After the graduation ceremony yesterday, someone uploaded Mu Li's song from a Kuaoyin live stream to Kuaoyin, which immediately sparked a heated discussion.
After a day of fermentation, many people on the internet had already noticed this song.
Capitalizing on the traffic of graduation season, everyone used this song as background music to create videos. In just one day, the song's playback volume on Kuaoyin had already exceeded one million.
Mu Li directly played the edited video of "like you as a friend" from the graduation party.
"Not bad!" Everyone praised after listening.
Faced with such praise, Mu Li was a little embarrassed: "I sang it at the graduation ceremony yesterday, and I didn't expect it to become a little popular."
Chichi immediately searched on Kuaoyin after hearing this. The search results stunned him.
"Holy moly, a million views in one night. How is this just a little popular? You're going to be huge!" Chichi looked at the Kuaoyin search results in disbelief.
"Not only is it popular on Kuaoyin, but there's also a hot search on Weibo." Gao Hanyu directly opened Weibo, and there were several hot searches about the Yangcheng Conservatory of Music graduation ceremony, the hottest topic being "like you as a friend."
Ma Di and Jie Ni, who were also musicians, could only look on with envy.
Ma Di was alright, after all, he had a very popular folk song as a foundation, but Jie Ni was much worse off. As a hip-hop artist, he had almost no works that broke out of his circle, only being relatively famous within the hip-hop community.
However, this was commonplace for musicians; after all, no one could predict what would go viral. Many songs that had been dormant for years only became popular again due to serendipitous circumstances.
Nevertheless, through this introduction, everyone became acquainted with Mu Li.
Deng Fei understood his partner Chichi very well. Seeing Chichi praise Mu Li so highly, he naturally knew that Mu Li's identity must not be simple.
"Chichi, secretly tell me, what exactly is A Li's background?" Deng Fei pulled Chichi aside and asked while everyone was moving to the next location.
Chichi feigned mystery: "He doesn't want to say it himself, so it's not convenient for me to reveal it to you. But you just need to know that his identity is extraordinary. As for anything else, just be yourself."
As partners for over a decade or two, Chichi naturally understood his old friend very well. Needless to say, Deng Fei was humorous and witty, with a good-natured personality. Even passersby would find it difficult to dislike his character.
As for Mu Li, although he hadn't interacted with him in real life, based on their online friendship over the past few years, he generally knew what kind of person Mu Li was.
For Mu Li, most things he wouldn't take to heart, but he was especially concerned about friends and family.
Take Chichi for example; the two were only friends they met online, yet Mu Li sent Chichi such a powerful Pokémon without a second thought. Just from this, one could tell what kind of person Mu Li was.
Chichi didn't mention the more important matter. It was precisely because of this Pokémon incident that Chichi asked about Mu Li's identity, but Mu Li had no intention of hiding it at all. He directly told Chichi about his retired Champion status and only asked Chichi to keep his identity a secret.
Chichi wasn't a fool; he could feel Mu Li's trust in him. So, this time, when Mu Li called him, he immediately brought the other party into the recording of "Wu Ha" without hesitation.
No matter what, "Wu Ha" was a top-tier variety show nationwide. A lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Who knows how many artists were queuing up, trying to squeeze their way into this show.
Seeing Chichi intentionally conceal Mu Li's identity, Deng Fei didn't mind. With his character, he wouldn't look down on or up to someone based on their identity. At his age and status, he had come to disregard many things, especially fame, fortune, and status.
It was precisely because of this that he took care of Wang Qin, a newcomer to the entertainment industry, during the first season of "Wu Ha."
Not long after the break, the group followed the main crowd to a restaurant.
The recording continued.
"The production team has specially prepared a feast for everyone this time," Wang Xiang began the program flow.
"Woohoo! This is great! I'm so hungry! There wasn't much good food on the plane at noon." Mu Li was so excited he was almost jumping.
Only gourmet food, love, and Pokémon are not to be let down.
Big plate chicken, hand-grabbed lamb, lamb skewers... Mu Li's mouth was watering just thinking about them.
"Mu Li is a little foodie! That fits this competition perfectly." Wang Xiang couldn't stop smiling when he thought about what was about to happen.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no. As soon as I hear Director Wang say that, I know we won't be able to eat this meal properly." Chichi couldn't help but cover his face.
When everyone entered the restaurant, they found a row of burly men sitting opposite them, each appearing to weigh over 100kg.
Chichi was stunned for a moment, then led everyone in greeting them.
After a simple greeting, everyone stood in a row: "What's the plan, Director Wang?"
"It's nothing special. Today's competition is simply that you win if you eat a certain dish faster than these big brothers in front of you. You only need to win against three of these ten people." Wang Xiang couldn't help but laugh.
Deng Fei's mouth twitched: "Director Wang, don't be too obvious."
