Ji Zehui took Xie Yang to a cafe opened by people in the circle. The location of the coffee store was a bit out of the way and it had a narrow facade. It looked unimpressive from the outside but it was completely different after entering.
Ji Zehui couldn't hold back after entering. "Without me, a newcomer like you would never be able to enter."
Xie Yang replied, "If you continue to stimulate me like this, I believe you will soon lose your identity as a person in the circle and never be able to enter here again."
Ji Zehui choked and stopped talking. Instead, Xiao Jin looked at Xie Yang several times.
Ji Zehui took Xie Yang to a commonly used box. He had the waiter casually serve some coffee and dessert before getting to the point. "What do you want?"
"There is no hurry. Before talking about business, let's clarify the current situation." Xie Yang sat upright while slowly pointing his finger at the table. "You can't delete all traces of the duet. Production has already started for the new issue of Who is King of the Songs. The materials that can be edited in for Ji Zehui including willfully changing the music, changing the music and then not using it, singing badly, being criticized by the guest commentators, having a dark face on stage, forcing the director to interrupt the recording and re-recording the performance. I believe that as soon as these black materials come out, the sales volume of Broken Cocoon will be stagnant immediately. Senior Ji will also lose a few endorsements."
Xie Yang's words caused Ji Zehui's face to darken and he almost stood up. His agent Xiao Jin pressed down heavily on Ji Zehui and stated, "Xie Yang, we aren't going to beg you. You should converge a bit. We have other ways to get rid of these things."
"However, there is Long Shuyou. You will find it ten times more difficult to use other methods like you normally do and you will have to pay ten times more interest and energy for this. After you pay, you won't be able to completely calm down this matter. I just have to tell a bit of the truth then Ji Zehui will fall into a scandal. The sales of Broken Cocoon will be stagnant and Ji Zehui won't win any prizes. More seriously, you will need to have Huangtian spend resources to help you suppress the news or simply follow the black and popular route in the future." (TL: Meaning someone with a lot of black fans as well as popularity)
Any artist wouldn't want to take the black and popular route. Ji Zehui also wanted to rely on Broken Cocoon to win the prize. It was related to their interests so Ji Zehui and Xiao Jin had to calm down.
Ji Zehui couldn't help confirming. "Long Shuyou was really invited by you?"
Xie Yang nodded.
Xiao Jin tried to spy things out. "What background do you have?"
"So far, I haven't used my background to suppress people." Xie Yang glanced at them. "Can we talk about business?"
Xiao Jin pulled Ji Zehui out to talk alone. Once he came back, Ji Zehui had calmed down a lot. He asked, "How can we talk about business?"
Xie Yang replied, "It's very simple. I can't and don't want to control the crew of Who is the King of Songs so that they cut out all of your shameful scenes-"
Ji Zehui almost blew up again after hearing this.
"-But I can speak for you later and set up a straightforward design for you. Your actions were very angry but your heart is still good and you take good care of newcomers. This way, the show will only be a hindrance instead of a black material that will throw you off the altar."
Ji Zehui calmed down a bit.
"If you do well, you might be able to take advantage of this storm to sell more copies of Broken Cocoon." Xie Yang poured himself a glass of water but he didn't drink it. He just turned it around in his hand. "Senior Ji, I believe that you aren't intentionally aiming for you. You were provoked by a villain. Between you and me, there is no direct conflict of interest. IUD is only selling a digital version and the group has disbanded. There is nothing threatening you. It isn't worth the loss for you to struggle against me."
Ji Zehui frowned and fell into contemplation.
Xiao Jin could see it clearly. This time, Ji Zehui went after Xie Yang because he was provoked by the overshadowing of his album sales and Mo Bin. He thought that if he really followed Mo Bin's words, it would be good to step on a newcomer who was too bold. In any case, the company hadn't been happy with Xie Yang recently but it was clear they thought it wasn't good to obviously bully a newcomer.
