Ten minutes later, Feng Yuemin and Zhou Yiyu's managers were still arguing, tugging back and forth with no result.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yiyu was killing time scrolling on his phone. Reporters were camping outside the set, and if news broke that he'd been slacking during filming or leaving early, it'd be a disaster.
"Yiyu, don't overthink it. Feng Yuemin's side has always been like that," Brother Zhan said. Seeing how serious his artist looked, he thought Zhou Yiyu was still dwelling on the argument, so he offered comfort.
"Huh? What?" Zhou Yiyu blinked, confused after being pulled out of his thoughts.
Brother Zhan realized he'd worried for nothing. "What are you staring at so hard?"
"Look at this trash promo." Zhou Yiyu showed him his phone screen.
The headline read: [What's so special about Kang Long, the so-called 'Xiao Chu Zhi' from back when he debuted?]
Brother Zhan knew Kang Long well enough. The guy's whole schtick was copying others. Last time he tried copying Zhou Yiyu's sporty-boy vibe, his fans, the "Feathers," tore him apart.
"Yeah, that's ridiculous. From singing to songwriting, he's got nothing in common with Jiu-yé," Brother Zhan said, nodding.
"How's brother Jiu doing lately?" Zhou Yiyu changed the subject.
"I heard from Sister Niu he's recovering pretty well," Brother Zhan said.
"Think he can still play badminton later?"
"Uh… probably. Exercise helps recovery too."
"That's good." Zhou Yiyu nodded in relief, glanced at the time on his phone, and was ready to call it a day as soon as the clock struck.
"But you know, after Jiu-yé's injury, he definitely won't be releasing two albums a year anymore. He'll probably go semi-retired. With so many Little Fruits in the country, Kang Long's team cooked up this promo plan to maximize benefits. They set up this ambush pretty well," Brother Zhan muttered.
Another of his habitually twisted idioms, but "maximize benefits" wasn't wrong.
"Brother Zhan, look at me." Zhou Yiyu suddenly said. "Really look."
He studied him for a moment and didn't see anything unusual, so he tilted his head questioningly.
"Don't I kinda look like brother Jiu?" Zhou Yiyu asked.
"…."
Brother Zhan was speechless, but he understood. Sure enough, the next day the internet was full of subtle articles and comments:
[I just noticed Zhou Yiyu's nose really looks like Jiu-yé's, and they both love Sichuan food.]
[Zhou and our Xiao Jiu must be destined. His debut song was even written by Xiao Jiu.]
It was like back on Earth, where every comedian who wanted to make it big either got called or called themselves "Stephen Chow's successor."
But after more than ten years, no one had truly succeeded.
Besides, the Emperor Beast hadn't even planned on clocking out yet!
At twenty-seven, Chu Zhi was still young. Since he was stuck resting and recovering, as the Emperor Beast he decided to use the downtime to take care of things he'd wanted to do before but never had time for. If his body allowed, he'd even walk the Long March route again, something he'd once promised on a show.
"May as well make good use of the time. I'll deal with some of the company's shares and adjustments today," he muttered as he pulled up the files.
Core Team:
Niu Jiangxue (General Manager)*
Qian Quxiang (Executive VP)*
Qin Fei (Marketing VP)*
Qi Qiu (Operations VP)*
Wang Yuan (Chief Brand Officer, also Head of Merch)*
Later hires poached by headhunters:
Zhang Kuai (Production Director)
Bai Weike (Business Director)
Wang Xing (HR Director)
Promotions from inside the company:
Ren Ruyi (Audit Director)
Li Dan (Finance Director)*
(*Those with shares in Aiguo.)
Niu Jiangxue held the most, 3.4%, while Li Dan only had 1.5%. The others were at 2.5%.
Aiguo wasn't planning to go public, but the market still valued it at around 6.4 billion yuan, a quarter of Enlight Media. Even one percent was worth a fortune, and with Aiguo's insane revenue power, just the dividends were mouthwatering.
Ten percent of shares were reserved for the leadership team, who together held 24.9%. Another 10.1% went into a bonus pool for middle management.
It was complicated, but the Emperor Beast had enough experience from his past life. He wrapped it up in an afternoon.
"Task complete. Still light out, still got energy, I'll do a little more."
Ever since he got injured, Chu Zhi understood human energy had limits. His old way of fooling himself into overworking didn't work anymore.
Before, if he had six hours of work, he'd schedule twelve, knowing he'd give up halfway from exhaustion but still push out eight or nine. Now his trick was different. If he had six hours of work, he told himself, "Work never ends. Let's just do three hours today." Then he'd blaze through, finish it fast, and keep going. Tricking laziness into hyper-efficiency.
"Time to tally up the brands under the company."
His fingers flew across the keyboard at six thousand characters an hour. If a web novelist's cat typed that fast, they could write in an hour and spend the rest of the day goofing off.
