With no money in her pocket, everything felt tightly restrained.
The trainees had already started their training classes, and people from the New Talent Management Group would report on the situation over there every day, but Jiang Juyou didn't quite dare to listen, because every second she listened would remind her of the money spent.
Classes with teachers required money. In addition to basic dance and vocal lessons, there were even some odd and peculiar classes.
Because she was really unfamiliar with this area, starting from the first day Jiang Juyou was tricked into the system, she began to frantically cram knowledge—everything she could find online, she read through completely. She hadn't studied this hard even for the college entrance exam.
In addition to dance and vocals, the five of them were also arranged to take acting, styling, selfies, speech, socializing, and writing. Zhao Xu and Gao Xiayu, who had musical instrument foundations, also started learning how to use computer software to compose music.
Everything was just getting started. Even the company employees had just entered the company. It could be said that Jiang Juyou was stumbling ahead, feeling out the way, while the few behind her held onto the hem of her clothes and slowly followed.
The first week could even be called a novel and chaotic week.
The trainees were in place, and each department also had to start formal operations.
The summer in Beijing was like kindling—even inhaling the air felt like a knife, as if it would slice open your nasal cavity. It was painfully hot.
Before 10 am, the blistering sun outside could scorch people. Especially just coming out from the cool subway station, the contrast was even more intense.
Li Yao had just emerged from the subway station and saw two familiar backs.
“Zhao Xu! Yang Siyu!”
On the day of the interview, the three of them were in a group. Because they had waited outside for a long time, they chatted for a bit.
Li Yao studied new media, so entering the entertainment industry was a good professional fit. But Zhao Xu and Yang Siyu’s majors were completely unrelated to this circle. Zhao Xu studied interior design, and her strength shown in the interview was poster design and peripherals and such. Yang Siyu's major was business English. She was good at video post-processing and translation, and she also had Korean level 6 and Japanese N2 certificates.
At the time, Li Yao had heard something unspoken—it seemed the three of them were probably—fans.
Otherwise, how would they have learned so many things unrelated to their majors?
And entertainment companies basically don't recruit fans now. When they came, they also deliberately concealed this point, thinking that since they didn't follow domestic idols, it should be fine.
But they didn't expect their experience to be completely exposed in the interview—not only were they identified as having fan experience, but they even guessed that they used to work at fan sites.
Originally thinking there was no hope of getting hired, they still managed to smoothly get in in the end. It was just that the three of them were required to sign non-disclosure agreements—of course, not just them, the two from the New Talent Management Group did as well.
Those two had jumped over from other companies. Unlike them, the three of them were new graduates, just entering the workplace.
Yesterday, on the first day of work, everyone was very excited. The three of them huddled together and chatted about all kinds of topics, but they would never mention their biases or who they stanned.
Previously, the celebrities they saw were those already packaged on stage. Even the behind-the-scenes videos were deliberately shown by the artists. This was still their first time seeing the behind-the-scenes process from this perspective, and they felt it was very novel.
Yesterday when the trainees came for the first time, foreign stylists and photography teams came too. Their job was to follow around with cameras and shoot behind-the-scenes footage, recording this first time.
And their task today was to edit together that pile of lousy behind-the-scenes footage they shot.
Under the blazing sun, outside the subway station.
As soon as Yang Siyu turned around, she saw Li Yao running towards them. “Good morning!” When she got closer, she also shared half her umbrella with her.
The three of them walked towards the company together, the excitement in their hearts no less than elementary schoolers going on a field trip.
Jiang Juyou, also just entering the workplace, felt the same way. Just two weeks ago she was still preparing for final exams and worrying about finding an internship, and now she had become a wage earner.
Of course, the early eight o'clock hadn't changed.
Jiang Juyou, who had woken up at 7 am on the dot, sat dazedly on the bed for a few seconds after getting up, taking a moment to react that she was a wage earner now.
"...," she went. This damned early rising.
The company had just started up, and there were only so many employees, so basically all the remaining work had to be completed by her and the system—the system took on most of it, while she needed to complete the various tasks the system assigned.
But that workload was not small at all.
