Apologizing in Person

"Tell us what you have in mind."

Chen Qingshan's expression remained calm as he spoke blandly.

Lu Wen smiled. "Everyone knows about the rumors from a while back, and I won't hide it. If I'd known she not only had a boyfriend, but that he was this capable, I definitely wouldn't have touched her."

A burst of quiet laughter immediately spread through the conference room.

They were all old foxes who had soaked in the entertainment industry's muddy waters for years. No one was any more noble than anyone else.

Lu Wen's candor was actually appreciated.

"Those idiots online love putting one person on a pedestal while tearing another down, and some people in the mainstream music scene look down on Song Dao. I don't see it that way."

Lu Wen adopted a businesslike manner. "I think he's very talented!"

Chen Qingshan nodded.

Lu Wen continued, "Being able to write two decent songs in such a short time is enough to prove his ability.

"Even if those two songs are only popular for a while, no one can guarantee he won't write even better songs in the future.

"He's a talent. Though we have a bit of personal bad blood between us, I'm willing to go to his door and invite him myself!

"I'll apologize to him. At worst, I'll let him beat me up to vent his anger."

Another round of laughter filled the conference room.

The atmosphere relaxed as well.

Someone said, "It won't come to that. We're all adults; we know how to weigh the pros and cons."

"If President Lu goes personally, he'll definitely be surprised. He might even agree right away."

"Heh heh, give him enough benefits and I don't believe he won't be tempted."

"This sort of thing happens all the time in the industry. It's nothing unusual. There's no reason for him to refuse!"

"Bring him in. He's so handsome and he can create music too. Honestly, even I'm tempted just looking at him," a female executive said with a smile.

Laughter continued throughout the conference room, and the previous tension vanished with it.

Chen Qingshan looked at Lu Wen. "Xiao Wen, are you really going to invite him yourself?"

When Lu Wen nodded, Chen Qingshan thought for a moment before saying, "Still, be careful. Young people are prone to acting impulsively. It would be best to have his ex-girlfriend speak to him properly first.

"As for you, make the stakes clear to that young woman. Have her get her position straight and adjust her attitude. However much of his money she spent, if necessary, have her write an IOU and pay it back bit by bit once she earns money in the future.

"If she wants to break out of this situation, that's the only way. At least she can win back some public goodwill.

"A million or so isn't much. A few supporting roles will be enough.

"But if she ruins the company's plans, she can forget about surviving in the entertainment industry for the rest of her life."

Lu Wen hesitated slightly, then nodded in agreement. "All right, President Chen. I'll make it clear to her."

"What? You want me to apologize to him? And write him an IOU?"

Yun Fei—Miao Xiu, who had changed her name with Lu Wen's help a few days ago—stared wide-eyed.

She looked at the man before her in disbelief.

After they had been photographed going out to eat together, she had been placed in this apartment that Lu Wen had someone rent for her.

She had stayed indoors all day, so naturally she had long noticed that Song Dao had released two songs in a row and was already famous.

Her heart had been in a tangled mess of emotions the entire time.

There was regret, and there was hatred.

There was more of the latter.

Since he had this kind of songwriting ability, why hadn't he shown it sooner?

If he had become famous earlier, would she have refused to sleep with him? Would she have chosen a greasy middle-aged uncle like this for the sake of her future?

She wasn't insane.

But it was useless to say any of that now.

The only thing she could be thankful for was that Song Dao had yet to come out and say a single bad word about her.

Otherwise, she really wouldn't have been able to survive in the entertainment industry.

She had thought that as time passed, the matter's heat would gradually die down. After changing her name, she could still rise up by relying on Lu Wen's backing.

But she had never expected Lu Wen to ask her to go see Song Dao!

"Baby, listen to me..."

"I won't listen! I'd rather die than go see him! I hate him!"

Miao Xiu's mentality exploded on the spot.

"Yun Fei!" Lu Wen was somewhat angered as well.

After the scandal a few days ago, he had grown somewhat tired of this young woman.

Too much bullshit!

That day, she'd complained about being cooped up to death. No matter what he said, she refused to eat at the hotel and insisted on going out to eat with him.

And then they got fucking photographed by paparazzi!

Why the hell weren't those damn mutts stalking celebrities and entertainers? What were they photographing a company executive for?

He'd even suspected his own wife.

Could she have been preparing for a divorce that might come someday?

