The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 277 Zhang Wei and Zhang San, the gears of fate begin to turn.

In the bar, Yang Muye, Cheng Feng, and two others sat at a table, drinking and chatting about the recent situation at school.

"Nothing major happened in class, except for that idiot Liu Qiang. You just went to Dongda University as an exchange student, and he immediately came to our dorm and shamelessly asked Xiao Meng to move into your bed next door since it was empty."

Although more than half a month has passed, Wu Di said he is still somewhat angry about the matter.

It was only because Shi Xiaomeng had a good temper and was the class monitor that he was able to reason with Liu Qiang.

If it were him or Cheng Feng present, they would definitely tell Liu Qiang to go somewhere cool and stay away.

You want to switch dorms with Yang Muyi? You're dreaming!
Yang Muye had no feelings for Liu Qiang at all, and directly asked about the other two students in the next dormitory.

"Didn't Ding Ning say she was going to find a place to live outside? Hasn't she moved out yet?"

“They moved out a long time ago. Only Xu Yao is still in that dormitory,” Wu Di replied.

"By the way, how's Xu Yao doing lately?"

Shi Xiaomeng shook his head.

Now, apart from attending classes, I rarely see Xu Yao.

Xu Yao didn't participate in any activities organized by his class or the college; he was practically invisible.

Ding Ning may know something about Xu Yao, but she has never mentioned it to the other class committee members.

At this moment, Cheng Feng suddenly spoke.

"A friend I hadn't contacted in a long time suddenly called me a couple of days ago."

Yang Muyi stopped drinking, a hint of curiosity showing in his eyes.

"Looking to borrow money from you?"

"They were drinking at a bar, and that guy was bragging that we were good buddies. Nobody believed him, so he called me."

If Cheng Feng said this in front of others, they would definitely think he was a high-class Versailles.

But Yang Muye wouldn't.

After all, Cheng Feng really had nothing to brag about in front of Yang Muyi.

The fact that this matter is being brought up now suggests there's more to it than meets the eye.

"and then?"

“My relationship with that person wasn’t really good. We even got into a fight in our first year of high school. Although we made up later, we would just say hello when we met and then keep to ourselves. So I asked him why he suddenly thought of calling me.”

"That means you're popular!"

Wu Di chimed in with a line, like a straight man in a comedy duo.

Cheng Feng told Wu Di not to interrupt:

“He told me that he saw two traveling singers in a bar who were dressed exactly like Wu Di and I in the 'Lone Warrior' MV, even their hairstyles were the same. He initially thought that we were performing at a bar.”

Yang Muye laughed: "Doesn't this just prove that you two are popular? You even have imitators now, which is a privilege only celebrities have."

The actual appearance fee of the celebrity is too expensive, so they hire a knock-off version to liven things up. This is common in some low- to mid-range venues.

"You'd never guess, these two traveling singers are from our school—"

Before Cheng Feng could finish speaking, Wu Di's voice rang out first.

"Could it be Lin Shaotao's trio? The ones who sang 'The Lone Warrior' at the welcome party?"

Cheng Feng nodded:

"Yes, it's them, but Lin Shaotao isn't there. It's the other two, I think one is called Zhou Yiming and the other is called Jia Kuan."

This is only reasonable.

Yang Muye's face showed a look of understanding.

Not to mention that Lin Shaotao is a hidden rich second-generation and is not short of money, just the fact that he is the chairman of the business school student union on the surface makes it impossible for him to perform in bars.

Wu Di was puzzled: "I remember after the welcome party, Lin Shaotao came to Mu Ye and talked about wanting to buy the copyright, but Mu Ye refused. Didn't Mu Ye remind Lin Shaotao at the time not to sing our songs in commercial performances?"

"If it's just singing in a bar, nobody usually cares, and besides, they can't possibly manage it all."

The speaker was Cheng Feng.

Wu Di was somewhat unwilling: "If others are using our name to make money through gigs, we might as well not know it, but even if we do know, we're not going to care?"

Cheng Feng tilted his head back and drank the beer in his glass: "What else can we do? We're all from the same school. You can't really sue them, can you? The compensation might not even cover the court fees, and more importantly, it would damage our reputation if word got out. It would make it seem like we're bullying them."

