I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Secretary Gao calmly put the white paper away.

“Ms. Xu, we actually have another purpose for coming here today. Although we cannot reach a cooperation agreement on this private music collection, our request is that we can no longer continue filming here,” Secretary Gao said.

"Why? On what grounds?" Xu Xiangxiao asked loudly.

"First, there's the copyright issue. Some of the music in this collection may be copyrighted by Aihua, and we're worried that if you play it ahead of time, it could affect the company's strategy," Secretary Gao said. "Second, this building is an illegal structure, and I personally don't recommend exposing it too much."

Chapter 170 I Am the Storm (Five Chapters Combined)

Xu Xiangxiao stood up abruptly.

Under her angry gaze, Secretary Gao calmly tidied the documents on the table and put them into her briefcase.

"Actually, I shouldn't tell you this. It's something we're negotiating with the production team. But I'll mention it anyway, as a sign of respect for you."

He spoke in a very respectful tone, but his words were arrogant.

The subtext of "I shouldn't have told you" is "It's none of your business."

It means, "So what if you know? You, Xu Xiangxiao, can't stop it."

Unfortunately, Xu Xiangxiao discovered that she was indeed unable to stop it.

Moreover, his words just now carried a strong threatening connotation—this private music collection is currently considered an illegal building.

Illegal buildings should, in principle, be demolished.

After calmly packing his briefcase, Secretary Gao said again:

"Actually, we have already written the plan. This private music collection and JX himself will be incorporated into our system. I believe that we will be able to reach a pleasant cooperation agreement at that time."

Xu Xiangxiao stared into his eyes: "You're too arrogant."

"Am I arrogant?" Secretary Gao tilted his head.

He showed a very interested expression.

It's been a long time since anyone dared to speak to him like that.

Perhaps among all the celebrities in the world, only someone like Xu Xiangxiao, who has both star power and a strong personality, would dare to criticize him to his face like that.

“You can’t bribe JX,” Xu Xiangxiao said. “He doesn’t care about any of your conditions.”

"His reputation and musical talent are unprecedented and unparalleled, yet you pay no attention to such a person."

Secretary Gao chuckled, then suddenly turned around and placed his briefcase on the table.

He ran his fingers through his hair, which had been styled perfectly with hairspray, and then slowly said:

"You only learned the name JX today, but do you know when we first learned it?"

Xu Xiangxiao looked at him warily.

“Four years ago,” Secretary Gao said, repeating, “four years ago.”

Xu Xiangxiao's eyes widened.

Secretary Gao continued:

“You only learned about him and what he did today, but we already knew about it back then.”

“At that time, we had already started to contact him and began to systematically evaluate his business value.”

“At the time, our assessment showed that his work had a final audience of only 1.2% in China, and a paid subscription rate of only 33.6%. Before coming here today, we did another assessment, and his audience has increased slightly to 2.2%, which is exactly a 1% increase.”

"So, the price on that letter of intent you're holding is based on this assessment."

Xu Xiangxiao frowned.

Secretary Gao smiled slightly and said, "Are you wondering why it's so low, and whether we tampered with the evaluation?"

That's what Xu Xiangxiao thought, but she didn't answer.

But Secretary Gao seemed to see through all her thoughts and smiled again.

"That assessment was entirely for our own internal reference, and we had no reason to tamper with it."

"This result is astonishing, and we ourselves are also surprised, but that's the result, and there's nothing I can do about it. The historical error rate of our evaluation system has never exceeded 5%."

"In fact, we have already been quite lenient with his evaluation figures. Even if we take into account how innovative his musical style is and how many awards he has won abroad, this is still the only figure we can get."

"That's why I'm negotiating with you this way. The amount on our letter of intent is all calculated scientifically based on the evaluation system. It's not based on my personal grudges or anyone's preference for him."

“You have to understand, we are a company, we only want to make money, and that’s all we need to do. We don’t treat him like an ordinary artist; we’ve already given him the highest offer based on his commercial value.”

Xu Xiangxiao scoffed at his statement.

Rigidly applying how much money you've made to JX will always lead to an absurd answer.

JX is so respected abroad, how could he be measured by their meager wealth?

Secretary Gao smiled, his eyes unfathomable.

"Are you thinking that since JX is so popular overseas, it's impossible for him not to become popular in China, right?"

He adjusted his glasses and said, "Let me ask you a question. It's been four or five years since JX started his activities abroad. How popular is he in China?"

Xu Xiangxiao paused for a moment.

Secretary Gao then asked, "Let me ask you another question. If today's 'Poetic Life' hadn't aired, how many people would know the name JX?"

Xu Xiangxiao said, "That's because it hasn't been promoted in the country yet..."

Secretary Gao waved his finger in the air and said, "You've hit the nail on the head; there's no promotion."

“I recommend you read a book called ‘The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind’, which is a great work on communication,” Secretary Gao said. “If you read the book, you will understand that the so-called masses, when they are a collective, are a collection of the worst flaws of everyone.”

"Brainless, forgetful, and gullible. After what happened today, how many viewers will actually go out of their way to find JX's songs to listen to? How many viewers will actually come to see this private music archive? How many viewers will remember the name JX forever?"

“I’m telling you, there aren’t many,” Secretary Gao said.

"The musical styles he created abroad have no market in China. The audience is only a very small group of artistic young people who generally don't have much money."

"Times have changed. In this era, audiences have so many choices. Why should they choose to listen to your songs?"

"Saying how great JX is, how groundbreaking he is in music... is all empty talk. Without an audience paying for his music, his greatness has no basis and no credibility."