Just then, two more members arrived at the recording site. They were Wang Qin and his friend Xu Sheng'er, both stand-up comedians. Wang Qin was an old member of "Wu Ha," and Xu Sheng'er had also appeared before.
With the addition of two stand-up comedians, the atmosphere of the entire group improved, but this part of the content was indeed a bit awkward.
It was a continuous competition between two groups, but the "Wu Ha" side consisted of performers, most of whom controlled their figures. Even the most gluttonous Chichi had strong self-control.
This part of the content was barely finished, relying on the cooperation of the members to endure, and finally, they only barely completed the task with the other side's leniency.
However, Mu Li had a great time eating here.
Lamb head, pilaf, hand-grabbed lamb, lamb skewers... He tried them all. Everyone else was creating program effects, while he was quietly and openly sneaking food on the side.
Anyway, the members couldn't finish it, so we couldn't let it go to waste.
After this part ended, today's recording was completely finished.
As soon as Mu Li returned to the hotel, Chichi dragged him out again.
The two arrived at a restaurant. Upon entering the private room, Mu Li found only Wang Xiang sitting inside.
This was Mu Li's first proper greeting with Wang Xiang.
"Sit, don't be polite." Chichi directly led the way and sat down, then introduced the current situation, "A Li, I've told Wang Xiang your identity. Don't worry, only Director Wang knows."
Mu Li nodded. He had already anticipated this point; otherwise, why would Wang Xiang let an ordinary person join the group?
"A Li, I called Director Wang out today mainly to discuss your future career development," Chichi explained. "You know my situation. In terms of the film and television industry, I still have some resources, but in terms of music, you'll have to rely on yourself."
Mu Li nodded: "Don't worry, Brother Chichi. I have some original songs here, and the quality isn't bad, but I just don't know how to develop."
"Have you considered joining an agency?" Wang Xiang asked.
Mu Li frowned and sighed: "I'm not sure if I can join an agency with my identity. Once I enter the entertainment industry, my identity will be exposed sooner or later. Once it's exposed, those agencies might be directly subject to state regulations. I'm worried if they can accept that."
"That's not something you need to consider," Chichi said directly. "They want the benefits you bring, so they naturally have to bear the corresponding consequences."
"However, signing with an agency also has its downsides, which is that your freedom won't be as controlled," Wang Xiang said. "Agencies are, after all, aligned with capital. Unless you can establish your own independent studio and cooperate with other companies."
"It sounds like an independent studio is more suitable for me," Mu Li considered. "After all, I'm used to being lazy. Occasional busyness is fine, but if I have to work that hard all the time, I'll probably flip out."
Chichi laughed directly: "I knew it, kid. So, you handle these things yourself. Find an agent, and for initial resources and such, I'll help you connect."
"It's the same for me. There are still quite a few variety show resources," Wang Xiang also laughed.
Mu Li couldn't help but rub his forehead: "Thinking about these things gives me a headache. After I find an agent, I'll let them arrange it. For now, I'll just focus on finishing this episode of "Wu Ha."
After the three had eaten and drunk their fill, they didn't chat much. Wang Xiang still had to go back and prepare for the upcoming recording.
As soon as Mu Li returned to his hotel room, he immediately called Wu Yao.
A moment later, Wu Yao's voice came from the other end of the line: "Second Brother, is something up?"
The four roommates of Mu Li's dorm usually chatted and boasted in their group chat when they had nothing to do. They rarely called, and every call invariably meant something was up.
"Fourth, have you found an agency?" Mu Li asked.
"Not yet, why? Do you want to be an actor too?" Wu Yao asked.
"I don't want to be an actor, but I want to be a singer," Mu Li replied.
"A singer? Not bad. Are you looking for an agency?" Wu Yao continued to ask.
"Agencies are too much trouble; there's no freedom. I want to set up my own studio, which would be more convenient for me to slack off," Mu Li said truthfully. "So I'm asking you about your situation."
"I'm just an unknown actor right now; no one has signed me," Wu Yao said. "But my family found me an agent, and she's pretty good."
Mu Li's eyes lit up: "How about you let your agent sign me too? We can just set up a two-person studio; that would be more convenient."
"That works!" Wu Yao sounded very happy. "I was just wondering how I'd support a team by myself. It's perfect that you can share the burden with me."
"Alright, then have your agent come directly to Mu City. I'm currently recording "Wu Ha,"
Mu Li described his current situation.
"Awesome, Second Brother! You actually got into "Wu Ha" directly. You're going to be famous!" Wu Yao was a little surprised. "I'll have Sister Liu go find you later."
Wu Yao gave Mu Li his agent's contact information.
The agent's name was Liu Yun, a thirty-something career woman who had been poached by Wu Yao's father from a large agency specifically to manage Wu Yao's acting career.
After understanding the situation, Liu Yun arrived in Mu City the next morning, while Mu Li was just beginning his second day of recording.