"They're juniors, we're freshmen. They sang our songs without permission, and we stopped them from infringing on our rights through legal means. How is that us bullying them?"

Wu Di is still young after all.

If it were his brother Wu Wei here, he definitely wouldn't say such childish things.

Children talk about right and wrong; adults only consider advantages and disadvantages.

Suing Zhou Yiming and Jia Kuan would do more harm than good to Oldboy, so there's no need to do it.

Cheng Feng was patiently explaining to Wu Di when Yang Muyi's phone suddenly rang.

Upon closer inspection, it was a call from Xia Fenghua.

When the call connected, it was Ma Siyi's voice that came through.

The environment I was in sounded rather noisy; it was either a karaoke bar or a bar.

"Mr. Yang, we just saw two street performers at a bar who imitated 'Old Boys.' They claimed to be from the same school as you, and their names are—"

"Zhou Yiming, Jia Kuan?" Yang Muye asked first.

Ma Siyi on the other end of the phone was taken aback.

"You already know about this?"

Yang Muye looked up and saw Xie Zhiyao also holding a phone, talking on the phone as he walked towards him.

I guess they were talking about this on the phone.

"Yes, Ayao already told me."

"We took a video with our phones and will send it to you on QQ later."

"it is good."

Yang Muye put down his phone, and Xie Zhiyao happened to walk up to him.

Just as he was about to speak—

"Did Na Jun call you? I already know about it."

Cheng Feng then stood up and invited Xie Zhiyao to sit down and have a couple of drinks together.

Xie Zhiyao couldn't refuse, so he sat down.

Yang Muyi did not avoid the conversation when he answered the phone, and everyone here now knows what happened.

After having a drink with Xie Zhiyao, Cheng Feng turned to look at Yang Muye.

"Should we give Lin Shaotao a heads-up and ask him to keep an eye on those two?"

Before he could finish speaking, Wu Di spoke up first.

"If you ask me, it's better to go directly to the college than to Lin Shaotao."

People teach people, but they can’t teach.

Practice teaches, and you'll learn it in one go.

After each college disciplined them, Zhou Yiming and Jia Kuan behaved themselves.

Yang Muye remained silent.

Wu Di's actions may have been satisfying, but there is still a risk of backlash.

It's even riskier than resolving the issue directly through legal means.

Imposing a disciplinary action on Zhou Yiming and Jia Kuan, affecting their future graduation and job search, would make it easier for them to establish a "victim" persona and garner sympathy online.

It's like two students having a private argument, and one of them reporting it to the teacher.

It's reasonable, but not sensible.

If something doesn't conform to people's basic sense of right and wrong, it's easy for it to lose its footing in public opinion.

"Crazy, you know a lot of people in the bar industry. Go ask a few bar owners how much Zhou Yiming and Jia Kuan charge for performing."

As soon as Yang Muyi finished speaking, Cheng Feng picked up his phone and started looking for people in his contacts.

While Cheng Feng was on the phone, Wu Di asked Yang Muye why he was asking about this.

“If their performances are just like those of lower-level singers, earning a meager living, then we don’t need to bother with them.”

Yang Muye replied.

Cheng Feng made four phone calls in a row, and when he returned, he looked visibly displeased.

“I asked around, and their appearance fee for singing one song used to be 800, but it has increased to 1000 starting today. I also heard that they perform at least three or four shows a night.”

Apart from Yang Muyi, everyone else present also changed color.

The money the two of them earned that night was almost equivalent to a month's salary for an average white-collar worker.

"Do you know what's most infuriating? I asked the bar owner why they paid such a high appearance fee, and he told me that they had always claimed to be our classmates and good friends, and that they got our permission to imitate them."

As soon as Cheng Feng finished speaking, Wu Di's voice rang out.

"This is blatant fraud; shouldn't we be able to sue them directly?"

Cheng Feng looked at Yang Muye, who remained silent.

He didn't know before. Zhou Yiming and Jia Kuan were making money by performing at various events under the name of "Old Boys".

This is completely different from becoming popular through one's own talent in covering songs.

