Chapter 19 Theme Song and Festival
The day after I ended the call with Xie Kun, I got a collaboration.
A theme song for a globally famous, massively hot animation IP.
I had loved that animation for more than ten years. I had bought endless merch. My house was stacked with plushies. Because of the collab, they gifted me a set of collector merch.
A limited edition. One hundred sets worldwide.
Sister Li looked like the surprise had dropped straight onto her head.
The reason was simple. The IP was too big, too famous. It almost never worked with celebrities.
It didn't need the fame.
This was phenomenon-level, top-tier resource.
I looked at the merch they sent and tried to ignore the suspicion in my chest.
Then I saw Xiao Yuan at the theme song recording, and that suspicion sat down as fact.
The official site had already posted the announcement. I was already sitting in the recording studio. This was work. I had taken the benefit. Adults didn't act on spite.
I repeated that in my head until I could keep my face even, and shook Xiao Yuan's hand under the partner's introduction.
The person in charge was a foreigner. From the way he talked, he didn't know the history between Xiao Yuan and me. He explained with real warmth that the whole collaboration had been facilitated by Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan was dressed against type, in a casual suit. The bruises I had put on his face hadn't even faded. His posture still looked like the same unshaken ease.
He didn't speak to me. After the greetings he left, as if he really were just a partner dropping by to inspect.
After that, I received a guest invite to the Yuanjin Music Festival.
Sister Li told me straight. "Xiao Yuan built the bridge and laid the line."
Without him, I would never have gotten this chance.
The festival's principal, God K, was a milestone in domestic rock. His creative ideas had influenced me deeply.
But he and I had never worked together.
It started with my debut album. The title track used the same public sample as one of God K's songs. That was a normal production method. Public samples didn't involve copyright. Anyone could use them.
I had just debuted. My father was suppressing me across every platform. Marketing accounts blew it up fast and called it plagiarism.
Viewers who didn't know music would take it wrong. A fellow musician like God K wouldn't. Haohai had never been reliable. I posted a long explanation of what a public sample was. After that, God K followed my Weibo.
By all rights, that should have been the end.
Two months later, at the country's highest music awards, God K missed the Album of the Year that should have been his. The award fell into my hands.
That year, God K's contract fight with his old company—and the organizer—was public knowledge. Capital games. I was just the gun they used. If Haohai had done proper PR, God K and I wouldn't have looked this ugly for years.
Haohai didn't. They had just signed Shen Xinrui. She fell on the red carpet. Haohai PR went to clean up her mess.
I called Xiao Yuan. "You don't think I'll be moved to tears, do you?"
I was shaking with anger. "Xiao Yuan, this is what Haohai fucking owed me."
"I know." Xiao Yuan's voice was as gentle as always. "Whether you go to the music festival or not doesn't matter. Follow what you want. God K won't have any issue. He admires you a lot, and he feels guilty."
"Zhiyi." Xiao Yuan said my name. "What you lost, I will find back for you. What you want, I will give you."
"I want you far away from me." My tone stayed that calm. "I feel sick when I see you. Don't show up in front of me."
I hung up. I blocked and deleted every way to reach Xiao Yuan.
The anger only burned hotter. My head swam. I smashed my phone onto the floor.