[Thank you so much, Aunt Du, for your unwavering support of Shen Ge! Gain Capital is losing you all!]
...
While various parties were arguing amongst themselves, some astute observers, who are always on the front lines of gossip, stepped forward to urge everyone not to take sides prematurely: "Sisters, wake up! Don't let the online trolls lead you astray! Gain Capital hasn't issued a statement yet. If they dare to remain silent at this point, there might be something bigger to come! Let's just enjoy the show and not worry about whether they've lost 130 million yuan while we're eating instant noodles!"
It has to be said that this netizen has just hit the nail on the head regarding Du Ze's current feelings. His contract termination with Xu Shen was negotiated privately, and he had no intention of making a scene online. Although he did a flawless job of coercing Li Yimao to ghostwrite for Xu Shen, he still felt a little uneasy.
How dare Cheng Xuelan expose this matter online so quickly? Doesn't she know that public opinion is currently leaning towards their side?
Although Xu Shen started his career at Jiasheng, rashly terminating his contract would definitely damage his own vitality, and in severe cases, he might even be labeled as ungrateful.
But things are different now! The company removed his role and even condoned its artists plagiarizing his songs. It seems that Xu Shen's attempt to terminate his contract is a desperate move. If this move goes well, he can not only successfully terminate his contract, but also gain a wave of fans.
Xu Shen always listened to him and was even more excited to see things progressing so smoothly.
He repeatedly confirmed, "Brother Du, are you sure there's nothing wrong with Li Yimao writing the song for me?"
"No, no, no!" Du Ze paced back and forth, his tone somewhat agitated. He had just discovered that he couldn't contact the secret service's informant.
However, he didn't think too much about it, just that the other party was currently unable to pass on the message.
Du Ze coldly repeated his operating procedure—at the same time, he was convincing himself that his actions were impeccable: "Every time I asked him to write a song, I required him to come to the studio and write in front of me. During this process, he would first undergo a rigorous screening of electronic devices, and then create under a signal jammer throughout. After I received the manuscript, all payments were settled in cash and paid in person. Li Yimao had absolutely no chance to leave any electronic evidence at any stage!"
Xu Shen felt even more at ease after hearing this—over the years, Du Ze had used his position to suppress and restrict Li Yimao, while he had been constantly solidifying the audience's perception of his talent through high-intensity exposure.
This subtle influence has led to the fact that even though netizens have discovered the similarities in their works, they still immediately assume that Li Yimao plagiarized him, rather than him plagiarizing Li Yimao.
When a sea and a river meet, no one would believe that the river is the source of the sea, because people only believe what they want to believe.
That's enough for Du Ze.
"Officially announce the termination of the contract," Du Ze made up his mind. "I didn't expect Cheng Xuelan to regress more and more over the years, and she actually made such a stupid move. Even if Lu Xun speaks out, don't be afraid. Anyway, those who say Zhang Chaohe pulled the strings and took away your resources are just fans. The studio won't get involved."
Not long after, Xu Shen's studio officially released a statement announcing the termination of his contract. The online trolls not only spread the word that Xu Shen spent 130 million yuan to buy himself out of his contract in order to uphold the fairness and justice of original works, but also shouted the slogan that the original singer-songwriter circle is fortunate to have him.
One piece of news after another left onlookers dizzy and confused, even those who had called for neutrality were somewhat bewildered—was Gain Capital really not going to say anything? Had the PR department all fallen asleep?
He's not really going to get hammered to death, is he?
However, just when everyone thought that Jiasheng had really given up the struggle, Lu Xun, the director involved in Xu Shen's resource dispute, suddenly released detailed footage of the audition day - even thoughtfully dividing it into two parts.
The first segment is a complete record of Xu Shen's audition, including both the pre-selected topic and the impromptu topic performance.
If it ended here, it probably wouldn't have shocked everyone so much—the first half didn't end there. The studio, always eager for drama, actually edited in the scene where Lu Xun got angry and questioned the production team!
The second segment is Cheng Jixue's audition scene. It is clear that he maintained a high level of performance in both of the assigned questions, and his acting skills did not change drastically just because an additional question was added at the last minute.
Lu Xun also sarcastically captioned the post: "Huh? You don't really think there are no cameras recording the audition, do you? I felt you weren't suitable for the role from the first meeting. On the contrary, Cheng Jixue, who was interested in the third male lead, was more suitable. That's why I suggested he audition for the second male lead. Of course, the facts have proven that my judgment was not bad."