They were too confident and made a mistake that shouldn't have happened. "Then how do you want to help Zehui?"
"It's simple." Xie Yang put down his cup. "I want Huangtian to block Mo Bin. Don't tell me that you can't do it. Mo Bin is nothing in Huangtian. I don't want to ask for anything else. If Huangtian wants to continue targeting Yang Xing then they can. I just don't want Mo Bin to jump around in the entertainment circle."
Xiao Jin was stunned. He hadn't expected that this was what Xie Yang wanted. He only reacted when he saw Xie Yang's calm eyes. After doing so much and forcing Ji Zehui to gain so many black materials, it was all for Xie Yang to clean up Mo Bin?
If this was Xie Yang's plan from the beginning... he suddenly felt terrible. This newcomer was really bad.
***
Xie Yang easily returned to Yang Xing.
Hu Biao instantly rushed over and asked anxiously, "How was the recording? Were you bullied? I said that I should've followed you. Ji Zehui's side-"
"Stop." Xie Yang scratched the hair that had been styled by the stylist. "Can I wash my hair first? It is itchy."
Hu Biao was almost choked to death by Xie Yang. Wash his hair, what to wash at this time?! However, workers had no human rights. The boss Xie Yang went to wash his head first.
Xie Yang came out wiping his hair and saw Hu Biao sitting on the sofa with a face like he had constipation. Xie Yang was afraid Hu Biao would suffocate and simply told him about today's recording. Then he mentioned the deal with Ji Zehui after the recording.
Hu Biao was stunned. "You mean, Mo Bin is going to be banned?"
"Yes, from today on, there will be no news about him in the entertainment circle. You can tell Tong Jian and Ke Lan that there is no need to worry every day. They can be at ease and make money for me. By the way, have you got the fan gifts I asked you to arrange last time?"
Hu Biao was in a trance as he pointed in the direction of the storage room. "It is finished and placed in the storage room."
Xie Yang removed the towel and headed straight to the storage room.
The spacious storage room was full of large and small boxes. Xie Yang rummaged through it carefully for 10 minutes before finally finding what he wanted in a pile of key chains, small fans, pillows and blankets.
There were a few sets of cartoon dolls and chibi version handsome dolls customized according to the appearance of IUD in the group performance. The number was limited and it was originally prepared to be a special prize for random fans who bought the album.
Xie Yang took out two sets and took them back to his office. Then he took out his own dolls and placed them in the bag. After that, he went to the storage room and picked out some small objects with his cartoon image to fill the bag. Finally, he went downstairs and asked Wu Shui to send him to the bottom of the Rongding Building before calling Qiu Xing.
Qiu Xing picked up quickly and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Are you busy? I'm downstairs in Rongding and I want to go home with you."
Qiu Xing was quiet for a few seconds before his voice was heard. "Wait."
Around 10 minutes later, Qiu Xing's car drove out of the parking lot and stopped beside Xie Yang. Xie Yang grabbed the bag, got out of the car and got into Qiu Xing's car.
"This is for you." Xie Yang handed a bag to Qiu Xing.
Qiu Xing glanced at Xie Yang and didn't speak. He reached into the bag and pulled out a chibi version Xie Yang doll.
The doll was only a bit bigger than the palm of his hand, with a big head and a small body. It wore a black outfit and held a small microphone sewn out of cloth. It was very cute.
Xie Yang explained, "These are dolls that the company made in accordance with my appearance. There aren't many of them and I got one for you. Does it look good?"
Qiu Xing still didn't speak. He raised his eyebrows slightly, pinched the doll's small belly, pinched the doll's face and pulled the small microphone. Then on a whim, he pulled down the suit pants of the doll.
The pants fell straight down, revealing two stick-thin legs.
"......"
Qiu Xing quickly pulled up the doll's pants. He couldn't believe it and became stormy. "How can the clothes be taken off? Do you want to give this type of merchandise to fans? Who designed the doll?"
