The entertainment industry you yearn for

“I suggest you think it over carefully before you speak,” Tang Fan said slowly as he returned to his seat behind the table, glancing at the scattered papers on it. “What conditions should you propose to me?”

Jonah signed a ten-year contract with TANG, the first time he went against Tang Fan's arrangements. He really needed courage and composure to consider how to translate his vague expectation of "slowing down and developing the porcelain district for the next ten years so that he could have more time with Jiang Songhe" into a concrete linguistic request.

Following Tang Fan's gaze, he spread the papers on the table out, intending to finish reading the remaining pages while considering his wording.

On one of the pages, a Weibo account called Ciyi Culture accused top singer Janus of performing "Sacrifice at Dawn" at a recent event in Manr, which is almost identical to the theme song of the company's new drama "Dream Pillow".

Ciyi also released an explanatory video, analyzing the two songs, both of which were claimed to be original, line by line. While there may be differences in lyrics and melody, the underlying logic is exactly the same. Ciyi also released a series of evidence of their own authors' creative work.

The timeline has been traced back to three years ago?!

The post ended with a demand for TANG and Janus to come forward and respond directly, coincidentally tagging the official accounts of "Yunhe Entertainment" and "Yangehang".

The comments section seemed to be orchestrated, with many speculating that Janus and Jiang Songyun had reached a shady collaboration through the Star Show, with Janus sending Jiang Songyun straight to the finals and Jiang Songyun's company, Yunhe, using domestic resources to steal the achievements of their rival for the eager-to-achieve top star.

Yunhe originally intended to kill two birds with one stone, but she didn't expect that her own drama would be taken down first due to a scandal, and Janus couldn't resist performing a small-scale test first. As a result, Ciyi, who was in the midst of a heated argument, immediately seized on this...

"That's impossible!" Jonathan's brows furrowed, and he slammed his hands on the table. His reddened fingertips propelled him toward Tang Fan, and he stood up and shook the crumpled page violently. "The so-called timeline can be completely falsified later. Can't you detect it?"

Tang Fan didn't look at the page in Jonathan's hand, but instead reached for another page and slid it to a place where Jonathan could see it clearly when he looked down: "Of course I can, and it's very simple."

Jonah looked down and saw that the page contained one of the emails between TANG and Yunhe. The body of the email was normal except for the wording, but the attachments included the final contract and the lossless audio of the final version of "Sacrifice Night Dawn".

"What do you mean?" Jonathan put his hand down and changed the page to face him.

Tang Fan heard Jonathan's voice soften and leaned back in his leather chair, saying, "I have never doubted the originality of 'Night Sacrifice and Dawn,' but before I deal with it, I need you to witness firsthand the consequences of your wishful thinking and gullibility."

Jonathan still didn't understand, but his temples twitched instinctively. He lowered his eyes and clenched his teeth to maintain his composure.

"This is a test of Jiang Songhe's humanity." Tang Fan shrugged, revealing claws like those emerging from a fog. "I admit, I ordered Vasin to make the wiretapping software. I want to see how you, who naively claim to love someone, will choose when faced with self-interest."

"Ha, nothing special."

Tang Fan's mocking smile made Jonathan turn his head away. What private matter or confession Tang Fan had overheard was not as unsettling as Jonathan's increasingly chaotic thoughts and the resulting mental turmoil.

That's illogical.

According to Ciyi's accusations, Yunhe and Ciyi should be irreconcilable rivals. So how could "Sacrifice at Dawn" become a test of Jiang Songhe's humanity simply because it was sent to Yunhe?

Tang Fan is clearly implying that Jiang Songhe leaked "Sacrifice at Dawn" to Ciyi, which led to his transformation work being suspected of plagiarism. However, Jiang Songhe had no motive whatsoever, and there was no possibility that he would have benefited from it.

Jonathan believed Jiang Songhe, so he said firmly, "This has nothing to do with him, and you have no right to use him as a so-called 'humanity test'."

"Oh, it's okay?" Tang Fan rested his elbows on the table, crossed his hands and rested them on the lower half of his face, then shook his index finger at Jonathan. "I understand that the platform producer for the project between Ciyi Culture and Yunhe Entertainment is the same person."

"If that person happens to be under pressure to meet performance targets, and Jiang Songhe happens to stabilize the situation with your 'Sacrifice at Dawn,' and then the Yunhe project collapses and becomes a discarded pawn that benefits others, do you still think that the butterfly effect in this situation has nothing to do with Jiang Songhe?"

Jonathan's shoulder slumped, and he stepped back a few paces: "He said...no, and he doesn't want to."

"No matter how nicely you talk, it's just talk. We'll see the results." Tang Fan then forced all the other papers that Jonathan hadn't even looked at to his side, placing them next to the now-defeated figure. "Take a good look. This is the entertainment industry in the Porcelain Kingdom that you've always longed for."

Jonathan struggled to focus his thoughts, so he picked up a piece of paper and unfolded it into a fan.

"So what if Man is a top star? Nobody can stand in the way of our XXX (probably the protagonist of 'Yumemakura Floating Life')!"

"They started it, so don't blame us for fighting back!"

"A transformative work, huh? Aiming for a Grammy, huh? Playing dead is fine, Manila is too far for us to conquer, but can't we conquer the major music platforms around the world?"

"Directions to the reporting and feedback portals on various platforms: Afflatify ********, iMusic ********, Twinkle ********... You're welcome."

"..."

Jonah felt saddened by the removal of the project that Jiang Songhe valued, and also resentful that his own transformation work, which he valued, was attacked because of Jiang Songhe. Suddenly, his stomach felt like a flood was rushing to his throat, and he couldn't help but cover his mouth and swallow the sour and bitter saliva.

