"You all continue to monitor the data; inform me immediately if there's an increase or decrease," Jiang Shu instructed.
"Yes, sir!" The employees were full of drive. The group's sudden popularity meant their persistence had paid off, the company wouldn't go bankrupt, and they could continue working in this wonderful atmosphere.
"Minister Park, contact the filming crew. The song's music video also needs to be put on the agenda."
IVE's debut song didn't have a music video partly due to a lack of funds, and partly because Jiang Shu needed IVE to debut quickly. Filming a music video would have taken too long, so it was postponed.
Now that "I AM" is at number seven, what more is there to say?
Film the damn thing!
"Yes, sir!" Minister Park was also beaming. Although he and Minister Kim had long considered leaving, they wouldn't if DM Entertainment didn't go bankrupt. This company was truly different from other entertainment companies. The most direct point was that Jiang Shu treated each of them as living, breathing individuals, not as expendable tools.
"Girls, come with me," Jiang Shu said to the members of IVE.
DM Entertainment didn't have a cafeteria, so they usually ordered takeout for meals, and today was no exception.
Jiang Shu led the girls to IVE's practice room, took out his phone, and said to the six of them,
"What do you want to eat? You have a music show performance this afternoon, so eat more to replenish your energy." Jiang Shu said with a smile. Although he hadn't fully confirmed whether the 'bond' existed, the current explosion in popularity had greatly reassured him; at least for now, the company had won its gamble.
Now, they just needed to wait for the results after the afternoon's music show broadcast.
The 'Double C' bond effect, once activated, would be very noticeable and easily recognizable.
"No, thank you," Liu Zhimin said, shaking her head.
"How can you not eat?" Jiang Shu asked, frowning.
"We need to watch our figures," Zhang Yuanying explained.
Jiang Shu looked at Zhang Yuanying in front of him. Her round face was almost identical to the 'short round' in his memory, and with the styling he had arranged for Zhang Yuanying, her image was even closer to 'short round.'
The main reason was that the 'Yuan You Hui' bond was too terrifying. What if the styling didn't suit her and she 'poured oil'?
Yuan Shen and 'Oil Po' were just a thought away.
"You're all still growing; how can you not eat?" Jiang Shu reached out and gently pinched Zhang Yuanying's small, round face.
This action not only stunned Zhang Yuanying herself but also left everyone else shocked as they watched Jiang Shu's 'physical' interaction.
Noticing everyone's gaze, Jiang Shu also realized his impropriety.
Damn it, she was so cute he couldn't resist.
"My apologies." Jiang Shu wasn't one to stand on ceremony. Realizing his mistake, he immediately apologized to Zhang Yuanying.
The stunned group all looked at Jiang Shu, this time even more shocked. The outspoken Liu Zhimin even blurted out,
"Why are you apologizing to her?"
Even Zhang Yuanying didn't refute Liu Zhimin.
This left Jiang Shu bewildered.
"Shouldn't you apologize when you make a mistake?"
"But you're the President!" Zhang Yuanying couldn't help but say.
Jiang Shu paused, then understood their logic.
In Korea, when someone in a high position makes a mistake, it's not called a mistake, so there's no need to apologize to anyone.
For him, a President, to apologize to Zhang Yuanying was completely out of order. Even if an apology were given, it would be in the style of, "You kneel, and I'll apologize to you."
"It's fine, I'm Chinese. You don't need to pay too much attention to these things." Jiang Shu waved his hand. He had no intention of implementing such practices in his own company.
He couldn't change the big environment, but he could establish new rules on his own turf.
Zhang Yuanying looked at Liu Zhimin.
"Why are you looking at me?" Liu Zhimin was a bit confused why Zhang Yuanying was looking at her, so she asked directly.
Zhang Yuanying: "..."
"Because you're pretty!" Zhang Yuanying said grumpily.
"Thank you," Liu Zhimin accepted candidly.
Rolling her eyes, Zhang Yuanying stopped looking at her and turned to Jiang Shu.
"President, I don't mind your actions just now. You don't need to apologize."
"Alright then." Jiang Shu nodded with a smile, "What do you want to eat? Hurry, hurry, my treat!"
"Jajangmyeon!" With the President's word, Zhang Yuanying stopped pretending and ordered directly.
"Me too," Liu Zhimin chimed in from the side.
With the two 'royals' speaking, the others also followed suit and ordered their meals.
Jiang Shu ordered each of their desired lunches.
"You're going on stage this afternoon. Are you nervous?" Jiang Shu put down his phone and asked, looking around at the girls.
"Of course we're nervous, it's our first time on stage," Liu Zhimin said, resting her chin on her hand.
"Will our performance today be fully live or semi-live?" Zhang Yuanying followed up.
"If you're nervous, just take a deep breath," Jiang Shu said to Liu Zhimin first, then addressed Zhang Yuanying, "Semi-live. Considering it's your first time on stage, the company discussed it with the TV station."
At this time, there was no concept of not singing live at all; it was either fully live or semi-live.
If he could, Jiang Shu wouldn't even want semi-live, but unfortunately, that wasn't an option.
Fully live was absolutely out of the question.
Once it was fully live, the difference between Lily and the other five would be particularly obvious, which would be very unfavorable for the heavily promoted Liu Yuan.
IVE was different from NMIXX; the latter could all perform well, so fully live was fine. Lily, even if strong, wouldn't stand out to the point of being a 'crane among chickens.'
But IVE was different.
Thinking of this, Jiang Shu looked at Lily, who was looking down, lost in thought.
"Lily, you're going on stage this afternoon. How well prepared is your dancing?"
The other five looked at Lily in unison, which put a lot of pressure on the already introverted Lily.
It was quite absurd.
IVE's vocal upper limit was pulled to an extremely high level by Lily alone, while their dance lower limit was also pulled to a somewhat low position by her.
Lily majored in music at Hanlim Arts High School; she barely practiced dancing. The intensified training during this period only helped her avoid mistakes and stay on beat, but to say she had great stage presence was pure nonsense.
"It's... it's okay. I shouldn't... make any mistakes," Lily said, lacking confidence.
"It's okay, you just need to focus on singing. Leave the stage performance to me," Liu Zhimin said confidently, wrapping an arm around Lily.
"And me," Zhang Yuanying said, glancing at Liu Zhimin and smiling at Lily.
Jiang Shu looked at the atmosphere among the three and nodded with satisfaction.
It was good that there were no conflicts.
"I'll accompany you to the music show this afternoon and cheer you on from the on site," Jiang Shu said, making a cheering gesture.
Zhang Yuanying's eyes lit up beside him.
"Then will the President prepare debut gifts for us?"
"Of course!" Jiang Shu nodded with a smile.
"What if we get number one?" Zhang Yuanying asked again.
At this time, there was no rule that you couldn't get first place right after your debut performance.
"Then I'll give you a big surprise!"
"Pinky promise!"
Jiang Shu smiled and extended his hand to make a pinky promise with Zhang Yuanying.
