Huayu: From the Era of Ringtones to Becoming a Legend

The air in the office was stagnant.

Lu Jiuge spoke with great enthusiasm and confidence, but the others were all filled with worry.

After all, they all knew the consequences of offending Lo Chih-chiang, who had a company backing him with a mature hype model.

Seeing that Liu Sixi and the others were silent, Lu Jiuge did not rush to break the silence. He knew that he had to give them some time to process their emotions.

The silence lasted for a full minute before being broken by a long sigh from Chen Bin.

"Xiao Lu, the song is great, no doubt about it. But Luo Zhiqiang is backed by Yawei Records and SG Records; they have a huge advantage in terms of resources, distribution channels, and public opinion!"

Liu Sixi nodded in agreement:

"In this industry, only the scripts written by the winners are recognized."

Lu Jiuge listened, but her face did not show the solemnity they had expected.

"Old Chen, Teacher Liu, you're both right. But don't forget one thing: the scripts they wrote are for idols who cherish their reputations."

"But my public image was never perfect from the start. They're throwing mud at me? No problem, even mud generates traffic!"

"Being controversial is still being famous, and I'll still find a way to make money!"

After pacing back and forth a few steps, Lu Jiuge changed the subject:

"The most important thing now is not to follow their lead, but to solidify our own foundation. Let's boost the numbers for 'Liang Liang'!"

Looking up at Liu Sixi and his group, a sharp glint flashed in Lu Jiuge's eyes:

"What I want is for every single work from Qianxing Entertainment to become a hit; I absolutely will not allow any instances of sluggish performance!"

"Alright, you all discuss what I said first. As for Luo Zhiqiang, I have a solution. I'll let you know when I've thought it through!"

After saying that, Lu Jiuge turned around and went back to her office.

Back in her office, sitting on the sofa, Lu Jiuge closed her eyes and focused her mind on the changes in her faith value.

The system screen appeared in her mind. The moment Lu Jiuge saw the Faith Value section, her heart skipped a beat.

[Positive Faith Value: 8472 (Continuously Increasing)]

[Negative Faith Value: 21895 (Main Emotional Sources: Lo Chih-chiang and his team, online trolls, and manipulated controversial topics)]

Seeing the negative faith value increase to over 20,000, Lu Jiuge sneered inwardly.

With a thought, he first converted more than 8,000 points of positive faith into enhancement energy.

A familiar warmth quickly spread throughout my body, sweeping away the fatigue of the past few days, and leaving my mind clear and sharper than ever before.

Immediately afterwards, he eagerly opened the song list in the system store.

Previously, he was short of faith points and could only look on longingly at those expensive classics. Now that he has a huge sum of 20,000 faith points, Lu Jiuge needs to carefully study which songs to exchange for at this stage to find the most cost-effective option.

I loved yesterday so much, I pray to Buddha that autumn will never return...

His gaze fell on the required negative faith points, and an overwhelming surge of joy welled up inside him!

"3000...2800...2500?"

He almost burst out laughing:

"These hit songs that later dominated the ringtone charts and the streets were actually so cheap?"

In contrast, classic works that belong to the era of records or require a deep accumulation of reputation, such as Blue and White Porcelain, are priced with negative faith value of tens of thousands of yuan.

"Tailor-made, truly tailor-made!"

Lu Jiuge opened her eyes, all her doubts vanished, leaving only a determination to succeed.

……

The next day at noon, Lu Jiuge was looking at the download data for the ringtone of the song "Liang Liang" when Zuo Wei pushed open the door and came in:

"Mr. Lu, I've just confirmed that Luo Zhiqiang's new song, 'Road to Glory,' was recorded three months ago!"

"Luo Zhiqiang's new song will be released by tomorrow afternoon at the latest! At the same time, the negative smear campaign against you will also begin!"

"I know the head of the online trolls they're working with. Their orders were to achieve 70% coverage of negative keywords about you within twelve hours!"

Lu Jiuge calmly poured Zuo Wei a cup of tea:

"You've bought it? That's great, it saves us so much trouble!"

The person on the left was taken aback:

"Mr. Lu, do you mean we don't need to respond?"

