The Proactive Senior Brother

This dealt Lin Fei a heavy blow, both in her career and her emotions.

This was her true mentor, her guiding teacher!

Up until now, aside from her mother, Dong Hui was the most important person in her life.

Even the company Feiyang Music Movement was founded back then with Dong Hui's support.

Otherwise, even as a newly crowned Heavenly Queen of the music scene, building an entertainment company that was small but complete, with every member an industry elite, wouldn't have been so easy.

After Dong Hui passed away, Lin Fei, having attended the funeral, dropped all her work and hid at home to heal.

It was hard to pull herself out of that emotional state.

But then it rained on an already leaky roof.

The ancients long said misfortune never comes alone.

Her father suddenly popped up.

Giving interviews offline, livestreaming online, pouring out his grievances.

Jumping around like a monkey!

Talking about how much he loved his daughter, how he'd spent a fortune raising her since childhood.

And now that she'd become famous, a National Goddess and Heavenly Queen of the music scene, she wouldn't acknowledge him as her father.

This incident caused a terrible backlash at the time.

An ungrateful wretch, a filial imposter hiding behind a scholar's mask, a scheming woman carefully crafting her public persona...

All kinds of slander and abuse exploded overnight.

Dominating every trending headline.

And at that time, Lin Fei, who hadn't yet emerged from the pain of her mentor's death, completely collapsed.

This kind of slander and backstabbing from a close relative is too easy to destroy a person.

Because there's no way to defend yourself!

This post said that it wasn't until a few years after Lin Fei retired that her agent, pressed on a variety show, hesitated for a long time before finally making a public explanation and clarification—

"Fei'er's family situation is very special. She never allowed us to talk about it outside, saying it was family business, and family dirty laundry shouldn't be aired. But actually, everyone around her felt terrible for her..."

"Her parents divorced many years ago, and he never treated Fei'er as well as he claimed back then."

"On the contrary, after Fei'er became famous, her father often came asking for money. She gave it every time, but not too much—usually just a few tens of thousands at a time, enough to cover living expenses."

"It wasn't that Fei'er was stingy; if she gave more, he'd immediately gamble it away. Even giving a few tens of thousands didn't stop him."

"He'd even tell his gambling buddies that his daughter was a Heavenly Queen, then borrow money from them. Fei'er had to clean up his mess countless times over those years."

"When Teacher Dong passed away unexpectedly, it hit her hard. She locked herself at home, wouldn't go anywhere, wouldn't answer anyone's calls. Her father was deep in debt and couldn't find her, so he went crazy, digging up people everywhere to spill the dirt. In the end, Fei'er still paid the money..."

"Yeah, that was during the time she was being dragged through the mud online, completely on the verge of collapse."

"Just through my hands alone over those years, she'd already given out over ten million. And she didn't get a single word of thanks for it—just got cyberbullied by a bunch of people who didn't know the truth."

"I'll say something harsh, and I don't care if you curse me for it: thank goodness her father later drank himself to death. Otherwise, even if Fei'er retired, she'd never escape being drained dry!"

"As for the rumors about her and Teacher Dong, you probably don't know how much Teacher Dong's wife adored Fei'er—she treated her like her own daughter."

"Even Dong Yu, Teacher Dong's daughter, used to get jealous back then, saying she didn't know who the real biological child was."

"I wouldn't dare make this up, since Dong Yu is now a pretty famous actress. You can go ask her if what I'm saying is true."

"Oh, and you can search for a Shuibo account belonging to Teacher Dong's wife. Go look at the daily posts she made back then."

"You'll find tons of pictures there showing how close she and Fei'er were, like mother and daughter!"

Song Dao shook his head as he read this.

A mentor dying suddenly from illness, a biological father like a vampire, endlessly draining her dry, and on top of that, slandering and backstabbing her.

Even worse, some people took this opportunity to scheme and destroy her completely.

Just like the post said.

—Wouldn't it be better if we all just quietly watched the music scene die?

Why did you have to stand out so much?

