After Transmigrated as a Black-Hearted Entertainment Boss [Transmigration] - Chapter 5

Taoli Entertainment owned an entire floor on the 17th level of Unit 1, Building 3 in this residential complex. It consisted of six commercial apartments, all of which were provided as free dormitories for the artists. The largest featured three bedrooms, two living areas, and two bathrooms, while the smallest was a two-bedroom unit. Gu Nan and the other four occupied two of the three-bedroom apartments.

It wasn’t that the company was particularly generous. Rather, when the Trainee Department was first established, the elder CEO Tao assumed they would recruit a massive number of trainees, so he cleared out the entire floor for centralized management. As it turned out, only five were recruited before survival shows were banned. Aside from the two units the boys lived in, the rest were managed and rented out by the company.

In terms of room allocation, the three younger boys shared one unit, while Gu Nan and Su Jiqiu shared the other. However, to save on utilities, they only cooked and washed up in the younger boys’ dorm; the other unit was used purely for sleeping, and they rarely even turned on the lights.

Now that Tao Zui said he was moving in, from a logistical standpoint, he would have to stay in the unit occupied by Gu Nan and Su Jiqiu. When the apartments were renovated, they were designed for multiple occupants; both bathrooms were converted to communal use, so there was no distinction between a “master” or “secondary” bedroom. All they needed to do was clean the vacant room, and it would be move-in ready.

But no matter how convenient it was, no one wanted to live under the same roof as their boss.

After Tao Zui left, the trio of students sat on opposite sides of the dining table doing homework. Su Jiqiu sat beside Chen Xing, while Gu Nan sat at the head of the table with his arms crossed. “Was the food already ready when you guys got back?” Gu Nan asked.

Diwu Zou nodded. “Yeah.”

Gu Nan frowned. “Where did he get the passcode?”

Su Jiqiu coughed slightly and sheepishly raised his hand. “I gave it to him… Sister Zhang called me this afternoon and asked. I figured she’s Young CEO Tao’s assistant, and the apartment belongs to the company anyway… so I gave it to her.”

Gu Nan: “…”

Suppressing the urge to sigh, Gu Nan asked further, “What did he say before I got back?”

Zeng Yinuo replied, “Not much. Just that he’ll give us the schedule tomorrow, training starts Sunday, and things won’t be so easy from now on. He also told Chen Xing to eat more so he can grow taller.”

Gu Nan didn’t ask anything else, sinking into silent contemplation with his arms still crossed.

Diwu Zou looked at him, put down his pen, and said, “Actually, I think Young CEO Tao is a pretty decent guy…”

Gu Nan: “Do your homework.”

Diwu Zou: “Oh.”

Seeing this, Su Jiqiu asked cautiously, “Should I not have given the code to Sister Zhang?”

Gu Nan was silent for a while before saying slowly, “He would have gotten it eventually; it just could have been later. We don’t know anything about him, and given the company’s previous atmosphere…”

Gu Nan didn’t finish his sentence, but Su Jiqiu’s face turned pale.

When the survival shows were banned, the five of them had barely managed to “debut.” After a few activities failed to gain traction, the company sent several agents to manage them.

One agent demanded they get plastic surgery immediately and urged them to take out loans when they said they had no money. Another told them to accompany clients for drinks and dinners—one agent had even explicitly asked Su Jiqiu to… After several confrontations, no agent was willing to take them on anymore.

Fortunately, as shameless as those people were, they hadn’t harassed the minors. Those sordid affairs were only directed at the two oldest. The three younger ones were oblivious, assuming they had simply offended the agents by refusing plastic surgery.

“I’m sorry…” Su Jiqiu murmured an apology.

Gu Nan shook his head. “It’s fine. In a bit, swap rooms with me.”

“Swap rooms?” Su Jiqiu was stunned.

