It's just bad luck.
"The removal of 'Yan Ge Xing' was ordered by higher-ups, and coming to me won't help. I've already said it before, Shen Zongli's domestic violence can't be hidden. I persuaded Qiguo Leku to pave the way for your broadcast, which is already more than enough. What more do you want? You want the three of us to go against the State Administration of Radio and Television just to protect a copyrighted drama that suppresses one side while promoting another..."
Liang Jinping continued speaking in the central business booth of ACCRO, his voice low but not at all diminishing the imposing presence he exuded.
Jiang Songhe sat opposite Liang Jinping, watching his mouth open and close, gradually go blank. He would occasionally take a sip of wine at a steady pace, as if the other person was not talking about his project which was facing a loss of 115 million.
...
At 7:00 PM on March 3rd, the 10th episode of "Yan Ge Xing" was released, and its market share immediately surged to 37.2%, ranking first on the Kaiai Long-running Drama Chart. Before the entire Yunhe Company could even celebrate, everyone's phones started ringing non-stop.
Everyone expected news like "Yan Ge Xing 26 Dark Horse," but their smiles vanished as they stared at the screen. When they saw the title on the notification bar, their smiles cooled considerably. After clicking to confirm the content, they were utterly disappointed.
"Shen Zongli's wife, Yang Bairu, posted several pictures accusing Shen Zongli of domestic violence over the years."
During her seven-year marriage to Shen Zongli, Yang Boru gave up her acting career for him and raised one son and two daughters as if she were widowed.
Despite his Best Actor award, Shen Zongli only sends his family 10,000 yuan a month for living expenses. Yang Boru is struggling to make ends meet and has to remotely reconcile accounts with Shen Zongli. The remote reconciliation isn't too bad, though she suffers from verbal abuse. However, when they occasionally meet at home, Shen Zongli will inevitably resort to physical violence after exchanging no more than ten words…
The reason for choosing this time to expose Shen Zongli's inhuman nature is that Yang Boru has not received living expenses for nearly two months. Seeing that her three children are going to go hungry and unable to pay their tuition fees, she decided to stand up and speak out to end her days of begging in the mansion.
Among the staff who had been working day and night for days, one suddenly broke down in tears, saying, "This woman was an actress before, how could she not know what the promotional period is? They say it's a two-month struggle... I think she is! She is..."
The person who was crying was also a woman. She kept saying "that's it" for a long time, but in the end she couldn't bear to continue. Finally, she turned her back, stomped her foot, grabbed a pack of tissues, and ran to a deserted corner.
A mournful echo reverberated down the corridor: "What did we do to deserve this?!"
Jiang Songhe brushed past them, glancing at the scene of death in the room. He didn't step into the office area, but instead tapped on the table from the outside: "The police have issued a notice; the person has been taken away for investigation."
"Tomorrow, each group will have a paid day off. Everyone should go back and get some rest. You've worked hard." After saying that, he returned to the boss's office.
Jiang Songhe already had a premonition of what would happen next. When he received calls from producers on three platforms, telling him to be prepared for "Yan Ge Xing" to be taken down at any time, his first reaction was to laugh.
He had anticipated that his first time creating a drama series would be difficult, but he hadn't imagined it would be this hard. The difficulty wasn't just finding investment and struggling with production, as he had assumed, but also dealing with rivals, whether he could withstand criticism, and whether he could hold his own against attacks.
Isn't it funny?
That's fucking hilarious!
Suddenly, he lost all attachment to the murky and corrupt film industry in China, and a sense of detachment from everything arose within him. After all the staff members had left the company, Jiang Songhe drove home, went straight to his bedroom, and fell asleep immediately.
Jiang Songhe slept until late morning and then until sunset. She woke up, reached for her phone, and saw that *Yan Ge Xing* was no longer available, while *Meng Zhen Fu Sheng* was now available. She then sent a text message to Jonathan: "Wait for me."
Then he got out of bed to shower and change clothes, and arranged to meet Liang Jinping at ACCRO at 8 pm.
...
"As for 'Dream Pillow Life' taking over your slot, it was just a matter of rushing things. Mangguang TV was also trying to share the risk. We can't just leave the commercial deals you've agreed on blank during prime time and leave our big spenders hanging... Sigh, I know it was all brought in by President Jiang, but a smooth transition is better than disputes. You should understand the difficulties our platform faces..."
Liang Jinping's mouth was dry from smacking his lips. He took a swig of wine from his glass, gulped it down a few times, and then swallowed.
Swallowing his words before giving Jiang Songhe a chance to protest, he continued, "You should be thankful that the product placement wasn't affected. The advertisers aren't pursuing it, which is why our platform didn't make things difficult for Yunhe. Also, we're not refusing to pay you the 10% guaranteed final payment. Once you've cleaned up Shen Zongli's scenes and the show is re-released and concluded, we'll naturally pay you..."