The crowd erupted in uproar! Anyone could see that Xu Shen's performance in the first part was so good that it was as if he was copying answers on his phone during an exam, but in the second part it was so bad that it was as if the exam paper was beyond the syllabus—compared to the two well-behaved, high-scoring exam papers of good students, it was like heaven and earth. Anyone with eyes would not choose Xu Shen.
Mr. Zhang directly forwarded: @Zhang Chaohe_V: Oh. //@Director Lu Xun_V: Ah...
Besides Lu Xun's director friends forwarding the post, most of Jiasheng's artists also enthusiastically forwarded it with an "Oh." at the first opportunity.
In the directing circle, there is a director named Chen Xingting who is known for his sharp tongue. He bluntly commented, "When you were given a prompt on the spot, were you possessed by a ghost?"
The comment quickly became a top comment, and Gain Capital's public relations department took the initiative to reduce the popularity of the trending topic "Gain Capital President Chang Chao-ho unfairly treats artist Hsu Shen". At the same time, the hashtag #HsuShen's ghost-possessed acting skills was newly released and quickly replaced the former's position with the help of Cheng Hsueh-lan's online army!
Xu Shen's fans were really surprised that Jiasheng was so good at holding back—shouldn't they have released their big, incriminating information immediately to retaliate? After all, the faster the retaliation, the less negative impact on the artist's image would be!
Unless... the other side has more than just this one bombshell!
Sure enough, after Li Yimao resurrected and retweeted Lu Xun's Weibo post, he stopped pretending to be dead—he completely ignored the insults and attacks from Xu Shen's fans in the comments section of a Weibo post and quickly published a long Weibo post.
This Weibo post started with the story of how he and Xu Shen first participated in a music talent show together, and how his songs became increasingly valuable to Du Ze, from 180,000 to 880,000 for the fourth song...
Meanwhile, under Du Ze's manipulation, his name gradually faded from public view, while Xu Shen, with the title of a genius original music singer-songwriter, frequently appeared on various programs.
He used 880,000 to get hundreds of thousands of 880,000, especially Xu Shen's previous single "In This World", which sold over 73 million copies!
“Apart from the initial 180,000, which I had no choice but to use to treat my mother’s illness, the rest of the cash has been untouched at home. Over the years, I have had fewer and fewer gigs, and even when I earn less money, I have never thought of touching a single penny of the money in the box.”
He also listed several songs by Xu Shen that had a poor reputation. "If any friends are interested, they can compare these songs with the differences between his other released works, and then compare them with some of my works that I have posted on the pink station over the years, to see whose style is more similar to these songs."
"Because I am not allowed to keep electronic transaction records, and even the music manuscripts are delivered by hand, I can only use the taxi receipt from the last time I went to Xu Shen's studio to write the manuscript to confirm the specific date."
"I demand that Xu Shen's studio retrieve the surveillance footage from the two security cameras above the main entrance and the tea room of the recording studio, which were set up 18 days ago on April 12, from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, to prove that my activities that day were unrelated to going to meet him to write a song!"
Everyone was stunned into near numbness by the bombshell revelations from Li Yimao. Neither Li Yimao nor Xu Shen had any concrete evidence to prove that what they said was true—Xu Shen only had a manuscript, and Li Yimao only had a few neatly arranged boxes of cash.
Although in the public's perception, Li Yimao's statement, given his relatively unknown status, seems more like a false accusation, a closer look at his Weibo posts reveals that his logic is more coherent and his reasoning more genuine.
The netizens who had just started digging into the details were mobilized again, flooding into the pink station account provided by Li Yimao to search for clues.
Surprisingly, Li Yimao's unverified account on the pink website turned out to be a small content creator with 70,000 to 80,000 followers. In addition to writing a few original songs, he also covers some theme songs and popular songs.
It can be seen that even when he was unknown, he was living a faithful life.
⚹
While Li Yimao was publicly retaliating and the two were mobilizing all forces to fight each other, Jiasheng's official Weibo account, which had not yet commented on Xu Shen and Du Ze's public announcement of contract termination, suddenly released a video.
At the beginning of the video, the camera was shaking uncontrollably, as if someone was holding it and waving it around. Soon, a woman took over the camera and said, "I'll take over." Then came Mr. Zhang's voice: "Hold it steady, don't film me, film him."
The camera finally stabilized, and Cheng Jixue appeared in the center of the frame. He stood upright and patiently looked out of the camera's view.
And then Mr. Zhang's voice came from the direction at the end of his line of sight: "Well... on this joyous occasion, let Cheng Jixue, an artist under Jiasheng, share a traditional Peking Opera excerpt with everyone."
Netizens who saw this were completely baffled: ...