Gu Nan didn’t offer much explanation. He stood up and said, “I’ll go clean the empty room first. You keep tutoring them. When you’re done, all of you come over and help move things.”

“Oh, okay…” Su Jiqiu pushed up his glasses, watching Gu Nan leave in a daze.

Once Gu Nan was gone, the three younger ones immediately relaxed. Diwu Zou twirled his pen and asked, “What is Brother Nan actually worried about? I think Young CEO Tao’s cooking is great, and he seems like a good guy!”

Zeng Yinuo chuckled. “Your focus is really just on the good food, isn’t it?”

Diwu Zou: “Are you saying it wasn’t good?”

Zeng Yinuo: “I didn’t say that.”

Diwu Zou: “Then do you think he’s a bad person?”

Zeng Yinuo: “I didn’t say that either.”

Chen Xing looked at the two bickering across from him and whispered, “Is Brother Nan worried he’s going to PUA us?”

The other two froze for a second, then burst out laughing.

Diwu Zou: “Don’t you mean CPU us?”

Zeng Yinuo: “Clearly it’s PPT!”

Chen Xing was confused. “Huh?”

Su Jiqiu snapped out of it and raised a hand to signal them to stop. “Alright, quit playing around. Finish your homework quickly so we can go help.” He paused, then added in a low voice, “Regardless, Brother Nan won’t do us harm.”

“That’s for sure,” Diwu Zou said, propping his chin up and absentmindedly drawing a pig’s head on his notebook. “Brother Nan is way more reliable than my dad.”

Diwu Zou’s parents divorced when he was three. His father had an affair and refused to pay child support. His mother had worked herself to the bone to raise him, and even after remarrying, she never neglected him for her new family. It was Diwu Zou himself who chose to be independent, not wanting to disturb his mother’s new life.

“When I first saw Brother Nan, I thought he was really unapproachable,” Zeng Yinuo joked.

Chen Xing: “I thought he had already debuted.”

Diwu Zou: “Me too. His presence is so strong. When he watches me train in the practice room, my back goes numb—even though I’m a better dancer than he is.”

Su Jiqiu nodded in agreement. “Brother Nan’s aura is indeed very powerful when he’s silent. For a while, I thought he was the son of some prestigious family.”

Su Jiqiu was born into a family of traditional Chinese scholars in Suzhou and had seen many elites and their children while following his elders.

Diwu Zou suddenly got interested. “Is Brother Nan really a young master?”

Su Jiqiu laughed. “How would I know? He rarely talks about his past.”

Zeng Yinuo shot Diwu Zou a disdainful look. “Are you stupid? What kind of ‘young master’ ends up delivering food?”

“You never know, maybe he’s just experiencing life…” Diwu Zou muttered.

While the four of them were busy guessing inside, Gu Nan returned to the dorm he shared with Su Jiqiu.

Since it was used only for sleeping, there was very little in the apartment—it felt almost barren. When it was renovated as a trainee dorm, the company only provided basics like beds, wardrobes, a dining table, and essential appliances like air conditioning, a fridge, and a washing machine. There was no TV or sofa. All the things they had added over the past year were kept in the other dorm; this side remained exactly as it was after the renovation.

When they moved in, Gu Nan—driven by a lack of trust and security—chose the room right by the entrance. Su Jiqiu’s room was separated from his by the living room, and directly opposite Su Jiqiu was the vacant room.

If Tao Zui moved in, he would live directly across from Su Jiqiu; he could barge in with just one step. This worried Gu Nan, especially given Su Jiqiu’s history with agents who tried to harass him or act as pimps.

He knew his worries might be irrational. Tao Zui had just made them a delicious dinner, the promises he made were being fulfilled one by one, and he even mentioned arranging an audition…

But Gu Nan simply couldn’t convince himself to trust Tao Zui.

He had once spent five days in a hospital because of a lingering shred of trust, causing him to miss the Gaokao and lose his home. The consequences had been too painful; he didn’t want to repeat history.

