Reborn, I Became a Male God - Chapter 13

Yang Rou got smacked on the back of her head by her mom again. “You child, what kind of talk is that!”

“I was just too excited…” Yang Rou gave a small explanation, then suddenly her gaze froze on a certain spot in the photo. After staring for a few seconds, she suddenly howled up at the sky, “Oh no, my boyfriend isn’t even of age yet!”

Her sudden outburst startled Yang’s mom, who landed a slap precisely on her forehead. “Always making a fuss!” After scolding her daughter, she leaned over to take a look at the photo on the computer screen as well.

It was a simple ID photo. The parts showing the address and ID number were covered with two lollipops, but the rest of the information was clearly visible.

**Name: Jing Ling**  

**Gender: Male**  

**Ethnicity: Han**  

**Date of Birth: May 1, 1995**

“I thought he looked a little too young when I saw him before, but I didn’t expect he’s only 17.” After reading it, Yang’s mom looked at the photo on the right side. “But this child really is good-looking. Even his ID photo turned out this handsome. Unlike yours—I’m embarrassed to admit that’s my daughter!”

Yang Rou’s face was blank as she replied, “Mom, I seriously doubt I’m your biological child!”

—

Just like Yang Rou, many people who were curious about Jing Ling’s gender followed the trail from the Song of Eternal Joy official Weibo account. Although most already had their guesses, they still couldn’t help being surprised when speculation turned into reality.

“Oh my god, he really is a guy!”

“I knew it! This kind of cuteness must be a boy!”

“Male god, do you need a girlfriend? One who’s three years older? As the saying goes: a woman three years older is like a golden brick!”

In just half an hour, the comments under Jing Ling’s Weibo post had shot up to five digits. The number of shares and likes was also quite impressive. Looking back at his follower count, it had already risen from a single digit to a six-digit number starting with a six—the growth speed was nothing short of astonishing.

After that, Jing Ling received another notification—it was the official account of the drama tagging him, along with a few of the main actors.

TV Drama Song of Eternal Joy V:  

#TVDramaSongOfEternalJoy has surpassed 40 million views just one hour after airing on the Nanzhou platform. Thank you all for your support!  

@JingLingSecondMostHandsomeUnderTheHeavens @LiXiaoweiGoodLuckForever @ZhangQianqian @Meng Lan @Lin Zitao… [photo]

The Republic is the most populous country in the world, with a total population of around 1.7 billion. Internet users account for 60%, roughly 1 billion people. Compared to that, 20 million might seem like the sky and the ground—completely incomparable. But in fact, this number was already quite impressive. After all, the entire cast of the drama were newcomers, complete nobodies. Before the premiere, barely anyone was paying attention. Even though some marketing and promotion were done later, it only lasted a little over a month. It could be said that as long as the drama maintained its current momentum, it would definitely secure a place in this year’s top 10 web dramas.

(TL note: I don’t know why in the beginning views were 40 million, but then 20 million, but it was written like that in the raws.)

Right after Jing Ling reposted the Weibo, the director pulled him away to shoot a scene. Since he would soon be reporting to school for his first year and had to undergo a one-month military training, he wouldn’t be able to film during that time. So lately, the production team was doing everything they could to finish shooting his scenes in advance.

While the crew worked overtime rushing production, discussions about Song of Eternal Joy sprang up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain—countless threads popped up overnight.

The overwhelming marketing campaign before the broadcast brought in the first batch of viewers, and the drama’s fast pace and high-quality production kept them watching. After the first episode of Song of Eternal Joy aired, it quickly sparked a wave of discussion on platforms like Weibo and forums. This wave, in turn, attracted even more viewers. By the time the second episode aired the next evening, the drama’s view count had successfully surpassed the 100 million mark.

Without a doubt, this drama was a hit!

Among the main cast, Jing Ling was the only one who hadn’t signed with a management agency. For a time, almost every company in the industry was trying to get his contact information. After multiple failed attempts to reach him, many people started squatting outside the set like paparazzi.

But they soon found out that someone within the production team had already beaten them to it.

As the beauty rescued by a hero, Shang Mingyu had her eye on Jing Ling the very first time they met after she regained consciousness. She immediately wanted to sign him to her own company—not only out of a personal desire to repay him, but also because with looks like his, fame was only a matter of time. It would be killing two birds with one stone. What happened previously had made her truly realize how dirty this industry could be. She had guarded herself against that sanctimonious beast but failed to guard against the female companion who came along—who slipped something into her drink when she wasn’t paying attention. Signing Jing Ling was also her way of providing him with protection. After all, he was so good-looking that it was hard to guarantee no one would have bad intentions toward him.

