Chapter 12
“Not online?” Xia Wansheng was about to read the winner’s name again when he saw a comment flash across the screen.
“11111 I’m online!!!”
He Xueyang’s hands were trembling with excitement. Her involuntary exclamation almost woke up her roommates, so she quickly covered her mouth.
“Ah, good to know you’re online. Congratulations on winning! Have you prepared your five-million-yuan acceptance speech?” Xia Wansheng’s voice was laced with amusement.
This was five million in cold, hard cash.
He Xueyang felt her consciousness dissolving into snowflakes, as if she was being gently lifted by soft clouds, floating up to the heavens.
“I won!!!” He Xueyang, forgetting to lower her voice, almost startled her roommate, who had just woken up and gotten out of bed.
Her roommates gathered around: “What did you win? The lottery?”
“Or a coffee coupon?”
“Neither!!” He Xueyang jumped up from her chair, hugging her laptop and spinning around excitedly.
“Xia Wansheng held a lottery on Weibo a few days ago, and I won five million!”
“How much?!” “Really? Don’t tell me you’ve been scammed.”
Her roommates crowded around to watch the excitement. Six people surrounded He Xueyang’s desk, listening to her excited explanation of the lottery’s twists and turns.
“He almost gave it to a hater, then redrew, and it landed on me! Oh my god!” The more He Xueyang spoke, the more surreal it felt.
The feeling of almost missing out and then having it firmly in her grasp was too wonderful.
Next came the familiar profile check. He Xueyang passed with flying colors. After all, she knew the original owner’s schedule and data like the back of her hand, a stark contrast to the previous hater.
“So dedicated, this one seems like a true fan.”
“Her data looks so good, can our fandom learn from her? Even a C-list celebrity has fans this dedicated to managing data.”
“I’m truly envious this time. Such a huge reward for being a fan, a complete return on investment! Getting rich overnight actually exists!”
Countless people envied the lucky winner, including He Xueyang herself.
She still couldn’t believe such a large sum of money had just landed in her pocket.
He Xueyang was so excited she almost cried, vowing to support her idol throughout his career no matter what happened.
In contrast to the joy and excitement here—
The hater who was originally drawn was frantically trying to send gifts to attract Xia Wansheng’s attention.
The livestream fell silent for a few seconds.
“Actually, I’ve been a fan of your work since your debut. My previous comments might have been a bit harsh, but it was all to encourage the best Wansheng in the world to improve. I will always support you from now on!”
“I’ve deleted all my previous posts, please, I really didn’t mean it. I was the one who won originally, can you give it back to me?” The hater frantically pledged his loyalty, hoping to change Xia Wansheng’s mind.
A wise man submits to circumstances.
He switched sides so quickly, it seemed he regretted his actions the moment he missed out on the prize money.
“The system clearly selected me as the winner, why aren’t you giving it to me!” Seeing Xia Wansheng unmoved, the hater finally flew into a rage.
But it was too late for regrets.
“This viewer, the lottery has already concluded. You’re welcome to participate next time.” Unfazed, Xia Wansheng clicked to confirm the current winner.
The matter was settled.
Seeing the lottery conclude, Xia Wansheng was about to end the livestream when he suddenly remembered the main purpose of this livestream was to promote the new program he was about to participate in.
“If you’re interested, you can check out ‘Finding Your Voice Season 3.’ I’m one of the guests this season.” Xia Wansheng said with his perfect business smile.
Although he had never tried songwriting before, there was still half a month before the program started filming. He still had time to learn.
If he couldn’t learn, he could just use the excuse of “career slump, loss of faith” to apply for a reasonable offline exit with the system. He wouldn’t lose either way.
Having completed his task, Xia Wansheng didn’t want to work a second longer and decisively ended the livestream.
Ignoring the commotion in the comments section, he even mischievously reposted the program team’s Weibo post, instantly shifting all the attention.
Weibo was filled with complaints and doubts, questioning why the program team would invite an attention-seeking C-list celebrity just because he occasionally gave out benefits to his fans.
Wasn’t this program supposed to be about music? Xia Wansheng was still struggling to get out of the ghostwriting controversy. Did the program team not pay attention to public opinion at all?!
The director team woke up to find themselves under attack.
The director pointed at his phone screen with trembling hands, saying in despair: “Did we offend someone we shouldn’t have?”
This level of attention was almost comparable to a top celebrity’s comeback.
The screenwriter shivered beside him, thinking he had originally assumed Yu Congyan just wanted to use the program to drag Xia Wansheng through the mud, but had the real bullying already begun?!
Xia Wansheng, oblivious to the world with his phone turned off, started researching how to quickly learn composition. He found several composition books the original owner had kept for show in his bedroom, intending to study them carefully.
