Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Chen Weiyang sat in his office all night.

On the phone screen, the long article "Melody Deconstructor" had already surpassed five million views.

There were hundreds of replies below, all of them criticizing him.

"So 'Acacia' was actually plagiarized; disgusting."

"Chen Weiyang resigned from EE-Media and then immediately took credit for someone else's proposal. Does this kind of person even deserve to be called a producer?"

"After checking this person's resume, I found that he used to be a second-tier producer. He only made a name for himself by relying on Tianyu Media's platform. Once he left the platform, his true colors were immediately revealed."

The last one is the deepest.

It wasn't because the insults were harsh, but because they were so accurate.

The door was pushed open.

Wang Hao walked in.

They didn't knock.

In the past, when Wang Hao came to his office, he would at least knock twice as a symbolic gesture.

Today, we're even skipping the formalities of saving face.

"Wei Yang," Wang Hao said, standing in front of him. "The company's legal department has assessed the situation, and Tianyu Media might send a lawyer's letter at any time."

"A lawyer's letter?" Chen Weiyang looked up, his eyes bloodshot from not having slept all night. "I didn't sign a confidentiality agreement. I participated in a regular meeting at Tianyu Media, and the content of the meeting isn't a trade secret—"

"You listened to the full version of 'Red Bean' in the EE-Media recording studio. Then you switched to this company and produced a song with a very similar style. Any lawyer could tell this causal chain as a story. Whether it holds up in court is another matter, but you've already lost in the public eye."

Chen Weiyang opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Wang Hao took a piece of paper out of his pocket, unfolded it, and placed it on the table.

"This is the termination agreement. The company will compensate you with three months' salary. Sign it today and leave."

Chen Weiyang stared at the paper.

He glanced at the terms and conditions, and the core of it was just one sentence: all legal disputes involving "Longing" thereafter shall be borne by Chen Weiyang personally, and shall have nothing to do with Times Media.

"How much traffic did I generate for the company? 'Longing' sold 30 million copies on its first day, that number—"

"That song is a ticking time bomb," Wang Hao interrupted him, his voice flat. "Wei Yang, look outside for yourself. The PR team has been working all night, but they can't control it at all. President Su also called, but I won't repeat what he said."

Su Yuyan.

Chen Weiyang shut his mouth.

Su Yuyan is a shareholder of Times Media.

Once she opened her mouth, there was no turning back.

Wang Hao took out a pen and placed it next to the resignation agreement.

"Wei Yang, be more dignified."

Decent.

Three days ago, he sat in this chair, having just been promoted to deputy director of the music department.

Wang Hao knocked on the door with two glasses of red wine and said, "Wei Yang, you are a hero of the company."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, picked up the pen, and signed.

Wang Hao put away the agreement, nodded, and turned to leave.

The door closed.

Chen Weiyang sat in the empty office for another five minutes.

He opened the drawer, inside which was a stack of unopened business cards.

"Chen Weiyang, Deputy Director of Music Department, Times Media." The gold lettering gleamed coldly under the fluorescent lights.

He took out a card and looked at it for two seconds.

Then they threw them all into the trash can.

As I passed through the lobby, the young producers who had greeted me as "Brother Weiyang" all had their heads down, staring at their computer screens, not giving me a second glance.

That's just how this industry is.

When you're going up the mountain, everyone applauds you, but when you're going down, they won't even give way to you.

As he stepped out of the revolving door of Times Media, the sunlight made him squint.

My phone vibrated. It was an email from Tianyu Media's legal department.

A lawyer's letter.

It was faster than Wang Hao had predicted.

The wording was polite, but the meaning was clear: remove all online versions of "Xiangsi" within seven days, issue a public apology, and compensate for all economic losses caused by the infringement.

In the amount column, there was a number he could never afford to pay in his lifetime.

-

Fanyin Culture Studio.

Li Cheng finally fell asleep on the sofa. His snoring was deafening.

Zhou Yutong draped a blanket over him and tiptoed back to her workstation.

On the computer screen, the real-time viewership of "Easily Hurt Woman" has just surpassed 30 million.

The Greater Bay Area channels have indeed been integrated into the network.

On social media in Hong Kong, Xu Qingya's Cantonese song has already surpassed all other new songs released that month in terms of discussion.

Several retired veterans of the Cantonese music scene shared the post on their personal accounts, saying, "It's been a long time since I've heard a Cantonese song with this kind of flavor."

Just as Zhou Yutong was about to take a screenshot for archiving, the office door was pushed open.

Jiang Fan walked in, carrying two bags of breakfast.

"Where's Brother Li?"

Zhou Yutong pointed to the sofa.

Jiang Fan walked over and took a look.

Li Cheng's sleeping posture was extremely ungraceful; his mouth was slightly open, and a small puddle of drool had dripped from it.

Jiang Fan pulled a tissue from the table and precisely covered Li Cheng's face.

Li Cheng mumbled something indistinctly, "Data... the data doubles again...", turned over, and went back to sleep.

Jiang Fan sat down in his seat and turned on his phone.

A topic he hadn't anticipated appeared on the trending search list.

#Chen Weiyang fired by Times Media#

Clicking through, the source of the information was an anonymous leak from an employee of Times Media.

Screenshots show that Chen Weiyang was asked to sign a resignation agreement this morning, and the company simultaneously severed all legal ties with the copyright infringement case involving "Xiangsi".

The comment section received tens of thousands of replies.

"Times Media really runs away fast; they use it and then throw it away."

"Hilarious! He thought changing jobs was like jumping over the dragon gate, but he jumped into a fire pit instead."

"Speaking of which, when this person was with EE-Media, did he once blackmail Xu Qingya with a song? Has anyone dug into that?"

Jiang Fan paused for a moment when he saw the last message.

Chen Lan used this incident to threaten Chen Weiyang in the recording studio, but it was never made public.

Now people in the comments section are starting to dig in this direction.

Once exposed, Chen Weiyang's career will not just be suspended, it will be permanently cancelled.

He put down his phone, unwrapped the jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe), and took a bite.

Li Cheng suddenly sat up on the sofa, his nose twitching twice.

"Who bought the jianbing guozi?"

"I've saved one for you."

Li Cheng kicked off the blanket, walked over, took the paper bag, and ate most of it in three bites.

"Brother Li."

"Um?"

"What's the progress on Shen Nian's case?"

Li Cheng wiped his mouth, his expression turning serious.

"The trial starts next Monday. We have a very strong evidence chain, and we have a high chance of winning."

Jiang Fan stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window is the skyline of Shanghai, with skyscrapers blocking out most of the sky.

"Winning the lawsuit alone is not enough."

He turned around and looked at Li Cheng.

"I want Shen Nian to stand in a higher position than Hua Xingyu."

Li Cheng put down the pancake.

"you mean--"

"Let's see if there are any variety shows where she can sing."

Li Cheng's hand was suspended in mid-air.

He knew Shen Nian's situation all too well.

He suffered from severe depression and was criticized by the entire internet. His comeback was like walking a tightrope.

But if there were a suitable variety show that would allow her to sing in front of the public again—

"I'll try to find someone I know." Li Cheng was already taking out his phone.

Jiang Fan nodded and picked up the water glass on the table.

"Ding," the phone screen lit up.

Jiang Fan picked up his phone; it was a WeChat message.

He clicked on it, and there were only four words.

"Let's chat sometime."

Su Yuyan.

Jiang Fan stared at the screen. This female shareholder of Times Media had approached him immediately after her company had just thrown Chen Weiyang out as a scapegoat.

He did not reply immediately.

He flipped his phone face down on the table and continued eating his jianbing guozi.