Gu Shiying ground the tip of his tongue, picked up the phone, and turned away, desperately trying to quell his irritation. Then, he mustered a smile for Yang Shuheng.
“Found a phone.”
He immediately stood up and went to sit at Yang Shuheng’s desk. One more second near Fu Huan and he would have suffocated.
What breed of thick-skinned creature is Fu Huan? Wearing a face so indifferent you’d think he wanted to be worlds away from everyone, yet his mind is teeming with desire.
Liang Qi also pulled a phone from the other box. “We found another one.”
Next came the tasks: charging the old phones, finding the chat logs, taking screenshots and recording videos of the key conversations. Then Guan Yu organized all the information chronologically, cross-referencing it with the performances. A compelling, evidence-based case was assembled.
This was the leverage Yang Shuheng would use to negotiate with them. If this hundred-page PDF were ever released, this band would basically be finished.
Although Yang Shuheng had to handle this himself, Gu Shiying saw that his roommates were no pushovers. Guan Yu was a talent. Just a sophomore law student, yet he already possessed his own logical framework, even demonstrating the debate skills necessary for a courtroom.
Looking at the densely packed, rigorously structured PDF, Gu Shiying couldn’t help but praise him. “Brother Guan, you’re amazing.”
Guan Yu calmly pushed his glasses up his nose. “Basic skill for a law student. Nothing worth mentioning.”
Yang Shuheng grabbed Guan Yu by the neck, once again moved by his roommates. “Brother Guan, what would I do without you?”
Liang Qi interrupted their mutual admiration session. “What’s the next step?”
After the fight video was released, Yang Shuheng, heeding their advice, hadn’t immediately confronted his former bandmates. But this was the first time Yang Shuheng had faced such a situation, and he was actually leaning on Gu Shiying the most.
Gu Shiying had been the one throughout to point out the abnormalities in his bandmates’ behavior towards him, helping him analyze what was off.
“Ying’er, what do you think we should do next?”
Gu Shiying had already formed a plan. “Simple. Strike the snake at its seven-inch vital spot. Hit them where they care the most. Didn’t you say they were about to sign with a management company, aiming for regular commercial gigs like music festivals?”
It was obvious to all of them that Yang Shuheng and his former bandmates weren’t cut from the same cloth. He had the looks of a true idol, and he was a music major. The others, each rough in their own way, couldn’t match his star potential. They were simply on completely different paths.
It was clear now: the vocalist had recruited Yang Shuheng initially as a temporary measure, motivated by the young master’s generosity. They’d used him to get through their tough times and then planned to kick him out. Yang Shuheng had never been truly accepted by them and never truly fit into their band.
Yang Shuheng: “That’s right.”
Gu Shiying: “Has the management company been in contact with you directly?”
Yang Shuheng: “They approached me privately, asking if I wanted to sign. I thought at the time, if we’re signing, we should all sign together, so I didn’t agree.”
Gu Shiying: “Use that as leverage. Threaten them with it to get back what they owe you.”
Yang Shuheng: “Will that really work?”
Gu Shiying: “I’m not an expert on the entertainment industry. But any band with a scandal is a ticking time bomb. Otherwise, why would they have made you leave the band carrying the blame, instead of calmly negotiating a peaceful exit? Maybe they’re afraid you’ll bring up old debts once they get famous. But that’s just my personal speculation.”
Gu Shiying also couldn’t understand why they hadn’t just talked it out. Why choose a losing situation over a win-win outcome?
Guan Yu also felt indignant for Yang Shuheng. “They are truly heartless towards you.”
Liang Qi: “If you ask me, we should just secretly beat them up to vent some anger.”
Guan Yu: “We can’t do that. There are surveillance cameras everywhere. Hard to avoid being recorded. It would just be detrimental to Yang Shuheng.”
Liang Qi: “I said secretly. Find a random locker room, throw a sack over their heads, beat ’em up, and run.”
Gu Shiying: “You sound very experienced.”
