FLBCP: Chapter 34

The second episode of Sound was broadcasted as scheduled while the public relations department of Huihua were waiting.

Zhao Yao came out after choosing clothes for his trip tomorrow and happened to see a young man in white-lined black pants playing the guitar and singing on the show. The singing skills were more adept than they were in the meeting room. He was also standing on the stage in a confident and steady manner, unlike the usual young man who was worried about filming. This type of music stage seemed to be his natural home.

Uncle Wang picked up his phone and took a few photos. “Xiao Ji on TV is more confident than usual.”

Zhao Yao’s eyes were indifferent. “Isn’t he singing quite well?”

These days, the show had been controversial. Finally, the situation was reversed when the outstanding players appeared in the second episode. The selection method used was a full open mic form and could reflect the true strength of the players to the greatest extent. Ji Heyu was a mid-stay player. He showed off his fresh and sunny sound and the difficult high to bass conversion, winning unanimous praise from all the instructors.

[I’m shocked. This sound is even more shocking than in the trailer.]

[He is so stable. How can he be so stable? A boy singing high notes can be so stable?]

[I originally wanted to see a vase. I didn’t expect JHY to have such high standards.]

[Ahhhh, a sunny and youthful voice. Does such a dreamy voice really exist?]

[I just noticed that this is a death angle. How can he still be so handsome?]

[In fact, Ji Heyu’s facial shape is a typical movie face. He was born to be in front of the camera.]

[My face is slapped. No wonder why he was the finale in the trailer.]

[The singing is average. He should have a backer.]

[What backer bulls*t. There was a person before him who sang badly and got three votes. I think he is the one with a backer.]

Ji Heyu was on the hot search and the show released a clip of his performance, attracting many fans from outside the circle as well as middle-aged and elderly fans. It was like Zhao Yao had commented. Ji Heyu’s voice affected all ages and genders and the song selection wasn’t a popular form of music. It was a difficult song with the simplest form of performance.

The black fans started to criticize Ji Heyu’s singing like a water army. They said that the open mic probably had post-modifications… then they started to praise the other contestants for performing well, much better than Ji Heyu who had the backing of the shady show.

This lasted until a well-known blogger from the Conservatory of Music sent a long picture that analyzed the difficulty of Ji Heyu’s singing based on the audio. He said that:

[I thought that Xiao Ji had a backer until I saw the latest episode. As for some of the newcomers being praised by marketing accounts and netizens, their breathing is unstable and chaotic with their singing method. Some don’t even have the right pitch. What do you mean by praising them? I advise everyone not to be led by the rhythm. Someone is probably acting against Xiao Ji.]

There was a lot of noise on the Internet and many people were led by the water army. However, more people who had been in the dark realized they were being used after seeing Ji Heyu’s performance.

[Even if he has strength, it doesn’t change the fact that he has a wealthy backer?]

[Oh, I am laughing. He didn’t market himself at all. He was low key during the show and only posted one promotional post. Huihua also didn’t officially announce this newcomer. As a result, the moment the show aired, everyone started to step on him and scold him without any evidence. Now I suspect that Xiao Ji has really offended people and is being hacked.]

[Then what do you say about getting in a luxurious car? Can it be Ji Heyu’s own car?]

The luxury car was indeed a place that couldn’t be whitewashed. The license plate number wasn’t revealed in the photo but some netizens already found that Zhao Yao once had a car of the same model.

Late at night, Ji Heyu’s agent suddenly sent a Weibo post.

[Model Worker Xiao Liu: Let me explain one thing about my artist Ji Heyu getting in a certain high-end black car. That car is indeed President Zhao’s car but Huihua was rectifying themselves internally at the time and hadn’t prepared dormitories for the new employees. When Xiao Ji came to the company for an interview, he was pulling a large suitcase. When he left, President Zhao gave him a ride. He didn’t expect to be photographed and maliciously speculated. This is a false rumor. Everyone should pay attention to evidence. If you look at the photos carefully, you will see that there is a suitcase beside the car. Everyone who is eating melons can scatter.]

[Oh, do we believe this explanation?]

[I was previously wondering why there was a suitcase at the door. Why are a bunch of people talking so strangely?]

[I’m laughing to death. Can someone still bring a suitcase to the owner’s luxury car? It is too bad if he is being kept.]

At this time, the mysterious Zhao Yao fans climbed to the agent’s Weibo post.

[Why don’t you believe it? Don’t you know how enthusiastic our Xiao Zhao is?]

[Sure enough, I almost stopped being a fan due to the rumors of being a wealthy backer a while ago. Now when I think about him driving a luxury car to send employees, I feel that this is indeed something that President Zhao can do.]

