Feng Yiqian was far too unbothered. When he walked out of the police station after his urine test, he even waved cheerfully at his haters.
"Drop dead, Feng Yiqian!" the haters shouted.
"I love you too~" Feng Yiqian turned a deaf ear to them, smiling and waving at everyone before leisurely getting into the car.
Red-faced, a hater pointed at Feng Yiqian and cursed him out. "Just because your urine test says you didn't take drugs doesn't mean you didn't! I say you did!"
Feng Yiqian nodded to everyone from inside the car. "I'll take care of myself. Remember to come see me at the music festival tonight~" Then he slammed the car door shut with a bang.
His responses had nothing to do with what anyone was saying. Tao Zhiyan was starting to wonder whether he was listening at all.
Then a fan outside the car, her eyes red, called out in support of Feng Yiqian. "Yiqian! Mommy believes in you! You definitely haven't slept with your fans. You're still a virgin!"
Feng Yiqian's warm, sunny smile instantly vanished. He bristled, rolled down the window, and shouted, "I got my first girlfriend at seventeen! I've had several since then! What gives you the right to call me a vir-hey, hey?!"
Before he could finish, Tao Zhiyan floored the accelerator and fled the scene.
With the rest of his sentence stuck in his chest, Feng Yiqian looked out the window, then at Tao Zhiyan, losing his mind. "Why did you drive off? I wasn't finished!"
Tao Zhiyan: "..."
What else was I supposed to do?
Stay and wait for you to spread rumors about yourself?
Tao Zhiyan sighed, suddenly realizing that although he was clearly a butler, he was acting more like a manager than an actual manager.
The music festival started that evening, but Feng Yiqian went in early that morning for styling and rehearsals.
Whether deliberately or not, the organizers had scheduled Feng Yiqian's rehearsal for noon, the hottest part of the day.
In thirty-seven or thirty-eight-degree heat, they simply left Feng Yiqian roasting onstage.
Several staff members stood in an air-conditioned tent, holding sodas and laughing as they watched.
Feng Yiqian stood alone onstage, putting everything he had into his singing.
His skin was fair, and it turned bright red after only a short time in the sun. Sweat streamed down his forehead, soaking the front of his shirt.
Tao Zhiyan frowned involuntarily and asked the organizer, "Why isn't the air conditioning onstage turned on?"
"It's broken."
Tao Zhiyan's frown deepened. "But it was working perfectly when the last singer was onstage."
"Yeah, and now it's broken. Got a problem with that?" The organizer looked Tao Zhiyan up and down, sneering. "Not happy? Then take your master and leave!"
"Look around. Who else is willing to give him work besides me?"
Tao Zhiyan paused, then looked at the organizer. "You're doing this on purpose?"
"Heh." The organizer chuckled, stood up, and tapped Tao Zhiyan's forehead with a bent finger. "Yeah, I am. So what? What are you going to do about it?"
After that, the organizer mouthed "fucking idiot" at Tao Zhiyan, then sauntered back to his office.
Unlike a concert, a music festival needed a livelier atmosphere. Feng Yiqian was singing an upbeat song and had done his best to get the crowd going, but something still felt lacking. "Um, Mr. DJ."
Once the song ended, Feng Yiqian adjusted his headset and walked over to the DJ booth, asking politely, "At the beginning, could you stop pulling back the high notes?"
Feng Yiqian's silk shirt hung open. As he leaned forward slightly, sweat trickled down his face, and his chest was slick with it too. Even his voice sounded a little breathless. "I want to let those high notes come through. It'll sound better that way."
Despite Feng Yiqian's polite attitude, the DJ glared at him and snapped, "If you're so damn good, why don't you do it? None of the other singers had any complaints. Why do you have so many?"
"Ah... no, that's not what I meant." Feng Yiqian hadn't expected the DJ to get angry and explained, "I just wanted to try it out a little. It sounds a bit weak right now."
"Try this, try that-you only have to sing two songs. I've got twenty to mix, you know that?" The DJ yanked his headset off. "This is as good as I get. Sing or don't, I don't fucking care!"
With that, he abandoned his post and walked off.
Feng Yiqian clearly hadn't expected things to turn out like this. He rubbed his nose awkwardly, stood onstage staring for a long while, then finally returned the microphone to its stand.
Someone filmed the scene and posted it online. Before long, it climbed onto the trending list:
#Feng Yiqian throws his weight around at music festival#
Since the person filming had been too far away to hear their conversation, all anyone could see was Feng Yiqian walking over and saying something, followed by the DJ angrily leaving.
Gossip accounts reposted it immediately.
[Little Matchmaker Who Loves Gossip V: Ah, over in a corner nobody cares about, FYQ has gotten himself into trouble again...
He clashed with a professional DJ at a music festival, using his celebrity status to bully a working man until he was forced to leave.
Seriously, you celebrities making 2.08 million a day-when are you going to climb down off your high horses?]
Those few lines sent the outrage through the roof. The post drew enormous attention, with shares, likes, and comments all reaching four figures.
[Can someone explain? Why hasn't FYQ been blacklisted yet?? Just how powerful are his connections??]
[@Feng Ze V My buddy's calling you out. Just how much clout do you have that you can even protect a criminal celebrity?]
[He's the only one at the entire music festival who didn't start out as a singer, and he's the one throwing his weight around??]
[@LS Music Festival Is there something wrong with you, inviting a criminal celebrity onstage? I bought a ticket. If I see FYQ singing tonight, I'm reporting you to the National Bureau of Culture and Sports. /smile/smile/smile]
[@LS Music Festival Bought my ticket. If FYQ goes onstage, I'm reporting you. /smile]
[@LS Music Festival Bought my ticket. If FYQ goes onstage, I'm reporting you. /smile]
[@LS Music Festival Bought my ticket. If FYQ goes onstage, I'm reporting you. /smile]
The uproar generated so much attention that the previously unwanted VIP section completely sold out.
People were even buying scalped tickets at inflated prices.
The organizer was grinning so hard his face practically split. The singers he'd invited this time were all obscure internet personalities; even the best act was a pop band that didn't rank anywhere near the third or fourth tier.
They weren't popular enough to draw a crowd, but the organizer wanted to sell tickets. That was how he'd come up with the idea of inviting Feng Yiqian.
In the past, given Feng Yiqian's status, there was no way he would have come.
But things were different now. The world had gone downhill, and after offending a big shot in the industry, Feng Yiqian couldn't find work anywhere. A casual invitation had been enough to get him here.
"By the way, boss, are we really letting Feng Yiqian perform today?" a staff member asked. "That scandal of his hasn't completely blown over yet, has it? What if it's true?"
"Of course not." The organizer had never intended to let Feng Yiqian go onstage.
He only wanted to use Feng Yiqian to generate publicity and sell tickets. Actually let a disgraced celebrity perform? Was he crazy?
"We'll just have that FOU band do a few encores."
"You're just not going to let Feng Yiqian perform?" The staff member shook his head. "We paid a lot to book him. That's a loss."
The organizer laughed.
A loss? Since when did a capitalist take a loss?
He'd never planned to let Feng Yiqian go onstage in the first place, and he'd already tampered with the contract terms.
After Feng Yiqian's scandal, his team had been replaced. The new team was incompetent too, and hadn't seen through the organizer's word games.
Simply put, under the current contract, if Feng Yiqian failed to perform onstage, the deal would be void regardless of who was responsible, and his appearance fee would have to be refunded.
So after rehearsing all day and working himself to the bone, Feng Yiqian was nothing more than a tool for generating publicity.
Before you continue