Volume One, Chapter 139: There Are No Eternal Friends, Only Eternal Interests.

Some are joyous, while others are sorrowful.

At the Star Entertainment building, Li Gang stood before the window, smoking a cigarette and watching the bustling traffic below, lost in thought. A document lay on his desk—an analysis report of Jiang Yu’s concert, complete with photographs. He had never imagined that a young man who had only recently debuted would prove to be such a formidable, elusive opponent—a needle hidden in silk.

Having dominated this industry for so many years, he had never encountered anyone so difficult to handle. He had used these conventional tactics on countless others, and even top-tier stars would have been left scarred, if not destroyed, by such methods. Yet this kid was completely impervious—how could someone like this even exist? The price he had paid this time was simply too high.

Just then, his secretary entered. "Mr. Li, the heads of the major entertainment companies are here to see you."

Li Gang remained silent, standing still for a moment. The secretary waited for his instructions. When there was profit to be made, they had swarmed in like sharks smelling blood; now that there were losses, they had come together to pressure him.

Li Gang turned around, crushed the cigarette butt into the ashtray, and said calmly, "Let them in."

The secretary nodded and left. Moments later, a group of people surged into the office.

"Mr. Li, is this the 'gift' you promised us?"
"You told us to prepare for these concerts, but do you have any idea? Scalpers are currently swarming our office buildings, demanding refunds!"
"Refunds are one thing, but the trainees we spent so much effort cultivating have been completely ruined in this showdown with Jiang Yu, do you realize that?"
"The Chinese Golden Melody Awards that we worked so hard to curate are now in shambles, and our companies have suffered heavy losses. Meanwhile, your Star Entertainment seems to have lost nothing—don't you think it's time you paid a price?"

Li Gang turned back, his expression hysterical. "My friends, do you really think I haven't paid a price? Because of Jiang Yu, my own son ended up in the headlines! And I lost one of the members of the girl group I worked so hard to groom! You’re all talking down to me while you stand comfortably on the sidelines!"

Seeing Li Gang’s hysteria, the other executives fell silent. Li Gang let out a long breath. "Gentlemen, I said it before: I never begged anyone to go after Jiang Yu. I only made a suggestion; whether you followed it was entirely voluntary. Now that things have gone wrong, expecting me to shoulder the entire burden is hardly fair, is it?"

One of the executives glared at him. "So what do we do now? Your Star Entertainment isn't being besieged by scalpers. This is not a small sum of money!"

"My friend, that’s where you’re wrong. I only provided an idea. If you had made a profit, would you have given me a commission? I don't think so," Li Gang sneered. "I apologize to you all, but Star Entertainment is overwhelmed as well. We must each sweep the snow from our own doorsteps. I’ll say it again: we all know each other's secrets. It is impossible for me to be the sole scapegoat. If you push me too far, we’ll all go down together."

"Secretary Tang, show them out." With that, Li Gang turned his back on them.

Seeing his attitude, the executives realized they had no leverage; they had known each other too long to be easily intimidated. With cold snorts, they left the office. However, the scalper issue could not be ignored. Once outside, the executives gathered together.

"What do we do about those scalpers? We gave them nearly ten million in ticket money, and that cash is already tied up in other ventures—it’s gone."

Ten million was a conservative estimate; at a thousand per ticket, ten thousand tickets already equaled ten million, and they had paid the scalpers double that. These large companies, upon receiving funds, didn't pay off their debts; they used the capital to expand their operations, leading to ever-growing liabilities. This time, they had tried to use the same trick.

"They bought the items of their own free will; we didn't force them, did we?" one executive said with a dark look in his eyes. "Besides, who knows how much they’ve made off us in the past? In business, there are wins and losses. They can't expect to keep the profits while we bear all the losses."

"Exactly. If we can't deal with Jiang Yu, we can certainly deal with a bunch of scalpers. At the very least, we can just stall them."
"This Li Gang is too unreliable. I suggest we kick him out of the Chinese Golden Melody Awards. If we all agree, I don't believe he can stand against all of us."
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"

...

In the United States, a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and large eyes frowned as he looked over the quarterly financial reports. After finishing, he pressed the button on his desk phone. "Lisa, please come to my office. And bring me a cup of coffee."

A moment later, his attractive, blonde secretary swayed into the office. "Mr. Cameron, here is your coffee."

After placing the coffee on the desk, she asked, "Mr. Cameron, is there something you needed?"

Cameron tapped the document on his desk. "Lisa, why has our traffic in China dropped so significantly recently? You should know that China is a massive market; losing it will cost us dearly."

Cameron was the head of the American Academy Awards. The secretary picked up the document, reviewed it, and looked up. "I am aware of this, and I mentioned it to you a long time ago. The Oscars have been established for many years, yet neither in film nor music has a Chinese person ever won an award."

"Previously, their culture was heavily influenced by a worship of foreign things, but today, their national pride is growing stronger. While there are still many who admire the West, there are far fewer than before. If we want to improve our popularity in China, we must award a Chinese person. I’ve suggested this to you, but you never replied."

"I apologize, Lisa. That was my oversight," Cameron frowned. "However, awarding them prizes might have been acceptable over a decade ago, but the current Chinese entertainment industry has no film or music worthy of our awards. Forcing it would only lower the prestige and credibility of our awards. Furthermore, choosing a Chinese work would offend certain investors."

"What if we choose a Chinese person who sings in English? They shouldn't have any complaints then, right?"

Lisa stepped forward, operated her computer, and opened an email. "This is an email I sent you days ago. After screening the candidates over the past few days, only two remain, but one has significant issues, so I’ve removed him. There is only one left. His music is excellent, especially a recent English song he wrote. Let me play it for you."

As the passionate music began to play, Cameron’s eyes brightened. "A fantastic song. Your choice is excellent. What is his name?"

"He is very popular in China," Lisa said, pulling up his profile on the screen. "His name is Jiang Yu."