Finally Found the Sucker!

Rehearsal room.

"Hey? Why isn't anyone cursing me?"

"Let me look. There's one here. Who's that ugly guy wearing the same outfit as Bai Youlou? Hahahahaha!" Bai Youlou nearly died laughing.

Long Ziqiang looked utterly awkward. What the hell? This wasn't the kind of online abuse he'd imagined~

Why were they fixated on his looks?

And what was with "ugly guy"? He'd always thought he was the handsome-ugly type, with plenty of manly charm.

Netizens really had vicious mouths!

Feeling rather depressed, Long Ziqiang ate several skewers of lamb in a row. He was miserable. He wanted screen time too! He wanted people to curse him viciously too! They really didn't need to hold back!

Zhen Dongjun looked at the two of them and suddenly found the skewers in his hand much less delicious.

What was wrong with them?

They liked being cursed at?

In front of these two, his years of experience in the entertainment industry felt like nothing. Was he really getting old?

"By the way, I have the surveillance footage. Do you want a copy?"

Bai Youlou froze for a moment when he heard that, then his eyes lit up. "It captured their fight?"

Zhen Dongjun's face turned green. How could he possibly install surveillance cameras inside his own house? He didn't have that kind of strange fetish.

The cameras were installed in the villa's courtyard.

However, one camera pointed toward the living room at an especially good angle. Through the window, it happened to capture the entire video of Bai Youlou sleeping on his sofa.

That was enough to prove his innocence.

At the same time, it also captured "Loves Sister-in-law" sneaking in through the back door.

"That's it? Then there's no point. What do I need this thing for?" Bai Youlou said disdainfully after watching the video.

He'd thought he could actually watch the fight in person.

"Don't you want to release it to prove your innocence?" Zhen Dongjun asked, puzzled.

Had this guy really gotten addicted to playing the cuckold?

"You're going to release it, I bet. Probably midway through The Voice. That's the best timing. Otherwise, how would you milk the traffic?"

The two stared at each other for several seconds before Zhen Dongjun admitted defeat. "You guessed it."

"Did I even need to guess? Old Zhen, with that little bit of scheming you have... Forget it. I can't be bothered to explain it to you."

Long Ziqiang chimed in with a chuckle. "A greasy, scheming middle-aged geezer."

Zhen Dongjun couldn't take it anymore. "You look older than me!"

"I'm not even thirty yet, and I look older than you? What a joke."

"That's even more tragic."

Fuck!

Damn, you people in the entertainment industry were really fucking unpleasant when you talked.

After winning back some ground against Long Ziqiang, Zhen Dongjun regained a little confidence and spoke to Bai Youlou again. "Sell me two songs."

He was still organizing what to say next when Bai Youlou lifted his eyelids. "Sure~"

"...That readily? I haven't even told you what kind of songs I need."

"Heh. When you buy songs from me, it's not about what you need. It's about what I have."

Faced with such an outrageously dominant seller's market, Zhen Dongjun was speechless. Why had he even bothered arguing with Bai Youlou?

"How much?"

"Two million. The copyright revenue stays with me. You can take them and sing them however you want."

Two songs for two million?

Long Ziqiang was dumbfounded. Were they really that expensive?

Then how much of an advantage had he gained by taking so many songs from Bai Youlou?!

However, Zhen Dongjun's words told him he'd been overthinking it~

"That's way too outrageous! Even the top lyricists and composers in the industry don't charge that much!"

A newcomer who had just entered the industry might sell a song for only a few thousand yuan. Even established figures in the industry generally charged over a million per song, and most of those deals were outright buyouts.

For Bai Youlou to demand so much while retaining the copyright revenue and only allowing the buyer to sing the songs was truly outrageous.

And yet his reason was incredibly powerful.

"I'm asking for two million because I need two million. What else can I do~? If I don't fleece you, I'll have to borrow money from a woman, and I can't bring myself to do that."

His shameless reason for ripping people off was stated so matter-of-factly that Zhen Dongjun was rendered speechless.

"What do you need two million for? Promoting the movie?"

"Not telling you."

"Come on, tell me. Maybe I can help you save that money. I have some connections in the industry. You might not have to spend it at all."

Hmm?

Bai Youlou's gaze immediately turned strange. Damn, this guy wanted to freeload too~

Before he could say anything, the door to the rehearsal room was suddenly slammed open!

That was right, slammed open!

Old Zhou, his face flushed with excitement, shouted and waved his arms. "We made the shortlist! We made the shortlist!"

"Holy shit! For real?"

Long Ziqiang jumped on the spot, nearly flipping over the pile of barbecue in front of him.

"Holy shit, why the hell would I lie to you? I just got the news! Hahaha!"

"Holy shit, that's awesome!"

One "holy shit" after another. At a moment like this, it seemed that only those words could fully vent their emotions.

Looking at the two lunatics, then at Bai Youlou, who remained calmly eating skewers, Zhen Dongjun was completely bewildered.

What was going on?

"Brother Lou! My dear Brother Lou, why aren't you reacting at all? That's the Cannes Film Festival! Our movie made the shortlist for the main competition!" Old Zhou rushed in front of Bai Youlou and tried to shake him.

"I already laughed wildly inside just now. Can't you wait until I finish my skewers? I'm not full yet."

"No! Get excited!"

"Wait!" Zhen Dongjun couldn't stand it anymore. He grabbed Old Zhou. "What did your movie make the shortlist for?"

Old Zhou's smile was especially exaggerated. "The Cannes Film Festival! You know, one of the three major film festivals in Europe—"

"No need to explain. I fucking know."

This time, even Zhen Dongjun couldn't keep it together and swore.

When he looked at Bai Youlou again, his eyes were like he was looking at a ghost.

"You made the movie?"

"Yep."

"You directed and acted in it?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck."

Zhen Dongjun couldn't stay seated. He sprang to his feet, paced around several times, then sat back down in front of Bai Youlou.

Before he could say anything, Bai Youlou asked, "Do you have any connections at Cannes? If you can help me get in touch with an exhibition booth and some distributors."

"Two million! I'll pay!"

"Now that's decisive. Old Zhou, give him the account number and draw up the contract."

"Huh?" Old Zhou immediately sobered up at the mention of money. "You finally found a sucker?!"

Bai Youlou nodded with a beaming smile.

"I'm still right here!" Zhen Dongjun tugged at his tie and cursed.

Damn, why did he feel so hot? The air conditioner wasn't cooling properly.

No one paid him any attention.

Two million. Now they didn't have to worry about the expenses of going to Cannes at all.

Bai Youlou finally finished his skewers. Only then did he cup his fists toward Zhen Dongjun. "Thank you, boss, for your generous support. May you live forever and never die!"

Zhen Dongjun, who was gradually getting used to this absurd atmosphere, twitched at the corner of his mouth and extended his hand. "What about the songs? What kind of songs are you planning to give me? Yesterday's song was pretty good."

Heh heh, dream on~

Bai Youlou grinned, and what he said sounded positively demonic. "I prepared them for you ages ago. Do you want rap, or rap, or perhaps rap~?"

"Why do I have to choose rap?"

Halfway through the sentence, Zhen Dongjun understood.

You bastard, you really knew how to play people.

Fine! He wanted rap songs!

I'm pushing for recommendations today. As usual, there'll be an extra update, split across three times—morning, noon, and evening.