Chapter 51 — Buddha Prayer Package

One can only say that Song Yucheng was too troublesome. No matter how rich their imagination was, they could never fathom the unconventional ways Song Yucheng played his cards.

That was the case for Ding Mingcheng, as well as the other artists who barked that Shen Yi should not be rated as third-tier.

At present, Picture Domain had not released any statements. Thus, there was growing doubt among the public on Shen Yi’s status as a third-tier artist. In the end, entertainment journalists and netizens flooded the Weibo pages of Shen Yi, Song Yucheng and Picture Domain’s PR team in search of an explanation.

Faced with all this interest, Song Yucheng finally replied.

Xie Qianchen: Seeing is believing.

Attached to the reply was a video. After the video was released, the third-tier artists who had initially expressed their dissatisfaction were immediately rendered speechless.

Song Yucheng had tracked down roles that they had previously acted in before picking the most iconic parts and getting Shen Yi to reenact them. According to common sense, one should not expect a decent result considering the abrupt request and lack of costumes.

However, what awaited these artists was a hard slap on the face. Not only did Shen Yi act their roles, he even did it better than everyone else.

One third-tier artist had previously mocked Shen Yi’s acting skills as exaggerated and said he simply had a good team. On Weibo, Song Yucheng directly posted the clip of Shen Yi’s performance in his comments section.

Despite post-dubbing and support from the heroine, the cheesy pickup lines spoken by the actor still made people cringe so hard that they wanted to dig their ears out. When he said the line “Tang Sanzang seeks holy scriptures but I seek your hand in marriage”, it drove people crazy from embarrassment.

Tang Sanzang is a monk from Journey to the West.

However, it was completely different when Shen Yi said it. Shen Yi’s pretty face made him look particularly refined when his eyes softened. When his clear juvenile voice lowered an octave, it made people’s spines tingle. The smile at the corner of his lips carried a hint of seduction, and the “sister” at the end brought the advantages of his age into full play.

He was just like an extremely cute little puppy. A completely different feeling from the awkward third-tier actor.

It was the same line, but it was just right to the point of making people’s hearts unbearably itchy. Song Yucheng had only posted a video, but there were already people who couldn’t help but shout things like “Marry! Marry! Marry! I’ll marry you! Hurry up and let Sister hug you! You’re so cute!” As for the clip of the third-tier artist…….. it was best to not mention it.

Under the Weibo of another third-tier singer who called Shen Yi’s future potential into question, Song Yucheng bluntly posted two course transcripts. The first one clearly displayed a comparison of his and Shen Yi’s grades, as well as the source of the final potential assessment score.

One could only say that Shen Yi’s grades were too beautiful. He was now in his second year of college, but from the beginning of his freshman year, his scores in every major course were above 90, and he had maintained the national scholarship for three consecutive semesters. Another point worth mentioning was that Shen Yi was the top of his culture classes while placing second in his specialised courses.

As for that third-tier singer, he had gone to the same school as Shen Yi, but he was a well-known thug. He’d gotten someone to take the final exam he needed to graduate and his professional knowledge was a mess. Despite his career as a musician, he didn’t even have the most basic skill of reading music scores. When one compared him to Shen Yi, there was a major disparity in their current strengths, let alone future potential.

Xie Qianchen: If people like you can be third-tier, why can’t my company’s Shen Yi be third-tier?

A direct slap to the face.

Song Yucheng’s line was so powerful that it rendered haters speechless while netizens laughed their hearts out.

“Hahahaha, I can’t anymore. Although Xie Qianchen is an agent, how is he more entertaining than an artist! As long as you follow in his footsteps, you’ll either be eating a good melon or watch a show.”

’Melon’ is a slang. Explanation: “Melon is one of those slow to eat foods cause you gotta spit out the seed. So you just sit and chill while watching people do stupid shit.” Quoted from Raikov. Thank you, Rairai!