Jiang Songhe didn't even bother to cry foul. He asked Liang Jinping to meet him partly because he felt that things had come to this point and he had to do something about it. On the other hand, he had a twisted desire to watch the show and see what kind of face Liang Jinping would have after something happened.
I've seen it, and it's pretty much what he expected. It's boring.
Jiang Songhe, the aggrieved party, barely said a few words, while Liang Jinping kept talking non-stop, saying everything, good and bad, without any gaps. He was nothing like the profound tone he had when he made the appointment, and he didn't give any of the warning he had given on the phone that he would have to leave after a while.
Feeling it was a waste of time, Jiang Songhe decided to clear his mind a bit more, block out the chatter, and start immersing himself in mentally calculating his personal assets.
How much money do I have in investments? How much can I save by changing office locations and streamlining staff? If the investors start a lawsuit, how long will it take and what are my chances of winning? Once the tug-of-war is over, how much of the hole can I plug with my own investment? After plugging the hole, will my savings be enough to bring Song Yun back to China and go to Bincheng with Jonathan...?
Thinking of this, Jiang Songhe picked up the Volvo that he had planned to sell along with Luman from his mental ledger. The model was too old to fetch a good price, but keeping it would at least provide cover for Jonathan and Jiang Songyun's domestic travels.
Or maybe we should just sell it. Given the state of the entertainment industry in China, it's better not to come back. It's better to just stay in Maner.
The younger brother is far more responsible than he thought, and besides, Manr has Jonathan. If he doesn't mind, he could be a more suitable person to guide his brother's career, someone with more influence...
Trying to accept this reality, Jiang Songhe suddenly felt a pang of sadness. He downed the wine in his glass and picked up the new Moët & Chandon line that ACCRO had recently introduced, ostensibly for Liang Jinping to try.
Just as I was about to refill my bottle, the neck of the bottle bumped into the cup that was being held out to me from the other side.
Liang Jinping, having seemingly finished his rambling at some point, got up, walked around the table to the seat next to Jiang Songhe, plopped down, put his arm around her shoulder, and raised his glass again: "Long live understanding?"
The phone vibrated in her bosom at that moment. Jiang Songhe didn't say anything. With one hand, she poured wine for Liang Jinping, and with the other, she took out the phone, answered it right in front of him, and didn't even give him a glance.
"It's too noisy here, I'll go somewhere else." Jiang Songhe finished pouring the wine, put the bottle on the table, picked up the phone, stood up, and went straight to the bathroom.
Liang Jinping, who had been maintaining the pose of arm around Jiang Songhe's shoulder and holding a glass, paused for a moment, then scoffed mockingly, swallowed a mouthful of wine while glancing at Jiang Songhe's back, and said, "You're about to become penniless, what's with the swagger?"
"Hey you, come here!" Liang Jinping leaned back on the sofa, waving his hand casually at a passing bar salesman. "Bring this table another top-of-the-line fruit platter."
More than ten minutes later, Jiang Songhe returned to the booth but did not sit down.
“Brother Jiang, your Shine Muscat grapes aren’t up to par. They have seeds, ptooey!” Liang Jinping lifted his eyelids and casually spat out a grape seed onto the table. “And they have a sour smell.”
Jiang Songhe stared at the trash on the table with a gloomy expression and didn't say anything. Then, a slick-haired, peacock-like man appeared behind him to help his partner out of the predicament.
"Hey, this gentleman has a sharp tongue! It's got seeds and it's sour, just right! This is the real Queen Nina here."
Jiang Songhe was about to tell Li Luxiao to go back to the bar and not get involved when he heard Li Luxiao's affected manner. Just then, Li Luxiao walked past him, bent down, picked a grape from the fruit plate, and popped it into his mouth. After eating it, he smacked his lips in delight and said, "Just right."
As Li Luxiao spoke, he sat down, turned over an empty glass and poured himself a drink without any hesitation. He then pulled the fruit plate over to his side and tossed a fruit into the glass in front of him.
"It's understandable that you, being of such high status, might not be used to the pure natural varieties from our porcelain-producing country of Yunnan, and mistake them for Sunshine Rose. This plate won't be a hardship for you; put it on my tab. Next time you come, I'll specially serve you the hybrid, oh no, the mixed variety from Xiao Ri Zi..."
Jiang Songhe was puzzled as to what was going on since Li Luxiao had nothing to do with this, but he knew that Li Luxiao and Liang Jinping were equally troublesome. He had more important matters to attend to and wanted to hear Liang Jinping's explanation in person, so he had no choice but to sit down with him.
Liang Jinping, his face turning pale from the insults delivered without using any vulgar language, turned to Jiang Songhe and asked, "Brother Jiang, who is this guy?"
