Chapter 354

People in the music industry all know that for a song to become a classic of an era, it's not enough for the song itself to be good; it also requires the right timing, the right place, and the right people.

So, what kind of song can trigger a nationwide craze of singing along?

One is a sudden, serendipitous explosion in popularity; the other is a "carpet-bombing" style of promotion by mainstream media.

After experiencing a few days of buzz on social media, *Green Apple Paradise* began to be picked up by major official media outlets, starting with *People's Entertainment*, which used Li Xiaobin's story as an entry point to derive the theme of the inheritance relationship between young people and the older generation.

From this moment on, the song was endowed with more macroscopic, broader value and significance.

When Chen Ziyan received the call from the Spring Festival Gala director team, she felt surprised and astonished on one hand, but on the other, she felt that all of this was truly a natural result of the circumstances.

*Idol Era* released its live-streaming battle report.

"It seems the Spring Festival Gala has sent invitations to the three of them, asking them to come to the Gala to sing *Green Apple Paradise*."

Next, there is *Young Battlefield*, sung by Yan Liang.

Under the heat of *Green Apple Paradise*, it seemed that not many people were paying attention to *Young Battlefield*; however, this song ranked second on the playback and download charts across all major music platforms, and internal data showed that the majority of the listeners for this song were young people between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two.

However, the ones that truly broke out of their circles were *Green Apple Paradise* and *Young Battlefield*; the former covered all age groups, while the latter penetrated the student demographic.

The Beijing TV station had this idea, and knowing that Lu Yan He would definitely be difficult to communicate with, they spoke directly to Hou Jun, actually wanting to work through him to get Lu Yan He on board.

Lu Yan He said, "I actually have it all in my heart."

"Do we really need their permission to appear as the six of us under the name *Friends*?" Lu Yan He asked incredulously.

Lu Yan He said, "Fine, next time there's a suitable song, we'll come to your show to perform."

"Hou Dao, this stage was designed for *Idol Era* from the very beginning." That was all he could say.

Chen Zi heard his heart seemingly fall into a bottomless abyss, filled only with the sound of biting wind.

Northern Lights Video building, Hou Jun's office.

"Then, the second question arises: in this situation, when you completely rejected the private overtures from Beijing TV in the early stages—regardless of who came—you made your attitude clear. In the eyes of Beijing TV, you are clearly refusing to resolve the grudge with them, right?" Chen Ziyan said. "In this case, as a community of interests, even if it was Station Chief Li who did the underhanded things in the beginning, you still became the person standing on the opposite side of them, right?"

Lu Yan He thought for a long while and decided to have a serious talk with Chen Ziyan.

After hearing Lu Yan He finish talking about this matter, Chen Ziyan was silent for a moment and asked, "Yan He, do you know where the biggest knot between you and Beijing TV lies right now?"

Hou Jun nodded, "Everything is communicated. Besides you all singing the theme song of *Friends* together, we have an interactive segment on site."

"You have strong momentum right now: in music, you have the nationwide hit *Green Apple Paradise*; in film and television, you have the phenomenal *Friends*; and for future growth, you have a work like *Three Mountains* that makes the entertainment industry hold high hopes for you. Even if you aren't qualified to be an opponent who can arm-wrestle them, you are qualified to not give a damn about them. Now, standing from their perspective, think about it: after *Friends* aired, your first public appearance together is not on Beijing TV—what will they think?"

This live-streaming night's battle report, however, caused great dissatisfaction among Ma Zhiyuan's fans.

"Oh, that's true." Lu Yan He fell into deep thought.

That's right; Ma Zhiyuan's solo stage evaluation was actually very high, and his voting ranking was also very high. Even Lu Yan He and Li Zhibai's solo stages were not as high as his. It was just that the group stage was too poor—according to the "1+1>2" theory, their ranking should have been higher than the solo stage votes due to the combined strength of both sides' fans. It was completely Chen Zi's appearance that dragged Ma Zhiyuan down!

They ignored Yan Liang's solo stage ranking and shifted their fire, questioning who arranged for Ma Zhiyuan to have such a lackluster, drag-down guest collaborator like Chen Zi.

Chen Ziyan's question felt like a blow to the head for Lu Yan He.

"We are the ones who have been refusing to join the sequel," Chen Ziyan said. "Even if Beijing TV has made ten thousand mistakes, they will never admit to one. So, the question is, Yan He, do you want to hold a grudge against Station Chief Li alone to the end, or do you want to keep giving Beijing TV the cold shoulder like this?"

