Chapter 77: Splendor Versus Brilliance

After Jia Bei updated her DouShou, Jiang Qi, He Xi’er, and He Luoluo immediately shared her new video, as if they knew the exact moment she would post. Jiang Qi, He Luoluo, and He Xi’er were all rising stars in the music world, with enormous fan bases—far surpassing Jia Bei, who was merely a lyricist. Lyricists and composers usually worked behind the scenes; someone like Li He was already an anomaly in their circles.

Jiang Qi’s DouShou.

When Jiang Qi reposted the video on DouShou, she added a caption: “This song was sung by Teacher Jia Bei herself!” She knew Li He’s voice had recovered; the company had only blocked the news about “Ten Years,” and hadn’t erased the memory of Li He singing “Friends” at a dinner with Group Seven colleagues. That somewhat amateur video still circulated internally within Shengshi, and quite a few singers had contacted Li He, all expressing interest in singing “Friends.” Li He always replied, “I’m still writing it.”

Thus, Li He’s vocal abilities were well known within Shengshi. Many singers, prompted by the head of the “Unlucky Singer Department,” lamented that it was a pity Li He wasn’t a singer. Zhang Yang had even been upset about it for a while. Jiang Qi’s repost and caption had Li He’s approval; he was already planning to make his singing debut.

Hmm…

He intended to earn the performance fee for the song himself. Money wasn’t the main concern; he just didn’t want to trouble the company’s financial team to calculate the splits every time. To ease their workload, Li He decided to take on more responsibility.

After Jiang Qi’s repost, her comment section exploded.

[QiQi Is the Best]: “QiQi isn’t joking, right? Is this really Teacher Jia Bei singing? Is Jia Bei really this young?”

[QiQi’s Little Wife]: “Even with the playful tone, it’s not hard to tell that Teacher Jia Bei’s voice is absolutely beautiful!”

[5867646]: “Teacher Jia Bei’s voice sounds like he’s twenty at most—is that even possible?”

[43794649]: “QiQi must be teasing us. Someone who wrote ‘Melancholy’ and ‘Bubbles’ can’t possibly be that young.”

[464946]: “I always thought Jia Bei was a man in his forties or fifties. Now you’re telling me he’s younger than I am, just a little brother?”

The comment sections for the He siblings were similar. No one could believe it—it was simply unbelievable.

It was one thing that you could write lyrics and compose music, but now you tell me you sing brilliantly and you’re not even old?

Too shocking.

Meanwhile—

The hired trolls from Brilliant Entertainment made their move. Whether on Weibo or DouShou, one message quickly climbed to the trending lists.

#JiaBei’s Talent Has Run Out#

They listed all the songs Jia Bei had written, from the legendary “Melancholy” to the current pop song “You Can’t Beat Me.” Upon closer inspection, it did seem as if his talent had run dry. The first three songs were all huge hits, but “You Can’t Beat Me” was frankly unimpressive.

Moreover, Brilliant Entertainment, along with several other companies, had their artists openly or subtly badmouth Jia Bei.

[4349469]: “Jia Bei is getting too arrogant. A senior invited you to a song duel to guide you; you didn’t appreciate it, even wrote a trashy pop song to disrespect a senior—get out of the entertainment industry!”

[37497697]: “What is this? Since ‘Melancholy,’ I never understood why anyone listened to Jia Bei’s songs. Taste is so bad.”

[3826969]: “Jia Bei must come forward and apologize—he must apologize!”

Such comments and posts were endless; Brilliant Entertainment had invested considerable effort.

“You’re the ones who should leave the industry. What’s wrong with Jia Bei’s songs? If you have the ability, write one yourself; if you can’t, shut up. Apologize? You should be the ones apologizing to Jia Bei…” Li Qing, always keeping an eye on her brother’s news, was fiercely arguing with online trolls.

She had just called Li He, who told her not to bother. Li Qing knew that public figures would always be criticized, but she just couldn’t stand it, switching between four or five accounts to fight back.

Online, news about “Jia Bei apologizing” and “Jia Bei’s talent has run out” grew ever hotter. When both Weibo and DouShou reached the top of the trending lists, Shengshi Entertainment’s official accounts posted a video.

The video showed a group of people in a restaurant, forming a circle, with a young man in the middle singing with a beer bottle in hand. It was, of course, the video of Li He singing “Friends,” but Shengshi released only the back view. The accompanying text read: “Would anyone really take a song inspired by gaming and drinking as their representative work?”

After Shengshi’s official release, their signed artists immediately shared the video, especially the singers from the music department, who were the most enthusiastic. They had no choice—they all wanted to sing Jia Bei’s songs.

Before, they might not have felt urgent; their turn would come eventually. But now, things had changed—Jia Bei’s songs might not even be enough for himself to sing.

It was absurd.

Brotherhood Entertainment.

Yin Mengna stared blankly at Shengshi’s official post. “Jia Bei really went to Shengshi. Why didn’t he come to Brotherhood?”

Her agent, Zheng Ming, complained, “To this day, Brotherhood Entertainment still hasn’t been able to contact Jia Bei.”

Yin Mengna was baffled. “How did Jiang Qi get in touch with Teacher Jia Bei? It’s so strange.”

Not only Yin Mengna—everyone found it odd. Jia Bei hadn’t replied to any company’s private messages except to write a song for Jiang Qi.

He Xi’er didn’t count, since companies speculated Jia Bei was from Spring City, and He Xi’er studied at Shandong Arts Institute.

“Could it be because of He Xi’er?” Yin Mengna guessed.

It seemed the only explanation that made sense.

Agent Zheng Ming sighed, “Brilliant thought Jia Bei hadn’t signed with anyone, so they tried to use their capital to force him out. But they hit a steel wall.”

Shengshi wasn’t afraid of Brilliant.

“Ming, should I share Shengshi’s video too?” Yin Mengna was tempted.

“No!” Zheng Ming quickly stopped her. “By company alignment, we’re in the same camp as Brilliant.”

If Yin Mengna shared Shengshi’s video, she’d be helping the enemy.

Zheng Ming continued, “Now the company is collaborating with Brilliant. Next month, our variety show is set to start filming. I heard An Chuxia is on the guest list.”

“She’s just a newcomer,” Yin Mengna said, puzzled.

The company valued this show as highly as Shengshi did their film ‘Guardian.’ Especially the first episode—it was crucial.

Zheng Ming explained, “Ding Zhong and Jia Bei’s song duel—the composer is Brilliant’s top songwriter, and An Chuxia will sing it.”

“What!” Yin Mengna was stunned. “She debuted after me, and she’s already singing a song by a top composer.”

Yin Mengna admitted she was jealous.

After all, even top-tier singers didn’t always get the chance to sing a song by a star composer!

An Chuxia was only a newcomer of four months.

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PS: First draft, revisions to follow—please point out any errors.