Chapter 19: Livestream

Later that day, the official account of Dream Magic Troupe responded:

[Dream Magic Troupe: We apologize for the inappropriate actions of one of our magicians, which caused distress. The troupe has decided to temporarily suspend magician Ou Junzhe’s performances. Thursday night’s magic show will feature our newly signed magicians, Cao Xinyu and Wang Xinuo, presenting a brand-new water tank escape act. Unlike previous performances, the key props for this magic act will be inspected by the audience on site, with an upgraded difficulty level. We welcome your critiques and feedback! We hope everyone can witness the strength of our Dream Magic Troupe firsthand!]

This response calmed many of the audience’s anger, and the troupe even sold a considerable number of tickets thanks to the buzz.

When Lin Ran saw this response, she thought that the boss of Dream Magic Troupe was no ordinary person, just as clever as Zhang Yuetong.

That evening, the official account of Dream Magic Troupe continued live streaming. The beautiful host, Cui Qianqian, who was originally an internet celebrity, kept acting cute in the livestream while calling Cao Xinyu and Wang Xinuo to address the “poaching” incident.

Cao Xinyu spoke on camera: “Here’s the situation: due to time constraints, Miracle Magic Troupe could only schedule three magic shows. With Lin Ran joining, an additional group of magicians was needed on our side. Being the oldest magician, staying in the troupe would mean I would lose most of my opportunities. I’m a man who needs to support my family, so for financial reasons, I had to choose a job with better pay.”

His words garnered a lot of sympathy from viewers.

【It’s true; with Lin Ran’s rising popularity, it’s inevitable that she would push out other magicians.】

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Later, Liu Zhe also tried to help but didn’t get much attention since his account wasn’t verified.

The Dream Magic Troupe’s livestream continued to gain traction, and Cui Qianqian seized the opportunity to sell more tickets.

At that moment, Cao Xinyu glanced at his phone mid-livestream, and his expression suddenly changed.

He disappeared from the screen for a long time before returning.

With reddened eyes, Cao Xinyu struggled to speak: “I apologize, I misspoke earlier. The real reason I left was due to difficulties getting along with my colleagues—probably due to the age gap. They’re all young, and I’m getting older. Boss Zhang never stopped me from performing; in fact, he was very respectful towards me. It was my own decision to leave, and it had nothing to do with Miracle Magic Troupe. Please don’t misunderstand… I’m sorry.”

With that, he stood up and left the livestream.

Cui Qianqian was stunned.

She couldn’t understand why Cao Xinyu suddenly changed his tune.

The script he just delivered was meticulously designed by the boss and had won a lot of audience sympathy.

Why did he suddenly retract it?

She was about to encourage viewers to buy more tickets but stopped herself. Sitting beside her, Yu Shijia gestured for her to quickly end the stream.

“That’s all for today’s livestream, my dears. Remember to tune in Thursday night! I’ll be waiting for you!”

Cui Qianqian blew a kiss and ended the livestream with a smile.

Viewers were left even more confused, unable to figure out what had just happened.

At first, Lin Ran was puzzled too, but after thinking it over, she had a guess.

The theater owner, An Fei, wasn’t someone to mess with.

She wouldn’t allow her theater’s troupe to be slandered in any way.

Sure enough, soon enough, the magic troupe’s group chat provided an answer.

[Qi Ruige: Hahaha! This is hilarious! Turns out the backstage is fully monitored, and it even has audio! I didn’t even notice. Apparently, everything except the dressing rooms and restrooms is under surveillance, with no blind spots. Boss An said she sent the video to Cao Xinyu, asking him if he still cared about saving face. He immediately backed down.]

[Li Xingyue: Next time, if you want to badmouth the boss, do it in the dressing room or the restroom. Otherwise, she’ll hear you.]

[Zhang Yupeng: Boss An didn’t post the video online; she gave Cao Xinyu some face.]

[Qi Ruige: More like she gave Wang Xinuo some face, right? After all, Wang Xinuo just married a lousy husband. She’s a good person, and it’s a shame she’s getting dragged into this mess.]

When Lin Ran saw these WeChat messages, she was on her way home. As she got off the car, she immediately spotted Meng Xiao standing by the roadside, holding a bag of takeout.

“Were you… waiting for me?” Lin Ran asked, a bit surprised as she walked over.

Meng Xiao hadn’t managed to get a ticket that day, so she didn’t go to the theater.

She smiled and said, “I figured you’d be coming back around this time, so I came out to wait for you. I can’t let a pretty girl like you ride the elevator alone late at night. What if you run into some creep? There are a lot of renters in this complex, and it can get a little sketchy.”