As soon as the stringed instrument sounded—with a hint of electronic music—Cheng Jixue's gentle smile vanished, and her expression turned solemn and indignant.
He clasped his hands together in front of his chest, as if he were gathering something in the air, and then suddenly spoke in a dragon-like voice!
"When Luo Cheng bit my teeth, he cursed me as a shameless little lackey, remembering how he destroyed Wagang Village and how he brought his whole family to Luoyang! I built the Three Sages Mansion for you, and I spent a lot of money on you! You are ungrateful and joined Tang Village, trying to fool everyone with your sweet words! Xiong Xin is dead, but his name lives on!"
"You lackey—you lackey!"
"I fear you'll be riddled with arrows, your body left unburied!"
Cheng Jixue finished her cross-dressing performance with a bow, the video went black, and the playback ended there.
After watching, everyone realized... it was actually a scene from a Peking Opera performance titled "Locking the Five Dragons and Scolding Luo Cheng"!
Just as Zhang Chaohe predicted, this sarcastic video was quickly and widely shared.
[Haha! Why don't you just say you're bringing us a piece from "Locking Up the Five Dragons and Scolding Xu Shen" today?]
A note from the author:
Today's update is small (just kidding). If there's no update tomorrow, I'll make up for it the day after tomorrow!
I recommend Master Kang Wansheng's version of the rebuke of Luo Cheng!
I recommend pre-ordering this item; feel free to add it to your favorites if you're interested! -salute!
★Pre-order novel 1: "Defeating Superpowers with Money"
Copywriting:
A cocky, research genius (he has many mechanical arms) x a mischievous, super-powered, tough guy (he's broke, so he's stubborn).
1.
After graduating from law school, Yuzai didn't have time to become a judge, but instead became a mage.
A very cool mage who can telekinetically retrieve objects and fold space.
Very good. Now, the first priority is to break off the engagement with that annoying fiancé!
The other party was the product of an arranged marriage; although he was handsome, he had nothing but money.
But I'm young and already earning 3,000 a month, so I'm sure I have a bright future. I don't want to get married at 22 and become a "marriage tomb" with a house and a car!
So that day, he forced his way into the CEO's office and, in front of his fiancé, punched through the load-bearing wall from a distance.
"Let's call off the engagement!" Yu Zai smugly gave him the middle finger. "What can we do? After all, I have superpowers—"
The other person gave a half-smile: "Sure."
2.
Youzai successfully passed the exam and entered the Executive Group of the Bureau of Different Controls, obtaining a position as a mage.
However, on his first day at work, during a meeting, he was shocked to see the nameplate of the Executive Department Manager placed in front of his fiancé, whom he had just dumped?
Youzai was greatly surprised and asked his colleague why he was there.
Colleague: "Oh, the poor rely on mutation, the rich rely on technology."
"Superpowers are nothing compared to the power of money, you know?"
Wandering: My empty bank account suddenly started attacking me?
When Youzai returned home from get off work that evening, he suddenly saw dozens of giant mechanical dragons rise up from the ground—instantly, not only did the house collapse, but the roof was also blown off!
He was swept back rapidly by the steel arm, then slammed into a warm, hard chest.
"Let's get married." His damned fiancé, with a benevolent smile, raised his hand, and the chaotic mechanical arms dancing wildly in the ruins immediately all gave him the middle finger:
"What can I do? After all, I have the power of money—"
#Being rich really does allow you to do whatever you want;
#Defeat magic with technology;
★Pre-order novel 2: "After Transmigrating into a Book, I Decided to Kill the Male Lead" (Rebirth + Cremation Scene)
Lone Wolf × Mad Dog;
1.
In her previous life, Jiang Jianing transmigrated into a male-oriented novel and became the male lead's vicious elder brother. She dedicated herself to reforming the male lead to avoid a tragic end.
The male protagonist was targeted by his stepmother, and he came to his rescue. When the male protagonist's assassination attempt failed, he cleaned up the mess. When the emperor wanted to behead the male protagonist, he knelt in the snow for a day and a night...
After doing everything he could, and after his status as the eldest son of the Marquis threatened the male protagonist's career, the male protagonist finally smiled at him.
Then they brought over a cup of poisoned wine.
Jiang Jianing still didn't survive that late autumn.
After her death, Jiang Jianning discovered that she had returned to the point in time when she had just transmigrated into the book in her previous life.
At that time, the original owner of the body ordered four or five servants to beat up the male protagonist for his own amusement, while he stood aside and watched the show.
What did he do last time? He chased away the servants, helped the male protagonist up, and asked him to be kind to him.