Chapter 34

Although she desperately coveted the song, Qiao Lin had always acted openly and aboveboard. She was even less willing to ruin her good reputation in the industry over a single song. So she had to clarify her position once again, lest people accuse her behind her back of taking advantage of ignorant children, acting like an elder, and exploiting newcomers.

Besides, she was worried that if she did not make herself clear, Emperor Entertainment might hold a grudge against her after Sugar Juice Duo signed with them.

Although the quality of "The Matchmaker" was exceptional—even more likely to become a smash hit than the ancient-style song her company had found—Qiao Lin was not so shortsighted that she would offend Emperor Entertainment, the industry giant, and sell out her integrity for one song.

Outsiders might not understand Qiao Lin's calculations, but everyone was still shocked by the extremely high praise she had given "The Matchmaker." After all, her status spoke for itself. As the song-and-dance queen who had taken the Chinese music scene by storm over the past two years, Qiao Lin's popularity and authority in the industry were beyond question. For someone of her standing to think so highly of "The Matchmaker" also reflected Sugar Juice Duo's astonishing talent—

Before this, everyone had known that Sugar Juice Duo was talented. They could dance, sing, and compose songs. But there had never been a clear benchmark, so people had only viewed them as kids making a small splash. They thought they were good, but did not take them too seriously.

But today, in front of a national audience, Qiao Lin had praised Sugar Juice Duo's new song "The Matchmaker" so highly. It was like an ordinary student's paper suddenly receiving approval from the most authoritative professors and scholars in the field. The sense of validation and secret delight was extraordinary. Such a stark contrast immediately excited the audience members at the venue and in front of their televisions who already liked Sugar Juice Duo.

Even Tang Shi himself had not expected to receive such high praise from Qiao Lin, and he immediately felt a little lightheaded from the compliments. Still, he said firmly, "As long as Sister Qiao Lin likes this song, then it's yours."

Qiao Lin happily curled her lips and said to Tang Shi, "Then I'll gladly accept. Later, I'll have my manager contact you. I won't let you two lose out."

She deliberately widened her eyes and puffed out her cheeks in an adorable pose, successfully earning a chorus of squeals from her devoted fans below the stage.

At the same time, the staff responsible for monitoring Dance Miracle's real-time ratings stared at the numbers climbing rapidly before them, so excited they nearly broke into a dance—Sugar Juice Duo truly was a treasure. Whenever they appeared on screen, the ratings never fell. On several occasions, they even shot up to new highs. It was clear that Sugar Juice Duo's overwhelming popularity had been unstoppable ever since joining Dance Miracle.

Looking at the screen, where the show was far ahead of every other television program in both the same and different time slots, and where its national ratings were dangerously close to surpassing 4%, the staff shook their heads in amazement. With ratings rising like a rocket, it was no wonder the production team was willing to endure accusations of rigging just to promote Sugar Juice Duo, even deliberately extending their screen time.

Every extra second brought in solid ratings! Wasn't that little number exactly what they had been working themselves to the bone, pulling overtime after overtime for?

With profit right in front of them, who had the time to care about all that sour-grapes gossip from people who could not get what they wanted? Those people were just talking nonsense without evidence. Even if they stirred up a huge fuss, it still counted as publicity for Dance Miracle, didn't it?

Wasn't there a saying? If you had no die-hard haters in the industry, you would be embarrassed to call yourself famous.

And whenever they thought about how other production teams at the station had been coming over lately to curry favor, openly and subtly suggesting that they hoped Sugar Juice Duo could make time to appear on their programs and boost their ratings, or how various media outlets outside were forced to flatter Dance Miracle in hopes of interviewing Sugar Juice Duo and increasing their sales, the Dance Miracle staff felt even more proud and honored.

However, the senior management of the production team had not agreed yet. Presumably, aside from ensuring Dance Miracle retained its absolute ratings advantage, they also did not want to overexpose the two kids and cause viewer fatigue.

Thinking about it carefully, the frequency with which something had happened this past week was not low. If they bounced around too enthusiastically, it could easily provoke a backlash from viewers. After all, people had the bad habit of valuing what was scarce. If they were pushed too hard, audiences in front of their televisions might subconsciously reject or resent them, which would not be good for Sugar Juice Duo's future.

The production team's approach also showed the benefits of having connections in high places. After all, most of these decisions had been made by Li Mei, and anyone with eyes could see how good Li Mei was to Sugar Juice Duo.

Because of this, more than half the Dance Miracle staff treated Sugar Juice Duo with particular warmth. It was as though they had watched their own troublesome little brats grow up bit by bit. The process could be aggravating, and sometimes made them want to give the kids a beating. But as the saying went, the crying child got the milk. Everyone's energy was limited, and with that limited energy, most people would unconsciously pay more attention to the people or things into which they had invested a great deal of effort. In other words, the ones who could make trouble were the ones with presence.

At this very moment, Sugar Juice Duo—still unaware that the entire Dance Miracle production team had labeled them "troublemakers"—shook their heads unhappily and said to Qiao Lin, "As long as Sister Qiao Lin likes the song, that's enough. Being able to write a song for our idol makes us, as fans, incredibly satisfied. As for anything else, forget it. I only wanted to give this song to my idol as a fan. I never intended to sell it."