Cheng Feng now supports Wu Di's proposal to resolve this matter through legal channels.

Just then, Zhang Kai and Xu Kaiyang came over to have drinks with everyone. They were also indignant when they heard about this incident.

They made their name by imitating and parodying Old Boys.

Now they're actually having their business stolen, how can they tolerate this?
After sitting down, the two began to actively offer suggestions.

"Mr. Yang, do you remember the first time we met at this bar? You joked and tricked us, saying you were Zhang Wei from the law school. We believed you and actually went to the law school dormitory to look for someone. We actually found a student named Zhang Wei."

Cheng Feng laughed: "What, you two want to get this Zhang Wei to help us with the lawsuit?"

Xu Kaiyang, holding a bottle of beer, said seriously, "I think Zhang Wei is quite reliable. Last time we—"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang kicked him from under the table.

Last time they consulted Zhang Wei about the contract with Xingchen Dahai, let's not talk about it explicitly, it makes it seem like they don't trust Yang Muye at all.

Although at the time, they were indeed worried that Yang Muyi would trick them with the contract.

Don't say things that could affect unity.

After realizing what he meant, Xu Kaiyang immediately changed his mind: "Last time we consulted him about something, and the advice he gave was quite professional. Why don't we give him a call now and ask him?"

Cheng Feng was about to say, "Forget it."

What help can a law school student offer? Just find a licensed lawyer and you're good to go.

Yang Muye's voice suddenly rang out.

"Okay, then call him and ask him."

Xu Kaiyang immediately took out his phone and dialed Zhang Wei's number in front of everyone.

Then the call was put on speakerphone.

"Hey, Zhang Wei, what are you doing?"

A "slurp" sound came from the other end of the phone, like the sound of noodles or other food being sucked into a mouth.

Then a slightly goofy voice came from the other end of the phone, mixed with chewing sounds. "Eating noodles!"

"Eating noodles again? Didn't you have dinner?"

"I specially added an egg for this midnight snack!"

"Wow, that's really extravagant. By the way, I wanted to ask you for a consultation."

"Are you going to sign another contract?"

Xu Kaiyang's face stiffened as he held his phone.

"Don't talk nonsense. What contract would I sign? Here's the thing: I have a friend who had someone take his songs and cover them in a bar without permission, and even used his name, claiming it was an officially certified cover. In this situation, would it be okay for my friend to sue the other party?"

"No problem, as long as there's evidence, you'll win every time!"

That would be wonderful!

Before Xu Kaiyang could finish speaking, Zhang Wei's voice on the other end of the phone suddenly became mysterious.

"Your friend isn't an Old Boys member, is he?"

Xu Kaiyang was taken aback.

Wow, how did you guess that?
Zhang Wei chuckled on the other end of the phone.

"Don't underestimate me, huh? I'm a huge fan of Old Boys. Maybe I can get them to sign an autograph for me sometime? It would be even better if we could take a picture together."

After glancing at Cheng Feng and Wu Di, Xu Kaiyang naturally agreed.

"Since you've already guessed it, I won't beat around the bush with you. The tricky part is that the people who infringed on their copyrights by covering their songs are also students from our school."

"Is it wrong to directly turn against someone you know?"

"They're not exactly acquaintances, but we're worried that if they're sued, they might turn around and bite us back."

"this--"

Zhang Wei on the other end of the phone was in a dilemma.

This question is clearly beyond the scope of the curriculum.

Xu Kaiyang, holding his phone, was somewhat disappointed:
"So you don't have any good ideas either?"

"Yes, I know a teacher who is a lawyer. I can call him and ask him what to do."

Zhang Wei really doesn't know the answer to this question, but he can call for backup.

Xu Kaiyang looked up at Yang Muye and Cheng Feng, his face showing a questioning expression.

Zhang Wei's voice continued to come from the phone.

"Don't worry, this teacher is from our law school. He was just transferred here last month and happens to be teaching criminal law to our class—"

criminal law?

Xu Kaiyang was stunned on the spot.

Brother, this is just a civil dispute, and you're taking it all the way down to criminal law?

