A Good-for-Nothing

210. The Ability to Talk Things into Existence Through Sheer Force of Will (II)

Translator: Dragon Rider

“Oh?” Zu Zhichong’s countenance remained unchanged. “That bosom friend of yours nicknamed Pony is already dead. You need to be careful what you say, bro.”

“It’s not that.” Wang Jian shook his head. “My grandfather once saved a Word-spirit’s life. In order to repay my grandfather, that Word-spirit transferred his ability to talk things into existence through sheer force of will to my grandfather, my father and I.”

Wang Jian continued, “But I don’t know whether my son has that ability or not.”

Zu Zhichong clicked his tongue in astonishment. He had never met anyone who confided their powers to him in such a casual way. “You have the ability to talk things into existence through sheer force of will? Xiao Jian, are you not afraid that people might try to use you because of it?”

Wang Jian answered, “I’m not really that powerful, of course. I could only foresee what will happen and say it spontaneously.”

He flicked Zu Zhichong a somewhat disbelieving look. “If what I say always came true, I would definitely say I win the lottery every day, and I would’ve long since been rid of poverty and become a billionaire.”

Zu Zhichong felt that he had found someone more jokey than him.

“Bro, it sounds quite absurd that you have such an ability.”

“Alas, why do you not believe me?”

A wily old fox, Zu Zhichong said, “Chill, bro. Of course I believe you, but you need to go to the Supernaturalism Management Bureau (SMB) to have your spiritual power tested to prove it, right?”

“SMB? What’s that?”

The two of them started prating about this and that. Suddenly, Wang Jian’s cellphone rang.

“Please excuse me, I need to take this.”

Holding his cellphone, Wang Jian took a couple of steps sideward but was still within earshot of Zu Zhichong.

He heard Wang Jian say “Hello?” twice and then continue in a particularly delighted tone, “Really?! I’m so glad to learn that you finally decided to turn back from the wrong path, Xiao Xi. I promise, as long as you cooperate with me, I’ll have you become an A-list celebrity in half a year, a superstar known to everybody in our country in another half…”

He Zheng and Chen Qianlin, who happened to be following Luo Zhou out of the room and had previously heard this pitch once, heard these words distinctly, the corners of their mouths involuntarily twitching. He Zheng finally came to understand why Wang Jian was still an obscure agent after having been in this profession for so many years – he made terrible pitches. How could he convince anybody if he always gave people the same pitch?

Anybody could tell at a glance that Wang Jian was not a good secret-keeper. Right now he seemed to be in a very good mood. After hanging up the phone, he couldn’t help but tell He Zheng and the others, “Alas, I had an inkling that something good would happen to me today. A quite talented newbie who had a contract with me and was afterward poached by a rival agency just called me and said that he wanted to resume our partnership. I think he’s returning to the correct path because he’s attracted to me by my moxie.”

When hearing the first half of his statement, the others had felt that it might be a lead on the killer, but when Wang Jian had started the latter half, they’d all lost interest.

After agreeing on a location with Wang Jian, Chen Xi went to the cafe that Wang Jian had told him about. At the sight of Wang Jian, Chen Xi called sweetly, “Brother Jian!” as though Wang Jian were his family member.

“Chen Xi.”

Chen Xi was a young man who was indeed quite handsome. After greeting Wang Jian, he immediately started pouring out his woes to him in spite of himself.

…

Chen Xi felt that he was a little unlucky. He was a senior student of the acting department of the Coastal School of Drama. While Chen Xi bore no comparison to any of those star students of the same grade who had already participated in the filming of TV dramas, he was well-featured, tall and his figure was in perfect proportion, and his academic performance was pretty good, too, so of all three classes of the acting department, he counted as a fairly popular one.

Chen Xi had wanted to be a superstar since childhood, and everything he had done was part of his preparation for becoming a celebrity.

On this day, when walking on the street, Chen Xi chanced upon Wang Jian, a talent scout. He knew that, with what he had, he should be able to do better than the talent agency Wang Jian worked for, though this agency was acceptable.

However, he figured that it might no be a bad choice to temporarily work as a trainee under Wang Jian, familiarize himself with this profession, and then use Wang Jian as a springboard for further career development, that once he got some acquaintance with the show business, it wouldn’t be very difficult for him to gain entry into the profession.

He was pretty confident about all aspects of himself. Unsurprisingly, after he joined the agency, he found that all the other trainees that Wang Jian had newly recruited couldn’t hold a candle to him.

Just like that, Chen Xi started working as a trainee in the Starry Talent Agency.

On this day, Chen Xi went to the training room to practice dancing. Wang Jian was only responsible for scouting talents, so the two of them seldom met, but this day, after Chen Xi finished his dancing practice and went outside to get some fresh air, he fortuitously saw Wang Jian talking with a man in the corridor.

Wang Jian said, “You need to be careful, Pony. As far as I could tell, your fortunes have been on the decline lately. Promise me you won’t do anything bad.”

That man was probably not very happy to hear these words, but he didn’t show it on his face. He just gave a smile, patted Wang Jian’s shoulder and replied, “I understand. What kind of bad things could I possibly do? I thought you had greater trust in me.”

“Of course I trust you. I was just trying to give you a word of warning.”

It was obvious that Feng Ma didn’t want to continue this topic. He silently fished a cigarette out of his pocket, turned his head around and was just about to walk further away to smoke when he caught sight of Chen Xi standing there. His eyes noticeably lit up. With the cigarette clamped between his teeth unlit, he twisted his head around and asked Wang Jian, “Xiao Jian, is that a newly recruited trainee of yours?”

“Yeah.”

With a smiling face, Feng Ma walked up to Chen Xi and said, “I’m Feng Ma from Starlight Entertainment Company.”

Availing himself of the window of opportunity when Wang Jian was looking away, he rapidly slipped Chen Xi a business card, winked at him, and then turned his head back with a calm face, lit his cigarette and said, “This new buy has the makings of a star. If you groom him well, he would definitely make his mark on the world.”

He’d stressed the words “groom him well”.

Chen Xi secretly clicked his tongue, realizing that this Feng Ma guy was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Poor Wang Jian was totally unaware that Feng Ma was trying to poach a trainee from him.