"It isn't giving it to them, it is a draw. The clothes can be pulled off for the sake of changing clothes. The dolls are wearing small underwear that can't be taken off." Xie Yang explained. He leaned over and pulled a set of spare clothes out of the bag. "Look, this is another set of clothes that can be changed into."
Qiu Xing looked at the bag in Xie Yang's hand.
The bag was transparent. From the outside, he could clearly see a mini white t-shirt, mini jeans, mini white sneakers and even a mini guitar. Qiu Xing remembered Xie Yang holding the guitar and singing on stage. The storm finally scattered from his expression. Then he pulled off the doll's pants to confirm it. Seeing that there was underwear, his expression finally returned to normal.
Xie Yang spoke in a timely manner. "Thank you for giving me the clothes. This is a gift in return."
"...You have a conscience." Qiu Xing pulled the doll's small arm and then stuffed it back into the bag. Then he took away the clothing that Xie Yang was still holding and placed it aside with the gift bag.
Xie Yang asked, "Aren't you going to take a look? There are other things in the bag."
Qiu Xing leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes. "I'm tired."
This was the first time that Qiu Xing had confessed his tiredness to Xie Yang.
Xie Yang saw the tiredness that Qiu Xing couldn't hide and guessed that Qiu Xing must've had a headache last night and didn't sleep well. Xie Yang quieted down and stopped talking.
After a while, Qiu Xing suddenly opened his mouth. "Qinglin contacted me again."
Xie Yang stopped looking at Weibo. "He didn't contact me."
In other words, Feng Qinglin didn't listen to what Xie Yang said that day.
Qiu Xing opened his eyes with no expression on his face. "I know he wants to stimulate me so that I can go to clean up the Feng family. He is very good at fishing for benefits. Previously, I would've thought that his progress was great if he could think to do this. Now looking at you, I found that I was wrong."
"I tried to make assumptions for the future. In those assumptions, Qinglin was successfully pushed up by me to a high place according to my initial plan and the Feng family and Qiu family fell into his hands. His heart would be as hard as iron and all his actions towards his relatives are calculated based on his benefits. He proceeded smoothly for several years until... he met you in business."
Xie Yang remembered the final ending of the original book. The male lead successfully took charge of the Feng and Qiu families and stood at the highest point of the business circle. He asked, "He met me and then?"
"Then he would lose to you. He would have no chance of winning and would be defeated. He only learned to calculate against his loved ones and would be completely new to the real world of business." Qiu Xing folded his hands over his abdomen, a faint shadow in his eyes. "Xie Yang, you are right. I indulged him too much."
"So what will you do?"
Qiu Xing stopped talking and closed his eyes again. Some time later, he suddenly raised a hand and gently laid it on the bag next to him.
***
At 9 o'clock that night, Who is the King of Songs released the view preview video of the new episode.
The title of the video was 'One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn' and the cover image was of Xie Yang standing in the practice room. All the people who read that 'objective comment' article were excited and clicked on the video.
The video wasn't long, it was a bit more than a minute. It started with Ji Zehui questioning Xie Yang.
[How is the adaptation coming along?]
Xie Yang took out his phone while answering: [It's almost there. I made the accompaniment version myself based off the original sound. I'll sing along to the original sound. Do you want to hear the effect?]
Ji Zehui agreed. Then Xie Yang plugged his phone into the practice room's music equipment.
One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn started to play. Xie Yang didn't move until the first chorus was finished. Here, the video cut to Ji Zehui looking very serious.
After the chorus was played, the accompaniment suddenly changed and Xie Yang finally opened his mouth. Here, it zoomed in on Xie Yang's face and his serious expression.
Then the preview video ended.
Everyone, "......" Swearing.jpg
The official Weibo of Who is the King of Songs successfully created public anger. The previous video was sent to the hot spot by fans using expression packs. Among them, the top three expression packs perfectly expressed everyone's mood: Are you happy.jpg, swearing.jpg and hurry up.jpg.