A National Goddess, the most brilliant scholar in the entertainment industry, the last Heavenly Queen of the Chinese music scene—who do you think you are?

Strike while the iron is hot, kick a man when he's down!

So all kinds of filth were crazily thrown at Lin Fei.

Digging up graves, kicking in widows' doors—things that decent people can't accept were no big deal to some.

All sorts of rumors flooded everywhere.

From poor professional skills and diva behavior, to rotten character and abandoning her biological father, to bad morals and having an affair with her teacher.

Rumors flying everywhere.

A full-scale, saturation attack.

"The works lack substance, they're vastly overrated, can't compare to the old-timers at all."

"With just a handful of pop songs, how can she be called a Heavenly Queen?"

"Might as well call her a Water Queen!"

The rumors about her character and personal morals were even more outrageous.

They said she broke up someone's marriage.

"Dong Hui and Lin Fei were having an affair; he was rushing to meet her when the car accident happened."

Others claimed Dong Hui was playing poker with her when he had a sudden heart attack and died.

"Dong Hui's wife once slapped Lin Fei twice in public, called her a slut, then was so furious she went abroad and didn't even attend her husband's funeral..."

"Her private life is a mess. She looks pretty and aloof, but underneath that genius scholar and Heavenly Queen title, she's been sleeping around with countless people inside and outside the industry."

Back then, Dong Hui's wife and daughter had both publicly come forward to refute these claims, saying they were all baseless.

They even sued some idiot known for spouting nonsense.

But none of it did any good.

Their voices were far too small compared to the entire internet.

They were even attacked to the point of having to shut down their Shuibo comments.

By the time Dong Yu became an actress and gained some fame, she was asked about it too.

Maybe she didn't want to hurt Lin Fei again with all this, so each time she gave a brief, complete denial, then left with a cold face.

And even that, damn it, was interpreted as—Dong Yu's cold face when mentioning Lin Fei, lying to protect her father's dignity.

Saying nothing at all was also a problem.

—Dong Yu's silence on her father's affair with Lin Fei seemed like tacit agreement.

It only finally quieted down in the last couple of years.

As for Lin Fei herself, from start to finish, she never came forward to respond, not even once.

She just quietly "died" in the entertainment industry.

Actually, these posts on Zhi Fou were also summaries of all the evidence Lin Fei's fans had desperately gathered to fight back back then.

Song Dao checked the posting time; it was a year ago.

Water under the bridge by now.

In the information age, everything moves too fast.

Even a top-tier star, once they fall from grace, within three years, almost no one except their fans mentions them anymore.

After five years, basically no one even remembers.

A heavyweight Heavenly Queen who could have sustained the Chinese music scene for decades was destroyed like this.

Vanished like a shooting star.

But her fans couldn't let it go.

Especially after the whole truth came to light, they felt even more heartbroken over what Lin Fei had gone through and endured back then.

So even if Lin Fei only posted a "Happy New Year" during the holidays, her fans would go wild with excitement.

The replies in the comments could reach hundreds of thousands!

Now that she was actually "open for business" and posted such a long message, her die-hard fans were ecstatic!

Along with that, they suddenly developed a huge fondness for Song Dao, this newcomer in the music scene they'd previously been indifferent to or never even heard of.

They easily found Song Dao's account on Shuibo, which also had very few posts, and furiously followed and left comments.

Almost all of them were words of encouragement, boiling down to one sentence—

Kid, Sister Fei thinks so highly of you, you have to live up to it. From now on, we'll follow and support you. If anyone bullies you, we'll teach them a lesson. Just don't let Sister Fei down!

That's why there was a trending topic at number nine: What's the relationship between Lin Fei and Song Dao?

Seeing these comments, Song Dao felt a warmth in his heart but also found it a bit funny and frustrating.

The original host, who had started school late, was already twenty-four this year, only five years younger than Lin Fei.

Yet he'd become a "kid" in their mouths.

But in terms of seniority in the music scene, she was indeed a true predecessor.