“I’m dying of laughter. I’ve already said that the officials wouldn’t blindly make a decision, but these people still kicked up a fuss saying it was unfair. How does it feel getting slapped in the face!”

“This is no longer a simple slap in the face. We should just call it humiliation. The point is, I have seen these clips before. Without Shen Yi as a comparison, I had thought they were okay. But now that there's Shen Yi…. hahahaha, they’re all shit!”

“The official rating given to Shen Yi really is inappropriate! It’s not too high, it’s too low! These third-tier artists are completely inadequate compared to Shen Yi.”

Netizens were amused by Song Yucheng’s straightforward responses, while the artists who had dissed Shen Yi were fuming with anger.

However, this was just the beginning. Song Yucheng daringly posted a montage of Shen Yi’s videos on the pages of every third-tier artist who questioned Shen Yi’s skills.

Finally, he posted a summary on Weibo. It was a single line.

Xie Qianchen: No offense, but third-tier artists like you guys just suck.

It was straightforward mockery, one that did not give face to the receiver at all. But who could say anything? Who could confidently stand up and return such a blow?

A sad, pathetic reality was clearly placed in front of everyone. These artists were just not as good as Shen Yi!

“Oh my god, I already laughed so much that my stomach hurts. To be honest, this is the first time I have seen such an innocent and unpretentious agent! ‘Third-tier artists like you guys just suck’. Hahahaha, only Xie Qianchen can say something like that.”

“I don’t know why, but I feel like what he said is right! When you compare Shen Yi’s acting skills to those third-tier artists…… it’s like watching a car crash!”

“I couldn’t help but watch the video from beginning to the end. I only have one thing to say, which is that walls may hold up a building but they don't hold a candle to my admiration of you! Where did you get so many clips from?”

There was a commotion on Song Yucheng’s Weibo page. Many netizens who followed Song Yucheng’s tracks said they had stomach aches from laughing.

They were not exaggerating. It was just that Song Yucheng made those acting scenes too convincing.

No matter who came out to fight, Shen Yi always remained on top.

It was obvious that he hadn’t changed his clothes at all, but he could freely switch his character at the drop of a hat. One moment he was a domineering CEO, the next moment he was a tender lover. When he stooped his body, he looked like a 70-year-old man but when he smiled, he was a sunny youth. Even those idol dramas with ridiculous plots and cheesy pickup lines sounded very sweet when spoken from Shen Yi’s mouth. That kind of charisma was something that truly came from the bones. It had nothing to do with age or appearance, but only concerned the soul.

When compared to those third-tier actors with stiff acting skills….. many people could only sympathise with them. It’s not that they were that bad, but that Shen Yi’s acting skills were just extraordinary.

In the end, those who originally clamoured that Shen Yi was incompetent shut up. Some of them who harshly scolded Shen Yi had no choice but to publicly apologise to him at the behest of their respective managers. As for the netizens, their opinion of Shen Yi rose even higher.

Song Yucheng’s execution was nothing but perfection. He had simultaneously proven that Shen Yi had the skills to back it up and slapped those third-tier artists hard in the face.

However, not everyone was convinced. Qiu Shuang, the singer who was the first to get slapped, was so angry that he directly responded on Weibo and criticised Song Yucheng: “Shen Yi is fine, but I’m afraid the other second-tier artist in your hands is a waste!”

This sentence stirred up the hornet’s nest.

As soon as Qiu Shuang tagged him, Song Yucheng replied.

Xie Qianchen: Brother, calm down. Let me show you what real trash is.

After that…. Song Yucheng took out the materials he had prepared with Tang Zhi a long time ago and ruthlessly struck Qiu Shuang’s face with it.

Coincidentally, Qiu Shuang’s employer was none other than Feiyue Record, who had driven Tang Zhi to a dead end. Qiu Shuang’s provocation gave Song Yucheng the perfect stage to mess them up.

What did Feiyue say when they vilified Tang Zhi?

