Celebrity Neighbor: My girlfriend is a big star?
Chapter 225 - 191. "Holy shit! A gorilla!" (Please subscribe! Please vote for the monthly ticket!)

Chapter 225: 191. "Holy shit! A gorilla!" (Please subscribe! Please vote for the monthly ticket!)

Liu Xin’an didn’t recognize his uncle whom he had never met, but how could Bae Juhyun, who worked in the entertainment industry, not have heard of this name that was as well-known as thunder?

JYP is not just a company name but also the stage name of artist Park Jinyoung.

Yes, he was so narcissistic that he named his company after his own stage name, which to a certain extent, also reflected Park Jinyoung’s personality.

Bae Juhyun not only knew him but even said that if Lee Sooman hadn’t rejected Park Jinyoung, she and Park Jinyoung might have been colleagues by now.

According to her knowledge, back then Park Jinyoung was a top student at Yonsei University, which was a top university in Korea; calling it Korea’s "Tsinghua" or "Tokyo University" wouldn’t be an overstatement.

He even achieved such good grades that he got into graduate school... Though he didn’t graduate successfully and dropped out, his educational background was still considered quite high among entertainers.

People definitely can’t just study hard all their life, and in his free time, Park Jinyoung would go crazy playing at popular nightclubs in Seoul at the time, where his outstanding dancing abilities were discovered by a senior.

Initially, this senior only intended to bring him into the dance circle, but Park Jinyoung showed even greater talent after being exposed to songwriting.

Who wouldn’t want to do what they loved?

After realizing his interest in songwriting and dropping out, Park Jinyoung poured all his efforts from studying into learning about songwriting, and eventually, he excitedly took his first single that he composed to several agencies in Korea to try to promote himself and become an artist.

Unfortunately, none of the companies appreciated him.

The only one that showed a little interest was Lee Sooman, who single-handedly founded SM.

Of course, back then, Lee Sooman was just the person in charge of planning at SM; the company hadn’t even been founded yet.

Lee Sooman did think that the young Park Jinyoung was quite good, but...

"Although your looks don’t quite meet my requirements for an artist, I really like this song. How about you sell it to me?"

That was the gist of it.

Such words deeply pricked the young Park Jinyoung’s pride at the time.

Since you don’t appreciate me? Then I’ll just do it on my own!

With that mindset, Park Jinyoung worked to save money and successfully released his first album in 1994.

Thanks to his extraordinary dancing abilities and excellent songwriting skills, he quickly became somewhat famous in Korea.

However, his appearance wasn’t outstanding in the entertainment circle at the time, and even though his songs were of high quality, many people would lose interest in the music the moment they saw his face on the album cover.

This is why he maintained this lukewarm status until ’97, but he wasn’t satisfied with this state; he couldn’t stand being judged by his looks, so, with the help of his friends and using all the money he had earned over the years, he founded his own agency — If nobody will sign me, then I’ll just start my own company!

And so, JYP Entertainment began to make its mark in the entertainment industry.

Through years of effort and development, it became one of the top three agencies in Korea.

Park Jinyoung himself also became an unavoidable topic in the entertainment industry.

The only artist who could maintain such vitality and performance on stage after so many years... was him.

———

"Is my uncle that impressive?"

"It’s not a matter of being impressive or not, he really is that kind... that rare kind..."

Bae Juhyun found it difficult to describe JYP’s legend with words. As a junior, she naturally held immense respect for the pure creator, who had made many artists famous. Not to mention others, the currently dominant Twice among the fourth generation girl groups was the product of this legendary figure.

"Very impressive?"

"An exceptionally impressive creator, and an exceptionally impressive president of an agency."

"...Wow, that impressive?"

Liu Zhengjiang, who was sitting beside him, saw the surprise on his son’s face and coughed, "I didn’t tell you before because I was afraid you would think all day about becoming an artist like Chenglu. If you knew you had an uncle who was the boss of an agency, your mom and I were afraid you wouldn’t focus on your studies."

"How could I? I’m not like Chenglu..."

"Can you guarantee you won’t tell Chenglu after knowing this?"

The father’s rhetorical question silenced Liu Xin’an; it was indeed a pointed one.

In middle school and high school, he was far from being as steady and mature as he was now. If he had known this and also knew that Li Chenglu was a fervent fan, he definitely would have proudly told Li Chenglu.

And at that time, Li Chenglu would probably have made a real fuss about going to Korea and be a trainee.

"I can’t."

"So there you go, your mom, your godfather, godmother, and I definitely didn’t want Chenglu to run off to Korea to become an artist. Her talent in languages is too high; it would be such a waste for her to be an artist, you understand?"

Liu Zhengjiang didn’t avoid Bae Juhyun beside him, and his meaning was clear. It wasn’t that being an artist was a bad profession, but Li Chenglu could have a better future.

Indeed, being an artist is a great career path, but if one only relies on passion without considering their actual situation and blindly agrees to a child’s request, that would be irresponsibility towards Li Chenglu.

Now... the children had their own careers, and there was indeed no need to keep hiding these old pea-and-rice affairs any longer.