Chapter 104: City Folk Really Do Know How to Have Their Fun

Hearing Xu Man’s words, Xiao Hang’s gaze grew tinged with sympathy. She had already paid? So desperate? He felt it was wise of her not to agree to this collaboration. She was obsessed with turning things around!

“Alright!” Xiao Hang didn’t make things difficult for her and instructed his secretary to bring over the statement she wanted. Signing, stamping—he did it all in one smooth motion.

“I hope your song achieves great success!” He handed her the statement cancelling their collaboration, uttering polite platitudes he hardly meant.

“Thank you.” Xu Man glanced at the document, confirmed there were no issues, and rose to her feet. “Then I won’t disturb you further. Goodbye.”

Without waiting for Xiao Hang to say anything else, she turned and left.

Watching her calm departure, Xiao Hang scoffed quietly. Pretending! She must be pretending! Who knows how furious and frustrated she truly was inside.

As for whether her song would become popular, his intuition and experience told him: not likely! Let alone popularity, even the song’s release was uncertain.

...

Leaving Jiujiu Music and getting into the car, Xu Man waved the statement with a touch of pride. “See, didn’t I say this collaboration wouldn’t work out?”

Chen Qi, fresh from witnessing an impromptu act, glanced at her and chuckled, “I couldn’t tell you had such a scheming mind.”

Xu Man frowned slightly. “Are you complimenting me?”

“Of course!” Chen Qi replied with certainty.

She glanced at him, indifferent to whether he meant it as praise or criticism. The result she wanted was in hand, and that was enough.

“So, what now?” Chen Qi asked.

“What now? Call, of course.” Xu Man signaled the driver to start, then smilingly took out her phone and dialed a number. Not bothering to hold the phone, she placed it on the armrest and turned on speaker.

Chen Qi looked at her, puzzled and uncertain about her intentions. But he said nothing, watching quietly like a bystander.

“Hello?” The call was quickly answered.

“Hello, Director Liu, this is Xu Man.” Xu Man propped her chin on her hand, looking relaxed.

“Xu Man? Oh, hello.”

“Sorry to bother you. I have a new song here—wondering if your platform would be interested in collaborating?”

“New song?” The person on the other end was clearly surprised, then confused. “Miss Xu, if I recall, you’re working with Jiujiu Music?”

“Yes. To be honest, I just left there—they’re not interested in this song.”

Chen Qi’s eyes twitched slightly, realizing belatedly that this call wasn’t really about finding a new platform.

“Oh... I see.” The voice on the other end sounded enlightened. “Well... sorry, Miss Xu, we currently don’t have any slots for new songs, so...”

“Understood,” Xu Man replied promptly.

“Alright, perhaps we can collaborate next time.”

“Of course.” Xu Man hung up with a smile.

Chen Qi watched her, realizing things were not as simple as he’d imagined. Who gets rejected and still smiles so happily?

“This was another music website,” Xu Man explained, searching her contacts for another number.

...

Watching her, Chen Qi asked, “You don’t want to work with them?”

“It’s not that—I just know this round of negotiations will be even more complicated.”

He looked at her, confused.

“If nothing goes wrong, it won’t be long before rumors spread that Jiujiu Music rejected my new song.”

Chen Qi was stunned, then quickly grasped her meaning, asking incredulously, “You mean Jiujiu Music will secretly sabotage you?”

“I can’t be absolutely sure, but I have to prepare for the worst.”

Chen Qi’s mouth dropped open.

Is the entertainment industry really so treacherous? Just because the song lost money? You cost me money, so I won’t let you off?

“Director Qian, this is Xu Man...”

While Chen Qi was awed by their maneuvers, Xu Man dialed another music platform. Just like the last call, the initially polite platform quickly found an excuse to reject her after hearing Jiujiu Music had turned her song down.

Clearly, they instinctively assumed it was a terrible song! If it weren’t, why would Jiujiu Music reject it? If it weren’t, why would it come to them?