Lu Yan He shook his head and said, "I don't know, if you aren't talking about the grudge between me and them."

Especially in these last few days, the proportion of fourteen-year-old listeners has continued to rise.

Except for Yan Liang and Wen Minglan, the other three also viewed Lu Yan He as someone who had "the grace of discovery." Therefore, when Lu Yan He called them to participate in this graduation gala performance together, they basically agreed immediately.

*Green Apple Paradise* achieved a landslide first place in heat and dissemination. It became a phenomenal stage, after all, it was a stage that sparked a nationwide imitation craze.

He nodded.

"It's settled then." Hou Jun beamed. "Now let's talk about the *Friends* stage." Lu Yan He: "I've already communicated with the others. You've already communicated with their management teams, right?"

"Hou Dao, please don't look at me like that anymore, it makes me panic."

Chen Ziyan said, "You need to clarify one thing: are you upset with the entire Beijing TV station, or with Station Chief Li who was pulling strings behind the scenes? In the eyes of many, there is no difference, but I want to ask what you think in your own heart."

Lu Yan He: "..."

Ma Zhiyuan's fans compiled reviews from many overseas media and feedback from netizens into a long image, posted it online, and condemned *Idol Era* for being biased toward Lu Yan He, giving all the attention and promotional resources to Lu Yan He.

It's truly disgusting.

"Let's not have any questions about the sequel; I am very clearly not participating," Lu Yan He reminded.

"Fine, anyway, next time you three have a group stage, you must save it for me," Hou Jun said decisively. "It is absolutely impossible for me to hold a vote to decide whether you stay or go just because someone opposes you taking the stage; that would be simply desecrating your talent."

"I know," Hou Jun said. "But there is one thing: Beijing TV is preparing to let Chen Zi join the second season, did you know?"

"You can think that what they are doing is unreasonable, but from Beijing TV's perspective, that is you openly slapping them in the face," Chen Ziyan said. "Because you achieved the group appearance they couldn't. So, why do they want to arrange for Chen Zi to join? To warm up for the second season? That might be one aspect, but the most critical aspect is that Beijing TV's face cannot be stepped on by your six-person reunion. Letting Chen Zi in, on the surface, is the new-old transition between you in the first season and him in the second; deep down, it means you haven't torn your face off with Beijing TV and can still part ways amicably."

Hou Jun gritted his teeth and said, "The *Green Apple Paradise* stage could have been performed at my gala."

And soon, his agent brought him another very bad piece of news.

Hou Jun: "No director is ever satisfied; I am greedy, I want it all."

Lu Yan He couldn't help but sneer.

"It hasn't reached the point of being irreconcilable, but since such a thing has happened, I cannot just let it go lightly, act as if nothing happened, and cooperate with them without any hard feelings."

And everyone experienced the turmoil before the broadcast and the explosion of popularity after, and it could even be said that if it weren't for Lu Yan He "disappearing" throughout the entire broadcast, they wouldn't have been able to get so many promotional resources.

Hou Jun said, "Regarding this special reunion of *Friends*, I told Beijing TV that I just wanted to do the six people from the first season and didn't want to add people later. If Chen Zi wants to come, he can come after the second season airs. Otherwise, adding an extra person for no reason is something the audience who likes *Friends* won't accept; adding one more person wouldn't be the picture the audience wants to see. As a result, Beijing TV told me that if they don't let Chen Zi join, they won't allow you six to appear under the name *Friends*."

"I heard."

A major fan of Lu Yan He appeared and pulled a "Universe Shift" move: Don't come looking for trouble with Lu Yan He. If your own idol hadn't lost their mind and looked for a singer with such a bad track record like Chen Zi as a guest collaborator, maybe your idol could have contributed a stage with an influence no less than *Green Apple Paradise*. If you want to blame someone, blame your own idol for not knowing how to judge people!

Ma Zhiyuan's fans were like they had been hit by a blow to the head.