After all, he wasn't some ordinary executive. He held shares in Times Media, a publicly listed company!

The whole matter irritated him.

Though he appeared calm on the surface, deep down, he'd already started thinking about finding an opportunity to dump Miao Xiu.

As for Song Dao, he didn't actually think that highly of him either.

He simply wanted to bring the kid under his nose so he could keep an eye on him.

A little internet celebrity with no real background might run wild outside.

But once he was by his side, he'd soon behave himself and be easy to control.

Then, with a few small favors, he could also eliminate any potential trouble down the road.

For someone of his status, this sort of thing was second nature.

As long as Miao Xiu was willing to cooperate, it wouldn't be difficult.

Miao Xiu shut her mouth, but tears still streamed down her face.

That was what Lu Wen found most annoying.

Her emotions were unstable. She cried over every little thing, without even a trace of the ruthlessness and decisiveness she'd shown when she decided to sacrifice herself for resources.

He should mess around with fewer young girls in the future!

"I'm not forcing you, but listen to me first. Think it over before making a decision..."

"Mm, go ahead," Miao Xiu replied through her tears.

"This matter..."

"Want to go see a movie together tomorrow?"

During a break in recording, Yan Yu invited Song Dao.

Song Dao looked at her with a face full of question marks, his gaze somewhat wary.

"What kind of look is that, Song Dao? Going to see a movie with your big sister is that embarrassing for you?"

Yan Yu bristled a little.

Song Dao looked at her. "These five songs will take at least two or three days to finish recording. Where would I find the time to watch a movie?"

Speaking of those five songs, Yan Yu was even more speechless.

The first thing she'd asked after seeing the sheet music was, "Seriously, can't you write a few decent songs for yourself?"

Naturally, she could tell that none of these songs were poor in quality, and they would most likely become popular.

But the problem was, he could write a tailor-made song like Dark Sky.

He could write a song like Well-intentioned but Misguided, one of such high quality and so perfectly suited to Hu Wei.

Why couldn't he write something better for himself too?

Or did he just like this simp style and think it suited him better?

The lingering poison was really deep!

Song Dao had replied expressionlessly, "Yes, that's right. I like this kind of song! I love it!"

Yan Yu had nothing to say on the spot.

Teacher Song seemed seriously ill. As a friend who admired him greatly, she had an obligation to make him understand that not all girls were brainless idiots like his ex-girlfriend!

There were other types too!

She looked at Song Dao. "What's the rush with recording? You're a grown man—can you stop being so fussy and slow?"

"You don't have some ulterior motive toward me, do you?" Song Dao asked.

"Your big sister is twenty-seven, practically thirty already!

I'm not interested in dating!

I just want to see a movie and hear Sister Fei's song live as soon as possible.

That's all.

Quit overthinking things, little brat. Got it?"

Song Dao felt that this big sister Yan Yu was really far too boring.

Still, he could more or less understand.

Watching a movie alone seemed to rank pretty high on the loneliness scale, didn't it?

An older woman might say she didn't want a relationship, but after being alone for too long, loneliness was inevitable.

And he happened to be someone she could make use of.

He had always kept a safe distance from women, yet they were good friends, so using him was safe too.

That was probably the truth!

"Fine." Song Dao sounded somewhat reluctant. "We're friends, so I'll keep you company and help pass the time. But let's be clear first—I'm not watching a midnight showing. I need to go home and sleep!"

Yan Yu beamed. "Then it's settled. Come to my place at nine tomorrow morning. The showing starts at ten."

"You already bought the tickets?" Song Dao belatedly asked.

"Obviously. They were incredibly hard to get! You have no idea how popular this movie is. Forget the summer box office—it feels like it's guaranteed to be this year's annual box office champion!"

Recording continued until eight that night.

After taking some Throat Lozenges, Song Dao finally finished recording [Don't Say You Don't Care About My Tears], [If You Love Me, Don't Hurt Me], and [Breakup in That Autumn].

He also ate a Quickly Enter State Candy.

There was no helping it—he really wasn't a simp!

He simply couldn't relate much to this kind of melancholy love song.

The first two had still felt fresh, but that feeling had long passed. He was already getting sick of them.

Trying to enter the appropriate emotional state purely through his own efforts was indeed a little difficult.

But his performance after "taking candy" shocked Yan Yu somewhat.

