Shen Huai returned to his room. Hearing the noise, Ye Cang immediately put down his pen and guitar, and walked to Shen Huai. “You just…”

He frowned before completing the sentence. “What’s the matter? You don’t look very happy?”

Shen Huai answered in a low voice, sat on the sofa and was silent for a moment, before telling Ye Cang what An Yuanjie had said.

Ye Cang was so angry that he couldn’t believe it.

The career for which he struggled all his life, after his death turned out to be a commodity that could be bought and sold at will in the eyes of these people. In addition, they regarded not only art as a commodity, but also people.

They looked down from above, and laughed at these people, who gave up everything for the sake of art, and regarded themselves as gods who could control other people’s lives.

They destroyed other people’s dreams in such a vicious way, turning the whole music market into a mess, but they didn’t care.

This went beyond the desire for profit, this was breaking the bottom line as human beings.

Since his rebirth, Ye Cang had never been so angry. Whether he was framed in “Star of Tomorrow” before, or chased by rotten fans, he hadn’t been as angry and disgusted as he was now.

Ye Cang said angrily, “Do they think they can do whatever they want, if they have money?! They are responsible for our country’s music market becoming like that. Thirty years ago, the stage was not so exquisite and there were not so many singers, but there were so many beautiful songs. As a result, the pursuit of the audience made these businessmen see the profit, and they rushed in all at once… “

Shen Huai sighed. “In fact, capital is not a bad thing. Only when capital is promoted, a complete industry can be formed, making this industry more and more prosperous. It’s just that these people rely on capital to disrupt the market and try to use dirty money to squeeze out good money in order to make a profit, which is why the present situation occurs.”

Ye Cang actually regretted what he said. He knew what Shen Huai said was correct, but he was too angry and didn’t choose his words wisely.

Shen Huai understood his feelings, so he patted him on the back soothingly. “If they continue to do this, they will be swallowed by the market sooner or later.”

Ye Cang’s mood stabilized and his sense of reason came back.

He knew that Shen Huai would never allow such things to continue, and since he shared them with him, he must have already made plans.

So Ye Cang asked, “What are you going to do?”

Shen Huai smiled lightly. “Since they regard capital as their god, I will play this game with them with my own capital.”

If Shen Huai was regarded as a novice player in the entertainment circle, he was already a top level expert in the capital circle. He was called “the god of wealth” in that circle. Although there was a sense of ridicule, his strength in the investment field was evident.

Huayue refused to do their job honestly and insisted on bringing the battlefield to the place most suitable for Shen Huai. When it was over, they would have only themselves to blame.

 

–

 

With Shen Huai’s words, Ye Cang’s heart calmed down. After all, he and Shen Huai had known each other for so long, and he had never seen anything Shen Huai could’t do.

Soon, it was time for the Colleen Awards.

As the most important awards in the rock circle, the Colleen Awards had no dress code. After all, the rock spirit was free and uncompromising. So in regards to the clothing, as long as you were not naked, you could wear anything.

For example, Nick Garcia, an regular guest at the Colleen Awards, had been on stage for several years in a row in floral shirts and flip flops.

However, Ye Cang couldn’t dress so casually. After all, the Colleen Awards were an international event. Ye Cang did not only represented himself but also China as a country. So he needed to be more cautious.

Shen Huai had chosen the clothes for him earlier. It was a dark blue suit with Tang style elements. The design seemed simple, but the fabric production used a long-lost technique, so it was a low-key luxury.

Ye Cang was originally tall, his posture straight, making him the best clothes rack.

As soon as he got out of the car,  the eyes of the reporters on both sides of the red carpet lit up and the cameras kept flashing.

This time, Shen Huai failed to convince Ye Cang and followed him during his red carpet walk. They wore the same style of clothes, but Shen Huai chose a more low-key gray. Even so, the two of them walking on the red carpet side by side was enough to become the focus of attention of all reporters filming.

The Colleen Awards began in the afternoon, which happened to be the early morning in China. They didn’t know how many Chinese set up alarm clocks, got up bleary-eyed, and squatted in front of the computer.

