"Hiss, aren't these two judges a bit too harsh?"
"Yeah, I thought the song was pretty good!"
"Could Nan Ying and Yang Zhi Yin be looking for trouble, or do they just think the song is too good and are jealous?"
Many audience members frowned after hearing Nan Ying and Yang Zhi Yin's comments.
To them, Li Lang's song sounded quite good, nowhere near as bad as Nan Ying described.
In their eyes, Nan Ying simply disliked Li Lang and was deliberately trying to make things difficult for him.
"I don't know what standard the two teachers have for musical works, but I believe this song is no worse than your own works. Furthermore, it was created by the genius composer, Mr. Wang Shu."
Li Lang, unfazed by their criticism, stared at the two judges with a resolute expression.
"So what if Wang Shu wrote it? What genius composer? In my opinion, he's just a clown!"
Hearing Li Lang talk back to her in public, Nan Ying's expression turned displeased.
She was quite annoyed with this newcomer who had suddenly become popular. Just because he wrote a few catchy tunes, he was hailed as a genius composer.
"Exactly, can Wang Shu's work even be called music? Has the bar for the music industry dropped so low now?" Yang Zhi Yin scoffed.
As a senior musician at Qian Yin Group, he saw Wang Shu as an ungrateful youngster whose writings couldn't be considered musical works at all.
"Alright, teachers, our review session ends here. Let's invite all the contestants back to the stage to see who will be crowned this week's champion!"
The host quickly stepped forward, breaking the tense atmosphere. He worried that if this continued, a fight might break out.
After the host's announcement, the contestants from backstage returned to the stage.
Then, the votes on the big screen began to surge, with Li Lang's increasing the fastest.
Starting from zero votes, his numbers skyrocketed, even surpassing the current rankings to reach first place, and still showing no signs of stopping.
Watching the rapidly increasing votes on the big screen, Nan Ying's face darkened, her brows furrowed tightly.
Yang Zhi Yin, on the other hand, lowered his head, no longer looking at the screen, shaking his head in a gesture of utter helplessness.
Finally, when the votes were tallied, Li Lang was declared the champion of the week's competition.
"What a bunch of losers! Utterly useless!"
Meanwhile, in his office, Ji Cheng, who was watching remotely, flew into a rage.
He had invested so much effort and arranged for so many contestants.
Yet, they couldn't even defeat a mere amateur under Wang Shu.
It was an absolute disgrace.
On stage, upon seeing Li Lang as the champion, the other contestants wore awkward smiles.
Just moments ago, they had been mocking Li Lang and telling him to withdraw. But now?
He had directly clinched this week's championship.
An amateur contestant had completely dominated them, a group of professional singers.
...
After leaving Xiang Nan Television Station.
Li Lang was about to transfer the one million yuan prize money he had just received to Wang Shu.
After all, without Wang Shu's help, he might not have even qualified for the competition.
Therefore, he decided not to adhere to the contract that stipulated only a thirty percent profit share for the company. Instead, he wanted to give it all to Wang Shu.
However, just as he stepped out the door, a black Audi A8 pulled up in front of him.
"Brother, can we talk?"
The window of the Audi rolled down, and a man in a suit looked at Li Lang and said.
"What is it?"
Li Lang frowned, asking somewhat confusedly.
"Get in the car and let's talk!"
Li Lang had intended to refuse, but after a moment's thought, he opened the car door.
"We are from Qian Yin Group. You must have heard of us!"
After Li Lang got into the car, the man immediately introduced himself.
"I know!"
Li Lang replied calmly, without much emotional fluctuation.
"We were very impressed with your performance today, so we'd like to discuss a collaboration!"
The man in the suit continued.
"How do we collaborate?"
Li Lang continued to ask.
He wanted to see what Qian Yin Group was up to.
...
In the evening, in the vice president's office at Qian Yin Group.
Ji Cheng looked at a contract before him, a smug smile playing on his lips.
"Wang Shu, Wang Shu, let's see what else you have to fight me with. You cultivate a singer, and I'll poach them! Let's see who is faster, you at cultivating or me at poaching!"
Ji Cheng sneered softly.
"What's the progress with that person named Zhang Liangying? I want to see how Wang Shu will fight me without any artists!"
Ji Cheng looked up at the man in the suit again and asked.
"We've approached Zhang Liangying a few times, but they're not giving us any opportunities. They were previously an artist under a small brokerage company affiliated with us. They terminated their contract not too long ago and have quite a negative opinion of Qian Yin Group now."
