21: Chapter 21 The Strangulation of Capital

Magic City, the Shenghai Capital office building.

Hua Xingyu burst out laughing.

“A night-shift security guard?”

He set his teacup on the table and leaned back.

“CEO Cao, are you joking with me?”

Cao Qiming's expression held no trace of a smile.

He closed the folder and pushed the thin investigation report to the center of the coffee table.

“I spent three days and used two investigation agencies, and this is the result.”

Hua Xingyu reached out, picked up the folder, and flipped through a couple of pages.

Household registration page, work history: courier, construction laborer, restaurant waiter.

The last column: Property Department of Tianyu Media, night-shift security guard.

He threw the folder back onto the coffee table. “So, the guy who trampled my face into the dirt during the debut stage was lifting the barrier for cars in a basement garage just a few days ago?”

Cao Qiming didn't reply, letting him digest the information.

“What about that song, 'the ordinary road'? A security guard could write a song like that?”

“We can't find any record of him studying music. He never attended training classes, never had a mentor, and even his guitar was just recently bought.”

“Interesting.” Hua Xingyu's eyes narrowed.

Cao Qiming sat up straight from the sofa, picked up the cigarette pack on the table, pulled one out, and put it in his mouth.

“The data for the debut stage is out. The video clip of Jiang Fan's performance has accumulated over thirty million views across the entire internet within forty-eight hours. The related topic for 'the ordinary road' on Douyin has been in the top five of the trending list for two days.”

“Meanwhile, Lu Ming's debut stage clip only has twelve million views.”

Hua Xingyu's smile vanished completely.

Hua Xingyu knew better than anyone what this gap meant.

Under the tournament format of Tomorrows Star, if Jiang Fan maintains this level of popularity, no matter how they manipulate the judges' scores in the upcoming matches, the audience votes alone would be enough to crush Lu Ming.

“CEO Cao, has the format for the second round been decided?”

Cao Qiming pulled a document out of his briefcase and handed it over.

“The second round is a 1v1 challenge within the groups, where the lower-ranked contestants from the previous round challenge the higher-ranked ones.”

“I've already spoken with the people at Times Media. Having Zhao Tianyu choose the first place in the track to challenge makes logical sense, and the audience won't find it suspicious.”

Hua Xingyu nodded.

He had looked over Zhao Tianyu's profile.

In terms of musical literacy and stage experience, Zhao Tianyu's performance on the debut stage wasn't bad.

He only lost because of that song.

A masterpiece of 'the ordinary road' caliber was a dimensional reduction strike on any talent show stage.

“For the second round, Times Media has brought out their prized gold-medal producer to custom-make a song for Zhao Tianyu overnight with an extremely grand Arrangement. If Zhao Tianyu crushes him in Arrangement and vocal skills, and you suppress his score from the judges' panel—”

Cao Qiming's voice turned cold.

“Shenghai Entertainment invested two hundred million to make this show. We've already packaged and finalized everything for Lu Ming, from his debut plan to subsequent films, TV shows, and variety programs. If an amateur who came out of nowhere wins the championship, our entire plan will be ruined. So in the second round, we must make sure Jiang Fan dies on the stage.”

Hua Xingyu fell silent for a few seconds.

“CEO Cao, what if he brings out another hit song in the second round?”

Cao Qiming glanced at him.

“A security guard with a monthly salary of thirty-five hundred—what other tricks do you think he can pull off?”

Hua Xingyu didn't say anything more.

His mind was still replaying that scene from the debut stage—Jiang Fan sitting in the C-position of the Solo Track, scanning the room with a look of near-boredom, and then closing his eyes to sleep.

That wasn't an act.

That casual indifference showed he truly didn't care about anyone present.

Including himself.

“Alright. I'll cooperate for the second round. But CEO Cao, if even Zhao Tianyu can't suppress him—”

“If he can't suppress him...”

Cao Qiming tapped his fingers twice on the armrest of the sofa.

“I'll let him know that in this industry, talent is never the most important thing.”

—

Pengcheng, Penguin Hotel.

At eleven o'clock at night, Jiang Fan sat at the desk in his room and turned on the desk lamp.

