Week Four

Old Joe was tempted, but having lived for so many years, he still possessed some self-restraint. Ultimately, he didn't end up as pathetic as Song Ya, jumping onto Daniel's boat on the spot.

However, Daniel didn't have to wait long.

On Sunday morning, Old Joe visited a well-known public relations firm in Hollywood, but the quote they gave was too far from his expectations, and they failed to reach a cooperation agreement.

In the afternoon, Pablo also arrived in Los Angeles, and together with a negotiator from Warner Records, he officially laid his cards on the table to Old Joe.

This move completely infuriated Old Joe.

Furthermore, that negotiator was merely a mid-level producer at Warner Records and held a rather arrogant attitude. Comparing the two, Old Joe made up his mind that very night; he took the initiative to contact Daniel and agreed to cooperate with SBK Records.

Old Joe revised the promotional schedule for the fourth week, sending Little Lowry and the others away while he stayed in Chicago to focus on negotiating with SBK Records. It would likely take another week to finalize the specific contract.

Upon learning that he had provided a "divine assist," Pablo was driven nearly insane. Like a headless fly, he began trying to use certain "underhanded tactics" to turn the situation around, such as contacting the Hell Bobcat boss again to request arbitration, using petty tricks to "warn" the SBK Records negotiators who had come to Chicago, and refusing to give up hope on Warner Records. However, all these efforts, aside from causing a bit of fright to the SBK Records staff, ended in failure. The boss, busy with his gang business, didn't have that much spare time, and Warner, upon learning they had been intercepted by SBK, remained restrained. After all, SBK belonged to EMI, and such competition was all too common in the record industry.

Fortunately, he didn't know the role Song Ya had played in this matter. At this moment, Song Ya was returning from Los Angeles, loaded with a ten-thousand-dollar check in his pocket and an expected income of at least one hundred and fifty thousand dollars earned from the betting agreement.

At school, he still had many things of his own to attend to.

Over at BMI, after receiving protests from civil rights organizations and "inquiries" from Congressman Underwood, they had indeed accelerated the process just as Daniel had said, and Song Ya's membership was processed quickly.

But this was no longer a simple matter of mailing a membership certificate.

In the principal's office.

A black female assistant from Congressman Underwood's office was visiting; she needed to coordinate the specific flow of the "ceremony" on Friday night with Song Ya.

"The people from BMI will definitely be there, right?"

The female assistant was very serious, confirming items one by one, "So, first the principal will speak, then BMI will present Mr. Song with..."

"Just call me Ya Li, or APLUS."

"Alright, after APLUS accepts the membership awarded by BMI, there will also be..."

"There's also a small award, it's my manager..." Song Ya now pushed everything onto Hayden. If BMI ever came looking to settle scores later, he would push Hayden out too—it was all a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding, don't mess with me, "He handled the PR for it. It will probably be after the BMI part. The person presenting the award, uh... actually, it's just my manager. Because no one knows him, so..."

"So your manager will pretend to be the award presenter, is that it?" The female assistant grasped the key to Song Ya's stuttering explanation.

"Yeah, yeah."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Next is APLUS, you will deliver your acceptance speech. Is the draft ready?"

"Uh, not yet."

"What about an outline?"

"Here, I brought it." Song Ya handed over the speech draft in his hand.

"Hmm..." The female assistant reviewed it intently, going through it line by line, "Thanks to BMI... thanks to the magazine presenting the award... thanks to the music teacher... thanks to the math teacher... thanks to the principal... thanks... thanks... these are all fine, but the part expressing thanks to the Congressman needs to be moved to the emotional climax of the speech, so..." She used a transposition symbol to move the thanks to Congressman Underwood to a more satisfactory position, "You must let me review this text after you write it, and you must let me review the entire speech once it's finished."

Song Ya looked at the principal, who smiled and nodded, "No problem." He expressed his agreement, "Uh... how about you give me a template for thanking the Congressman, and I'll just copy it?"

The female assistant pulled a piece of paper from her bag and handed it over, "The Congressman's office will not admit to providing this."

"So there really was one..." Song Ya muttered to himself, "I understand, I understand." He took the paper and tucked it away.

"The Congressman will speak last, and then he will stay at your school for thirty to forty-five minutes. The whole process will be filmed, and some media reporters will be following. Please ensure you cooperate," the female assistant said to the principal.

"I understand, I understand." The principal continued to nod.

"Alright, next let's confirm the specific itinerary. After the Congressman's speech, he will shake hands with you first. Your staff needs to line up, and the cameras will come from the side like this..."

According to what the principal revealed in private, Mr. Underwood, a Congressman from Illinois, was preparing to run for the federal House of Representatives. As a white man, the black vote was his weakness, and this "BMI discrimination incident" he had orchestrated was an excellent exposure opportunity for him.

Song Ya felt that the principal and the Congressman must have had some private deal, but that was beyond his understanding.

The Congressman's ambition kept Song Ya very busy this week, forcing him to temporarily neglect Allie.

However, Allie wasn't idle either. Not only did she brag to her classmates about being taken to a recording studio by Song Ya (which wasn't true), but she also talked to her best friends about the details of their "business" without any filter...

Deduction, another deduction! The gossip reached Song Ya's ears, and he felt very dissatisfied, but he didn't have the energy to deal with it right now. After all, having a legitimate girlfriend could save him a lot of trouble at school.

As he busied himself, the various preparations drew to a close, and Friday was almost here.

At this time, Eric found him at home.

"The boss wants to send you to talk to Pablo and make peace." Eric conveyed Old Joe's intention, "The cooperation with SBK has been negotiated. It's not good for anyone if Pablo keeps causing trouble like this."

"Why send me!" Song Ya didn't want to get involved.

"The boss said you're very good with words, and isn't Tony following Little Lowry?" Eric said, "How about I let him talk to you in detail over the phone?"

"No, forget it. I'll go see Pablo, but I can't guarantee success!"

Song Ya had no choice but to dial Pablo's cell phone.

He had originally wanted to call Tony first, but when he spoke to Tony last week, the guy had been keeping Little Lowry and Pablo's whereabouts a secret. He decided to respect Tony's loyalty and try not to put him in a difficult position between the two sides.

Pablo answered the phone quickly.

"Mr. Pablo, I'd like to come over and talk to you. Is it convenient now?" After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Song Ya tried to ask.

"Old Joe sent you to find me?" Pablo asked back.

"Yes, the boss said he wants to make peace."

"Fine, then let's make peace."

"?" Song Ya was very surprised, "Uh... did you just agree?"

"I lost, I lost completely."

Pablo's tone was calm, "Before the cliff, the victor extends a hand of mercy. You either accept it, or you fall into the abyss."