Liang Qi gave a mischievous glance towards Fu Huan, whose gaze hadn’t left Gu Shiying the entire time. Caught, Fu Huan shot him an icy warning look.
Liang Qi laughed loudly. “Just joking.”
Gu Shiying: “Okay, let’s continue.”
They finally devised a plan, and Yang Shuheng agreed it was workable.
Quite a few people knew Yang Shuheng had joined this band. With his outgoing personality and many friends, his phone had been buzzing nonstop with concerned messages ever since the incident blew up.
Dorm 504 was a hive of activity all day.
By evening, Yang Shuheng sent the evidence his roommates had helped compile to the vocalist. They had their first phone call since the fallout, even putting it on speakerphone while Guan Yu recorded it.
Yang Shuheng: “Brother Si De, I just can’t figure out why you guys targeted me like this? Wasn’t there anything we couldn’t have just talked about openly? Did it really have to come to this?”
The vocalist: “We felt we had no choice. Circumstances forced our hand.”
Yang Shuheng: “Anyway you look at it, you were using me from the very beginning, right? You guys had just arrived here with no money, living in a basement. What you called ‘band funds’ was really just improving your own quality of life. And now that you’re good, you want to ascend, so you just throw me away.”
The person who replied this time was Brother Stone. “Yeah, that’s exactly what we thought. Yang Shuheng, you’re too much of a rich young master. We all had to cater to you. Are we your servants or something? Got a problem with that?”
Hearing this, the color drained from Yang Shuheng’s face. His heart went completely cold. Just last night, they were eating together, Brother Stone actively livening up the mood to avoid awkwardness. And now he was saying it was all just catering to him. What a joke.
Gu Shiying watched Yang Shuheng go from feigned calm to almost crying. He couldn’t even bear to listen anymore and took the initiative to speak for Yang Shuheng.
He had no emotional attachment to these people. “People who scheme against others and spend their money have the nerve to be picky? Never seen anyone this shameless.”
Brother Stone: “Oh, it’s Little Gu. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
Gu Shiying: “We’re not close. My friend has already sent over the bill of accounts. Let’s keep this strictly business. Hand over the performance fees you owe. Reimburse him for the various meal expenses. There’s nothing more to discuss. You’re not worthy.”
The bassist: “But he paid for those meals willingly! Why should we have to pay them back?”
Gu Shiying: “Did you enjoy leeching off a rich kid? He doesn’t even smoke, yet he had to go buy you cigarettes at the supermarket, didn’t he? I’ve seen shameless people before, but never anyone as shameless as you lot.”
The bassist fell silent, because that was exactly the truth.
Gu Shiying continued his verbal assault. “Oh, by the way, we also have a lot of very interesting videos here. If necessary, we can release them too. If we’re going down, we’ll all go down together. Us dumb college guys, the ones you look down on, we’re capable of anything. After all, our A-Heng really is just a college guy.”
Gu Shiying tore into them one by one. The other side was verbally pummeled into silence.
It didn’t matter if he was the one swearing. Even if the other side was recording, it was useless. If Yang Shuheng ever became famous one day, this recording wouldn’t hurt him.
Gu Shiying didn’t hear a response. He winked at Guan Yu.
Guan Yu cleared his throat, deepened his voice, and continued. “I am Yang Shuheng’s legal representative. I will be handling all future communications with you. You can choose to settle this privately or go through legal procedures.”
After a long silence on the other end, the vocalist spoke up to respond. “We’ll settle this privately. The performance fees and the various band expenses Xiao Heng paid upfront will be transferred to him tomorrow.”
Gu Shiying and Guan Yu shared a high-five. They had successfully concluded the negotiation for Yang Shuheng, who was too choked up to speak himself. The combined effort had a remarkable effect, proving even easier than they’d imagined.
Gu Shiying gently patted Yang Shuheng. “Right. You guys still owe Yang Shuheng an apology.”
Silence fell on the other end of the line.
