Chapter 376: It's Over, It's All F***ing Over

The school circles of the Imperial Capital are simply this small; whenever any single family causes even a slight commotion, it easily spreads among the student bodies of all major universities.

Not to mention Peking University.

After someone let out that roar, a crowd of students, fearing they wouldn't make it in time to see the spectacle, all brought their own dry rations and small stools, heading straight for the destination, terrified that a single step late would mean no show to watch.

This morning, I had originally planned to return to my alma mater to find someone, reconnect feelings, chat about daily life, and then beg someone to help suppress the online public opinion, but now Ai Dajin, who usually carries a folding fan and pretends to be refined, has completely lost his usual air of attaching himself to the elegant—

His face, hair, and clothes were all stained with sticky egg whites and scattered egg yolks; fragments of not-so-clean eggshells were splattered everywhere on the ground, and his messy medium-length hair made him look like a homeless vagrant with no fixed abode.

The broken paper fan had fallen to the ground and shattered into pieces; his face was flushed red with anger. If it weren't for the security personnel beside him stepping in to block him, in his current state, he would absolutely have rushed out to fight the culprit to the death—

"You madman! Madman! Call the police! Call the police! Where are the police?!"

Ai Dajin, who hadn't lost his composure in public for so long, pointed at the middle-aged woman opposite him who was also being held back by many security personnel, and screamed in rage.

Think about it, after mixing in the world for so long, when has he ever suffered such humiliation?

"Call the police! Call the police! I want to see right now how you explain selling off my daughter! Call the police! Whoever doesn't call the police is a grandson!"

Wu Yajun's mother, equally agitated, continued speaking along with Ai Dajin's words, and in front of all the students who had come to watch the spectacle, she peeled back the shameless skin of this man: "This is a school; everyone present is a young person not under your control. Say it yourself!

"Back then, did you secretly sell my daughter's contract to a new music company behind her back, and then take the 150,000 yuan from selling the contract to go out and have a good time with a fox spirit?!

"Do you think you know why my daughter became depressed? Why she left such a suicide note? Why she called me to say she was sold by you?!"

Ai Dajin: "... I have already said these are two separate matters. I am also sorry for Junzi's death, but this really has nothing to do with me."

Seeing the eyes of the surrounding onlooker students turn toward him, Ai Dajin, after a moment of silence, had to speak up to explain: "Moreover, Junzi's boyfriend at the time was Wang Feng, not me. Even if you want to cause trouble, you should go find him, not me. I did nothing."

"You're lying!"

Wu Yajun's mother, with tear tracks still on her face, suddenly raised her voice: "It was you who deceived my daughter into falling in love, and it was you who deceived my daughter into getting married. She spent her whole day busy with the renovation of the wedding house just to marry you, and what about you?

"You ran to the gate of the University of International Business and Economics, met a woman surnamed Shen, fell in love with her in two days, proposed to her in less than a week, and in three months you directly got your marriage certificate!

"My daughter was still foolishly decorating the wedding house, waiting to marry you! Are you worthy of Junzi?! Three years is not as good as your three months?! You pair of dog lovers!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

Under the surrounding students' gaze, which gradually formed layers within layers, even if Ai Dajin wanted to run away, he couldn't find a gap to slip through for the moment. This led to an extremely easy-to-despise old story being brought up again, and the students, with various moods, immediately cast contemptuous glances at this disheveled "highly educated student."

Ai Dajin, who always paid attention to his own face, only felt his face burning hot; under the gaze of these strange eyes, he wished he could make that old woman shut up right there on the spot.

"Ew, how can this person be like this?"

"Good heavens, so it really happened. I was just saying Zhou Yi definitely wouldn't say that for no reason; he must have heard some wind of it."

"Damn, I actually quite liked his song 'Your Desk Mate', I never thought he would be such a scumbag?"

"..."

In this era where information was relatively closed, although Junzi's suicide had a period of discussion in the year 2000, it was quickly suppressed, and over time no one cared about all of this, until this time when someone brought up the old story again.

After Zhou Yi's statement, which made it completely impossible to taste any tea flavor, was reposted to the mainland, the matter regarding Ai Dajin and his ex-girlfriend Junzi fermented step by step with time—until today, when it was completely exploded by Junzi mother's hysteria at the university gate!

"Shocking?! Famous singer Ai Dajin is actually a hidden executioner?!"

"The Victim's Accusation! The Tragedy of the Music World!"

"Wang Feng: I miss Junzi; her personality was somewhat melancholic"

"..."

Cooperating with the fermentation of the influence of the school gate incident, Warner, which had been guiding public opinion step by step to today, directly released the long-planned report, almost making Ai Dajin, who had lost a huge face at the door of his alma mater, faint from anger—

Damn it, do you Wang Feng still have a face to say you miss her?!