You really know how to torture people!
Zhang Wei on the other end of the phone was completely unaware of this and continued to talk incessantly about how interesting the teacher's classes were.

In the past, criminal law teachers would simply read from the textbook on stage, making the content dry and boring, while a third of the students would be sleeping on their desks.

One-third were drowsy.

Only one-third of them were able to stay focused and listen attentively in class.

Since we got this new teacher, criminal law has become the class's favorite subject.

Zhang Wei became a die-hard fan of that new teacher.

When that teacher was explaining criminal law cases, he liked to use Zhang San as the "perpetrator," so Zhang Wei directly changed his QQ name to "Zhang San, the outlaw."

Xu Kaiyang was trying to figure out what reason to give for refusing.

Find a criminal law professor to sue Zhou Yiming and Jia Kuan.

—It really isn't that bad!

"Our professor, Luo Xiang, holds a doctorate in law from Peking University and previously taught at China University of Political Science and Law—"

What, Luo Xiang?

Upon first hearing the name, Yang Muye thought it was just someone with the same name.

But the resume matches perfectly.

Of course, there are also parts that don't match.

Didn't Professor Luo teach for a period of time in his previous life before being sent abroad for further studies?
It is said that he offended someone and was exiled.

How did I end up working at Yan Economic and Trade Center in this life?
At Yang Muye's suggestion, Xu Kaiyang subtly inquired with Zhang Wei about the reason why Luo Xiang was transferred to teach at the Yan Economic and Trade Law School.

I didn't expect to get anything out of an ordinary student like Zhang Wei, but he actually provided an important clue.

Key words.

He Yueyue!
Two months ago, the He Yueyue incident was overshadowed by Cheng Feng's whistleblower video and the subsequent release of the "Lone Warrior" music video.

The other protagonist in the incident, the law professor who reported her husband's extramarital affair, was almost completely "out of the loop."

After the results of the handling of the He Yueyue incident were announced, the female professor quietly transferred to teach at China University of Political Science and Law.

Luo Xiang, who had offended someone, was also exiled to Yanjingmao.

Although from the perspective of the school, it cannot be described as exile.

The Central University of Political Science and Law is ranked among the top five universities and four departments, while Yancheng University of Economics and Trade is also one of the two financial and two trade universities.

But who would believe that transferring from a political science and law university to the law school of an economics and management university didn't offend anyone?
Upon learning that Zhang Wei had actually teamed up with Zhang San for a dream collaboration, Yang Muyi immediately became interested.

Let's see if this criminal law professor, "Zhang San," is up to the task.

After waiting for half an hour, Zhang Wei finally called back.

He excitedly told Xu Kaiyang that Luo Xiang was very interested in the case after hearing that Old Boy was a party involved, and was willing to provide legal aid free of charge.

If necessary, they are even willing to help with lawsuits for free.

When others heard this, their first reaction was that this Teacher Luo Xiang was actually a pretty nice person.

Only Yang Muye knew that Teacher Luo wasn't a good person; rather, it was the influencer DNA hidden in his blood that had been activated.

Putting everything else aside, if they help Old Boys win this case that they have no chance of losing, then when Teacher Luo teaches in the future, "perpetrator" Zhang San will have another identity.

—Defendants who infringed on the copyright of songs by internet celebrities.

Why is Old Boys so popular right now?
Even Teacher Luo couldn't resist wanting to join in.

This reminded Yang Muyi of a time in his past life when Teacher Yu from New Oriental revealed in a live broadcast that Luo Xiang had also worked as a teacher at New Oriental for three years.

They also said that Luo Xiang's humorous teaching style was honed over these three years.

Even setting aside the facts, are you completely without fault?
If New Oriental is really that great, why did Teacher Luo and the future Xiao Dong leave after only a few years?

After getting Luo Xiang's phone number from Zhang Wei, Cheng Feng called it using his own phone.

The call was answered after only two rings.

Clearly, Teacher Luo was also waiting for this call.

Jiang Taigong fished, and those who were willing took the bait.

"Hello Professor Luo, I am Cheng Feng, a student majoring in Business Administration in the Class of 08 of the School of Business. Zhang Wei should have already told you about my situation."