In order to watch the awards ceremony, Cao Yun and Yao Jianning set the alarm clock at three o’clock in the morning. As soon as the alarm clock rang, they quickly got up rubbing their red eyes to turn on the computer.

Cherry had been busy with the second season of “Star of Tomorrow” recently, cutting the film till the wee hours of the morning, but even so, she still didn’t forget the awards ceremony of the Colleen Awards. She drank a pot of coffee forcing herself to wake up, and then turned on the live broadcast.

There were many people like them, some of them were Ye Cang’s fans, some were rock fans, and some of them just joined the fun. But even so, there was a lot of chatter on the social networks.

The entertainment forum had opened a special page for the Colleen Awards, and the netizens chatted enthusiastically.

23L: it’s starting! The red carpet has begun.

58L: I used to hate listening to rock music. I didn’t understand it at all, but after listening to CangCang’s songs, I got interested in rock music for the first time and realized how much of a treasure I had missed before.

147L: I used to stay up all night for football, but I never expected that one day I would stay up for rock and roll….

177L: My father bought beer and peanuts last night. For the first time our father and daughter pair reached a consensus on the issue of staying up late to chase the stars [laughing and crying] [laughing and crying] [laughing and crying]

298L: LZ said that you are chasing stars with your father. Have you ever experienced chasing stars with your grandparents? Now these two elders have been asking me when Ye Cang will come out…

354L: The studio sent cub Cang’s photos today. How handsome is he? I’m ready to take screenshots at any time!

533L: He is just shortlisted, and has not won the prize yet. Is it necessary to boast so much? Our family’s Feiyang also has gone as a guest. But we haven’t made such a scene. It’s worthy of the talent show and petty.

534L: LZ fans get out! Come out and make some heat!

541L: The Colleen Awards is a rock and roll event, okay? Zhuo Feiyang is a pop singer. What is he doing there?

596L: Zhuo Feiyang’s new song is a copy of Trista Hall’ s song “Darkness”. Please respond first. Don’t think that people can be so naive, if they don’t understand English songs. You are just embarrassed to release them overseas and lose face abroad.

Seeing that the post is heading in a wrong direction, LZ quickly turned the topic around again, stopping it. 

But even so, Zhuo Feiyang had posted a Weibo earlier, saying that he was going to attend the Colleen Awards as a guest, making all his fans scream for half a month. Some fans were so proud that they stepped on others to boast about Zhuo Feiyang, which irritated Ye Cang’s fans.

Originally, Ye Cang was shortlisted for the Colleen Awards which made them gain a lot of face but they were not only irritated, but also trampled on by others, how could they stand it?

The two sides quarreled for half a month, and after this quarrel, most of the entertainment circle knew that Zhuo Feiyang was going to attend the Colleen Awards as a guest.

Only then did Ye Cang’s fans realize that they had been fooled, but there was nothing they could do anymore.

Zhuo Feiyang’s fans were so powerful that they had no idea how much hatred they had drawn.

It was a pity that the whole red carpet event was over, but not even a trace of Zhuo Feiyang could be seen.

The entertainment forum immediately jumped out with a new post.

——Ha ha ha ha ha ha, some people may not know that the Colleen Awards are not the same as these awards of film festivals. Only the shortlisted candidates, as well as the [seriously invited] performing guests and presenters walk on the red carpet. Since someone went to the scene and didn’t walk on the red carpet, there is only one possibility, that he is the guest of a guest. So it’s shameful to call himself a guest, and even internet celebrities don’t brag like this!

1L: LZ humiliated Internet celebrities, other Internet celebrities spent their own money to buy tickets. How can someone be so shameless!

In addition to the entertainment forum, Weibo and other places also started laughing at Zhuo Feiyang.

Zhuo Feiyang was indeed very popular. Although he had no new projects published last year, he maintained a high exposure rate and participated in many activities. In addition, he had also won the Golden Melody Award for best singer. Even if similar things happened before, he had never been ridiculed so much.

