You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

Chapter 21 I really envy you guys, you can get fired whenever you want.

There are producers in the music industry who can write and compose their own songs, but it's extremely rare to find a producer who can do both at the same high quality.

Xu Manlin dialed a number: "Investigate! Find out who this 'Tomorrow' is! We have to bring the person who can write a song like this to our company!"

Xu Manlin wasn't the only one with this idea.

The hit song "The First Dream" has gone viral, bringing a lot of attention to the mysterious producer "Tomorrow".

Major companies, agents, and singers are all getting restless.

"Wanwanjingting is keeping a tight rein on registration information and won't disclose it!"

"A hefty reward is offered for information leading to 'Tomorrow'! Anyone providing clues will be richly rewarded!"

"Could this be a high-level player's alt account? Let's check it out..."

...

Meanwhile, Lu Ran, the person in question, was leisurely listening to music.

Seeing Shen Yuege's data steadily rising, Lu Ran's mood improved considerably.

After thinking about it, I decided to update two chapters of the novel that I hadn't updated today, since it's not good to stop updating.

In the past few days, thanks to the hard work of Tan Yu and others, the first ten episodes of "The God of War Returns, and His Daughter Lives in a Doghouse!" have finally been produced and successfully uploaded to the Kuaishou and Douyin platforms.

Meanwhile, the judging for the Kuaishou and Douyin short drama competition is also in full swing.

Because it started relatively late, although "The Return of the God of War" attracted a group of viewers who like to try new things with its unconventional plots such as "the God of War being humiliated" and "cute kids living in a doghouse" in the first few episodes, as well as its extreme conflicts and exciting moments, and its data continued to grow, its overall ranking was not among the top.

Lu Ran checked the rankings of the short drama competition on the Kuaishou and Douyin platforms:

1. "Time Train" (Starlight Media) - Popularity: 1200 million.

2. "Pink Love" (Yuedong Entertainment) - Popularity: 987 million.

3 ....

...

66. "The God of War Returns, Discovers His Daughter Living in a Doghouse!" (Starry Entertainment) - Popularity: 158 million

...

Overall, its ranking among the entries is in the middle range, and there is still a considerable gap between it and the top-ranked short dramas.

This popularity didn't generate much buzz on the Kuaishou and Douyin platforms.

However, Lu Ran was not worried at all. After all, there was still a month left before the short drama selection ended, and at the current pace, the remaining short dramas should be filmed in half a month.

In his previous life, Lu Ran had witnessed firsthand the audience's love-hate relationship with these short dramas, complaining that they were mindless while simultaneously wanting to watch them all in one go.

Don't rush, let the bullets fly a little longer.

In two weeks, you will experience the horror of being brainwashed by mindless short dramas.

Just as Lu Ran went to the toilet stall, he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar mocking voice coming from outside.

"Have you heard? The stuff Lu Ran's short drama department produced had terrible numbers. With such ridiculous names, no wonder nobody watches it!"

"I know. I just checked the rankings on Kuaishou and Douyin. We're already outside the top 60. When has Xingyao ever had such bad data?"

"Exactly! What a waste of company resources. And Mr. Li, really, he actually approved 50 yuan for him—isn't that just throwing money down the drain?"

"Just wait and see. If his grades are too poor, even if he's a relative, it won't end well."

Lu Ran listened quietly, then rinsed the water with a blank expression and pushed open the door to the cubicle.

The two people outside saw Lu Ran in the restroom and were immediately embarrassed to the point of wanting to disappear.

On one hand, they were caught talking badly about others behind their backs; on the other hand, Lu Ran was already several levels higher than them, a proper department head; and most importantly, Lu Ran had someone backing him up.

Lu Ran realized that the two were his former colleagues from the two corners of the office. He wasn't angry, but instead sighed.

"Why!"

The two realized that Lu Ran wasn't angry, and was even sighing. Their earlier embarrassment vanished, replaced by an arrogant tone.

"It's okay, Lu Ran. It's alright to fail once. If there's anything you don't understand about the short drama, we might be able to give you some pointers as colleagues. But it depends on your performance."

"Exactly! No need to sigh and complain. If we fail this time, maybe we won't succeed next time either, hahaha~"

Lu Ran looked at the two of them and said, "I'm not worried about the short drama, but I envy you."

Although the two were somewhat confused by what Lu Ran was saying, they still followed along with him.

"Well, it's nothing. Although the editorial department has better benefits and more resources than your short drama department, it's still a bit tiring."

"Yeah, the editorial department's evaluation is so strict. Don't be sad if you get kicked out, because you were already pretty bad to begin with."

"That's not what I meant by envy." Lu Ran changed the subject. "I envy that you have leaders watching over you at work, so you can be full of energy, strive for KPIs, create greater value for the company, and become excellent workhorses."

"And me... even though I set up my own department, General Manager Li was unwilling to give me any targets, allowing me to slack off, and even so, he didn't fire me."

"Do you understand this kind of painful feeling?"

The two people's stunned expressions clearly showed that they didn't understand. How could this person be so... despicable?

They seemed to have completely forgotten that they were the ones who spoke ill of Lu Ran behind his back and mocked him first.

Do you really think Lu Ran is easy to bully?

Seeing the two of them stunned, Lu Ran continued, "I remember someone, sorry I can't recall their name, but I just heard from General Manager Li that your performance evaluation this month seems to be among the bottom few, so we might not be able to work together again next month."

"Hey you, it seems your script is going to be returned too. You should think about how to revise it."

As he left the restroom, Lu Ran added another sentence.

"I'm really envious of you guys who are about to be fired."

"I'm really envious."

Lu Ran wasn't lying; he genuinely envied the two of them. As long as they consistently ranked in the bottom few in the assessments, they would definitely be expelled.

He went to great lengths to slack off and was even forced to take on important responsibilities.

Alas, there's nothing we can do. When Heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon someone, it first sweetens their mind, rests their body, and nourishes their other physical needs.

After Lu Ran left, the two of them slunk back to the editorial department.

Lu Ran was right. Both of them were facing elimination due to performance reviews, but Lu Ran was different. Even though he had no achievements, he was still doing very well in the company.

Lu Ran had just returned to her workstation when she saw Tan Yu walking over.

"Brother Lu, I heard you got mocked by your colleagues in the editorial department in the restroom. Should I call Zhao Dapeng and a few others to help you get back at them?" Tan Yu said excitedly.

Lu Ran's face darkened. "I heard that? Who told you that?"

"I was in the next room when you two were talking. If I hadn't had diarrhea earlier, I would have rushed out and given them a good beating."

Lu Ran: "..."

Is this kind of "beating someone up" a proper thing to do?

...