Huayu: From the Era of Ringtones to Becoming a Legend

As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Zhiqiang was speechless. His expression changed several times before he was about to rush up and beat Lu Jiuge.

He knew very well that with Zuo Wei's methods and the fact that he was a ringback tone service provider, he could see the overall backend data of the ringback tone download system, so Lu Jiuge definitely had evidence.

From the ringback tone data backend records to chat screenshots of smear campaigns orchestrated by Yawei Records, and then to the transaction records of buying online trolls to control online comments...

Each of these things could completely nail him to the pillar of shame.

The assistant gripped Luo Zhiqiang's arm tightly, lowering his voice to persuade him:

"Teacher Luo, don't act impulsively, lest you find yourself in a passive position!"

"The company isn't providing you with a PR team right now. If something goes wrong, it'll be a huge problem! Let's leave first and then figure something out!"

"Think of a way?"

Luo Zhiqiang violently shook off his assistant's hand, his voice hoarse:

"What can I do now? The whole internet is criticizing me, my company has suspended me, and my show contract has been terminated!"

"Now, even some scoundrel who only started out in the industry dares to ride roughshod over me!"

Hearing those deliberately humiliating words, a cold glint flashed in Lu Jiuge's eyes.

He can accept smears and attacks, but he will never tolerate baseless personal insults.

Lu Jiuge took a step forward, her aura so overwhelming that Luo Zhiqiang instinctively took a step back.

"You can't accept defeat, you cheat, you spread rumors, and you came to provoke us—all of that is true!"

Turning her head to the left, Lu Jiuge's attitude was resolute:

"Release the video you just filmed immediately."

"I want the whole internet to see what a top-tier singer in the music industry looks like after losing a bet, refusing to honor it, and then throwing a tantrum in front of someone else's company after being blacklisted!"

Luo Zhiqiang's expression changed drastically:

"You dare!"

"Why wouldn't you dare?"

Lu Jiuge scoffed:

"I won fair and square, and you lost in a shameful way—that's a fact! Others may fear you, but I don't."

Zuo looked at Lu Jiuge in a cooperative manner, deliberately raising his voice:

"Mr. Lu, several local bloggers on nearby short video platforms, as well as a few entertainment self-media, have received the message and are on their way."

Luo Zhiqiang froze.

Journalists, bloggers, self-media...

Once he's photographed, his life is truly over.

"You, you all tricked me!"

Recalling Zuo Wei's words, Luo Zhiqiang felt a chill run down his spine.

"Trying to frame you?"

Lu Jiuge looked at him with a hint of pressure in her voice, as if mocking him:

"I'm not trying to frame you; I'm making you pay the price for your actions."

Luo Zhiqiang stared intently at Lu Jiuge, his eyes filled with resentment, but he dared not make any further moves.

He knew very well that if he continued to cause trouble, he would only suffer a worse fate.

"Lu Jiuge, you just wait."

Gritting his teeth, Luo Zhiqiang uttered a polite remark, turned around, shook off his assistant, jumped into the car, and sped away without waiting for his assistant to follow.

Seeing Luo Zhiqiang fleeing in a disheveled state, Lu Jiuge turned to the left:

"Old Zuo, send the video you just filmed to the bloggers and social media influencers who are rushing over."

"Bloggers and self-media?"

Zuo Wei was stunned for a moment before realizing what was happening, and then awkwardly explained:

"Mr. Lu, no one is coming. I was just trying to scare Luo Zhiqiang."

"Wow, you've got some serious bluffing skills now!"

With a laugh and a curse, Lu Jiuge turned and walked towards her office.

Zuo Wei followed, laughing and joking:

"I learned all of this from you!"

"I never taught you that kind of bluffing trick."

Entering the office, Lu Jiuge felt relaxed. She poured Zuo Wei a cup of tea before speaking again:

"Since you didn't notify the blogger, then you should do it yourself. Post the video you just filmed, along with all the content you collected and organized a few days ago, online."

The man on the left has a look of delight on his face, eager to confirm:

"Mr. Lu, are we really going to retaliate?"

