Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 368 Account theft is either a one-time thing or an endless cycle; I really need to control you.

The capital city, the Bird's Nest.

The first stop of Ikeno's 2028 global concert tour will be held here.

It's often said that one's peak is right after their debut, but to have their first concert held inside the Bird's Nest is quite an eye-opener for the Chinese entertainment industry.

Even Shang Jie was amazed.

She walked down the aisle, looking at the stage that hadn't been set up yet and the busy staff. She turned her head and smiled at her aunt and uncle: "Little Chi, you're doing a good job."

Her aunt and uncle weren't as "calm" as she was; they were mainly preoccupied with their own concerns, especially the current online commotion and the fact that tickets to Ikeno had become a "luxury item," causing various news headlines and trending topics, which led to a recent decline in their public image.

She sighed inwardly, wishing she had known this would happen, she should have postponed her appointment with Ikeno. Now, she wondered how things would develop.

If things go smoothly, that's fine, but once it attracts the attention of those above... it seems very likely that way right now.

After all, Wang Tianhou's ticket was only worth a million, yet it almost ruined her reputation. There were rumors in the industry that she had been spoken to by higher authorities, but it's unclear whether that's true, because ultimately this matter had nothing to do with the singer herself or her team.

It can only be said that the public is blind. They don't care who inflated the ticket prices, whether it was scalpers and "fans" who made money. Since it's your concert, you have to bear some "responsibility".

That's just how it is for public figures, sigh.

"Aunt, Uncle, what are you standing there for? Come with me."

Seeing her aunt and uncle looking completely dazed, Shang Jie felt embarrassed. If Xiao Chi knew, wouldn't he think that her visit was just a waste of time and effort?

Although her aunt and uncle had dragged her to this meeting, she had missed the first wave of sales for "The Martian" last time. Even though Shang Youshu's aunt and relatives later supported Chi Ye's other promotional activities.

But once you miss an opportunity, you miss it. So many people rush to get close to him when the wind turns against them. Who can guarantee that Ikeno will remember them?
So, taking advantage of the waning popularity of "The Martian" and having a "connection" with Shang Youshu, the businessmen's friends and family found this opportunity to get closer to Chi Ye and talk about cooperation.

Because Ikeno's schedule is tight recently, I could only make arrangements here.

Hmm... Looking at it now, the timing is wrong, the circumstances are wrong.

"...You Shu, do you know what's going on online?"

As they walked, the aunt subtly probed.

She knew You Shu well, and knew that this girl was like a 9G internet speed, the kind of person who would mark her favorite gossip targets on her calendar before going to bed, a level 10 gossip researcher.

"I know."

Sure enough, Sister Shang didn't disappoint her aunt, saying enthusiastically, "I told you Xiao Chi has a special aura! Look, he can make something of anything he does. I thought he'd keep a low profile for a while..."

"Uh……"

The aunt and uncle exchanged a glance and sighed, "You Shu... wait a minute, don't you care about... President Chi?"

"care?"

Sister Shang raised an eyebrow, casually turned to the side, and muttered softly, "I care about him as much as he cares about my intestines."

Aunt: "?"

uncle:"???"

What nonsense is this kid spouting?

"Cough cough."

Sister Shang also realized what was happening and whispered, "I'm telling you, I care about him too, but I don't think this has anything to do with him personally... The higher-ups shouldn't be... angry, right?"

"Not always."

My uncle, who used to work in the government, said with a serious expression, "These kinds of things are all about the impact. If nobody paid attention, it would be fine, but now the whole country and the entire internet know about it. What do you think..."

"Hi."

Sister Shang waved her small hand, a worried look appearing on her beautiful face: "Then what can I do... Maybe I should tell him I want to sign with his company, to make him happy..."

Aunt and Uncle: "...Don't even think about it."

"...What else is there to say! Humph!"

Sister Shang pretended to be angry and turned her head away, sighing inwardly, "Xiao Chi, it's not that I don't want to be with you... ah no, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that my family really doesn't agree."

If only I, Shang, were a cold and heartless person.
That way she could sever all ties with tears in her eyes, first severing her aunt's ties, then her uncle's, and then return to her family like a swallow returning to its nest... Unfortunately, she didn't have a knife.

And so, Shang Jie continued to "lament" all the way, and ten minutes later, the Shang family met Chi Ye, who was taking a break from his busy schedule and scrolling through his phone.

