the answers are too cold! Can't he be more enthusiastic?"

Shen Tong apologized with a smile, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Director. He has a bit of a cold personality and doesn't know how to do this well. Please don't take it to heart."

"Does he look like he's here to participate in the show? To me, it looks like he's here to ruin our show! If he can't do it, just say so early! There are many people waiting to record our show!" the director said angrily.

Shen Tong kept bowing and apologizing, asking for the director's forgiveness.

"Fine! Let's do it one more time. Go talk to him," the director said in a bad temper.

"Su Xiao, can you talk a bit more and not have such a stiff expression, okay?" Shen Tong looked at him anxiously.

"I'll try my best," Su Xiao still said the same thing. Actually, this was already his maximum concession.

She explained a bunch of techniques on how to talk.

Shen Tong looked at him sadly and said, "I can only trust you now." After saying this, she turned to negotiate with the director for another try.

"Okay. One last time," the director shouted, losing patience. "I hope this time is better than the last."

The cheerful opening tune sounded along with the host's introduction.

"Hello, Su Xiao," the host still said warmly.

The light shone on Su Xiao's proud face. Even the warm light couldn't make his surroundings warm up, as if the light froze as soon as it touched him. His cold lips opened, "Hello, host."

"I heard that you participated in a TV drama directed by a certain director as a newcomer. How do you feel?" the host asked kindly.

"It feels very good, everyone was very kind," Su Xiao answered.

Shen Tong below let out a sigh of relief, the situation was improving.

The host asked a few more superficial questions, and Su Xiao's performance was still not bad.

"So which one do you think is closer to your ideal girlfriend, Sister Linda or Xiaoyong?" the host asked playfully.

"Neither," Su Xiao answered coldly.

Shen Tong almost spat out the water in her mouth, and the director's face also darkened.

The expression on the host's face froze, but he quickly adjusted. "Haha, you must be joking. They definitely wouldn't want to hear you say that. There must be one you prefer."

"I don't like either of them," Su Xiao said coldly. "Skip this question."

"Hehe. Then what's your ideal type?" The host seemed unwilling to let go of this question.

"Skip this question," Su Xiao reiterated.

The smile on the host's face seemed to be faltering, but he still changed the subject, "What do you think is the most profound impact this drama has brought you?"

Su Xiao said without hesitation, "None."

"Cut!" the director shouted angrily. "How can we continue recording like this?"

Shen Tong kept apologizing, "I'm sorry, Director, I'm sorry. He's not in good condition today."

The director cursed with a black face, holding the script, "You were the ones crying and begging to be on this show, but this is how you act when you get here! What? You're not even famous yet and you're already acting like a diva?"

Shen Tong replied, "It's not like that. It's just that he's not in a good mood and not in good condition today!"

The director snorted coldly, "Condition? Even the most famous stars don't put on airs when they come to our show!"

Shen Tong was speechless inside. It's not like your show is that famous either! But she still kept apologizing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Su Xiao sat on the sofa, watching Shen Tong apologizing constantly. His eyes suddenly turned cold, his fists clenching and unclenching in his palms. Then he stood up, strode through the crowd with a cold face, pulled Shen Tong along and walked out, leaving behind one sentence, "I'm not recording anymore."