Subsidiaries:
Mucire Hot,
Farmer Network,
Spanish Division,
South Korea,
Vietnam,
Middle East,
Japan,
Europe and America.
"This is the empire I built in six years."
The lead designer of Mucire Hot had already been fired for being too ahead of the curve. Out of the seven subsidiaries, only South Korea, Japan, and the Middle East were profitable. The rest just burned money to maintain presence.
After three hours, Chu Zhi nodded. The strategy was still sound.
"Dark already, not hungry, tomorrow's work is done too. Damn, I'm good. Time to think about the third foreign album's theme."
He spent two more hours brainstorming, then cooked himself a meal, chopping pork bones for broth.
The sound of cleavers on bone matched the pounding of a knock.
Bang, bang, bang.
It was coming from the office of Huang Bo, CEO of Taiyang Chuanhe.
Since Chu Zhi left and built his own empire, the company's market cap never returned to its peak.
Good news: Huang Bo directly owned 21.5%, held 11.7% indirectly, and controlled the rest through allies.
Bad news: all the mom-fans who'd bought stocks just for Chu Zhi had pulled out.
"Come in," Huang Bo said. His favorite artist, Kang Long, stepped in. After years of pouring resources into him, Kang Long was still lukewarm. Known in fan circles, sure, but no signature work.
"Kang, what's up?" Huang Bo asked warmly. Being the boss had perks. You could push whoever you liked. Even a pig could get famous if enough resources were dumped.
Of course, in his eyes, Kang Long wasn't a pig. More like ten pigs rolled into one.
"Trouble with your agent again?"
"No, Sister Xiao takes good care of me," Kang Long said.
Back in Chu Zhi's Taiyang Chuanhe days, the top four agents were Sister Xiao, Big Bowl, Sister Li, and Niu Jiangxue. After Chu Zhi left with Niu Jiangxue, only three remained.
"So what is it?"
Kang Long hesitated. "Boss, for the next Day Day Up, can I sing my own song?"
Huang Bo's fingers stopped spinning the pen. His warm expression cooled. "What happened? You see bad comments again?"
[Ever since debut, Kang Long's been 'Xiao XX.' Has he ever done anything original?]
[He's just insecure. That's why he hides under someone else's shadow.]
Last time, comments like these had broken Kang Long down. Huang Bo had to console him. That's why he assumed it was the same.
"I didn't see anything. Last time you told me the truth, Boss. As long as I earn money and fame, reputation doesn't matter. Keep building slowly, then drop strong works, and I'll turn into a true artist."
He handed over sheet music. "I wrote a song. I really believe in it."
Huang Bo didn't even look, just set it aside. "You're not ready yet."
"Boss, I really feel like I am. I let Sister Xiao hear it too, and she liked it. I spent three years polishing this one song. Please, I can at least record a demo. It won't take long."
He was thirty now. His face wouldn't carry him forever, and he had no standout works. Anxiety was eating him alive.
"Kang." Huang Bo raised his voice. "Listen to me."
Kang Long fell silent.
"You're still young. It's not time. I've paved you a superstar's path, don't rush. You know the saying in fan circles, 'It's fine if some people don't like Chu Zhi.' But Little Fruits outnumber regular fangirls. If you can just pull in a tenth of them, you'll be a top star.
So sing Against the Light. That song means a lot to Little Fruits. Express respect for Chu Zhi. You were even in the same company, like senior and junior. Getting close isn't a bad thing. They'll transfer their love. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Trust me, I'd never hurt you."
"Of course you wouldn't, Boss." Kang Long was convinced, though still a little unwilling. "But if you get time, please check my song. It's really good."
"Go get ready. I'll look later."
Kang Long left. Huang Bo glanced at the sheet music, then stuffed it in a drawer. Not yet.
The entertainment world had shifted from one man sweeping the board to many vying for dominance. Even Little Fruits were bitter about it.
"Jia Jia, my life is so miserable."
"Wait, wait, what happened? Heartbroken?"
"Heartbroken? Please. No man's worth crying over."
"Then what?"
This was Cai Jia talking with her cousin Cen Yixin. The former saw her cousin looking like she'd eaten a bitter melon and felt concerned.
"I finally used your connections to score an inner circle ticket to the concert, and now it's canceled." Cen Yixin was heartbroken.
As a former member of Journey Among the Stars, pro gamer Cai Jia was on good terms with Chu Zhi, so it wasn't strange she managed to get two tickets to his first concert in Shanghai.
One for her hardcore-fan cousin Cen Yixin, and one for herself.
"It's really canceled?" Cai Jia sighed. She'd been bracing for it, but the actual news still hit hard.
"Any official announcement yet?"
Cen Yixin showed her the news—
Sina News: [Chu Zhi's 8th Anniversary Global Tour Might Be Delayed or Canceled.]
There were pictures to prove it.