Chapter 78: Causing a Commotion Before Lady Shen

The blogger who posted the video was named Eddie. At this moment, he sat in Jiang Yunzhu’s office, anxious and uneasy, wringing his hands as he tried to lighten the mood with a joke, “I’ll be honest with you—you're not going to have someone beat me up, right?”

Jiang Yunzhu fixed her gaze on him and asked, “You’re not the original singer of this song?”

“Of course not, I make videos.” This surprised Jiang Yunzhu a little. Eddie explained that, at first, he just wanted to post something eye-catching to attract traffic.

“I never intended for things to get so out of hand!”

“It started when a follower reached out to me, saying she’d discovered a new musician who plagiarized, and she sent me audio comparisons between the two songs.”

“Fan submissions like that are pretty common; I never expected the issue to blow up like this! It’s escalated to the point of online abuse—swear to God, I never incited my followers to harass your company’s artist.”

“I’m really sorry for the outcome, even if he did plagiarize, he shouldn’t have to endure such massive criticism. And since the whole thing started with me, I’m willing to apologize and delete the video—please don’t hold me responsible… alright?”

His words were sincere, but Jiang Yunzhu heard the subtext clearly.

Such a large-scale online storm couldn’t be stirred up by a simple newcomer. This was the work of someone who lived off internet traffic; she could easily guess that someone was fueling the fire behind the scenes.

It made sense—the rookie’s company must be orchestrating this for hype.

That’s how it goes with idols: it’s not the insults they fear, but obscurity.

So what’s the next step after generating all this buzz? Hard to say. Could it be that they’d drag him, the initial video poster, into court, convict him of manipulating public opinion and inciting abuse, send him to jail, the newcomer gets cleared, and rises dazzlingly to stardom?

Surely not, right? Surely capital isn’t so ruthless? In our free capitalist country, surely we still have “freedom of speech,” right?

With millions of followers, Eddie was far from naive. Seeing the tide turn against him, he hurried over, eager to surrender and make peace.

We’re all trying to make a living—no need to destroy each other.

Jiang Yunzhu looked at him; her big, watery eyes were lively and innocent. When she watched you, there was never a hint of aggression—she resembled a delicate little rabbit.

Yet Eddie felt chills creeping over his limbs; he couldn’t shake the feeling that the rabbit might suddenly leap up and devour him whole.

“This isn’t something an apology can fix.”

Jiang Yunzhu smiled warmly, playing the part of the ruthless capitalist—if the opportunity presents itself, why not seize it?

“Take a look at this.”

She handed Eddie the song and the recent remake released by the singer.

“Clearly, our artist didn’t plagiarize. It’s the other party who copied, and you distorted the facts, causing huge negative impact for our company and artist. Do you think an apology is enough?”

Eddie’s face turned pale with a hint of blue, nearly slipping from his chair.

For a moment, he couldn’t tell which was worse—slander or inciting online abuse—likely he’d be charged with both.

Jiang Yunzhu’s smile suddenly faded. “Since things have come to this, even sending you to jail can’t reverse the losses to our company.”

Eddie’s heart was pounding, and he hastily said, “If there’s anything you need me to do, please just say the word.”

He stood up swiftly and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

Jiang Yunzhu was caught between laughter and tears—did he think she was the plaintiff herself?

“Alright, I want you to release another video clarifying the situation, explain everything, and apologize to Gerald, whom you slandered.”

“And I want the account of the fan who encouraged you to make the plagiarism video.”

Perhaps Eddie was unwittingly exploited, but the person behind him—the one who sent him misleading audio—was the true mastermind.

She was determined to unmask that person!

…

Early in the morning, the trending topics were again dominated.

“Shocking reversal! The plagiarist turns out to be the plagiarized!”

“The plagiarism scandal: Who is the real original singer?”

“Maybe we all owe Gerald an apology.”

With Eddie’s clarifying video released, Jiang Yunzhu’s team mobilized as well, flooding posts, drafting press releases, sharing everywhere, successfully pushing Gerald back into the spotlight.

Before noon, Gerald’s inbox and messages were again overflowing.

This time, he sought out Jiang Yunzhu with delight.

“You really are a woman who works miracles.”

His sapphire-blue eyes sparkled with admiration.

“In less than a day, everyone who once insulted me has apologized.”

“Now so many people say they like me, like my music.”

“The talent show producers just told me I can return to continue recording!”

His golden hair fluttered as he paced excitedly around the spacious office.

“By the way, I’ve finished my new song—I want you to be the first to hear it!”

Jiang Yunzhu couldn’t take his noisiness anymore and pushed him out by the shoulders.

“Alright, go sing your new song for your manager.”

“Assistant Zhang, contact this guy’s manager immediately, and fill his schedule while we’ve got momentum!”

It was all worth it. Riding the wave of the plagiarism scandal, the single sold millions, and just one month’s copyright revenue reached over nine hundred thousand—seventy percent of the company’s total turnover!

Well done, my golden boy.

As for the one who orchestrated the plagiarism incident, all the ID accounts were verified. With a quick check, the culprit was exposed.

Long time no see, Zhou Qingfei!

The lawyers were contacted, and a lawsuit was filed against her; after that, Jiang Yunzhu left the matter alone.

She was simply too busy—managing the company, overseeing artists, attending school—she wished she could split herself in two.

That day, while she was having lunch with a film crew, a familiar call came in.

Shen Ruizhang.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Yunzhu answered, “Uncle, what is it?”

On the other end, Shen Ruizhang’s voice was hoarse; he paused before speaking, “Can you come to the rehabilitation hospital?”

Jiang Yunzhu’s heart tightened. “Has something happened to the old lady?”

“Zhou Qingfei is demanding to marry me. I refused, and now with her legal troubles, she’s taken the matter to my mother.”

“You know my mother’s temperament—she was so upset that she had a heart attack. She’s just been resuscitated, and she can’t handle any more stress. She’s just woken up, and insists on seeing you.”

Jiang Yunzhu felt as if a rag was stuffed down her throat; she held back, but couldn’t help asking, “Does the old lady know about the pregnancy?”

“That night…” Shen Ruizhang wanted to explain—he’d been drugged that night, he never intended to be involved with Zhou Qingfei, let alone have a child with her.

In the end, he didn’t say it.

His Yunzhu no longer cared.