Chapter 73: Brilliant Entertainment Weeps

At this moment, An Chuxia was at the center of the storm, with countless people watching her every move on Weibo and Douyin each day. As soon as she posted something on either platform, comments and replies poured in, exceeding a hundred within minutes.

Her latest Weibo message was brief: “Thank you to all my fans for your support, pushing ‘Embrace’ to second place. I love every song written by Teacher Jiabei. Don’t ask me why—call it metaphysics.”

An Chuxia’s playful imitation of online memes instantly won her a flood of praise, and the downloads for her song “Guardian” soared at a pace visible to the naked eye.

Her fans were overjoyed at An Chuxia’s response.

[Summer Every Day]: “Summer, you’re the best. Don’t pay attention to those people online. Your songs are the most beautiful.”

[Marry Summer]: “Jiabei is nothing compared to you. You’re the best. Don’t ask me how I know—call it metaphysics.”

[A Smile in Midsummer]: “I know Summer will work with Teacher Jiabei eventually. Don’t ask me how I know—call it metaphysics.”

[Summer Day and Night]: “I have a feeling ‘Embrace’ will take first place in July. Don’t ask me how I know—call it metaphysics.”

The comments from An Chuxia’s fans were all within reasonable bounds. After all, they were her supporters, and even their jokes and memes stayed within a certain range.

But casual netizens had no such filters. Their only pursuit was amusement.

They played along gleefully, unconcerned with boundaries.

[Blazing Sun in March]: “An Chuxia’s next new release will definitely clash with Jiabei again. Don’t ask me how I know—call it metaphysics.”

[Big Windmill]: “Give up, An Chuxia. The Big Boss Jiabei already has you in his sights. Don’t ask me how I know—call it metaphysics.”

[Little Carp]: “I have a hunch Jiabei will never collaborate with An Chuxia. He’ll keep countering her. Don’t ask me how I know—call it metaphysics.”

An Chuxia’s meme-filled post shot up to the fifth spot on Weibo’s trending topics before finally slowing.

Gazing at her own trending status, An Chuxia fell into deep thought. After a moment, she declared, “So getting on the hot search is this easy? Just post something on Weibo?”

Is it really that simple to make the trending list… Her agent and assistant exchanged a silent glance, wisely choosing to keep their thoughts to themselves.

Shortly after An Chuxia posted on Weibo and Douyin, Brilliant Entertainment’s official Douyin account released a short video.

Initially, Brilliant Entertainment’s publicity department had planned to post on both Weibo and Douyin, but upon realizing Jiabei had no Weibo account, they gave up and released the video only on Douyin.

Brilliant Entertainment: “Teacher Jiabei, next time you’re about to release a song, please let us know in advance. It’s not easy for us to nurture a talented newcomer.”

“Contact: Phone 138××……, WeChat 138××……@Jiabei.”

This left netizens utterly flabbergasted.

What did this mean?

Brilliant themselves were stepping in to beg for mercy—was this a dream?

[Little Demon King]: “Brilliant, you should trust in science. Jiabei’s metaphysics won’t work. @Brilliant Entertainment.”

[I’m Rich]: “No one actually believes in metaphysics, right? In this age, we have to trust science. @Brilliant Entertainment.”

[Gobi Old Pan]: “Brilliant, take some advice from your uncle. The waters of metaphysics are too deep for you. Let me handle it. @Brilliant Entertainment.”

At first, the comments were all in good fun, staying within the realm of memes.

But soon, things took an unexpected turn.

[I’m Super Smart]: “Holy crap, the number Brilliant gave is real—I actually got through.”

[Invincible Little Charizard]: “I called too. It seems like an internal staff member answered, and she had a lovely voice.”

[Oh My God]: “I called too. I said I was Jiabei, trapped in the restroom, and needed a hundred Summer Coins to buy toilet paper. I promised to write a song for Brilliant once I got out, but she didn’t believe me and told me to get my head checked at the hospital.”

[No Beans for Me]: “The WeChat is fake. I tried adding it several times and got no response.”

[Honest Guy]: “You guys are ruthless! The contact was meant for Jiabei, but now you’ve blown it up. Brilliant has nowhere left to cry.”

[Next Is Fourth]: “Don’t listen to them above. I am Jiabei.”

[Oh My God]: “I really am Jiabei, and I really am trapped in the restroom. Is anyone kind enough to send me a hundred Summer Coins for toilet paper? I swear I’ll write you a song when I get out.”

