Chapter 32

The next morning, when entertainment accounts reposted the announcement from Star Radiance's official website on Weibo, discussion instantly skyrocketed.

Following Ling Ji's instructions, Pei Dahai paid some online commenters and used sockpuppet accounts to steer public opinion.

At first, most of the comments came from Star Radiance fans who had been following the company all along. After waiting eagerly for so many years, they had finally seen its third-generation group debut, naturally sparking considerable discussion:

"Ahhhhhh, OSOK is worth it!!! I love Li Xun so much!"

"Former extreme sports athlete Li Xun, the gorgeous main dancer!"

"Sure enough, Star Radiance always goes big when it makes a move! Let's go, OSOK universe group!"

Pei Dahai also took the opportunity to have Li Xun and the other three set up their own Weibo accounts, as well as an OSOK group account. He posted the official photos they had taken earlier and retouched hundreds of times, along with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage of preparations for their first performance.

After all that, the fans felt as though the New Year had come early. They discovered that the four were not only good-looking but also took their preparations seriously, and began looking forward to their next moves.

But as time passed, every part of the announcement began to generate discussion.

Pei Dahai had initially been very satisfied with the results, but gradually noticed that public opinion seemed to be heading in some strange directions:

"OSOK-X? Are these four Xiu Si?"

"I'm dying, they actually established a branch! Even Xiu Si's debut is so different!"

"What do I do? I want to follow both K4 and X4!"

"Sis, same company, same overall group. Following both doesn't count as stanning another group on the side (certain"

Although Pei Dahai and Jiang Ji agreed that the symbol "X" represented mystery, distinctiveness, and every possibility the future held, in the eyes of Xiu Si fans, it meant only one thing:

A shura field.

Jiang Ji felt helpless as he watched the various comments about his group pour in. From every angle, Xiu Si seemed excessively mysterious.

There was nothing he could do but hurriedly set up an OSOK-X account and upload the Yingge dance performance before the account had even received official verification.

After all, the performance that day had been livestreamed, and the cuts circulating online afterward came from fans' screen recordings and edits. Jiang Ji's release of the official camera footage naturally sparked a wave of discussion.

Public opinion gradually shifted away from questioning Xiu Si's strange debut and toward their abilities and performance.

But as X4's stage performance spread further, positive reviews rose with the tide, and negative ones followed.

"You call this a boy group performance?"

"I'm dying, Xiu Si don't even show their faces!"

"How come the people who debuted don't even have Weibo accounts, but they've already set up an anti-hate station? That's a lack of confidence, isn't it?"

Jiang Ji: ...

Did he not want to post those four exceptionally handsome and distinctive faces of Xiu Si? He couldn't!

He had asked each of them individually, and all four had made up their minds not to take official photos.

Anyone who had spent long enough in the industry knew that every boy group debut followed a set of rules, and the most important things were the official photos and debut song.

Jiang Renbao still hadn't completely settled on the debut song, and they had no official photos... Seeing the backlash in the growing number of comments from idol fans, Jiang Ji could only feel powerless.

In the logic of these experienced fans, if a boy group debuted without releasing official photos, it meant they were ugly.

Star Radiance had plenty of fans, but a tall tree catches the wind, and it had even more haters. Naturally, they wouldn't let such an opportunity pass.

So some people with ulterior motives even went back to "OSOK: Birth of a New Star" and made reaction images of the four's various expressions in the downpour and while running, using them to prove their point.

Jiang Ji began to feel a little anxious.

X4 had only just been officially announced, and comments like these had already appeared. Xiu Si fans naturally knew they weren't true, but the general public didn't!

However.

Jiang Ji never dreamed that a single Weibo post would easily solve the problem.

@Xiao Zhao Who Can't Draw: Aren't these the official photos the haters have been demanding?

Along with the post, the artist named Xiao Zhao released four pictures.

They showed what Xiu Si had "looked like" during their Yingge dance performance.

That got the haters even more excited. The four thumbnails clustered together looked pitch-black, and from every angle they resembled crude fan creations made from casually grabbed screenshots.

"I'm dying, you don't actually think screenshots count as official photos, do you?"

"Hasn't Xiao Zhao always been that aloof artist who only draws Chinese-style illustrations? Why is she speaking up for X4 now?"

"Emmm, just tell us how much you were paid. We'll crowdfund it for you, so you don't get used as someone else's gun!"

At first glance, Jiang Ji also thought they were screenshots from the Yingge dance performance, but when he opened them, he realized they were far more than that!

