This Star Only Wants More Money - Chapter 23
Translator: Diviner
Inside the office of the “Tomorrow’s God of Song” production team, several people sat before a large screen, watching intently. Two of them were holding phones, ready to send high-value gifts whenever needed.
When the melody of “The Wind Rises” played, all the staff members in charge of this project breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Xu Feng had completely humiliated himself this time!
And it wasn’t due to some behind-the-scenes manipulation to force a loss to save face for the show. Instead, it was because he had been completely outperformed in the very area where he prided himself—his “talent”—by an unknown figure on the internet!
The production team encountered several uncooperative contestants every year, but they rarely came across someone as troublesome as Xu Feng.
Most contestants, like Dai Mingli, whose abilities were not particularly outstanding, could only quietly accept their fate of being eliminated.
A small number of contestants with remarkable performances, for the sake of their future, would choose to cooperate. If necessary, the production team could also offer incentives with resources.
But a singer like Xu Feng, with a high singing ability, decent creative talent, a good educational background, and a clean record without any major scandals, who remained impervious to offers or threats, was precisely the kind of person who made the production team feel the most troubled.
However, fortunately, there’s always a villain who can handle another villain!
Although there was an element of luck, dealing with Xu Feng turned out to be much easier than expected.
Most importantly, this time, they had handled Xu Feng perfectly. Not only had they made him lose face in front of his fans, but they had also caused all the traffic he had painstakingly accumulated to be immediately taken away by Ding Henrun.
In the entertainment industry, losing face wasn’t such a big deal, but losing traffic meant death!
They had gone through so much trouble to set up this livestream, all to ensure Xu Feng would be completely eliminated from the entertainment industry.
Even if his name were brought up again in the future, people would immediately remember him as the one who was humiliated in the livestream PK.
“Xiao Liu, well done!” A man with a beer belly, visibly satisfied with the PK program, complimented the effort, “The person you found is excellent—he knows what he’s doing, and he’s not lacking in skills. He’s far better than Xu Feng. He’s a talent, and we should work with him more.”
“A young talent like this is worth nurturing.”
Xiao Liu was in high spirits after receiving the boss’s praise. “Look at Xu Feng’s face now. Where’s that arrogance from before?”
They had already given Xu Feng an out, offering to waive the payment, but he didn’t know what was good for him. He even blocked them outright!
Did he really think he was Lin Shenghuan?
Even if it were Lin Shenghuan, if their production team wanted to target her, they would do so without hesitation!
“Alright, start sending the gifts,” the leader said, his eyes darting between the two screens. “Quickly raise the heat while you can. Also, tell the operations team to be vigilant—no mistakes during the final voting.”
The two staff members who had been on standby immediately began clicking on high-value gifts.
In an instant, the entire livestream was filled with floating gifts, with a celebratory atmosphere of victory. The frenzy in Ding Henrun’s stream was overwhelming, utterly crushing Xu Feng’s side.
Soon, Ding Henrun’s performance ended, and the staff swiftly began to vote.
Watching the PK score at the top of the livestream, where the blue bar representing Xu Feng was being heavily suppressed by the blue bar of Ding Henrun, the last bit of uncertainty in everyone’s hearts vanished.
“Get ready to make the payment. If we’re going to crush the troublemaker, we should also set an example,” the leader sipped his tea, nodded at the countdown with five seconds left, and said, “Ding Henrun is worth recruiting; no need to delay the payment.”
The staff member responsible for the payment nodded and stared at the countdown. Once it ended and Ding Henrun was confirmed as the winner, they immediately transferred the agreed-upon sum to the designated account.
After completing the transfer, an unexpected notification sounded from somewhere: “Your bank card ending in xxxx has received a deposit of 80,000 yuan…”
The leader, who had already stood up to leave, paused, a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice. “Who forgot to set the phone to silent while handling this… hmm?!”
Mid-sentence, he sensed something was off—if they were the ones making the payment, why did they hear a notification for receiving money?
Where did this sound come from?
There was only one answer.
Ding Henrun had forgotten to mute his phone!
Though this message didn’t expose the production team and didn’t cause a disaster, it was still a pretty serious mistake.
The leader turned back angrily, “Remind him after the livestream ends. If he plans to make it in the entertainment industry, he must avoid such basic errors.”
However, the other staff members remained frozen in their seats, staring at the big screen with bewildered expressions and no action.
The leader felt displeased, “What are you standing there for?”
Xiao Liu hesitated for a moment before speaking with a confused tone, “Leader… that sound seemed to come from Xu Feng’s livestream?”
“What?” The others hadn’t yet grasped what had happened. “Why would a deposit notification appear in Xu Feng’s livestream?”
No one could come up with an answer.
Of course, they didn’t need to.
Because on the other side of the screen, Xu Feng had already given them the answer.
The camera on Ding Henrun slowly moved upward, revealing the face that the production team despised to the point of gritting their teeth.
A face that seemed to mock these people, who had spent money to place themselves in a position to be humiliated by their opponent, as if they were the biggest suckers in a century.
Xu Feng glanced at the camera, and with a mocking look directed at the barrage of bot comments and the now undoubtedly furious production team, he politely greeted them with a prepared line, letting out a soft chuckle: “The only one who can beat me… is myself.”
With that, Xu Feng felt a sense of complete satisfaction.
Finally, he got to say it!
The production team and their countless shills had taunted him so many times; if it weren’t for a mercenary’s duty to their employer, Xu Feng would have turned the tables long ago.
Of course, the way things turned out was much more satisfying than a mere reversal!
In the bottom right of his vision, a task success notification appeared.
[Congratulations to the host for successfully completing a 100,000 yuan assignment! (Completion rate: 100%)]
[Temporary abilities have been revoked.]
[The host may choose one of the following options: 1. Receive full payment for this assignment; 2. The system will take 90% of this commission income and 90% of the “The Wind Rises” income for the next three months. In return, the host’s singing ability +2, performance ability +8, and receive 100,000 points.]
[The host need not worry about any post-assignment legal issues or payment problems; the system will resolve them reasonably.]
[Show Appearance (1/1), Assist Employer in Defeating a Strong Opponent (1/1), Current Mainline Task Completed, Receive Mysterious Reward: 3 Freely Allocable Ability Points]
[Next mainline task is unlocking, please wait patiently…]
[Host’s Current Permanent Abilities: Singing: 12; Acting: 11; Appearance: 84; Instrument: 39… (Unused free points: 3)]
Xu Feng made a decisive choice after just a glance: Option 2.
“100,000 points—using them to draw works can yield much more than 100,000 yuan. Only a fool would choose Option 1… Let’s tally up the gains from the past three assignments; it feels like I’ve improved quite a bit.”
Realizing he hadn’t closed the livestream, Xu Feng reached for the mouse to exit.
“Uh…” Xu Feng’s hand slowed as he turned his gaze back to the screen. “Why are there suddenly so many comments?”