After Redeeming the Paranoid Villain [Transmigration] - Chapter 19

Su Yu, who was about to leave, paused in his tracks and looked toward the man at the judges’ table. “Do you have a specific matter to discuss, sir?”

“Sing a song,” the man said. He observed Su Yu with great interest, though a subtle, unreadable expression remained hidden deep within his eyes.

Su Yu gave the man a puzzled look. Sensing his confusion, the man opened his lips and added, “Your face is far too handsome to waste. It would be a pity if you did not enter the entertainment industry. Since you cannot act, let us see how you sing.”

Only then did Su Yu understand the man’s intentions. However, he had never had any formal training in singing. Even in his original world, his maximum exposure to music was belt out a few lines with friends at a KTV. To say he was nervous about being asked to sing on the spot would be an understatement.

While Su Yu was mentally preparing himself, the man wearing glasses at the judges’ table propped his head on his hand. He looked at Su Yu and spoke unhurriedly, “Are you nervous? It is quite alright. No matter how poor your singing is, could it possibly be worse than your acting?”

Su Yu was speechless. He did not feel comforted at all.

Despite Su Yu’s internal complaints about this sharp-tongued man, he could not deny that those words had curiously put him at ease. It was true. Could anything be worse than his acting? At most, he would just embarrass himself again. There was nothing to fear.

With this bit of self-consolation, Su Yu found a strange surge of confidence. He stood before the panel, cleared his throat, and began to sing the song he knew best.

As the song ended, Su Yu looked up at the judges. He bit his lip nervously, waiting for the final verdict. For a long time, the usually harsh judges remained silent. This included Ji Yanli, whose tongue was sharp to the extreme. He stared at Su Yu in a daze, as if seeing him for the very first time. Hidden beneath Ji Yanli’s dark gaze was a complicated emotion that no one could quite decipher.

A sudden burst of applause broke the silence in the room. Su Yu looked up to see the man with glasses clapping. The man’s thin lips curled into a slight smile. “I truly did not misjudge you. The entertainment industry has not abandoned you after all.”

Su Yu froze for a moment. He realized that his singing appeared to have passed the audition. When this realization hit him, Su Yu himself was shocked. It seemed impossible that a voice trained only in KTV could actually catch their professional eyes.

“Your singing is very pure,” said an elderly man at the panel with graying hair. “It lacks any polished technique, but that very purity is something many professional singers lack.”

A man with long hair sitting next to him nodded in agreement. “Old Li is right. Although he lacks systematic training, his voice possesses the power to conquer people. It sounds as if he is speaking directly to the listener.”

“He is like a blank sheet of paper,” said a fashionably dressed woman on the far right. She rested her chin on her hand, looking at Su Yu with a slight smile. “His voice is pure and unpolished, which makes it easier for us to dye him with different colors.”

“Stay,” the man in the center with glasses said, tilting his head slightly to look at Su Yu.

Beside them, the corners of Li Wen’s mouth curled up. He knew his intuition would not be wrong. Next to Li Wen, Ji Yanli watched the smile on Li Wen’s face, his eyes filled with resentment as he looked at Su Yu. However, to call it resentment was not entirely accurate. Hidden within that bitterness was a deep, gnawing jealousy. It was the most guarded and taboo emotion Ji Yanli possessed, one he never allowed outsiders to see.

Su Yu was led out by Li Wen. Because he had arrived in such a rush earlier, he had not even had time to fill out his personal information. Su Yu was now carefully filling out his profile while Li Wen chattered incessantly beside him.

“I really did not expect your singing to be that good. To be honest, when I saw you acting earlier, I thought we were finished. I was already wondering where I would find a replacement.”

Listening to Li Wen’s rambling, Su Yu’s lips curled into a small smile. He did not think his singing was particularly outstanding, but everyone enjoys hearing praise.

“By the way, what is your family background like? If your circumstances are poor, we can subtly reveal that to the fans later. We can build an image for you as a pure and impoverished little white flower,” Li Wen suggested.

Su Yu went silent. In that instant, many things flashed through his mind. He thought of the tens of millions in allowance sitting in his bank account, the garage full of luxury cars at the Su residence, and his mother’s family company, Zhou Corporation Entertainment. His mouth twitched. “It is alright, I suppose.”

“How alright are we talking?”

Su Yu could hardly say that his father was the President of the Su Group, his mother was a major shareholder of Zhou Corporation Entertainment, and his husband was a member of the Gu family. If he said that, Li Wen would either throw him into a mental asylum or laugh himself into a fit, treating it as a total joke.

