Qin Xiao looked at her manager's serious expression, opened her mouth, but found herself at a loss for words.

She suddenly realized her previous manager had been better. Back then, with Ye Zhonghuai's support, her strong status had made her manager merely a subordinate. Therefore, her previous manager had basically obeyed her every command and was always compliant in her presence. However, after several scandals were exposed, coupled with his weak control over her, Ye Zhonghuai, in frustration, replaced him with this assertive new manager.

If the previous manager was merely her servant, this new one was like an imperial envoy endowed with the royal sword. The new manager could call Ye Zhonghuai directly and sometimes even had more authority than Qin Xiao did.

At this point, if she still hadn't grasped the implications, she would have been remarkably foolish. But today was different; she really wasn't trying to act like a diva. Anxious to salvage her image in Ye Zhonghuai's eyes, she quickly explained:

"Sister Ning, it's really not my fault. You weren't there, so you wouldn't know. Everyone who came this time is a powerhouse. I even felt that none of the guests were under forty. These are all seasoned veterans, practically legends who've been in the music scene for ages. How am I supposed to compete with them?

"To be honest, I was eliminated as soon as I went on stage. Don't think I wasn't trying. You try it! They were all veteran singers; I even felt some were at the King level. What's the point in competing?

"If I continue to participate, there's no other outcome for me than automatic elimination after three rounds. If you don't believe me, just wait and see!"

At this point, she had already thrown in the towel. It wasn't that she didn't want to struggle; she did, but her abilities just didn't allow for it. It was like a blind audition for an exam. She had thought herself exceptionally talented, among the top ten in her class, and figured that if a few random people were chosen to take the exam with her, even if she was unlucky enough to get one or two academic prodigies, she should still be better than most, right? But who the hell knew that out of the six people taking the test, five were academic prodigies—the kind who ranked in the top ten of the entire grade! And she was the only one bringing up the rear.

What was there to compete for? Their lives? Should she wait for someone to get hit by a car? If she had that kind of power, why not wonder if she could become an immortal instead?

Anyway, Qin Xiao had no hopes for the competition. She just hoped the company would realize that, based on her own abilities, she truly wasn't up to this show.

The manager looked at her. Qin Xiao didn't seem to be faking it, but her numerous past misdeeds made the manager skeptical. It all just didn't seem quite trustworthy. But that's alright, I'll investigate first. After all, the company has invested significant resources in her this time. A failure would greatly impact the company. If it's truly as she says, then a swift withdrawal to protect Qin Xiao's reputation wouldn't be a bad move. At worst, we can just find an excuse later—an injury, an illness, something like that. It wouldn't be a major issue. But the crucial thing is that the facts must align with what Qin Xiao said. If she's just throwing a tantrum, that won't be acceptable. We'll have plenty of ways to deal with her then!

"Okay, I'll investigate. If it's as you say, then I'll handle it."

Having said this, the manager hurried off. Qin Xiao watched her retreating figure and inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

Everything I said is true. I'm not afraid of an investigation. What I fear is being completely shut down by the manager due to a misunderstanding. That would be truly unlucky. Now that the manager has gone to investigate, the outcome will definitely be fine.

And indeed, that was the case. After asking around, the manager hadn't unearthed much general information, but she did confirm that the contestant nicknamed "Jasmine Flower" had failed on her first attempt and would be eliminated after three failures.

"Jasmine Flower" was, of course, Qin Xiao's nickname, chosen by the team; Qin Xiao herself couldn't have been unaware of this.

Xie Ning couldn't help but inwardly curse Qin Xiao as an idiot. Xie Ning herself had studied in America and held a master's degree in media studies. Previously, she had worked as a manager in Hollywood and continued in the same profession when she returned to her home country. She had groomed two super-popular idols, one of whom was top-tier with an impressive track record – it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her gold-standard.

Xie Ning herself was a contracted agent for Habes Music Media, the Asian arm of the American High Tone Entertainment Group. Baise Entertainment had paid a hefty price to hire her from Habes, specifically to cultivate a top-level star, namely Qin Xiao. Xie Ning was responsible for tasks such as album promotion.

However, after arriving, she discovered that this Qin Xiao was just an airhead who did no real work. Instead, Qin Xiao spent her days flaunting wealth and courting scandals, which were constantly swirling around her. Already holding a bad impression, Xie Ning naturally didn't show a welcoming countenance. And to top it off, Qin Xiao got eliminated in the very first round of the show she'd painstakingly found for her. Absolutely useless!

After cursing for a while, Xie Ning had no other option but to continue leveraging her connections to gather more information. She spent considerable effort contacting staff, audience members, and people from the production team.

With money on the table, "confidentiality" was a flimsy concept, easily pierced like a sheet of window paper. This wasn't some top-secret organization with extremely strict personnel management, so digging up information wasn't truly difficult. Indeed, keeping secrets in a show like this was simply too hard.

So, Xie Ning soon found out plenty of useful information. It was indeed as Qin Xiao had described: all the contestants on the show were powerhouses. While claiming everyone was over forty was an exaggeration—there were younger ones too—regardless of age, according to these sources, none of them were weak. And unanimously, everyone pointed to "Jasmine Flower" as the weakest of the lot.

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