Ren Yuanhao, who had boasted so much, and Guan Ying drove the Land Cruiser to the outer area of 'House of Two Dimensions'.
The outer area was located north of Aid City, and it wasn't a very prosperous place. To the left were tall residential buildings, with clothes hanging on the sunny side, the aroma of burritos wafting from downstairs, and a steady stream of pedestrians, suggesting a high occupancy rate. To the right was a lead-grey internet digital building, resembling a solemn ancient castle piercing the sky, making one imagine how suppressed the people working inside would be.
With residential buildings rich in life on the left and a serious building on the right, 'House of Two Dimensions' sandwiched in between appeared rather vulgar.
Looking up, a giant poster, ten meters long, met their eyes. On the poster, five少女 (shàonǚ) in flashy attire (in reality, with very little fabric) struck alluring poses, their eyes conveying desire. Their hair was styled like characters in two-dimensional animations, and their faces were heavily made up, making them incredibly vulgar.
"Is this the so-called number one girl group, 'Explosive Girls'?"
Ren Yuanhao, having recently encountered too many stunning women, found his aesthetic standards had drastically improved, and his discerning eye had become much sharper.
Women like these, with only good looks and fiery figures, who were vulgar and alluring, truly couldn't catch his attention. Thus, his tone carried a hint of doubt.
"That's right, these are 'Explosive Girls'."
As Guan Ying replied, a trace of shyness flashed across her face. "It's only been twenty-something days since I last saw them, and I didn't expect their performances to become even more daring..."
"You don't understand this. Men nowadays like this. The more vulgar and bold they are, the more they stimulate hormones and dopamine, and the more money rolls in."
If it were in the past, Ren Yuanhao might have glanced at them a few more times. But now, he felt that the women on the poster were like those in low-class brothels of the old era. Looking at them any longer made him feel sick.
"Let's go. First, let's see how the flyers are being distributed, and then we can tidy up the venue."
Guan Ying seemed to still hold some hope, but after she stepped into the performance venue, that last bit of hope and expectation vanished into thin air.
The venue was in a mess. The trash generated from last night's performance hadn't even been cleared. The promotional posters of 'Explosive Girls' from last night were still hanging in front of the stage. The seats were covered with leftover spicy strip wrappers, greasy stains, and discarded melon seeds and fruit peels, scattered like a defeated army. The ground was a mess, looking like a garbage dump.
"Wh-why is it like this?"
Guan Ying, her mental state somewhat collapsing, took a few steps inside and turned on the venue lights. She saw that besides the trash everywhere, some flyers were scattered in the corners. These flyers were covered with mold and oil stains. Seven少女 (shàonǚ) in Hanfu, standing tall and graceful, were on their promotional leaflets for 'Han Zhi Yun'!
"It seems to be even more disastrous than I anticipated," Ren Yuanhao said, carefully picking up a silicone mask splashed with paint. He sighed and continued, "It looks like the staff forgot about your performance today and couldn't be bothered to clean up."
"The agent called this morning and told us to prepare for the performance, so how could this happen..."
Guan Ying was not good at guessing people's thoughts, but Ren Yuanhao's words enlightened her: "Perhaps the agent has completely lost hope in you and is looking for a suitable reason to fire you."
Guan Ying's heart pounded violently, and her face turned pale. Negative emotions surged over her like a tide. The少女 (shàonǚ) suddenly seemed to have lost her mind. While carrying a trash bag, she began cleaning the venue, muttering to herself, appearing like a mentally ill patient.
"Don't worry, you can't do much by yourself. You need to get your sisters to come over."
Ren Yuanhao's voice was clear, but Guan Ying seemed lost in a fog and didn't hear what he was saying. She knew clearly that cleaning and setting up this performance venue would take a significant portion of the afternoon. Coupled with the fact that the flyers hadn't been distributed and there wasn't enough publicity, the performance was essentially doomed.
Guan Ying was heartbroken. The trash bag that slipped from her hand was like a token dropped before an execution in ancient times.
"It's over, everything is over. With us, we can't change anything. We rehearsed so hard, what was it all for!"
Guan Ying had clearly lost control. Just then, a man and a woman slowly walked out from the performers' passage.
The man was dressed flamboyantly. If not for his face, which showed signs of excessive indulgence, he might have appeared somewhat masculine. The woman, Ren Yuanhao recognized her at a glance – she was the foremost figure on the poster.
"Hmm? Aren't these the members of that... Han, Han Zhi Yun group? Is that the name?" the man's voice was somewhat low, his tone filled with disdain, feigning a look of confusion as he glanced at the woman beside him.
The woman was also dressed quite fashionably (actually provocatively). A palm-sized earring on her left side exuded a vulgar aura. Perhaps it was too heavy, as it pulled her head to the left, giving her the look of a rebellious young girl.
"That's right, it's Guan Ying from Han Zhi Yun. Look, I'd forgotten, it seems today is their monthly performance day. Tsk, tsk, sorry, I played too hard last night and haven't had time to clean up today."
The woman, linking arms with the man, walked up to Guan Ying, her smile hiding a deadly cold smirk.
"Hmph, a group like this has no commercial value. It would be better to give up the venue, and you could earn a little more. At least the company's performance would improve a lot," the man glanced at Guan Ying, his eyes carrying an unpleasant light.
The woman chuckled a couple of times, then sighed, "Who knows what the agent is thinking. Some people are just parasites in the company, occupying resources without contributing. They drag the company down every month. If it were me, I'd disband them early and let them do whatever they want."
As the woman spoke, she stared intently at Guan Ying, almost pointing her finger at her nose.
"Don't push it too far~"
Guan Ying didn't even have the confidence to retort.
"Pushing it too far? This is a commercial performance venue, not a welfare home. Those who don't bring in profits should get out!"
*Slap!*
The woman struck Guan Ying across the face and said arrogantly, "This slap is from the agent. If you're smart, hurry back and tell that Qing Luo to disband your damn Han Zhi Yun. Don't embarrass yourselves here and waste venue resources!"
Guan Ying took the slap squarely, but she lacked the courage to fight back. Just then, a dark shadow moved like a ghost. The man standing beside the shrew-like woman immediately received a resounding slap on his face!
All three froze and looked. They saw that Ren Yuanhao had already retracted his hand, his gaze like a knife, staring directly at the woman and saying, "What a shrew! If you weren't a woman, this slap would land squarely on that stinking face of yours!"