How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 444 Incompetent Fury

Sun Shiping rushed back to Shenzhen Stadium from the hospital.

The rehearsals for the New Year's Eve gala are still underway. The sounds of singing and dancing on stage, the backstage coordination, and the instructions from the control room are all intertwined, creating a busy and bustling scene.

The backstage corridor was still bustling with people. Sun Shiping wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the staff and performers were all secretly watching him, and their eyes were strange, as if there was something on his face.

He kept his brows furrowed the whole way until he found Fang Yiru, who was directing the staff to adjust the equipment. Only then did his brows relax, and he managed to force a smile.

"Director Fang, could I trouble you for a few minutes? I have an urgent matter I'd like to ask for your help with." Sun Shiping's voice carried a hint of pleading.

Fang Yiru turned around, and after seeing who it was, she frowned slightly and asked impatiently, "Vice President Sun, what is it?"

"It's about Consultant Tian."

Sun Shiping quickly glanced around and, seeing that no one was particularly close, immediately stepped forward and lowered his voice, saying, "Consultant Tian just suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, which affected his cognitive function. He is currently in the hospital, but many people believe that this was caused by the oath. Director Fang, could you have security check the surveillance footage and call together the people who were present at the time to clarify things for Consultant Tian?"

Fang Yiru was stunned for a moment, then her eyes widened in surprise. "Is Consultant Tian really suffering from dementia?"

Sun Shiping's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong; Fang Yiru clearly believed in oaths as well.

He quickly waved his hand and said urgently, "It's not Alzheimer's, it's a cerebral hemorrhage. The doctor said it's a sudden neurological problem, and it has nothing to do with swearing."

Fang Yi nodded thoughtfully, then said after a moment's thought, "I can check the surveillance footage, but I can only help you find the people who were there at the time. As for clarifying things, you'll have to do that. Besides, this is a crucial period for the rehearsal. I'll give you a maximum of twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, they must return to their respective posts."

Sun Shiping immediately smiled and said gratefully, "Okay, twenty minutes is enough. Thank you, Director Fang."

Fang Yiru picked up the walkie-talkie: "Security Department, immediately retrieve the surveillance footage from backstage area C three hours ago, find the clip of Consultant Sun and Zhang Wen chatting, and compile a list of all the staff and performers present at the time. Have them assemble in lounge number two within ten minutes."

"Received!" came the voice on the other end of the walkie-talkie.

Upon hearing this, Sun Shiping felt a little relieved, and even when following Fang Yiru to the second lounge, his steps became much lighter.

Fang Yiru stole a glance at Sun Shiping beside her, a complex look flashing in her eyes.

She had seen Tian Boyang make his vow and had also read the news about the Golden Melody Awards' behind-the-scenes manipulation. A woman's intuition told her that things were definitely not as simple as Sun Shiping had said.

Lounge No. 2

Sun Shiping paced back and forth, wringing his hands, feeling both nervous and worried. He didn't know if the staff and performers would cooperate, nor did he know if this clarification would be effective. Now he could only hope that everyone was a materialist and believed in science.

A few minutes later, the door to the lounge was pushed open, and one by one, figures walked in—the same people who had watched the oath being taken earlier.

When they saw Sun Shiping, they all looked puzzled, clearly not knowing why they had been called here.

"Is anyone else here?" Sun Shiping asked the security guard at the very back.

"That's all, that's all," the security guard said after hearing this.

Sun Shiping nodded, trying to compose himself and appear calm and sincere. He then looked at the people in front of him and said, "Everyone, I've called you here so late because I wanted to talk to you about Consultant Tian's situation..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a performer in a pink dress, "Consultant Sun, is it true that Teacher Tian developed Alzheimer's because of the oath she made?"

Sun Shiping's face instantly darkened. Just as he was about to explain, someone else spoke up.

“I was there at the time and heard it clearly. Teacher Tian said that if the review was unfair, it would turn into Alzheimer’s disease. But a little while later, things started to go wrong.”

