Chapter 277: Get Married, Have Kids, and Retire from Show Business
This song was going to become the best song of the year, and it would difficult for anyone to surpass it.
Ever since the death of the Diva Xia Ling, the music industry had been lacking a female artiste that could rise up above the rest. No female singer dared to say that they were the undisputed No. 1. Ye Xingling might not have reached that level just yet, but this song "Stray Cat" was a hit that was a level above all songs in its genre.
For someone to be able to sing like that, that person would have unlimited potential.
The news conference concluded.
Xia Ling received many messages in her email, and her mobile and private Weibo message inboxes were filled to the limits as well. She looked at all the invites she was getting from the managers in the industry and felt deeply troubled. Where was she going to go?
Li Lei brought her out for dinner.
In the quiet ambiance of the high-classed French restaurant, with soft music playing in the background, the pristine white plates and silver cutlery shone under the chandelier lights. Li Lei ordered her favorite filet mignon, vegetable salad, and cream mushroom soup, paired with red wine.
She was considered to be one of the lucky few in the entertainment industry in that she would not gain weight easily. She had a sweet tooth and would consume large amounts of sugar and salt in a day, but was still able to maintain her perfect figure, drawing jealousy from many of her peers that had to diet hard to maintain their figure. However, Li Lei was concerned for her. While it was true that she did not gain weight easily, the downside of such a body disposition was that her digestive system was terrible; it was difficult for her body to absorb nutrients. He was worried that her nutrition level would not be enough.
He could not resist chiding her. "Don't play with your mobile while you're eating. It's bad for your body."
Xia Ling gave an obedient "Oh" and put her phone aside, but her expression was still distracted.
Li Lei asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Xia Ling glanced at him and thought to herself that it would be weird to speak to her soon-to-be ex-boss about her next agency. Yet, she knew that he was not sitting opposite her as her Boss right now, and thus confided in him. "I don't know which agency I should go to."
Li Lei smiled. "I thought you were never going to discuss this with me."
Xia Ling smiled as well before saying, "I had indeed not wanted to discuss this with you because I wanted to maintain my independence when it came to my work. However, Luo Luo and Sister Mai Na gave me so much advice as friends, and you..."
"What about me?" Li Lei asked in a low voice, as he subconsciously sat straighter.
"You..." Xia Ling gave a coy smile, and a glint came into her eyes. "You'll no longer be my Boss in the future. Wouldn't you say that our personal relationship is closer than that of friends?" This was the first time after their breakup that she had hinted about their relationship in a positive way. Ever since receiving the blue diamond necklace from Pei Ziheng, Xia Ling had had the opportunity to think through these things more clearly, and she decided to be more forward with Li Lei. It was not fair to him to be the only one that was trying to make the relationship work, she needed to do her part as well if they wanted to be together for a long time.
Li Lei's eyes shone when he heard her words, and his voice unknowingly became tighter and higher. "Not really." Before, he had been concerned if letting her leave the apartment and leave Skyart Entertainment was the right decision, but now he was thankful that he had decided to allow her to do all that. His Xiao Ling was like a bird that needed to be free to fly in the blue sky, and she would only take their relationship seriously when she was relaxed that way.
Momentarily letting go was for the benefit of reconciliation for the long term.
This was an excellent bargain.
Big Boss Li gave himself 32 thumbs up in his mind as he reached over to refill her wine glass. "Then, why don't you tell me your ideas in more detail and I can give you some advice?"
Xia Ling thought for a moment.
She had so many thoughts that she did not know where to begin.
She was actually completely unfamiliar with the agencies and managers in the entertainment industry.
In her past life, she was adopted directly by Pei Ziheng, and when she debuted, Chu Chen had managed all her activities. She had not switched agencies for more than ten years. In this life, she was in the Skyart Entertainment training camp the moment she opened her eyes, and Tan Ying had put her under Sister Mai Na's charge since her debut until now. She had never selected an entertainment agency or manager for herself before. Thus, she had no idea where to start.
"What kind of company is a good company? And what kind of manager is a good manager?" Xia Ling asked.
"That would depend on yourself." Being the owner of an entertainment agency, Li Lei had been in the industry for many years. While he did not seem to care much about the daily activities, he was still someone that had a good macro view of the industry. "It would depend on your goal in the industry and what kind of vantage point you would want to hit in the future? What area would you like to branch into? Do you purely want to be a singer, or do you want to branch into acting and variety shows as well? Do you want to be in the industry for life, or do you want to retire and raise a family after five or ten years? These would affect your decision in choosing the right agency and manager."
"Actually, I haven't given it that much thought..." Xia Ling said.
Initially, she had no choice but to debut to repay her debts owed to Skyart Entertainment when she was just a trainee in the training camp. Now, after she had repaid all her debts, there was no real motivation for her to remain in the industry. If she was being honest, she was already an artiste and felt that it was impossible for her to be anywhere else.
Open a small shop? She did not have the talent for that. She had tried to open many shops in the past — jewelry shops, flower shops, etc. — and they had all been big flops.
Be a freelance author or artist? She did not know how.
Be a financier and dabble in the stock markets? One, she did not have that kind of money, and two, she did not have the aptitude for that.
After thinking long and hard, there was only the option for her to stay in the entertainment industry for her livelihood. With her current singing prowess, it would be easy for her to get jobs in the industry. The difficulty was...
"Xiao Ling." Li Lei asked. "When you just debuted, you said that you wanted to be a Diva. Was that what you really wanted or just because of the situation you were in?"
She had displayed her Diva potential, which made Skyart Entertainment take her under their wing and go head-to-head with Imperial Entertainment.
Thinking back to that incident, Xia Ling felt a little sheepish. It seemed that she had not fulfilled her end of the promise yet and was in a rush to leave Skyart Entertainment. In that case, she could choose now whether she wanted to be diligent or to slack off. "I will become a Diva." She met the gaze of the man sitting opposite her at the table. "Become a Diva and collaborate with Skyart Entertainment, bringing Skyart Entertainment many financial rewards... to fulfill my initial promise."
A warmth entered Li Lei's heart at her statement, but he looked at her and explained. "Xiao Ling, that's not what I meant. I hope for you to be happy and do what you enjoy. If you're successful, great, but even if you're mediocre, as long as you're happy, all is good." He paused before adding. "It would be best if you continue for a few years and then get married, have kids, and leave the show business."
Xia Ling was speechless. So that was why he did not want her to become a Diva?
"I will become a diva." She smiled, and a determined expression came upon her face. "Get married, have kids, and leave the show business? In this life, I have no intention of becoming a housewife and depend on a man to live."