Besides “ungrateful traitor”, Song Yucheng vaguely remembered two more — "lip-syncing” and “hired a ghostwriter”.

The time was right and everything was in place. Today was a good day to go to war. He would show them the true power of a singer.

Song Yucheng switched to combat mode again, ready to cause trouble at any time.

Who would’ve thought that in one short week, Tang Zhi would record an online cover album containing 32 songs — all of which were new songs recently released by artists under Feiyue Records.

After Qiu Shuang criticised Song Yucheng, the latter simply posted Tang Zhi’s songs directly to the Weibo accounts of these thirty two artists. He also used public relations to promote the songs.

Following his actions, the entire music circle was thrown into chaos.

Normally, it wouldn’t make any difference if Tang Zhi recorded a song as his reputation was currently rock bottom. Either no one paid any attention, or they would be scolded by anti-fans. It definitely would not achieve his purpose of retaliation.

However, his manager was Song Yucheng.

In the words of others in the industry, Song Yucheng went beyond thick-skinned. He cared about neither pride nor reputation. He would send out whatever Tang Zhi recorded.

Song Yucheng had said that he would let everyone on Weibo hear Tang Zhi’s voice again before the night ended.

The people in the public relations department were terrified by the audacity of Song Yucheng’s actions: “Isn’t it too sudden? And what if President Ding….”

“Not a problem. He doesn’t have the time.” Song Yucheng narrowed his eyes and his gentle voice made people feel a sense of danger.

The person in charge of the public relations department shivered subconsciously before promptly carrying out his orders as instructed.

Half an hour later, the singers under Feiyue Records all fell into a quagmire.

Earlier, those third-tier actors who questioned Shen Yi were in a panic after Shen Yi crushed them with his acting skills. Now it was their turn to be trampled on by Tang Zhi.

Tang Zhi was too frightening! Every song he sang was better and more soulful than the original version. The crushing combination of vocal talent and acquired technique made them powerless to refute, let alone catch their breathe.

The ones who were most embarrassed by the current situation was Tang Zhi’s original group.

They had betrayed and trampled on Tang Zhi, and wanted to throw mud onto Tang Zhi. It was evident that he was the soul of the group. They were nothing without Tang Zhi’s lyrics, musicality and superb singing skills. However, they still desperately slandered Tang Zhi, naively believing that they could achieve greater heights after Tang Zhi left.

Yet, the facts told them that it was absolutely impossible! You can’t bury the truth: your dad will always be your dad!

Song Yucheng did not give them any leeway at all. He took the original audio of their most recent unedited performance and compared it with Tang Zhi’s original audio.

When those ear-piercing and out of tune voices played, their fans felt as if they were about to go deaf.

“Holy shit! This can’t be real! What the hell is this?”

“No, no! This isn’t my idol.”

“So what we normally hear is edited? Are tuners nowadays so advanced? It can even make the sound of nails scratching a chalkboard sound flawless?”

Xie Qianchen: Yes, that’s right. Unfortunately, after a bunch of tone deaf people drove out the only Music Emperor, even the most powerful tuners in the world can’t do anything to save their singing. Without further ado, I’ll send my God Tang Zhi’s unmodified recording. Go and cleanse your ears with it!

The smack in the face came too fast like a tornado. The singers of Feiyue Records couldn’t wait to kill Tang Zhi, while their agents were all caught off guard by Song Yucheng’s sudden move.

“Is Xie Qianchen a mad dog? Why is he biting everyone?” One of the agents, who was innocently dragged into this mess, was extremely agitated.

However, his colleagues were in the same mess.

“What does it matter if he’s a mad dog or not? Right now, the main issue is to hurry up and manage this PR crisis! Tang Zhi, Tang Zhi! Damn it, didn’t he already bite the dust? Why did he suddenly stand up again?”

“Never mind why! We have to hurry up and improve public opinion, or else all the singers in Feiyue Records will be put under public scrutiny! We’re so unlucky. How the hell did we provoke Xie Qianchen!”