By the time Xie Yang received the news and saw what was posted on Weibo, the fans who scolded the official Weibo were discussing the content of the teaser video. Many of them were worried that his 'bad treble' newcomer would ruin One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn or that he wouldn't be able to keep up with Ji Zehui's rhythm, so he couldn't sing this classic song.
Ji Zehui probably saw this rhythm and quickly sent an explanation on WeChat: This isn't the rhythm that I created. It is completely what the fans of the program think.
Xie Yang typed back a counter question: If it wasn't for the brainwashing article that you sent previously, would they think like this?
Ji Zehui was at a loss and took a while to reply: We have decided to cooperate yet you are still caring about the past... young people shouldn't be so vengeful. I have already deleted the article.
Xie Yang: I don't remember anything, I'm just stingy. Still, it's okay. I am being scolded now but once the episode is shown, it is your turn to be scolded. I hope that Senior Ji, who isn't so young by then, will forgive those who scold and question you. Don't take revenge.
Ji Zehui didn't send another message. He was probably too angry.
Although they didn't like each other, business had to continue.
After the quarrel, the two people went on Weibo to follow each other and repost the preview video sent by the program group. Each added their own text with polite words to the other side, creating the illusion of harmony.
Later, the water army bought by Xiao Jin entered and started to hype up Ji Zehui and Xie Yang 'familiarity at first sight' between an older generation and younger generation.
Ji Zehui sent a WeChat again: Why aren't you coming to my Weibo to comment?
Xie Yang: I'll allow you to reorganize your language.
Ji Zehui was quiet for a while before finally sending a message.
Ji Zehui: Don't be too arrogant.
Xie Yang: Don't be too inflated.
Ji Zehui no longer sent any messages.
Xie Yang turned off WeChat, opened Weibo again and followed the official Weibo of Who is the King of Songs. Then he refreshed and found that the old singer Zeng Min had followed himself and hurriedly returned it.
After finishing the matters on Weibo, Xie Yang started to seriously think about hiring a new agent.
Hu Biao had limited capacity and couldn't handle Xie Yang's business at all. As Xie Yang developed in the entertainment industry, the trivial things that would need to be handled by himself would only increase. But where could he find a good agent...
His phone suddenly shook and a new WeChat message was received. Xie Yang picked up the phone and clicked on it.
Qiu Xing: Take a shower and go to sleep.
Xie Yang raised his eyebrows and sent the expression pack he just got from Weibo: Let's fight until dawn.jpg.
Qiu Xing didn't reply to the message. Five minutes later, the housekeeper aunt knocked on Xie Yang's door with a glass of milk in her hand. The aunt spoke with concern, "The boss said that you have insomnia. Is it serious? Try a glass of milk first. If that doesn't work, I have other sleeping remedies."
"...The milk is enough. Thank you, Auntie."
Xie Yang took the milk and closed the door. He looked at the floor underneath him before drinking the milk.
The next morning, Who is the King of Songs released the second preview video. The content was about Zeng Min's selection process.
Fans who had been thinking about One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn all night nearly broke down and died on the spot.
Soon, the third, fourth and fifth preview videos were released one after another. Including the one from yesterday, there were a total of six videos belonging to the six official guests. It was a fair distribution.
The fans completely lost their temper. They gave up on hearing the adapted version of One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn before the episode aired and focused on waiting for the program to start.
At 8 o'clock on the weekend, the new episode of Who is the King of Songs was finally released under the expectations of countless fans. Xie Yang sat in the living room in front of the TV and called Qiu Xing.
The call was answered by He Jun.
"Is Qiu Xing busy?" Xie Yang asked.
"The boss is in a meeting and it will probably take 30 minutes. Little boss, why are you looking for the boss? Do you need my help?"
