You're already divorced, why are you so anxious about him becoming a succubus?

Zhang Yuan took two deep drags on the cigarette in his hand, then threw the half-smoked cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it out.

He was about to turn around and go backstage when he looked up and his gaze fell on Lu Ci and Gu Xiaowei, who were standing not far away watching the drama unfold.

Zhang Yuan abruptly stopped, his face instantly darkening.

He immediately noticed that the two people were not wearing name tags from the organizers around their necks.

He recalled how the two men had witnessed him smashing the microphone and throwing a tantrum on stage, as well as smoking.

Zhang Yuan's nerves tensed instantly, instinctively thinking that some obsessive stalker had sneaked in.

"Who are they?!" Zhang Yuan pointed at Lu Ci and the other person, shouting angrily at the surrounding security guards, "What kind of work are you doing? How can you let just anyone in?!"

Upon hearing this ancestor's anger, the dozen or so staff members and security guards around immediately turned around as if facing a formidable enemy.

Several burly security guards immediately strode forward menacingly and shouted, "What are you two doing here? How did you get in?!"

Just as tensions were rising, Xinghan Media's female secretary, wearing high heels, jogged over from the nearby tent area.

"Misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!" The female secretary quickly stopped the security guard and turned to Zhang Yuan with a fawning smile: "Teacher Zhang, please don't be angry. This is Lu Ci, one of the singers performing at this music festival. He just came to familiarize himself with the venue."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

He put his hands in his pockets and looked Lu Ci up and down.

Looking at Lu Ci's face, which was even more handsome and sculpted than his own, a heavily edited idol, Zhang Yuan felt a barely concealed hint of jealousy.

He scoffed, then turned to his female secretary and said sarcastically, "Your Xinghan Media organizers are really ridiculous. Are you really unable to find anyone? What kind of nobody dares to put in such a big music festival? Someone I've never even heard of, does they even deserve to be called a singer?"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding staff all lowered their heads, none of them daring to offend this top-tier prince.

"Ha!" Xiao Wei rolled her eyes without any politeness: "We may not be famous, but we're still better than someone with a lousy voice who can't even hit a high note and is pretending to be a talented singer."

"What did you say?!" Zhang Yuan's mocking expression froze instantly, and his face visibly turned ashen.

Xiao Wei raised her chin, about to continue speaking, but Lu Ci grabbed her wrist.

Lu Ci didn't even glance at Zhang Yuan: "Why bother with him? Let's go."

"Hmph!" Xiao Wei snorted coldly at Zhang Yuan, then turned and followed Lu Ci, leaving the scene without looking back.

Watching the two of them ignore him and walk away, Zhang Yuan pointed at Lu Ci's retreating figure, then turned and roared at his female secretary:

"I demand that the organizers immediately disqualify him from performing! Get him out of here!"

The female secretary quickly stepped forward with a smile: "Ms. Zhang, please calm down, but the contract has already been signed, and I have a performance tomorrow, so we don't have time to change actors..."

"I don't care!" Zhang Yuan threw a tantrum, giving him a hard time. "It's either him or me! If he doesn't leave, I won't perform tomorrow, okay? I'm booking a flight back to Beijing right now!"

The female secretary frowned slightly, a hint of impatience flashing in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it.

She coaxed him gently, as if coaxing a kindergarten child:

"Look at you, a big star, why are you getting worked up over a mere internet celebrity? Besides, you just got back to the country, and you only signed the contract three days ago..."

The female secretary changed the subject: "Don't be angry. Didn't you just say the stage equipment was faulty? I'll go and tell the equipment team to replace it right away."

Upon hearing the word "contract," Zhang Yuan's anger faltered slightly. He took a deep breath and ultimately swallowed back the harsh words that were on the tip of his tongue.

He was adored by investors and fans from a young age. A few years ago in China, because of his eccentric personality, his agency and family decided to send him to Berkeley to reflect on his behavior for a few years.

This trip back to China, including the Jiangbei Music Festival, marks his first major step in returning to the pinnacle of the Chinese entertainment industry.

Having signed a three-day contract, breaking it now would be a minor issue compared to offending a company as influential in the industry as Xinghan Media, which I just returned from abroad. That would be extremely unwise.

Seeing Zhang Yuan fall silent, one of his personal assistants standing behind him secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The assistant knew very well that Zhang Yuan had become famous too early. If it had been three years ago, Zhang Yuan would have already rushed up and started hitting people.

It seems that the three years I spent abroad, getting a bit older, have had some effect. At least I've learned to weigh the pros and cons and become more restrained.

"Just what's that kid's singing level?" Zhang Yuan asked coldly as he walked towards the dressing room, his face grim. "What time slot is he scheduled to perform tomorrow?"

The female secretary breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he had stopped acting crazy.

In order to appease the prince, she said:

"I've watched his live streams, and it's barely audible. You know how it is these days, those internet celebrities turn on sound effects and auto-tuning, and they can even turn a pig's squeal into heavenly music."

The female secretary added, "Don't worry, he's scheduled to be the first performer tomorrow afternoon, just to warm up the audience. There won't even be many people in the audience then."

Upon hearing these words, Zhang Yuan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He turned around, and a smile suddenly appeared on his lips.

"The opening is so boring," Zhang Yuan said, staring at his female secretary. "Go and change the schedule now, move him to the back of my show. Let him go on stage after I finish singing."

The female secretary was instantly stunned, thinking she had misheard, and stared wide-eyed: "Teacher Zhang... what are you trying to achieve? During your prime time tonight, even after you finish singing and leave the stage, there will be at least 10,000 people in the audience! Isn't this just giving him free traffic?"

"I told you to change it, so go and change it." Zhang Yuan said impatiently, "Can't you even do this small request?"

The female secretary hesitated for a moment, then sighed helplessly and compromised: "Okay... I'll contact the other singers from the first day now and rearrange the performance order."

Watching his female secretary hurriedly leave, Zhang Yuan's smile grew even more smug.

The assistant who had been following him had already guessed what the other party wanted to do.

Zhang Yuan had used this tactic of praising someone to their detriment many times before, and it always worked.

They managed to elevate an unknown internet celebrity to a prime-time slot with tens of thousands of viewers, and even had them appear right after a top influencer.

At that time, as long as Lu Ci messes up his performance on stage due to nervousness or lack of skill...

Zhang Yuan would immediately post a short apology on social media.

For example: "Because my fans were too enthusiastic, it put tremendous psychological pressure on Mr. Lu Ci, who appeared later, causing him to underperform. I sincerely apologize..."

Once this short essay is posted, Zhang Yuan's fanatical fans will immediately understand their master's intentions and instantly turn into an overwhelming wave of online violence, leading the charge to completely destroy Lu Ci's social media.

Various labels such as "useless", "riding the coattails of popularity", and "lacking ability yet daring to go on stage and embarrass himself" will be firmly attached to Lu Ci.

A newly emerging internet celebrity was cyberbullied by the fans of a top influencer.

Basically, his career in the entertainment industry is completely ruined, and he will face ridicule and jeers when he does live streams in the future.

Of course, what if Lu Ci really has some talent and can still sing well in front of thousands of people?

In this industry, there are a hundred ways to make a newcomer with no connections embarrass themselves on stage.