Chapter Seventy: Moving House, Embracing a Brand New Life

"Are you aware of Future Stardom's reputation?"
"It's considered the worst entertainment company in the industry."
Chen Fang asked with a smile.

He wasn't exaggerating. Future Stardom's reputation was truly that bad.

To be honest, other entertainment companies had their own dirty secrets as well. But at least they knew how to keep them hidden, whereas Future Stardom had been completely exposed. If you hide things well enough, it's as if they don't exist; but once they're out in the open, it's the end.

Although Chen Fang had joined Future Stardom and released several high-quality new songs in a short period, which slightly improved their reputation, he hadn't been with the company long enough to make a real difference.

There's an old saying:
Good news never leaves the house, bad news travels a thousand miles.

Reputation is a fragile thing.
Once it's ruined, rebuilding it becomes extremely difficult.

Chen Fang hoped Wang Situ would join Future Stardom, but he felt it necessary to warn her in advance, so she wouldn't regret her decision later.

"I know," she replied.
"Fans cursing, fighting fans, acting like a diva, poor professionalism, lip-syncing at concerts..."

Wang Situ rattled off a long list.

Chen Fang hurriedly interrupted her.
"It's enough that you know; no need to recite every single one."
He wiped the sweat from his brow.
This girl was certainly straightforward.

Wang Situ wiped her mouth and said, "But I'm not joining Future Stardom for the company itself. As long as you're there, willing to write songs for me, I'm willing to go."

Chen Fang raised an eyebrow.
Those words... felt unexpectedly comforting.

"Let me make something clear ahead of time. I can write at most two songs for you per year, because I have my own business to take care of."

"Also, the songs I'll write for you won't be a buyout, but a revenue-sharing contract."

What is a revenue-sharing contract?

It meant that for every song Chen Fang wrote for Wang Situ, he wouldn't charge any money upfront. But once the song went live on music platforms, every time a listener paid one yuan to buy the song, Chen Fang would take thirty percent.

This was a rather merciless demand.

Thirty percent—what did that mean?
Out of every yuan, Chen Fang would take thirty cents.

Thinking about it, it didn't seem too unreasonable.

But that was only Chen Fang's share.
When a song was uploaded to a platform, the platform would take its own cut, then send the remaining money to Future Stardom, which would take another portion, and finally, Chen Fang would take his share.

Three layers of deductions.

Among them, Future Stardom took the largest share.

After all three parties had taken their cuts, what remained for Wang Situ was the leftover.

At that point, if she received ten cents out of every yuan, she'd already be lucky.

In fact, she might not even get ten cents—just a few pennies.

Chen Fang had considered offering Wang Situ a buyout contract, like he had done when selling songs to An Tinghan, but even if he was willing, Wang Situ simply didn't have the money.

He knew well enough—
This girl was broke too.

"Alright,"
"No problem,"
Wang Situ agreed instantly, without even thinking.

Chen Fang was even more surprised: "You trust me that much? What if I can't write any songs for you? You'd be stuck in Future Stardom, unable to escape. It's easy to sign a contract, but much harder to terminate one."

"My intuition tells me you're not that kind of person," Wang Situ replied, still focused on her meal.

Chen Fang asked with interest, "So what kind of person do you think I am?"

"A pervert,"
Wang Situ blurted out.

Chen Fang's face darkened immediately.

"You may be lecherous, but you're a good person,"
Wang Situ added, twisting the knife.

Chen Fang rubbed his throbbing temples.
It was true he was a bit of a flirt, but to have it said so plainly—he felt a little humiliated.

After a while, Wang Situ finally finished eating.

Chen Fang handed her Xi Yuanyuan's phone number; for matters regarding joining the company, she could simply contact Xi Yuanyuan.

With Wang Situ's singing ability, getting signed with Future Stardom wouldn't be difficult, though she wouldn't get a contract as favorable as Chen Fang's.

Leaving the restaurant, Chen Fang had no intention of escorting Wang Situ home.

"If you need anything, just look for Xi Yuanyuan. I'll be busy with a variety show for a while, so I won't have time."

"If you need a place to stay, you can live in Future Stardom's staff dormitory."

"But the company doesn't have a cafeteria—you'll have to eat out."

After giving his instructions, Chen Fang waved goodbye and left.

Wang Situ said nothing.

She watched as Chen Fang's figure vanished at the end of the street, then turned and walked away in another direction.

......

"Another lonely night,"
Chen Fang tilted his head to gaze at the night sky, and sighed deeply.

Originally, he had planned to visit Ji Mei's villa.

But after making a call, he found out that Su Murou had taken Ji Mei to Hengdian in the capital for a trip.

In other words, Ji Mei wasn't home.

"Forget it, I'll go home."

"I can discuss moving with Fatty."

He'd had enough of that rented apartment.

He lacked big money, but moving didn't require much.

Chen Fang planned to talk to Pang Tong about renting a bigger, more spacious place. The current apartment had terrible lighting—sometimes even during the day, the lights had to be switched on.

Of course,

His first thought was to buy a house.

Owning his own place would certainly be better than renting.

But the same problem remained:

Poverty.

Buying was out of reach for now, but renting a better place was realistic.

When Chen Fang returned to the apartment, Pang Tong was following a fitness routine from a TV program, jumping around so hard the floor shook beneath him. Although he'd lost a significant amount of weight lately, Pang Tong was still hefty—dropping dozens of pounds hadn't changed the fact.

After about ten minutes, Pang Tong finally stopped.

"I'm exhausted,"
He collapsed onto the floor, panting and drenched in sweat.

Once Pang Tong had caught his breath, Chen Fang tossed him a bottle of mineral water. Pang Tong drank as he weighed his belly with his hand: "Not bad, it's smaller again."

Overweight people see quick results at the start of a diet.

But soon enough,

It would get much harder for Pang Tong to lose more.

"Fatty, let's move,"
Chen Fang said.

This place was too dim.

Living here felt like living in a sewer.

Unexpectedly,

Pang Tong sat up in a flash, visibly excited: "I knew we were good buddies! I was thinking the same thing—I wanted to tell you, now that we've got some money, let's move."

"So, should we go house-hunting tomorrow?"

Chen Fang thought for a moment.

No, not possible.
He'd be busy tomorrow.

Early in the morning, he had to head to the company; the production team for 'Let's Fall in Love Together' would pick him up at the company entrance. For the next week, he'd have almost no personal time, needing to follow the program's schedule.

Pang Tong picked up his phone and scrolled through it: "I've already started looking. Whenever I had free time during the day, I'd go out to meet landlords and check places. I've picked out a few good ones—take a look."

Well!

Chen Fang was pleased.

His boy was growing up.

He looked at Pang Tong's phone, which featured several videos sent by landlords.

Pang Tong had personally visited each of these places; the floors, lighting, and layout were all decent. The rent wasn't cheap, but it was within their budget.

Pang Tong was satisfied with all of them.

Any would do.

It just depended on which Chen Fang preferred.

After considering for a while, Chen Fang finally chose a small two-story duplex.

"No problem."

"I'll contact the landlord."

"We'll pick a time and move over."

Pang Tong was delighted.

A beautiful life was about to begin.

At last, they could leave this sewer-like apartment behind.