The group of agents quickly busied themselves with resolving this PR issue and quickly twisted this incident into a case of malicious retaliation.

At Feiyue’s impromptu press conference, Tang Zhi’s previous bandmates and lawyers once again came forward, accusing Tang Zhi of betraying them in the past.

“We really had taken him as a brother and wanted to walk down this path together till the end of our lives. But Tang Zhi…”

“We were all depressed after Tang Zhi left and the group’s reputation was also affected. For most of the year, we were trying to recover from our wounds and hardly made any announcements or participated in any programs. But who would’ve thought that Tang Zhi still refused to let us go!”

“An entire six months! After Tang Zhi left, he didn’t even give us a single phone call. We don’t matter to him at all!”

When the scene of his previous bandmates selling misery came out, many people recalled the time when Tang Zhi betrayed them. They couldn’t help but start sympathising with these people.

However, Song Yucheng revealed the brutal decisiveness that had been hidden under the mask of harmlessness when faced with Feiyue’s condemnation.

This time, Picture Domain’s PR department was unexpectedly quick. Song Yucheng stepped up and held a press conference that night itself. He had even broadcasted it live on the internet.

“We have all seen the discussions and questions on the internet. I am here today, on behalf of Tang Zhi, to respond to what is known as the betrayal of his group half a year ago. Before I finish, I request for the reporters to keep quiet and watch. As for the netizens watching the live broadcast, don’t rush into righteous indignation either. I believe that you will all get the truth you want by the end of this conference.”

After Song Yucheng finished speaking, he changed the live broadcast screen to the big screen and started speaking.

“In your eyes, you believe Tang Zhi to be an ungrateful traitor who turned his back on his group, but the reality is — Tang Zhi is the true victim!”

As Song Yucheng continued to narrate, the truth from half a year ago was finally revealed.

Tang Zhi had deceived his group members into filing a lawsuit with Feiyue, then deliberately turned traitor and sold them out for glory? Tang Zhi disregarded Feiyue’s many years of cultivating him and made up incriminating evidence of Feiyue’s malicious clauses to embezzle artists to defame his old boss? It was all a lie.

The truth was that Tang Zhi was first oppressed by Feiyue Record’s unfair clauses before being betrayed by his group mates, whom he considered brothers.

The evidence Song Yucheng presented was incredibly detailed. Not only did he expose Tang Zhi’s earliest contract, he also revealed the records of Tang Zhi’s bank account.

Who would’ve thought that Tang Zhi, who was already a second-tier artist, would only receive a fixed monthly salary of five thousand? The dividends he received for each of his songs were pitifully small. As for the appearance fee for commercials and variety shows, he did not receive a single cent. Moreover, Tang Zhi had also paid a lot of money to Feiyue in the first year of his debut.

The reason listed was the cost of teaching him when he was a trainee.

It was fair to say that they were ripping him off. How was the monthly salary of a second-tier artist less than an ordinary office worker in a first-tier city? If this wasn’t ridiculous, then what was?

After that, Song Yucheng revealed evidence of his bandmates’ betrayal, which chilled viewers to the bones.

They never expected that those bandmates who always acted like brothers with Tang Zhi had already thought of ostracising him a long time ago. They pretended to cooperate in the beginning before selling Tang Zhi out.

Even before things worked out, they had already begun discussing how to distribute Tang Zhi’s remaining resources after screwing him over.

The entirety of these conversations from WeChat and QQ were published by Song Yucheng.

Everyone was stunned. Tang Zhi’s previous groupmates, who had only just learned of it, hurried to make a rebuttal.

“That’s wrong! We never said that. Those records were forged!”

“Yeah! That wasn’t what we said. Even if it was, it’s against the law to arbitrarily pull up our information.”

The reporters in the venue, likewise, raised this question.