"It must be Alzheimer's, otherwise why would he be behaving so abnormally?"

"It seems best not to make oaths lightly in the future. Who knows which ones won't come true and which ones will?"

The crowd began to whisper among themselves, and their voices grew louder and louder.

Looking at this scene, Sun Shiping felt his scalp tingle. He had anticipated that clarifying the situation would be difficult, but he hadn't expected that these people were already so deeply poisoned.

"Quiet down, everyone!" He suddenly raised his voice. "Consultant Tian has been taken to the hospital. After the doctor's examination, it was found that he suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage. It's not Alzheimer's at all. Don't spread rumors."

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

"Advisor Sun, what are the odds of a cerebral hemorrhage occurring right after you swore an oath?

"That's right. We watched with our own eyes as Teacher Tian went from speaking normally to talking nonsense. His condition was no different from that of someone with Alzheimer's. One minute he was shouting that he wanted to give Zhang Wen an award, and the next he was saying that the judges made a mistake. These are not symptoms of a cerebral hemorrhage."

"If it were truly a cerebral hemorrhage, he should have collapsed right then and there!"

Sun Shiping's face turned a deep purplish-red. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, found a picture, enlarged it, and held it up to everyone: "Look, this is the hospital's diagnosis. It says 'sudden cerebral hemorrhage' in black and white, and it also has the doctor's signature and the hospital's official seal."

The crowd glanced at it, and the murmurs only grew louder.

"With Photoshop technology so advanced these days, who knows if this medical report is real or fake?"

"That's right, why don't you bring the diagnosis report over?"

"I think the oath has come true. First, Teacher Tian will have a cerebral hemorrhage, and then he will get Alzheimer's."

"..."

Sun Shiping was so angry that he trembled all over. He never expected that young people these days would be so hard to fool.

That's right, he did have this picture photoshopped on his way back, just to make his explanation more convincing.

Who would have thought that these people were so aware of fraud that they didn't even believe what he said.

Just then, the door to the lounge was pushed open again, and Fang Yiru walked in from outside.

She glanced at the chaotic scene, her brows furrowing immediately. With a serious expression, she asked, "What's going on? What's all the noise about?"

Sun Shiping, as if seeing a savior, hurriedly said, "Director Fang, you've come at the right time. They don't believe that Consultant Tian had a cerebral hemorrhage; they insist that it's a swearing oath that came true."

Fang Yiru looked around and said in a cold voice, "Vice President Sun has already explained it. Whether you believe it or not is your business. But what I want to say is that the New Year's Eve party is just around the corner. If anyone dares to spread rumors outside and affect the normal progress of the party, don't blame me for being impolite."

Her words carried an unquestionable authority, and the dressing room fell silent instantly. Although everyone still firmly believed in their own ideas, no one dared to openly question them, for fear of being kicked out of the performance team.

Sun Shiping breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Fang Yiru gratefully. Although she didn't help clarify things, she had at least suppressed the doubts.

He was just about to take advantage of Director Fang's influence to ask if anyone had taken photos or videos when he suddenly saw a follower rushing in from outside, his face full of anxiety.

"Vice President Sun, something terrible has happened!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Shiping's expression changed. He glared at the man and said irritably, "Stand still and speak properly."

After standing properly, the assistant took a deep breath, then raised his phone, pointed to the news on the screen, and said, "Vice President Sun, the news about Teacher Tian's Alzheimer's has been posted online and is now trending!"

"What?" Sun Shiping was shocked and snatched the phone to look at it.

On the screen, the hashtag "Tian Boyang's vow to be fulfilled with Alzheimer's disease" ranked sixth on the trending search list, and clicking on it led to a report about Tian Boyang's Alzheimer's disease.

"It has been revealed that Tian Boyang, the head of the Golden Melody Awards jury, suffers from Alzheimer's disease, possibly caused by a vow he made."

