Huayu: From the Era of Ringtones to Becoming a Legend

On the left, the fingers of the three team members fly across the keyboard.

Bank receipts showing that Yawei Records transferred one million to an online marketing company were posted on various platforms within five minutes.

"You call this the industry rule that you can spend a million dollars to smear the likes of ordinary netizens?"

The accompanying sentence further fueled netizens' anger:

"Holy crap! It's confirmed! All those people bashing Lu Jiuge were paid trolls!"

"One million! Yawei Records is really going all out, they're even willing to throw away their dignity to win!"

"I used to think those music critics made sense, but it turns out they were all just paid to do their jobs. Disgusting!"

"Boycott Away Records! Boycott Lo Chih-chiang! This kind of capitalism deserves a severe slap in the face!"

The online public opinion, which had been deadlocked, suddenly turned one-sided.

Those paid online trolls are still trying to defend it, but their comments are immediately drowned out by netizens' anger.

Music critics and elite forum users who spoke up for Yawei were also exposed for receiving benefits from major record companies over the years, causing their reputation to plummet.

In the office of Mirror Media, Lu Jiuge was very pleased to see Zuo Wei and his three subordinates working so efficiently.

An hour later, Zuo Wei, who had been staring at the background data for ringback tone downloads, was so excited that his voice was trembling:

"President Lu! The data is explosive! Within an hour of the vouchers being issued, the download count for 'A Kind of Love Called Letting Go' surpassed ten million, and it's still rising—it just won't stop!"

Lu Jiuge leaned back in her chair, watching the numbers constantly changing on the screen, a relaxed smile appearing on her lips:

"This is the will of the people. Zhao Mingliang thinks he can use money to suppress it? No way!"

"Keep an eye on it, and let me know immediately if there are any new developments. Make sure to push all the comments from netizens criticizing Yawei and Luo Zhiqiang to the top!"

"And as for what you said before about having dirt on Lo Chih-chiang, release it all now. Strike while the iron is hot and nail him down once and for all!"

"clear!"

Zuo responded with a shout, then turned and yelled to his men:

"Did you all hear what President Lu said? This is Mirror Media's first battle, and we must win it!"

Lu Jiuge's emotions were stirred, and she seamlessly added:

"Comrades, charge! If we win this round, I'll give each of us a 100,000 yuan bonus!"

"Okay!"

"Thank you, Mr. Lu!"

"President Lu is so generous, he'll marry 108 wives!"

The three men's eyes lit up at the prospect of winning a prize, and their fingers flew across the keyboard, filling the room with the clatter of keys.

Meanwhile, in the conference room of Yawei Records, chaos had already broken out.

The public relations director rushed in, sweating profusely, his hands trembling as he held his laptop.

"Mr. Zhao, this is bad! Lu Jiuge has released the evidence of our money transfer to the online trolls, and now the internet is full of comments criticizing us!"

Luo Zhiqiang abruptly stood up, snatched the laptop from his hand, and turned deathly pale after seeing the content on the screen:

"How could this happen? How did he get the transfer receipt?"

"And it gets even worse!"

The marketing director also stumbled in:

"The download count for 'Road to Glory' isn't just not increasing, it's starting to drop, while Lu Jiuge's 'A Kind of Love Called Letting Go' has already reached twelve million downloads!"

"Twelve million?"

Zhao Mingliang slammed his hand on the conference table, his eyes filled with malice and rage:

"A bunch of idiots! They can't even handle this simple task!"

He pointed his finger at the public relations director and yelled:

"Didn't I tell you to clean up your act? How did Lu Jiuge manage to find something to use against you? Now look what happened, you tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead, and the whole company has been dragged down with you!"

The public relations director lowered his head and explained in a low voice:

"President Zhao, it's not that we were careless, it's that the enemy is too powerful! Zuo Wei is now Lu Jiuge's man, and he's been keeping a close eye on our movements!"

"Damn it, all they know how to do is make excuses! A bunch of useless bastards!"

Zhao Mingliang slammed his fist on the table and gave the order:

"Immediately remove all the online trolls and shut those music critics up!"

"Issue another statement saying that the transfer records were forged by Lu Jiuge, and that he's deliberately framing me!"

