Chapter Seventy-Seven: An Ordinary Host

In a café in Jinling that never closed, Li Mu and Chen Wan found a window seat and sat across from each other.

At first, they asked about each other’s lives during the time they’d been apart. Li Mu’s life was a whirlwind—he’d just sold his cheat codes, and numerous projects like specialty shops, the EasyListen website, and online influencers were all progressing simultaneously. He didn’t hold anything back from Chen Wan, giving her an overview of each venture.

Chen Wan was full of admiration for Li Mu. She racked her brains but couldn’t think of any young man of his age who could, within just over half a month, build a fortune from scratch nearing a million. Moreover, her keen intuition told her that Li Mu’s first pot of gold was only the beginning of more miracles to come.

Compared to Li Mu, Chen Wan’s life was much simpler. Though she was interning in Shanghai, it was summer break, and her school dormitory was closed. So she rented a bachelor apartment near the TV station. She said her daily routine was a tangled mess—only the route from her apartment to the TV station was a straight line; the rest was chasing news all over the city.

Li Mu sympathized deeply. He knew well that, in any industry, interns had a tough time. They earned the least and did the most miscellaneous tasks, with every official employee seeming like their boss, able to order them around mercilessly.

Chen Wan didn’t mind, though, smiling as she said, “Work is just a bit tiring, but otherwise it’s nothing I can’t handle and I can stick with it.”

Li Mu nodded and asked, “How long does your internship last?”

“Until the end of August,” Chen Wan replied. “If I’m lucky, when I intern again in my final year, maybe I can do a formal internship at Shanghai Satellite TV for half a year. I’m working hard now to improve my chances.”

Li Mu raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Didn’t you say before you planned to intern at our Southern Su Province TV?”

Chen Wan pouted, “It was you who said last time that Southern Su Province TV didn’t have much of a future, so I thought I’d work hard and see if I could sign with Shanghai Satellite TV after graduation.”

Li Mu felt gratified. Chen Wan’s desire to stay in Shanghai meant her destiny was already starting to shift. If she didn’t return to Jinling, then in her previous life, the husband she had might be avoided altogether.

But then Li Mu wasn’t sure. Who knew who her husband was in her previous life? What if they didn’t meet at work? What if it was her childhood friend? Or the child of her father’s friend? It could even be one of Zhang Kexuan’s rowdy friends...

Li Mu pondered carefully. In her previous life, Chen Wan wasn’t famous at Southern Su TV, only hosting a niche program with a bit of local renown—hardly a household name. But if she could go further in hosting, become the anchor of a wildly popular show or even the top star at a TV station, then as her status rose, her spouse selection would surely improve accordingly. That would be much safer.

It seemed, to change her future romantic path, the first thing to do was change her career trajectory.

Chen Wan didn’t know what Li Mu was thinking as he stared at her, his brow slightly furrowed. She asked tentatively, “What are you thinking about?”

“Oh.” Li Mu snapped back and grinned, “Nothing really. It’s just, Sister Wan, you’re so beautiful and your presence is outstanding. If you’re determined to be a host in the future, don’t settle for being just an ordinary host.”

“What’s an ordinary host?” Chen Wan was puzzled by his words.

Li Mu laughed. “Hosts for news, weather, interviews, special features, competitions—those are ordinary hosts.”

Chen Wan was confused. “Aren’t hosts just those? What else is there that’s not ordinary?”

Li Mu smiled meaningfully. “A host who has one foot in the hosting world and one in the entertainment industry—that’s not ordinary at all!”

“The entertainment industry…” Chen Wan laughed awkwardly. “It’s not easy to break into now, and hosting isn’t easy either.”

Li Mu looked profoundly at her. “Having one foot in entertainment doesn’t mean singing or acting. It means influencing the entertainment world through hosting.”

At present, TV programs weren’t as rich as they would become; nowhere near the future’s prosperity. Later, Hunan Satellite TV would launch several exceptional hosts. He Jiong, Xie Na, Wang Han—all shared one trait: hosting wildly popular variety shows, amassing countless fans, then leveraging fan economy, endorsements, albums, movies.

He Jiong was the most remarkable. He left only one signature song—‘Gardenia in Bloom’—on the music scene, yet managed to stretch that four-minute song into a movie over an hour and a half long. Most astonishing, his fans contributed nearly four hundred million yuan to the box office.

