After offending capital, my songs became more and more popular.

Chapter 84: Endorsement Stolen, an Celebrity with the Same Image as Shen Ming'en?

Keep smiling, hehe~

These are the words that Shen Ming'en, this madman, said to Zhou Chujian from afar after the audition.

Hajien transformed into the ultimate hunter, Teacher Meng, and stole Zhou Chujian's crystal. He mistook this senior for a Japanese person and messed with him, causing the senior to be so angry that he couldn't sleep that night. He even spent money to hire online trolls to smear Shen Mingen.

Unfortunately, this smear campaign was completely refuted the moment the promotional poster for CCTV's "National Language and Culture" program was released.

Previously, Shen Ming'en always thought that people on the official side were very particular about procedures, with complicated formalities requiring signatures from various leaders, and that it might take a certain amount of time to get things done. But as it turns out, Shen Ming'en's misunderstanding of people on the official side was indeed quite deep...

The next morning, he received a call from the person in charge of the "Guoyu Guoyun" program, informing him that his song "Rare Characters" had been selected as the program's promotional song. While congratulating him, they invited him to the recording studio that same day to record the song and sign a contract.

That evening, the graphic design team of the program created a beautiful poster based on the lyrics of the song "Rare Characters". The poster, filled with obscure and difficult-to-understand rare characters, was released along with a short video of Shen Ming'en recording the song, and it quickly became a trending topic.

"#Shen Ming'en's promotional song for 'Guoyu Guoyun': 'Rare Characters'!"

It has to be said that their production team knows how to grasp the secrets of traffic. They know all too well what kind of popularity the name "Shen Ming'en" represents. His songs, his lyrics, and his face all appeared in the promotional posters and videos, which ignited countless netizens as soon as they were released!
The comment section was exploding with messages!
What the heck? Hajime collaborated with CCTV on a promotional song?!

[Great! The "Mandarin and Classical Music" program is doing well; now they're even able to collaborate with Shen Ming'en.]

[Hajime: ...Bro! I still want to make a living! Don't say that, it's killing me!]

[Haha, my brother finally made it big, and so much capital in the Chinese entertainment industry couldn't blacklist him. You should at least give him a word and get him blacklisted.]

[Hmm... Am I the only one who felt dizzy and disoriented after seeing that promotional poster?]

[Damn, I don't recognize a single one of those characters! Is this even Chinese?!]

[Ha, it's harsh to tell you, but I still have to, those aren't exactly obscure anymore!]

……

The arrangement of the song "Rare Characters" is not particularly high-quality, only average. However, the lyrics themselves are eye-catching and gimmicky enough. The part shown in the video happens to be the chorus, and the complex words and the jokes made by netizens in the comments section immediately ignited the popularity of the song. Countless bloggers on the short video platform next door followed suit and created their own versions, making the song popular even before its release.

It's worth mentioning that the veteran poet Zhou Chujian also released his classical Chinese poem in the past few days...

What was he thinking?

Like Shen Mingen before him, he misunderstood the people at CCTV, thinking that the process would take some time, and since he couldn't participate in the promotional song work anyway, he might as well release it in advance to avoid clashing with Shen Mingen's release, otherwise he would definitely be completely crushed by Shen Mingen's "Rare Characters"...

But he never expected that before the other party even released the song, just a recording video and a promotional poster, they would completely crush him!
This...

Shen Ming'en has really offended Zhou Chujian to the core!

This feud has become quite serious!
It's not just Zhou Chujian who's having a bad time; Wei Zihan is also facing difficulties. Paparazzi have photographed him visiting a mental hospital for a checkup these past two days, and his mental state is worrying...

It's not just Wei Zihan's mental state that's worrying; Shen Mingen's manager, Ma Ling, has also been in a very worrying mental state these past few days!
"Didn't I say that even if you're not going to help him, you shouldn't offend him too much?!"

Shanghai Stock Exchange, Ruixing Entertainment.

