Chapter 185: He Does Not!

Watching Chen Qi slowly hang up the phone, Vice Station Master Wang also let out a silent sigh.

Obviously, this call had not brought any good news.

"It seems I really am being ostracized by the entire music industry. The session musicians in the music circle don't even dare to take my orders anymore," Chen Qi couldn't help laughing.

Hearing Chen Qi's words, Vice Station Master Wang, who had long been mentally prepared, was not all that surprised.

The only thing that surprised her was that he could actually still laugh?

At a time like this, he was actually still able to laugh?

Had he been angered out of his mind?

"What now?" she asked.

"Let me think." Chen Qi lowered his head in deep thought.

Vice Station Master Wang glanced at him, patiently refraining from urging him.

Although this matter came as a surprise, and while she was also worried about this week's show, she wasn't actually panicking.

Once you know where the problem lies, solving it becomes relatively simple.

Clearly, the heavyweights in the music industry were green with envy over the show's massive popularity. After all, the music scene had been in a slump for quite some time, and times hadn't been easy for any of them over the years.

Now, with a nationwide hit music show suddenly appearing out of thin air, it was entirely understandable that they wanted a slice of the pie.

Yet who could have imagined that Chen Qi wouldn't even play along with them?

Vice Station Master Wang gave Chen Qi an imperceptible glance, thinking to herself that this whole situation was rather comical.

This was probably the kind of stunt only he could pull off!

If it were any other producer, they wouldn't dare to refuse so many big figures from the music industry even if you gave them ten times their courage!

Wasn't this just asking for trouble?

The capital market was a terrifying place!

Faced with such massive interests, it wouldn't be strange no matter what kind of moves they pulled.

Vice Station Master Wang also knew that those industry heavyweights didn't genuinely want to ruin the show.

They were simply using this method to teach Chen Qi a lesson.

Their real objective was still the show itself.

She could even guess that they must have secretly investigated Chen Qi's background and found out he had no powerful backing, which was why they dared to act so unscrupulously and poach his people.

As long as Chen Qi took a step back next and gave each other a face-saving exit by arranging for people from two major companies to appear on the stage of *The Singer*, all problems would be readily solved.

She was even prepared to act as an intermediary, just waiting for Chen Qi to speak up.

After all, he couldn't possibly be expected to lower his head to them all by himself; he had his pride to maintain, didn't he?

Seeing Chen Qi keep his head down in silence, Vice Station Master Wang thought it over and proactively brought up this solution.

She assumed Chen Qi was too proud to swallow his ego and embarrassed to bring it up.

"I'll go contact the higher-ups of those talent agencies," Vice Station Master Wang said.

"Huh?" Chen Qi, who was lost in thought, suddenly raised his head and looked at her in bewilderment, asking, "Contact them for what?"

"No..." Seeing Chen Qi's blank expression, Vice Station Master Wang was also a bit stunned.

After all this fuss, you weren't thinking along these lines at all?

For what?

To take a step back each, of course!

You arrange for the singers under their banners to appear on *The Singer*, and they stop pulling these petty stunts.

"No!"

To her utter shock, when she voiced these words, Chen Qi looked at her with an utterly incredulous gaze.

Then, he refused.

He refused with absolute firmness, the kind of firmness that left no room for negotiation.

"Why should I take a step back?" Chen Qi's gaze toward Vice Station Master Wang was filled with utter incomprehension.

He would not step back!

They had stabbed him in the back, and he was still supposed to arrange for their people to go on the show?

Impossible!

Never happening!

So what if it was just a few session musicians? What kind of big deal was that?

It was just unfortunate timing running into a roadblock here, otherwise he wouldn't even be bothered by this issue!

Although Chen Qi felt a slight flutter of nervousness inside, he wasn't panicking.

Challenges were what made things fun!

Today, he was going to go head-to-head with the entire music industry!

He wanted to see just what kind of tactics they had up their sleeves.

What did a minor issue like this even amount to? He could totally handle it. If they really had the ability, they could join forces with the entire music industry to blacklist him!

Getting blacklisted would be even more thrilling!

"No..." Seeing Chen Qi's resolute attitude, Vice Station Master Wang was dumbfounded.

She felt her brain struggling to process the logic.

No?

What on earth does "no" mean?

Can't you tell that their ultimate goal is the show?

Don't you realize that timing it so perfectly is just their way of flexing their connections and influence to you?

