When he knocked on Gu Yaoyang's door, he saw him in loungewear, wearing a checkered apron, looking like a good husband.
"Why did you bring things?" Gu Yaoyang took the bag of fruit from Xia Qingtian's hand. "It's quite heavy."
"Just passing by," Xia Qingtian's smile didn't fade. She looked around and said, "Where is Wen Yao?"
"Across the hall," Gu Yaoyang replied.
"Then call her over..." Before Xia Qingtian could finish, she saw Gu Yaoyang directly closing the door tightly.
"No need. It's after work hours, let her rest well." Gu Yaoyang didn't want Wen Yao to disturb him at this time.
Hearing Gu Yaoyang say this, Xia Qingtian, despite guessing his ulterior motive, was too lazy to expose it. She just smiled helplessly and said nothing more.
"The pastries are already baking and will be ready soon," Gu Yaoyang said, carrying the fruit into the kitchen to start washing them.
"Mhm," Xia Qingtian followed Gu Yaoyang to the kitchen door and chatted with him, "How was your day?"
"Song Junhan came today," Gu Yaoyang didn't hide anything. He told Xia Qingtian about Song Junhan making a big fool of himself at Gu's Entertainment, then said, "If my deductions are correct, Song Junhan will pour a huge sum of money into 'Drunken Sword Mandarin Ducks Record' at the last minute. After that, all his funds will be used to invest in their new drama. Since it will be broadcast on a major satellite channel, the production and cast will be far beyond what they can afford to lose."
"Then if this project fails, won't he be completely ruined?" Xia Qingtian raised an eyebrow and asked, "What project is it?"
"I Am the Great City Lord," Gu Yaoyang said with a mysterious smile at Xia Qingyu.
"Then he's dead for sure," Xia Qingtian raised an eyebrow.
I Am the Great City Lord is a currently explosive male-oriented web novel. It begins with the protagonist dreaming of a city and is a harem-themed novel that combines infrastructure, suspense, and fantasy.
Although the main plot is cliché, the setting is outstanding, and the supporting characters are well-developed. It also incorporates a three-life romantic entanglement, giving readers moments of sweetness amidst hardship.
The author's intricate planning is evident in the grand scope of the narrative.
The emotional lines, filled with the tender affection of lovers, are deeply moving and perfectly balanced.
Upon its release through various channels, it garnered immense popularity among readers, and it's rumored that the copyright was sold for tens of millions.
However, this work is plagiarized.
The original work, "There Was an Empty City in My Dreams," is a fantasy work jointly created by a couple during their battle with cancer. It's not particularly long, only hundreds of thousands of characters.
They fantasized about an entire empty city, from the initial infrastructure development to jointly solving cases and fighting enemies, pursuing happiness and the ultimate good of human nature. They integrated their feelings and insights from fighting cancer together, expressing their longing for life and their desire for a meaningful existence.
"I Am the Great City Lord" not only plagiarized "There Was an Empty City in My Dreams" but also changed the deeply affectionate relationship between the couple into a harem-centric, player-focused narrative.
If "I Am the Great City Lord" had only exploited the web novel community, it might not have been exposed. It was only when it was later adapted into a TV drama that the children of the couple, who had passed away from late-stage cancer, discovered something was wrong.
The subsequent events caused a huge uproar. Not only was the highly invested TV drama boycotted by the entire internet and taken offline, resulting in immense losses for the investors, but the plagiarizing author also claimed to have suffered from cyberbullying and retired from the industry for life.
The entire creative community once again called for "anti-plagiarism and protection of creators' rights." Xia Qingtian wasn't entirely sure what happened after that.
Now, hearing Gu Yaoyang say this, Xia Qingtian truly felt that Song Junhan wasn't just unlucky; he deserved it.
His two cherished projects were about to crumble and turn to dust, yet he had the audacity to continue acting so arrogantly?
Usually, Xia Qingtian would doubt Gu Yaoyang's identity and actions based on something he said or did. This time, Gu Yaoyang, holding the fruit platter, looked at Xia Qingtian and deliberately said, "Oh? How do you know he's dead for sure?"
"Uh..." Xia Qingtian blinked her eyes, feeling a pang of panic in her heart. She then coughed lightly, feigning nonchalance, and said, "His character is poor, he can't accumulate good karma, so what good projects can he encounter?"
"Heh." Seeing Xia Qingtian like this, Gu Yaoyang let out a light laugh, placed the fruit platter on the table, and said, "You're right. 'I Am the Great City Lord' is a plagiarized work. Let him invest his money; if he gets even a single cent back, I'll lose."
"Oh? Then how do you know?" Xia Qingtian immediately asked. In her memory, "I Am the Great City Lord" was only exposed for plagiarism after it was filmed...
"The copyright for 'There Was an Empty City in My Dreams' is all in my hands," Gu Yaoyang said. "The author couple needed a lot of funds for cancer treatment and sold all the copyrights to Shengshi Entertainment for a post-tax price of over a hundred thousand. When Shengshi Entertainment went through an economic crisis, they packaged and sold many of the copyrights for their works. After Assistant Lin acquired them, I reviewed the acquired works. 'There Was an Empty City in My Dreams' was a project I was planning to launch next year."
(The acquisition plot is in Chapter 8.)
"So that's how it is..." Xia Qingtian had no doubts about Gu Yaoyang's explanation. She was just genuinely impressed by his luck.
When a person possesses both strength and luck, wealth truly becomes unstoppable!
Once "I Am the Great City Lord" fails, the fans and general audience of "I Am the Great City Lord," along with the fans of "There Was an Empty City in My Dreams," will pay attention to this new drama, and there will be no worries about its popularity.
Gu Yaoyang is truly amazing.
Seeing Xia Qingtian's admiring gaze, Gu Yaoyang coughed lightly, feeling a bit guilty.
He was merely relying on his extended lifespan, the experience, and the opportunities he had accumulated.
"Eat some fruit," Gu Yaoyang handed Xia Qingtian some fruit and then stood up, saying, "I'll go take a look. The pastries should be almost ready."
"Okay," Xia Qingtian responded and took out her phone to browse trending news.
The news and photos of her meeting with Director Zhao and starting the production of the character song for Princess Yingyue were released today. The photographer was quite reliable, and every photo with her in it was taken beautifully. Her fans also bought into it, acting as if it were a New Year's celebration.
However, Xia Qingtian soon couldn't smile. A trending search for "Ling Fenghan's girlfriend in the industry exposed" had climbed to the top.
Immediately following it were "Ling Fenghan Returns to Love Nest with Girlfriend."
These two items directly suppressed the trending searches for the character song creation PR.
Xia Qingtian's heart sank. She frowned, a bad premonition gripping her.
Xia Qingtian clicked on the trending search while muttering dissatisfiedly, "Tsk... This Ling Fenghan really... I told you to be careful... How could you still be..."
Before she could finish, she saw the photos in the trending search.
Good heavens!
The famous actress was herself!