She increasingly felt that Song Dao was a freak.

Singing required stamina and the right state of mind.

Especially in a recording studio.

The repeated torture could easily cause someone's condition to plummet.

But this guy was different. Not only did his voice remain at an extremely high level throughout, he could also control his emotions perfectly.

That was truly rare.

Was this the power of a simp who had reached the pinnacle of cultivation?

Once the three songs had been recorded, Yan Yu had to admit, after listening through them again with monitoring headphones, that they all sounded pretty good!

By the time Song Dao returned to his residential complex, it was already nine-thirty at night.

Once the candy's effects wore off, he felt somewhat mentally exhausted.

Before leaving Yan Yu's place, he had ordered takeout and noted that it should be left at his door.

The place he rented was in an old residential complex.

It was a walk-up building without even property management.

The kind where delivery drivers could just wander in.

It wasn't as if he hadn't considered moving. He had become fairly well-off recently.

Not counting the "huge sum" from Lovesickness that had yet to arrive.

The two hundred thousand from Kong Xi earlier, plus Penguin Music's first payment, had already come in.

Even after the system took half of his after-tax income, he still had more than three hundred thousand in cash on hand.

That was nowhere near enough to buy a home, but it was more than enough to rent a decent apartment.

It was just that this lease still had over two months left.

Most of the residents in this old complex were families of Central Conservatory of Music staff. There weren't many outsiders, and the atmosphere was quite nice.

So he wasn't in a hurry to move.

He lived on the third floor. Seeing that the order had been marked as delivered and starving with hunger, he took the stairs two at a time and quickly reached his door.

The instant the voice-activated light came on, Song Dao froze.

A slender figure was curled up outside his door, with the takeout bag beside her.

Miao Xiu?

If she hadn't been wearing an expensive dress, Song Dao might even have thought that this woman had gone out to deliver takeout.

This was still the "first time" he had seen this ex-girlfriend.

To him, the original owner's memories were more like a "database" he only consulted when necessary.

Now that he saw her in person, she felt no different from a stranger.

"Song Dao, you're finally back."

Miao Xiu looked up at him pitifully.

Her eyes were red and swollen, as if she had only recently cried.

She tried to stand, but her legs seemed to have gone numb. Reaching out a hand, she said, "Can you give me a hand?"

Song Dao frowned and took a step back.

He had the urge to turn around, go downstairs, and leave.

It wasn't that he was afraid of anything; he just didn't want anything to do with this woman.

He had no favorable impression of Miao Xiu whatsoever.

She had suddenly shown up at his door in the middle of the night—there was definitely nothing good about it.

Seeing his reaction, Miao Xiu grew a little anxious. She forced herself to stand, pressed her lips together tightly, and said, "I just want to have a proper talk with you."

"There's nothing for us to talk about."

Song Dao spoke blandly, glancing at the takeout on the ground.

My Greedy Frog!

Then he casually turned on his phone's recording function.

There was no way he was letting this woman into his home.

Who knew whether she had some recording device on her? What if she threw herself at him afterward?

No amount of explaining would clear that up.

"Do you hate me that much? I know I was wrong. I came today to apologize to you..."

At that point, Miao Xiu's tears began streaming down again.

The grievance of seeing the ex-boyfriend she had ruthlessly dumped suddenly rise to fame, then being forced to come here by Dad, all surged into her heart at once.

In an instant, she cried so hard she could barely speak.

Song Dao was irritated beyond measure.

Opposite Side was home to an old professor from the vocal music department.

Lately, whenever he had time, he would chat with the old master for a while and ask him about various things.

If he alarmed the old man and brought him out, who knew what he would think of him.

"If you have something to say, say it outside." Song Dao said this without looking at Miao Xiu again, heading downstairs with a cold expression.

"Can't we talk inside? You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Miao Xiu glanced at the takeout on the ground and choked out softly.

When the fuck had you ever cared whether he had eaten?

Song Dao ignored her and continued downstairs.

Helpless, Miao Xiu could only follow close behind him.

They arrived at the center of the residential complex.

There was a pavilion here, with a stone table inside surrounded by four stone stools.

It was the hottest time of year. Even at night, waves of heat still drifted through the air.

So sitting on the slightly cool stone stools actually felt quite comfortable.

"Whatever it is, say it."

Song Dao looked at Miao Xiu as she sat opposite him.