What Tang Shi did not say was that he also considered giving Qiao Lin the song a way to make up for his earlier thoughtless remarks. Although Qiao Lin had generously chosen not to hold it against him, Tang Shi still felt bad about it.

As a man, Tang Shi had very ungentlemanly insulted a lady with his words. That was wrong. And as a newcomer, he had rudely offended a senior who had been kind to him and sincerely tried to support him. Whether he had meant to or not at the time, such behavior was even more inappropriate under the rules of the workplace.

So, both publicly and privately, Tang Shi felt that he should give this song to Qiao Lin and sincerely make up for his mistake, even if the other party involved had not taken that mistake to heart.

As for selling the song, forget it. First, as someone who had just won five million in the lottery, Tang Shi was not short of the money from selling a song. Second, some things truly could not be measured purely in money—connections, for instance, or sincerity. Tang Shi had a pure nature and simple way of thinking, but he was not stupid. He knew what he truly needed.

Thinking this, Tang Shi once again said with complete sincerity, "I hope Sister Qiao Lin will accept my song."

Qiao Lin sat at the judges' table, looking at Tang Shi's bright eyes and resolute expression, and could not help smiling slightly.

In truth, when she had mentioned buying the song, aside from wanting to silence those with ulterior motives who might accuse her of taking advantage, she had also been testing Tang Shi. If Tang Shi had truly chosen money, she could save herself a favor without losing anything. At their level, matters that could be settled with money were hardly matters at all.

But if Tang Shi chose the other path, as she hoped he would, then although he might seem to be at a disadvantage in the short term, what kind of person was Qiao Lin? How could she do something as foolish as burning the bridge after crossing it?

As the saying went, people lifted each other in sedan chairs. The reason Qiao Lin had been so good to Sugar Juice Duo was naturally because she thought highly of the two children's futures. So she wanted to build goodwill with them in advance, hoping to gain greater benefits in the future.

And beyond that, it was also because she genuinely liked Tang Shi.

Although the boy had a bad temper and all sorts of little flaws, what was rare was that he was real, pure, and not particularly calculating. After spending so many years in this industry, Qiao Lin had not seen such a pure and innocent newcomer in a very long time. He reminded her of herself when she had first debuted—just as ambitious, optimistic, and driven. She had not worn every emotion on her face the way Tang Shi did, but she had possessed her own bottom lines and principles as well.

But as her fame grew, her status rose, and the temptations she faced multiplied, she compromised more and more with the world. Weighing gains and losses, calculating advantages and disadvantages, even treating herself as a bargaining chip as she advanced step by step—Qiao Lin had done it willingly, but sometimes she still sentimentally missed the innocence she had lost.

And Tang Shi before her often reminded Qiao Lin of the version of herself who had suddenly become famous and faced countless temptations. In fact, because Tang Shi was more striking in appearance and more gifted, even more people were drawn to him now.

At the very least, Qiao Lin knew that several investors and company heads in the industry had shown an exceptionally high level of interest in Tang Shi. Yet for some reason, most of them were still holding back—

At that thought, Qiao Lin's gaze darkened slightly as she looked, without giving anything away, at Lu Hengzhi beside Tang Shi.

In this industry, many people had influential backgrounds and powerful backing. Such people naturally had smoother and steadier careers. They could even avoid many situations where they had no choice. That was a good thing.

At the very least, it let a person's innocence and purity last a little longer.

So Tang Shi was far luckier than she had been back then.

The curve of Qiao Lin's lips deepened slightly, but she smiled even more adorably as she said, "I misspoke. Then thank you for giving me such a wonderful song. Wow, I really think coming to Dance Miracle was an incredibly correct choice. Not only did I meet so many talented newcomers, I also received such a fantastic song. I really made out like a bandit."

Seeing this, the other two judges also expressed their envy, half seriously and half jokingly, before sincerely congratulating Qiao Lin.

Zhang Chujie even looked at Sugar Juice Duo with a sour expression and complained, "Hey, you two are really too much. Teacher Qiao Lin is pretty, so she gets a song. But this old uncle gets nothing at all?"

Everyone burst into laughter. Tang Shi, meanwhile, hurriedly explained, "No, no, I just—"

Tang Shi scratched his head awkwardly, not knowing how to explain himself.

Lu Hengzhi, standing beside him, watched Tang Shi's troubled appearance with a smile and had no intention of joining in.

Instead, after watching for a while, Zhang Chujie felt too bad to continue and took the initiative to rescue Tang Shi. "No, I know you have your reasons for giving this song to Teacher Qiao Lin. You like Teacher Qiao Lin, after all. I understand."

Zhang Chujie would have been better off saying nothing. After that explanation, Tang Shi felt even more embarrassed.

The audience below the stage also let out knowing "ohs," and it was easy to imagine that once today's episode aired, rumors about Tang Shi and Qiao Lin would definitely arise.

The way things had developed was far beyond Tang Shi's expectations, and his expression subtly changed.

Seeing this, Mo Zi reached out and shoved Zhang Chujie, reminding him, "Don't talk nonsense. Look, our little Tang Shi is getting angry again."

Zhang Chujie smiled faintly. In fact, he had only done this after receiving instructions. But seeing that Tang Shi clearly was not used to this sort of thing, he immediately said with a smile, "I meant that Tang Shi likes Teacher Qiao Lin as a fan, of course, so it's no surprise he wrote a song for her. Teacher Mo Zi, where did your mind go?"