There were only half a month left until the program started filming, and he doubted he could even become a beginner.
He had to admit, these books were incredibly effective sleep aids.
He didn’t even notice the housekeeper’s knock on the door during dinner time. It wasn’t until Yu Congyan directly opened the door and came in that he realized Xia Wansheng had fallen asleep reading in a corner by the bookshelf.
“Don’t sleep on the floor next time.” Yu Congyan frowned. “There’s a bed…”
As he spoke, Yu Congyan looked towards Xia Wansheng’s bed, surprised to find all the blankets gone, replaced by a pile of books and manuscripts, scattered haphazardly, leaving no space to lie down.
His first reaction was that this person did it on purpose, another new trick to share a room with him?
Xia Wansheng, however, was innocent: “Housekeeper Zhang took the blankets to be washed yesterday, I just happened to be organizing these books.”
He had hoped to learn some composition techniques to improve his skills, but after reading for a long time, he only succeeded in improving his sleep quality.
It seemed that if he wanted to quickly learn, he needed an expert to guide him.
“I heard the lottery results are out.” Yu Congyan suddenly said.
Before leaving work, his assistant had specifically reported the follow-up on the matter. The lottery had accidentally picked a hater the first time, then Xia Wansheng redrew, and the prize finally went to a true fan.
The assistant even over-interpreted Xia Wansheng’s brief moment of daze while waiting for the result, explaining his absentmindedness as shock, disbelief, and a forced smile.
Yu Congyan listened thoughtfully, thinking, did Xia Wansheng care about his fans this much?
He hadn’t noticed it before. It seemed this person cared more about whether his favorite lamb chops were on the dinner table.
But if this had happened to him, it would be like finally securing a top-tier project, only to have the credit initially stolen by Yu Xuan.
Even if he quickly reclaimed the credit, it should have been his to begin with, and the struggle to get it back would have been exhausting.
He could empathize.
He should comfort him a little.
“At least it boosted your popularity, consider it money spent on self-promotion.” Yu Congyan rarely offered words of comfort.
After interacting with Xia Wansheng for a while, the usually cold and ruthless CEO finally understood one truth: keeping Xia Wansheng in a good mood was very important.
Otherwise, if he was in a bad mood, who knew what kind of trouble he would cause.
“Oh, you mean the livestream? I’m fine.” Xia Wansheng thought, who hadn’t complained about celebrities behind their backs?
He even kind of wanted to join the haters in criticizing the original owner for not leaving him any usable composition notes.
Even half a page would have been good, he wouldn’t have to piece things together bit by bit now.
After dinner, Yu Congyan, as usual, held an international conference call in his study.
After finishing the meeting with foreign clients, he was leaning back in his chair to rest for a while when the image of Xia Wansheng forcing a smile and saying he was fine popped into his mind.
Yu Congyan closed his eyes and sent a message to his assistant, asking about the aftermath of the lottery.
The assistant replied quickly: “CEO Yu, the online sentiment has completely shifted. Xia Wansheng’s reputation has greatly improved, and many advertisers are trying to contact him. The program we just invested in has also reached the top of the trending topics. Your move was brilliant!”
His boss was actually so concerned about the follow-up on this matter. It seemed that even a small, seemingly insignificant project could be turned around in his hands, and in just one day.
He had turned five million into the equivalent of a fifty-million advertising campaign, brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
Just praise him, that’s all.
Yu Congyan, who just wanted an update: ???
“You’re saying, his commercial value increased significantly after the lottery, and he received many offers?”
After receiving his assistant’s confirmation, Yu Congyan fell into deep thought.
This strategy was so clever. It appeared to be just a simple fan appreciation event, but it resulted in increased traffic, renewed popularity, and even established a “fan-loving” image in the public eye. It was killing three birds with one stone.
Who was behind Xia Wansheng, guiding him?
“Wansheng, get some good rest these few days, make sure you get enough sleep. Your schedule will be packed with endorsements and engagements in a few days.” As soon as he arrived at the company in the morning, Ji Yang deliberately called Xia Wansheng at the office entrance, attracting the attention of passersby.
See, this was what it meant to rise from the ashes.
That five million was well spent.
Ji Yang asked himself, even if he had another five million, he couldn’t replicate this move.
“Understood, Brother Yang.” Xia Wansheng, with dark circles under his eyes, agreed.
He had stayed up all night trying to revive his songwriting career, but the tutorials were all style over substance, teaching only superficial techniques, not the real skills.
Xia Wansheng learned until he was dizzy, but in the end, he still couldn’t write anything decent.
If he brought this level of songwriting to the program, he wouldn’t even need haters to target him. Anyone with ears would know he couldn’t compose.