All four were drawn by hand, fan creations combining the stage that day with Xiu Si's earlier appearances!

Xiao Zhao was already one of the top artists in the illustration community, and these four pictures looked... absolutely incredible!

The first was Qiao Huan, depicted as he had been at the end, with a guitar in his arms and an Yingge mallet in hand, gazing down at the audience.

In the darkness, red fluorescent light illuminated half his face. Xiao Zhao's reinterpretation added a faint hint of aggression to his usual salted-fish appearance, making him look like a beast lying dormant in the dark, waiting for a chance to strike!

At the bottom of the picture were four bold, vigorous characters.

"Still as a Mountain"

And "mountain" was precisely the element on his Yingge dance mask!

The remaining three were no less impressive, based respectively on Ye Yiwei's absorbed expression as he sang the high notes, Zhuo Yang's spinning leap through the air during the Yingge dance, and the moment Bai Jike frowned slightly during his rap.

The accompanying words also corresponded to the elements on their masks: "Quiet as the Forest," "Fierce as Fire," and "Swift as the Wind."

Although all four wore masks in the pictures, leaving only parts of their faces visible, the atmosphere Xiao Zhao had created was enough to convey each person's role in the group and personality!

Jiang Ji had been in the industry for so long and seen countless fan works by artists, but he had never seen any that so respected the subjects' wish to remain mysterious while fitting their individual traits so well!

Most importantly, they looked especially good!

After watching Xiu Si's performance that day, Xiao Zhao had been too excited to sleep. Even more unexpectedly, her father, Comrade Zhao Jun, who had always disapproved of her following idols, had been even more excited than she was and asked her to use her "fangirl" skills to draw the four!

Overjoyed, Xiao Zhao naturally stayed up all night drawing the four pictures. Her father was both surprised and delighted when he saw them, and, his heart warming, used a calligraphy brush tool to add the sixteen characters from The Art of War.

Neither had expected that one performance would finally give the father and daughter, who didn't usually communicate much, something in common.

After all that work, the two had intended to treasure the pictures privately, but then discovered the terrible reviews online and posted the works they had created out of love.

The haters had naturally never expected X4 to have such an awesome fan right after debuting, much less that someone could do something like this with the formulaic step of releasing official photos. For a time, they couldn't even find an angle to keep hating from, so they had to shut up.

"Ahhhhhh, this is incredible!"

"All four are so distinctive! The artist put so much thought into this. The elements on each mask not only match their performance but also suit their personalities so well!"

"I'm dying, have the haters shut up? Don't you think these are a hundred times better than ordinary official photos!"

"K4's official photos are amazing too, but I still have to make an effort to remember who's who. The artist's pictures actually helped me remember all four X4 members at lightning speed. Amazing!"

"Even their official photos are so different. I'm starting to look forward to the debut song. X4, how many more surprises do you have in store!"

Xiao Zhao struck while the iron was hot and made another Weibo post.

@Xiao Zhao Who Can't Draw: They moved my father and me, and I wanted to try sharing that feeling. Thank you for liking the pictures.

The comments section erupted all the more, immediately forgetting the haters' remarks, as though they had never appeared.

Jiang Ji read the comments and, without another word, asked Xiao Zhao for permission to use the pictures. She readily agreed.

He reposted the Weibo post through Xiu Si's official account, marking X4's entry onto the formal path of a boy group debut.

Then he sent Jiang Renbao a message.

Now it all came down to the debut song!

On Jiang Renbao's end, although he had confidently promised Xiu Si that they needn't worry about their debut song, progress had not actually been so smooth.

His childhood friends had all praised Xiu Si's Yingge dance performance as awesome and were willing to honor their bets. Even the one who considered himself clear-eyed about the world was willing to offer up his variety show resources with both hands.

But after looking through the options, Jiang Renbao still felt the best choice for their debut song was the promotional song for his mother's movie.

"My wonderful mother!" Jiang Renbao pressed his cheek against Ren Rong's. "Just let Xiu Si sing the promotional song. I swear they won't need much of a budget!"

Ren Rong pushed her son away with a look of distaste. "Bao, it's not that I don't want to support your work. I have my own difficulties."

She then explained her concerns to Jiang Renbao.

As a major producer, she naturally handled major projects. The film she was about to release was called 《Phantom River》. To play it safe, she had brought in a fairly famous director with impeccable credentials and discovered a number of newly graduated young actors. As the opening installment of a film series, it was naturally aiming for a solid reputation.