After cleaning the vacant room, Gu Nan went to his own room to pack. He didn’t have much; it only took a few minutes to pack it all. The larger items were too much for one person. He let out a long breath and lay back on the mattress, Tao Zui’s face involuntarily surfacing in his mind.

What kind of person is this Young CEO Tao? He was as handsome as a phantom stepped out of a screen, and his promises were as beautiful as a dream. Gu Nan wanted to believe him, but he feared it would all eventually vanish.

Just like the “maternal love” that had personally sent him to an operating table and caused him to miss his exams.

By the time Tao Zui returned to his home in the 2nd Ring Road, it was 10 PM. The moment the lights flickered on, the first thing he felt wasn’t fatigue, but heartache.

Goodbye, my 500-square-meter luxury flat.

As expected of a prime location, as soon as the listing went up, people began inquiring. However, because the area was so large and the price so high, it wouldn’t be easy to sell quickly. Tao Zui wasn’t in a hurry; the company was short on cash, but it could hold out for a few months. He would only worry if things became truly desperate.

Technically, Tao Zui could have stayed there until the house sold. But considering the commute, the convenience of cooking, and the need to build rapport with the boys, he decided to move into the dorm.

It was just a shame he hadn’t even warmed up the floors yet.

Tao Zui wandered aimlessly through the apartment with his hands in his pockets, calculating what to take. First was the bed—he loved that mattress of unknown value and absolutely had to bring it! Then the fridge; the one in the dorm was too small, barely enough space for extra popsicles in the summer.

Finally, there were the clothes and accessories the original owner had brought back from abroad. Why did a grown man need so many clothes? More than half of them made him question the original owner’s sanity—what kind of brain-dead person buys a white leopard-print faux-fur jacket?

Tao Zui planned to get rid of anything that didn’t suit his taste. The rest could be moved to the boys’ dorm; their living and dining areas were empty anyway, so he might as well turn them into a walk-in closet for their future use.

Thinking of the future, Tao Zui pulled out his phone and looked at the plot points he had summarized.

In the original story, after the original owner “parachuted” into Taoli Entertainment, he signed several “visual” influencers and internet singers, packaging them as “talented actors” and “original singers” to push them into the market. He eventually discovered that Zeng Yinuo and Chen Xing recorded their songs by humming. This “young master” then simply stole their work and gave it to others to bolster their “original artist” personas.

When the Pentacle members tried to argue with the company, the original owner stole the phone containing their inspirations. Lacking evidence of their authorship, they were powerless against the company’s legal department and were ultimately “snowbound” permanently.

It was against this backdrop that Gu Nan auditioned for the third male lead and found a turning point a year later when the movie was released.

Now that Tao Zui had replaced the original soul, he obviously wouldn’t do such despicable things. He would even help Zeng Yinuo and Chen Xing secure their copyrights.

Next, he needed to closely monitor the preparation of the movie Day and Night and contact the casting director… oh, and before that, he had to arrange for professional “profile photos” for the five of them so they wouldn’t be caught without pictures. He also needed to reach out to Father Tao’s old connections; regardless of their attitude, he couldn’t let those relationships die.

As he thought, Tao Zui suddenly laughed. Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the city lights like scattered stars, he let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

Human adaptability is truly something, isn’t it? A few days ago, he was a corporate slave at an ad agency; now, he was racking his brain over an artist development plan. He wondered if his parents’ spirits would feel at ease or worried seeing him like this.

He wondered what the status of his body was back in his original world—comatose or dead? Or did the original owner wake up in his place? Either way, returning seemed unlikely. Fortunately, his younger brother had already graduated from university and didn’t need him anymore. Once he finished the main quest and helped the five become top stars, he’d see if he could find a way back.

Tao Zui turned to look at the massive ten-meter-wide living room and thought to himself:

Even if I can’t go back, I’ll at least make enough to buy this flat back!