"Hello, Auntie. Hello, Uncle."

Chi Ye politely invited them to sit down: "Have you eaten?"

"Uh... thank you, Mr. Chi, I've already eaten."

The uncle thought to himself that Chi Ye was quite polite; this child didn't seem as repulsive as the rumors suggested.

"You ate some but didn't bring me any?"

Uncle: "..."

"Haha, just kidding."

Chi Ye smiled, glanced at Sister Shang who was secretly glancing at his phone, and simply handed her his phone, saying, "I don't have many friends in the industry, but Sister Shang is definitely one of them, so let's just say what we have to say."

"Hmm... In the projects I'm going to be involved in next, there are a few roles that would be suitable for your company's artists."

"...!"

The aunt was overjoyed, her previous hesitation vanishing, and her face beaming with smiles: "President Chi, thank you for your help. Don't worry, our artists' acting skills are absolutely top-notch..."

"Wait, let me finish speaking first."

Chino waved his hand and said, "But, none of these characters have much screen time, and they don't have any highlights."

The aunt and uncle were taken aback and remained silent.

Among them, the eldest aunt subconsciously glanced at Sister Shang, who was staring at Chi Ye's phone, looking conflicted yet eager, and frantically gave her meaningful glances.

However, Shang Jie was completely captivated by Chi Ye's phone... She really wanted to know what he was browsing on Weibo just now... Could it be that even a top celebrity secretly uses a secondary account to gossip?
Looking at it this way, we really are kindred spirits, like snakes and rats in the same nest... cough cough.

That brat, why isn't he giving a response!
Seeing that there was no hope for Sister Shang, the eldest aunt gritted her teeth and thought that Xiao You Shu was indeed unreliable.

They came here to discuss "cooperation" with Ikeno, which means they want a few suitable roles... In return, their company will also provide some resources to Ikeno's company's artists.

Isn't this how the schemes within the industry are built up?
Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, Chi Ye probably doesn't care about their company's resources at all. The reason he said that is probably because, as he said, he only cares about Sister Shang's face.

"Uh...Mr. Chi, it's like this..."

The uncle pondered for a moment, rubbing his hands together in preparation to speak. "Actually, we could also try a different way of cooperating."

Chi Ye suddenly spoke up.

The two were startled again.

Chi Ye looked at the two "elders" and shamelessly bared his fangs: "Sister Shang should have mentioned to you before that her contract is about to expire, right..."

"..."

Chi Ye didn't continue speaking, because after hearing only the first half of the sentence, her aunt and uncle lowered their heads. Clearly, they had never intended to agree to this matter.

Actually, they are not too difficult to talk to, but the main problem is that Sister Shang's parents don't have much interest either.

and so……

"That's a pity."

Chi Ye looked regretful, but he didn't feel too frustrated. After all, his company was not big enough at the moment. Even if he was doing well personally, it didn't matter much to an artist team of the level of Sister Shang.

If you're talking about signing with Ikeno's company and being able to play the lead role in three of Ikeno's films in a row, that would be fine too.

But this is a paradox, because Ikeno himself would never do such a thing. And if he did, would he do the same to other artists?

Can Ikeno handle the role himself?

"oops!"

Just as the atmosphere became slightly awkward, Sister Shang suddenly called out, then hurriedly put down Chi Ye's phone as if she had done something wrong, stammering, "I...I didn't mean to...I didn't touch it, I just picked it up to look at it, how...how..."

Chi Ye took the phone, glanced at it, and chuckled: "You mean these likes?"

"Ah...it really wasn't me!" Sister Shang was almost in tears: "I swear, I just wanted to see your private messages..."

"Oh, I ordered it myself just now."

After Chi Ye finished speaking, he looked dissatisfied and said, "Why are you looking at my private messages, Shang Youshu? Your habit of snooping on other people's privacy is very bad. I really have to control you. If you continue like this, you will eventually go down the path of crime."

Sister Shang: "...Xiao Chi, don't say that."

Chi-san, how do you plan to control me?
You're making me unable to sleep at night by saying things like that, you bastard!
"Uh... in that case, we'll head back now."

Seeing how Chi Ye and Shang Youshu interacted, the aunt and uncle exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief—it seemed that their attitude earlier had not angered Chi Ye.

That's fine... But Yu Shu is really something, have they gotten so close that they can see each other's private messages?