According to witnesses, Tian Boyang had an argument with musician Zhang Wen backstage at a New Year's Eve gala today. During the argument, Zhang Wen asked Tian Boyang to swear an oath about the impartiality of the Golden Melody Awards judges. Tian Boyang publicly swore that if the Golden Melody Awards judges were unfair, he would develop Alzheimer's disease.

"Surprisingly, shortly after taking the oath, Tian Boyang began to exhibit abnormal behavior. He became delirious, spoke incoherently, and repeatedly muttered phrases such as 'Zhang Wen should have won the award' and 'The judges made a mistake,' behaving in a manner quite similar to those of Alzheimer's disease..."

Because the content was so sensational, the comment section was quickly filled with messages from netizens shortly after the news was released.

"My God, this is too unbelievable! Can oaths really come true?"

"It seems there really is some shady dealings at the Golden Melody Awards, otherwise how could Tien Po-yang suddenly develop Alzheimer's?"

"I support Zhang Wen and hope for a thorough investigation into the Golden Melody Awards to restore fairness to the music industry!"

"Tian Boyang is reaping what he sowed; it's truly gratifying!"

"..."

Sun Shiping's fingers swiped across the screen, his face turning redder with each comment he saw, as if he had been slapped.

"How could this happen? Why did it spread online so quickly?" Sun Shiping muttered to himself, his eyes filled with panic. He suddenly looked up at the people around him and asked fiercely, "Was it you? Did you post this online?"

The people in the lounge were startled by his sudden question and quickly backed away, keeping their distance, afraid that another madman might come along.

“Vice President Sun, please don’t wrong us. We’ve been rehearsing the whole time. How could we have time to post this online?” a staff member said.

“That’s right. Besides, we’re not allowed to bring our phones to rehearsals. Our phones are with the team leader. How are we supposed to get them without our phones?” one of the backup dancers said.

“Some people may not have been there, but they know about this. Maybe those people posted it online. What’s the use of yelling at us?” someone muttered under their breath, their voice filled with dissatisfaction.

Sun Shiping stared intently at these people, his eyes practically spitting fire.

He knew these people had a point. There were people coming and going backstage at the time, and everyone was talking about it, so it was indeed difficult to determine who posted it.

But now he was filled with anger and had nowhere to vent it, so he could only take it out on these people.

"I don't care who posted it, you better pray you have nothing to do with this, otherwise if it's found out, I'll make sure you can't stay in the entertainment industry at all!" Sun Shiping roared angrily.

Instead of being frightened, the crowd showed expressions of disdain.

So what if we ban them? Who's afraid of who?

The people here are either behind-the-scenes staff or dancers from various dance troupes; none of them are celebrities. They're not in the entertainment industry to begin with, so what difference does it make whether they're in it or not? Seeing Sun Shiping's angry expression, Fang Yiru frowned and walked over to him, lowering her voice to remind him, "Vice President Sun, now is not the time to assign blame. The most urgent thing is to find a way to suppress this matter."

Sun Shiping was jolted, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, and he instantly calmed down.

Right!

The incident happened only recently, and the news about it online has only been around for a short time. Moreover, it's evening now, and not many people are online. If the news can be taken down from the internet now, the impact can still be controlled.

Why didn't I think of that just now? I was too busy getting angry.

"Director Fang is right." Sun Shiping nodded hurriedly and said in a hurried tone, "Thank you for reminding me. I will contact the platform right now and ask them to remove all the news and trending topics."

After saying that, he took out his phone and quickly swiped his fingers across the screen, pulling out the numbers of several familiar platform managers.

Fang Yiru said this mainly because she didn't want to affect the rehearsal. Now that she saw Sun Shiping no longer pressing the performers, she immediately waved to everyone, signaling them to go back to the rehearsal.

Soon, only Sun Shiping and his follower remained in the lounge.

"Hello, is this Mr. Liu? This is Sun Shiping from the Music Association. Could you do me a favor and remove the news about Tian Boyang from the internet? They are all false rumors and have a bad influence."