"Make a sound? What sound are you going to make now?"

Lu Jiuge interrupted him:

"Old Zuo, you've been staking out this place before, you know when to strike most dangerously!"

Not when the prey first shows its face, when it's most alert; it's when it's run around wildly, thinks it's safe, and completely relaxes!

Lu Jiuge shifted her attention from the computer and gestured for the person on her left to sit down.

"Luo Zhiqiang and his team are like a wild beast that has just burst out of its den, howling and trying to intimidate everyone."

Let them shout, let them jump, let them make the biggest noise possible.

The more hype they generate, the higher the audience's expectations for our counterattack will be. Once they run out of steam…

Lu Jiuge paused for a moment, then made a gesture to pull the trigger:

"Back then, one blow would have been enough to kill!"

Zuo opened his mouth, unsure what to say, and said with a wry smile:

"President Lu, your audacity is truly astounding! And your grasp of business strategy is unparalleled. I need to learn a great deal from you in the future!"

"I've gone on and on about this all because I'm teaching you!"

Lu Jiuge was not modest:

"Old Zuo, you're an absolute master at intelligence gathering, but you need to work on your strategic thinking!"

Although it sounded a bit awkward coming from Lu Jiuge, who was in her early twenties, Zuo Wei was genuinely convinced and nodded earnestly.

"Mr. Lu, you're right, I do need to improve in this area!"

Lu Jiuge nodded:

"Alright, you can go now. Keep a close eye on Luo Zhiqiang's movements, and notify me immediately of any major actions so I can make appropriate arrangements!"

……

The storm arrived as expected at 10 a.m. the next day.

The press conference for Luo Zhiqiang's new song "Road to Glory," jointly organized by Yawei Records and SG Records, was a grand affair.

Not only were all the mainstream entertainment media present, but many music critics and senior executives from record companies were also invited to lend their support.

The three major online live streaming platforms even sent professional teams to broadcast the event.

Sitting on the left is the office, watching the show-off Luo Zhiqiang pose for the camera.

Even at the host's urging, Luo Zhiqiang made no attempt to hide his intentions, making a throat-slitting gesture and pointing his index finger at the camera.

"Lu Jiuge, you're going to die!"

"Hold!"

On the left, a fist is slammed on the table, and the eyes are red.

"Mr. Lu, can you tolerate this? I'm going to expose all his dirty secrets right now!"

Lu Jiuge pressed down on his shoulder, her eyes fixed on the screen.

Instead of anger, a smile of triumph appeared on his face:

"What's the rush? Let's watch the show!"

As he spoke, he personally refreshed the blog's trending topics list.

On the list, the topic of Luo Zhiqiang's new song release ranked first, and the second most popular search term was #How miserable is Lu Jiuge#.

Clicking through, the trending content is no longer a copy-paste of Luo Zhiqiang's press releases, but rather a large number of spontaneous discussions among netizens:

"Is it really necessary for industry giants to join forces to suppress newcomers?"

"The competition hasn't even started yet, and you're already in such a hurry to crush it?"

"I feel a little sorry for Lu Jiuge; at least my grandma can hum all his songs!"

The person on the left is staring at the screen, dumbfounded.

"What, what's going on? Mr. Lu, did you pay for trending topics?"

Lu Jiuge exhaled a smoke ring and smiled:

"This is called the reverse sympathy effect! The more assertive Luo Zhiqiang appears, the more likely netizens are to develop a rebellious mentality and a compensatory psychology of fairness!"

"The more Luo Zhiqiang suppresses me, the more netizens empathize with me, resulting in the situation where the more I'm attacked, the more I'm favored!"

Hearing the new words coming out of Lu Jiuge's mouth, Zuo Wei's mind went blank, completely unable to understand them, and it took him a while before he asked:

"So, what should we do next? Should we just watch and let netizens' emotions continue to escalate?"

Lu Jiuge shook her head:

"Without adding fuel to the fire, given netizens' tendency to lose interest quickly, this whole thing can't last!"

"Alright, act now and create a tragic persona for me, then release it to guide netizens to take sides!"