In the end of the day, although the public was used to following the crowd, there were still good songs and bad songs to listen to. Even if they were temporarily blinded by marketing, if they didn’t like them, the accumulated antipathy would break out one day.

As Shen Huai said, crooked ways would not last long. Even if they gained profits for a while, they would backfire sooner or later.

However, the emergence of really good singers such as Ye Cang and Li Zihang sped up this whole process.

 

–

 

At this moment, in an inner spot of the Colleen Awards, the brightly dressed Zhuo Feiyang looked very ugly and asked An Yuanjie, “Why didn’t you say, I can’t go on the red carpet!?”

An Yuanjie frowned. “The Colleen Awards have such a rule. Didn’t your agent tell you?!”

Zhuo Feiyang: “…” His agent told him not to talk about it. After that, the company would have a publicity arrangement, but Zhuo Feiyang’s personality loved showing off, so he couldn’t resist sending out such a Weibo.

An Yuanjie knew what had happened as soon as he saw his expression. He frowned and scolded this fool in his heart. But with a calm face he said, “Alright, go and sit down. There are cameras everywhere. Don’t lose face!”

Zhuo Feiyang was very angry in his heart, but he was not stupid enough to disobey An Yuanjie, and went to his seat with a dark face.

An Yuanjie sat next to him, his eyes fixed on the candidates’ sitting area.

From his position, he could see Ye Cang and Shen Huai sitting together. Neither of them looked short even among a group of westerners.

An Yuanjie understood in his heart, that whether Ye Cang could win the award this time would have a very distinctive meaning for the domestic music market.

After all, the sales myth achieved by Ye Cang last year was still suffocating Huayue Records. It could be said that Ye Cang had stirred the whole Chinese music market with his talent.

Although it was only April now, there were many more records released compared to the first half of the last year, and the sales volumes were much higher.

This miraculous phenomenon had only happened once in the past few decades.

That time was 30 years ago. Lu Yang, known as “the rock tyrant”, stormed into the highly competitive record market relying on an album to make it to fame, and setting off a rock fever that had not gone down for decades.

Currently, like two peas in a pod, Ye Cang was almost the same as Lu Yang.

Even though An Yuanjie said he was looking down on these artists, if Ye Cang really won the Colleen Awards, his status would become totally different. After all, the domestic music market had been in a downturn for such a long time, and Ye Cang’s appearance was like a shot in the heart. If he really was strong enough, he could completely change the entire domestic music market.

This was also the reason why An Yuanjie came to the Colleen Awards in person this time. After all, no matter how high the status of Huayue Records was in China, the Colleen Awards could by no means be bought.

An Yuanjie tightly clasped his hands and thought deep inside his heart: Ye Cang will not win the award. He is Asian and shortlisted for the first time. According to the usual practice, he won’t win the award….

Shen Huai, who was closely watched by An Yuanjie, thought of the same problem.

However, although he understood how much advantage Ye Cang could bring to them after winning the award, he didn’t have the heart to put pressure on Ye Cang. Instead, he comforted him by saying, “There are too many factors affecting this award. Whether you can win the award or not doesn’t prove your strength. Don’t be nervous. Everyone already knows how good you are!”

Ye Cang touched his chin and looked surprisingly relaxed. “Huai, I’m not nervous, but I think you’re nervous.”

Shen Huai froze.

Ye Cang laughed, “This is called concern.”

Shen Huai: “…”

At this moment, the host on the stage announced that the next award would be tonight’s biggest suspense, the winner of the best album. The award presenter Nick Garcia had already come on stage in his big underpants and flip flops.

Shen Huai suddenly forgot to argue with Ye Cang, and his hand on the armrest couldn’t help clenching it tightly.

Ye Cang took his hand and put it to his lips for a gentle kiss.

In Shen Huai’s stunned and confused eyes, his voice was gentle but resounding.

“Huai, I will get this award.”

His voice fell as Nick opened the envelope.

“The winner of the best album is ‘Rebirth’ from China, Ye Cang.”

Edited by : LuLu

Proofreader: Taalia

Support translation: