After asking this sole question, Sun Shengwan's parents also asked Jiang Shu about DM Entertainment and the K-pop industry. Jiang Shu was naturally happy to answer these questions, as Sun Shengwan had confirmed her decision to join.
Sun Shengwan's arrival not only meant her presence but also that the group Red Velvet was about to set sail, which was a cause for great celebration.
If Red Velvet was missing even one person, the group's bond could not be triggered. Now, with four members, only Sun Shengwan was left. With the final piece of the puzzle in place, it meant that the group Red Velvet could prepare for their debut.
In this world, the first concept group in K-pop was Red Velvet, which was completely raising the bar for subsequent concept groups.
As soon as he thought of this, Jiang Shu almost burst out laughing.
After seeing off Sun Shengwan and her family, Jiang Shu simply composed himself and called Qu Fan over.
"Chairman, you called for me."
There were only Qu Fan and Jiang Shu in the office, so Qu Fan didn't speak Korean.
"Sit."
"How is Qin Zhen and the others' Korean learning coming along?" Jiang Shu asked casually.
"They are still learning; daily communication still relies on English," Qu Fan replied.
"Take your time," Jiang Shu nodded. Learning Korean from scratch, even if the difficulty of learning Korean was not high, still required time. Not everyone was a language prodigy like Zheng Yaxian and Minnie.
"Regarding the celebrity chairman plan from last night, if I authorize it to you, can you make my popularity surpass Li Xiuman?" Jiang Shu looked at Qu Fan and asked.
"Li Xiuman of S.M. Entertainment is able to enjoy this level of popularity for two reasons: first, S.M.'s glory during the first generation of male and female idol groups, and second, his backing from television stations. He attends many events involving external communication, and naturally, his national recognition and popularity increase."
"If the company can maintain continuous dominance over the entire industry, I am confident that your popularity will surpass Li Xiuman."
"I can do it on the girl group level, but not for boy groups," Jiang Shu shook his head and said.
He had already received definite news that the boy group S.M. was currently working on was not SJ. Thinking about it, how old were those 'old boys' now? How could they sing and dance like young people anymore?
He dared to bring Bae Joo-hyun over because of the 'Kirin' bond. Without this bond, and with only a five-mao blood curd dish, he would have to consider how to make Bae Joo-hyun 'coast' as much as possible to avoid her low skill level being discovered.
However, the 'old boys' of SJ didn't have any bonds to give them an unfair advantage, and S.M. wouldn't arrange for these thirty-something or forty-something uncles to debut.
The boy group about to debut was NCT.
Although they were two years later than in the real world, they were still preparing to debut. And YG, which Jiang Shu had Choi Ji-yeon keep a close eye on, had no movement whatsoever. There was no sign of Bigbang, but there was news about Kwon Ji-yong.
This guy was a well-known producer in the industry now, having written many hit songs for boy groups, making him one of the most sought-after producers when many companies' boy groups made their comebacks.
It could only be said that truly talented people were indeed hard to bury. Xia Luo copied Jay Chou's songs, but Jay Chou would write new ones. Without 'Sunny Day,' he would still write 'Cloudy Day' or 'Rainy Day.'
So, the question was.
Where was Juan Zong?
Jiang Shu's thoughts drifted slightly.
He didn't care about boy groups, whoever they were, but he was very concerned about girl groups.
The leader of Cosmic Girls, EXY Chu Shaozheng, was a producer, but when it came to girl group idol producers, most people's first thought was Tian Xiaojuan, the leader of (G)I-DLE.
There was no other way; her rise was too inspiring, and the number of hit songs she wrote was simply too many.
Although some voices called her the female Kwon Ji-yong, which caused dissatisfaction among many GD fans, the media would not discuss the two in parallel if the gap was too large. Being able to be placed alongside Kwon Ji-yong meant that Tian Xiaojuan's production ability had actually been recognized.
There was a gap with Kwon Ji-yong, but it couldn't be said that one was in heaven and the other on earth.
Most, most, most importantly, the bond on her was the key that could activate ITZY's upper limit!
This was the greatest playability of this game.
The various bonds of each idol would have one effect in their original groups, but when you collected enough female idols, you would find that some female idols' attributes could trigger each other with other groups.
ITZY's five Wangdao Passion's upper and lower limits were two extremes. Jiang Shu had played the ITZY deck in his first and second playthroughs, but he ended up ruining them both times.
It wasn't that if he gave them popular songs, they would definitely become famous.
Five Wangdao Passion didn't lack popularity; what they lacked was compatibility!
Even ITZY's own songs were not fully suitable for the compatibility described by ITZY's Wangdao Passion bond.
In the first two playthroughs, Jiang Shu, in the first playthrough, poured various golden songs into ITZY, but they exploded after only reaching the second tier.
In the second playthrough, Jiang Shu chose to combine suitable golden songs with ITZY's own songs, but after raising ITZY to the first tier, they still misfired.
In the third playthrough, Jiang Shu was disheartened and didn't play the ITZY deck anymore; it was a headache to operate.
But in the fourth playthrough, Jiang Shu drew a card, a card named Jeon Soyeon.
It was the appearance of this card that rekindled Jiang Shu's idea of operating the ITZY deck.
And this time, Jiang Shu also successfully raised the ITZY deck, an extreme operation monster with both upper and lower limits, to the super first-tier position for the first time.
It was a pity that in the fourth playthrough, Jiang Shu had already formed TWICE early on. With TWICE's top-tier bond suppressing them, ITZY's upper limit in this playthrough could only be super first-tier.
But even being super first-tier proved Tian Xiaojuan's role for the ITZY deck.
Before finding Tian Xiaojuan, Jiang Shu would not rashly activate the ITZY group; the risk was too high, and once it failed, it would be completely over.
Thinking of this, Jiang Shu came back to his senses and looked at Qu Fan.
"You make the arrangements. Have Vice President Li come over."
"Okay," Qu Fan nodded, got up, and left the office.
Before long, Li Duohui knocked and entered.
"Chairman, you called for me."
"Simplify the company's recruitment information. Don't recruit for positions that are already filled. We'll make plans after the company changes its office location."
"Okay," Li Duohui nodded.
"I need to go to S.M. Entertainment this afternoon to discuss Red Velvet's debut with Min Xizhen. You come with me."
"Min Xizhen?" Li Duohui's eyes flickered slightly. She had naturally heard of this well-known female executive in the industry.
"Okay."
"Is there any movement from Kim Young-joo's side?" Jiang Shu asked casually.
"I have an appointment to meet her tomorrow," Li Duohui knew that DM Entertainment desperately needed talent right now, so she also put in some effort.
She knew Kim Young-joo, and their relationship was quite good.
"Good, thank you for your trouble."
"It's what I should do."