Be reborn and be happy to the fullest

"Uh, okay, of course that's fine... Thank you, Mr. Li..."

What Li Shuo said was a benefit that Han Renyi never expected. It was like a pie falling from the sky for him. The "happiness" came so suddenly that he started to stammer when he spoke!

First of all, Hualebao is just a small newspaper and magazine under Century Huayue. At most, it has a large office with a few employees and some connections with printing plants and publishing houses. All of these combined are only worth about a million!
Secondly, Hualebao has already been sold to Century Huayue once, although not completely, 51% of its shares were sold. In other words, after Li Shuo took control of Century Huayue, he was theoretically the major owner of Hualebao. Further capital increases now would be unnecessary except to give money to other shareholders.

Li Shuo didn't mince words and said bluntly, "You really should thank me, because after this capital increase by Hualebao, you've already reduced your shareholding to almost nothing. All your hard work in the cultural sector over the years has finally turned into cash flow back into your own pocket..."

Since you understand all this, why do you still need it?
Before Han Renyi could ask a question, Li Shuo continued, "President Han, once you've been working for me for a while, you'll realize that those who work for me will not only not suffer losses, but will also reap unimaginable benefits!"

Han Renyi was, after all, a person of some standing, so he simply nodded and said, "Okay, thank you, President Li," without any sycophantic flattery or oaths of loyalty.

Li Shuo didn't care about that and gave the order:
"Today's report in the *Hualebao* newspaper was quite good, but there were some minor details that your editorial department didn't quite grasp. I'll send someone over later, and you can gather your opinions and then publish some follow-up reports..."

"Ok"

After hanging up the phone, Han Renyi didn't fully take Li Shuo's follow-up instructions to heart: The matter has been taken care of, and you've already agreed that the subsequent reports can be handled casually...

But soon, Han Renyi was hit hard on the head by the newcomer!
"Excuse me, are you General Manager Han from Hualebao? Hello, my name is Xu Yike, a Level 1 Secretary in the Secretariat of Shuoguo Group and a Special Consultant for Lengwen Publishing House of Lengwen Group. This is my business card!"

When Xu Yike appeared in front of Han Renyi, she had her hair up in a rare updo and was wearing a retro-style long dress, which was quite consistent with her self-introduction.

"Lengwen Group?" Han Renyi was taken aback and quickly stood up to welcome them.

He had never heard of Shuoguo's secretariat, but Lengwen Group was a well-known name. After all, working in the field of writing in Lenghai inevitably involved dealing with enterprises and institutions that controlled all aspects of "culture".

"I'm sure President Han has heard that our Boss not only founded the Shuoguo Group, but also holds positions such as honorary president and senior advisor in groups like Lengwen and Lengyi. I am his assistant at Lengwen..."

Xu Yi used language that Han Renyi could understand to give a brief explanation, and quickly got to the point, taking out some documents and placing them in front of Han Renyi:
"This is a plan devised by the secretariat and Leng Wen's editorial team regarding the 'public opinion conflict surrounding X'..."

Han Renyi was both surprised and shocked: it was one thing for Li Shuo to have influence over Leng Wen, but he actually treated Leng Wen the same way he treated Hua Le Bao?!
Compared to Leng Wen, Hua Le Bao isn't even worth mentioning!
Xu Yike was very satisfied with Han Renyi's expression. On the surface, she simply stated the facts:
"We believe that to win this battle of public opinion, we should first take a professional approach and take on the responsibility of popularizing science for the audience. For example, we should make the public understand that adapting a song is not plagiarism, and that completely restoring the charm and artistic conception of the original song is also a very difficult task..."

"Mr. Han, are you listening? What do you think?"

After Xu Yike finished speaking, Han Renyi seemed to wake from a dream, nodding hurriedly. Then, feeling that this wasn't solemn enough, he quickly added emphatically, "Secretary Xu, rest assured, I will definitely complete this set of popular science work well..."

With the prestigious "Lengwen Group" brand looming ahead, Han Renyi felt immense pressure and dared not slack off. In the following half day, he studied the materials brought by Xu Yike while contacting some people in the Lenghai music circle and asking for opinions from many professionals.

At 2 p.m., the official Weibo account of Hualebao, which had previously criticized X, published a long article titled "Alternative Songs Are Also Originals!"
The article, which is over three thousand words long, discusses everything from foreign music to domestic adaptations. In summary, it boils down to one core point: to authoritatively tell all the audience that adapted songs are also original works, and the difficulty is no less than that of original works!

