170: Ninth blind date

"I take back what I just said..."

"The new Mr. Chen is far too ruthless!"

"In less than ten minutes, he took down six management members?!"

"From the looks of it, he's even going to send them to prison?!"

The artists' scalps tingled. Looking at the tightly closed door of the small conference room, they felt as if another familiar management member would be dragged out at any moment.

"What should we do? The new boss's methods seem much more ruthless than we imagined!"

"What are you afraid of? He's being ruthless to those management members!"

"Damn, that group has been exploiting us for so long; I've been fed up with them for ages..."

"Keep your voice down, do you want to be blacklisted?"

"What's there to fear? I support Mr. Chen!"

"Aren't you afraid that if Mr. Chen is this ruthless to management, he'll be even harsher with us artists?"

"Surely... it won't come to that, right?"

The artists' mindsets began to shift, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense once again.

While the dull-witted were still worrying, the clever ones were already thinking about how to get closer to Chen Qiu!

Captain of AN Girl Group, the captain of Group A, let her gaze drift slightly, landing on Zhang Mantong and the other two women nearby.

In terms of both looks and temperament, these three women were not inferior to them at all.

And they had come here with Chen Qiu.

They were either people close to Mr. Chen or those he intended to promote heavily in the future!

If it were the latter, they would certainly become competitors in the future.

Qingmang Era only had so many resources; if someone ate more, others would have to eat less.

However, Captain of AN Girl Group was a smart woman!

She would never limit herself to seeing them merely as competitors.

What she saw was the label that these three women were closely connected to Mr. Chen!

She could start by showing them goodwill and then gradually extend that connection to Chen Qiu.

With her thoughts turning, Captain of AN Girl Group glanced at the small conference room.

It was almost lunch time, and Mr. Chen and the others would likely be coming out soon.

Thinking of this, Captain of AN Girl Group immediately pulled a few of her teammates and walked toward Zhang Mantong's group.

"Hello, I'm Captain of AN Girl Group from AN..."

Captain of AN Girl Group approached Zhang Mantong first.

Based on her observations, among the three women, this blonde mature beautiful woman with a hint of charm seemed the most natural around Mr. Chen!

She guessed that this woman was likely the closest to Mr. Chen among the three!

"Hello."

Zhang Mantong was somewhat surprised, but she wasn't particularly nervous.

She still remembered her mission for today!

"I've seen your performances; they're great!"

"By the way, would you like to film a video with me later? Just a short dance, very simple."

Captain of AN Girl Group was stunned for a moment but immediately nodded.

"Sure!"

Her other teammates also began to chat with Cheng Yun and Shao Shushuang.

Before long, the door to the small conference room opened.

A group of management members, led by Chen Qiu, walked out.

The artists present immediately perked up, looking at Chen Qiu with a hint of nervousness.

This, in turn, made Chen Qiu feel a bit strange.

"Why are you all still here? It's time for lunch."

"Also, I'll be dropping by the music festival this afternoon. Those of you participating should take it seriously; I don't want to see a poor performance."

"Understood, Mr. Chen!"

Chen Qiu's gaze shifted toward Captain of AN Girl Group.

The girl group members instantly felt their hearts tighten.

Subconsciously, they tightened their cores, pushed out their chests, and tucked in their hips!

As a girl group that once had a glorious period in the country, each member's beauty had its own merits, but the most prominent feature was their figures!

Just like the former 'Leg Era,' they were also known as the 'Long-Legged Girl Group' for a time.

However, since it was winter, they were all wearing long denim jeans, so their long, straight, fair legs weren't on display.

"If only I had known, I would have come in my stage outfit!"

Captain of AN Girl Group felt a secret pang of regret.

Nevertheless, she maintained a charming smile on her pure face.

Beside them, Zhang Mantong and the other two women stood up and walked quickly to Chen Qiu.

"Let's go."

"Okay."

Seeing Chen Qiu withdraw his gaze without any lingering interest, Captain of AN Girl Group and her teammates felt a slight sense of defeat.

Watching Chen Qiu's departing back, the youngest member of the group muttered.

"Mr. Chen looks about the same age as us. When we were at our peak, he should have been at the age for chasing idols, right? Why didn't he have any reaction to us..."

"Yeah, I was even secretly hoping he'd give me a hint to stay behind tonight and ask what I should wear to his place..."

"Oh, please, if anyone's staying, it's me first!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? There are so many people around!"

Captain of AN Girl Group said crossly.

"Xining, I don't believe you haven't thought about it yourself?"

Hearing this, Captain of AN Girl Group felt even more helpless.

There weren't many cases where members could reunite as a group after going solo; if it weren't for their strong bond, they wouldn't have managed it.

However, after going through so much, their personalities had changed quite a bit compared to when they first debuted.

As the captain, she couldn't control them much anymore... After lunch, Chen Qiu sent Cheng Yun to find Director Li, the artist manager, to sign the contract.

Zhang Mantong and Shao Shushuang were arranged to find the most popular stars in Qingmang Era to film videos.

After resting for a while, Chen Qiu checked the time.

"It's about that time..."

He then checked his phone; the message he had sent to Ding Qiao earlier hadn't been replied to yet.

"She couldn't still be in bed, could she?"

After all, this overseas student had bluntly stated last time that she had only woken up after three in the afternoon.

"She didn't mention where to meet before, either."

Chen Qiu could only wait in the hotel.

However, judging from Ding Qiao's social media updates and the time set for this afternoon, Chen Qiu had a hunch she was likely going to attend the music festival.

With only half an hour left until the originally scheduled two o'clock, Ding Qiao's message finally arrived.

She sent an address directly.

National Fitness Center East Square!

"It really is the music festival!"

A strange look appeared in Chen Qiu's eyes.

Having a blind date at a music festival—only a hardcore fangirl could come up with something like that, right?

Chen Qiu shook his head. He was about to drive himself there, but on second thought, he decided to take the hotel car to the National Fitness Center.

Twenty minutes later.

Seeing the roads completely congested, Chen Qiu was glad he hadn't driven himself.

Otherwise, finding a parking spot would have taken over half an hour.

After waiting at the square entrance for another ten minutes, Chen Qiu finally saw Ding Qiao.

However, she hadn't come alone!

She was walking arm-in-arm with another girl, chatting and laughing.

And beside that girl, there was a boy following them with a somewhat subservient manner.