[Let me give you a list of our enthusiastic citizen Mr Zhao. When recording the program, he helped Movie Emperor Pei as a passerby. He invested a lot of money in Huihua Culture that was about to collapse and when there was an accident in the crowd, he saved people and was the most seriously injured…]

[There is now a new material. Driving a luxury car to send away the employee with luggage.]

[This Xiao Liu, why don’t you have Mr Zhao’s photo? You are really unskilled.]

Public opinion on the Internet showed a trend of reversal and some photos of Ji Heyu were found from before his debut by using the bar as a clue.

[I remember Ji Heyu. I used to listen to him sing when he went to the bar. He was a shy child and reluctant to accept tips when people gave him tips.]

[I didn’t dare say it a few days ago but for several months, someone would introduce him to sing when our community was engaged in activities. All the community aunts liked him. After hearing he was on the show, they pulled our entire family to watch him together.]

[My mother is familiar with him. When she goes square dancing, she often meets this little brother playing guitar and singing on the side of the road. I heard my mother say that he lives alone and occasionally works several jobs. He had been having a hard time. Later, he had a conflict with the boss and was swept out of the house. Then he met some help and went to Huihua.]

***

“Yes. Since it is like this, we don’t need to act. The rest will be left to Huihua.” Pei Mingzhan stood under the pavilion at the entrance of S City’s amusement park and raised his hand to look at his watch. “Yes, rest assured, I will pay attention to this problem.”

The agent on the other end of the phone wanted to cry. First, he had people withdraw the hot search related to Zhao Yao and then he had the studio’s people stare at Zhao Yao’s news. The agent almost wondered if he was Pei Mingzhan’s agent or Zhao Yao’s agent. In addition, this matter didn’t need him to act. PResident Zhao might’ve left the group but there was still Zhao Changshuo standing behind him.

Withdrawing the hot search was a trivial matter. The key was that this person had to go to the amusement park with President Zhao after withdrawing the hot search??

The agent’s heart almost stopped when he heard Pei Mingzhan report his itinerary. “I don’t know what went wrong with your nerves but you actually chose to go to the amusement park with President Zhao on the weekend. Your heart is still young. If you are blocked at the amusement park, don’t call me to help you.”

Then he couldn’t help his curiosity. “Tell me directly, are you actually interested in President Zhao? I thought your first love thing was just a joke but you actually fell in love with him when you were both little kids?”

Pei Mingzhan turned sideways to avoid a passerby and said, “That was when I was young. If you want me to give a definite answer…”

He saw a black car parked on the side of the road not far away and a young man coming out of the back door. He immediately changed his words. “I have something to do first. I’m hanging up.”

The agent’s scolding broke the microphone as Pei Mingzhan hung up and walked forward.

Today, Zhao Yao was wearing a white t-shirt, black pants and a hooded jacket. It was more energetic than the style he usually wore. Pei Mingzhan approached and placed another black hat he was carrying on Zhao Yao’s head “President Zhao, you need to have some celebrity self-awareness now.”

Zhao Yao didn’t react when the hat was pressed on his head. Later, he straightened it himself and said, “Thank you.”

The two of them walked into the amusement park. After the ticket check, Pei Mingzhan took the initiative to ask, “So what are you doing here? Do you want to stop investing in the entertainment industry and start investing in amusement parks?”

The amusement park was particularly crowded on weekends. In addition to family outings, there were many couples.

“You misunderstood. I came here for private reasons and it has nothing to do with work.” Zhao Yao looked around and simply said, “There are some things I want to experience.”

Pei Mingzhan was stunned after hearing this. Zhao Yao was actually interested in these amusement facilities?

After the movie theater last time, Zhao Yao found that some things were completely useless to rely on theory. He thought he could get the answers he wanted through observation but what he saw with his eyes was completely different from what he experienced in person. For example, he didn’t understand why it was fun for couples to secretly make small movements in the movie theater. Then when Pei Mingzhan spoke in his ear, he felt a strange, subtle feeling. Simply put, his ears were itchy but to make it more complicated, his heartbeat was fast.

The rapid heartbeat was a theory he had read about in books and was the manifestation of a person’s excitement.

However,  Zhao Yao disagreed. There were many reasons for a faster heartbeat such as being infected by emotions when watching movies or being curious about some unknown things. In summary, the atmosphere of the movie theater was hard to explain so he became interested in another lovers’ holy place mentioned in the book.

Zhao Yao glanced at Pei Mingzhan. As for asking this person to come with him, it was because Pei Mingzhan knew a lot of places and he was more reliable than  Yao Bai.