Ma Ling trembled with anger, her eyes bloodshot, and she looked terrible. She glared at Shen Ming'en, who sat listlessly on the opposite sofa, and roared:
"Do you even realize how much damage your actions have caused the company?!"

"How damn big can it be..." Shen Ming'en was so tired of hearing this that he was speechless. "You're the one who made me participate in the event, you're the one who signed me up for the promotional song, I just performed normally, and now that something went wrong, you're blaming me? What kind of logic is that?"

What kind of bullshit logic is this? Good people have to be held at gunpoint?

To be honest, Shen Ming'en felt that Ma Ling was really a bad person. It seemed that every time she asked Shen Ming'en to work according to her requirements, he was just being a supporting character for someone else.

Shen Mingen did do as she asked...

Shen Ming'en only brought out a song called "Rare Characters," and didn't bring out any classic revolutionary songs!
So Zhou Chujian didn't have any stones, and you blame me, Hajiling? You blame me?

And the company's losses...

So what if the company suffers huge losses? The company may suffer losses, but Shen Ming'en doesn't. He's releasing songs and collaborating with CCTV; he's been incredibly successful lately...

The company never cared about his life or death before, but now they expect him to care about the company's life or death?

You think you're worthy?
That idiot Ruixing Entertainment, it would be better if it went bankrupt. Shen Ming'en's contract would become invalid on the spot, wouldn't that be great?

Shen Ming'en will only go further and further down the road of ruining the company, and he will never turn back!
"You!" Ma Ling gritted her teeth in anger, walked up to him, pointed her finger at his nose and shouted, "Do you know how long that international event company worked to finally squeeze in a few artists next month? It's fine if you offend Zhou Chujian, but if he gets angry, none of our company will be able to get into that event, do you know that?! Do you know that?!"

"I fucking don't know!"

Shen Ming'en's least favorite thing in his life was being pointed at. He slapped Ma Ling's hand away and said bluntly:
"So, all this talk about you telling me not to offend him and to appease him was just to get people from your company into that event, right?"

"So even if such a good thing happens, it won't happen to me. So even if I do what you ask, I still won't get a share of this event, right?"

Shen Ming'en finally understood...

Because Zhou Chujian's connections played a crucial role in the international event next month that Ma Ling mentioned, Ma Ling wanted Shen Mingen to curry favor with him. However, the one who ultimately benefited from currying favor with him was not Shen Mingen, but the company and the other artists under the company.

Now think about it...

Why did Ma Ling want Shen Ming'en to participate in this event?

It felt like a threat to Zhou Chujian.

You want the promotional song for CCTV's program "Guoyu Guoyun"?

I sent Shen Ming'en. You know what level Shen Ming'en is at, and you also know the level of his revolutionary songs.

I'll give you face and ask him not to act so well. In return, could you give our company a few spots at next month's international event, and could you help recommend some of our artists? It'll be a win-win situation for us all.

If you don't give us face, we'll let Hajime perform exceptionally well, you won't get the promotional song for the publicity segment, you won't get a good segment, and you won't benefit from it...

If Zhou Chujian isn't stupid, he would know what to choose and would definitely choose cooperation for mutual benefit.

This is why he specifically had his agent bring Wei Zihan to his home to apologize.

To put it bluntly, the company used Shen Ming'en as a bargaining chip and a pawn.

But the problem is...

They're not going to give this chess piece a proper nurturing!

What they didn't expect was that this chess piece wouldn't obey them!
"you you!"

Shen Mingen's attitude left Ma Ling speechless with anger. A fleeting moment of guilt crossed her eyes when Shen Mingen questioned her, but that brief moment solidified Shen Mingen's resolve. So, despite Ma Ling's subsequent words...

"You're overthinking it. This activity is for your own good, and you're definitely on the referrer list..."

Shen Ming'en simply ignored all of this.

