Baby Carter keenly sensed the burning gaze scanning her body from the bottom up, like a scanner. Her heart skipped a beat as she recalled something James Carter once told her about a popular method circulating online to distinguish between men and boys. It was simple: when a little boy sees a beautiful woman, his first reaction is to look at her face, and he keeps looking at her face. After a boy has “driven a few times,” his gaze starts to move downward, and he begins to pay attention to the figure. One day, when they become seasoned veterans, they always look at women from the bottom up.

At the time, Baby Carter asked, “So what level are you?”

James Carter was a bit embarrassed but forced himself to say that, at least in theory, he was already a veteran.

Baby Carter thought to herself, damn, everyone’s a veteran.

Her face remained expressionless, exuding a cool and aloof aura, as she gave a polite smile: “Hello teachers, my name is Baby Carter...”

A middle-aged woman coldly interrupted, “We have your resume.”

Baby Carter’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, sensing the malice from the middle-aged woman.

The man beside the middle-aged woman coughed and tried to ease the atmosphere with a friendly tone: “Please, have a seat.”

Baby Carter nodded and sat on the chair prepared for interviewees, legs together, hands folded over her abdomen. Her long, beautiful legs wrapped in nude stockings were especially alluring.

The middle-aged man in the center paused as his gaze swept over Baby Carter’s long legs, then smiled and said, “Miss Carter, we’ve reviewed your resume. You graduated from Fudan University and worked at a foreign company for a year. Both in school and at work, you received praise from those around you. You should have a brighter future ahead—why choose to become an entertainer?”

A dozen pairs of eyes stared at her. Baby Carter sat up straight, not nervous at all. “This is my dream.”

So having a dream makes you the boss? the middle-aged woman muttered inwardly.

The middle-aged man just smiled and said gently, “To be honest, with your education and abilities, we’d be happy to have you, but not as an entertainer. First, your major isn’t a match. One minute on stage takes ten years of practice offstage. Acting isn’t something you can just pick up. And for training from scratch, we prefer to find high-potential candidates.”

Baby Carter thought, why does this feel off from the start? Are they trying to brush me off?

“But as far as I know, many famous entertainers didn’t come from related majors.”

“Do you know how many years they spent as extras? How many years they struggled?”

Baby Carter had nothing to say.

“How about this: my office happens to need a secretary. You have work experience, outstanding ability, and graduated from a prestigious university. If you’re interested, you can come work for me. We can discuss the salary right now.”

This persistent secretary thing—I've had enough.

Baby Carter: “How should I address you, sir?”

“My surname is Zhang, I’m the general manager of the HR department.”

“Mr. Bolton, I have to disagree. I practiced dance in elementary and middle school, so I have a foundation—it’s not like I have no background at all. Plus, I sing pretty well...”

The middle-aged woman suddenly interjected, “Can you sing ‘Qing Qing Zi Jin’?”

Baby Carter nodded. “Yes.”

The middle-aged woman gestured, “Go ahead, sing a bit a cappella.”

Baby Carter pressed her lipsticked lips together and began to sing. Her voice had a soft, alluring magnetism, her tone captivating. Singing this kind of song with a sense of world-weariness, it was a perfect match.

The middle-aged woman’s expression changed slightly—the singing was too good. She had assumed that someone like Baby Carter, without professional training, would only be “pretty good” by ordinary standards, maybe just hyped up by others. But as she listened, while it wasn’t perfect and there were many flaws in technique, the voice itself was so pleasant, it sent tingles down the spine and tickled the heart.

“Stop, stop, stop!” the middle-aged woman called out, her face unchanged. “Your voice is nice, but your singing is completely amateur. Frankly, you’re just singing blindly. With your level, even a recording studio would have a hard time fixing your voice.”

Baby Carter’s face turned icy cold, her delicate features even more like a Greek sculpture. If James Carter, who knew her well, saw this, he’d know his big sister was on the verge of rage.

Chapter 5: Newbie Task, Support Item

“Miss Carter, your resume says you were scouted by a talent agent in high school, so you should know that when we select promising newcomers, the younger the better. You’re twenty-five, which is hard to market, unless it’s for a group, but Xingyi doesn’t have any suitable girl groups at the moment.” Mr. Bolton paused and gave a wry smile. “Unless you have some special talent that really impresses us, otherwise, with limited company resources, it’s hard to sign you.”

Another examiner added, “When selecting entertainers, if you have the right major and talent, age doesn’t matter. Otherwise, we need younger candidates—eighteen to twenty-two is ideal. The entertainment industry is all about fresh faces these days. For someone like you, it’s a bit awkward.”

“Dancing in middle school doesn’t count. My daughter dances better than you,” the middle-aged woman said sarcastically.

Baby Carter felt underestimated. She told herself to stay calm—these aunties and uncles weren’t worth unleashing her full power.

“I can compose and write songs.” Baby Carter confidently dropped a bombshell.

Mr. Bolton couldn’t help but sit up straight, interest piqued. “Can we hear something?”

The others exchanged glances, half skeptical, half curious.