This Star Only Wants More Money - Chapter 25
Translator: Diviner
Xu Feng opened the chat window with his former employer, where their impotent rage after being played was evident.
“Xu Feng!”
Xu Feng!!!
Just two words, but they were enough to show how much they hated him.
Xu Feng could fully understand the program team’s fury—who could accept spending 100,000 yuan only to end up filling their enemy’s pocket and being humiliated in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers?
This wasn’t just about losing face in front of so many viewers; internally, the company would likely hold someone accountable, and several of the most junior employees might even lose their jobs.
A complete disgrace.
Killing the body wasn’t enough; the heart had to be crushed too!
Xu Feng scrolled through the chat log and saw that it was filled with grandstanding threats like “legal notices,” “lawsuits,” and “strong condemnation”—all loud but ultimately powerless threats.
“Having a system that helps handle all this is pretty sweet,” Xu Feng thought as he continued reading the chat logs. Realizing that the other party couldn’t do anything but bluff and bluster, he gradually lost interest in further communication.
As he scrolled, the chat window suddenly popped up with more notifications from the same sender.
“Xu Feng, I know you’re there. Are you going to do something like this but not dare to respond?”
“Do you think ignoring me will make this go away?”
“…”
Seeing that the other side was persistently sending messages, Xu Feng typed out a sincere-sounding reply, “Sorry, your commission has been completed, and after-sales service is not currently supported. I deeply regret the situation you’re facing, but there’s nothing more I can do to help.”
Xiao Liu, “?”
The program team had expected Xu Feng to dodge and deflect, but they hadn’t anticipated such an outrageous response.
An “after-sales service”? A “completed commission”? Was he implying that they should actually be thanking him, Xu Feng?
Xu Feng didn’t give Xiao Liu a chance to vent more anger. He picked up his phone and typed his final message, “This cooperation ends here; this chat window will now be closed. Goodbye.”
As a consumer, receiving such robotic, formulaic responses was deeply irritating, but seeing it from this perspective, it also felt strangely satisfying.
After blocking Xiao Liu, Xu Feng switched back to his main account.
It hadn’t been long, but there were already several new messages.
There were congratulations and praise from Dai Mingli, several friend requests, congratulations from the little fat guy Cheng Zhao… and, of course, a flurry of messages from Lin Shenghuan.
Lin Shenghuan, “No wonder you were so calm and unhurried. You were hiding this move all along—you kept it well hidden, and the strategy was ruthless. I like it!”
“You are truly talented! In just a few days, you created another great song. Now all the doubts online about you running out of creativity have disappeared, and all those music bloggers who were anxious to take sides are finished. We’re fast-forwarding straight to the reckoning.”
“You took on the production team’s job and PK’d yourself. Such creativity! You really know how to play hard.”
“Hahaha! Xiao Yue’s face went so dark. It’s such a pity you didn’t see it. I’ll find a chance to sneak a picture for you later. She loves playing the diva, but now she can’t do that anymore.”
“Where are you?”
Xu Feng noticed that Lin Shenghuan had bombarded him with messages the moment he logged off, and it had only been four or five minutes since her first message.
Looking at the messages from Lin Shenghuan, Xu Feng suddenly remembered that she was about to participate in the live recording of the “Tomorrow’s God of Song” finals as a judge.
With such an important show to record, she still had the leisure to watch the livestream… She really did love drama.
Xu Feng didn’t know what to say. After hesitating for a moment, he replied, “Sister Huan, are you managing okay over there?”
The production team had suffered a significant setback with Xu Feng, losing face terribly, and there was a chance they would try to trip Lin Shenghuan up.
First, Lin Shenghuan had never gotten along with Xiao Yue, whom the program team wanted to promote. Second, she had a good relationship with Xu Feng, as was clear from the livestream.
There was no guarantee that the people at “Tomorrow’s God of Song” wouldn’t suspect that Lin Shenghuan had been aware of everything from the start and was collaborating with Xu Feng.
Since they were now on the same side, with a common enemy, and she had been a valuable client who had provided him with commissions and resources, it seemed appropriate to give her a heads-up.
Lin Shenghuan replied almost immediately: “All my contestants are out; I’m completely isolated. How could they target me?”
“Oh, and here you go. Photos of Xiao Yue looking sour-faced, just for you. Don’t show them to anyone else! [Image][Image][Image].”
“How is it? Isn’t Xiao Yue’s expression both ugly and nasty? Hahaha!!!”
Looking at the pile of pictures with Xiao Yue’s gloomy face, Xu Feng’s mouth twitched… When had he ever said he wanted to see these pictures? Hadn’t it always been Lin Shenghuan talking to herself?
Even with her expression slightly twisted, Xiao Yue’s looks weren’t bad… but they definitely couldn’t compare to Lin Shenghuan’s.
And to think she dared to send these pictures using her main account… this star really had some nerve.
Xu Feng didn’t bother saving those photos and typed another line, “Getting some attention isn’t a bad thing. Isn’t it about time for your new album release, Sister Huan?”
After typing that, Xu Feng glanced at the time—judging by previous experience, the judges were probably getting ready to go on stage.
Yet this pop star was still engrossed in gossip and chatting…
Lin Shenghuan quickly replied, “Yeah, Xiao Yue did lose face this time, but the person who actually lost the PK wasn’t her, so the impact is limited. Whether I make it or not still depends on my ability and performance. But as for you, have you thought about how to capitalize on this surge in traffic?”
“Tomorrow when you wake up, you’ll probably see 99+ notifications on every social platform. Enjoy the taste of a top-tier popularity card.”
“Good luck, handsome Xu. I’m rooting for you! Now, I’m off to… I mean, off to be a judge. Bye-bye.”
Hmm… Lin Shenghuan was right. After dealing with the loose ends, it was time to think about the next move.
Xu Feng temporarily closed WeChat, opened other social platforms, marked all the notifications as read in one go, and logged into his personal account.
Official accounts, operations? They didn’t exist in his world.
People could post whatever they wanted; Xu Feng couldn’t care less.
As he switched accounts and thought about his next steps, a notification suddenly popped up at the top of his phone screen.
Cheng Zhao, “Xu Feng? Are you there? Can I ask you something? Were you a graduate of Luohe University?”
Seeing this seemingly random question, Xu Feng was slightly taken aback and responded, “How do you know?”
The original Xu had done quite well in his college entrance exams and had indeed graduated from that prestigious university—the one thing he’d left Xu Feng that had any positive value.
The program team had probably figured that out too, but since the school was genuinely top-tier, they had avoided attacking Xu Feng’s academic background.
But how did this chubby guy who had promised him a barbecue know?
And what did he want with that information?