To that end, Ren Rong had also chosen June 30, the prime summer vacation slot and the most coveted release window of the year.

The difficulty was that a rival producer at a rival company had also made a film with a similar budget and subject, Dreamship.

They had hired a traffic star and a traffic director and were already ahead of 《Phantom River》 in all kinds of publicity. Even more infuriatingly, on the very day 《Phantom River》 announced its release date, they announced that they were moving theirs up to June 20.

The message was clear: I'm picking a fight with you.

Ren Rong naturally refused to back down. Confident in her own film, she promptly announced advance screenings beginning June 19.

Unexpectedly, Dreamship went even further, starting advance screenings on June 15.

As everyone knew, advance screenings were the best way to raise audience expectations and build early word of mouth.

Whoever seized the initiative held an absolute advantage.

But the two had fought over release and advance screening dates until neither could change them again without making themselves look too desperate.

So, with an unspoken understanding, the two planned to compete through their promotional songs and see who could attract more viewers.

After hearing all this, Jiang Renbao wasn't frightened off by the film industry's unspoken rules. Instead, his eyes lit up. "Isn't that perfect? Xiu Si are getting so much attention right now, and they're so talented! Look at Weibo, so many people are praising Qiao Huan and Ye Yiwei's singing. Doesn't that reassure you?"

Ren Rong said, "But..."

Jiang Renbao tirelessly promoted his idols. "Look, take their adaptation for the Yingge dance. Have you ever heard a song that good? Dreamship's cast may have more pulling power than our newcomers, but Xiu Si managed to make the Yingge dance more and more popular. Are you still worried they can't make your movie popular? Let me tell you..."

"Stop." Unable to bear it any longer, Ren Rong pinched her son's mouth shut.

"Mmph." The promotional machine was forced to stop.

"I know Xiu Si are good. I've also received feedback from the Folk Customs Association saying they really are impressive," Ren Rong said, pressing a hand to her forehead. "But... son, it's true they can perform the Yingge dance well, but my 《Phantom River》 is a sci-fi movie! A space opera, at that. Aren't those worlds apart from what they do?!"

"Ah..." Jiang Renbao was at a loss for words.

It really was a far cry from their performance.

Everyone knew that when a boy group first debuted, it should pick a clear concept and pursue it hard. If they suddenly changed direction, even the few fans they had now might easily leave.

"Forget it. Go ask them what they want," Ren Rong said, unwilling to see her son so dejected. "If they're willing, I don't think there's any reason we can't give it a try."

"...Okay."

K4 and X4 had both officially debuted, so the military training project naturally came to an end.

Having debuted, Li Xun and the others had already begun recording their debut song and preparing for the series of appearances ahead without pausing for breath.

Before leaving, they ambitiously told Xiu Si not to worry about the obstacles Ling Ji had put in their way.

The four had resolved to make money by following the traditional boy group route. At worst, they would earn enough to meet X4's KPI as well, letting Xiu Si continue with the approach they believed in.

Qiao Huan and the other three naturally had nothing to say and silently thanked them in their hearts.

You really helped us out, brothers.

As for Xiu Si, Zhuo Yang had stood out so much at Square Dance that Uncle Yang had asked him to stay with the retired folk-customs formation for a while longer and promote it to the other formations. Bai Jike, meanwhile, planned to stay a while too, since Azure Dragon Base was closer to the new site of Huixin Welfare Institute.

Thus, only Qiao Huan and Ye Yiwei returned to Star Radiance's headquarters.

Qiao Huan and Ye Yiwei were quite pleased with the arrangement.

Although Qiao Huan was certain there was something off about the new director, Ling Ji, he still had no leads on his mission. It was the same for Ye Yiwei. Tao Zhenting had recently gone on a long trip, and Ye Yiwei didn't know what he was up to.

The two little clamshells, always shut tight, decided to steal some leisure from their busy lives and enjoy a moment of living.

As it happened, Ye Yiwei was very interested in Qiao Huan's previous undercover experiences. This was his first time undercover, after all, and he wanted to learn from Qiao Huan.

But another problem had been weighing on both their minds: the debut song.

From what Jiang Renbao had said, the movie was getting quite a lot of attention.

The two had just bought drinks and food and were planning to talk all night when Jiang Renbao called.

"Brother Huan, Brother Ye, about the debut song... I'm sorry!"

Qiao Huan asked, "What happened?"

Did something go wrong?

