CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol-Chapter 433 - 425: Eating Together

Nighttime, the villa

people sat around eating hot pot.

"The company is so stingy! Successfully holding the fan meeting gets you a reward of half a pound of lamb." Meng Meixuan cautiously ate the meat on her plate.

"Plus all kinds of vegetables with flavorless meatballs." Yang Ni chuckled as well.

But even though everyone was complaining, no one actually asked for more meat.

They were all very self-disciplined; though tempted, they restrained themselves.

"Fangxin, your big fan is so funny, listening to us sing as if he were at a dance club." Yang Ni joked.

"That’s because seeing a beauty like me makes him happy." Lv Fangxin shook her adorable little head.

"I’m just afraid that after shaking hands with you, he might end up with a stroke!" Lai Ruoxuan’s comment caused the whole group to burst into laughter.

"Haha! Haha! How could it be a stroke? Wouldn’t it be blood flow instead?"

"Blood flow!"

"The way you said that is so bizarre!"

Over on the side, Fu Xiaoyu, who was eating spicy blood soup, couldn’t tolerate it anymore: "Ladies, ladies, what are you even talking about?"

"When Yang Ni and Meixuan went up, the little girls were going crazy too!" Lv Fangxin took a bite of vegetables.

"But Fu Xiaoyu’s fans were something else! There was a super muscular big fan who looked like he was ready to charge up there." Meng Meixuan lifted her glass of wine.

"Why do we have so few male fans? Yezi and Fangxin have tons of them." Yang Ni sighed deeply.

"I think I have fewer male fans because my charm intimidates them." Wu Zixuan struck a glamorous pose.

"Zijing seems to be the cool and aloof type, while you’re too loud." Lv Fangxin dealt a heavy blow to the former.

"What are you talking about! I’m the sweet sister who warms hearts." Wu Zixuan grumbled in protest.

Duan Yuxin gave these older sisters a confused look: "Why do you all seem to prefer male fans?"

"Because we’re all girls. Don’t you like guys?" Yang Ni laughed loudly.

Duan Yuxin instantly turned red. She was still very young, though such thoughts had crossed her mind, she knew she couldn’t act on them. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Ye Yuwei chuckled: "Don’t corrupt our little sister." Then, in a serious tone, she said:

"Although female fans often seem to spend more, male fans are more loyal!"

"And a lot of times, don’t underestimate the strength of female fans in arguments."

"But the truly influential think pieces are often written by male fans."

Jiang Mengqi chimed in: "That’s true. Back when I was performing in the theater, the clingiest ones were the male fans."

Lai Ruoxuan nodded in agreement: "Female fans are too fickle; they tend to gravitate more toward male idols."

Duan Yuxin finally realized that what her older sisters cared about was all business-related.

"Sister Yezi, do Galaxy fans have more male fans or female fans?" Duan Yuxin suddenly asked.

"They’re not mostly male fans or female fans; they’re CP fans." Zhang Zijing smirked.

"So, like the pairing of Meixuan and Zixuan?" Duan Yuxin commented with a bit of sesame sauce on the corner of her mouth.

Meng Meixuan immediately burst out laughing. In truth, they all disliked this CP and wanted to untangle themselves from it.

Because they understood the reality.

Within the group, they might not fight over resources. But returning to their original companies meant inevitable cutthroat competition.

Moreover, this CP dynamic dispersed their solo fan bases.

"Galaxy has changed. Before, it was all about competing in singing and dancing."

"But now the focus has shifted to other things."

Ye Yuwei’s face showed disappointment and pain as she took a sip of wine.

"Why?" Duan Yuxin asked the question everyone was thinking.

"Because Galaxy’s original business model was a closed loop."

"The company’s survival depended on small idols attracting fans who would vote and buy merchandise."

"To get fans to spend more money, the company promised out-of-group resources based on yearly rankings."

"And fans loved watching that, so small idols started doing whatever it took to secure those resources."

Meng Meixuan suddenly seemed enlightened: "So you’re saying none of it’s genuine."

"Of course. The majority are commercial CPs." Ye Yuwei’s words made everyone reflect deeply.

Zhang Zijing noticed Ye Yuwei’s mood seemed to be improving.

"If those ranked at the top have poor singing and dancing skills, how do you perform outside?" Li Zimeng asked.

"There’s no solution to that. If the company breaks its promises, fans won’t vote."

"But that leads to a vicious cycle. Whenever we perform outside, we get labeled as ’not good enough.’"

At this point, Lai Ruoxuan joked: "But you’re the only girl group still making money."

Lai Ruoxuan laughed again: "We all went bankrupt, but you guys survived."

Ye Yuwei couldn’t help but laugh: "So, this business model has its pros and cons—staying in the niche but managing to survive."

Fu Xiaoyu blurted out: "Yuwei, you’re very talented! Are there a lot of others like you in your company?"

Everyone turned their attention toward her again.

"I can responsibly say no. You all know that singing and dancing require talent."

"Galaxy’s strongest members were from the first three generations. Back then, recruitment focused on singing and dancing ability."

"By the sixth generation, things fell apart. They were purely selected for looks, body shape, and speaking skills."

Ye Yuwei felt helpless about this; it was just Galaxy’s management strategy.

"There’s word that Galaxy has been invited to this sports event too. We might have to compete." Fu Xiaoyu’s eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

Meng Meixuan couldn’t help but laugh: "Don’t count on it. I asked, and they’re not even scheduled to perform."

"Why won’t they let them perform? We should compete and see who’s really the top girl group." Duan Yuxin said passionately.

"Haha, we are the top girl group. Galaxy doesn’t make it to the mainstream." Ye Yuwei laughed.

"Galaxy isn’t mainstream, but if we don’t compete, everyone just assumes we succeed because of our platform." Meng Meixuan was equally fired up.

Ye Yuwei hadn’t realized how competitive her sisters were; honestly, she wasn’t any different herself.

As the saying goes, rivals are mortal enemies. Even if the two weren’t of equal scale.

These girls still hoped to prove through singing and dancing that they were the best.

"Let’s not talk about heavy topics like this; the hot pot’s broth is almost gone." Yang Ni joked.

Jiang Mengqi got up and went to the kitchen to bring back broth. She had made the broth from pork and chicken bones.

The rich broth was added to the copper pot, immediately filling the room with its aroma.

"I like putting in some kelp." Qiqi added strands of kelp into the pot.

"Don’t eat too much kelp; it’s high in iodine, your neck will get bigger." Yang Ni gestured exaggeratedly.

"Ah! You’ve got it wrong; isn’t it when you don’t eat it that your neck gets bigger?" Lv Fangxin teased with chopsticks in hand.

"I mean eating too much can also make it bigger." Yang Ni responded earnestly.

But everyone turned their gaze to Qiqi’s most flattering feature.

"What are you all doing? With looks like that, you’re making me shy."

"Even shyer things await..."

Jiang Mengqi suddenly reached over, startling Lai Ruoxuan into shouting.

"Haha! Your screaming won’t help, no one’s coming to save you." Fu Xiaoyu joined in, adding to the chaos.

Ye Yuwei shook her head repeatedly as she watched these antics.

"It’s over, it’s over. The image is gone. Is this still a girl group?" Meng Meixuan lamented dramatically.

"We’re not a girl group anymore; we’re a pack of female wolves." Wu Zixuan charged into the fray.

"I’m quitting, I’m quitting! I regret ever debuting with you all." Yang Ni shouted.

For a moment, the villa was filled with the sound of wolf-like howls, and their bonds grew deeper bit by bit.