[Li Lisan]: “Brilliant’s had enough bad luck. Leave them alone. Wait, my call just went through.”

Right now, the publicity department at Brilliant Entertainment was in agony—they had never expected things to go this way.

Leaving the contact info was meant as a gesture of goodwill toward Jiabei. Instead of reaching him, they found themselves swamped by a legion of absurd netizens.

“What do we do? The phone keeps ringing,” a young woman in business attire said, close to tears. Were these netizens just too idle?

She had just picked up a call, only to be asked whether her bride price was high. The caller suggested they chat first on WeChat, saying he could trade a song for a lower dowry.

Trade your sister! She nearly cursed out loud. If not for fear of a pay cut, she would have let loose already.

This was infuriating.

Was he really Jiabei, trading songs like that?

The voice didn’t sound right at all—Jiabei had to be in his forties, but the caller sounded like a high school graduate at best.

Just finished the college entrance exams and has nothing better to do? Utterly maddening.

The head of the publicity department, Dan Shou, massaged his forehead, groaning, “Don’t these people have jobs? Are they really this idle every day?”

It was too late to delete the Douyin video now. Once people discovered the phone line was live, screenshots had already been taken.

Another female staffer stood up and said, “Director, the WeChat has been bombarded too.”

The director adjusted his glasses and instructed, “Cut off the phone line for now. Ignore the WeChat. Let them add it if they want—eventually, the fuss will die down.”

There really was no better way to handle it than to let time smooth things over.

If only time could move faster… The director had never wanted time to pass more quickly than now.

Online, netizens had split into two camps regarding Brilliant’s official Douyin video.

One group was busy calling and adding WeChat out of sheer boredom, while the other remained content with just playing along with the memes.

While the first group was driving Brilliant’s publicity department to distraction, the second was far from idle.

[4643499]: “Brilliant, you should learn from Yin Mengna. She’s a firm believer in science and refuses to believe in metaphysics.”

[467946]: “Exactly—An Chuxia isn’t the only one who’s clashed with Jiabei twice. Yin Mengna did once too.”

[4644649]: “Jiabei is really on a roll—knocking out Brilliant with his fists and rival companies with his feet. Unstoppable!”

Meanwhile, Yin Mengna—one of only two people whose songs had been overshadowed by Jiabei’s—suddenly found herself trending as well, though only at number ten.

At Brotherhood Entertainment, Yin Mengna was completely baffled.

She didn’t even know what had happened. Suddenly, she was trending for no apparent reason.

After her assistant explained the situation, she was more confused than ever. Jiabei’s songs were of exceptional quality—how had the discussion veered into metaphysics?

Netizens really had wild imaginations.

At Glorious Entertainment, Li He arrived at the office, ready for another day of idling. Old Qin approached, phone in hand, as excited as if his wife had just given birth to another son.

Old Qin grinned, “You’re trending more often than the artists themselves.”

For singers and celebrities to make the trending list, they usually had to stir up some drama or pay for a spot.

But Li He? He did nothing, and trending topics just fell into his lap.

“What trending topic?” Li He was puzzled.

He hadn’t done anything lately—no newly aborted songs released, and while he had just killed off a side character in his novel, that had nothing to do with his Jiabei persona.

“You really don’t know?” Old Qin gave him a suspicious look and pulled up the Douyin trending page.

“Jiabei’s metaphysics—what does that mean?” Li He clicked in, bewildered.

Ten minutes later—

“How did I not know I had this kind of power?” Li He burst out laughing.

These netizens were truly talented.

“Brilliant’s An Chuxia ought to treat you to a meal in thanks. You really helped her out. Without your buzz, her song would never have jumped from fifth to second on the charts,” Old Qin said.

I’m afraid it might lead to disaster… Li He changed the subject. “I saw in the comments that the phone number was real. Brilliant must be crying now.”

“They just wanted to make a good impression on you,” Old Qin said gleefully. “If the higher-ups at Brilliant knew the person they exposed their phone number for is sitting here in the Glorious building, they might just die of anger.”

You’re a real schemer, old man… Li He, who harbored no evil intentions, said, “Should I post something on Douyin clarifying that people should believe in science and all that?”

After a moment’s thought, Old Qin agreed. “Go ahead. Even though this will give Brilliant a bit more buzz, it’ll also generate more discussion for you and for ‘Bridges of Fate.’”

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PS. Publish first, revise later.