Chapter 51: The Rookie King
A few days later, Star Orange Entertainment received an invitation from Zhejiang South TV for Anan Qu to participate in the program “Music, Listen to Me.” Perhaps to the outside world, the two newcomers’ debuts seemed tied together, which is why Jiaxing Luo was also invited. This was an unexpected delight!
“Mr. Su, who should I choose as my agent?” Jiaxing Luo asked as he and Anan Qu blocked Su Chen at the elevator during lunch. Anan Qu blinked, looking expectantly at Su Chen. Since they couldn’t enter the composing department and didn’t have Su Chen’s WeChat, they had simply decided to intercept him at the elevator during lunchtime.
Su Chen was both amused and exasperated. These two seemed to rely on him for everything now, even for matters like this. He wasn’t their nanny! When they were still trainees, they had been under the management of Fang Xiao, the housekeeper. Now that they had debuted, it was only natural to be assigned new agents. However, since they had risen to the charts so quickly, the company hadn’t had time to assign them managers yet. With their upcoming program, finding a suitable agent became urgent.
But this wasn’t something Su Chen could handle—it was strictly the Artists Department’s business and had nothing to do with the Composing Department. Besides, it wasn’t a matter of personal choice; everything depended on the company’s arrangements.
Seeing how new and clueless they were, Su Chen patiently explained, “Choosing an agent is decided by the company. It’s not up to you, and certainly not up to me.”
Even if he could choose, he didn’t have a good candidate in mind. An agent needed not only connections and capability, but also a sense of responsibility for every word and action of the artist. In the entire company, Su Chen had only interacted with two agents: Bai Dehou, Wu Di’s manager—enough said—and Guan Mei, who managed Pei Qin, with whom he had exchanged only a few words. He didn’t know anyone else.
Seeing the two still wanted to say more, Su Chen interrupted with a smile, “Alright, don’t worry about it. This isn’t something you need to concern yourselves with. The company will definitely assign you suitable agents. You’ll know soon enough. You should head back now.”
He paused, casting a slightly annoyed glance at the pair. “Add me on WeChat. Next time, don’t block me here. There are too many people around; it’s not the place for a chat.”
The two stood there, visibly awkward. Watching Jiaxing Luo and Anan Qu leave hesitantly, Su Chen couldn’t help but smile again. So soon after entering this world of fame and profit, they were already so anxious.
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When Su Chen returned to the composing department, he saw Xiao-jie Dong and a few others huddled together, whispering conspiratorially. He didn’t bother to join them. But Xiao-jie Dong noticed his return and hurried over, lowering her voice confidentially.
“Su Chen, have you heard the news?”
Su Chen, used to Dong’s love of gossip, asked casually, “Oh? What news?”
Seeing he didn’t know, Dong’s spirits immediately lifted. “Fang Xiao is about to be appointed Director of the Artists Department.”
“What? How come?” Su Chen was genuinely surprised. He didn’t finish his sentence, but the implication was clear. Everyone knew that managing trainees was a dead-end job—no money, no status, and any promising talent would be snatched away by others. As the housekeeper of the trainees, Fang Xiao was considered the least promising of all agents. How had she suddenly been promoted to Director of the Artists Department? The leap was enormous!
Seeing Su Chen’s expression, Dong beamed with satisfaction—her passion for gossip thoroughly gratified. She cleared her throat and whispered, “Don’t you know? Fang Xiao almost became our company’s general manager once.”
Su Chen’s eyes flickered; this was news to him. He had only met Fang Xiao briefly before, but her decisive and forceful manner had left a strong impression—she clearly had the air of a power woman. He’d wondered why she was stuck with the trainees, but now the answer was clear.
He was intrigued and, eager to hear more, said, “Tell me, tell me!”
Dong, delighted, no longer kept him in suspense. “Back then, Fang Xiao was our top agent. When the company was at its peak, she trained several big stars, so she was quite famous in the industry.”
Dong mentioned a few names, and Su Chen was surprised.
“But later, for some reason, those people all left one after another. The company dropped out of the Top Ten Entertainment Companies ranking and has never recovered since,” Dong continued, lowering her voice further and leaning closer. “At that time, Fang Xiao was Director of the Artists Department, and Mr. Wang was Director of the Composing Department. When the previous general manager stepped down, the two of them were competing for the position. That was when Fang Xiao lost her chance. Mr. Wang became general manager, and she ended up with the trainees. No one really knows how.”
Su Chen frowned as he listened. “So why is she being made Director of the Artists Department again?”
Dong glanced around to make sure no one was listening, then whispered, “I heard that the company’s performance in the first half of the year was poor—the big movie project failed. The investors are unhappy and want new management.”
After saying this, perhaps worried Su Chen would repeat it, Dong quickly warned, “Don’t go around talking about this. It’s not a trivial matter.”
Su Chen nodded. They chatted a while longer, then each returned to their seats. Su Chen chuckled softly. No wonder Fang Xiao had ended up with the trainees—so there was such a story behind it. With Fang Xiao back in charge, Wang Yan must be feeling uneasy now.
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By August 7th, a week had passed since “Boundless Sea and Sky” and “The Prose Poem My Father Wrote” were released. Their cumulative downloads were still firmly in first and second place on the Newcomer Chart, with the gap to third place only widening. “Boundless Sea and Sky” had reached 5.8 million downloads, while “The Prose Poem My Father Wrote” had hit 6.6 million—almost catching up to the bottom of the Trending Chart. If the momentum kept up, there was a chance to climb higher.
But Su Chen knew it would be tough. The data showed both songs were starting to slow down. Even so, the results were still remarkable. Perhaps it was Su Chen’s outstanding performance, or the buzz from the “Weibo Birthmark Girl” incident, but even media outlets that usually ignored composers began reporting on Su Chen. Social media accounts soon followed. These self-media outlets excelled at exaggeration—capable of singing someone’s praises to the skies or dragging them down to the depths.
And so, Su Chen was soon crowned the “Rookie King.”