"I'm sorry, the person you chose didn't pass my test." Tang Fan's voice was light and airy, echoing in Jonathan's ears. "The facts are right in front of you, and it's equally regrettable. As for those despicable things you took for granted, I don't need to fuel them."

"Now, you can continue to state your conditions."

-

Jonathan eventually compromised and returned to the Star Show finals venue to cooperate in completing the rehearsal.

In public, he tried his best to maintain a warm and professional demeanor. After the rehearsal, he returned to the dressing room, changed back into low-key clothes, and expressionlessly asked Vasin to hand over the Vito car keys. He took them and turned to leave.

Wasin followed to the door, but Jonathan turned around abruptly, glaring at Tang Fan's electronic dog and telling it to get lost.

He slammed the door shut and went down into the underground parking garage alone.

Arriving at the Vito, Jonathan had just stepped one leg onto the driver's seat when he heard a series of faint camera shutter sounds and quickly stepped back.

He followed the sound straight to the corner diagonally opposite, grabbed the paparazzi's camera from the car window without saying a word, swore at it, slammed the camera onto the concrete, and walked straight back.

The paparazzi seemed to only realize what was happening after Jonathan had walked away. He got out of the car cursing and swearing, bending down to pick up the shattered camera while taking out his phone and pointing the camera at Jonathan's back.

The recording interface had just started when the screen went completely black. The paparazzi lowered his phone, craned his neck, and peered up, only to see a menacing wall of people blocking his way, staring menacingly at him: "Delete."

The paparazzi swallowed hard, showed Vasin his photo album to indicate "I didn't get a single thing," then backed into his car, locked the door, rolled up the window halfway, and, clutching a memory card, shouted outside: "Wait and see yeah? I'll show the public that piece of sh*t's true colors!"

Upon hearing this, Vasin strode forward, plunged his broad hand into the crack of the window that was about to close, and pried the glass open with a clanging sound: "Hand it over, now!"

The paparazzi tossed the memory card into the passenger seat, grabbed the door handle with one hand, and frantically pressed buttons with the other: "You wish! Release your f*cking hand!"

As the Viking slowly passed by, Jonathan, wearing sunglasses, turned his head to look at it, stuck a hand out of the car window and gave it the middle finger, chuckled, then looked straight ahead, stepped on the gas, accelerated, and drove out of their sight.

...

Back at the Nest Winza penthouse, Jonathan stormed in, kicked off his shoes in a rage, and frantically rummaged through drawers and cabinets, finally finding an old, obsolete cell phone in one of the storage containers.

He bit his nails as he waited for the phone to charge and turn on. He then removed the SIM card from the one he was currently using and replaced it with the new one. He quickly walked into the walk-in closet, hid in the closet, closed the sliding door tightly, and his fingertips trembled as he hovered over the dial pad.

He didn't really know what to say; he just felt like his chest was about to explode from the miasma.

More than ever, he needed to hear Jiang Songhe's voice. Perhaps then he could calm down and gather enough courage to ask, "If I am nothing, if I have nothing left, would you still be willing to be with me?"

If he could hear a clear and firm response, he might really give up everything without hesitation, go to Jiang Songhe's side, and start over, no matter where exactly.

He silently recited the number he knew by heart several times, then his fingertips fell, pressing the numbers in sequence.

The robotic voice in the receiver said that the number being called was switched off.

His mood shifted from disappointment to escapism to self-consistency. Jonah rubbed his eyes in the dim light, slowly calculating the time difference. It was 6 p.m. in Maner, so it was... 1 a.m. the next day in Jingting.

He casually tossed his old phone into the trash can. He wanted to go out and get it, but his limbs felt too heavy to move. So he curled up in the corner and closed his eyes to recall the text message Jiang Songhe had sent him at noon.

"wait for me"

Jiang Songhe said the plane takes off from Jingting at 13:00 and lands in Maner at 17:45. Since the takeoff time is 6:30, I should be able to get his call before then… or maybe at 00:00, which is his usual morning run time…

My mind started to feel lazy, and my eyelids followed suit.

Jonathan set his alarm for midnight and drifted off to sleep. But his sleep was restless; chaotic, fast-paced images swirled in his dreams, making him feel incredibly tired. He could hear the alarm clock blaring in his ears, but he couldn't wake up no matter how hard he tried.

Until he dreamt of a scene indistinguishable from reality, a dreamlike white world where Jiang Songhe was no longer clad in a black suit, but in a dazzlingly white tuxedo, taking his hand and saying "I do," then lightly kissing the silver ring on his left ring finger. The kiss, though fleeting, burned the skin beneath the ring, leaving it tingling...

Jonathan clenched his left hand and finally woke up when the alarm clock rang for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

It's already past 2 AM?!

He sat up immediately, his head still fuzzy and dizzy. So he counted on his fingers to recalculate the time difference. It should be a little after nine in the morning in Jingting. Jiang Songhe must have woken up by now, as she had to catch a flight back to see him.

With a joyful smile, he dialed Jiang Songhe's number again.

The call went through!

Before he could even speak, a passionate female voice, suddenly muffled, came through the receiver: "Brother Songhe, please guide me in the future."

That voice belonged to... Tao Nian.

Why are they together in the early morning?

What does "please give me more guidance in the future" mean?

What kind of sleep is it to turn off your computer all night?

Can dreams and reality really be opposites?

What exactly are we waiting for when we hear his name?

...

Several unpredictable possibilities made Jonah's heart tighten suddenly.

He hurriedly hung up the phone.