"What's going on with this Hualebao newspaper? Wasn't it one of the newspapers that criticized X a few days ago? Why has it suddenly changed its tune?"

"I felt something was off about this newspaper from the morning onwards; it must have been taken over by the authorities."

"It's also possible that Zhang Yi offended too many people and was collectively ostracized by the traditional old folks!"

Official Weibo accounts like Hualebao may not have a fixed number of followers, but because of their large size, they have many transient followers, mostly casual observers. Therefore, they are aware that since the conclusion of this year's Huahan Song Festival, the Chinese music scene has been engulfed in waves of gossip, discussions, online arguments, and insults…

The song "Little Apple" performed at the China-Korea Song Contest propelled the Chopstick Brothers to surpass all other singers, making them the hottest and most popular singers of the year! The songwriter, "X," became famous both domestically and internationally. In South Korea, everyone believed that "X is South Korean." Initially, there was relatively little attention paid to X in China, until after the "signing ceremony," when people in the industry suddenly realized that an extraordinary person had emerged.

With attention comes controversy, leading to criticisms from Zhang Yi and Hualebao regarding "X's new song"...

Since "X" did not have a Weibo account, there should not have been any response or verbal battle. However, no one expected that Tan Jun, the second author of the "adapted song," would step forward at this time!

Tan Jun is a specially appointed professor of Lengyin and has produced many well-known film and television music scores. He is very famous in the industry. Zhang Yi, on the other hand, is a "heretical person" who likes to "make up news and hype up hot topics". He is opposed by traditional circles. So as soon as the controversy started, many academic seniors stood up to criticize Zhang Yi!

However, despite the large number of people criticizing Zhang Yi, he single-handedly fought back against a group of people: the older generation didn't understand the dynamics of online traffic. They tried to reason with Zhang Yi, but he played with their emotions. When they got angry and threw tantrums, Zhang Yi accused them of showing off their seniority and abusing their age. In short, Zhang Yi's complete lack of shame was a veritable calamity for the traditional older generation!
The only benefit of this 1v4-on-many verbal battle is that it has generated a lot of buzz. Many people who didn't pay attention to Chinese music have started to follow the industry and even learned that a genius composer with the stage name X has recently emerged in China!

Just when Zhang Yi was at the top, Hualebao, which had initially started a war of words with him, suddenly changed its tune, first by "publicly apologizing to X", and today by publishing a standard whitewashing article!

So, just 10 minutes after Hualebao's Weibo post, Zhang Yi immediately reposted it and launched an attack:

"Nonsense, utter nonsense! I should have known better. Your Hualebao is a traditional newspaper, always controlled by the old guys. Did you attack X before because you thought he was a younger generation trying to steal your resources?" "What? You publicly apologized to X yesterday, did you only then discover who X's background is? Did you realize you can't afford to offend him, so you immediately turned your guns on him 180 degrees..."

You know what, Zhang Yi's trolling tactics of sophistry and labeling people at the drop of a hat can actually be right about the facts sometimes!
Of course, most neutral onlookers don't believe it. All they know is that the war of words continues, and it's no longer just about X; it seems to have evolved into a "battle for the right to define" Chinese music...

"This is outrageous! This piece of trash, garbage! When I was in the music industry, your brother, that idiot, wasn't even born yet..."

When Xu Yike came to Han Renyi's office again, she happened to see this middle-aged man sitting in front of his computer, cursing and swearing non-stop!

"Um, Mr. Han, what's wrong?"

"It's that Zhang Yi again. That guy spews nonsense and doesn't make any sense. I talked to him about the arrangement of the song, and he started talking about how Hualebao was taken over by someone else. Hualebao has always been upright and honest. When did we get taken over by someone else?"

"Uh, no, that's true! Even General Manager Li said that Hualebao should be given full autonomy, and that I was sent here to cooperate with General Manager Han..."

Xu Yike would never say that she was sent by Li Shuo to supervise Han Renyi. The reason she was chosen was to make it easier for Li Shuo to use Leng Wen to put pressure on Han Renyi!
However, as Han Renyi angrily complained about Zhang Yi, Xu Yi knew that his goal had been initially achieved, so he immediately changed his tune and kept comforting Han Renyi, saying, "Don't be too angry. Our boss has already launched a series of counterattacks, and Zhang Yi won't be able to keep up this for much longer..."

"Oh? What method? Can I know?" Han Renyi asked curiously.

