Chapter 30: Bizarre National Conditions

It was the second day that Avex Entertainment responded to this incident. Although a night had passed, the netizens' anger had not diminished in the slightest.

Whether it was the injustice Luo Quan suffered or the deception the netizens were subjected to, Avex Entertainment needed to come out and give an explanation.

Avex's public relations department and director also hadn't slept all night, and after discussing for a long time, they finally came up with a solution.

At 10:00 AM, Avex's director held a press conference, clarifying and apologizing for the incident in front of dozens of reporters and media.

The director's expression was solemn; his face, which hadn't slept all night, was full of melancholy wrinkles. His hair was still neat, but the stubble on his chin made him look very haggard.

He first bowed deeply to the camera for a long time, and then threw all the blame on the staff member who had originally contacted Luo Quan.

Avex's director told reporters that this was all something that staff member had done on their own, and the company was actually unaware of it. Now that it had caused so much trouble for everyone and caused such great harm to Miss Sister Quan Shui, he truly felt extremely sorry.

At the same time, he also blamed himself, saying that he, as the director, had not fulfilled his duties, had not noticed the subordinate's behavior in time, and had not done a good job in employee moral construction, which was a great dereliction of duty.

As he spoke, this middle-aged man, nearly forty years old, actually cried sadly. The crying was full of a man's panic and helplessness when facing a midlife crisis and the risk of unemployment.

Seeing Avex's director in tears, the reporters' solemn expressions finally softened.

In Japan, making a mistake is not terrible; admitting it in time means there is still a chance for salvation. And if one can cry while making a mistake, it is the best way to gain public understanding.

Given the amount of "water" shed by the Avex director, I suspect half of the netizens who were pressuring him would feel a sense of mercy and choose to forgive him, and even if the other half remained angry, their rage would surely be diminished quite a bit.

This bizarre phenomenon is actually caused by Japan's national conditions. Everyone is keen on apologizing, feeling that once an apology is made, the problem can be solved and forgiveness can be won.

It is worth mentioning that an apology is not equal to admitting a mistake, nor is it equal to truly reflecting on this matter. It is just because the matter has been exposed that they have no choice but to use the method of apology to calm public opinion.

Moreover, Avex's director was distancing himself from the relationship from beginning to end, throwing the blame on some unknown employee, and only kept expressing apologies to Luo Quan and netizens, mentioning nothing else.

The sincerity was sufficient, but what about the handling of the involved personnel? Not seen. And the reporters and media obviously didn't care. Everyone knew that this unknown employee was pulled out as a scapegoat. Knowing that he was a scapegoat was enough. Since he apologized and cried so sincerely, he could be forgiven.

Thus, the press conference ended, and the news and Twitter immediately played this video. The netizens' anger was calmed, everything settled, and it was another peaceful and beautiful day.

Luo Quan saw the comments from netizens saying "choose to forgive him" below Avex's director's apology video, and she was directly stunned on the spot.

Wasn't she the victim? Wasn't Avex the culprit? What about the results of the handling of the relevant personnel who brought the rhythm to her? Was it just settled with a few light 'sorry's and two drops of tears?

What the hell!

Yesterday, she was cyber-bullied by 'black' fans with high intensity all day, with all kinds of foul language emerging one after another. Her record sales plummeted, and her ranking on the Oricon chart was almost squeezed out of the top three. All these grievances were just dismissed by a mere apology video.

What's outrageous is that she hadn't even spoken yet, and these netizens were scrambling to forgive Avex. Who do these people think they are? She was clearly the only victim of this incident!

What's even more outrageous is that some people actually inexplicably ran to her Weibo to post comments, feeling that she should also apologize.

The reason is that such a big thing happened today, involving so many people in this public opinion battle, which really caused great trouble for everyone. Reasonably and emotionally, she should stand up and say a few words.

From the perspective of Japanese culture, it's actually no big deal for Luo Quan to apologize. Even apologizing as a victim can win sympathy and successfully stand on the moral high ground.

However, Luo Quan is a genuine Chinese person who believes in the code of conduct of 'paying debts with money and paying for lives with lives.' She wasn't the one who was wrong, so why should she apologize?

