Jiang Yangxu watched the video on his phone of his wife kneeling on the ground, eating leftovers that a dog had already eaten and drinking slop. The miserable sight had taken him from feeling reluctant at first to feeling sickened.
In truth, he had hesitated for a moment over whether he should offer up his own wife as a sacrifice. What finally made him decide to sacrifice Qin Yulian was not because his eldest son, Jiang Xing, was useless now, but because during the few days their family had moved in with the Qin family for shelter, his brother-in-law’s family had treated them with utterly despicable, kick-him-while-he’s-down cruelty!
Seeing them fallen on hard times, they had allowed their son to humiliate them time and again!
Even a saint had his limits!
He would not remain down forever.
Once he returned to the Jiang family and seized power, he would do everything in his power to crush the Qin family and make them pay for the foolish things they had done!
As a member of the Qin family, his wife Qin Yulian was unable to help him in any other way. So she could use her life to help him one last time!
After watching the video, Jiang Yangxu pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The only thing he needed to think about now was how to return to the Jiang family on the day of his wretched daughter Jiang Youli’s birthday banquet.
If he could find out who had been invited, things would become much easier.
There should be people from Zhang Susu’s maternal family among the guests. As for the Qi family, apart from Qi Huan and Grandpa Qi, Qi An’an should be there as well. After all, Qi An’an had been getting quite close to that wretched girl Jiang Youli recently.
Then there were the people from Jianshan Village—Zhou Wang, Qin Lang, Meng Yao, and the others who had come before.
As for the Duan family… That Duan Family Boy was her ex-boyfriend, and he was quite the troublemaker. Jiang Youli would never invite him.
He thought it over and over again, but could not think of anyone suitable to get him an invitation.
Forget it. If all else failed, he would ask whether the Long family had any way to help.
…
The next day, at Starlight Entertainment.
After Jiang Youli and the five mysterious new employees she had called in to help had finished producing the final music video and promotional videos for her new songs, Secretary Xiao Yang followed her upstairs with her phone in hand.
Once they reached the office, Jiang Youli had barely sat down when Secretary Xiao Yang hurried over and reported, “President Jiang, please take a look. Recently, someone started a poll on Weibo comparing your new song with Jiang Zhao’s. The poll asks whose new song will be more popular and receive more paid downloads.”
Jiang Youli stretched lazily and asked unhurriedly, “Oh? How are the results looking right now?”
Secretary Xiao Yang replied, “Jiang Zhao is far ahead. He already has more than twenty thousand votes, while you have just over two thousand. But that’s normal. Jiang Zhao has been in the industry for two years now. Although he isn’t a major star, he has built up a certain number of fans.”
Jiang Youli nodded calmly. “Yes, that’s perfectly normal.”
Secretary Xiao Yang asked tentatively, “President Jiang, would you like us to hire some online trolls to inflate the numbers? That way, your vote count would look better. Otherwise, all those netizens are mocking you right now…”
Jiang Youli was unconcerned. “There’s no need to waste any of the budget outside our plan on additional promotion for my songs. We’ll proceed with the publicity according to the original plan. That way, when my songs are released and become more popular than Jiang Zhao’s, the reversal will have a far greater impact.”
Secretary Xiao Yang nodded. Seeing how confident she was, she felt more confident herself. “Understood.”
…
In the employees’ main office, when Secretary Xiao Yang returned, her colleagues asked curiously, “Secretary Yang, have you heard President Jiang’s new songs? What do you think? Can she beat Jiang Zhao?”
Secretary Xiao Yang shook her head. “No. The entire recording process was handled by President Jiang and those mysterious employees she brought in, so I have no idea how good her three new songs are.”
“Even you don’t know, Secretary Yang?”
“If they’re as good as the song she improvised at the welcome banquet, then there’s nothing to worry about. I’m just afraid that was only a marketing claim. In reality, the song might not have been improvised at all—it may have been prepared in advance so she could humiliate her adopted daughter!”
“That’s what I’m worried about too. A lot of people online are watching to see how President Jiang and Jiang Zhao’s new songs compare.”
“If the songs are terrible, she’ll probably be mocked into oblivion!”
