Published at 25th of May 2020 8:01 am

Chapter 113 – The truth

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As soon as Old John’s words fell, the scene quieted down.

After all, for musicians, the most intolerable thing was plagiarism.

Zhuo Feiyang’s face flushed. “You are speaking nonsense! Why do you say I plagiarized?”

Old John was not afraid and sneered, “The structure and melody of your song is exactly the same as Trista Hall’s song ‘Darkness’ from 2005. Since you say you wrote it yourself, do you dare to write the score on the spot and let me compare it?”

As Old John’s words fell, some people had already found the song “Darkness” and when the song was played, the eyes of all the people at the scene changed.

Indeed, except for the different lyrics, the melody of these two songs was almost the same.

Almost all the people present were musicians, so they naturally understood what this meant.

Several guests turned towards Zhuo Feiyang’s table, “Hello! Why don’t you explain it? Why is your song exactly the same as ‘Darkness’? “

Some of them were even more impolite. “Old John, please contact Hall Company and let them sue this person! How dare a plagiarist come to City C? You have a lot of nerve!”

Zhuo Feiyang’s face changed slightly and without waiting for Old John to say anything more, he left angrily. His figure leaving in a hurry gave off an inexplicable sense of guilt.

After he ran away, it was impossible for the people at his table to stay.

The middle-aged man didn’t expect to lose so much face. His face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and he snorted coldly as he left in a hurry.

As soon as they left, the restaurant returned to its usual state.

Old John returned to the kitchen, and the light on the stage was turned on again. Many singers were eager to give it a try.

However, at this moment, Ye Cang was not in the mood for appreciation, instead he wore a heavy expression.

When Nick saw what he looked like, he couldn’t help but comfort him, “Although they are your countrymen, people won’t vent their anger on you because of their behavior. There are noble and inferior people in every country. You don’t have to worry too much about it.”

“Thank you, Nick.” Ye Cang smiled reluctantly.

Shen Huai gently patted the back of Ye Cang’s hand under the table. In fact, he could understand Ye Cang’s mood at this moment.

Ye Cang was not sad because he was worried about other people being angry, but because he had witnessed the most prosperous time of Chinese music, so when he saw the current situation he felt even sadder.

Because of the incident in the restaurant, Ye Cang was no longer in the mood to continue eating, so he returned to the hotel early with Shen Huai.

However, they did not expect to meet Zhuo Feiyang and his party in the corridor.

After they left Old John’s restaurant, they should have found another place to eat and they had just come back.

Zhuo Feiyang recognized Ye Cang, so his face suddenly became very ugly. He didn’t say hello to them, and walked past them with a gloomy face.

Instead, it was the middle-aged man who stopped and said, “Mr. Shen and Mr. Ye, what a coincidence! I’m An Yuanjie, the music director of Huayue Records. Nice to meet you.”

As soon as he said that, Shen Huai remembered that when Ye Cang took part in “Start of Tomorrow” Huayue Records wanted to sign him. It was this director who called him, but Ye Cang refused them and this matter came to an end.

In addition to inviting the finalists, the Colleen Awards would also invite well-known music companies from all over the world. As the largest record company in China, it was normal for Huayue Records to be invited.

At this moment, An Yuanjie was very elegant, and looked totally different from the mess he was when he was kicked out of the restaurant before.

He took out his business card and handed it to them. Ye Cang didn’t like An Yuanjie because of Zhuo Feiyang, so he behaved very reluctantly.

When Shen Huai saw this, he exchanged his business card with An Yuanjie, and went back to his room with Ye Cang as a pretext for leaving.

After going back, Shen Huai asked Ye Cang to take a bath first and rest. He took the card and looked at it for a long time before finally dialing An Yuanjie’s phone number.

–

Half an hour later, Shen Huai appeared at the bar of the hotel, and An Yuanjie waved at him.

Shen Huai’s eyes flickered as he walked over.

An Yuanjie had skillfully ordered a glass of wine for him, and said with a smile, ”I didn’t know Mr. Shen’s identity before, so don’t take offence at my speech from before. Please don’t worry about it. This glass of wine should be regarded as an apology from me.”

Shen Huai smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter.”

“That’s good.” After An Yuanjie finished speaking, he casually chatted with Shen Huai about the scenery of C City, beating about the bush.

Shen Huai was not in a hurry. In the corridor, An Yuanjie was clearly waiting for them. He was the music director of Huayue Records. As the leader of the industry, they did not think highly of Morningstar at all. He didn’t need to be afraid of Shen Huai’s identity like others.

So his purpose was worth pondering over.

After chatting for a long time, An Yuanjie finally said, “To be honest, Mr. Shen’s reputation as the god of wealth is well known in the industry, but the pool of the entertainment industry is not easy to mix in.”

Shen Huai’s hand holding the cup paused briefly, but with a smile on his face he said, “This is the challenge, isn’t it?”

An Yuanjie laughed, “Mr. Shen is right. In my opinion, even if you have changed your identity, you are still the god of wealth. Otherwise, how could you have discovered Ye Cang’s potential and raised him to the present level?”