Song Yucheng smiled: “Don’t worry. The source of all our information is legal.” After he finished speaking, Song Yucheng produced the official seal of the court, stating that all of the evidence he had published had come from legitimate sources and had received approval from the court. It turned out that back when Tang Zhi had just signed up with Picture Domain, Song Yucheng had acted in the capacity of Tang Zhi’s manager and taken Feiyue to court on Tang Zhi’s behalf, along with his previous groupmates and lawyers.

All of the information he currently held in his hands were evidence obtained from official channels after waiting for the court’s permission.

When confronted with a mountain of irrefutable proof, those who had once cursed Tang Zhi were dumbfounded. They couldn’t believe what they had just seen.

“No, it can’t be! How is it possible that so much of the dirt on Tang Zhi was fabricated?”

“I don’t believe it either. Feiyue was equally resolute when they clarified the issues back then. Otherwise, how could Tang Zhi have been blacklisted all over the internet?”

“But Xie Qianchen’s side is officially recognised by the court! The court wouldn’t lie!”

“If it’s all true, then Tang Zhi has suffered too much injustice….”

Some people murmured, but the photos that Song Yucheng produced were so shocking that it silenced the crowd.

Song Yucheng had neatly organised the itinerary of those groupmates who claimed to be so sad that they hadn’t participated in announcements or programs since Tang Zhi left. They finally understood what the group meant by “suspended work” and “felt devastated”.

They had never stopped, not even for a day, to make announcements, run commercials and even take part in variety shows and idol dramas, in which just as many of them had acted. It’s just that they’ve all flopped.

“Just because it flopped doesn’t mean you never participated. Let me show you guys what true suffering is!” Song Yucheng’s tone became more mournful and unyielding as he put photos of the place Tang Zhi had been living in for the past six months directly onto the internet.

The dimly lit basement was in complete disorder, except for the guitar in the corner that was somewhat clean. The beer bottles and cigarette butts scattered on the floor made it abundantly clear that Tang Zhi was not doing well.

Song Yucheng, who seemed to think that the audience weren’t scared enough, also pulled up Tang Zhi’s medical report. He also pulled up Tang Zhi’s sleeve.

Thin. That was everyone’s first thought. Tang Zhi was emaciated to the point people’s hearts ached.

When Tang Zhi was at the height of his popularity, someone had once commented that Tang Zhi was the male artist with the most beautiful hands in the music industry. They fell in love when they watched him play the guitar.

But now, this pair of hands that they once praised to the sky had thinned to nothing but bones. Even the healthy physique he originally had had rapidly worsened in the short span of six months. Tang Zhi was nearly 185 cm, but now he weighed less than 55 kg. When looking at it through the screen, he looked a tiny bit chubbier. However, when you stood face to face with him, it wasn’t any different from looking at a skeleton.

It was evident that those groupmates who had betrayed him, destroyed not only Tang Zhi’s dream, but also his life.

All of the reporters off the stage were silent, unable to say a word. The netizens who were watching the live broadcast were similarly at a loss for words.

What Song Yucheng revealed to them had shocked them to the core. Everything that they had believed was completely overturned in a short period of time, leaving them unable to respond.

“What do we do? What do we do?” At Feiyue Records, Tang Zhi’s former group mates were terrified, shivering as they hounded their agent.

In fact, they had been worried that this day would come ever since Tang Zhi signed with Picture Domain. But by the time it finally happened, they still remained terrified.

Despite such a major crisis, Ding Mingcheng could not be contacted. According to common sense, he should have come out long ago to preside over the situation. However, Ding Mingcheng unexpectedly did not emerge and instead disappeared.

Currently, Ding Mingcheng was now being detained at home by his maternal grandmother, unable to leave. As for his phone, it had been confiscated long ago. Therefore, he had no idea about the problems that Feiyue was currently facing. No one could find a way to tell him either.

It was a coincidence. Ding Mingcheng had initially gone home to hug his uncle’s thigh and teach Song Yucheng a lesson. Instead, he had been invited to his grandma’s room the moment he stepped foot in the house.