Xie Yang said no and hung up. Then he glanced at Who is the King of Songs playing on the TV screen and dragged a pillow into his arms.
The host took to the stage and started the opening words.
Xie Yang suddenly dropped his pillow and got up. He grabbed a bunch of snacks from the kitchen and sat back down to watch while playing with his phone.
The program had aired for 10 minutes and there was nothing on Weibo.
Then 15 minutes after the program started airing, topics about Long Shuyou's appearance and the results of the draw appeared on Weibo. There were also some fashion accounts evaluating the style of the various guests.
20 minutes after the program started airing, the topic #Zeng Min failed to break through# appeared on the hot search.
***
Finally, after the program had been airing for 75 minutes, all the first five guests had sung and the host came on stage to announce the last group of guests singing the song 'Angry Waves.'
The fans who thought that Ji Zehui and Xie Yang would be singing One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn were stunned on the spot. They went back to the first preview video to fill with the black question mark face emoticon.
In the 76th minute of the show, Xie Yang and Ji Zehui hadn't started singing yet and it cut to a video of Xie Yang and Ji Zehui preparing the arrangement of the selected song.
Xie Yang put down his phone to concentrate on watching TV.
The video was only five minutes long with an average of one and a half minutes representing a day of preparation.
In the first one and a half minutes, Ji Zehui and Xie Yang set off from their home and company respectively. The two parties met, Ji Zehui proposed to sing Angry Waves and Xie Yang agreed. Once Xie Yang became familiar with the tune, Ji Zehui asked Xie Yang to sing IUD again. Xie Yang agreed and sang it, with only two or three sentences aired. Then the two of them had lunch together. At lunch, Ji Zehui said he wanted to change the song because he felt that Angry Waves wasn't suitable for Xie Yang's voice. Xie Yang had no objection and the two of them finally decided to split up, one to find a new song and the other to try and adapt Angry Waves.
In the second one and a half minutes, a new day came and Ji Zehui said that the new song had been selected. IT was One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn. Xie Yang proposed to sing the adapted Angry Waves to Ji Zehui to hear the effect. Ji Zehui agreed and Xie Yang sang, still with only one or two lines being aired. After the performance, Ji Zehui said he still wanted to change the song. Xie Yang agreed and the two people started to adapt One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn, but the process was very unsatisfactory. At the end of the time, Xie Yang said he wanted to try to adapt One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn and Ji Zehui agreed.
In the third one and a half minutes, Xie Yang adapted One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn overnight and let Ji Zehui listen to the effect. Ji Zehui agreed and Xie Yang sang. The program group finally had no luck in editing. After fast forwarding to the first chorus, Xie Yang's first rap part was completely shown. Once Xie Yang's adaptation was over, Ji Zehui made an excuse to leave the practice room. He came back and said that they would sing Angry Waves. Xie Yang agreed and started to write the adapted score.
In the last half a minute, the two of them went to the band.
The video ended, the screen switched back to the stage and the singing officially began.
Xie Yang blinked slowly, unable to smile.
What was going on? Why did the program group do a compact edit of all of Ji Zehui's difficult actions instead of helping Ji Zehui cover it up?
Did Long Shuyou have the program do it?
Just then, there was the sound of the door opening along with his phone ringing. Xie Yang's mind was awakened and he grabbed the phone on the coffee table. He saw that Ji Zehui was calling, directly rejected it and muted the phone. Then he looked in the direction of the door.
Qiu Xing entered the door along with the cool air of the late autumn night. He raised his eyes and saw Xie Yang staring at him. This made him ask, "Why are you looking at? You look like a mouse?" After speaking, he naturally sat on the single seat chair next to Xie Yang and shifted his gaze to the TV.
Xie Yang followed Qiu Xing's gaze to find himself singing on the TV. He also glanced at Qiu Xing. It was unknown if Qiu Xing had forgotten or if there were other reasons but Qiu Xing hadn't changed his shoes. Xie Yang leaned back on the sofa without talking.