The vocalist, perhaps genuinely feeling he had wronged Yang Shuheng, said in a very quiet voice, “Sorry, Xiao Heng.”
In the end, it was Yang Shuheng who hung up the phone. He could never forgive those people.
What was done was done. The damage was inflicted. Apologies didn’t matter anymore.
Guan Yu shook his head. “They really got off easy. A bunch of weak, irresponsible trash.”
Gu Shiying: “Agreed.”
Grrrrrrr…
No one knew whose stomach growled first.
Gu Shiying rubbed his belly. “Crap, we haven’t even had dinner.”
Yang Shuheng waved a grand gesture, a smile of release finally appearing on his face. “Dinner’s on me tonight! Order whatever you want!”
Guan Yu rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Then I want Quzhou cuisine! I love their braised duck head. Savory and spicy, with an ice-cold Coke. Insanely good.”
Yang Shuheng: “I know that place. Their signature fish is supposed to be amazing too. Brother Huan, what do you guys think?”
Fu Huan: “Anything’s fine.”
Liang Qi glanced at Fu Huan again, winking at him once more. “I’m not a picky eater.”
Yang Shuheng: “Let’s go, move out!”
Going downstairs, Fu Huan, while the others weren’t looking, kicked Liang Qi.
Liang Qi: “What was that for?”
Fu Huan warned him, “Don’t say anything weird later.”
Liang Qi made a zipping motion across his lips. “I’ll shut up, okay? But speaking of which, I thought you never ate fish.”
Fu Huan stuck his thumbs in his pockets and gave him a cold look. “I told you, don’t say anything weird.”
Liang Qi laughed loudly. “Ah, but your drama is one I can’t miss watching.”
Fu Huan gave him his back, striding forward to walk behind Gu Shiying like a guardian deity.
At that moment, Yang Shuheng suddenly called out to a figure coming around the corner.
“Zhang Zhi!”
Gu Shiying had trouble identifying people at night. “Zhang Zhi?”
Zhang Zhi walked towards them. Next to him was a girl. It was actually Liu Wenqing.
Zhang Zhi asked them cheerfully, his joy completely unconcealed. “Ying’er, where are you guys headed?”
Seeing clearly whom Zhang Zhi was walking with, Gu Shiying was speechless. Wasn’t he supposed to stop being a bootlicker? How is he back with Liu Wenqing again?
Gu Shiying explained, “We’re going to grab dinner.”
Yang Shuheng: “My treat tonight! Have you guys eaten?”
Liu Wenqing’s eyes flicked towards Fu Huan, who was standing among them. They brightened slightly.
She deliberately put some distance between herself and Zhang Zhi and explained, in Fu Huan’s direction, “We just finished our club activity and were heading to eat.”
Yang Shuheng, completely oblivious to the “love-hate entanglements” between Zhang Zhi, Liu Wenqing, Fu Huan, and Gu Shiying, was simply in a “more people prove I’m popular” mood now. He directly invited Zhang Zhi and Liu Wenqing along.
“Come with us, come with us! We’re going for Quzhou cuisine. The more the merrier!”
Liu Wenqing was a bold, proactive girl. “Thanks. We’ll happily accept then.”
Zhang Zhi, thrilled that Liu Wenqing agreed, said happily, “No problem!”
The owner gave them a large round table, and the seven people fit perfectly.
Yang Shuheng, currently quite dependent on Gu Shiying, immediately pulled him to sit at his side.
Fu Huan took the seat on Gu Shiying’s other side. Liu Wenqing then, seemingly without intention, sat next to Fu Huan, and Zhang Zhi naturally settled down beside her.
Gu Shiying deliberately suppressed a smile, putting on a carefully constructed expression of suffering and forbearance.
He lowered his head, pretending to nervously pick at his own fingers resting on the table, feigning anxiety and tension. He was deathly afraid Fu Huan wouldn’t notice, putting everything into his self-made rumor.
Rumor successfully created. Don’t let me down!