After entering the amusement park, Pei Mingzhan held a map in his hand and carefully looked at the amusement facilities. “Where do you want to go first?”

Zhao Yao scanned the top spot. “Let’s go to the merry-go-round.”

At the same time, Huihua started an internal meeting. After the second episode of Sound was aired, the search index for Ji Heyu on the Internet rose rapidly. Chen Xi wasn’t surprised to see this result. He already heard that Ji Heyu performed well before the second episode aired.

However, it wasn’t enough to perform well. What was needed was a comparison with players of the same episode. It was best to make a big splash. In fact, the situation was just as Chen Xi had hoped. Not only was the rival companies’ request for water armies to discredit Ji Heyu suppressed but Ji Heyu became a more beautiful and miserable person in the eyes of the majority of netizens.

However, the luxury car matter couldn’t be expanded. After all, Ji Heyu really had lived with Zhao Yao for a few days. Still, it would probably be difficult for marketing accounts to get a photo of the rich area. At that time, President Zhao and Ji Heyu didn’t have their current fame. Huihua’s staff secretly paid attention for a few days and only relaxed when they became certain there were no photos.

“The popularity is temporary. Cooperate with Xiao Liu and try to consolidate Ji Heyu’s popularity during the show.” Chen Xi looked at the secretary on the the side. “Did you get in contact with President Zhao?”

The secretary looked embarrassed. “The phone call wasn’t answered but Assistant Yao is coming.”

Chen Xi slightly hesitated when he heard this. He had reported Ji Heyu’s matter to Zhao Yao but Zhao Yao asked him to deal with it without any worries. Secondly, he should find all the companies that spilled the dirty water. It was time to deal with the problem.

“In short, pin the announcement that was previously used to clarify for Xiao Ji. Don’t think about it too much and instead put together the evidence collected during this time. Which player stepped on us and which company is behind it? After these checks, we will fight back.’ Chen Xi sighed. In the past, President Zhao responded to messages very quickly. How come he didn’t answer the phone today?”

A senior manager was confused. “President Chen, how could we fight back against so many companies?”

It wasn’t uncommon to splash dirty water on each other in the industry but it was the first time to be besieged by so many companies. The counterattack should be carefully considered.

Chen Xi had been thinking about this. He did have a method but it was a bit risky to do it.

The meeting room was stuck but the wind on the Internet changed due to an unexpected photo. Originally, before the second episode of Sound was aired, many people started to speculate about Zhao Yao, the boss of Huihua Culture, due to Ji Heyu’s matter. Several search terms related to Zhao Yao went on the hot search but they were all pressed down.

The rapid withdrawal of the hot search was proof in the eyes of some people. Some of the Weibo comments contained extremely ugly words. President Zhao’s fans, who originally had a strong affection for him, heard this and immediately became angry. They went to Weibo to debunk the rumors and asked the sunspots to show evidence.

They used to rely on gossip to get news about President Zhao but they didn’t expect that someone would associate a little newcomer with President Zhao and it was even a disgusting speculation. They were usually Buddhist but they weren’t without combat effectiveness.

[Let out President Zhao be beautiful alone.]

[I’m laughing to death. If you follow this logic, the boss of every entertainment company isn’t innocent with their artists. Why don’t you look at Huihua’s Chen Xi? Is President Chen not worthy of having any gossip?]

[Clearly, it is a movie with multiple people but President Chen doesn’t even have a name.]

[Isn’t it normal for Huihua to change the senior executives and start reforms? Which company isn’t hiring newcomers now? Huihua is just conforming to the market yet you call it opening the backdoor?]

[You don’t understand this explanation of promoting future generations?]

[Can you black fans have some power? Splashing dirty water requires some evidence, preferably a photo. Then we can say that there is evidence.]

Ji Heyu’s fans found that another group of people had joined the combat team and their combat effectiveness wasn’t weak.  All their words were theoretical and their scolding was completely free of dirty words. Soon, the rival found that they couldn’t continue and a large number of water armies were withdrawn. Even so, there were still a small number of jealous netizens.

At this time, some netizens really released a photo of Zhao Yao and Ji Heyu. In the messy backstage, a young man was huddled in the corner to play the guitar while the man in the wheelchair stopped in front of him and listened.

The moment this photo came out, it immediately increased the arrogance of the sunspots.

[[Photo] The photo you want is coming. Isn’t this evidence?]

Ji Heyu’s fans panicked while President Zhao’s fans felt like they were injected with chicken blood.

[Fu*k, this is a raw photo.]

[I haven’t seen this one. Ahh, President Zhao’s side profile is absolutely unique.]

[You aren’t useless. I won’t bother you for the sake of this photo.]

The sunspots were bewildered. The evidence was in front of them. How did their words change again?

President Zhao’s fans silently saved this photo before continuing to theorize with the sunspots.

[Everyone has eaten so many melons in the entertainment circle. This photo looks to be set in a backstage area. There are several staff members around. Your ideas are dirty enough. Isn’t it difficult for the two people to do anything in public?]

[I think your education level shouldn’t be low. Look at the photo and count the number of people. It is such a simple thing and even children can count. Open your eyes and see how many people are in this photo.]

[I’m really laughing to death. The IQ of these black fans really isn’t good. Or are you a water army?]

[Water army? Pull me in. I don’t want commissions. Just give me some beautiful photos of President Zhao.]

***

Yao Bai had just tried to call his brother when he first arrived at the company. After receiving the call from Chen Xi, he could only call Uncle Wang to confirm it. The result was that Uncle Wang told him Zhao Yao and Pei Mingzhan were going to the amusement park today and to make a few more phone calls to try.

Amusement park??? Yao Bai couldn’t believe it. It had only been a few days since he exchanged thoughts with his brother. Now his brother’s interest had shifted from idol dramas to amusement parks and he also took Pei Mingzhan?

Yao Bai thought he still had a place next to Zhao Yao but his position was already in danger. Pei Mingzhan, a little demon, had already occupied an important position unknowingly and even stole Yao Bai’s identity as a regular companion.

The secretary walking in front explained the situation to Yao Bai along the way. “At present, I can’t contact President Zhao and the others are already waiting in the waiting room.”

Yao Bai was still thinking about things while walking. He thought about the novel he read in the circle a while ago. it was too easy to have crooked thoughts at the amusement park. Two big men teamed up to go to the amusement park. What did they want to play? The merry-go-round?

The secretary saw Yao Bai’s troubled expression and asked carefully, “Assistant Yao, President Zhao is…?”

They were about to arrive at the meeting room. Yao Bai returned to his senses and waved his hand. “Oh, it’s fine. President Zhao has gone to the amusement park.”

Then he pushed open the door and walked into the meeting room, leaving behind the secretary with a confused expression. Amusement park?

Chen Xi saw Yao Bai coming and said, “You came just in time. Ji Heyu’s affairs are basically settled but some follow-up work needs to be confirmed with President Zhao. In addition, there is one more thing.”

Yao Bai pulled out a chair and took a seat. “Oh, what is the matter? Tell me.”

Chen Xi thought about it. “There are some comments on the Internet pointing to President Zhao and Xiao Ji and a relevant photo was published. Xiao Ji entered our company through the right procedures but the public relations department wants to know what happened previously with President Zhao and Xiao Ji so that nothing special happens.”

The other people in the meeting room nodded. The company did business on an official basis but Xiao Ji was led over by President Zhao after all. They needed to give the boss a bit of face when it came to some things.

“What special situation?” Yao Bai felt that these people were being a bit fussy. “Didn’t I tell you before that Xiao Ji was picked up by my brother?”

A high level person asked, “This… how was he picked up specifically?”

“Xiao Ji was originally known by my mother while she was doing the square dance. She saw that his life was difficult so she pulled him to the community to perform and make a bit of money.” Yao Bai said. “Then he was invited by my brother to come for an interview.”

The group in the meeting room sighed with relief and Chen Xi inwardly relaxed. “Then it is fine. The rest is doing the follow-up on the Internet. I don’t know where President Zhao is now. We still can’t contact him.”

“Oh, you can’t get through normally. You need to call a few more times to get through.” Yao Bai opened the contacts to call Zhao Yao while typing, “There is a lot of noise at the amusement park. My brother didn’t hear the ringtone of the phone…’

“It turns out he didn’t hear the ringtone.” Chen Xi replied before suddenly becoming stunned. “Where did you say that President Zhao went?”

“Amusement park. It is the sound of the amusement park.”

Yao Bai’s expression was calm. He had been shocked at first but he was now used to his brother’s divine operation.

The people in the meeting room exchanged glances while thinking that Yao Bai was joking.

The phone connected after a while and there was a rustling noise from over there. Yao Bai pressed the speaker button and Zhao Yao’s calm voice came from it. “Xiao Bai?”

“Brother, President Chen has something he wants to ask you. He says he can’t make up his mind about one thing.” Yao Bai handed over the phone to Chen Xi.

Chen Xi took it in a bit of a trance. “President Zhao, I am Chen Xi.”

The phone was still very noisy but Zhao Yao’s voice was clear and calm. “Yes, you say it.”