“Does Grandmother miss me?” Ding Mingcheng, who hadn’t realised that something was wrong at all, still teased the maid outside in a playful manner. But when he entered the room and his grandma spoke, he was dumbfounded.

Ding Mingcheng never thought that his grandma would make him stay at home for a week to pray to Buddha and practice vegetarianism. She had also specifically stated that he couldn’t leave the prayer room, touch his phone, or come into contact with any technology that could be linked to the outside for the entire week. Ding Mingcheng was also required to pay his respects to Buddha and copy the Buddhist scriptures thirty times.

“No, wait, Grandma. What’s going on? A week? It’s fine if it’s one day. Stop it, I have something to do.” Ding Mingcheng wanted to collapse the moment he heard what his grandmother said and even wondered if someone had tricked his grandma. Otherwise, why would she suddenly make him fast for a week and copy scriptures? It wasn’t like he was a temple monk.

However, his opposition was useless this time. The old lady was determined to keep him. When she saw Ding Mingcheng trying to run away, she ordered the family’s bodyguards to capture him and lock him up in the prayer room.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing? Am I being hounded by ghosts or something? Hurry up and tell me what’s going on!”

“Last week, the Old Madam met an extraordinarily powerful Celestial Master.”

“A Master?” Ding Mingcheng was confused. He knew that his grandmother believed in things like this. All elderly were superstitious, but his grandmother did not usually believe in it too much. So why did his grandmother seem like she had been possessed by an evil spirit this time?

However, the bodyguard’s explanation left Ding Mingcheng speechless because this Master seemed a little too mysterious.

Not only did he recount everything that happened in his family in great detail, he had even brought up a secret of his grandma’s that he was not aware of – she had a daughter that died when she was younger.

“No way, this is too much of a stretch! Are you guys sure that the Master isn’t a professional scammer?” Ding Mingcheng’s first reaction was disbelief.

The bodyguard immediately refuted him: “Young Master, that is not the case. That Master had informed the Old Madam of two lottery numbers, Can you guess what happened?”

“What happened? It can’t be that they won the first prize!”

“That’s right! They won the first prize. He had even calculated that the Chinese football team would win the penalty shot against Brazil.” The bodyguard spoke with excitement and couldn’t stop himself dancing from joy.

He felt that the Master was too godly. He might have gotten lucky and found out about the Old Madam’s secret. But his prediction of the lottery ticket numbers was simply divine. If you added on the penalty kick by the Chinese football team, it’s clear that this Master was the real deal.

After all, the Chinese football team had been miserably crushed for so many years. If they weren’t being steamrolled by the Brazilian team, then it was just the opposition being polite. Scoring a penalty kick was simply a dream.

If there was someone who could predict all that, what else could he be but a Master!

As for the reason behind Ding Mingcheng’s grandmother wanting to lock him up, it was also because this Master said so. This Master had said that Ding Mingcheng was about to encounter a great calamity and must pay his respects to Buddha for a week to overcome the calamity. Otherwise, he would surely die a violent death. So the Old Madam was afraid and hastily called for people to lock Ding Mingcheng up the moment he returned.

“.....” At this point, Ding Mingcheng couldn’t persuade his grandmother, even if he didn’t believe it. His grandma’s decision to lock him up was unshakable, so he could only go along with it. If he really did run away, his uncle would probably be anxious for him too.

Forget it, it wasn’t like there was anything going on in the company. It didn’t matter if he was absent for a week. As for Xie Qianchen, it was just about the status of his artist, Shen Yi. It didn’t matter if he was a day late or early. To wait a week.

Therefore, Ding Mingcheng, who still did not know that Feiyue Records was already in a mess, was still in the prayer room copying Buddhist scriptures. And he probably could never have imagined for the life of him that the mystical Master that his grandmother spoke about was Song Yucheng himself.

In addition, he never would have guessed that Song Yucheng’s determination to imprison him in the prayer room was not as simple as it appeared. There was still more to come.