Well... that wouldn't be a bad thing.

"It's just, I don't know whether you'd be willing to take it," Jiang Renbao said uncertainly. "The movie is actually sci-fi, which means your song would have to have a sci-fi style too. I feel like that might not be your forte."

"Oh..."

That's true.

Jiang Renbao then explained how important the promotional song was, as well as the history of grievances with the rival company.

As the two listened, they had been about to simply turn down the opportunity, but when they heard the name of Ren Rong's rival company, they both raised their eyes.

Radiance Films.

The producer's name was Fan Hui.

"Anyway, I'll send you the script. You can take a look and decide whether to take it," Jiang Renbao said. Hearing the two grow quieter and quieter, he didn't intend to say much more. "I also found a few songwriters to put together some demos. You can give them a listen."

After Jiang Renbao hung up, Qiao Huan and Ye Yiwei immediately asked each other:

"You've heard of that company, right?"

They both froze.

They hadn't expected an opportunity to bring their respective cases together to arrive so soon.

Ye Yiwei spoke first. "The company hired Tao Zhenting as a consultant for one of its films. It was an ordinary collaboration, but the consulting fee was absurdly high. Our department sounded Fan Hui out about it through other means, and she didn't think the fee was unreasonable. But I personally asked Tao Zhenting a few days ago, and he said he barely remembered the project. It seemed he had only attended a meeting, nothing more."

Then he looked at Qiao Huan's expression. "Is the company connected to your case too?"

"Not the company," Qiao Huan said with a frown. "You remember the drinking party I told you about, right?"

"Yeah, the one the trainee Luo Mi, who hanged herself, went to."

"Yes," Qiao Huan said. "According to Luo Mi, although only four people attended, there were five chairs at the table."

"You mean someone didn't show up?"

"That's right. We later looked into people who had dealings with the attendees and found that Fan Hui was one of them. That day, she told a subordinate she was going to a drinking party, but according to that subordinate, she urgently called everyone in to work overtime that evening."

"I see." Ye Yiwei thought for a moment. "The project they were working on overtime couldn't have been Dreamship, could it?"

"Yes." Qiao Huan chuckled. "The project ran into considerable obstacles at the time, but Fan Hui was certain the film would work and pushed it through by force."

Ye Yiwei added, "We've looked into Radiance Films. Their financial situation wasn't promising either. I'd guess the obstacle they ran into then was the investors."

"Now that you've said that, I'm even more certain," Qiao Huan said with a nod. "But why did she miss the drinking party? And why was she in such a hurry to move up the release and add advance screenings this time?"

"When things are abnormal, there must be a demon at work." Ye Yiwei quickly understood. "Aren't all unusual moves in this world made for one of three things: money, love, or power? But how do we determine which one she wants?"

Qiao Huan smiled, opened his laptop, and brought up the script Jiang Renbao had just sent.

"Rule three of Undercover Handbook 101: what the other side grabs for after losing its footing is what it wants most." Qiao Huan clicked print. "We can get to work."

In fact, before Qiao Huan and Ye Yiwei had even finished reading the script, Radiance Films made another move.

Radiance Films: Welcome to our promotional ambassadors, @AUV Boy Group, who will bring everyone the promotional song for "Dreamship" in three days. Stay tuned~

As soon as the news broke, it shot straight onto the trending searches.

Its popularity rose in a highly bizarre manner.

Seeing this, Qiao Huan asked Ye Yiwei, "How much does a trending search cost?"

"For a top-ten spot, a few hours costs around three hundred thousand. For their position, it'd be at least five hundred thousand," Ye Yiwei said, once again acting as a fact-dispensing machine and providing the figures dispassionately. "The promotional budget for a project like this is usually between one hundred million and one hundred fifty million. I just added up what they've spent so far, and they've actually used up almost all of it. Add in the extra cost of a promotional song, and they must be staking everything on this..."

"Not necessarily. I reckon someone on Ren Rong's side at Star Radiance has been in contact with Radiance Films," Qiao Huan reasoned. "AUV has had its eyes on us all along. If we sing the promotional song for 《Phantom River》, they'd probably lower their price for Radiance, right? The two sides joining forces would be the most cost-effective option."

"Right." Ye Yiwei looked at Qiao Huan. "You've thought even further ahead than I have."

"The logic of entertainment companies is pretty similar to that of smuggling organizations. It's all about grabbing territory..." Qiao Huan leaned back.

Neither of them was weak to begin with. Now that they had matched up their information and filled in the gaps in each other's knowledge, it was like adding wings to a tiger.

