Long Qiu took Tao Ran to her apartment. It was one of those three-bedroom and one-living room apartments located in a high-end residential area, and she lived alone. Tao Ran was a little nervous, and had nothing to say. "You live here alone? Don't your parents live with you?"
Long Qiu was pouring water in a glass while saying, "What makes you think that my parents will squeeze into such a small apartment with me?"
“...” I’m really poor.
Long Qiu sat down opposite Tao Ran and looked at him critically. "Do you usually wear this kind of clothes?"
"Yes." Tao Ran looked at his whole body. He was wearing clothes that were fashionable for men in their 20’s. "What's wrong with this?"
"Ugly and shabby. I'll send you a stylist tomorrow." Long Qiu picked up her mobile phone and began to press, "By the way, where do you live?"
Tao Ran mentioned an address, and after a while Long Qiu looked up and said, "Why can't I locate that place?"
"That's probably because it is an illegal rental building in the city."
Long Qiu looked at Tao Ran for a few seconds and then threw him a key. "You will live here starting today."
“I’m so sorry,” Tao Ran took the key and said, “Is this the start of my life as your ‘kept man’?”
Long Qiu rolled her eyes and said, "From today on, I will package you as a young, handsome, respectable and well educated young man, and I will use the company's resources to boost you up, but you just need to do me a little favor."
“What is it?”
"Get closer and catch up with your high school classmate Cui Xiao." Long Qiu said with a smile. "And this matter is only to be known to both of us. You must never let a third person know, otherwise I will definitely let you die miserably. I mean it."
Tao Ran rubbed his fingers together and asked, "Can I ask why?"
Long Qiu: "No”
"Are you trying to steal her boyfriend? If so, I don't think it is necessary. What kind of man can't you get with your status? Why do you have to steal someone else's boyfriend? You have to open your eyes and realize that there are millions of men in the world..."
"Enough!" Long Qiu interrupted Tao Ran's words, "I am leaving, and someone will come to you tomorrow. If you dare go back on your word, it will not be a minor punishment."
Long Qiu stepped on her high heels and left like a proud peacock. Tao Ran hugged the pillow and said, "Xiaomei, our task is very arduous."
Xiaomei twisted her round body into Tao Ran's arms.
"Host, don't be discouraged. You have successfully approached Long Qiu. This is already a great progress. If you don't start with small steps, you can't reach thousands of miles. If you don't accumulate small streams, you can't become a river and sea..."
The next day, Tao Ran was training with the other members in the training room. The director of the personnel department suddenly arrived and took Tao Ran away. The dance teacher and the members were shocked. As the worst qualified boy here, what made him suddenly attract the attention of the top management?
A member was unconvinced. "We are the ones who were training so hard but why is he the one who got a chance so soon? In what aspect are we worse than him?"
Since the Little Apple audition incident, the toilet guy Xiang Chu has always had an inexplicable sense of awe for Tao Ran. At this time, he honestly said, "Our faces can’t compare with his.”
"Shit!"
"The entertainment world really looks at the face!"
The Personnel Director walked with Tao Ran and along the way he said, "President Long has arranged a senior agent for you. She also provided you with your own stylist, and there is a big production for you as a lead male. It's a rare opportunity that you have to take advantage of."
"Oh, that’s good." Tao Ran nodded. He and the personnel director went into the elevator. It would be a lie to say that he didn’t feel nervous about acting. He didn't know whether the director was fierce or not.
The elevator stopped on the 22nd floor, and the personnel director took Tao Ran to a dressing room. "This is Tao Ran." He announced to a man with long hair.
The long-haired man twisted his hips like a water snake and looked at Tao Ran. He then snapped his fingers and said, "Very handsome young man! The lady dragon is always so serious, I thought she was going to give me an ugly one."
"Hello, Tao Ran." The long haired water snake man reaches out his hand to Tao Ran. "I'm your agent. My name is Tony."
Tao Ran shook his hand, "Hello, please give me more advice."
Tony cast a wink at Tao Ran. Tao Ran obviously felt Tony’s fingers tickle the palm of his hand. Ugh, my goose bumps are coming out. I don't like snake-like men.
After the personnel director left, Tony looked at Tao Ran with a scalp-tingling look in his eyes and said, "Honey, you look terrible in this outfit. Come on, let the stylist help you transform yourself."
As a poor college student who had just graduated and had no money or potential, it was already exciting enough to match clothes that were pleasing to the eyes, let alone dress up. Tony pressed Tao Ran on the chair and asked the stylist to give him a haircut, and then discussed with the stylist what clothes to wear for Tao Ran.
Tao Ran vaguely heard something about ‘backless’, something like ‘halter top’, something ‘deep V-necked’, something ‘sexy’. Is this really about choosing clothes for men? Although Tao Ran was a woman in his heart, he was a man in this world and he didn't want to be wearing women's clothing as a man. Tao Ran was speechless. While the stylist was dyeing his hair, Tony whispered to Tao Ran's ear, "Are you related to the lady dragon?"