"So that means I have to work hard all by myself to get artists from other companies to that event?" Shen Ming'en crossed his arms and said cheerfully, "They won't call me 'Dad,' will they?"

I haven't seen him receive any gifts.
Are they all just thinking about reaping the benefits without sowing?
What the hell is this stuff...?

I knew the company had ulterior motives, but I never imagined they were after so much.

Shen Ming'en shook his head, casually picked up the hat that was placed to the side, put on a mask, and said as he walked out:

"I won't participate in any of the announcements you unilaterally decide until the contract is stamped and sent over, so as not to delay your business any further. I'm leaving." With that, Shen Ming'en pushed open the door and left without any hesitation, quite dashing.

"..."

After Shen Ming'en left, the meeting room fell silent again, with the loudest sound being Ma Ling's heavy breathing.

"Huh...huh..."

She was trembling with anger and cold, and grabbed the water glass from the side with her bare hands...

"boom!"

The sound of the glass shattering on the floor echoed throughout the office. Ma Ling could no longer utter a single curse word. Right now, she was just like Wei Zihan, wanting nothing more than to mess with Shen Ming'en!
She really wanted Chen Jia to secretly put some "obedience potion" in the water Shen Ming'en was drinking!
Unfortunately, this living father doesn't drink at all!
“Ling… Sister Ling…”

When the assistant came in, she saw Ma Ling standing by the desk, holding her head. Even so, she still whispered something.

"President Lin wants to see you and asks you to come to his office."

Ma Ling was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and then her angry little face immediately fell down...

What are you going to the office for?

Let them scold them!
In fact, ever since she returned from the Chinese Music Awards, she has been dragged to President Lin's office and scolded almost every day for the past week, especially after Shen Ming'en offended Zhou Chujian and the company's plan to place people in his office fell through.

You know, she's still dragging her feet on leaving Shen Mingen's contract...

She never showed the company the 91% revenue-sharing contract, nor did she mention it to them.

How does she deal with the company?
She told the company that Shen Mingen's image was the most important thing, and that he should take on official events first to maintain his "red song spokesperson" persona. This would be of great benefit to him in bringing more and greater benefits to the company in the future.

Using this as an excuse, she accepted official events with little profit, and the appearance fees were not much, some of which were even free. Ma Ling could cover the 91% cut that Shen Ming'en was supposed to receive, thus getting away with it.

But this approach is ultimately not a long-term solution.

Shen Mingen can't keep only accepting official events, and she can't keep paying for Shen Mingen indefinitely. In other words, she doesn't have that much money. Once Shen Mingen takes on those high-priced endorsements, the kind that cost over ten million a quarter, one of them would drain her entire savings.

and so……

and so!
She still needs to make Shen Mingen bow his head and submit as soon as possible!

As soon as possible, smash that supreme bone in his chest!

"Finally, the next episode of 'Chinese Music Awards' has arrived..." Ma Ling silently rubbed her forehead, thinking to herself, "As long as I can eliminate him, I'll just have to put up with the hardship."

After tidying up her appearance and calming herself down, Ma Ling followed her assistant to the president's office.

It's worth mentioning that on the way, the assistant mentioned to Ma Ling:

“I heard that Guo Qing went to the big-name brands that invited Shen Mingen to endorse their products last time and talked to them. Their price for artists of the same type as Shen Mingen is only half of what Shen Mingen charges. Sister Ling, we need to pay attention to this.”

The "Guo Qing" mentioned by the assistant is the top agent of Ruihuang Entertainment, the rival company of Ruixing Entertainment. Because the two companies have a lot of overlap in their artists, they fight fiercely over things like announcements and endorsements...

Ma Ling scoffed at this...

"Where did they find an artist who looks like Shen Ming'en?"

"Are they worthy?"

Although she was very dissatisfied with Shen Mingen, Ma Ling had to admit that this guy was truly a one-of-a-kind artist in the Chinese entertainment industry.

His persona is something no one can imitate!