Qiao Huan finished reading the last line and asked, "Have you finished the script?"

"Yeah." Ye Yiwei sighed. "It's really well written."

"Yeah. I really liked that longing to go home in it, to lie around every day and grow flowers and beans. Of course, the flowers here are from an alien planet, and there's also that kind of..." Qiao Huan thought for a long time, but couldn't describe what he had in mind and found himself at a loss for words.

Seeing this, Ye Yiwei tried to fill in the blanks. "The feeling that, since you have some ability, you ought to change the world, and perhaps you shouldn't go home and lie flat while letting the world keep rotting away. But you also know that the road to changing the world is incredibly hard, and it's more comfortable to go home and lie flat. So you keep wavering between those two thoughts, and the conflict that creates."

"Right!" Qiao Huan smiled. "You have a better sense for art after all."

"You flatter me, brother." Ye Yiwei laughed. "Surely no one understands that feeling better than you?"

The two looked at each other.

It seemed they could help each other not only with solving cases, but also complement each other in other areas.

Qiao Huan thanked Qiao Tang in his heart for a second. Fortunately, Qiao Tang had forced him to find another undercover agent.

Ye Yiwei was still immersed in the project. He knew that only by thoroughly understanding the script could they write a debut song that would give Radiance a sense of crisis.

And only when the other side felt threatened would they make some strange move, providing a breakthrough in their case.

"Although this film is a space opera, its expression of some universal emotions is very moving," Ye Yiwei said with another sigh. "Its values are sound, and its core is very much Huaguo. It really would be a shame if it were strangled in the cradle by another company's capital."

"Yeah."

The two briefly discussed the script again and decided to take on the project, both because of how they felt about the work and because they wanted to see Radiance Entertainment's next move. They then sent messages to Zhuo Yang, Bai Jike, and Jiang Renbao.

After everyone reached an agreement, Qiao Huan opened the demos for several promotional songs Jiang Renbao had sent over.

"Boom—da-da!"

"..."

The sudden burst of drums made them both jump.

Ye Yiwei's face instantly darkened.

What kind of tacky electronic dance music was this?

"Next," Ye Yiwei said curtly, feeling as though he had just poured a load of garbage into his ear canals.

Qiao Huan opened the next song, but before the first section had even finished, they both knew it was even more bizarre than the last.

After listening to three songs in a row, Ye Yiwei's expression hadn't improved at all.

"What is all this?" Ye Yiwei commented coldly. "They've just borrowed the shell of a space opera. Do they think making electronic music makes it sci-fi? Can't these creators stop taking shortcuts?"

"Maybe they took shortcuts because they were in a hurry. After all, it was a rush job Jiang Renbao found for them," Qiao Huan said. "Besides, the entertainment industry's fixation on form over substance isn't new. And since they're writing for a 'boy group' like us, we have to take their stereotypes into account too."

"Sigh." Ye Yiwei let out a long sigh, feeling utterly helpless.

Then he took out pen and paper.

"Go tell Jiang Renbao we'll write it ourselves."

Qiao Huan was stunned. "You can write songs too?"

"I forgot to tell you. My dad's stage name is Flying Rainbow, and my mom's is Purple Goodness," Ye Yiwei said coolly. "Do you think I can write songs?"

Holy shit.

Qiao Huan had known that Ye Yiwei's parents were both in the arts, but he hadn't expected them to be so famous.

No wonder they hadn't wanted Ye Yiwei to join the Mobile Unit!

Ye Yiwei drew a five-line staff on the paper, then opened a piano app on his phone.

With just those two light movements, the aura of an aloof artist untouched by worldly concerns seemed ready to emerge.

"Tell me more about your undercover work. I'll use it to get a feel for the song."

"...Okay." Qiao Huan thought for a moment. "But don't forget to save the highlight sections for Zhuo Yang and Bai Jike."

They had agreed early on that, although their debut song needed to be good, they also had to let Zhuo Yang and Bai Jike outshine them.

"But it is a song, and those two's vocal abilities..." Ye Yiwei first put on the standard troubled expression of a perfectionist, then suddenly smiled. "I've got it. Give Mr. Zhuo a call."

"What?"

"Ask him to find out from Uncle Yang what kind of folk performance is the least popular nowadays, almost extinct." Ye Yiwei raised an eyebrow. "I'll stack some debuffs on the two of us singing this sci-fi film's promotional song, to make them stand out."