A few minutes passed and the singing ended. Qiu Xing got up.
Xie Yang asked him, "How was my singing?"
Qiu Xing took off his coat and threw it into Xie Yang's arms while stating, "Sloppy." Then he took off his tie, threw it on the sofa and went to the dining room.
Xie Yang caught the coat and raised his eyebrows. He put down the coat and got up to follow Qiu Xing. "How come you're so busy today?"
"The branch in M Country had a problem." Qiu Xing poured himself a glass of water, took two sips and put it down. Then he looked back at Xie Yang. "Come with me to see Qinglin tomorrow."
"He contacted you again?"
"He said he is sick."
The smile on Xie Yang's face disappeared. Being sick was the thing Qiu Xing was most concerned about. This garbage nephew really aimed at people's weaknesses.
Qiu Xing noticed Xie Yang's expression and smiled. "Are you angry?"
Xie Yang was expressionless. "Can't I be angry?"
"You can." Qiu Xing stepped forward, removed a crumb of snacks that had fallen on Xie Yang's body and threw it into the bin. "Go to bed early tonight. We will leave early tomorrow."
Then Qiu Xing went upstairs. Xie Yang thought about the meeting and called Ji Zehui back.
Ji Zehui answered in seconds with a bit of anger in his voice. "You are finally willing to contact me. Did you just edit the show? Did you ask the crew to do it? Why did they cut it like that?"
"Aren't they angry because they were forced to stop recording due to your dark face?"
Ji Zehui was dumbfounded for a second. After being quiet for a while, he softened his voice. "I was in a hurry. Currently, it is noisy on Weibo. How are you going to help me with public relations?"
"What's the rush? The web version hasn't come out yet. Look at the content of the web version." Xie Yang hung up after answering.
At 10:30 in the evening, the online version of Who is the King of Songs was officially launched on B City TV station's video broadcasting website. The audience had their appetite raised by One Sword is Equal to Spring and Autumn and rushed in. They directly clicked on the part with Xie Yang and JI Zehui and started watching.
The video was still edited but it was a lot more complete. The three songs that Xie Yang sang during the preparation time were all completely shown. The scenes of Xie Yang and Ji Zehui on the first day also became longer. The scenes of Xie Yang sitting in the corner of the practice room, listening to the song and rewriting the song were increased. The scenes of Ji Zehui leaving the practice room frequently and leaving Xie Yang alone were all released.
The total length of the online version was three hours, with an average of half an hour per guest. However, only 10 minutes after the online version was released, Weibo exploded.
A certain musician who only helped explain for Xie Yang was so angry that he sent two long Weibo posts in succession.
Old Text With Sharp Ears: @Music World Why did you delete the article? Didn't you previously say that Xie Yang's high notes weren't good and that his range is narrow? What is your opinion on Angry Waves tonight? In addition @Ji Zehui what are you playing at? Before I listened to your singing tonight, I still liked you. However, how did you sing? In addition, your operation of changing songs back and forth was too bad. It was clear that Xie Yang was very good with both IUD and Angry Waves. You think Xie Yang's voice isn't suitable for Angry Waves? In addition, I don't quite understand the final score of the program. Isn't Angry Waves actually first? Are the ears of the scorers broken?
Old Text With Sharp Ears: I watched the online version and I've become convinced. Ji Zehui, who is the official guest and who is the guest singer? Why is Xie Yang doing everything? Broken Cocoon is so good. How can Ji Zehui's singing ability and personality regress like this? Or is the gossip true that you've become arrogant in the last few years and you don't take your voice seriously so your singing skills have declined? Now you can only be a studio singer? However, your performance in the last issue of Who is the King of Songs obviously wasn't bad. Did the program group tune your voice?
The moment these posts came out, they received an immediate response from countless like-minded viewers. Ji Zehui and the program group were instantly sent to the cusp of the storm.
***