She was already full of anger, and as soon as this comment came out, Luo Quan exploded immediately.

She immediately posted a tweet:

"Before, you scolded me, and I didn't say a word, letting you use language to humiliate me. Now the truth has come to light, the culprit has been found, and few of the people who scolded me have apologized to me. Instead, you want me to apologize.

I just want to ask one question: Why? Because your skin is thicker than a steel plate? Turn off your computers and take a good look at your faces on the screen. It's truly disgusting!"

Because she considered her artist image, Luo Quan couldn't use profanity and couldn't scold to her heart's content, but at least she spoke her mind.

This tweet was destined to attract an unknown number of 'craftsman trolls' to besiege her, and Luo Quan was too lazy to pay attention to these losers in the real world.

I said one thing wrong just now. Besides herself, the fans who defended her were actually victims too.

In this incident, no matter how the trolls and passersby attacked her, her fans never left her side, helping her clarify, explain, and fight the trolls, and they were all spontaneous.

As the saying goes, the peak produces hypocritical onlookers, and the dusk witnesses true apostles. Although Luo Quan hasn't debuted for long, the stickiness of her fans is quite high. Only a few people have unfanned. After this wave of sand-washing, Luo Quan's fans will only be more loyal to her.

And for these fans, Luo Quan has already thought of a way to report back.

Thank-you handshake meetings, fan meetings, and the like will definitely have to be arranged later, but she can complete one gift now.

"I'm going out for a while." Luo Quan stood up and walked to the entrance.

Wen Xia raised her head curiously: "Where are you going in the middle of the night?"

Luo Quan was putting on her shoes and said without raising her head: "Going to the company to record a song."

Wen Xia looked puzzled: "I haven't seen you writing songs usually?"

Luo Quan tapped her head proudly with her index finger: "A genius's brain, no explanation needed."

"Tch!" Wen Xia gave a middle finger with disdain. "Stay safe... forget it, pretend I didn't say anything."

After going downstairs, Luo Quan dialed San Mu's phone under the dim streetlights where mosquitoes were circling:

"Hey, San Mu-kun, are you at the company now?"

"I'm still here. There's something at the company that hasn't been finished, so I have to work overtime."

"Then could you please come and pick me up? I want to record a song and release it tonight."

"No problem!" San Mu immediately put down the work in his hand and drove to Luo Quan's residence.

It took nearly forty minutes to go back and forth. At 9:00 PM, the Sony Music headquarters was still brightly lit. Working overtime is the norm in Japan, especially in large companies like Sony. The daily workload is quite large. Even ordinary employees have to leave the company after at least 10:30 PM, and management working overtime until the early morning is even more common.

And such a norm applies to almost all large and medium-sized enterprises in Japan.

When the two arrived outside the recording studio on the third floor, they happened to run into Director Shi Cun who had finished the meeting.

"Miss Sister Quan Shui, this should be our first meeting, right?" Director Shi Cun showed a kind smile when he saw Luo Quan.

Director Shi Cun was not yet forty, at the age when a man is most vigorous and full of drive. He had a shiny slicked-back hairstyle and looked even more fashionable than San Mu.

Luo Quan smiled in response: "Hello, Director Shi Cun."

Director Shi Cun joked: "It's so late, why did you suddenly come to the company? Do you also want to experience Japan's overtime culture?"

Luo Quan nodded: "You could say that. I suddenly had inspiration at home just now, so I wanted to come to the company to record a song and release it tonight."

"Really?" Director Shi Cun was both surprised and happy. "As expected of a genius girl, you have inspiration again so soon."

Luo Quan smiled: "You're too kind. It's mainly because I want to repay my fans. If it weren't for what happened this morning, I might still be lying at home now."

Director Shi Cun sighed: "The internet environment is indeed very bad now. There is no cost to say anything. Many newcomers will have depression when facing these problems. I hope you can be more cheerful, Miss Sister Quan Shui."

Luo Quan smiled: "Of course not, I am the recognized healing goddess!" ===== CHAPTER 31 =====