What on earth are you trying to do?

Vice Station Master Wang suddenly found that she couldn't understand Chen Qi anymore.

He was a smart person; he surely could guess that without taking this step back, there was a ninety-nine percent chance he wouldn't find any help in the music industry.

Those big names in the music circle must have already reached a tacit consensus to target him.

He knew.

He knew all of it.

Yet he simply refused to take that step back; he refused to bow his head to them, even though things were now burning at his eyebrows!

"Director Chen, this is no time to let emotions cloud your judgment," Vice Station Master Wang looked at him with a grave expression.

Chen Qi smiled and said, "I know. I have everything under control."

Vice Station Master Wang gave him a deep look, suppressed the anxiety rising in her heart, and asked cautiously, "Then what about the show? If we can't get it recorded today, there won't be anything to broadcast on Friday."

Even if Chen Qi had other channels to find people, recording the show today seemed practically impossible now.

Chen Qi looked up at her, and after hesitating with words on the tip of his tongue several times, he finally asked, " Station Master Wang, does a live broadcast require official approval?"

"Of course..." Vice Station Master Wang instinctively replied, but the moment the words left her mouth, realization struck her, and her eyes widened abruptly.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Her voice pitched up in fright.

A live broadcast?

He actually wanted to do a live broadcast?

Are you kidding me?

Do you know what a live broadcast implies?

No editing!

No post-production!

No buffering time whatsoever!

Every single frame is transmitted in real-time, and once a mistake happens...

Vice Station Master Wang didn't even dare to imagine further.

"You can't be serious, right?" She suddenly felt her mouth going dry.

"I'm afraid I won't make it in time with a recorded show; just finding manpower will probably take me a whole day," Chen Qi's expression was serious, showing no trace of joking around. "If the live broadcast can be approved, I can guarantee that it will air on time on Friday."

"Impossible!" Vice Station Master Wang shook her head directly. "Putting aside the risks of a live broadcast, the approval alone is too late now. Applications for live broadcasts must be submitted at least a week in advance."

"..." Chen Qi was left speechless for a moment, helplessly abandoning this bold idea.

"Since that's the case, never mind. I'll go make arrangements and try to work overtime tonight to get the show recorded properly." With that, Chen Qi turned around and jogged toward the set.

"Are you sure you can pull this off?" Vice Station Master Wang called out from behind with a frown.

She was currently ten thousand percent uneasy!

"Don't worry!"

Chen Qi replied from a distance, quickening his pace back to the set.

The set was currently undergoing rehearsal, and everyone in the production crew looked rather lost and flustered.

The musicians were missing from the stage.

The singers were using electronic backing tracks.

Although no one had told them explicitly, they could sense that something had gone wrong.

Especially upon seeing Chen Qi appear in such a rush, that feeling grew all the more intense.

They had been making this show for so long, and never once had they seen the director walk with such hurried steps, not even during the first episode.

"Boss."

The moment Chen Qi appeared on set, Su Xiaoxiao hurried over to meet him.

"I asked the other session musicians just now. Two of them said that someone from the circle did contact them a few days ago, telling them to pull out of today's recording and promising that all consequences would be taken care of."

Chen Qi nodded and asked, "Did they say who it was?"

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head.

"Alright, I get it." Chen Qi nodded and turned toward the backstage area.

"There's something else," Su Xiaoxiao hurried after him and said, "The copyright for the few songs we negotiated half a month ago—they aren't willing to sell them anymore."

Chen Qi's footsteps paused slightly.

Because the singers chose their own performance pieces, two singers had found songs well-suited for them during the last recording. However, since those two tracks weren't on their pre-purchased copyright list, they had to acquire the relevant copyrights anew from the music companies.

He remembered that those two music companies had agreed at the time.

Chen Qi smiled slightly and said, "If they won't sell, then forget it. Go ask those two singers if those are the songs they plan to sing for this episode, and have them switch."

"I already asked just now. They were planning to sing those two tracks in the upcoming elimination round."

Chen Qi looked back at her, gave a light smile, and said, "Go gather all the singers in the lounge. I'll be right there."

"Okay," Su Xiaoxiao acknowledged and hurried away.

Chen Qi didn't say anything further either, walking quickly to his workstation and picking up the microphone.

"Let's pause the rehearsal for a moment. Everyone, come over to the audience seating area, we're having a meeting—everyone!"

