Chapter 140: Zhou Miao, Get Out of the Entertainment Industry!

"I'm planning to launch Rainbow's IPO within five years..."

You have to hand it to Zuo Qiu; she was increasingly looking the part of a rising capitalist these days.

In casual conversation, she would effortlessly throw around plans to gather the four top-tier trending stars, span her company's empire across film, television, music, and variety shows, prepare for a listing on the New Third Board, and beat Wave while kicking Boulder out of the way. She left An Qi completely dumbfounded.

Zhou Miao, a shareholder of the company, just smiled without a word. He knew Rainbow's current situation inside and out. Although their upward momentum was fierce, they still had a very, very long way to go before any IPO.

Out of everything Zuo Qiu had just said, only one sentence was somewhat reliable: Rainbow indeed spanned film, television, music, and variety shows. Although apart from music, everything else could only be considered a slight dabble, you couldn't deny that they spanned it.

Under Zuo Qiu's ultimate brainwashing, Rainbow held a press conference that very afternoon and signed the contract with An Qi.

The reporters who arrived at the scene were utterly stunned when An Qi appeared. The internal strife within Gray Sky was no secret in the industry, and they all knew both sides were fighting to recruit An Qi. Yet, in the end, An Qi actually chose Rainbow?

It was as if two wealthy heirs had fought tooth and nail for the goddess, only for the goddess to end up marrying a passing penniless nobody.

This explosive news was undoubtedly a depth charge dropped into the entertainment industry.

As Rainbow's major shareholder, Tencent was grinning from ear to ear. Zuo Qiu's move was simply miraculous; she had quietly signed a top-tier star without making a sound, and now Rainbow's valuation was set to skyrocket once again!

However, during the press conference, a reporter raised a sharp question: "Miss An Qi, who do you think is the top sister of Rainbow between you and Zhao Li?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the venue fell instantly silent. If An Qi joined Rainbow, the person most affected would undoubtedly be Zhao Li. Although their stylistic positioning differed, as two popular female singers, their demands for resources in many areas overlapped.

Facing this question, An Qi felt a bit awkward, but her quick reaction saved the moment. "Uh, as far as Rainbow is concerned, it doesn't matter who the top sister is, because the soul of Rainbow will always be just one person: Zhou Miao."

An Qi's high-EQ response won warm applause. It not only sidestepped the sensitive question but also cleverly buttered up Zhou Miao. She even felt like patting herself on the back.

"Hmph, flatterer."

Zhao Li turned off the live stream and tossed her phone aside. She and An Qi were old acquaintances who had crossed paths many times on various variety shows.

However, the two of them simply belonged to that incompatible type whose magnetic fields clashed. The atmosphere was always extremely discordant whenever they met, and rumors of their feud had long circulated within fandom circles.

Now that An Qi had joined Rainbow, the fans of both sides were endlessly arguing over who the true top sister of Rainbow really was.

Late at night, Zhou Miao was fretting over the lyrics on his desk. Tomorrow, he would be heading to record the second round of "Southern Melodies and Northern Rhymes," and writing a brand-new song from scratch was definitely out of the question.

Yet, he couldn't just ignore his hometown's request either, so he had no choice but to put in extra effort with the lyrics.

...

The next day, at the show's recording site.

Gu Xi sidled over to scout for information. "How is it, little Zhou? What local specialty did you write about? Don't tell me it's the Three White Delicacies of Taihu Lake?"

Zhou Miao smiled brightly and said, "Spot on, it's the Three White Delicacies of Taihu Lake. What did you write about? Don't tell me it's smog?"

"Heh, you actually guessed it. It's the specialty of our old northern region—smog."

The older man and the younger one bantered back and forth, neither of them speaking a single word of truth.

Meanwhile, the showdown between Zhang Tuo and Tan Yue had already begun. Zhou Miao glanced over inadvertently, then suddenly furrowed his brow. What on earth was Zhang Tuo wearing?