The man in the suit looked troubled. Ji Cheng's task was to sign all the artists Wang Shu had contracted.
However, after several days of contact, he realized that despite Wang Shu's young age, he possessed immense charisma.
Essentially, all the artists he signed were fiercely loyal to him and refused to join Qian Yin Group, no matter how they were persuaded.
It wasn't until he found that fellow named Li Lang today that he saw a breakthrough.
That night, Li Lang sat in a small tavern, dejected.
He had transferred the entire one million yuan in prize money he had just received to Wang Shu.
He felt he didn't deserve the money at all.
Wang Shu was very confused upon receiving the text notification on his phone.
He didn't understand why Li Lang had suddenly sent him a million yuan.
After all, even with the prize money, after deducting taxes, the amount wouldn't be a full million.
He then called Li Lang.
After a long while, Li Lang finally answered the phone.
"Boss, I'm sorry, I've failed you!"
Li Lang said directly into the phone once it was connected.
"What do you mean?"
Wang Shu was stunned. Why was this guy saying such things as soon as he answered the phone?
"Let's terminate our contract!"
Li Lang said after a long silence, gritting his teeth.
"Why?"
Wang Shu was very confused. Hadn't he just won a million yuan prize? Why was he talking about terminating the contract now?
"I'm not human! I don't deserve to follow you! I'm a useless waste!"
Li Lang's emotions were running high. He was slapping himself while speaking on the phone.
"They said that if I terminate my contract with you, they'll let my daughter be by my side! Otherwise, they'll find a way to make me lose my daughter!"
Li Lang cried into the phone.
Wang Shu was stunned. He hadn't expected Qian Yin Group to be so utterly shameless.
"It's your choice. I won't blame you."
Wang Shu said directly.
He completely understood Li Lang's feelings at this moment, as Li Lang only had one daughter.
If Qian Yin Group truly interfered, Li Lang might not be able to retain custody of his daughter.
Therefore, Li Lang's choice to terminate the contract for the sake of his daughter was understandable.
Wang Shu directly returned seventy thousand yuan to Li Lang.
He had said he would only take thirty percent of the profits, and he would not take any more. Moreover, Li Lang was in urgent need of money.
He was the sole caregiver for his daughter, and this seventy thousand yuan could alleviate some immediate financial pressure.
After hanging up the phone, Wang Shu remained restless for a long time.
Qian Yin Group was truly going too far.
They weren't even sparing the people around him.
However, Wang Shu was not someone to be trifled with. Now that Qian Yin Group was relentlessly pursuing him,
He vowed that one day, he would make this company disappear from Dragon Country.
...
The next day, Wang Shu woke up early and went to Li Lang's shop.
Li Lang hadn't expected Wang Shu to visit.
He walked forward with a look of shame.
"Boss, I'm sorry."
Li Lang said directly.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. We're just in a business partnership. You don't need to blame yourself so much. Besides, everyone has their own choices, and I don't think your choice is wrong."
Wang Shu said to Li Lang with a smile.
"Help me record a few songs!"
Then, Wang Shu handed his laptop to Li Lang.
"Huh?"
Li Lang was slightly taken aback.
"I'll pay you. Be quick about it."
Seeing Li Lang's surprise, Wang Shu said with a smile.
"That's not what I meant..."
Li Lang said with an embarrassed expression, then led Wang Shu to the recording studio to start recording audio.
...
"Less than a week since its release, and it's the fifth reprint. The sales speed is just too fast."
In the office of Long Wen Pavilion, several editors exclaimed.
Since the book "Living" was released, it had sold out for several consecutive days.
In less than a week, the book's sales had exceeded five hundred thousand copies.
This had already broken Long Wen Pavilion's new book sales record.
Even renowned literary masters would consider selling one hundred thousand copies in a week to be outstanding.
However, the author of "Living" was not a famous figure, but a young man in his early twenties.
"Comrades, we just received news that 'Living' has sold out again. We need to arrange another reprint."
Just as they were marveling, the editor-in-chief walked in from outside the door and said calmly.
"What? Sold out again? That's two hundred thousand copies!"
"No way, this is too terrifying. This is the internet age, how can a published book have such high sales?"
"I give up, I'm completely defeated. This sales speed has broken Long Wen Pavilion's record. Could this book 'Living' become the best-selling work of the year?"
The editors in the office were once again shocked when they heard that "Living" had sold out again.
After all, they had just reprinted two hundred thousand copies yesterday, and today, only half a day later, they had already sold out again.