Feng Yiqian was the last to perform. He stood smugly in front of the mirror, admiring himself and bobbing his head as he hummed. "Oh, right, Butler Tao. I'll treat you to a late-night snack after the show!"
Tao Zhiyan yawned and nodded.
He had thought a music festival would be a blast, but this was nothing compared with the live houses in his previous life.
Each singer's song choices were more depressing than the last. Their singing was poor, their backing tracks were louder than their live vocals, and it was all incredibly boring.
"Come on, take a look. Am I handsome?"
Tao Zhiyan looked at the flamboyantly dressed Feng Yiqian and gave him a thumbs-up. "Handsome. Like a peacock looking for a mate."
Feng Yiqian's expression turned conflicted.
Was that a compliment?
But less than two seconds later, Feng Yiqian threw Tao Zhiyan a ridiculously flirtatious wink. "Your buddy's going onstage. You have my permission to take some handsome photos of me and show off your devastatingly good-looking third young master on WeChat Moments."
Tao Zhiyan: "..."
Utterly shameless, Feng Yiqian leaned closer to Tao Zhiyan. "Why aren't you saying anything? Too excited?"
Tao Zhiyan: "."
Now he finally understood why Feng Yiqian had so many haters. He was too damn obnoxious.
Feng Yiqian went backstage early to wait, visibly excited. When the second-to-last singer came offstage, he seized his moment and was about to head out, only to be stopped by a staff member.
"Sorry, you're not next."
"Huh?" Feng Yiqian checked the program. "Yes, I am. Isn't the next act the final one?"
"You were originally, but not anymore." Apparently unwilling to waste words, the staff member called security over to block Feng Yiqian, then turned toward backstage. "FOU Band, you're up next."
The FOU Band seemed to have known about their encore already. They came out at the call.
The lead singer glanced at Feng Yiqian, who was being held back by security, let out a soft laugh, and walked disdainfully around him onto the stage.
Feng Yiqian's expression froze. Watching the members of the FOU Band take the stage, his Adam's apple bobbed slightly.
His gaze shifted, and he closed his eyes before finally suppressing his emotions.
Then Feng Yiqian asked the staff member, "What does this mean? Do I sing after they finish?"
"Ha." The staff member laughed. "Sure. We're not dismantling the stage until tomorrow. Sing as late as you like."
The facts were right in front of him. Feng Yiqian had been replaced.
But why?
When Tao Zhiyan came over, he found Feng Yiqian, who had been all smiles just moments ago, standing there in a daze.
His eyes were reddening, the rims already scarlet. Just as Tao Zhiyan was about to approach, Feng Yiqian suddenly wiped his eyes, turned, and ran toward the organizer's room.
Feng Yiqian had spent years in the industry. He had been replaced in roles before.
But this time, he couldn't understand it. Even if his scandals meant he couldn't perform, why hadn't they told him earlier? Why wait until the very second before he went onstage to stop him?
He felt angry and stifled.
This music festival mattered a great deal to Feng Yiqian. He also knew this might be his last time performing onstage.
It was only a music festival. It didn't even count as a concert.
The only reason Feng Yiqian had come was that he wanted... wanted to bring his entertainment career to a close.
As he charged into the organizer's room, Tao Zhiyan even tugged at him, afraid he might lose control of his emotions.
Feng Yiqian glanced at Tao Zhiyan, signaling that he was fine.
The organizer was leisurely drinking tea. When he saw Feng Yiqian come in, he paused and raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"
Feng Yiqian clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. "Why won't you let me onstage?"
"Young Master Feng, have you checked the trending topics on Weibo?" the organizer asked with a smile. "Try to understand our position. We can't have the whole music festival getting reported because of you alone, can we?"
"No, I don't understand." Feng Yiqian took half a step forward. "I've already cleared up the drug allegations. My urine test was clean."
"The claims that I slept with fans were cooked up by a few clickbait accounts working together. They're completely fabricated," Feng Yiqian said, frowning. "Besides, all this started trending weeks ago. Why did you wait until today to say anything?"
The organizer slowly set down his teacup, seemingly not taking Feng Yiqian seriously at all, and laid his cards on the table. "We waited until today to ride your publicity, obviously."
Feng Yiqian seemed unable to comprehend it. His brow furrowed. "What?"
"You're getting plenty of attention. Bad publicity is still publicity." The organizer shrugged. "We strung you along. And your fans, while we were at it."
The organizer was so brazen that, for a moment, Feng Yiqian forgot even to be angry. He stared at him in disbelief. "Wait... aren't you worried about the penalty for breaching the contract?"
The organizer pressed his lips into a straight line and patted Feng Yiqian's shoulder with feigned regret. "Young Master Feng, I suddenly think it might be good for you to leave the industry."
"You've been in this business so long, and you're still this naive?"
"A breach-of-contract penalty? Ha." At those words, the organizer suddenly started laughing.
The other staff members sitting in the room began laughing too.
Their laughter rose one after another, full of mockery.
Even Tao Zhiyan couldn't help straightening up, his expression turning cold.
