RAAS ### Chapter 30: Acting Like a Big Shot
### Chapter 30: Acting Like a Big Shot
Song Xueqi returned home from work feeling quite pleased with herself.
The post she had published last night had garnered over 30,000 replies and more than 500,000 views. Despite some repeated clicks, this clearly demonstrated the post's popularity.
Even Song Xueqi hadn't anticipated this. Last night, she was merely one of the many agitated fans upset about Li Qing’s elimination and the suppression of a talented singer she admired. Driven by her emotions, she wrote a post over a thousand words long in one go.
Who would have thought that before she even got to work this morning, she would be hit with a barrage of newspapers, leaving her dazed with excitement?
She saw that all the newspapers, including her own "New Entertainment Weekly," were fervently reporting on last night's broadcast of "Music Star" and the PK results. Most of the entertainment papers were dissatisfied with the PK outcome, which filled Song Xueqi with joy.
However, to her surprise, she noticed that the newspapers had cited her post from last night, highlighting and discussing key points from it.
This left her a bit astonished. How did her post end up in the newspapers?
What surprised her even more was what happened after she arrived at work.
Upon entering the office, she found a group of people standing at the entrance, all staring intently at her.
“A certain Song, an editor at a well-known entertainment paper in Beijing, had been closely following ‘Music Star’ even before it aired…”
At the forefront of the group, a middle-aged woman with a stylish short haircut adjusted her silver-rimmed glasses and pointed to a newspaper in her hand. Smiling warmly, she said, “Xiao Song, is that you? It must be you, right?”
Everyone behind her stared at Song Xueqi with eager eyes.
Feeling a chill down her spine, Song Xueqi glanced at the content in the newspaper and then timidly nodded, wondering if she was in trouble for her online post.
To her surprise, the woman suddenly laughed, patted her on the shoulder, and said approvingly, “Good, good, that post was well written. Your year-end bonus will be doubled. If you do well, I’ll make you the chief editor! I’m giving you a task now. I’m assigning two people to you to form a special team. Your job for the next few days is to fully cover and report on the ‘Music Star’ scandal and clear your favorite singer’s name, understand?”
Everyone looked at Song Xueqi with envy.
Happiness came too suddenly!
Song Xueqi was in complete shock. As a newcomer who had been at "New Entertainment Weekly" for less than a year, a doubled year-end bonus was something only chief editors could dream of. And now, she was being promised a shot at being the chief editor?
Despite her disbelief, Song Xueqi began her first major assignment.
Two editors were assigned to her, and a special workspace was designated for her new team. The special team was instantly formed!
The first task was to reveal her identity on the "New Entertainment Weekly" website and in print, announcing that she was the author of the viral post "Does ‘Music Star’ Still Have a Purpose?"
They were also to fully support the view that "Fly Higher" was superior to "Song of Dreams," highlighting Li Qing’s songs on the charts while mocking the absence of "Song of Dreams" from the charts.
"New Entertainment Weekly" quickly became a staunch supporter of Li Qing!
With this shift, the paper’s sales surged, and everyone knew that "New Entertainment Weekly" was backing Li Qing.
After a busy day, Song Xueqi felt unusually fulfilled. Industry peers were amazed by her ability to foresee hot topics, even attributing her success to luck.
The whole office was thrilled when Song Xueqi managed to get Li Qing’s pager number and successfully scheduled an interview through his assistant.
With everything set, Song Xueqi went home feeling triumphant, under the envious eyes of her colleagues.
To maintain her figure, her dinner was a fruit salad.
After a refreshing shower, she relaxed, humming "Fly Higher," and logged onto the Music Home forum.
However, her good mood quickly soured. Her hot post was still pinned, with replies and views increasing, but a new, discordant post had appeared.
Unlike other opposing posts that quickly sank, this one was almost artificially pinned, with new replies every few seconds.
Reading the title, “Li Qing is an Arrogant Self-Serving Scoundrel!” made her frown.
Instead of discussing music quality, they were resorting to personal attacks?
Fuming, she clicked on the post and quickly realized the severity of the situation. The content, though indignant, was undeniably factual, as the poster had revealed their identity and contact information for verification.
“First, let me introduce myself to avoid accusations of slander. My name is Deng Lunqi, the founder and owner of Qilun Clothing…”
Qilun Clothing was a second-tier clothing company based in Guangzhou, specializing in youth apparel priced in the low to mid-range. Despite losing its high-end market to international brands, Qilun was still valued over a billion, with Deng Lunqi himself worth over ten million.
“I called Li Qing an arrogant maniac not without reason. As a fan of his songs ‘Angel’s Wings’ and ‘Fly Higher,’ I genuinely admire his talent. His ability to place two songs in the top ten of the request charts proves his market appeal. So, our company decided to offer him a three-year, one-million-yuan endorsement deal.”
“This offer included a specially composed song by Li Qing for our company. This price was not low for him, equivalent to a first-tier artist. While I believed in Li Qing’s potential, I couldn’t guarantee his future stardom, so this was an investment. If the deal went through, we’d use all our resources to promote him nationwide.”
“This seemed like a win-win situation!”
“But guess what? When we confidently sent our representatives to his company, they didn’t even get to meet him, only a junior manager from the PR department!”
“We were willing to negotiate the price a bit higher, but they casually stated a figure. Guess how much? One and a half million? Two million? No, it was ten million! Not a penny less!”
“We just wanted an endorsement, not to be taken for fools. Does he think he’s Michael Jackson or Madonna?”
“Thinking this was an isolated incident, I contacted several other companies who had similar experiences with Li Qing’s team. They all reported the same outrageous demand: five years, ten million!”
“Who can guarantee Li Qing will stay popular for five years? Such arrogance! I must say, the judges on ‘Music Star’ made the right decision.”