Li Luxiao quickly interjected, "I'm his partner, so this wine and fruit platter today, well, I got a share too. Don't call me 'brother, brother,' I've known President Jiang for over ten years, and I've never dared to take advantage of him verbally."
If Li Luxiao continued to act recklessly, Jiang Songhe would never be able to get a word in edgewise, so he silently kicked Li Luxiao under the table.
Li Luxiao glared at him, his eyes screaming "you don't appreciate kindness," but he didn't say anything more.
Jiang Songhe, as if a peacock had bristled in the air, stared at Liang Jinping and asked in a deep voice, "Did you leak 'The Night of Dawn' to Ci Yi?"
His tone was so deep that it was impossible to tell whether it was a question or a statement.
Liang Jinping looked away, grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth and hands, then picked up his wine glass and took a slow sip: "What are you saying? I don't understand."
"On the day of the screening, you were the only one who touched our producer's computer. The theme song for 'Dream Pillow' was changed today and it's almost identical to Janus's 'Night of Dawn' except for a few words in the lyrics. How do you explain that?" Jiang Songhe frowned.
“I can’t explain it.” Liang Jinping put down his cup and spoke while lying back. “Besides, why would I give up being a proper platform producer and go through all the trouble of becoming a thief at your Yunhe? What motive would I have, what benefits would I gain?”
Jiang Songhe suddenly remembered the like that Liang Jinping had accidentally clicked earlier. He couldn't understand it before the confrontation, but now it all made sense: "You wanted to force us to take this song as a gimmick to attract traffic, but we didn't."
"Now we've been kicked out, but the buzz surrounding Janus is still going strong. With the replacement theme song for 'Dream Pillow' released, I bet once Janus's 'Night of Dawn' is released, Ciyi will immediately try to accuse us of plagiarism."
The gradually clarifying motives fueled Jiang Songhe's anger and gave him an extremely ominous premonition. He wanted to figure things out, so he continued speaking.
"Who plagiarized whom is not important to you at all. Protecting your rights takes time. Whether the public supports you or criticizes you, you can just wait until the final verdict is reached and an apology is issued before you change it back. The goal is to get the traffic dividend. In the end, you are the ones who will benefit."
Jiang Songhe thought that Jonah would be submitting "Sacrifice Night Dawn" to the G Grammys in a few months. Although the wind was blowing in China, he could not predict the judging criteria of the music industry. After some deduction, he could not help but feel flustered.
"President Jiang's imagination and logical thinking are quite excellent." Liang Jinping crossed his legs, picked up his cup and nodded towards Jiang Songhe. "However, you can't just make accusations based on a whim; you have to provide evidence."
Jiang Songhe currently lacks sufficient evidence and can only try to use a smokescreen to bluff Liang Jinping, who is drunk and intoxicated, to lure him into revealing a flaw: "The surveillance footage in the Yunhe conference room has been reviewed."
Liang Jinping seemed to have been prepared all along. His eyes darted around mischievously, and he was determined to play the rogue to the very end.
"So what if there's surveillance footage? At most, it can prove I tampered with the computer. Even if I did, I only copied one PPT. What, Qiguo Leku can copy it, but we at Qixun can't?"
Jiang Songhe had also drunk quite a bit. The complex thoughts of the night had burned through a lot of brain cells, and now, with emotions running high, he couldn't utter any more calm and reasonable words. He squinted and took a breath, using the act of drinking to cover up his flustered state.
Liang Jinping noticed something amiss, and his sarcasm and sarcasm were amplified in his aggressive words, making up for the humiliation he had suffered at Li Luxiao's hands earlier: "Speechless now? Although you wronged me in this matter, I still feel sorry for you."
"It's all because you're unlucky. You're unlucky, yet you're still so proud and won't listen to advice." Liang Jinping leaned in again, patting and slapping the screen with crocodile tears. "If you had acted earlier and taken the initiative, the show might have already finished airing. Would all those messy things have happened then?"
"Hey, I wanted to ask you something too. What's your relationship with Janus? He's a top star in Manchester, suspected of plagiarism, and his company hasn't said anything. Why are you arguing with me about it? Oh... you two slept together?!"
Li Luxiao couldn't take it anymore and slammed the cup on the table, warning Liang Jinping to watch his words.
Liang Jinping glanced sideways, unmoved. Seeing Jiang Songhe remain silent, he hooked his neck close, pulled her very close, and, reeking of alcohol, whispered in her ear, "Hey, so, did you sleep with him, or did he sleep with you... Holy crap!!!"
Jiang Songhe suddenly came back to life, grabbed Liang Jinping by the collar and slammed him onto the table, then punched him hard in the face.
"Go to hell."
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