Did you know about this this summer?

Oh dear, it seems I really need to remind You Shu later. This child has never suffered any hardship since she was little, growing up happily and making money happily. If she has to go through something like this when she's almost thirty... it'll really be a disaster.

They also had this in mind when they decided not to let Shang Jie sign with Chi Ye.

It is indeed to prevent unexpected events from happening.

After all, Shang Youshu is indeed too beautiful, and Chi Ye is not a saint in the industry, so it's hard to guarantee that he only has eyes for Jin Xia... In any case, they don't trust Chi Ye.

"Wait a minute, you ordered this yourself?!"

Shang Jie's mind was still processing the program, staring at Chi Ye with wide eyes: "You...you...?!"

Is he having another seizure?
Ikeno smiled without saying a word.

……

Ikeno has gone mad.

And it was a fairly strong kind of force.

After the concert ticket incident reached a climax, the overall online perception of Ikeno, while not drastically declining, certainly didn't garner much goodwill.

A single ticket costs millions… This is a stark and jarring contrast between “class” and numbers.

There are too many Chinese people, and there are even more people with poor economic conditions. When these people see these trending news stories and the brainwashing by marketing accounts that take things out of context, their attitudes and voices are almost unanimously against them.

A well-known influencer in the music industry personally commented, stating: "The Ikeno ticket incident has now become a typical nationwide event. The exorbitant ticket prices have turned a normal concert into a 'business,' which not only harms ordinary fans but also 'insults' the image of the Chinese music scene abroad."

A fellow music enthusiast shared this comment: "I agree with this viewpoint. Although this matter has little to do with the singer's team, the fact that the team has remained silent and hasn't offered a direct response, condemnation, or condemnation of this behavior for so long is frankly a major stain on the music industry these past few days. If this matter isn't handled properly, it will cause immeasurable harm and loss to the Chinese music scene."

After that, most of the comments were of this kind, and those who expressed "anger" and "concern for the country and its people" naturally supported Ikeno.

For example, Teacher Yangzi, who spent a lot of money and gained a lot of traffic in this incident, is very unhappy.

He publicly retorted to these veterans of the music industry on Weibo: "A bunch of old-timers who can't even sell 50 tickets for their concerts are always envious of others, constantly talking about the Chinese music scene. Fun fact: the singer who has achieved the highest success in the Chinese music scene to date is my brother @池野."

Chicken Claw Zhang's group commented: "I don't understand what this has to do with @Chiye. As a singer, he should be the last person who wants to see this happen. And if I remember correctly, @CoconutCulture immediately condemned the scalpers after this incident. I don't know if they're blind or just lying through their teeth. Is this a case of blindly attacking for the sake of traffic?"

The two sides engaged in a fierce online battle, which was the most heated online feud in the Chinese entertainment industry recently. However, apart from these individuals, no one with real name or reputation participated.

Firstly, no one wants to "offend" Ikeno now, at least not on the surface. Even in the music industry, no one wants to go head-to-head with Ikeno.

But just because it's not allowed in public doesn't mean it's not allowed in private. The reason this controversy has escalated so much is not only because Ikeno's concert was indeed very popular, but it's also hard to say that rival groups were secretly stirring things up.

It was against this backdrop that Ikeno went a little "crazy".

Of course, he ignored those so-called senior figures in the music industry and marketing accounts. His target was precise and clear. He liked the trending topics about Teacher Na, Hua Yichen, and Teacher Meizuo more than ten times, and then unliked them one by one.

Repeatedly.

Sure enough, not long after, #Ikeno's slip of the hand#, #Teacher Na's Weibo post#, and #Hua Yichen has a child# became trending topics, instantly clearing out the previous trending topics about Ikeno's concert.

Before anyone could react, Chi Ye posted two Weibo posts.

First message: [My account was hacked, sorry.]

Article 2: [Here is the setlist for the first concert. Please be aware.]

Before anyone could even comment on the first Weibo post, they were immediately drawn to Chi Ye's second post.

Playlist?

Isn't this usually something that the organizing company or institution releases?

He really is the boss, actually announcing it himself...

and many more…

This playlist... this playlist seems a bit off.

A sharp-eyed fan glanced at the playlist posted by Chi Ye and was instantly dumbfounded—how come so many of these songs are ones I've never even heard of?
(End of this chapter)