Chapter 1254 The Studio (Part Four)

• Xiao Wu was one of the few people she personally brought in. Back then, the company held a talent show to pick a batch of newcomers. Xiao Wu and his group could really sing. They had talent and were sincere, which even reminded Belinda Hayes of her younger self. She thought they’d pass for sure. But the final result was a total shock: the truly strong candidates—the ones Belinda believed in—didn’t make it at all. Instead, a few who didn’t sing that well but looked amazing got in. Belinda just couldn’t wrap her head around it. She asked Sister Yang, and Sister Yang said, straight-faced, “The company’s strategy is full-spectrum and diversified. You already run with the music lane; other folks need different lanes. Besides, what’s hot now are pretty boys and girls. If they’re gorgeous, humming a couple of lines gets a crowd going.”
• Belinda could neither understand nor accept that logic. But she knew she couldn’t change the rules. The defeated look in Xiao Wu and the others’ eyes gutted her. In the end, she fought hard and used forming a band as her reason to keep them on. The pay, though, was pitiful. That’s the brutal company rule—if you’re weak, getting a bite to eat is already a win. Belinda could only hustle to win them chances. Thankfully, Xiao Wu and his friends worked their tails off and were grateful to Belinda. Step by step, their names started to get out there.
• Belinda had watched the short clips on the Twitter feed of Chadwick Fullner and roughly knew what he was doing. A bold idea clicked: Xiao Wu’s crew had stuck with music all this time; maybe they could team up with Chad for a collaboration. It’d help both sides. So she had Xiao Man keep pushing Xiao Wu’s group.