Marketing Director's Reminder:

"Mr. Zhao, nobody will believe this statement even if we release it!"

"Bank receipts can't be faked, and netizens simply don't believe us anymore. Issuing a statement will only make things worse!"

Luo Zhiqiang slumped in his chair, his eyes glazed over, muttering to himself:

"It's over, it's really over this time... I lost, I lost to Lu Jiuge..."

He thought he had it in the bag when he made the bet with Lu Jiuge, believing that with the resources of Yawei Records behind him, Lu Jiuge wouldn't be able to turn the tables even if she had extraordinary abilities.

But who could have imagined that Lu Jiuge would actually tear open a gap in the media with a single propaganda war, and nail him and Yawei Records to the pillar of shame?

Looking at the dejected Luo Zhiqiang, and thinking about the losses suffered by the company, Zhao Mingliang felt a surge of anger rising within him, yet he was helpless.

He knew that this time he had truly failed, completely and utterly failed.

After weighing the options repeatedly for a while, Zhao Mingliang finally had to compromise:

"Notify all parties involved to cease their actions. The public relations department should handle the aftermath and minimize the damage to the company's image!"

As soon as Zhao Mingliang finished speaking, Luo Zhiqiang jumped to his feet:

"Mr. Zhao, there are still ten hours left in the competition. You can't give up! We still have a chance!"

Zhao Mingliang shook his head:

"It's too late. Your 'Road to Glory' song's stats have plateaued, while Lu Jiuge's is gaining momentum!"

"In this situation, tell me, what makes us think we can win?"

"No matter how small the opportunity, we must not give up!"

Luo Zhiqiang stared at Zhao Mingliang and made a harsh statement:

"Mr. Zhao, if you don't save me this time, I won't participate in the next few events!"

Threatened to his face by Luo Zhiqiang, Zhao Mingliang also became enraged:

"You're threatening me? Figure out who's feeding you first, you bastard!"

"You messed things up yourself. Once the Time Master's shady dealings are exposed, who knows what kind of trouble it will cause the company!"

"Hurry up and wipe your butt clean, or else... Humph!"

After Zhao Mingliang finished speaking, he ignored Luo Zhiqiang's ugly expression and walked straight out of the conference room.

……

The next day, only one hour remained before Lu Jiuge and Luo Zhiqiang's bet ended.

In the Qianxing Entertainment office, Zuo Wei excitedly jumped up after confirming the data in the ringtone download backend one last time. He rushed to Lu Jiuge's side, who was still half asleep, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"President Lu! We won! We won completely!"

Lu Jiuge rubbed her eyes and leaned closer to the computer screen; the numbers on the screen were particularly glaring.

The ringtone download count for "There's a Kind of Love Called Letting Go" is 15 million!

The download count for the "Road to Glory" ringtone is ten million!

"pretty!"

Lu Jiuge slammed her fist on the table, her eyes full of laughter:

"Brothers, you've worked hard. Each of you gets a 100,000 yuan bonus. Go collect it from Old Chen later. Everyone's on holiday today, go out and relax!"

"Yay!"

Cheers erupted in the office, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

All the sleepless nights of the past few days have turned into the joy of victory at this moment.

Zuo Wei smiled and handed him a glass of water:

"President Lu, this victory is so satisfying. Yawei Records has now become a pariah, with the internet full of voices boycotting them, and even the reputations of their other artists have been affected."

"They brought this on themselves."

Lu Jiuge took a sip of water, her tone calm, but a cold glint flashed in her eyes:

"Those who try to use capital to suppress ordinary people and trample on the likes of ordinary people will pay the price for their arrogance sooner or later."

"This is just to teach them a lesson. Once we've implemented the Lingyun algorithm and established a firm foothold, we'll turn around and completely uproot Yawei Records and Luo Zhiqiang!"

After Lu Jiuge finished speaking, she took out her phone and dialed Zheng Lin's number, her tone crisp and decisive:

"Old Zheng, we won the bet! Get your negotiation materials ready, we're flying to Kyoto first thing tomorrow morning to talk to NewSlow Technology about cooperation, and we'll secure the audio distribution channels for the player first!"