Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

Liu Yifei's mind raced as she tried to find the right words.

Don't overthink it.

"Our relationship will not be affected."

"Business is business, and feelings are feelings."

A bunch of comforting words were on the tip of my tongue.

I hadn't even had a chance to say it.

Fang Yu spoke first.

His tone was more serious than ever before.

"them……"

Liu Yifei's heart jumped into her throat.

coming.

Is he about to lose his temper?

Are you getting jealous?

Is it time to question them?

"...How much will I get?"

"..."

"what?"

Liu Yifei's mind went blank for a moment.

This……

Is this the key point?

"No, let me tell you first, this matter..."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Fang Yu interrupted her directly, his brows furrowing even more tightly.

"I just want to ask one question."

"How much did Pepsi pay you?"

Liu Yifei saw his "I won't give up until I tell you today" attitude.

It resisted for two seconds.

Then I gave up.

"...eight digits."

The sound was very soft.

After saying that, he quickly added another sentence.

"Before tax."

She hadn't finished speaking.

"Snapped!"

Fang Yu slapped his thigh.

He pushed the chair back and stood up abruptly.

"This is outrageous!"

Liu Yifei was so startled by this that she shrank back.

Fang Yu had already started pacing back and forth around the dining table.

His face was filled with righteous indignation.

"That's too much!"

"Isn't this bullying an honest person?!"

"Why should I?!"

"They all wrote songs for soft drinks! They're all global brand ambassadors!"

"Why is it that yours is eight figures, while mine is only two million??"

Fang Yu became more and more excited as he spoke.

"Am I really that worthless?"

"I, Fang Yu, have stood up!"

He patted his chest forcefully.

"I'm no longer that newbie who can be easily manipulated!"

"I want to raise prices!"

"I must uphold my dignity as an artist!"

"I'll call Mr. Zhang right now! Immediately!!"

talking.

He actually took out his phone.

My thumb is already on the contacts list.

Liu Yifei sat at the dining table.

His mouth was slightly open, and he couldn't close it for a long time.

A million questions are lining up in my head, waiting to be answered.

and so……

He had been holding back his anger for so long with a sullen face.

It's not because I'm jealous.

It's not because I feel betrayed.

Just ...

Is it simply because they feel they don't earn enough?

Which factory produced this man's brain circuits?

Was a string missing when it left the factory?

"Wait a minute! Put your phone down first!"

Liu Yifei was both angry and amused. She jumped up from her chair and grabbed Fang Yu's arm.

"Calm down!"

"What do you mean I get paid more than you?"

She was genuinely amused and exasperated by Fang Yu's bizarre and outrageous focus.

"That two million you mentioned was a pure copyright fee that Coca-Cola paid you personally!"

"You took it all by yourself!"

"We don't need to give away a single penny!"

"My eight-figure sum sounds like a lot, but the bulk of it goes to the producer, the arrangement team, the mixing engineer, and the costs of the offline events afterwards."

"After deducting various fees, what I get is not much different from what you got."

Liu Yifei finished speaking in one breath, then took a couple of breaths.

Fang Yu, who was about to make a phone call, suddenly stopped.

He blinked and slowly put his phone down.

Looking at Liu Yifei.

"Oh?"

You mean to say—

"So, the money for that top-tier producer you hired to write songs also comes from that eight-figure sum?"

"yes!"

Liu Yifei nodded.

"Don't those top producers get paid?"

"Songwriting, arranging, studio monitoring, post-production mixing—which of these doesn't take time and effort?"

"Go ask around about the price a top producer charges for a song; it'll scare you to death."

Fang Yu didn't speak.

He slowly sat back down in his chair and picked up his chopsticks.

Pick up the last piece of cooled tomato and egg stir-fry from the bottom of the bowl.

He put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly a couple of times.

Swallow it.

then.

He looked up at Liu Yifei across from him.

The indignation and resentment on his face were gone.

He put on a meaningful smile.

"You should have said so earlier."

Fang Yu placed his chopsticks on the rim of the bowl and leaned back.

"This money—"

"I can earn that too."

Liu Yifei's eyelids twitched suddenly.

Her intuition told her that what this guy was about to say was most likely not something serious.

"What...what do you want to do?"

Fang Yu raised an eyebrow.

"You just said that your company is planning to hire a top-notch producer for you, right?"

Liu Yifei didn't understand what he was up to: "Yeah."

Fang Yu waved his hand: "No need to invite me."

Liu Yifei was stunned: "If we don't hire a producer, where will the new song come from?"

"It's so far away, yet so close at hand."

Fang Yu pointed to his nose, looking completely matter-of-fact.

"I am Fang Yu, a top-rated producer."

He paused for a moment, seemingly feeling that the title was not worthy of him.

"No—it's the Diamond brand."

Liu Yifei burst out laughing.

"Stop fooling around, we're being serious."

"I'm serious."

Fang Yu's nonchalant attitude vanished completely in an instant.

"Think about it carefully—aren't the lion's share of your eight-figure fortune going to that so-called top producer?"

Liu Yifei thought for a moment and nodded.

indeed.

A top producer's asking price is typically in the millions.

Participating in subsequent profit sharing is also standard practice in the industry.

What actually reached her hands was not as much as it appeared from the outside.

"That settles it then."

Fang Yu slapped his thigh, his eyes shining.

"Instead of letting outsiders earn this money, why can't we keep it internally?"

"Internal digestion?"

Liu Yifei hadn't reacted yet.

Fang Yu moved closer to her and lowered his voice.

"I'll write it for you."

"I'll write the Pepsi song."

"Then, we split the producer's share of the money."

"How is it?"

He held up two fingers and gestured between the two of them.

"I get seven, you get three."

Liu Yifei's eyes widened instantly.

She stared blankly at Fang Yu, her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out for a long time.

This……

What kind of operation is this?

Write a song for your business rival?

And then they want to take a huge slice of the pie from their competitors' budgets?

This is beyond just having unusual brain circuits.

This is treating capitalists like韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting them) to be harvested!

"Are you... are you crazy?!"

Liu Yifei's first reaction was that this was outrageous beyond belief.

"How is this possible!"

"How is that impossible?"

Fang Yu remained calm and counted the costs for her on his fingers.

"You see—from Pepsi's perspective, they need a great song that can compete with Coca-Cola, right?"

Liu Yifei nodded.

"From your perspective, you need to meet the brand's KPIs and deliver a phenomenal song, right?"

Liu Yifei nodded again.

From my perspective...

Fang Yu chuckled.

That smile was so open it was outrageous.

"I need money."

"..."

Liu Yifei was about to complain that he was useless.

But Fang Yu changed his tone, his playful smile vanished, and he adopted a heartfelt tone.

"Let's put money aside for now."

Let's talk about feelings.

Fang Yu stared into Liu Yifei's eyes, his tone serious.

"Think about it—if you really listened to the company and went to find some top producer."

"What if, in case, his songs are really good?"

"So awesome that it completely dwarfs my delicious theme song."

"How do you feel when the whole internet is laughing at me?"

Liu Yifei thought about it, following his train of thought.

Fang Yu was ridiculed across the internet.

Her boyfriend was being laughed at.

She immediately shook her head.

Of course it wasn't a good time.

"And vice versa."

Fang Yu spread his hands.

"If my song is too powerful, it'll completely destroy the producer you hired at such a high price—"

"Then the whole internet will be laughing at you, how will I look?"

Liu Yifei was stunned.

She discovered that, regardless of the outcome.

It was a dead end for both of them.

Winning is awkward.

Losing is shameful.

No matter which way you go, it's wrong.