Chapter 86: The Miracle Girl

Fu Xiaoci snorted. “I may not understand all the details, but your sister is no longer who she used to be. If she wants to free herself from her old company’s constraints, the price will be enormous.”

Liao Yuan asked, “You’re making that judgment without even seeing the contract?”

“Corrupt companies are the same everywhere.”

Chewing on an apple, Fu Xiaoci grinned. “Companies as informal as our Little Yellow Fish are rare, you know!”

Liao Yuan placed the documents on the table and looked Fu Xiaoci in the eye. “So you’re aware of how unorthodox we are.”

“Of course I know. My brother warned me—I’m not stupid.”

Fu Xiaoci pursed her moist lips. “But I bet even my brother never imagined that, besides me, this company would have a second employee. Heh.”

Liao Yuan mused, “There’s something that’s been on my mind these past few days. Miss Fu, I’d like to acquire some shares of Little Yellow Fish.”

Fu Xiaoci was stunned, then looked at Liao Yuan as if he’d lost his mind. “Acquire shares?”

She flicked her apple core into the trash bin, laughing so hard she nearly doubled over. “Yuan, you give Little Yellow Fish too much credit. The most valuable artist here is you. Without you, the company is worthless. To put it plainly, Little Yellow Fish is just a shell company, never meant to turn a profit. Yuan, if you want to be a boss, you can just register your own company. That’s way simpler than an acquisition, and you know the contract we signed is barely binding from a legal perspective. You don’t have to worry about me—I only joined for the fun of it from the start.”

“Of course, if you insist, I’ll just transfer Little Yellow Fish to you. It’s not worth much anyway. But you have to promise me: after the transfer, you have to sign me on as your agent.”

At her words, Liao Yuan sighed. “Honestly, the idea of starting a company was mainly to give Meiqi a safety net. You know as well as I do, a small company like Xinyuan Entertainment can’t hold onto someone with big potential. If Meiqi really becomes a star, her contract with the original company will have to be renegotiated, or she might even be transferred elsewhere. Otherwise, what’s most likely is a total split. Xinyuan has very few resources to help Meiqi stay in the limelight after 'Produce 101' ends. If that’s the case, her time at the top will be short-lived. Without continued support, even the most popular artists fall from grace easily...”

Fu Xiaoci looked at Liao Yuan in surprise. “Wow, you’ve really thought far ahead... Are you that sure Meiqi will be a star?”

“It’s not about being sure—she already is.”

Liao Yuan opened the Youxun app and pointed at the contestant ranking panel for 'Produce 101'. “In the latest round of voting, Meiqi is ranked second, with over fifty million votes. Add in the numbers from the other two major video platforms, and her total votes have surpassed one hundred million. Remember, the votes reset every week. For her to crack one hundred million in a single week—that’s an astronomical figure, and the show’s influence is beyond anything anyone imagined.”

“And Meiqi’s Weibo followers have reached three million.”

Liao Yuan smiled. “Based on real-time popularity, she’s more famous than some B-list stars. Once the next episode airs, her popularity will only soar. Surpassing the first-place contestant is just a matter of time.”

“Surpass first place?” Fu Xiaoci’s eyes widened. “Yuan, do you know who’s in first? That’s Xie Yuxun... I may not keep up with the show, but her name has been trending non-stop on Weibo lately. Have you seen the Celebrity Power Rankings? Xie Yuxun is the only 'Produce 101' contestant to break into the top ten...”

“So what?”

Liao Yuan made himself a cup of tea. “I believe in my sister.”

“Blind confidence.”

Fu Xiaoci rolled her eyes, then burst out laughing. “But I love that about you!”

In fact, it wasn’t just Liao Yuan who had such confidence—even the mentors of 'Produce 101' were left speechless after watching the group performance previews, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.

Every mentor thought the nine-member team led by Liao Meiqi was about to explode in popularity.

“I want nobody, nobody but you…”

Chen Xiuyuan watched the rehearsal video with shining eyes, softly humming along with the music from the speakers.

Though he’d only heard the song a handful of times, Chen Xiuyuan was already in love with its rhythm and style—this was exactly the feeling he’d been searching for.

The other mentors were equally delighted.

“Have they decided on a group name yet?” Zheng Yongxu inquired.

“Absolutely!” Chen Xiuyuan snapped his fingers. “I’m going to personally name them—Miracle Girls!”

Jiang Lingsu said, “Could you be any more cliché?”

“Oh? Then what about Mango Girls? Or Watermelon Girls? No, wait, Juice Girls or Jelly Girls would be even cuter, right?”

Jiang Lingsu: ??? What’s cute about that???

She was speechless. “...Let’s just stick with Miracle Girls.”

“Miracle Girls? I like it. They’re a group of girls destined to keep making miracles!” Yu Lianzhou laughed.

Yan Ninan watched the dance moves in the video, marveling, “Mister Nameless truly understands the art of pop dance. No ordinary choreographer could come up with these steps.”

“Is it my imagination, or does this song feel like it was written by Liao Yuan?” Zheng Yongxu murmured, stroking his chin. “But most of Liao Yuan’s songs are in the pop genre. A pure girl group dance track like this is quite different from his usual style. So, maybe this so-called Mister Wu isn’t Liao Yuan after all?”

Yu Lianzhou smiled. “That’s a question for Director Fu. But even if you ask, I doubt he’ll tell you.”

Zheng Yongxu’s eyes shone with fanaticism. “How I wish I could be friends with someone like that.”

Soon, after a few days of intense practice, the fifth episode’s group performance stage of 'Produce 101' officially began.

The six teams, long since prepared, each dressed immaculately, assembled backstage.

Every group was assigned to a separate room, where they would watch the live broadcast of the stage via closed-circuit camera before their turn.

The performance venue held a full twelve thousand spectators—no less than a small concert.

Seeing such a massive crowd, staring out at the sea of heads in the audience, the girls were all beside themselves with nerves. Bathed in flashing lights, they encouraged each other, discussed strategies, and reviewed their well-rehearsed routines.

It wasn’t long before the mentors took the stage one by one, each performing their signature hits. Then, the first group of girl group trainees officially made their entrance.