Chapter Fifteen: The Arrogant Editor Sage

Tianxing Entertainment
Operations Department Office

“Dad, I’ve taken care of what you asked. After Yi Yunxue’s new song promotion, I immediately had the team push Han Mei’s new song release to mid-January,” said a man in a suit, about twenty-five years old, speaking into the phone.

“Good, I understand. By the way, withdraw all the online trolls for Yi Yunxue,” the voice on the other end instructed.

“Huh? Why? Didn’t you say we wanted to ruin Yi Yunxue so she couldn’t survive in the industry?” the young man asked, puzzled.

“Don’t ask why. Just do as I say. Make sure to settle the payments for those trolls, and handle it cleanly so that none of them leak this,” the other voice replied.

“Also, how many times have I told you? Call me General Manager Lin in the company! It doesn’t look good if others overhear,” came the warning.

“Understood, General Manager Lin.”

At that moment, in a luxurious mansion somewhere in Shen City, a middle-aged executive in pajamas hung up the phone.

“Husband, what’s wrong?” a young woman beside him asked curiously.

“I’ve already had the company promote the news about your sister’s new song release,” the man forced a smile.

“Really? Thank you, dear!” The young woman’s face lit up with delight.

She deliberately lowered her collar, revealing a patch of fair skin as she leaned toward the man, only to be pushed away brusquely.

“I’m going out for a smoke first.”

The man put on his shoes, stepped onto the balcony, and lit a cigarette while gazing at the city lights.

He couldn’t understand it. Just now, the honorary chairman of the Music Association had called to warn him about hiring trolls to slander Yi Yunxue.

He had known Yi Yunxue’s family also ran a company and held a respectable position in the business circle.

But he hadn’t taken it seriously, thinking that unless someone was involved in the entertainment world or government, they couldn’t interfere in showbiz.

He had underestimated them.

Yi Yunxue’s family actually knew Liu Guoxing, the elderly honorary chairman of the Music Association!

The reason they had tried to smear Yi Yunxue was simply because she refused the A-level contract offered by Tianxing Entertainment, aiming instead for an S-level contract.

Since becoming one of China’s top five entertainment companies, Tianxing had always acted domineering.

No one ever dared to reject their contract renewal terms.

It was precisely because Yi Yunxue refused the contract and wanted to jump ship that the company’s board decided to tarnish her reputation and try to destroy her.

After Liu’s warning, he calmed down.

It seemed they couldn’t play dirty with Yi Yunxue anymore and would have to rely on legitimate means to compete head-on.

“I refuse to believe your new song can surpass Ma Jing’s ‘Waiting for You’!” he said bitterly.

Earlier, he had investigated the industry and confirmed that Yi Yunxue hadn’t hired any renowned or senior top-tier composers.

This proved her new song was composed by an unknown, inexperienced musician.

He thought Yi Yunxue was truly desperate to have resorted to such a composer.

How could a song written by such a person compare to one by a top-tier composer like Ma Jing?

Once Yi Yunxue’s song dropped next month, her fans would be utterly disappointed.

At that point, no company slander would be necessary; she’d be finished on her own.

The advantage was on their side!

It was a pity they couldn’t completely crush Yi Yunxue.

This was Tianxing Entertainment’s first time being warned for targeting a singer, but there was no choice; this was a veteran figure in the Music Association.

Even a giant like Tianxing had to tread carefully.

…

Meanwhile, in an upscale residence,

“That girl really doesn’t make things easy. We told her the entertainment industry is full of sharks and snakes, but she wouldn’t listen,” Yi Yunxue’s father, Yi Jianjun, said helplessly.

“She’s been targeted and didn’t even tell us. If it weren’t for Xiaomin spotting it online and calling us, we’d still be in the dark.”

“Well, you’re here now. This time we owe Uncle Liu a lot. Next time he wants you to cook for him personally, don’t keep making excuses.”

“Cooking a meal isn’t a big deal. He’s getting old and likes food like yours,” Yi’s mother, Li Fangru, shot a glance at Yi Jianjun.

“Alright, alright. Uncle Liu really helped us a lot this time. In a few days, I’ll pay him a visit and cook him a big meal,” Yi Jianjun said with a forced smile.

“Her dad, you know our daughter’s already a big star. Why haven’t we heard about any trouble with her?” Li Fangru worriedly asked.

“She’s 23 now, almost 25 by East Asian age reckoning. I heard many stars don’t marry until their thirties or forties. What’s Yunxue’s take? She doesn’t even have a boyfriend yet…”

“She’s only 23, why are you so anxious? Young people nowadays prefer to marry late. Don’t keep comparing Yunxue with those girls back home.” Yi Jianjun said wearily.

“Girls with talent marry late. Those back home mostly only finished middle or high school and didn’t go further. Their families are ordinary, so they married early. Can they be compared to our daughter?”

“If you ask me, she can marry whenever she finds the right guy, or even not marry at all. She’s my only daughter, and it’s not like I can’t support her.”

“You’re saying that, fine, I won’t bring it up again…” Li Fangru said.

…

Morning.

Yuedian Literature.

For authors at Yuedian Reading, Tuesday every week determined the fate of countless new novels.

That day’s follow-up reading data decided if a novel could advance to the next round of new book recommendations the following week.

By nine o’clock, many editors were already in place, checking the first-day recommendation data of their new books.

Editors could only see the previous day’s twenty-four-hour follow-up reading data for their assigned new books, and Tuesday was the day when Sunday’s data was released.

Sunday marked the weekly rotation for recommendations.

Da Xian, an editor in Group Seven, was now checking his new authors’ data.

This week, eight books under his care had entered the first round of new book recommendations.

Compared to other groups, that was pitifully few.

Looking at the follow-up reading data, half of those eight books had terrible numbers, with too few conversion rates—likely no chance of advancing.

Three books had passable numbers and might move on.

Da Xian’s gaze settled on the book he anticipated most: “Mystery.”

3,630!!!

“Holy crap!” he rubbed his eyes in disbelief and carefully counted the digits.

Seeing it was indeed a four-digit number, he suddenly swelled with excitement.

“Hahaha!” He couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Hearing him laugh, several colleagues nearby immediately looked over.

“Da Xian, did one of your books take off?” asked Lantian from Group Three, curious as he glanced at the screen.

“Not bad, over three thousand follow-ups? Is this a third or fourth round book? That should be enough for Sanjiang rank, right…”

Wait, no!

He suddenly noticed the bold words “First Round Data.”

“What the hell! Over three thousand follow-ups on the first day of the first round? Are you sure this is fantasy genre and not light novel fan fiction?”

His voice was loud and clear to all around.

“What? Da Xian, you have such an amazing book under you?”

Everyone gathered around, eager to see if what Lantian said was true.

After a closer look,

“Congratulations, Da Xian. This book seems to have potential comparable to ‘Sky Breaker’,” a few veteran editors said calmly, as such situations had happened before.

The current platform bestseller, “Sky Breaker of the Heavens,” had similar first-round data last year.

Several new editors who joined last year, like Da Xian, were quite envious.

They wished this book had been signed by them.

Just then, Hai Mian, the chief editor of Group Seven, walked into the office and noticed the crowd around his editor.

“What are you all looking at?” he asked curiously.

“Brother Hai Mian, congratulations!”

“Your group’s Xiao Xian is amazing, discovering such a phenomenal book!”

…