Shouldn't you be the first person responsible?!

Why is it that when you broke up with Junzi nothing happened, but when I broke up with Junzi I had to be verbally condemned and written against?!

Ai Dajin, who had briefly torn with Wang Feng over this matter back in 2000, finally understood what "public opinion can melt metal" meant this time.

Under the pressure of online public opinion caused by the egg incident, on the 17th, even traditional media channels no longer remained silent, and all joined in this struggle against him—

Imperial Capital Youth Daily: "Artists Must Have Artistic Morality"

Legal Evening News: "The Entertainment Circle Is Not a Place Beyond the Law, Please Speak and Act Cautiously"

Beijing Times: "People with Base Conduct Often Jealous of People with Noble Conduct"

"..."

To speak reasonably, Ai Dajin did not expect that bringing up this old tune again this time would cause such a huge commotion. He originally thought it would just be a fuss on the internet, but as a result, even semi-official newspapers got involved, almost scaring him to death.

Sina, still fighting internally, seeing that the situation was uncontrollable, directly announced to the outside world that it would immediately dismiss Ai Dajin from all his positions within the company, completing the separation with him at the first opportunity!

"No, President Duan, you can't burn the bridge after crossing the river."

To avoid being recognized on the street and having rotten eggs thrown at him again, Ai Dajin, who was hiding directly at home, suppressed his anger and communicated with Sina's people.

"This is not burning the bridge after crossing the river; someone wants to deal with you. If you know what's good for you, you'd better admit defeat yourself."

On the other end of the phone, Duan Yongji was silent for a while, and finally handed over a word about "aftermath": "Relying solely on Warner's side is not enough to trigger so many newspapers to get involved; they were probably just waiting for Zhou Yi's personal attitude all along."

"But I—"

Beep...

Before Ai Dajin could finish speaking, the phone was directly hung up.

After he sat on the sofa scratching his head for several minutes, his friend Song Ke's phone call also came through, concise and to the point in one sentence—

"I'm in trouble too."

November 17, 2002, Sunday.

Warner (China) Records issued a formal public announcement: Song Ke, the company's Deputy General Manager and Music Director, has been removed from all his positions for violating relevant company agreements, and his equity has been reclaimed.

At the same time, Warner (China) Records will formally sue Song Ke and the Taihe Media behind him for the crime of infringing on trade secrets.

"... It's over, it's all f***ing over..."

The moment he heard this result from Song Ke's mouth, Ai Dajin collapsed onto the sofa, his gaze somewhat dull.

Of course, Warner might not necessarily win the lawsuit, but clearly, after weighing the pros and cons, Warner would rather spend money dragging out Song Ke and Taihe Media than risk offending Zhou Yi.

"What? Song Ke has been removed from his post? And is going to be prosecuted? Ai Dajin is disgraced and being hounded by everyone, removed from all positions at every company under his name? And on top of that, he has to pay a hefty sum in breach-of-contract damages?"

Hong Kong. After attending the Emperor Entertainment Group banquet, Zhou Yi had the half-drunk Cai Zuoyan tucked in his arms as he staggered down a deserted alley, planning to take a shortcut back to the car. But the instant he picked up Qian Jiang's call, Zhou Yi, who had been walking toward the alley's exit, froze on the spot.

Good lord, Song Ke and Ai Dajin actually got taken down like this?

After the call ended, the screen lighting up suddenly illuminated Cai Zuoyan's eyes.

"Mm? What's wrong? You want to do it here?"

The woman, who had played drinking games far too happily tonight, opened her drowsy eyes, giggled, wrapped her arms around the man's neck, rose on her tiptoes, pouted her lips, and planted a kiss on Zhou Yi's cheek: "I never would've guessed you had such a unique little hobby."

"?"

Zhou Yi, who had merely been standing still to take the call, turned his head to glance at the woman whose cheeks had gone rosy, his expression strange: "You're drunk. Let me take you home first."

The next morning, Xiao Yaxuan, who was doing a fan meet-and-greet in Taiwan, Sun Yanzi, who was doing a book signing on the mainland, and Cheng Hao, who was currently filming her scenes for "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," all saw a sensational headline put out by the Hong Kong media—

"Triumphant and Proud, Zhou Yi Rides His New Flame in a Dark Alley!"

The accompanying photo showed the hazy silhouettes of Cai Zuoyan and Zhou Yi standing facing each other in the alley, with the woman's hand faintly visible hooking around the man's neck.

And beside the photo of the two of them, the Hong Kong media also ran a headshot of Fan Xiaopang trying on her Wu Zetian costume.

"I'm out here running myself ragged doing promotion, and you're riding your new flame???"

Sun Yanzi, her head full of question marks, was grinding her back teeth nearly to dust, and for a moment couldn't tell whether it was out of jealousy or just… jealousy.

(End of chapter)