Abstract Art Award Winner

However, Zhou Le had spent some time in Jiangsu before.

Therefore, Zhou Le is quite willing to be close to Jiangsu itself.

The only downside to that place was that it was too "dispersed".

There were some difficulties communicating, especially when talking about our hometown.

Generally, those people won't directly say they're from JS province; they'll at least say they're from a city.

Some people don't even want to say the city, and just say the name of their hometown county.

However, I won't be able to attend the May 5th Grand Ceremony in Jiangsu for a few more days.

During this period, Zhou Le only needs to prepare two songs and send them over there so that they can help design the stage.

Zhou Le already has a finished version of the song.

Not long after Li Ronghao sent over the sheet music, Zhou Le went to the recording studio and recorded the song.

From recording word by word at the very beginning, Zhou Le has matured a great deal.

The songs we'll be presenting are "Young and Promising" and "Sparrow".

In these two songs, apart from Zhou Le writing some of the lyrics, the rest of the composition, arrangement, mastering, instruments, etc., were all done by Li Ronghao.

My main point is this: no one can make a single penny off me.

Zhou Le had even seen some of Li Ronghao's old music videos, which were basically just filmed on the street with a cell phone.

Zhou Le felt that he didn't need to rent a venue. He could just search for local indoor attractions after landing in a city where he had a performance.

Not to mention, on the way to the scenic spot alone, there are enough scenes to shoot at least five more music videos.

But with fame comes trouble, and Zhou Le was well aware of this.

Without business opportunities or media exposure, naturally no one will pay attention to you.

Unless someone in the entertainment industry gets into trouble, then people will start looking for an unlucky person to take the fall for.

Zhou Le had been pulled away before, but too many people have gotten into trouble recently, and Zhou Le was already riding high, so unsurprisingly he was pulled away again.

At first, Zhou Le was unaware of this until Tan Jianci, a fellow cast member, came over and told him that he was trending on social media again.

"What's going on this time?"

Zhou Le really felt that he hadn't done anything recently, and he couldn't possibly make it to the trending topics just because of a Jiangsu TV 55 Gala.

If that's the case, then capital is far too biased towards itself.

Although he hadn't gone yet, Zhou Le already knew part of the list: Zhou Bichang, Li Yuchun, Cai Xukun, and their boy band.

The lineup is of very high quality, especially with an ancient idol like Li Yuchun.

Therefore, even if they advertise, it won't reach them.

That leaves only one reason: someone must have "dug up old posts" and unearthed some of the things or statements the person had done in the past.

The purpose, of course, is to take a bullet for someone else.

As for which "lucky one" will be successfully selected, that depends on fate.

But now it seems that I am the "lucky one", and I don't know exactly whose matter brought me into this mess.

The reason for trending on social media is rather absurd: Zhou Le is accused of being involved in "electronic pacifier entertainment."

The specific incident occurred at the end of last year, but it didn't cause much of a stir at the time, so Zhou Le didn't pay much attention to it.

But this time it was brought up again.

As for "Nipple Fun," it's a short drama filmed by directors under Zhou Le and Guo Qiling.

That evening, many people were criticizing it, after all, some of the short dramas were indeed mindless, a point that even Zhou Le himself had to admit.

However, different works have different market positioning.

Zhou Le created these short dramas specifically for the lower-tier market, and he even collaborated with Douyin (TikTok) when they were first created.

"My child has spent several thousand yuan just to watch a short drama. His father is sick, and this is our family's life-saving money."

Zhou Le remembered that this was what the other person originally said.

Guo Qiling had also told himself about it at the time, but right after they posted about it, he specifically asked customer service what was going on.

The customer service response at the time was that these were actually viewed by parents.

After all, once you finish watching the beginning and get to the most exciting part, you have to pay to continue watching.

The recharge process requires real-name registration and facial recognition.

When customer service checked the records, they found that the facial recognition was operated by an adult, and the content viewed was more geared towards middle-aged people.

But unexpectedly, this matter was brought up again.