Tao Ran was a little sleepy and said, "Will she have such poor relatives?"
"That's true." Tony looked at Tao Ran up and down, and said with a look of appreciation, "It is a very normal thing for a woman to appreciate such a good looking man. Oh, what am I thinking? Maybe President Long finally couldn't bear to be lonely anymore?"
Tao Ran: “...”
"I have to say that the lady dragon always has a good eye." Tony salivated. "If I’d found you first, I wouldn’t help but want to get you."
Tao Ran was sweating because of Tony's words. Tony asked, "Where do you live now?"
Tao Ran mentioned an address, and Tony's eyes widened in an instant, "Isn’t that the dragon's home?"
"En..." In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding, Tao Ran explained, "To be exact, it's an apartment and the dragon is always out."
"The Golden House hides its beauty!" Tony screamed. "Are you living together? The news is so exciting that I can't control myself!"
Tao Ran's head was buzzing with the scream near his ear. He asked panda Xiaomei in his heart, "What's wrong with this man? Is he a psychopath?"
Xiaomei calmly said, "This person is a typical hustler, who can be used as a target for a strategy. Okay, I’ve decided to submit an application to the headquarters. My next task is to take advantage of this strategy."
Tao Ran said in horror, "No way! You want me to attack and take advantage of him? I refuse."
"The host doesn't have to worry. This is the next task of Xiaomei—the system, not the next task of the host."
Tao Ran thought for a while and said, "I see, which means that your next host’s task would be to take advantage of him?"
Xiaomei's pair of dark circles immediately turned into two red hearts. "Host, you are so smart."
“…” Although Tao Ran had not finished a task now, he had begun to sympathize with Xiaomei's next host.
It was already evening when they finished the hair and styling. Tao Ran didn’t know how many sets of clothes he had tried out until Tony finally picked out a few for him to take back.
"Okay that’s done, let's have dinner together." Tony gave Tao Ran a flirty look.
Tao Ran refused without hesitation. "I’m sorry but I can’t. I am too tired today so I want to go back home to sleep."
"All right, then." Tony said regretfully, "Get a good rest and come to the company before nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I will take you to the audition."
Tao Ran raised his eyebrows. "Audition for what part?"
"Silly boy, of course it’s for the role of a male lead as promised by President Long. That is the movie that Director Guan has prepared for two years, and Starlight has invested a lot of money in it." Tony patted Tao Ran on the shoulder, "You have to do well."
Tao Ran reached out his hand and touched his hair that looked unusually smooth, and asked, "Isn't the actor for the lead role already decided to be me? Why still go for an audition?"
Tony looked at Tao Ran’s eyes, "Because director Guan had already released the news of the audition before you appeared. Now if he cancels the audition and lets you play the male lead, fools will know that you have been given the part because of a bribe, which is not good for your reputation and future development."
Tao Ran wiped his sweat and thought that it made sense. But he had no confidence in his acting skills. "Tony, what if I don't perform well tomorrow? What would Director Guan do if he is not satisfied with me?"
"It doesn't matter." Tony smiled confidently. "Unless he wants Starlight to withdraw his funds, the male lead role is already guaranteed for you.”
Tao Ran was relieved, the feeling of someone above was just cool. He made a plan when he got home. In a few days he would be seeing the female lead, Cui Xiao, which meant that his mission will officially begin. Long Qiu wanted him to seduce Cui Xiao. But instead of seducing her, he must try his best to bring Cui Xiao and Bai Shaohui together.
Another reason why Long Qiu never let Cui Xiao off in the original book was that the relationship between the male and female protagonists had not been determined, which made Long Qiu have a lot of fantasies. If I let Bai Shaohui and Cui Xiao confirm their feelings and determine their relationship as soon as possible, would that make Long Qiu give up before falling into deep trouble?
Tao Ran searched many novels of this type on his mobile phone, and then began to study these vicious female villains. The reason why excellent female villains are always obsessed with the male leads is that they love them yet are usually ignored by them. A woman who has been loved by many stars since she was a child suddenly meets a man who ignores her and is indifferent to her love. You can't help being attracted and curious.
He once read a saying that when a woman is curious about a man, there are only two ways to eliminate this curiosity, killing him or sleeping with him.
Tao Ran lay on the bed thinking about the problem, and fell asleep without realizing it. When he was awakened by the sunlight passing through his window, it was almost nine o'clock.
Fortunately, the clothes had been matched by the stylist and he just needed to put them on. Putting on his clothes and fixing his hair, he yawned and said, "Why didn't you wake me up? Don't you know that I am going to the audition today?"
Xiaomei said innocently, "In order not to make the host feel like being monitored and restrained, the caring system will not disturb the host's normal life."