"Take another good look at the contract," the organizer said. "Study it carefully and see who actually owes that penalty."
At that, Feng Yiqian finally understood everything.
They had never intended to let him perform. They had prepared their escape route long ago.
He had most likely fallen into their trap with the contract too.
As the realization sank in, Feng Yiqian's chest heaved. He lowered his eyes, his face taut.
Anger, frustration, indignation, and hurt.
All those emotions surged up at once, and he couldn't stop his eyes from reddening.
For once, Tao Zhiyan lost his temper too. He stared at the organizer for a few seconds, then suddenly saw a line of text slowly appear above his head: [A lawbreaking celebrity with a total of 86.3 million yuan in tax evasion.]
While the organizer was still laughing, a staff member suddenly burst through the door. "Boss! We've got a problem! The fans aren't having it!"
The organizer's smile vanished. "Aren't having what?"
"You not letting Feng Yiqian perform! They aren't having it! They're demanding refunds!"
Although hordes of haters were boycotting Feng Yiqian online, the people who had bought tickets and come in all wanted to see him.
Feng Yiqian was getting so much attention now that filming him onstage and letting the haters pile on afterward would be something to show off, even if they only posted it on WeChat Moments.
"What the fuck...?" The organizer clearly hadn't expected this.
"This is bad, boss. They nearly started fighting out there just now!" The staff member glanced at Feng Yiqian. "Why don't... why don't we let him perform?"
The organizer hesitated.
Feng Yiqian gave a cold laugh. "You think I'll go on just because you tell me to? Do I look that cheap?"
"Hey, you...!" Before the staff member could finish, Tao Zhiyan suddenly tugged at Feng Yiqian and spoke.
"Let our third young master perform after all."
Tao Zhiyan smiled. "Otherwise, this really will be false advertising."
When Feng Yiqian stepped onto the stage, the audience froze for a moment. Then their abuse grew even louder.
"Fuck you, you criminal!"
"Shameless bastard! Sleeping with fans! Pah!"
"Feng Yiqian, why don't you just die?"
"..."
"..."
The crowd erupted. Tens of thousands of people stood in the open-air venue, holding up their phones to film as they pointed at Feng Yiqian and cursed.
Listening to the abuse, Feng Yiqian stood onstage looking lost. Despite all his preparation, his mind was completely blank.
Someone threw something onto the stage, striking Feng Yiqian squarely on the forehead. His body shook, every muscle tensing.
He instinctively retreated half a step. His breath caught, and he turned without thinking, ready to leave the stage.
A pair of hands suddenly caught Feng Yiqian.
Feng Yiqian was trembling slightly. Tao Zhiyan reached out and took the microphone from his hand.
When the audience saw Tao Zhiyan come onstage, the uproar grew louder.
"Everyone."
No one in the audience listened.
Tao Zhiyan wasted no more words. He walked straight to a speaker and held the microphone close to it. An intensely shrill screech of feedback pierced their eardrums!
It tore through the night sky.
The audience clapped their hands over their ears and instantly fell silent.
"Everyone," Tao Zhiyan said with a faint smile as he walked to center stage, "what's so interesting about feeding on fake gossip every day?"
He was wearing the simplest casual clothes-a white shirt and black trousers-but at that moment, he was utterly mesmerizing.
He stood at the center of the stage, his fine features bathed in light and shadow. With a teasing lift of his brows, he was impossible to look away from.
"With all that time on your hands, why not try some real gossip?"
"And of course, since you're already here, we can't let you leave empty-handed."
Tao Zhiyan's smile faded. His voice was like jade in the night sky, cold and sharp. "I, Tao Zhiyan,"
"am publicly reporting Mr. Zhao Ming, the organizer of the LS Music Festival, for evading a total of 86.3 million yuan in taxes."
"If a single part of this is false, I am willing to bear full legal responsibility for what I've said today!"
Those words were like a stone crashing into a river.
The audience fell silent for a moment, then the entire crowd exploded!
Backstage, the organizer exploded too!
His tax evasion? How did this man know!?
Yet Tao Zhiyan, who had unleashed all this chaos, watched everyone's reactions with great satisfaction before calmly handing the microphone back to Feng Yiqian.
"Third young master, didn't you want to sing?"
Chaos raged all around them. The audience looked as though they were partying wildly at the end of the world.
Amid all that tumult, Tao Zhiyan's calm eyes shone even brighter than the stars beneath the moonlight, clear and tranquil.
"Go ahead and sing. Don't worry."
After handing Feng Yiqian the microphone, Tao Zhiyan walked over to the DJ booth and tilted his head, signaling for the DJ to make room.
The DJ was dumbfounded. He instinctively stepped back, making space for Tao Zhiyan.
"Music fans, enjoy the gossip." Tao Zhiyan undid his collar button with one hand, revealing his beautiful collarbones.
An air of abandon and defiance settled over his handsome features.
He leaned toward the microphone, cranked the DJ booth's frequency to the maximum, and curled his lips. "Let the performance begin. Let me hear you scream!"
Before you continue