After reading the analysis post on Zhi Fou, Song Dao checked his Shuibo account and was shocked to find he'd gained over a hundred thousand followers!

"Sister Fei is mighty and domineering!"

With all that buzz before, it had taken his Audio-Visual account several days to gain over two hundred thousand followers.

Now, Lin Fei with just one post, not even mentioning his name, had gotten him over a hundred thousand followers in such a short time.

Every time he refreshed, he could see the numbers climbing rapidly.

"What 'most watery Heavenly Queen'? This is clearly a story of a girl who met with misfortune and chose to leave the foul entertainment industry rather than take the blow!"

The other person had no idea he was Water Strike Three Thousand, yet still spoke up for him when he himself was under attack again—just for that, Song Dao was grateful.

Song Dao muttered, "System, don't you think she's a pity? How about seizing the chance to release a long-term quest for the Heavenly Queen's comeback? Just a Silver Treasure Chest as a reward!"

The system ignored him.

Having been brushed off, Song Dao didn't mind.

He picked up his phone and continued replying to those unread messages, one of which from a schoolmate caught his attention.

"Bro, you there? I'm in the same class as the guy who posted that viral video. He said a senior brother is looking for you, sent you a private message but got no reply—probably too many for you to see. Now that senior brother added me on Carrier Pigeon, trying to reach you. Oh, and he's the one who paid to boost that video before it blew up, (screenshot)(screenshot). So, would it be convenient to push your Carrier Pigeon to him?"

Song Dao opened the screenshot and found it was true.

He'd suspected someone had boosted it back then, wondering who was so bored, but never expected it to be a senior brother who'd already graduated.

How deeply must he have related to it?

Thinking this, he replied to the schoolmate on Carrier Pigeon, "Sure, thanks!"

The other side responded quickly, with extreme enthusiasm.

Song Dao might really be about to blow up—this had almost become the consensus among Central Conservatory of Music students.

Because not only was that video still hot, it had also caught the attention of the mainstream music circle.

Even criticism and disdain could bring Song Dao massive exposure.

Now that even Heavenly Queen Lin Fei had publicly spoken up for him, Song Dao's rise was almost a sure thing.

Unless he had a mental block and refused to show his face...

That seemed nearly impossible to everyone—what was the point of studying music?

If you really didn't want to be in the spotlight, you'd study something else. Who in the arts doesn't want fame?

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the other party tactfully ended the conversation.

Then a notification showed someone trying to add him.

Song Dao tapped it, saw the name, and couldn't help but snicker.

Past Suifeng.

After accepting, the other side immediately sent a message.

Past Suifeng: Junior Brother, finally got in touch with you, haha, that was no easy feat.

Song Dao: Thanks for boosting the video, Senior Brother.

Past Suifeng: Don't mention it, I was moved that day. Your song is amazing!

Past Suifeng: Junior Brother, is it convenient to meet up sometime? I'd like to treat you to a meal.

Song Dao paused for a moment—he really didn't feel like going out.

The heat had just died down a bit, only to explode again with Lin Fei's post.

His face was already handsome, highly recognizable.

Being surrounded by people was annoying.

But this person, he really couldn't refuse.

When you reach middle age, the first thing you learn is to face the truest voice deep inside yourself.

He was genuinely happy that video had blown up.

Because it had brought him unimaginable, massive benefits.

Without that video, he wouldn't be staying so calm and composed when he was almost broke.

No matter how awesome the system was, it didn't hand out cash directly.

Song Dao: Sure, Senior Brother, anytime works.

Past Suifeng: Great! I'll come find you right now!

Song Dao: ?

Seriously, why was everyone in such a hurry?

First Kong Xi wanted to find him in the middle of the night, and now an impatient senior brother?

A bit speechless, Song Dao picked a nearby teahouse—the cost wasn't high, a hundred or so for two people.

It was quiet there, good for chatting.

He sent the location.

Past Suifeng: Got it, wait for me, at most an hour!