“Vice President Sun, since it’s just a rumor, you should have Tian Boyang clarify it. Otherwise, with this news being so popular right now, if we forcefully retract the article, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among netizens, which wouldn’t be good for our platform,” the person called General Manager Liu said awkwardly.

Sun Shiping frowned, gritted his teeth, and said, "Money is not a problem. Just name a number, any amount is fine."

"This isn't about the money, Vice President Sun, please don't make things difficult for me. With that time, let Tian Boyang record a video and post it on Weibo; that would be more effective than a thousand words," said President Liu.

Sun Shiping thought to himself: If Lao Tian could record a video, would I need to bother calling you?
“Tian Boyang suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and is in the hospital. It’s inconvenient for him to record a video,” Sun Shiping explained vaguely. “Please make an exception and help us out. In the future, our music association will definitely give priority to your platform when it comes to resources.”

“Vice President Sun, it’s not that I’m not giving you face, but if Tian Boyang is unable to record a video, he can at least post a hospital diagnosis. That way, our platform can speak up for you, right?” General Manager Liu said.

Upon hearing this, Sun Shiping angrily hung up the phone.

Who is this person?!

Holding his phone, he dialed a second number, but received the same reply as Mr. Liu: there was no sufficient reason to withdraw.

"A bunch of useless trash! They always beg us to cooperate, but now that something's wrong, they're all cowering like turkeys." Sun Shiping paced back and forth in the lounge in anger, then suddenly kicked the wall hard.

The henchman standing nearby was startled. He wanted to offer some advice but didn't dare, so he could only lower his head and remain silent.

"Xiao Wang!" Sun Shiping suddenly said to his follower, "Go and find out who was the first to publish the news about Teacher Tian Boyang. Once you find out, make him delete the article at all costs."

Since the platform isn't helping, we have to address the root cause.

"Yes." The follower immediately left the lounge.

Time passed second by second, and every second was torture for Sun Shiping.

More than twenty minutes passed before the door to the lounge was pushed open from the outside, and the person who had left earlier walked in.

“Vice President Sun, we’ve found the person. It was a blogger named ‘Entertainment Novice’ who first posted the Weibo. I’ve contacted her, but no matter what I say, she won’t delete the post, not even five million.”

"what?"

Sun Shiping frowned deeply. The five million yuan retraction fee exceeded his expectations, but if they wouldn't even take five million, it seemed that this path was also blocked.

"Ring ring ring!"

At this time, the cell phone ringtone suddenly rang.

Sun Shiping glanced at the screen and his heart jumped into his throat. It was Chairman Zheng.

The fact that Lao Tian has Alzheimer's disease has not only been exposed online, but has also become a trending topic. Chairman Zheng must be very angry now.

"Go out for a bit and contact that blogger again. Let her name her terms," ​​Sun Shiping instructed.

The main purpose was to get rid of his henchmen so that when Chairman Zheng scolded him, the other party would hear it and then he would lose face as the vice chairman.

"Yes."

The follower quickly left the room, afraid of being kicked by Vice President Sun.

Sun Shiping closed the door before answering the phone.

"Hello, Chairman Zheng..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chairman Zheng's roar came through the microphone.

"What did you do? Weren't you supposed to suppress this? Why is it trending on social media? What have you been doing all this time?"

"President Zheng, I've contacted several media platforms, but none of them agree to delete the news. I even contacted the blogger who first exposed this matter, but she won't agree to withdraw it no matter how much money I offer. I... I really have no other choice," Sun Shiping said helplessly.

He's tried everything he could, and he's truly powerless now.

"Useless!" came the curse from the other end of the phone, followed by silence. Just when Sun Shiping thought Chairman Zheng had fainted from anger, a voice came through the receiver again, "How's Lao Tian?"

"The person who's been with Lao Tian just sent a message; Lao Tian seems to be in even worse shape," Sun Shiping said.

"Is there any possibility of a cure in a short period of time?" Zheng Jinpeng asked with concern.

