Chapter 123: I Am Here to Endorse It

News is the one thing the entertainment industry never lacks. The controversy surrounding Concubine Rou was hot for a moment, but it was quickly overshadowed by new developments in the series "Kingdom," where fresh plot twists easily recaptured the audience's attention.

In fact, the projects associated with "Kingdom" continued to flourish, creating such a thriving situation that many industry peers were filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment—a phenomenon that had not been seen in a long time. This was not the result of hype, but a spontaneous outpouring of affection from the audience; those in the business knew full well whether the success was genuine or inflated. In particular, the visionary director Qiu Xian was being mentioned with increasing frequency, and his canonization as a master director seemed to be just around the corner.

Of course, for Chu Luoxi, all of this mattered little. Before she knew it, more than half of the semester had slipped away, and her classmates were all preoccupied with internships. Once this term ended, everyone would be heading their separate ways. Zhu Xueshuang and Liu Yujia had already signed with Scenery Entertainment and were reassigned to new agents. The management seemed much more professional; considering their academic schedules, they only occasionally arranged weekend appearances to maintain the popularity they had gained from "Crystal." With some time left in the semester, they were already busy preparing for their next project.

The only downside was that for every appearance they made, half of their earnings had to be handed over to the school, and the entertainment company took its own cut as well. Ahem, the amount they actually pocketed was pitifully small. Fortunately, neither of them was desperate for the money, otherwise, they would have had a breakdown.

On another weekend, just as Chu Luoxi was wondering how to spend her time, she was summoned by her agent, Lan, who announced that it was time to film the promotional videos for the game "Seeking the Dao." Everything that needed to be prepared was ready; all that was missing was her.

The bored Chu Luoxi felt a surge of energy. On the appointed day, she arrived at the tech company early, not even needing Lan Lun to pick her up, showing an unprecedented level of enthusiasm for her work. Now that "Seeking the Dao" had received investment and dividends from the "Chu Family," showing a bit of concern was only natural. Besides, Chu Luoxi was quite curious and excited about what would eventually become the national game of China.

The office consisted of two rather small rooms housing about a dozen people, an dizzying array of professional equipment, and a chaotic atmosphere. It was exactly as described by the game’s spokesperson after "Seeking the Dao" became famous. It was no wonder no one was willing—or dared—to invest in such a company. Appearance is the first impression; if that fails, what else is there to discuss?

Even though she had been prepared for this, Chu Luoxi was still left speechless. She understood the hardships of a startup, but it was truly rare to find a place so cluttered that she couldn't even find a clear spot to step, and they had to clear a mountain of papers just to find a small stool for her.

Finally, seeing the person in charge so embarrassed that he didn't even have a paper cup to offer her water and was about to run out to buy some, Chu Luoxi tactfully withdrew. She didn't want to be a bother; interrupting people's work like that was simply not done!

After taking a peek at the doorway, Chu Luoxi was satisfied. She left and found a nearby teahouse to kill time. Before long, she was shocked by the person who appeared before her. She had never expected to see him there: "Senior Xiao? Why are you here?"

Of course, with Lan Lun being involved, it was only natural that the cold-natured Lan did not appear.

"Oh, here for work," Xiao Jingxuan said with such a matter-of-fact tone that Chu Luoxi had to hide her face in embarrassment.

"Is he a friend of yours, too?" Chu Luoxi asked, puzzled. She was referring to the developers of "Seeking the Dao." Lan Lun had called them his friends, and Xiao Jingxuan was Lan Lun's childhood companion—what was the connection? She still didn't understand. If they were truly friends of the great Xiao, getting investment shouldn't be that hard. If nothing else, having Xiao Jingxuan act as a guarantor would have made it easy to secure a bank loan. Why were they struggling so much?

"He is his friend," Xiao Jingxuan said, gesturing toward Lan Lun. "I’ve only met him once."

Chu Luoxi didn't know that the one time Xiao Jingxuan had met them was when Lan Lun had sought him out to act as a guarantor, allowing "Seeking the Dao" to secure a loan. Without that, even if the team could get individual loans, it would have been difficult to raise much. Developing a game from scratch required a massive amount of equipment, and the expenses were staggering.

"I heard your family invested in 'Seeking the Dao'?" Before Chu Luoxi could ask more, Xiao Jingxuan volunteered, "I’m planning to invest as well, and while I’m at it, I might as well act as a spokesperson."

Chu Luoxi wiped her face. The great Xiao was certainly not an ordinary person; he talked about investing as if he were just tossing pocket change around. "Wait, you’re going to be a spokesperson?"

She didn't remember Xiao Jingxuan endorsing this game in her previous life. If he had, they wouldn't have had to suffer such cold treatment before the launch; his popularity alone would have been enough to propel the game to success. In her past life, the success of "Seeking the Dao" had relied entirely on word-of-mouth among gamers and a later Nobel nomination. Honestly, the previous spokesperson was more like a prop, purely there to make the cover art look better so they wouldn't have to use only virtual imagery. That was why it was said the spokesperson had gotten the better end of the deal.

"Are you not welcoming me?" Xiao Jingxuan’s eyes twinkled, and his radiant smile suddenly lit up the room.

Come to think of it, this was supposed to be Chu Luoxi's job—she had even signed the contract. Xiao Jingxuan jumping in at the last minute was, indeed, a bit unkind; it certainly looked like he was stealing business.

"How could that be? I couldn't ask for anything better!" Chu Luoxi raised an eyebrow. Not to mention how close they were, Xiao Jingxuan’s involvement could only bring benefits, not drawbacks. So, she decided to ignore the idea of him "stealing business."

Although her own spotlight might be dimmed, the potential benefits were numerous, and she didn't feel she was losing out. She might lose a bit of attention in the short term, but the great Xiao was already moving into films this year. In another two or three years at most, he would be heading for the international stage. By then, "Seeking the Dao" would still be popular, and her long-term gains would only increase.

After all, since her father had invested, her endorsement contract was a mutual benefit agreement. While the initial endorsement fee was gone, it had been converted into dividends, which would only grow higher in the future. In other words, the spokesperson position couldn't be replaced. Since Xiao Jingxuan had also invested, the situation should be similar. The thought of them being co-spokespersons for a long time made Chu Luoxi beam—this kind of opportunity was one in a million.

"That's good, then." Xiao Jingxuan smiled like a flower, his brilliance almost blinding.

"But Senior Xiao, how do you have time to film an endorsement? Aren't you releasing a new album? And didn't you sign on for a movie?" Chu Luoxi blinked, asking out of curiosity.

At the start of his career, during this high-speed growth phase, Xiao Jingxuan managed to maintain a pace of one album a year. Once he achieved fame and success internationally, perhaps to maintain quality, or perhaps due to his busy schedule, it would become very difficult for him to release new albums.