As soon as Zhang Tuo stepped onto the stage, before his performance even began, the audience below burst into rolling waves of laughter.

Because what he was wearing was none other than the fiercely popular Zhou Miao slogan t-shirt sold online, printed entirely with classic quotes and golden phrases from the entertainment industry's renowned linguistic artist, Zhou Miao. Just standing on stage wearing this garment was already an off-the-charts display of output.

The production assistant helplessly said to the director, "I already tried to persuade Zhang Tuo, but he simply refuses to change his clothes."

The director had a massive headache as well. Zhou Miao's profanity t-shirt definitely couldn't be broadcast; the negative impact would be too poor.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let's do this for now. If worse comes to worst, I'll just mosaic it in post-production."

"Hahahaha!" The few veteran old men in the lounge were also laughing uncontrollably. Zhou Miao's slogan t-shirts were indeed hilarious.

Zhang Tuo was an eccentric fellow. Approaching fifty years old, he had deliberately chased the latest trends and written a rap song—a genre he had never attempted before.

Since he was not a professional rapper, he didn't chase after fast pacing or rhymes, focusing instead on the song's intrinsic momentum and rhythm.

To achieve the best possible effect, Zhang Tuo had even specially studied Zhou Miao's songs like "Nunchucks" and "Ninja," drawing heavily on their rhythms and phrasing breaks.

The final presentation was a breath of fresh air that amazed everyone, scoring an impressive 92.5.

Next, Tan Yue took the stage. The moment the song title appeared, Zhou Miao's mind went blank, while Gu Xi spat a mouthful of tea right into Lu Jinping's face.

Song Title: "Zhou Miao, Get Out of the Entertainment Industry." Composer: Tan Yue. Lyricist: Zhou Miao.

While Zhang Tuo had worn Zhou Miao's profanity on his body, Tan Yue was even more outrageous. He had directly turned Zhou Miao's profanities used in online disputes with anti-fans into a song, and with a strong sense of copyright awareness, he had even filled in Zhou Miao's name under the lyricist column.

When southerners argue, could there possibly be anyone more representative than Zhou Miao?

Zhou Miao was left questioning his life choices, and asked with a bewildered expression, "Did they draw 'Arguments' or 'Zhou Miao' as the theme for this second round?"

Gu Xi laughed merrily and said, "Aren't they the exact same thing?"

The assistant asked the director, "Can this song be broadcast?"

The director was also left speechless, and with a sense of self-abandonment, said, "Broadcast it, broadcast it all. Broadcast every bit of it. Bad influence or not, whatever. It's a web-variety show anyway."

The original intention of including the "arguments" theme was hoping they would write about the differences between regional disputes, but these two stubborn fellows insisted on using Zhou Miao as the benchmark. It was truly bizarre.

Tan Yue understood that there were many inappropriate elements in the lyrics, so he had deliberately modified some of them. However, in the eyes of the audience, this actually stripped Zhou Miao's classic quotes of their true soul.

In the end, Tan Yue's "Zhou Miao, Get Out of the Entertainment Industry" scored only 89 points, narrowly losing to Zhang Tuo.

The second group for today was the showdown between Zhou Miao and Gu Xi.

Gu Xi stepped onto the stage, and the song title surfaced: "The North Welcomes You."

Another wave of roaring laughter erupted from the audience. What was going on today? Everyone was playing into Zhou Miao's memes.

However, to everyone's surprise, this turned out to be a love song.

The song cataloged various well-known northern specialties, but the lyrics concluded with the line: The north has everything, except the trace of your figure.

In the end, Gu Xi's "The North Welcomes You" scored 92 points, which was considered a very high score.

Zhao Tianxiang patted Zhou Miao on the shoulder. "Old Tan has already lost. You'd better pull your weight."

Zhou Miao straightened his clothes. It was finally his turn to take the stage.