His voice echoed throughout the entire venue via the sound system.

Song Quqi, who was rehearsing on stage, stopped upon hearing the voice and let out a long breath of relief.

Accustomed to live accompaniment, she simply couldn't find the right feel using electronic audio. She had been out of the zone for the past few runs.

Upon hearing Chen Qi's command, the crew members first paused in surprise, then quickly walked toward the audience seating.

Within this production team, Chen Qi held a very strong unifying presence.

The crew members followed his orders without any reservation.

In no time, all dozens of members of the production team were seated in the audience.

Their expressions were somewhat grave, and everyone could see the thinly veiled worry in each other's eyes.

Yet they remained tacitly silent, waiting quietly.

At that moment, all the stage lights lit up fully, and immediately after, Chen Qi appeared within their line of sight.

"I've called everyone together today because the production team has run into a bit of trouble, and the recording might be delayed by a dozen hours or so." Chen Qi stepped onto the stage and, without any beating around the bush, directly announced the absence of the session musicians.

"Boom—"

As soon as these words fell, a low murmur of commotion rippled through the audience.

Almost everyone widened their eyes in disbelief.

They were utterly shocked.

The musicians weren't coming?

What did it mean that they weren't coming?

"Right, just as you guessed, someone is plotting against us behind the scenes," Chen Qi smiled and said, "Because a few influential stars in the music industry wanted to join this show and I didn't agree, they intend to use this method to force my compliance."

Hearing this, everyone present dropped their jaws in astonishment.

They were completely dumbfounded!

Such a thing could actually happen?

"I don't know what kind of tactics those bigwigs trying to force me have, but I have no intention of bowing down to them!"

"I will find a way to get this episode produced on time, and I'll replace the missing musicians as quickly as possible. However, I'm afraid everyone will have to endure pulling an all-nighter today. Please understand and bear with it, thank you all."

With that, Chen Qi bowed deeply toward the production crew in the audience.

"Director, you don't have to be so polite."

"Just tell us what needs to be done, we'll definitely stay!"

Seeing Chen Qi like this, everyone in the audience felt a pang of panic.

They felt Chen Qi was being far too polite!

What's wrong with pulling an all-nighter?

What did that even matter?

They had just rested for half a month; if they lacked anything else, they certainly had great morale and high spirits!

Chen Qi smiled and didn't say much else, hurrying toward the backstage lounge.

Su Xiaoxiao, waiting for him to step down, gave him a complicated look before quickly returning to her usual composure.

"The singers have all arrived and are waiting for you in the lounge."

"Good." Chen Qi nodded, his pace unyielding.

Half a minute later, he appeared inside the lounge.

"Director."

"Director."

As soon as he entered, several singers greeted him with bewildered looks.

They had heard every word he said to the production crew earlier.

Li Hongti and the others only now realized the true severity of the situation.

Just moments ago, they had assumed it was simply a matter of missing session musicians.

After all this fuss, someone was actually pulling strings behind the scenes?

Thinking of this, everyone began to feel a sense of worry.

Chen Qi smiled, motioned for them to be seated, and said, "You guys probably know what happened by now, right?"

"Mm," everyone nodded.

Seeing the worry on their faces, Chen Qi chuckled lightheartedly, "Don't worry too much, these are just minor issues. Having been in the entertainment industry for so long, you must be quite used to this sort of thing by now, right?"

"Hahahahaha..."

Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

True enough, this wasn't exactly a bizarre occurrence.

Being isolated, frozen out, or targeted—such things were entirely normal in showbiz.

"Today's recording will be pushed back by over a dozen hours. Can everyone accept that?" he asked.

"We're fine with it."

"No problem."

The singers expressed their stances one after another.

Of course they had no problem; forget a dozen hours, they could even understand a delay of a full day.

In extraordinary times, wasn't this the only way?

"Thank you," Chen Qi said with a grateful expression, "You guys should rest for a bit and keep your energy up. As for rehearsals, we'll deal with them later once I've found the musicians. I saw the effect of the electronic audio earlier; it just doesn't work well."

"No problem." "Sure thing."

They all agreed.

They had tried it themselves just moments ago; electronic audio indeed fell short and made it hard to get into the zone.

Since they had to work overtime and pull an all-nighter anyway, it was better to wait until the session musicians were found before rehearsing.

For the sake of quality, they were willing to wait this short stretch of time.