Chapter 59: Suppression

After what had actually been far more than a week of silence, Lin Ziyu—having slightly stepped away from the center of public opinion—gradually resumed her commercial activities.

Soon, a new wave of discourse began to circulate: that Lin Ziyu’s defeat this time should, in fact, be blamed on the producer. The lyrics and composition created by Zhao Entertainment were not strong enough.

Miss Lin Ziyu had already tried her best to salvage the performance, but in the end, she was just a tiny bit short on luck and failed to be selected.

Originally, the public wasn’t particularly interested in this explanation.

In the entertainment industry, behind-the-scenes producers have low exposure and low attention. People only remember the artists who stand in the spotlight.

So in everyone’s eyes, Lin Ziyu had simply lost to Lin Xiyue. As for how Zhao Entertainment internally distributed the blame, that was their own business. No one else really cared.

But what happened next left everyone stunned. The producer said to be Zhao Entertainment’s strongest in-house ace publicly released an apology letter.

The apology was directed at Lin Ziyu and her fans.

The general meaning was that he had made a serious mistake during the creation process, causing the lyrics to deviate from the movie’s theme.

Although Miss Lin Ziyu had greatly compensated for this flaw with her outstanding vocal skills, Director Li Yibai, adhering to rigorous artistic standards, valued lyrical relevance more highly and ignored external factors such as fan base and popularity—ultimately choosing Lin Xiyue’s version instead.

In other words, the producer took all the blame upon himself.

Both explicitly and implicitly, he suggested that Lin Ziyu’s fan count had not helped her in this competition.

Under such an inherent disadvantage, the fact that she could rely purely on her vocal strength to reach the final round was already an impressive feat.

“My god… An A-level producer publicly slapping his own face just to clean up Lin Ziyu’s image. Zhao Entertainment is really determined to protect her at all costs.”

Lin Xiyue looked at the apology statement on her phone and couldn’t help but sigh.

What did an A-level producer represent?

The kind of talent that any entertainment company would worship like a财神爷. And this wasn’t just any A-level producer. Yet he had been pushed out by Zhao Entertainment to take the fall?

A producer of that caliber writing an “assigned-topic essay” and somehow going off-topic? That would only fool laymen.

“So Zhao Entertainment’s level of importance placed on Lin Ziyu has reached this exaggerated extent?”

Xia Jinnian muttered softly beside her. It seemed Zhao Entertainment truly regarded Lin Ziyu as the company’s future. Otherwise, they wouldn’t go to such lengths. Even if it had been pre-arranged, they must have paid an enormous price to placate that producer.

“It’s fine. The louder Zhao Entertainment makes noise, the angrier they are about this loss. So we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing~”

Lin Xiyue took Xia Jinnian’s hand. She already had a fairly clear roadmap in mind, and for now, the prospects seemed smooth sailing.

***

President’s Office.

These days, Xu Wei had been in quite a good mood. Watching the company gradually revive from dormancy day by day, watching her daughter steadily climb toward the top—this feeling was far better than before.

“President Xu, something not very good has happened—”

At that moment, Secretary Li pushed the door open. The expression on her face was grim, making Xu Wei’s heart tighten.

“What is it? Just say it. No need to panic. Stay calm~”

“We only announced the province-wide audition event yesterday. Today, Zhao Entertainment followed up by announcing their own audition—and the deadline is even the same as ours.”

“That’s not too bad, right? Maybe just a coincidence? Besides, Shangjiang and Guangnan don’t exactly interfere with each other.”

“No, no. This time Zhao Entertainment only designated two areas—Shangjiang City and our province.”

“…What?”

Xu Wei froze, taking a long moment to process it.

If that was the case, then their intentions were obvious—this was targeted directly at Lin Entertainment.

If Zhao Entertainment had launched a nationwide audition, that could still be considered a coincidence. But recruiting only from Shangjiang and Guangnan? That was clearly confrontation.

One was an A-level company. The other, B-level. Talented newcomers would naturally prioritize Zhao Entertainment. Even though geographic distance might influence some decisions, this still significantly compressed Lin Entertainment’s recruitment results.

“It’s fine. Let’s proceed as planned. We’ll restart auditions first.”

Xu Wei sighed. At present, it was extremely difficult for Lin Entertainment to confront an A-level company head-on. They had already suffered once years ago—and it stirred up unpleasant memories.

At that moment, an employee from the Business Department knocked and entered, placing a report in front of Xu Wei.

“President Xu, several commercial deals previously agreed upon but not yet executed—those clients have suddenly requested unilateral termination. They’re even willing to pay breach-of-contract penalties.”

Another knock. This time from HR.

“President Xu, that batch of new producers who had already passed written tests and interviews and were about to start work—they’ve collectively rescinded and resigned.”

Then Finance.

“President Xu, our company’s corporate bank account was inexplicably frozen by the bank this morning. The specific reason is still unclear.”

This flood of “good news” left Xu Wei momentarily stunned.

This chain of successive, nearly all-encompassing blows and restrictions felt far too familiar. Years ago, Zhao Entertainment had used this exact method to suppress Lin Entertainment.

Combined with Zhao Entertainment’s synchronized audition announcement, it was obvious—this was their move. They had begun targeting her company.

“I understand. You may all return to work.”

Xu Wei waved them out of the office.

The moment the door closed, the calm expression on her face collapsed into another sigh. Her mood sank.

Indeed, the recent favorable situation had made her somewhat blindly optimistic. She had begun to feel that avenging Lin Ziyu, overtaking—even crushing—Zhao Entertainment was within easy reach.

But reality was harsh. As an A-level entertainment company with deeply intertwined interests and connections, Zhao Entertainment’s foundation and capabilities far surpassed Lin Entertainment’s.

This victory over the theme song performance rights had not shaken their roots in the slightest. Even the minor public opinion impact had nearly dissipated under their manipulation.

Worse still, it had alerted Zhao Entertainment to signs of Lin Entertainment’s resurgence. Their counterattack had only just begun.

Years ago, Lin Entertainment failed to withstand that wave of suppression.

This time… could they?