Chen Xi had no choice but to repeat the things he just hesitated over to Zhao Yao. There was no response from the other end of the phone so he asked again, “President Zhao?”

A child’s giggle floated past before Zhao Yao’s voice was heard. “Do it according to your plan. Some things don’t need to be worried about. From the current perspective, Huihua is already a thorn in the eyes of other companies. If you don’t stand up for yourself in this matter, they will be the first to act the next time you encounter the same thing.”

Chen Xi nodded. “I understand. Then this matter…”

“I looked at the map. For the next ride, we can try this big pendulum. It isn’t far from our location.” Suddenly, another man’s voice came from the speaker.

Chen Xi, “?”

Who was this? The voice sounded a bit familiar.

Everyone in the meeting room thought it was the voice of a passerby. The next second, President Zhao replied, “Yes, let’s wait until this roller coaster finishes.”

The others in the meeting room didn’t dare to make a sound. “……”

He really went to the amusement park and listening to the situation, there was more than one person.

“Chen Xi.” Zhao Yao spoke again.

Chen Xi was excited and immediately replied, “Yes!”

“Next time, don’t look for me for such a small thing.” Zhao Yao’s voice sounded like he was making an ultimatum. “I’m hanging up.”

Beep beep.

The meeting room fell into a death-like sentence. It wasn’t until Yao Bai yawned that someone opened their mouth in a trembling manner and asked, “President Chen, what should we do next…?”

“Didn’t you hear President Zhao’s words? Do you still need to ask about this small thing? Hurry up and do it!”

The people in the meeting room dispersed.

After Zhao Yao hung up the phone, it was their turn for the roller coaster. At first, he said he wanted to try the merry-go-round but Pei Mingzhan proposed to play other things first because the area was too far away. This led them to the roller coaster.

The staff member said, “Excuse me Sir, please take off your hat.”

Zhao Yao took off his hat when he heard this. Then he turned to look at Pei Mingzhan.

Pei Mingzhan hesitated and looked at the staff member. “There is no need to take off the mask right?”

The staff member heard the man’s voice and felt that it was a bit familiar, but she didn’t show it. “You can keep it.”

Pei Mingzhan decisively took off his head, handed it to the staff member and took Zhao Yao to the roller coaster. The staff member held the two hats in her hands and looked at the person who just walked by with a shocked face. He was a bit familiar.

Wait??? Wasn’t that Pei Mingzhan???

Pei Mingzhan’s movements were quick and he was still wearing a mask. Therefore, other people didn’t notice his face. He pulled Zhao Yao to sit at the very end, avoiding the tourists in front.

Zhao Yao couldn’t help smiling at his flustered expression. “Didn’t you think about this before coming to the roller coaster?”

“I thought about it before I promised to come to the amusement park with you.” Pei Mingzhan helped Zhao Yao confirm the safety device. “Wearing the mask could block it for a while. We’ll come down after and leave after grabbing our hats.”

Zhao Yao put his hand on the bar in front of him. “The last time I rode a roller coaster was a long time ago.”

“When you were a child?” Pei Mingzhan asked.

“Yes, my mother was still alive at the time and she would occasionally take me on weekends.” Zhao Yao couldn’t think of the details or remember how he played at the time. The memories of his two lifetimes were mixed together and it had also been over 20 years. “However, I can’t remember clearly.”

The staff members not far away were reminding the visitors to pay attention to their belongings.

“Did you forget about what happened when you were a child?” Pei Mingzhan pretended to ask casually. “You said you used to live in H City but I rarely hear you mention the past.”

“I can’t remember exactly.” Zhao Yao heard Pei Mingzhan’s question and thought carefully about what happened when he was a child. “I only spent the holidays in G City.”

The roller coaster’s bell rang and the machine started to move slowly forward.

“Listening to you say this, it seems you didn’t pay attention to things when you were a child. Were there any children you played well with?” Pei Mingzhan smiled. “As a child, I had many neighbors. Then we didn’t live in the old house so I moved to the city to live with my parents. I don’t really remember the people I met as a child but I always remember the people I played with.”

“Playmates as a child?” Zhao Yao was taken aback when he heard these words. There seemed to be a half-tall figure in the depths of his memory, carrying two bags of snacks and standing outside the door of his grandfather’s courtyard, shouting his name loudly.

---

The author has something to say:

President Chen: Don’t dare to speak.

TL: As announced on my discord, this is temporarily dropped for now. Anyone is free to pick it up if they want. After I complete a few more novels and free up some time, I’ll see how I feel about picking it up again if no one has picked it up by then.