"Yes, I did say that."

"What do you think is the safest way to handle this matter?"

"What are your plans now? Should you sue those two traveling singers who infringed on your rights?"

"Yes, we have this idea."

"Your case is very easy to win; any lawyer could win it with their eyes closed. But I heard that the two defendants are also students from your business school. Are you really so heartless as to put your classmates in the dock?"

"..."

Everyone present, including Cheng Feng, was speechless.

It's as if you're only concerned about being from the same school and having a teacher-student relationship, and therefore refused to help.

"Just kidding, what I mean is if you guys go straight to suing the other party, other people will see you as cold-blooded people who don't care about friendship."

"Teacher Luo, if you were in our shoes, what would you do?"

"You've probably heard the phrase that went viral online a while ago, 'A difficult decision,' right?"

As soon as Luo Xiang said this, everyone present turned to look at Yang Muye.

Although Yang Muye did not invent this saying, Ma Qiushan, who invented it, was very familiar with Yang Muye.

Luo Xiang's voice continued to ring out on the phone.

“In fact, you can refer to this ‘difficult decision’ to resolve the public misunderstanding that may be caused by suing the two students who infringed on your rights.”

"Of course, you will definitely say that if you announce that the prosecution of the two students who violated the law was a 'difficult decision' that you were forced to make, not only will you not gain everyone's understanding, but you will also be ridiculed by everyone, who will say that you are crocodile tears and fake compassion."

"So you can't directly sue them now, nor can you issue a statement explaining why you're suing them. Instead, you need to create momentum so that people no longer sympathize with the two students who infringed on your rights."

"Do you think everyone online sympathizes with whoever is weak? Let me tell you, not necessarily! I mean, they aren't necessarily weak!"

"Take this case for example. Even if you are in the right when you sue those two students who infringed on your rights, people will still think that those two students are the weaker party, so most people will sympathize with them."

"But if people knew that the vulnerable people they sympathize with actually earn as much in one night from their infringements as the average person's monthly salary, would they still consider them vulnerable?"

"At this point, people will not only not sympathize with them, but will hate them instead. This is the same principle as the resentment towards the rich. People hate not the rich, but the fact that the rich are not themselves!"

Hearing this, Cheng Feng and the others present finally understood.

“Teacher Luo, do you mean we should find someone to expose their infringement and exorbitant profits first, then pretend we only found out about this after seeing the report, and then sue them, while also stating that this was a ‘difficult decision’ that we were forced to make?”

"Cough cough!"

Accompanied by two coughs, Luo Xiang's firm voice came from the other end of the phone.

"I'm just analyzing this case with you objectively; I've never told you what to do."

Although Cheng Feng was recording the entire conversation, he still answered very cooperatively:
"Yes, yes, you just provided us with some professional legal advice, Professor Luo. Thank you so much, we now know what to do!"

On the other end of the phone, Luo Xiang abruptly changed the subject.

"Actually, this matter doesn't necessarily have to escalate to the point of going to court. We're all classmates from the same school, born of the same root, why are we fighting each other so fiercely? If things really come to the point of suing them, I can represent you and have a good talk with those two students."

It's basically a lawyer's letter warning.

Cheng Feng understood immediately and then put forward his own requirements.

Stop the infringement!

Lose money!

They issued a public apology and promised never to sing any songs from the copyright holders again!
If Zhou Yiming and Jia Kuan accept, it will mean that their path to making money by singing and performing at various venues will be completely blocked.

If you don't accept it, that's fine too, see you in court.

Luo Xiang was worried about not having a place to farm battle stats.

After both sides reached an agreement, Cheng Feng was about to hang up the phone.

Yang Muyi suddenly reached out, gesturing for Cheng Feng to hand him the phone.

"Hello, Professor Luo. I am Yang Muye, Cheng Feng's classmate. After listening to your legal explanation, I suddenly felt that your class videos might go viral online. It just so happens that I own a company that does this kind of thing, and the company is currently in need of a legal advisor."

The title is "consultant," but the pronunciation is "internet celebrity."

The universe of college student internet celebrities needs a powerful figure like Luo Xiang!

(End of this chapter)