Shen Huai didn’t like him using that contemptuous tone to say Ye Cang’s name. His face became slightly cold. “Ye Cang did not rely on my power, he has the strength to achieve what he is today.”

An Yuanjie smiled mysteriously and shook his head. “Mr. Shen, Ye Cang is indeed very powerful. It can be even said that he is a genius that comes once in a century, but so what? If you were not behind him, he may not have been able to get to this place so smoothly.”

Shen Huai heard that there was something in his words, and his heart grew cold, but his face remained calm. “Director An may as well say it bluntly.”

An Yuanjie moved slightly closer to Shen Huai and said in a low voice, “Since Mr. Shen said so, I’ll make it clear. I promise that your singers will have a smooth and proper future. However, please mind your own business, some things are better if you don’t know them.”

Shen Huai’s eyes immediately cooled, but he restrained his anger and said, “So it was you who has been dealing with Ye Cang from behind the scene.”

Previously, Shen Huai sent someone to investigate the matter of the new singers who were suppressed. When he arrived in C City, his people already sent him some basic information.

Shen Huai didn’t pay much attention to it at that time, but then he remembered, that what these singers all had in common was that none of them was Huayue’s singer, and some of them were said to have been contacted by Huayue, but they didn’t sign a contract with them in the end.

Now, combined with An Yuanjie’s words, it was obvious that Huayue was behind it.

Shen Huai also recalled that at the time of “Star of Tomorrow”, Tang Ruoyi, the female singer of Huayue, appreciated Ye Cang very much, and later invited him to join Huayue many times.

It was possible that Tang Ruoyi also had some inside information.

Maybe she was worried that if he didn’t sign with Huayue Ye Cang would encounter these things and waste his talent, which was why she invited him so many times.

Instead of answering directly, An Yuanjie asked, “In Mr. Shen’s opinion, what exactly do these artists in the entertainment circle represent?”

Without waiting for Shen Huai to answer, An Yuanjie replied, “They are a commodity.”

Shen Huai clenched his fist.

An Yuanjie said with indifference, “A five-points artist can be marketed into nine-points artist. The public doesn’t care whether they listen to excellent songs or not. As long as this track is popular, they would follow the trend and buy it, this applies to artists too. On the contrary, no matter how much potential an artist has, before they grow up, they are all just chicks who just came out of their shell.”

“The public is ignorant. They will not think independently, but will follow the crowd. When the whole public opinion of a person is bad, how many people can keep their independent thinking, distinguish the truth from the falsehood of rumors, and defend a stranger against the current?”

Shen Huai didn’t speak.

Seeing this, An Yuanjie said, “Mr. Shen, you are the legend of the venture capital circle. You should know better than me. The real power is in the hands of a few people in the upper circle, while the shareholders and lower circle are just workers who can be sacrificed at will.”

At this point, Shen Huai had thoroughly understood An Yuanjie’s purpose. When he sent people to check the suppression of the new singers, he had probably alarmed Huayue Records. The other side didn’t want him to continue the investigation, but at the same time didn’t want to offend such a behemoth like Shen Huai, so they used An Yuanjie’s mouth to warn him vaguely.

If Shen Huai insisted on investigating further, they may not be able to do anything to Shen Huai. However, Shen Huai’s artists would have no such luck.

After An Yuanjie finished, he gently touched Shen Huai’s glass with his, and then took a sip. “I will ask Mr. Shen to give it a good consideration, see you later.”

With that, he turned and left the bar.

When he returned to his room, he dialed the phone number, which belonged to Feng Yankai, the current president of Huayue Records.

An Yuanjie said respectfully, “President, I have already met Shen Huai.”

Feng Yankai snorted. “What did he say?”

“He didn’t say anything,” said An Yuanjie.

Feng Yankai was somewhat displeased. “It’s true that his Shen family have really large business, but he is only just getting started in the entertainment industry. If I wasn’t reluctant to make a big deal out of it and draw the attention of these old things from the Music Association, I wouldn’t be afraid of him.”

An Yuanjie nodded hurriedly.

Feng Yankai was a bit impatient. “Well, enough about this, didn’t I tell you to take good care of Zhuo Feiyang? What’s wrong with him again?”

An Yuanjie hurriedly told him what happened in Old John’s restaurant.

Feng Yankai said coldly, “This trash! He didn’t even know not to copy something so popular. If you want to sell talent, you at least need to possess some. You had to make trouble at this time, making the public relations department wipe his butt.”

An Yuanjie who was scolded like a grandson, scolded Zhuo Feiyang again in his heart. But he still obediently said, “But Zhuo Feiyang is still very popular in China, and many fans like him. Besides, across the sea no one knows that he copied it. Instead, it’s an all English song album and netizens all think it is very competitive. At that time, the sales volume should be good.”

When he said this, Feng Yankai seemed to be in a much better mood. “Alright, you have to settle this matter. This time, I let him come to C City to teach him a lesson. If he makes trouble again, it’s not impossible for the company to make another singer popular. Tell him not to treat himself like a spring onion!!”

An Yuanjie: “Yes.”

After hanging up the phone, An Yuanjie breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes fell on the shortlist lying on the table and chuckled, his face displaying a sense of superiority.

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