I even searched online yesterday and found that the woman actually responded again.

Their story was exactly the same as before, and they even released a separate video in which they didn't change their story.

"This is the first time I've seen someone post a video to frame me. I also watch those short dramas."

But the problem is that topping up requires facial recognition; are you sure it's your child watching that?

"Yeah, I even read those 'feel-good' stories with face-slapping plots, I can't stand those. I only read interesting stories."

"Isn't this news from last year? Last year, they were just a few thousand yuan short of money and urgently needed medical treatment to save a life. How come the situation is exactly the same this year? It's been almost half a year."

"Which family's 'young master' got into trouble again, and they need to drag Zhou Le out to take the fall? Looks like he has quite a powerful background."

"I've noticed that when some people actually encounter problems, instead of going to the police or contacting customer service, their first thought is to post on Douyin (TikTok)."

However, some people directly expressed that they felt this kind of thing was harmful, just like games, and that it was detrimental to children, suggesting that it be banned directly.

"Harm children? If you don't let your child play with a mobile phone, do you think he can be harmed? It's just that the parents are useless and don't care."

Games have anti-addiction measures in place. Without real-name authentication, you can't play for very long. Why do you insist on making real-name authentication for your kids? And now you're blaming the games and short videos themselves?
"Recharging also requires a password and facial recognition. Without your parents' permission, how can this money be spent?"

"I'm afraid the parents themselves thought it was too expensive after watching it, so they wanted a refund."

The controversy lasted online for a day, and Zhou Le initially thought it best to let it go and simply refund the money.

Anyway, a short drama can earn a lot of money, and at this critical juncture, Zhou Le doesn't want any problems to arise.

On the one hand, since everyone is already stuck at home and can't go out, they can only play on their phones and gossip all day long;
On the other hand, because of these events, there will be many more activities that Zhou Le will definitely have to attend. If this affects his subsequent business dealings, it would be a loss.

But the next day, a video suddenly appeared online.

When I clicked on it, I saw that it was posted by a middle school student. "I didn't want to talk about it, but this matter has caused me serious distress."

At the end of last year, my family spent several thousand yuan watching short dramas online.

My mom also told the platform that she wanted a refund, but the platform refused.

I thought this matter was over, but it has been brought up again in the past few days and has caused such a big stir.

Now our teachers, classmates, and other students in the school all know that my family spent so much money watching short dramas.

So I wanted to clarify that I really didn't watch that, and I never watch that kind of stuff. It was my mom who watched it, and it has nothing to do with me.

The video was deleted shortly after it was posted.

However, many people still saved the video, including some marketing accounts.

Some marketing accounts have bosses behind them, so what they post is very targeted.
However, some marketing accounts are self-operated, and they usually post some ambiguous things and then wait for people to recharge.

Of course, if there are any confirmed big scandals, they will still release them. After all, if they release information slower than others in this industry, they will not be able to keep up with the popularity of their peers.

However, some secondary school students came forward to clarify that it had nothing to do with them, and now the truth is clear.

"Let's call it a day. What's there to say now? The parties involved have already spoken out."

"Well done, kid. I suggest you go into the public security, procuratorate, or judicial system. The system needs righteous people like you."

However, many people still doubt whether the matter is true or not, or whether Zhou Le has found a middle school student to mislead the public.

What started as a simple refund issue for a minor has taken on a different nature as the matter has escalated.

Many netizens flocked to the comments section of the mother's video to educate her about the law.
If an adult does this, the only outcome if they are sued is an apology.

If you insist that the child did it, the child will definitely be affected in the future.

Perhaps it's out of concern for the child's future, or perhaps it's for some other reason.

Not long after, the child's mother contacted Su Yingxia via private message and admitted her mistake.

Su Yingxia did not demand a public apology, since students are involved and things can easily become very complicated.

"Sigh, what kind of situation is this? Parents are making their children pay for their own actions. How can there be such parents? Don't children understand? Don't adults understand either?"

On the phone, Guo Qiling was complaining to Zhou Le.