However, after careful consideration, she didn’t bring up the matter with Jing Ling right away. Instead, she warned him not to rush into signing with any agency and to at least wait until after the show aired to think about it.

The reasoning was simple: natural jade and jade that begins to shine after being polished are completely different in value. Agencies were never in the business of charity. Even though she was the little princess of Hongguang Entertainment, she wasn’t the one in charge and couldn’t offer Jing Ling the best treatment. The only thing she could do was remind him to raise his own bargaining chips.

Of course Jing Ling understood this reasoning, but he was still grateful for her kind intentions.

And so, Shang Mingyu successfully teamed up with an outsider to screw over her own brother a little.

Shang Mingcheng was a successful businessman. From the moment he laid eyes on Jing Ling, he had wanted to sign him. During their first encounter, he received this reply: “Thank you for your appreciation, Mr. Shang. I’ll consider it.” At that time, he already knew the idea of getting a bargain was out the window. From then until Song of Eternal Joy aired, he never brought it up again—he was waiting, and also watching.

After two episodes of Song of Eternal Joy, the view count exceeded one hundred million, and Jing Ling’s popularity indexes skyrocketed overnight. All these factors combined pushed Shang Mingcheng to finally make the decision to sign him.

So during a break in Jing Ling’s filming schedule, both sides sat down at the shooting location to begin negotiations.

Shang Mingcheng had someone bring over the management contract—a thick stack of A4 paper that was pushed in front of Jing Ling. Jiang Sijin and the others had originally worried he might be tricked and offered to get him a lawyer, but he declined. As a joke—under the system’s pressure, he had practically worked every job under the sun, and of course that included being a lawyer. Although he was in a different world now, he still had the photographic memory skill he had exchanged from the system, and he had already made time to finish reading all kinds of legal texts.

Forget a small contract—he could go to court and win a case if needed.

Right in front of Shang Mingcheng, Jing Ling picked up the contract, skimmed through it at lightning speed as if playing, then directly picked up a pen and marked out all the sections that needed revision. “Here, here, and here. Also, the most important point must be added: all activities, including selecting scripts, endorsement deals, and variety shows, must receive my explicit approval before proceeding.”

Upon hearing this, Shang Mingcheng narrowed his eyes slightly and said coldly, “Where do you get the confidence to propose conditions like that? I admit you have the potential to become famous, but don’t forget—you’re currently a nobody.”

Jing Ling shrugged nonchalantly. “Confidence is something you don’t need others to give you. I know you’ve done background checks on me, though I suppose you didn’t find anything useful. I’ll just tell you directly. This coming September, I’ll be reporting to school—Yizhou Transportation University, one of the top 10 in the country. I know that’s not really anything special since a lot of students get into that school every year. But I’m different. I got in with the sixth-highest score in science in the whole province, and I chose this school over Shuimu and Dida.”

“I’m not saying this to brag—just to let you know that, for me, making money is not a problem. As for the adoration and worship of millions, that doesn’t really tempt me. If I can’t do things the way I want, then I don’t need to stay in this entertainment industry—because compared to that, I value freedom more.”

Shang Mingcheng had to restrain his urge to jump up and beat this arrogant little punk in front of him. He took a deep breath and calmly said, “Even if everything you said is true, don’t forget—I’m running a management company, not a charity. What if I spend a fortune to sign you and you slack off using the contract as your excuse? How do I calculate my losses then?”

Jing Ling rested his chin on his hand and looked at him. “That’s what negotiations are for, right? If the terms you offer satisfy me, I’m still quite interested in bringing blessings to the masses through the entertainment industry. After all, I’m so good-looking—it’s my duty to help cleanse the public’s eyes that have been blinded by mediocrity.”

Shang Mingcheng: Damn it, how do I stop myself from punching this guy?!

But in the end, his excellent self-restraint triumphed over the devil named Impulse. The two sides began a negotiation that lasted for several hours. Shang Mingcheng brought two professional negotiation lawyers and joined the discussion himself. Even so, he was gradually forced into retreat by Jing Ling alone, who managed to probe out all their bottom lines and won decisively.

The assistant soon delivered the revised contract, and both parties signed on the spot. Afterward, Shang Mingcheng extended his hand to Jing Ling. “Looking forward to working together!”

Jing Ling smiled and shook his hand. “Looking forward to working together!”

Shang Mingcheng secretly increased the force of his handshake, trying to get one over on Jing Ling—only to be countered immediately, leaving with a twisted smile on his face.

For this novel one Kofi is two extra chapters.     Ko-fi link: ko-fi.com/mitake55760