Chapter 34. Waiting for him, waiting with reckless abandon and unwavering resolve...
Entering 202X, the world's technology is developing rapidly, and the era of information bombardment has arrived.
With the proliferation of short video and text apps, every ordinary person can quickly access firsthand information from all corners of the world using just a mobile phone. Big data will precisely push content they like to every individual, leading to faster urbanization, more convenient data access, and greater privacy transparency.
During the morning rush hour on the subway, amidst the bustling crowds, the ringtones of notification messages can be heard repeatedly.
Almost everyone waiting for the subway had their heads down, and the sounds of short videos filled the air. On the left, people in line were watching predictions of a market downturn on their phones, while on the right, entertainment news had switched to streaming.
"W·S board members stated that they resolutely boycott Chinese cotton products and materials. The controversy surrounding W·S's alleged anti-China remarks continues to escalate, and the prospects for the W·S new season product show scheduled for tonight in the capital are bleak. No brand ambassador has yet come forward to comment..."
"Hey, who's the spokesperson for W·S?" a girl who was scrolling through entertainment news asked her friend.
"I don't know. I remember the women's clothing was Gu Yuchun? I forgot the men's clothing. The global ambassador was Shen..."
After a loud rumble, the subway arrived at the station. People quickly put away their phones, interrupted their conversations, and rushed to squeeze into the station.
The underground steel dragon carries crowds at breakneck speed, while the vehicles and horses on the ground flow endlessly.
Amidst a constant stream of honking horns, a motorhome was squeezed in the middle. Inside, a young man in his early twenties, sitting in the front seat, sighed after watching the same video.
"Oh dear, what am I going to do... The show is starting tonight, but with things messed up like this, I feel like I'll get yelled at if I go, and offend people if I don't..."
"Send out a message now, stating that we have unilaterally terminated all contracts with the W·S brand and will never cooperate again." A figure sitting alone in the back seat suddenly said in a firm voice.
The young man hesitated, then paused, "Brother...should we ask Brother Jiang first? Or wait and see what the other spokespeople do? What if everyone else doesn't terminate their contracts but you do...?"
"No need, just send it. I'll take responsibility for any consequences."
The young man sighed and had no choice but to do as he was told.
After editing the Weibo post and showing it to him for confirmation, I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, and resolutely posted it.
After confirming that the Weibo post had been successfully sent, he covered his phone with both hands, pressed it to his forehead, and prayed tremblingly.
Five minutes later, he cautiously opened one eye to peek inside, and was immediately surprised.
"Brother! There are so many people supporting you!"
On Weibo, the post was forwarded over 100,000 times in just five minutes, and related terms on the trending topics list were also climbing rapidly.
"support!"
"The first celebrity to speak out has arrived! I support them!"
"As expected of a man who's a true fan of my sister! I wholeheartedly support him!"
In no time, several familiar names appeared on the trending topics list, much to the young assistant's delight.
"Brother, Gu Yuchun has also announced her contract termination!"
"Lu Sheng posted it too!"
"Brother, you're incredibly insightful! How did you know that announcing the contract termination wouldn't cause any problems?"
He couldn't help but turn the rearview mirror to look at his face, and a face of a young man in his twenties immediately appeared in the rearview mirror—wearing an ordinary white hoodie and sweatpants, his whole body was simple and clean like a student, but his face was also handsome and calm, really like a young man—it was Shen Zhoudu's face.
He met his gaze in the rearview mirror and couldn't help but smile at him.
Chen Zhoudu is now a singer, songwriter, and music producer.
His assistant, Asen, has been with him for almost five years and is the first artist he has worked with who has repeatedly impressed him with his "how can there be such a good-tempered celebrity?"
If he could, he would truly want to stay with him forever.
Five years ago, various short video apps emerged on the market. Jiang Cheng, the director of the entertainment company where Asen worked, accidentally discovered Shenzhoudu in a short video.
At that moment, he seemed to be in a bar, wearing a clean white hoodie, holding a slightly out-of-tune, broken guitar, and quietly singing.
The bar was noisy and dilapidated, but his singing voice was quiet and ethereal. The pale blue overhead light enveloped him, making it seem as if the world had fallen silent and only he remained. He immediately caught Jiang Cheng's eye, and Jiang Cheng searched the world for this boy called "Xiao Zhou".
Later, he finally managed to contact Shen Zhoudu through various channels at the Capital University, but Shen Zhoudu refused to comply no matter what.
But in the end, he still managed to sign with their company and debut, and his first single became a hit across the internet.
He has a great singing voice and a handsome, aloof appearance, and with the support of a series of subsequent works, he quickly became a sensation. He had been the global ambassador for the W·S brand for three years, so this sudden turn of events was completely unexpected.
Chen Zhoudu smiled calmly and said, "Jiang Cheng is such an impatient person, but he hasn't sent any news yet this time, which means that he and W.S. must be communicating and negotiating."
"But W.S. is clearly unwilling to budge; otherwise, this matter would have been trending on social media for over an hour already, and without a reversal, it would practically be considered a done deal. If we don't terminate the contract, we're making an enemy of the entire public; if we do terminate it, we'll offend W.S. and incur a breach of contract penalty."
"When faced with two evils, choose the lesser. The other spokespeople are definitely waiting for news from others. Gu Yuchun and Lu Sheng are only short-term representatives, so we don't dare to make any rash moves. Therefore, I have to be the first to issue a termination statement. Once I issue a statement, it will be sooner or later for them to follow suit."
Ah Sen understood and nodded repeatedly, giving him a thumbs up. Just then, his phone rang; it was indeed Jiang Cheng calling.