"Hmm, let me put it this way, see if you can understand. First, from the perspective of the general public, you have a grudge with Beijing TV. For an artist to have a grudge with a behemoth traditional TV station is, in a conventional sense, no different from a mayfly shaking a tree. But it just so happens that you are now in a special situation: the show *Friends* has put the huge difference between you on a scale with a concrete thing. In the eyes of the general public, Beijing TV has been pulled off its pedestal. In terms of absolute strength, they completely crush us, but in the public's perception, you are the one standing on the favorable side of public opinion. This is an important reason why they haven't privately suppressed you in various ways or even arranged for people to apologize and show goodwill to you in private."

"The future is long, and isn't the first reunion after *Friends* aired going to be on your gala soon?" Lu Yan He said. "Hou Dao, don't underestimate the influence of *Friends*."

"Also, I heard from their words that it's not just about this song; they will make one or two people unable to participate," Hou Jun said. "I said everyone's performance contracts are already finished, but that's nothing. If someone really flakes out at the last minute, there are many reasons to find. Unless the nature is really too bad, it's hard to pursue."

The actors of *Friends* were basically all related to him, or were selected through auditions he held with the directors.

Lu Yan He was driven crazy by Hou Jun's resentful tone.

Hou Jun: "If you want to sing the theme song of *Friends*, you need their consent; the copyright is in their hands."

Chen Ziyan's gaze seemed to have a piercing power for a moment.

"Huh?" Lu Yan He showed a look of surprise. First, he was surprised by Beijing TV's well-informed news, and second, he was surprised by Beijing TV's reaction.

The copyright of the theme song is one thing; the main thing is that the others all have to continue to cooperate with Beijing TV in the future. If Beijing TV really wants to stop them from appearing together, they have plenty of ways.

The two sides had a fight.

Lu Yan He was stunned.

The power of the "Exam Battle Song" was initially highlighted.

In fact, if you put aside the miraculously popular *Green Apple Paradise*, almost every stage on the live-streaming night achieved very good data performance, including the theme song of *Seventeen Layers* sung by Lu Yan He, but because the former was too popular, it covered up the heat of other stages.

Hou Jun: "But at that time, this stage almost came to me."

Lu Yan He suddenly saw the light.

Three or four seconds later, Hou Jun took the lead to break the silence.

"Beijing TV knows we want to do the *Friends* reunion, and someone from their side sent a message wanting us to bring Chen Zi along."

"Then fine, let me ask you this: putting everything aside, is it possible for you to bury the hatchet with Beijing TV?" Chen Ziyan said. "Or do you think the problem between you and Beijing TV is an irreconcilable contradiction?"

Lu Yan He looked at him, laughing and crying.

Facing a director like Hou Jun who gave him a chance in his third year of high school and let him appear on *Small Song Gathering*, Lu Yan He was actually grateful to him, especially in the subsequent contacts, he actually helped Lu Yan He a little bit more or less.

The two looked at each other with big eyes, both falling into silence.

Now it seems that if they don't bring Chen Zi, Beijing TV won't easily let the six of them appear together?

Upon analysis, they are all students who are going to take the high school entrance exam this year.

Lu Yan He sat on the sofa in his office, seeing Hou Jun look at him with a resentful expression for the nth time.

*Green Apple Paradise* is fine, but why can *Young Battlefield* also be labeled with the "breaking the circle" achievement tag?!

In fact, Ma Zhiyuan's stage really formed good influence and feedback. Especially in other Asian countries and regions, the popular *Green Apple Paradise* and *Young Battlefield* lacked the support of the Chinese language context, and the feedback in overseas regions was indeed relatively average. Instead, Ma Zhiyuan's stage with cool stage effects received very good reviews among the crowd who pay attention to idol artist performances.

People always have to learn to look at some problems rationally.

When Chen Zi saw himself being scolded onto the hot search by Ma Zhiyuan's fans, he was so angry that smoke came out of his seven orifices.

Now, Lu Yan He's fans were not having it either. They mocked: Lu Yan He is not even a resident guest of *Idol Era*, why would the show team be biased toward him? Are you blind to how popular *Green Apple Paradise* is online? If you think *Young Battlefield* is not enough to break the circle, it only means you are old. Please go to the school gate now and ask what song they listen to the most!

Lu Yan He understood that Chen Ziyan was right.

Lu Yan He understood the meaning of this sentence now.

It has nothing to do with right or wrong, nothing to do with right and wrong.

Chen Ziyan said, "Actually, if you didn't come to ask me these things, I would also think it's time to talk to you about these. We have had conflicts with Beijing TV for about half a year. To solve it, or not to solve it, now we have to make a decision."