Just designing an interactive app for fans and artists nearly wrecked Jiang Juyou's already sparse hair. She had flipped through the apps on the market she could find, and she had also cleverly searched some keywords on Weibo to see how fans complained.
But just completing that one wasn't enough, because the trainees were going on stage in two months, so she still had to research where to buy songs. Just these two tasks had her crying and cursing all last night.
She researched until the early morning, but had only grasped one side of things.
Just a few days into the job, and she already wanted to take the civil service exam again.
In the end, Jiang Juyou took another look at the expected number of civil service exam takers this year before regaining her senses.
After washing up, she dragged her heavy body towards the office area.
The theater was tiered, so the whole building was very tall. The backstage area had three floors. The basement mainly had the parking lot for transporting equipment, and the practice rooms and waiting rooms—the spaces the trainees needed were all here. Even the sole bathroom was here, so if Jiang Juyou and the others wanted to use the toilet, they had to go down to the basement.
Due to the stage taking up a larger area in front, the first floor only had a small number of rooms that were not yet unlocked. It only displayed the words [Waiting Room] above, but the specific usage could be changed after unlocking.
Going up from there was the office area and the corner where Jiang Juyou lived. The Planning Group and Jiang Juyou's office were here, while the New Talent Management Group's office was in the basement.
With a face full of drowsiness, Jiang Juyou sat down at her desk and haphazardly ruffled her hair a few times before resignedly opening her computer to start today's work.
"Beep—Good morning, Li Yao."
"Beep—Good morning..."
A string of beeps followed as Jiang Juyou knew her motley crew of quasi-siblings had arrived.
Not even a few minutes later, she heard the sound of the elevator doors opening in the distance. The three girls chatted as they walked in, originally quite loudly, but upon discovering Jiang Juyou, it was like they were suddenly muted—they unanimously fell silent.
Jiang Juyou pulled up the corners of her lips and said to them, "Good morning!"
The three girls squeezed together, nodded at Jiang Juyou, and hurriedly put down their bags and went to their seats.
They especially resembled female college students who stepped into the classroom on time only to find the teacher already standing at the lectern.
Of course, they had just graduated, so their behavior still carried a student's air.
Jiang Juyou wasn't much better off either. At least those three had their diplomas, while she still had one more year until graduation.
The desks were in a T-shape. Jiang Juyou sat at the top, while the other three were on one side, and one side was empty.
After sitting down, the three of them squeezed their heads together and exchanged meaningful looks, feeling a little nervous. They had been here a few days, but this was still the first time sitting together and working with the boss—it would be false to say they weren't apprehensive.
Li Yao glanced in the direction of the boss and pursed her lips. Finally, she hesitantly asked, "Boss, have you eaten breakfast?"
Jiang Juyou, buried in her computer, tilted her head. "Not yet. Have you guys eaten?"
"Ah! We just bought some things from a convenience store on the street. Boss, do you want any?" Only then did the three take out the plastic bags they were hiding, which contained bread, milk, and various rice balls—it especially resembled the kind of things bought when going out on a picnic, and the quantities were pretty large too.
Jiang Juyou declined with a shake of her head. "You guys go ahead and eat. I ordered takeout, but when eating, go to the lounge, otherwise the smell of food will be everywhere here and it'll be hard to focus on work."
She also thoughtfully added, "Forgot to mention, I cleared out a lounge next door. Our company only provides lunch, but it's unlimited. You can bring an extra lunchbox and once you get your meal, put it in the fridge so you can eat at night too."
"Although we work 9 to 5 and there's no compulsory overtime, sometimes when there's an urgent task—" Jiang Juyou hadn't finished speaking when the three of them immediately nodded their heads, saying "I understand, I understand, I understand!"
Only then did Jiang Juyou reveal a smile, waving her hand and saying: "Alright, go quickly and eat your meals. After you've eaten, upload the edited videos."
These three were like students who had just been scolded, carefully and apprehensively holding their things as they hurried to the break room, afraid of walking too slowly and being called back again.
After turning the corner and entering the break room, closing the door, only then did the three of them breathe sighs of relief.
Li Yao immediately lamented: "My leisure time is over!"
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