Perhaps it was about the endorsement, because the assistant mentioned again that the "Shidanli Fertilizer" brand had invited Shen Ming'en to do a photoshoot tomorrow.

The contract is finalized, and it's time to officially begin the collaboration.

……

Shen Ming'en wasn't very happy about the trip to "Filmmakers' Feast," and he became even more worried about Hajiling, that bastard. He felt that the girl had no intention of harming him. Therefore, Shen Ming'en hasn't gone to any work in the past few days except for his endorsement work for "Shidanli Fertilizer" and his work at "Chinese Music Awards."

To be honest...

Shen Ming'en thought that Ma Ling would be furious if he did this.

But the truth surprised him greatly...

Instead of being angry, Haji Ling apologized to him, saying that what happened last time was her fault and that she hadn't thought things through. She told Shen Ming'en not to be angry and not to affect his mindset, as he was going to sing a love song on the next episode of "Chinese Music Awards".

"Something's fishy! Something's fishy! This kid's up to no good!"

Shen Ming'en keenly sensed that something was amiss, but he didn't know exactly where the trap lay, which caused him a strange headache in recent days.

After finishing the endorsement shoot, Shen Mingen took an early morning flight back to Qingdao. Although he was not participating in the rehearsals for the "Chinese Music Awards" program, he was really tired this week and wanted to go back a day early to rest.

Damn it, I've gotten so used to being a couch potato that I'm already feeling exhausted from working two jobs this week. It seems everyone just wants to lie down and relax...

Upon landing at the airport, Shen Ming'en was surrounded by fans who came to greet him, so much so that he couldn't even fly away.

Shen Ming'en's popularity continues to soar. The CP bonus from "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" and "Courage" on "Chinese Music Awards" last week hasn't even faded yet, and now "Rare Characters" has once again brought Shen Ming'en into the public eye. As the hottest new star in the Chinese entertainment industry, Shen Ming'en's treatment wherever he goes is comparable to that of some veteran superstars.

But Shen Ming'en really doesn't like this thing...

"I know you like me, but could you please stop liking me for now?" Shen Ming'en said while signing autographs for fans. "How about this, I'll sign one and you can leave one at a time. Let's not disrupt the airport order or bother other people, okay?"

This guy was practically shouting through a megaphone at the airport. He never expected that even though he specifically chose to take a midnight flight back, so many people would still be waiting to take pictures of him...

It's worth mentioning that although Feng Yucan had arrived at the "Chinese Music Awards Center" early today, Shen Mingen did not ask him to pick him up again. After all, he now had an assistant, and Shen Mingen felt it would be a waste not to delegate these tasks to his assistant.

Chen Jia arranged a car for Shen Ming'en, but Shen Ming'en hesitated for a moment when he got in the car because he saw a shameless face that he least wanted to see...

Ma Ling.

"I've made time out of my schedule this week to accompany you on the show, so we can discuss anything that comes up." Ma Ling said with a smile, making it sound like she could talk to anyone without time to spare.

The malicious smile made Shen Ming'en feel extremely disgusted...

Ignoring the stranger, Emperor Ming'en, who was feeling sleepy from rushing to catch his flight overnight, wanted to take a nap, but his attention was drawn to the scenery along the way.

Spring has arrived. April is the season for flowers to bloom, and the roadsides are lined with flowers of all colors.

Pink peach blossoms, white apricot blossoms, and bright yellow forsythia—all sorts of colorful flowers complement the lush green leaves sprouting new buds on the roadside trees, creating a dreamlike scene under the clean morning sunlight.

Shen Ming'en couldn't help but sigh, "It's flower-viewing season again..."

The flowers had nurtured Emperor Ming'en's sentiments. When he arrived at the hotel, Shen Ming'en's heart was filled with love and kindness. However, upon entering the hotel, he saw something in the corridor next to the lobby and suddenly frowned.

Why do I feel like I saw something dirty?

Wei Zihan?
……

(End of this chapter)