Secretary Xiao Yang waved her hands and reassured them, still fairly confident. “Don’t worry. We have to trust President Jiang’s abilities. I’m still waiting for Starlight Entertainment to grow bigger and bigger so I can earn a huge bonus.”
Seeing her say that, the others said nothing more. In any case, President Jiang’s new songs would be officially released soon enough. They would know the truth then.
…
After Secretary Xiao Yang left, something occurred to Jiang Youli. She opened the “Beijing Circle Rumors” group chat, which she had not checked in a long time, and mentioned Li Zixuan:
[The two-month deadline on our bet is almost here. Starlight Entertainment still hasn’t gone bankrupt, and my new songs are ready for release. Once they become a huge hit, my net worth will rise accordingly, and Starlight Entertainment will be thriving even more. Have you gotten a dog leash ready so I can put it on you and take you for a walk?]
Before long, Li Zixuan popped up.
the Good-for-Nothing Young Master: [Your new song is destined to flop without making the slightest splash. Stop bragging here. I’ve already prepared the shoes for you! You’d better wash your tongue clean and get ready to lick them!]
He immediately sent over a picture of a shoe with tiny spikes covering the sole.
Qi An’an also appeared in the chat.
Smug An’an: [Cousin-in-law, when you walk Li Zixuan around, can I come watch in person? I don’t want to watch a livestream.]
Jiang Youli: [Sure.]
Smug An’an: [Wonderful!]
…
Li Zixuan was furious at Jiang Youli’s open provocation, but deep down, he was starting to feel uncertain. So that evening, he rushed to Nightless City to find Long Yuan.
To his surprise, in addition to several young masters who, like him, had spent years tagging along with Long Yuan, Long Yuan’s fiancée Yu Linglong and Yu Hongtu, who was at odds with her, were also in the private room.
Long Yuan merely glanced at Li Zixuan without saying anything. Instead, Yu Hongtu spoke first. “Li Zixuan, did you come looking for Young Master Long?”
Li Zixuan respectfully stepped forward with an ingratiating smile. “Young Master Long, the deadline for my bet with Jiang Youli—that Starlight Entertainment would go bankrupt within two months—is almost here. If I lose, I’ll have to let that little bitch Jiang Youli walk me around like a dog.”
At first, Li Zixuan had been full of confidence.
He had believed that as long as Young Master Long wanted to deal with someone, two months would be more than enough to bring them down.
But more than a month had already passed, and just as Jiang Youli had said, Starlight Entertainment showed no sign of collapsing.
First, there had been the copyright dispute over “The Aspirations of Azure Clouds.” Then Grand Wind Entertainment had spent a fortune poaching employees from Starlight Entertainment. After that, Grand Wind Entertainment had hurriedly begun producing a television series similar to “The Aspirations of Azure Clouds,” and had even lured Jiang Zhao over to Grand Wind Entertainment…
At every step, Grand Wind Entertainment had tried to suppress Starlight Entertainment, yet Starlight Entertainment had remained standing and had even resolved some of the crises with ease.
Take the copyright dispute over “The Aspirations of Azure Clouds,” for example. Who could have expected that Jiang Youli herself was the original author?
Starshine Entertainment had lost more than a dozen experienced veteran employees to rival companies, but Jiang Youli somehow managed to recruit five people from who-knows-where in response. Apparently, they were a mysterious bunch who worked without being bound by any restrictions.
Jiang Youli’s latest song was produced entirely by her and the five new hires she had recruited. None of the other employees had any idea how good it was.
Ever since returning to the capital, Jiang Youli had found herself at the center of a storm because of her flamboyant personality, making her a constant focus of attention among Beijing’s elite circles. Naturally, every move she made was now under intense scrutiny.
As for her new song, someone online had even launched a poll pitting it against Jiang Zhao’s.
Fortunately, Jiang Zhao still held a commanding lead in the votes.
It seemed that everyone still had more faith in Jiang Zhao.
After all, the quality of Jiang Zhao’s previous songs was there for everyone to see. She had already released several widely acclaimed hits, so becoming the top star of the music industry was only a matter of time.
