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

Jiang Xinhai handed her the phone.

The post that appeared on her phone screen immediately labeled JX a "spiritual American".

JX clearly conquered Europe and America with his music, but that poster described it as "JX defected to Europe and America, served Europeans and Americans, and then used Europe and America to oppress the Chinese music scene."

However, despite such an outrageous viewpoint, there are still a lot of people who agree with it.

Qin Yunchu comforted her, "Don't worry about it. Most of these people are paid trolls."

"The problem is that a lot of people actually believed it! They don't even know JX, and they're just spouting nonsense. It really infuriates me."

Seeing Jiang Xinhai's sullen face, Qin Yunchu leaned closer and whispered to her:

"Don't worry about it. This is a common tactic of the Lu family. Whenever they want to sign an artist, or when an artist is just rising to fame, they will use online trolls to smear them. This is called a show of force."

Jiang Xinhai looked up: "Is that so?"

“Yes,” Qin Yunchu nodded, “The Lu family’s online army is the most powerful online army organization in the world besides the CIA. All the hot topics you see are what they want you to see. They can ruin whoever they want.”

Jiang Xinhai was a little annoyed: "Is it really this lawless?"

"Otherwise, why do you think those two over there are so fearless?" Qin Yunchu gestured towards Yingzi and Yan Yunzhuo, who were sitting some distance away from the two of them.

Anyone who makes a living in the entertainment industry or works in cultural media is not afraid of the Lu family.

After all, they rely on popularity to make a living; if their reputation is ruined, they won't have anything to eat.

As they were talking, Jiang Xinhai casually scrolled through Weibo and immediately saw Yingzi's post.

After reading it once, Jiang Xinhai became even angrier. Seeing the number of reposts on that Weibo post skyrocketing, she turned off her phone screen.

"Sigh, now that Chen Ya is no longer in the music scene, she's started dancing again."

Jiang Xinhai felt a little sad. Looking at Yingzi, he whispered:

"I feel like Chen Ya is like Sun Wukong, and Yingzi is like the little demon. We fought for ages, and just when we were about to kill her, a deity came down from heaven and took her away. Then, the second time we met, it turned out the deity had descended to earth..."

After listening, Qin Yunchu laughed and said, "Capital is like a bodhisattva; who can blame them when they have powerful backers?"

The two of them sighed deeply.

After a while, Jiang Xinhai said:

"Actually, the effect of online trolls is still limited. As long as JX's songs become popular in China and he becomes popular again, those rumors will be disproven."

"In other words, as long as 'A Poetic Life' continues to air, and Langlang is asked to prove JX's achievements, then it's certain that..."

Qin Yun Chu interrupted her, saying, "It seems very difficult now. I just called my dad, and it's very likely that the show won't be able to air today."

"Why?" Jiang Xinhai asked, frowning.

"On the surface, they're talking about copyright issues, but actually, they're upset because the Lu family was mentioned in the program."

Jiang Xinhai said, "Is the Lu family really that domineering?"

“That’s how domineering they are, and they’ve been doing it for a long time,” Qin Yunchu said. “Think about it, they’ve practically monopolized the Chinese music scene, and their word is law. If this were exposed to the public, how much backlash would it cause?”

Jiang Xinhai thought about it in silence for a moment, then nodded.

Also.

Insiders are used to the Lu family's monopolistic practices, but it's a different story when it's exposed to the public.

Qin Yunchu said sullenly, "I also disapprove of their behavior, but I am also involved. My family and the Lu family are related by marriage and have business cooperation in many places. Criticizing them will not do us any good."

Jiang Xinhai shook his head.

That classic line is so true:

You are in me, and I am in you; this is where all the trouble in the world comes from!

Jiang Xinhai crossed his arms and thought for a while, unwilling to give up, when suddenly a brilliant idea flashed into his mind.

"Yun Chu, I've got it! They're not going to film, are they? Why don't we film it instead?"

Qin Yun Chu looked at her: "What do you mean?"

“We can do live streaming too!” Jiang Xinhai said. “I have a live streaming room on PineapplePineapple. Didn’t I post ‘Summer Breeze’ and ‘Hill’ there before? I have some fans. I can just do a live stream on PineapplePineapple and film some music videos. Wouldn’t that get some traffic?”

Qin Yun Chu's eyes lit up: "That's great! And it seems to be compliant and legal too."

Jiang Xinhai took out his phone, opened the app, and clicked to start the live stream.

"Hello, hello, can you hear me?" Jiang Xinhai waved at his phone.

She fiddled with her phone, but because she wasn't familiar with the operation, she waited for five minutes and couldn't see a single comment. She thought she was going to fail.

"Let me share this for you, to help you get some attention," Qin Yunchu said.

Xu Xiangxiao leaned over from the side: "What are you guys discussing?"

“Xin Hai has started a live stream, Xiang Xiao, why don’t you help her boost her popularity?”

"Hurrah!"

Three girls were looking down at their phones.

Because they haven't done much live streaming, they have no idea how popular they are.

Just then, Qin Yunshang came over from the side.