This, in Li Mu’s eyes, was a host with one foot in hosting, one in entertainment. To become such a host, the necessary path was hosting a hugely popular variety entertainment show—no other way.

Chen Wan didn’t really understand what Li Mu meant. The hosting field hadn’t yet diversified as it would in the future, so Li Mu didn’t explain further. Instead, he pondered to himself: when the opportunity came, he must find a way to give Chen Wan some advice or create chances for her. If she could host a variety show that swept the nation, she’d definitely become a star.

...

Chen Wan and Li Mu sat in the café until half past eleven. Her father called, asking why she hadn’t arrived at the hotel—everyone was there except her.

Chen Wan hurried Li Mu out, hailed a taxi, and headed for Heng’an Grand Hotel.

In the taxi, Chen Wan said to Li Mu, “If you don’t want to get involved, just wait for me at the entrance. I’ll be inside no more than ten minutes, then we’ll go to the station together.”

“Alright.”

The taxi arrived at Heng’an Grand Hotel. Li Mu waited at the entrance, while Chen Wan jogged inside, heading straight for the banquet hall. The atmosphere inside was lively; ten parents were deeply impressed by the children’s performance plans today, and their views on kids playing music had completely changed.

Zhang Kexuan’s father, Zhang Zicheng, was the proudest. He said spiritedly, “Since the kids have talent, let’s give them all our support! The four of us will invest together. After the competition, we’ll find the best record company in the country, and fund their debut ourselves!”

The other parents nodded in agreement. In their eyes, the entertainment industry was just money and connections. Since their kids had talent, pooling their resources would surely help them become famous faster.

But Zhang Kexuan shook his head repeatedly. “Dad, we’re not signing with any record company yet.”

“I know,” Zhang Zicheng smiled. “You want to wait until you win the championship before signing, right?”

“Even if we win, we won’t sign.” Zhang Kexuan recalled Li Mu’s instructions and smiled, “We have a really capable manager who’ll handle these issues for us. When it comes to the band’s future, we’ll follow his lead.”

Zhang Zicheng was surprised. “Where did you find a manager? Is he reliable?”

“Absolutely!” Ye Tianming chimed in. “Uncle Zhang, our manager is incredible. It’s all thanks to him promoting us online that we gained so much popularity so quickly.”

“Really?” Not only Zhang Zicheng, but the other parents were also amazed. They searched their memories but couldn’t think of any agent in Jinling involved in the entertainment world.

Ye Tianming’s father, Ye Youdao, had already heard about it. He spoke up to the other parents, “Since the kids have their own ideas and have already taken a successful first step, we shouldn’t interfere with their plans. What we should do is provide them with ample financial support, and trust they’ll handle the rest.”

Ye Tianming gave his father a thumbs-up. “Dad, you’re absolutely right!”

The other parents exchanged smiles and said no more. Their kids were on the right path and had already made a mark—they were content.

Just then, Chen Wan came in. Zhang Kexuan saw her and quickly asked, “Wan, where’s Li Mu?”

“He didn’t come,” Chen Wan replied, not daring to say Li Mu was waiting downstairs. “Brother, I have to go to the station soon. I just wanted to come by and congratulate you all, toast you, and then I’ll leave.”

Chen Wan’s mother said, “Don’t rush off, Wan. I’ll drive you to the station later.”

“No need, Mom, stay with Dad. I have a friend with me.”

“Then I’ll give your friend a ride, too.”

“Oh, really, there’s no need. With so many people here celebrating for my brother, you don’t have to go out of your way. It’s not far, and besides, I’m not alone.”

Zhang Kexuan seemed to guess Chen Wan’s friend was Li Mu, so he spoke up, “Aunt, don’t worry. I know Wan’s friend, you can rest assured.”

Chen Wan’s mother asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“A girl,” Zhang Kexuan replied quickly.

“Oh.” Chen Wan’s mother nodded lightly, then said to Chen Wan, “When you leave the hotel, go straight to the station, meet your friend there, and don’t go elsewhere, alright?”

“Got it.” Chen Wan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed, shooting Zhang Kexuan a grateful look.

Zhang Kexuan blinked nonchalantly, though in his mind, he wondered if his silly sister might have something going on with Li Mu. But thinking about it, it wouldn’t be bad. Li Mu was a bit young, but definitely talented! The two of them, handsome and beautiful, would make a fine pair.

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