Zhou Le was helpless about this: "There's nothing we can do. They just want to do it this way. What can anyone do?"

And this is still considered good; what if someone else claims it was an accident and throws a tantrum? Then there'd be no way to reason with them.

"However, this matter is now considered a form of publicity for us, although it's not exactly honorable."

But for now, let's prepare to push it to be free. Although it's making a lot of money now, it's ultimately prone to problems.

As we mentioned before, we're currently developing both the platform and content together, and we can later offer equity stakes in the project. We'll then de-emphasize the platform aspect and focus solely on content creation, similar to the model of Daylight Entertainment.

"I understand. Our app is now online, and we've already had many people contacting us wanting to collaborate."

But I thought I'd ask about the price again, since I'd already noted down all the companies and prices they had contacted.

Once I've finished compiling the statistics, I'll send them to you for a look, and then we'll discuss how to negotiate.

"Okay, you can follow up on this matter first."

Even if we earn less, we should choose the option with lower risk.

The best approach would actually be to let them invest, and then we could find senior executives to manage it ourselves, but we'll see how things go.

After making the call, Zhou Le decided to go to Nanjing, where the recording of Jiangsu TV's "May 5th Gala" was being held at the Shiqiu Film and Television Base.

This place is not unfamiliar to Zhou Le either; he also filmed scenes here when shooting "Dying to Survive".

Since the song had already been sent, the stage and everything else had been set up, including Zhou Le's performance outfit and backup dancers.

Upon arrival, Zhou Le was immediately taken to meet the chief planner.

Upon meeting, Zhou Le realized that the chief planner here was actually Gao Xiaosong.

After a brief chat, Zhou Le went to find the other performing guests.

On the way, Zhou Le was still thinking about the meeting he had just had.

In fact, Gao Xiaosong first appeared in the public eye as a musician, later created a music brand, and then joined Sohu.

After that, his career continued to flourish.

In particular, in 2015, he joined Alibaba and served as chairman of Alibaba Music, until he stepped down as chairman and legal representative of Alibaba Music last year.

When people talk about Gao Xiaosong now, their first impression is of his remarks about India. But in reality, as someone who has been in the entertainment industry for a long time, how could he just be a "public intellectual" now?
However, the resumes of those who served as senior executives in the company mentioned above are only available online.

For a period of time, Gao Xiaosong was also involved in the business of helping domestic films win awards overseas.

Getting a film to go global isn't as simple as it seems. Just showing it out is fine, but getting it nominated for various awards requires connections.

The judges all have preferences, but their preferences are based on relationships and money.

Before major international awards such as the Oscars, Cannes, and the Golden Bear, many actors go to Japan, South Korea, or Switzerland for cosmetic procedures to ensure they appear on the red carpet in their best condition.

Film producers would try all sorts of methods to garner votes from judges, but each of them could only know a limited number of judges, so brokers came into being.

First, brokers assess the film's genre and determine which judges' votes they can garner. Then, they negotiate with the film's producers, who only need to provide the funding.

Although it may not sound fair, what fairness is there in this world?

As for Gao Xiaosong, he did these things back then.

After arriving at the rest area for the guests, Zhou Le met the people who had come to participate in the performance.

Although it's called a performance, we still get paid. And the pressure of this performance wasn't actually that great because of the pandemic, so it was recorded without an audience.

It was called a grand event, but it was really just a variety show concert, with some people singing and others performing.

The lounge was noisy, and Zhou Le spotted Li Yuchun immediately.

He had met Li Yuchun many times, after all, as a regular at major film festivals, Li Yuchun was always in the center position.

As Zhou Le visited more often, everyone became familiar with him.

"Zhou Le is here! Come over here quickly. There must be a lot of your childhood idols here today. Come over and say hello and add each other on WeChat."

Li Yuchun is very enthusiastic.

Zhou Le looked up and saw that it was true. At least five out of the ten people were artists who had been famous since he was a child.

This was quite a spectacle, especially since most of the people there didn't even have WeChat themselves. (End of Chapter)