Ah Sen's heart skipped a beat again. "Oh no... Brother Jiang is going to start yelling again. Even if netizens don't yell at you now, so what? Brother Jiang alone is worth more than 60 million..."
Chen Zhoudu couldn't help but chuckle and let him answer the phone as usual. As soon as the call connected, the man's loud and forceful scolding immediately echoed throughout the carriage.
"Sinking Boat Crossing! You issued a statement without saying a word again! You won't be honest until I take back all your accounts, right?! Why do you always have so many ideas! You..."
However, the matter has been brought under control to the point of minimizing losses, and Chen Zhoudu has dealt with it by admitting his mistake three-tenths and making a hasty resolution seven-tenths of the time.
Jiang Cheng's anger subsided slightly, and he said no more. In the end, he symbolically reminded him in a tense voice not to be late for today's event, and that was the end of it.
After hanging up the phone, Ah Sen couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. "In our company, you're the only one who can handle Brother Jiang. It's true what they say, everything has its counter. Jiang Cheng's retribution is sinking the boat..."
Chenzhoudu couldn't help but laugh.
As the RV smoothly drove to the event recording venue, Asen flipped through the call sheet and asked, "Brother, what are we going to do this afternoon after recording the event this morning?"
This afternoon, he was supposed to take a plane from Shanghai to the capital to attend W·S's new product show, but now that the termination of contract has been announced, he doesn't need to go to the show, and the scheduled time is now free.
Chenzhoudu: "Go home and rest."
"Huh? Aren't you going to 'strike while the iron is hot'?" Asen turned to look at him. "You just did something so amazing, there must be a lot of media waiting to interview you! Besides, they were planning to have you participate in the V Star Interview event today, but you had to cancel because it clashed with W.S.'s show. You still have time to call the director! With so many opportunities, why aren't you seizing them, bro?"
"I'm so tired, I finally get to sleep in." Chen Zhoudu smiled at him without getting angry. "Besides, who really enjoys going to work?"
"But--"
"I got up too early today, I'm going to catch up on some sleep. Wake me up when we get there." Chen Zhoudu had already pulled down his eye mask and manually ended the conversation.
Arsen could only feel discouraged.
Shen Zhoudu is the artist with the best temper that Ah Sen has ever met, but he is also the most "unambitious" and the most Zen-like.
Initially, when Jiang Cheng contacted Shen Zhoudu at the Capital University, Shen Zhoudu initially refused, saying he was unwilling to enter the entertainment industry.
Later, it was Jiang Cheng's persistence that led him to visit him repeatedly, invite him to dinner, and draft special contracts with various lenient terms, which finally made him waver.
“Brother, I know this circle is quite chaotic, and it seems like a deep and complicated place to outsiders, but believe me, most of these things are personal choices.”
"Look how well you sing, and the songs you wrote are so unique. Don't you want more people to hear them? Right now, maybe a thousand or ten thousand people hear you sing online, but if you were on stage, there could be tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of people. Don't you want more people to see you? Even if you don't want to be famous, don't you want more people to see, hear, and like your work? Besides, music is supposed to be healing. If someone feels even a little bit healed by your music, don't you think that's a wonderful thing? I believe that every creator wants their work to be good."
At that moment, Chen Zhoudu's unwavering gaze wavered slightly, and he almost murmured, "Really? As a celebrity... will I really be seen by many people?"
Will she...see it too?
Jiang Cheng didn't know who the "she" he was talking about was. He was stunned for a moment, but still nodded resolutely.
"Really! You're going to become a huge star and be seen by a lot of people! Even if you don't become a star... you'll still be seen by far more people than you are now! You really need to think about this."
Not long after, he actually signed the contract with them. Jiang Cheng only found out after he signed that this person was actually the young master of Ya Hai, and he had quite a bit of maneuvering with the furious Shen Jinghai who was kept in the dark.
But in the end, Jiang Cheng overcame all these difficulties one by one.
The first song he chose to release was a song he wrote himself, called "Crossing the Summer," with a quiet and warm melody that is extremely healing.
It's like the chirping of cicadas in summer, like the stars on the rooftop, like a drop of water falling into the vast ocean. Just in time for that year's graduation season, there was a trend of reminiscing about youth, and his "Crossing the Summer" became the number one choice background music on the entire internet, instantly becoming a hit and remaining at the top of the charts for nearly half a year.
Later, he produced more and more works, became more and more famous, but also became more and more Buddhist.
Film and television companies have invited him to compose OSTs, and directors have been impressed by his image and invited him to act in their films.
He can turn down seven or eight out of ten invitations, completely unafraid of offending people or missing opportunities.
Jiang Cheng was furious and anxious, but he couldn't persuade him otherwise.
Ah Sen lamented that he wondered if some people were truly born to be successful. Despite his lack of ambition in the entertainment industry, his mysterious aura attracted more people to explore him, and the loyalty of his fans was astonishing.
Asen always felt that the sunken boat was waiting for something.
But he didn't know what he was waiting for.
When questioned, Chenzhoudu denied it.
But he truly sensed a kind of waiting in him, a waiting posture that was both pessimistic and resolute in its determination.
But perhaps everyone has their own story.
Looking in the rearview mirror, Chen Zhoudu leaned quietly against the back of the chair, as if he had already entered a light sleep.
As the vehicle passed the Third Ring Road, the interior of the car reflected the light from the skyscrapers as it passed a cluster of high-rise buildings. Among them was a hotel called "Yahai Tianze," where two or three staff members were walking in, missing each other.
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Author's Note: Starting today, we're entering the urban setting!! [Sprinkling flowers] Hehe, time to fall in love!
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