At this point, the platforms probably never imagined that Jiujiu Music hadn’t even listened to the song...

After hanging up, Xu Man calmly dialed the next number, reminiscent of Chen Qi searching for film distributors back then.

The only difference was, Chen Qi genuinely sought partners, but Xu Man...

Chen Qi quietly observed, certain she had no intention of truly seeking a platform. Or rather, she had expected rejection all along.

Sure enough...

The third call was another polite refusal.

Of the five major music platforms—including Jiujiu Music—four had now clearly rejected her.

As Chen Qi expected her to make the final call, Xu Man simply put her phone away.

“???” Chen Qi was baffled.

“Why aren’t you calling the last one?” he asked.

“I’ve already finished,” she replied.

“But there’s still one left.”

Xu Man laughed, “I contacted the last one last night. She’ll come to my studio after work today.”

Chen Qi was utterly stunned!

So you already had your partner lined up? Then why call the other platforms?

“If I don’t call them now, when ‘Beyond Light Years’ goes viral and they ask why I didn’t approach them, how could I answer?” Xu Man replied innocently.

“???” Chen Qi stared at her, dumbfounded.

So this was about keeping your options open? Are people in the city always this clever?

“These music platforms are all giants in the industry. I can’t afford to offend any of them, so I had to call first.”

“...” Chen Qi was so amazed he couldn’t speak for a while.

He felt today had truly been worth his time!

...

He’d learned so much!

Thinking back, Xu Man had clearly arranged everything with the platforms last night. It wasn’t about avoiding offense—it was about manipulating them!

At that moment, Chen Qi looked at Xu Man with genuine admiration.

This woman... was smarter than he'd imagined!

“Do you think I’m scheming?” Xu Man asked, amused.

“Heh...” Chen Qi smiled and shook his head gently.

He didn’t see it as scheming or cunning. In truth, it was experience accumulated from countless setbacks and losses—a precious lesson.

She was simply using that experience to protect herself.

It was natural.

Seeing him shake his head, Xu Man smiled softly and didn’t pursue it further.

Forty minutes later, they arrived at Xu Man’s studio.

Curiously, as they stepped inside, the bespectacled assistant hurried over.

Just as Xu Man expected, the news that her new song had been rejected by Jiujiu Music had broken! In the past ten minutes alone, three entertainment media outlets had called to verify.

“Don’t bother with them—neither confirm nor deny,” Xu Man instructed calmly, showing not the slightest panic, but rather the composure of someone who’d weathered many storms.

Chen Qi searched relevant keywords on his phone and found it wasn’t just the media that knew. There were already news reports online.

The headlines were eye-catching: “Xu Man’s New Song Rejected!”

Although her popularity had plummeted after her last song failed, she was still a leading figure among the younger generation of singers, so the news was prominently featured in entertainment columns.

Chen Qi clicked in—the article was brief, simply stating Jiujiu Music had refused to collaborate on Xu Man’s new song.

He searched further, discovering that many media outlets had reported on it. The only commonality was their sensational headlines: Xu Man’s new song can’t find a platform, Xu Man’s creative well has dried up, fans no longer expect anything from her, and so on.

The coverage was decidedly unfriendly.

With all the media buzz, and given how few talented singers had released songs in recent years, the topic of Xu Man failing to find a platform quickly trended, catching the attention of many netizens.

“Is it true? She’s releasing another song?”

“Sigh, she can’t even find a platform—I don’t know if I should look forward to it.”

“Can it really be that bad, not even a platform will take it?”

“The song must be terrible—music platforms aren’t fools. If it was good, why would they reject it?”

“Didn’t she say she was switching to acting? Is this a failed transition back?”

“What transition? I haven’t seen any of her film work!”

Many uninformed netizens began to discuss, but perhaps influenced by the news, most were skeptical.

If she couldn’t even find a platform, who would believe it was a good song?