"President Zheng, how can Alzheimer's disease be cured?" Sun Shiping said with a wry smile.

If he could be cured quickly, he wouldn't be in such a hurry.

“Here’s what we’ll do: go find Lao Tian’s son and have him post on Lao Tian’s Weibo account that his father was so angered by Zhang Wen’s slander that he suffered a stroke that affected his cognitive function, and that it had nothing to do with making an oath,” Zheng Jinpeng said.

"what?"

Sun Shiping was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

Yes, how could he not have thought of that?

Why not just shift the blame onto that guy surnamed Zhang? It would divert public attention, preserve the reputation of the Golden Melody Awards, and teach that guy surnamed Zhang a lesson—a win-win-win situation.

High, really high.

Otherwise, why would he be the president while he can only be the vice president?
This is the gap.

"The chairman is wise. I'll go find Lao Tian's son right away," Sun Shiping said hurriedly, his tone full of excitement.

"Remember, the Weibo post should be heartbreaking and sincere, pointing the finger at Zhang Wen, saying that Zhang Wen is holding a grudge because he didn't win the award, so he deliberately provoked Tian Boyang," Zheng Jinpeng instructed.

"Understood, I will definitely take care of it." Sun Shiping nodded repeatedly, and after hanging up the phone, he immediately found the number of Tian Boyang's son, Tian Yu.

Tian Yu is a typical spoiled brat. He usually idles away his time and causes trouble. If it weren't for his father, he would have been in jail long ago.

Sun Shiping dialed the phone, and it rang several times before being answered.

"Hello, who is it?" Tian Yu's voice was loud, and the background sounded chaotic.

“It’s me, Sun Shiping, your Uncle Sun. Do you know about your father’s situation?” Sun Shiping asked bluntly.

"I know, it's just Alzheimer's, nothing serious," Tian Yu said nonchalantly. "Everyone gets like that someday, it's normal."

Sun Shiping was furious at the other party's attitude, thinking: Your father is in the hospital and you are still out clubbing. You really are your father's good son!
However, he didn't say that. Instead, he patiently said, "Xiao Tian, ​​now everyone online is saying that your father got sick because his vow came true, and it has also brought up the scandals of the Golden Melody Awards. This has a great impact on his reputation and the reputation of our music association."

"And then?" Tian Yu still seemed indifferent.

“You…” Sun Shiping almost choked, took a deep breath and said, “I’ll show you a way that can both preserve your father’s reputation and get you a considerable amount of compensation. Are you in?”

"Damn it!" Tian Yu's voice immediately rose a few decibels. "What road? How much?"

“You can use your father’s Weibo account to issue a statement saying that he suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage due to being slandered by Zhang Wen, which affected his cognitive function and had nothing to do with the oath. I hope everyone will not believe or spread rumors and will put all the responsibility on Zhang Wen. After it is done, the music association will give you 500,000 yuan as compensation.”

Tian Yu did not answer immediately, clearly considering it.

Sun Shiping felt a surge of nervousness, fearing that the other party would disagree.

After a while, Tian Yu said, "Five hundred thousand is too little. It has to be at least one million, otherwise there's no point in talking."

Sun Shiping gritted his teeth in anger, but considering the urgency of the matter, he finally agreed, "Fine, one million it is. You issue a statement now, and you need to come to Shenzhen as soon as possible, take a photo with your father and post it online to gain sympathy."

Compared to five million, one million is not much; this can be considered as getting a lot done with a little money.

"No problem." Tian Yu laughed. "But I don't know how to write a statement. Your music association has a lot of talented people, so writing one for me shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Okay, you wait."

Sun Shiping hung up the phone, let out a long sigh of relief, and felt as if a huge weight had finally been lifted from his heart.

He believed that once this statement was released, it would definitely reverse public opinion and push all the trouble onto that person surnamed Zhang.

Then they'll have to face public judgment!

……

(End of this chapter)