"Sis, I've got something good for you."

She slammed her phone down on the table; the screen displayed a recording.

"What is this?" Qin Yun Chu turned to look at her.

Qin Yunshang said mysteriously, "This is a recording I made on my phone when I sneaked into the private music archive. It's Beethoven's No. 3."

Qin Yun Chu's eyes lit up: "Yes, everyone didn't have a chance to hear how well these musical compositions were written just now."

Jiang Xinhai also came over: "Want to listen to it?"

Qin Yunshang clicked the play button.

As soon as I pressed the button, the phone suddenly burst out with a powerful symphony.

It was like a violent storm, with mountains collapsing, the earth splitting, the sky falling, and the ground sinking, the sound sometimes faint, sometimes loud.

The cello, viola, and violin together compose an incomparably magnificent poem, unleashing all their expressive power in an instant.

Through the majestic music, Jiang Xinhai saw the tenacity of life, Qin Yunchu saw the boundless expanse of death, and Qin Yunshang felt as if her heart had been gripped, making it hard to breathe.

What Xu Xiangxiao sensed was the creator's courage—as if they were facing the storm with unwavering spirit, despite the blood and tears in their eyes, and a smile on their face.

Life, death, and the courage needed to face both simultaneously—as the piano struck and the strings vibrated, the same word simultaneously surfaced in the minds of the three people:

fate.

Perhaps it was because the symphony was so powerful, or perhaps it was because the three of them had developed a certain level of musical sensitivity, but when they heard this piece, the three of them thought of the same thing at the same time—fate.

Helpless, there is no way to resist this fate except to muster the courage to face it.

"Fate whispers to the warrior, you cannot withstand the storm."

The Warrior responded in a low voice, "I am the storm."

Xu Xiangxiao murmured.

The phone was a bit loud, and when the music started, everyone in the room turned to look in their direction.

Everyone heard it.

Qin Yunshang originally intended to turn down the music volume, but while the music was playing, she became so engrossed that her finger hovered over the volume button without pressing it.

Inside, Wang Feng and He Ling were talking, staff members were chatting by the door, and Cui Dayou was reading. When the music started, all the talking inside stopped.

For a long time, only the magnificent symphony resounded in the room.

The music lasted for a full seven minutes before it finally stopped.

However, when the music ended, no one spoke.

After a long silence, Cui Dayou finally asked, "What... what kind of music is this?"

He even started to stutter a little when he spoke.

The four looked up blankly.

They didn't know what the name of the piece meant either.

At that moment, they had only one thought in their minds:

"Did JX really write this?"

Jiang Xinhai stared blankly down at his phone.

At that moment, she inexplicably understood her live stream interface—the little figure in the upper left corner, followed by the number, was the number of viewers in the live stream in real time.

That number is currently displayed as 206 million.

……

"Secretary Gao."

"Secretary Gao, watch your step, it's slippery here."

Surrounded by a group of people in suits, Secretary Gao entered the restroom.

Looking in the mirror, he checked his hairstyle one last time.

The people around him brushed his shoulders, smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes, and carefully served him.

Checking his hairstyle was a necessary step he had to take before meeting someone important.

The person he was about to meet was, in a sense, an old friend of that person.

I met him once when he was trading Haiya Company; I also met him once when he had just returned to China.

If we meet again, it will be our third meeting.

He always remembered that defiant look in his eyes.

Apart from the person he was serving, he had never seen that look on anyone else's face.

Everyone who sees him keeps calling him "Secretary Gao" or "Secretary Gao".

The only things others dared to show him were the top of their heads or the back of their heads.

In the entertainment industry, no one is more annoying than JX.

This time, he believed he had hit the man's weak spot.

He pushed open the door and quietly entered the room.

"Hello, Mr. JX, it's nice to see you again."

His tone was as calm as still water, without the slightest fluctuation.

In front of him was a chair with its back to him.

After he spoke, the chair spun around and faced him.

Secretary Gao saw that sitting in the middle of the chair was... a little girl with black hair and an arrogant expression.

He had a lollipop in his mouth.

Secretary Gao stood there, stunned.

The girl was holding a laptop in her arms, her fingers moving around on the touchpad. When she saw Secretary Gao, she put the laptop on the table and popped a lollipop out of her mouth.

The girl had neat bangs and bright, dark eyes; she was very cute. Even with a grumpy face, you had to admit, she was adorable.

I don't know why, but she always gives people a feeling of "life is meaningless", like she's about to roll her eyes at you at any moment.

Secretary Gao said, "You are not JX."

The girl said, "Xia You is definitely not JX, Xia You is Xia You."

Secretary Gao felt a little out of breath for a moment.

He had never encountered anything like this in his life, so he stood there, momentarily flustered.

“JX had something to do, so he asked me to come in his place,” the girl said listlessly. She even put her legs up on the chair she was sitting on and squatted down.

“He said that if you want to touch his private music collection, he will give you 10 minutes to back out. If you don’t get your people out of here right now, you’re dead.”

Secretary Gao felt a fire burning inside her.