Su Yu’s pen paused. “A middle-class family.”

“Middle-class? Well, we can still make the poor little white flower persona work as long as no one finds out,” Li Wen’s voice trailed off as he muttered to himself, clearly not wanting to drop the subject.

“I suggest you do not give me any strange personas,” Su Yu said, stopping Li Wen’s wild imagination in its tracks.

People in the business world more or less had contact with the entertainment industry. If Li Wen really gave him a “poor orphan” persona, people would start to wonder if the Su Group was a hollow shell or if Su Yu had finally gone mad after marrying Gu Chen.

Li Wen was not particularly set on the persona idea. He had only mentioned it because he saw other celebrities doing it. Seeing Su Yu’s persistence, he did not press further.

After Su Yu finished filling out the form, Li Wen looked over the personal information. Suddenly, his gaze stopped on one specific column. His hands began to tremble, and he started to stutter. “You… you…”

After a long struggle, Li Wen finally managed a complete sentence. “You are actually married? You are only twenty-two! You are married? Do you have any idea how unpopular being married is in the entertainment industry?”

As soon as the words left Li Wen’s mouth, he saw Su Yu turn red at the tips of his ears. This was the same person who had not even blushed when making a fool of himself in front of the judges.

Su Yu averted his gaze, his ears burning. He thought of Gu Chen’s face, which had surfaced in his mind the moment he wrote “Married” in the marital status column. He seemed to have been paying too much attention to Gu Chen lately. Just thinking of him made his heart race. The more he thought about it, the more his face flushed uncontrollably.

Su Yu remained silent while Li Wen’s voice continued to rise. “This will not do. You cannot write that you are married. You have not even debuted yet. Losing girlfriend fans this early will severely impact your popularity.”

With a cold expression, Li Wen handed a fresh form to Su Yu. “Change it. Rewrite it as single. From now on, no matter what happens, even when the media asks, you must say you are single and not dating. This is for your own good, and for the good of your partner.”

Su Yu did not reach for the new form. Instead, he asked, “Why can I not write the truth?”

“I already mentioned the impact on you. You will lose fans. As an idol, whether you are a singer or an actor, the most important thing is popularity. Especially in an industry as superficial as this, as long as you have popularity, you are the one in power.”

Li Wen continued, “Now, let me tell you why this is for the good of your partner. I have assessed your future potential. You have what it takes to become a star. Once you are famous, your family, your social circle, and your friends will all be scrutinized. Among those things, the public is most interested in romance. If you are single, they will hunt for your girlfriend. If you are married, they will hunt for your spouse. You would not want your spouse to have no peace, worrying about being photographed every time they step outside, would you?”

Su Yu fell silent. He thought of Gu Chen’s current state. Ever since that car accident, Gu Chen had closed himself off, never even stepping foot outside the villa. Although Gu Chen never said it, Su Yu could sense his feelings. Gu Chen was like a king who should have been looking down on the world from a high throne, only to be kicked into the dust and unable to stand again.

How could a man like that be willing to be exposed to cameras and have his pain witnessed by everyone? Su Yu could not go against his heart and write “Single,” nor did he want to magnify Gu Chen’s scars and expose him to the ridicule of the public. If the price of his debut was Gu Chen’s pain, he would rather not debut at all. He had only joined this on a whim to try out the industry. It was not as if he could not afford to support Gu Chen.

The look in Su Yu’s eyes turned cold.

Li Wen, seeing Su Yu’s tightly pressed lips, assumed he had been convinced. He pushed the form toward him once more. “Rewrite it.”

But this time, Su Yu did not pick up the pen. He pushed the fresh form back. “I am sorry. I no longer wish to sign the contract.”

Li Wen panicked instantly. “Why the sudden change of heart? Were we not having a perfectly good conversation?”

Su Yu’s face remained tense as he controlled his emotions. “I am sorry. I am already married. I do not wish to go against my conscience by writing lies, nor do I want to deceive people. And…”

Su Yu paused suddenly. As if he had thought of something, the anger in his eyes dissipated, replaced by a gentle, tender smile. “The person I have at home is very good. I do not want to hide him. I want the whole world to know that he is my partner. However, I do not want him to get hurt. So, upon reflection, I will not sign. Thank you for your appreciation.”

After saying this, Su Yu rose to leave. As his hand touched the doorknob, he paused, then turned back to the stunned Li Wen. “By the way, after talking for so long, I do not think I specifically mentioned my partner.”

Su Yu’s lips curled into a slight smile. “He is a man. And I love him very much.”

Leaving those final words behind, Su Yu left the office without looking back.