Lin Ran laughed, “Aren’t you a pretty girl yourself?”

Meng Xiao ran a hand through her hair, “Didn’t you think I was a guy the first time you saw me? Besides, I’ve trained in martial arts; even three or five people wouldn’t stand a chance against me!”

She raised the bag of snacks proudly and said, “I even went to the supermarket to grab some late-night snacks while I waited… Hungry? Oh, by the way, this late at night, everything’s 30% off at the supermarket!”

“Thirty percent off… that’s great!”

“Yeah, the selection’s a bit limited, though.”

After eating their snacks, Lin Ran washed up and got ready for bed. She had rehearsals in the morning and a performance in the evening. The past few days had been packed.

But soon, she realized her schedule was about to get even busier.

[Zhang Yupeng sent out a group message: “Good news! Tongtong booked us a corporate gig with Feiye Group two weeks from now. The performance fee is 200,000 yuan per person. Let’s put in some extra hours, everyone. Time to hustle!”]

The group chat immediately erupted in cheers.

“I love corporate gigs so much!”

“Two hundred thousand? Oh my gosh! I’d work overtime until I drop dead for that!”

“Come on, Tongtong! Please book us more gigs!”

“Sis Tongtong, you’re amazing! No wonder you’re the queen of connections at Qingda!”

“What are you saying? She’s the student council president, the networking queen!”

“They’re all the same, hehe…”

…

Lin Ran, who usually preferred to lurk in the group chat, couldn’t help but give a thumbs up this time.

After all, she liked making money too.

…

The Sunday performance was another huge hit.

Lin Ran’s theme for the day was a flower shop.

Zhang Yuetong specially bought lots of fresh flowers, and Lin Ran demonstrated flower arranging live on stage.

Afterward, Li Xing’Ao handed out the flowers to the ladies in the audience, but as for the men… not a single one got a flower.

After the show, Lin Ran and Li Xing’Ao once again found themselves trending online. Many people were editing videos of Li Xing’Ao giving flowers, highlighting how he only gave them to women while completely ignoring the men reaching out for one.

However, Li Xing’Ao didn’t notice the trending posts that day. He was so exhausted from the performance that he fell asleep right after. His mom came early, and as soon as the show ended, she took him home.

Zhang Yuetong, as usual, had prepared a big red envelope for him. When she saw Li Xing’Ao’s mom, she handed it over, but poor Li Xing’Ao didn’t even get a chance to touch it before it was confiscated by his parents.

After changing her clothes and putting on a mask, Lin Ran left through the backstage exit. She hadn’t walked far when a car pulled up in front of her.

The door opened, and a handsome guy in a black suit stepped out, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Congratulations on a successful performance!” The guy smiled, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

“And you are…?” Lin Ran didn’t reach for the flowers, instead taking a step back.

“I’m Yu Shijia, your fan,” he said with a bright, sunny smile.

“May I have the honor of giving you a ride home?”

Lin Ran thought the name sounded familiar, and just as she was trying to recall where she’d heard it, Zhang Yuetong suddenly appeared out of nowhere, stepping in front of her with an angry expression.

She glared at Yu Shijia and shouted, “So, you really did come to steal talent… get lost!”

With this hint, Lin Ran immediately remembered that she had seen his name online. Yu Shijia was the son of Yu Mengxiang, the boss of the Dream Magic Troupe. Since Yu Mengxiang’s health wasn’t good, Yu Shijia had been managing the troupe, making him the de facto boss.

Yu Shijia sighed, “Why are you here? I thought you weren’t around… I guess I’ll come back next time to poach her, Lin Ran. You’re so beautiful! We’ll definitely meet again… next time when Zhang Yuetong isn’t here, I’ll find you!”

With that, Yu Shijia got into his car and drove away.

Zhang Yuetong frowned as she watched his car disappear around the corner. Then she turned to Lin Ran and said, “I’ll take you home. You live near Fenglong Film City, right? Wait here, I’ll go get the car.”

In no time, Zhang Yuetong pulled up in her car.

Lin Ran hadn’t expected Zhang Yuetong’s ride to be a small van. It felt a bit mismatched for someone as petite as Zhang Yuetong to be driving such a large vehicle.

“Hop in!” Zhang Yuetong got in first, and Lin Ran followed, sitting in the passenger seat.

“Here…”

Zhang Yuetong leaned into the back seat and handed Lin Ran two flowers.

“These are for you.”

They were two fresh sunflowers, their bright yellow petals glowing like sunshine.

“Thank you.”

Lin Ran took the sunflowers, gently sniffed them, and then looked back at Zhang Yuetong.

“How did you know I like sunflowers?”