Facing the silent Xu Xiangxiao, Secretary Gao paced around the room with a kingly, disdainful air.

Every step he takes measures the sales performance and market dynamics of the domestic music scene.

“In our evaluation system, Li Xingliang’s value is 5 times that of JX. Do you know why there is such a huge difference?”

"Because for the general public, JX is just a distant name, but Li Xingliang is a way of life."

"Yes, he may not be worth mentioning musically, but how many people check in on his fan page every day? How many people send him virtual flowers? How many people watch his variety show appearances and new album releases?"

"This is all real financial support. It's an ecosystem with massive investments that you can't even imagine."

"Yes, JX's songs are awesome. Although I don't like listening to them, I admit that his songwriting ability is indeed amazing. But in my opinion, Li Xingliang is even greater than him."

He picked up his briefcase and said, "Ms. Xu, trust us. We are a profitable company, and we are willing to do our best to serve all artists, but the premise is that we have to make money."

"Whether an artist is great or not is not determined by a small group of people. We only look at how much money they can make."

In the final moments before he left the room, Xu Xiangxiao took a step forward and said to his retreating figure:

"Although I don't understand 'The Crowd' or any communication theory, I do know the mean reversion theorem."

“JX is the greatest musician and songwriter of all time, and that will never change. He will eventually return to where he belongs.”

"If your evaluation system only considers making money, you are sorely mistaken. You cannot evaluate a being so great that it transcends our present era!"

Secretary Gao did not stop walking.

Xu Xiangxiao's words didn't resonate with him much, because he had heard similar words far too many times.

How many people consider themselves great, believe their music is invincible, and beg him while crying and kneeling, just to get a little bit of exposure?

Too much.

If he took each one seriously, he wouldn't have enough energy for his entire life.

There are too many talented people in this world; anyone can be replaced, and the earth will keep turning no matter who is gone.

What is truly irreplaceable is Aihua Company, and the industrial machine hidden behind them.

That is the truly great creation.

He walked out of the room meticulously and reached for his phone.

"The Ministry of Justice must speed up its actions and clarify the judicial procedures as soon as possible, so as to ensure that the private music archives no longer appear in the public media."

"We must strengthen the monitoring and management of public opinion and eliminate all information that should not appear."

"I don't want any mention of JX to appear online until we've finished negotiating with him!"

Stepping out of the office, the people around me bowed their heads like wheat in the wind.

"Secretary Gao!"

"Hello, Secretary Gao!"

Secretary Gao didn't pause for a moment, quickly walking out. Someone beside her followed, whispering:

"Secretary Gao, why bother coming all this way in person?"

Secretary Gao glanced at the man and said, "This time the person I'm talking to is Xu Xiangxiao, so of course I have to come in person. We still need to show her respect."

He got into the Mercedes parked by the roadside, leaned down and whispered something to the person next to him. The person nodded repeatedly, then quickly jogged over to Xu Xiangxiao and whispered to her:

"Secretary Gao just said that he has arranged to meet with JX this afternoon. After he talks with him, he will talk to you again. I believe you will change your mind."

Xu Xiangxiao looked into the distance and saw Secretary Gao get into the car. The driver respectfully closed the door for him, then returned to the driver's seat and slammed the door shut.

The car sped away.

……

The cork made a soft "pop" sound and was quickly sprayed out by the gushing champagne.

Amidst thunderous applause, Wang Qian, dressed in a red evening gown, smiled sweetly and clapped her hands gently.

This is the Golden Champagne Room at the Julia Hotel.

The purpose of this banquet was to celebrate a deal that was important to both Rayark Entertainment and Hyatt Entertainment—

— Li Xingliang terminated his contract with Rayark Entertainment and signed with Haiya Entertainment instead.

The entire Li Xingliang team collectively switched jobs and joined Haiya.

If this deal were to be leaked, it would cause a huge uproar, attracting countless media outlets and driving fans into a frenzy.

But at this point, the deal was satisfactory for both parties.

It's worth noting that in order to get Li Xingliang to terminate his contract, Haiya Entertainment paid a total of 120 million yuan in breach of contract fees to Raya Entertainment on his behalf.

Rayark Entertainment has achieved its annual revenue target with just this one sum of money.

However, without Li Xingliang, their only source of income, what will happen next year is a problem.

People from Rayark Entertainment and Haiya Entertainment sat together, chatting and laughing.

Wang Qian nervously tidied her hair; her only task was to stay by the side of the person beside her.

To be honest, when Wang Qian first received the task of accompanying guests, she couldn't believe her ears.

Because the person sitting next to her was named Lu Qingzhou.

Or to put it more directly—he belongs to the Lu family.

Aihua is basically a family business. After Haiya Company became a subsidiary of Aihua, the Lu family members naturally took over and actually controlled Haiya.

It's more accurate to say that a deal was reached with the Lu family than with Haiya—given Haiya's size, it's impossible for him to come up with 1.2 million in one go.

Wang Qian raised her glass and said to Lu Qingzhou with a smile, "Mr. Lu, I'd like to propose a toast to you."

"Haha."

Lu Qingzhou laughed heartily, raised his wine glass, and clinked it against hers in mid-air, producing a pleasant sound.

He was already slightly tipsy, and his speech became slurred.

He pointed to Li Xingliang across the table—the boy, who was sitting there obediently with a pale face, slurring his words:

“From today onwards, Xingliang is a part of Haiya. I believe that under the protection of the Lu family, he will definitely go further and achieve greater things.”