"The adapted song is called 'Unforgivable,' and its soundtrack will be released no later than tomorrow! The song is of very high quality and is expected to create a sensation..."

If a work achieves outstanding results, it will naturally silence all doubters, and this is the most direct way to retaliate.

Han Renyi's eyes lit up, and he repeatedly said "Okay." But then Xu Yike casually said, "Given the doubts raised by Zhang Yi and others, after 'Unforgivable' is released, we will also invite many industry professionals to comment. At that time, President Han can offer his comments. Well, if your son can comment, that would be even better..."

The reason why Li Shuo repeatedly pressured Han Renyi, using both soft and hard tactics, was naturally because of Han Er, who was on par with Zhang Yi!
Compared to other young masters like Zhang Yi and Tang San, Li Shuo actually admires Han Er more for his real works. Moreover, Han Er will be making movies and writing songs in the future, which are all within the business scope of Shuoguo Culture. Therefore, since he knows that Han Er is Han Renyi's son, he should naturally find an opportunity to get in touch with him and, ideally, sign him to Shuoguo Culture!

"Well, I'll talk to him about it later, but... Miss Xu might not know, but my son has always been very opinionated, and my words don't carry much weight with him..."

Xu Yike smiled and said, "It's alright, just do as President Han wishes. The reason I brought up Second Young Master Han is because I remembered Boss praising him. I think if Second Young Master Han is willing to curry favor with Boss, he might be able to get some good resources from Shuoguo Culture... You should know the relationship between Leng Wen and our Boss. Also, I heard that Second Young Master Han is determined to turn his work into a movie, and Boss can help with that..."

This is a reminder to Han Renyi: it's not that Li Shuo is begging Han Er to do anything, but rather that the two complement each other, and many things Han Er wants to do can even be done through Li Shuo...

Upon hearing this, Han Renyi nodded emphatically and solemnly agreed, "I have remembered what Miss Xu said. Don't worry, I will discuss it thoroughly with my son when we get back..."

After two days of back and forth, with Li Shuo sometimes throwing a stick and sometimes offering a sweet treat, Han Renyi has been tamed! Moreover, Han Renyi has no idea that Han Er has not yet reached his peak and can still make movies and write songs in the future. From his perspective, he thinks that if Han Er wants to develop in the film, television and music circles, it is very necessary for him to be on good terms with Li Shuo.

After saying goodbye to Xu Yike, Han Renyi left the newspaper office and immediately called his son, Han Er. Half an hour later, when he rushed home, Han Er was already waiting for him.

Upon seeing him return, Han Er immediately stood up and asked:
"Dad, why didn't you tell me about this sooner? Li Shuo is no pushover. Are you alright under his thumb?"

As a member of the Lenghai youth cultural elite, Han Er has extensive information channels here, so he even knows more about Li Shuo's background than Han Renyi:
Li Shuo is the de facto bigwig in the cold entertainment circle, the mastermind behind Leng Wen and Leng Yi, and a shareholder of the two super clubs SC and SV. Overall, he is the one who controls everything in the cold entertainment industry.

In front of his son, Han Renyi naturally wouldn't say he had been bullied, but vaguely said, "Hey, when we cooperated with Century Huayue before, we weren't immune to being mistreated. Business matters are just like that. Now that Li Shuo has taken over Century Huayue, there are naturally a lot of things to do. The key thing is that your old man offended him by criticizing X, so there were some misunderstandings along the way..."

He recounted the events of that period from his own perspective.

After listening, Han Er calmly commented, "This is a typical tactic of kicking someone while pulling them up. After these two days of maneuvering, you have become Li Shuo's subordinate."

Han Renyi said dismissively, "I'm almost retired, so what difference does it make who I work for? Besides, Li Shuo gave me over a million yuan in dividends all at once. How could my previous shares in Hualebao be worth that much?"

Han Er smiled and nodded: "That's true. I remember during Zhang Nianhua's time, he wanted to use you, but he was unwilling to give Hualebao an additional budget. Compared to him, Li Shuo is a good boss!"

"So, how do you plan to respond to Li Shuo?" Han Renyi asked.

"He wanted to win me over, so I gave him my first pledge of allegiance and completely pledged allegiance to the Shuoguo camp..."

"Huh? Isn't this... going too far in responding?"

"Because the target is Zhang Yi, Dad. You know, of the four young masters, this guy is the one I hate the most!" (End of Chapter)