Chapter 128: 105: Popularity Exploding
Although they had signed Ye Bingtong, they hadn’t actually intended to make such a big fuss.
They had merely planned to make a simple announcement and then play dead.
After all, everyone knew that Ye Bingtong’s reputation was unsavory. But they could not resist the fact that Ye Bingtong had paved her way with higher-ups, and therefore giving her a perfunctory album would suffice.
As for how much investment she deserved and what the quality of the album would be, that was out of the question.
Within Xuanjia Music, there were plenty of excellent singers; Ye Bingtong? She still had a long way to go!
Ye Bingtong’s actions couldn’t be concealed from those within the industry.
If she were still the Ye Family’s precious daughter, people would be willing to support her entry into the music industry a bit.
But now.
She was merely a canary like Bai Shilan.
Even Bai Shilan, who was considered to have mixed in quite well, could never achieve true recognition despite becoming a trending young celebrity.
Let alone Ye Bingtong!
At least La Jingzhou had truly loved Bai Shilan back then, willing to support her so relentlessly.
What about Ye Bingtong?
What did she have?
Expecting the chairman to regard her as a true love?
She was nothing but a plaything!
What was supposed to be a perfunctory matter now had Xuanjia Music feeling unexpectedly perplexed inside.
Did Ye Bingtong… really have such a huge following?
Why did their simple official announcement on Weibo shoot up to the trending search list?
Why were the comments and shares accumulating faster than when they announced that the popular actress was releasing an album last time?
After making the trending search, the influx of netizens grew more and more.
The comment section of Xuanjia’s official Weibo was instantly overrun.
“Ye Bingtong? Not the Ye Bingtong I’m thinking of, right?”
“Xuanjia Music must be really desperate!”
“Ye Bingtong is releasing an album? I’ve thought of all ten song titles for her. First song: ‘Brother, Keep Your Green Hat On.’ Everyone follow up.”
“Second song: ‘The Piano Prodigy Who Never Achieved Anything.’”
“Third song: ‘To Get a Role, I Would Push a Child into the Water.’”
“Fourth song: …”
Creative netizens began a chain reaction, quickly composing ten songs for Ye Bingtong.
Some talented big guns even wrote a rap based on Ye Bingtong.
This rap was an utter takedown, thoroughly scathing from beginning to end, and along with the entries about Ye Bingtong joining the label, it too shot up on the trending search.
Xuanjia Music.
Dead silence.
“Does Ye Bingtong have such enormous traffic?” one person said somewhat blankly.
This could even trigger several trending searches?
“What do we do? The heat is rising, and it might even start affecting the company’s image. Should we suppress the trend?”
“Suppress what trend? Suppressing costs more than buying a spot on the trends. It’s a waste to spend that on Ye Bingtong!”
“Then what? Just let it be?”
“Let it be what? The company certainly doesn’t have the budget for this. Producing a trashy album for her is already doing her a huge favor.”
“Isn’t our diva releasing a new album next month? Let’s talk to her and announce it ahead of schedule. Once that news is out, it should be enough to overshadow these negative comments about the company. As for Ye Bingtong, let her fend for herself.”
“Okay.”
Soon, Xuanjia Music had drafted up a plan. They had no intention of rescuing Ye Bingtong, instead they announced the diva’s upcoming album release and had the diva thank the company in her statement. Naturally, the diva’s fans would rally and extract Xuanjia Music from this round of public opinion.
And no one was there to help Ye Bingtong with her negative labels.
This time when announcing the signing,
she not only failed to receive any positive feedback, but it also brought her past scandals to the surface once again.
Seeing the overwhelming abuse, Ye Bingtong couldn’t help but bite her lower lip in a show of fragility and strength.
She looked at Pei Yue with some grievance, “Pei Yue, what do we do now?”
Initially, she had thought Pei Yue was useless.
But during this period, Pei Yue’s actions had truly connected her with a bigwig in the music industry.
Ye Bingtong couldn’t help but trust Pei Yue a bit more.
Their relationship began to undergo some strange changes.
Sometimes, they would cling to each other in a life-and-death embrace, as before.
But.
Pei Yue would take the initiative to introduce her to financiers.
Pei Yue himself would sometimes not come home at night.
It seemed as if the two of them still had some feelings for each other, yet it also seemed like only some interests remained.
Regardless.
Now.
Pei Yue was her agent, and only if she did well, could Pei Yue do well.
The person Ye Bingtong trusted the most was still Pei Yue.
Pei Yue looked at the netizens’ comments with an indifferent expression.
He calmly said, “Infamy is still a form of fame. Having traffic and attention is always better than no movement at all. You should try to seize this wave of traffic right now.”
“These people will only curse me online. What’s the use of such traffic?” Ye Bingtong was somewhat irritated.
“Whether they curse you or praise you, having topicality means you can make money,” Pei Yue said indifferently. “I’ve already set up a social media account for you; later, upload the first video.”
Ye Bingtong hesitated.
When she was still the young mistress of the Ye Family, she never had to endure such grievances.
When she cultivated the image of a piano prodigy girl, there would occasionally be some criticisms online.
But her family would always help her suppress them right away.
Never allowing her to suffer the slightest grievance.
But now.
Insults against her flooded in, yet she still had to use them to make money.
Ye Bingtong’s eyes couldn’t help but redden slightly.
A tremendous sense of loss surged in her heart.
She realized deeply once again that it wasn’t that the world was devoid of storms, but rather, the storms of the past had all been blocked by the Ye Family.
Once she left the Ye Family, these storms became even more fierce as they surged toward her.
“Come over here and shoot the video,” Pei Yue said with indifference, as if he didn’t notice Ye Bingtong’s crumbling state.
Ye Bingtong had no choice but to suppress her grievances and follow Pei Yue’s instructions. She recorded a video of herself playing the piano and uploaded it to the public platform.
As expected.
The comments section was filled with a barrage of criticisms.
Ye Bingtong grew more and more devastated as she read, but Pei Yue was very pleased with it.
“The popularity is not bad. From now on, post one every day,” Pei Yue said with a smile.
Ye Bingtong did not dare to object and managed to squeeze out a smile reluctantly.
She looked out the window.
The scenery outside was pleasant.
In the past, she always enjoyed playing the piano while looking at the beautiful scenery outside the window.
But now.
She no longer had such a carefree mood.
Looking at the piano by the window, she even felt a distinct aversion.
But this.
Was the only possible way for her to turn the tables.
Ye Bingtong lowered her gaze, hiding the pain in her eyes, and forced herself to accept the reality in front of her.
She believed that all her efforts would be rewarded.
One day…
She would live the life she wanted again.
M Country.
Lin Yun looked at the video of Ye Bingtong serenely playing the piano and showed a peculiar smile on her lips.
Ye Bingtong.
After all these years.
She had never forgotten that name for a single day.
For Ye Bingtong’s sake, she always kept up with the domestic news.
All the scandals about Ye Bingtong before, including her being driven out of the Ye Family, Lin Yun had watched them all.
But regarding these matters, she had only watched coldly from the sidelines.
She wanted to take revenge on Ye Bingtong.
But she was waiting for the right moment.
Now, that time had come.
Lin Yun made a phone call.