Lu Jiuge nodded:

"That's right, Luo Zhiqiang has come knocking on our door. If we don't respond, Qianxing Entertainment will become a laughing stock in the industry."

Having received a clear answer, Zuo did not delay and immediately got up and returned to his office to begin work.

Thanks to the efficient efforts of Zuo Wei's team, a large amount of on-site videos, audio recordings, and evidence chains were disseminated across the internet in just half an hour.

As Lu Jiuge scrolled through online discussions, system notifications kept ringing in her mind:

[A nationwide public opinion outburst has been detected; negative belief value weighting increased by 3%]

[Current cumulative total: 31200/100000]

Upon seeing this, his tense state of mind, which had been building up for a week, finally eased.

On the other hand, Zuo led his team to guide the discussion for an hour. By 9 p.m., when the peak online time arrived, even without any deliberate promotion, the content denouncing Luo Zhiqiang had already dominated the top ten of the trending search list.

Seeing that the situation was completely out of control, Zuo Wei felt a little guilty and asked Lu Jiuge hesitantly:

"Mr. Lu, the video is spreading too fast and has a huge impact. Should we try to control the pace a bit?"

"I'm afraid things will escalate too much and we'll face another boycott and retaliation from the industry."

"No need to control it."

Lu Jiuge shook her head:

"The bigger the better, the more chaotic the better, the more controversial the better."

The person on the left was taken aback:

"President Lu, the difference between your previous and current decisions is too great. What are your true thoughts? Can you tell me?"

"While netizens are criticizing Luo Zhiqiang, they're also praising me!"

Lu Jiuge patiently explained:

"In the end, Luo Zhiqiang is just a pawn pushed out by Yawei. If he can't gain a firm foothold this time, the entire record capital alliance will keep finding fault with him."

"I understand!"

The left side shows a nod:

"Then I will continue to monitor public opinion across the internet and report any new developments to you immediately."

"Okay, go do it!"

The left image shows the office returning to quiet after the person left.

Lu Jiuge walked behind the desk, sat down, closed her eyes, and let her consciousness sink into the system panel.

[Negative Faith Value: 31200→38700→44200]

Watching the numbers rapidly changing on the panel, Lu Jiuge relaxed, and the tension she had been feeling for days eased.

He tapped the table lightly with his fingertips:

"The progress is good, but not fast enough."

Lu Jiuge knew that Luo Zhiqiang was nothing more than a pawn; what truly fed the system was the wrath and encirclement of the entire record industry alliance behind it.

All he needed was a perfectly timed trigger.

Just then, my phone rang.

Caller: Zheng Lin.

Lu Jiuge answered the phone, and Zheng Lin's excited voice came through:

"Mr. Lu, good news!"

"The first batch of trial production machines from Jiuyin Company all passed quality inspection. The Lingyun algorithm is stable, and the sound quality test scores are all perfect. Wang Daqiang has already received letters of intent from three offline distributors, totaling 12,000 units."

"So fast?"

Lu Jiuge was also somewhat surprised to hear this number.

"It's all about the sound quality that's captivating!"

Zheng Lin smiled and said:

"Several tech bloggers got their hands on the test unit and were blown away after listening to it. They said that this budget phone delivered a sound quality comparable to phones costing a thousand yuan. Now, many dealers are proactively contacting us, all wanting to grab the first batch of stock."

After a few seconds of silence, Lu Jiuge asked:

"Can production capacity keep up?"

"Wang Daqiang has completely refurbished the two old production lines, plus a temporary assembly line, bringing the daily production capacity to 3,000 units, which is more than enough to handle the initial orders! I'm also overseeing things at Jiuyin now, making sure any problems are resolved on-site!"

Zheng Lin paused, his tone slightly somber:

"However, Mr. Lu, we are facing a problem now."

"explain!"

"We can produce unlimited machines, and our sound quality is also excellent, but we can't keep up with the song content."

After a moment's hesitation, Zheng Lin spoke frankly:

"We've locked out our proprietary audio format, so external songs can't be played. Right now, there are very few tracks available on the machine."

"Right now, this is the biggest concern for everyone from factories to distributors!"

"How should we solve this problem?"