Chapter 50: The Invitation from Huaxia Blog

"These two songs were also written for me by someone else…"

Upon hearing Cheng Chen's words, netizens first stared blankly, caught completely off guard by his final sentence.

When they finally processed it, those seated before their computers began shaking with laughter, until they threw their heads back and roared.

"Incredible, boss is truly incredible!"

"There's even this kind of move hahaha! Is this not a power move to shut critics up?!"

"Now I want to see who dares say boss's songs are ghostwritten!"

The comment section kept refreshing nonstop; Cheng Chen's blog once again experienced a comment explosion.

You all said I hired someone to write my lyrics and melodies? Then this time, no more guessing—I'll confess myself:

I hired someone else to ghostwrite two more songs! Same style as before: rock infused with folk, and just as profound in theme.

Everyone understood that Cheng Chen was using self-mockery to refute the rumors about ghostwriting.

Worse still, Cheng Chen had another slick move.

Suddenly, people noticed a particularly glaring comment beneath the blog analyzing whether "Blue Lotus" was ghostwritten:

"I'm done pretending—I'm admitting it! I'm the one who ghostwrote the lyrics and melodies for Cheng Chen! I heard he's still refusing to admit he had someone write for him—what a trash singer, I'm supporting the boycott!"

Just as Cheng Chen's fans were about to sharpen their keyboards for a counterattack, they suddenly widened their eyes.

The commenter's ID was written as "Cheng Chen," followed by large bold letters: "Officially Verified."

Holy hell—he didn't even get enough of self-exposing in his own video; now he's self-boycotting on someone else's blog!

This move is called: I boycott myself!

"Laughed to death—I never thought Cheng Chen was like this!"

"Could his account be hacked? How could he possibly call himself garbage?!"

"I'm in love, I'm in love—boss is too funny! I'm subscribed!"

In 2002, the internet was still limited to buzzwords like "GG," "MM," and "surfing the web"—no one had ever seen internet memes from the future.

Cheng Chen refuted rumors through self-deprecation, unlike other celebrities who either cowered into silence or sent legal threats.

This witty, humorous counterattack instantly dazzled people and earned Cheng Chen a massive wave of new casual fans.

But that wasn't all—he posted another image on his blog: a screenshot from his video, with text edited onto it: "Heard someone wants to boycott me??? "

This was probably the early internet's first meme.

Cheng Chen's series of moves left netizens scalp-tingly stunned—they never imagined the internet could be played this way!

Immediately, the video Cheng Chen posted today was reposted across all major video platforms, and offline entertainment magazines also published reports on today's events.

"Singer Cheng Chen Makes Debut, Storms the Internet with Two New Songs!"

"Shatters Rumors: Cheng Chen Wins Over Netizens with Talent!!!"

"Shocking: The Person Ghostwriting Cheng Chen's Lyrics Is Him!"

The internet in this era was still underdeveloped; the public obtained information almost exclusively through magazines, newspapers, and TV broadcasts.

Many who saw Cheng Chen suddenly trending on the front page thought something terrible had happened—only after reading did they learn the full story.

Especially Cheng Chen's series of slick moves delighted readers, who cried out in amusement; those intrigued rushed to internet cafés to passionately debate beneath his blog.

What Cheng Chen didn't expect was that his rising online popularity caused a sharp drop in sales for Beijing Entertainment News.

The reason? That meme his fans were feverishly sharing.

The meme's caption: "Heard someone wants to boycott me??? "

Netizens dug up that the cover headline of Beijing Entertainment News's previous issue was: "Boycott the Ghostwritten Garbage Singer."

Back then, readers of gossip entertainment magazines were mostly young people—highly overlapping with internet users.

Furious at the magazine's negative remarks about Cheng Chen, his fans collectively boycotted and canceled their subscriptions.

Among them was Beijing Entertainment News, since it was the first magazine to publicly boycott Cheng Chen without investigating the truth.

…

"Hello, is this Mr. Cheng Chen?"

While composing a song, Cheng Chen suddenly received a phone call.

"Hello, I'm Cheng Chen. Who's calling?"

"I'm Li Zhenyu, founder of Huaxia Blog. I'd like to invite you to dinner to discuss potential collaboration—do you have time?"

The voice on the other end sounded young, cautiously probing.

Cheng Chen paused briefly, then replied:

"No problem. I'm free all day today."

"Great. Let's meet at noon at the Feicui Hotel near Guomao. I'll text you the room number shortly."

Hearing Cheng Chen agree, the other party clearly exhaled in relief, speaking slowly.

After hanging up, Cheng Chen tidied up and took a taxi to Guomao.

Feicui Jiudian.

Cheng Chen found the room according to the SMS address, opened the door, and saw a man with gold-rimmed glasses and a refined demeanor seated beside the dining table.

"Mr. Cheng, hello. I'm Li Zhenyu."

The man warmly stepped forward to shake Cheng Chen's hand, excitedly saying:

"I'm your fan—especially your 'Blue Lotus' and yesterday's 'Once Upon a Time' on your blog. Listening to them truly left me awestruck. I haven't heard music this perfect in ages."

"Hehe, Manager Li, hello. I'm also a loyal user of your blog—I just registered yesterday and posted three updates. The blog has truly enriched our netizens' lives."

Mutual flattery? Who doesn't know how to do that?

Whether Manager Li genuinely liked his music didn't matter—complimenting the other person's product was always safe.

Indeed, upon hearing Cheng Chen's words, Li Zhenyu beamed with delight and pride:

"Blogs are undoubtedly the greatest invention of this century; while instant messaging tools certainly have their convenience and advantages, the atmosphere of blogs is absolutely beyond what instant messaging tools can achieve."

"Is the instant messaging tool Mr. Li is referring to the Penguin owned by Ma Zong of Shencheng?"

Cheng Chen followed along with the other's words.

Three years ago, the Penguin had just been sued for infringement by ICQ's parent company, Miguo Online, and was ordered to change its name; Mark Gor, thinking on his feet, renamed OICQ as QQ.

After the name change, the Penguin grew rapidly, and by March of this year, its online users had surpassed three million.

By September next year, the Penguin's registered users would surge directly to two hundred million.

Today is the wild growth era of the internet, with websites sprouting up like mushrooms after rain, yet as early as 2000,

the U. S. Nasdaq Composite Index, dominated by technology stocks, suffered a severe setback, with the index continuously declining.

The internet economic crisis erupted fully, leaving the entire internet industry shrouded in gloom and biting cold.

After the global tech and internet bubble burst in 2000, China's internet pioneers Xinliang, Sogou, and Zhuchang also struggled badly.

According to statistics, between March 2000 and October 2002, internet companies lost approximately five trillion U. S. dollars in market value.

Although this internet winter has just begun to show signs of receding, the internet companies that just suffered massive losses are still far from thriving.

Including the man before him, Li Zhenhua, and his Huaxia Blog.

…