He connected his mobile hard drive to his phone via an adapter.

He clicked open the folders one by one.

The first folder: Hua Xingyu.

The video was shot in a nightclub. The image quality wasn't high-definition, but it was clear enough to identify him.

Hua Xingyu was holding two young models in his arms, with the table covered in alcohol bottles.

The timestamp showed last October.

At that time, Hua Xingyu had just appeared in an interview with official media as a 'youth music mentor,' talking at length about how 'art purifies the soul.'

Jiang Fan swiped to the next folder.

The dual contracts of Shenghai's Vice President, Liu Qingyang.

One was a film and television investment contract with an external quote of thirty million, while the other was the actual internal bookkeeping amount—eight million.

The difference of twenty-two million flowed into three offshore accounts.

The third folder contained an audio clip.

It was a young girl's voice, sounding close to tears: “I don't want to sign this... The liquidated damages written in the contract are thirty million. My family can't afford to pay that at all...”

Another man's voice replied in a frivolous tone: “It's up to you whether you sign or not. If you don't, all your training expenses for the past two years will be settled at market price. Adding the costs for accommodation, clothing, and promotional resources, it will come to about that amount.”

The girl's crying grew louder.

The recording cut off there.

Jiang Fan browsed through all the files, unplugged the hard drive, and put it into the compartment of his backpack.

These things were enough to put Shenghai Media on the front page three times.

But now was not the time.

He had to wait for them to stretch out their necks of their own accord, then strike with a clean, swift cut.

---

Magic City, Tianyu Media Building.

Xu Qingya dragged her suitcase out of the elevator. Before she could return to her lounge, she was blocked in the hallway by Manager Chen.

“Come in with me.”

Manager Chen's tone left no room for discussion.

She turned around, pushed open the office door, and reached back to pull the blinds shut.

Xu Qingya leaned her suitcase against the wall and sat down on the sofa.

Manager Chen stood opposite her, arms crossed, sizing her up from head to toe.

As soon as her gaze landed on Xu Qingya's face, Manager Chen's crossed arms suddenly dropped.

She took a big step forward, almost pressing her face against Xu Qingya's, staring intently at her makeup-free face.

Something was terribly wrong.

She knew Xu Qingya's state before leaving for Pengcheng all too well.

The dark circles under her eyes couldn't even be covered by concealer, and her skin was dull and sallow.

But the Xu Qingya standing before her now—

Her skin radiated a subtle glow, her under-eyes were perfectly clear without a trace of dark shadow, and her lips were a natural light pink.

“What did you do?” Manager Chen's voice was very low.

“Nothing.”

“Xu Qingya.” Manager Chen took a step closer. “Your current state is not something that can be restored by just resting for a few days. What on earth did you do in Pengcheng?”

Xu Qingya raised her eyes and looked at Manager Chen.

“Sister Lan, that's not what you really want to ask, is it?”

Manager Chen paused for a moment.

“That Jiang Fan.” She directly spoke his name. “What exactly is your relationship with him?”

Xu Qingya did not evade the question.

“I need him.”

“You...”

Manager Chen opened her mouth but swallowed her words back down.

She suddenly recalled what Xu Qingya had said during their phone call yesterday.

“Don't touch him.”

It was a woman protecting a man.

Manager Chen sat down on the chair opposite her.

“Qingya, Shenghai Entertainment's side has already started investigating him.”

Xu Qingya's gaze shifted.

“Cao Qiming is personally looking into it,” Manager Chen lowered her voice. “I have a friend at Shenghai Entertainment who tipped me off today. They've already found out about Jiang Fan working as a security guard at Tianyu Entertainment before.”

“What do they want to do?”

Manager Chen looked into her eyes.

“What do you think? An amateur stepped on the face of Shenghai Entertainment's crown prince. Do you think Shenghai Entertainment will just let it go?”

The office fell silent for a few seconds.

Xu Qingya stood up and pulled her suitcase.

“Sister Lan.” Xu Qingya stopped at the door, not turning back.

“Help me look into the tournament format and matchup schedule for the second round of Tomorrows Star.”

“I need to have it before the recording starts.”