novelraw Chapter 24 A Late-Night Phone Call from the Mental Hospital
Chapter 24 A Late-Night Phone Call from the Mental Hospital
Zhang Juan hovered her finger above the screen and clicked play.
The lights were off in the scene. The room was dimly lit, with only the outline of a chin and a wooden guitar visible.
Keep it simple, keep your way of speaking simple.
Fingertips plucked the strings, and a voice burst forth from the speaker, carrying an almost cold clarity.
Zhang Juan's hand, holding an Americano, froze in mid-air. The paper cup tilted, and the brown liquid splashed onto the light wood tabletop.
She didn't wipe it.
Simply drag the progress bar back to zero seconds and restart.
Upon hearing it for the third time, she threw away the paper cup and cut off the three press release files on her computer desktop.
Send the original video.
She dialed the operations manager's internal line and spoke very quickly.
"No PR copy needed. First posted on Xingyao's official Weibo account, and then reposted by Song Ze's personal account. Just two words: 'Listen to the song.'"
The moment the countdown ended, the background data line suddenly surged upwards.
The first to arrive were neither passersby nor fans.
The neatly arranged short sentences on the screen popped up almost simultaneously.
"How dare this scumbag post a video?"
"Those who resort to any means to grab attention should be banned."
"Everyone, rush! Delete this Weibo post!"
The profile pictures were all the same, default ones, and the IDs were all numbered in a predictable pattern, taking up all the top-rated spots.
The video progress bar has reached the 40th second.
Those bullet comments and messages seemed to be abruptly cut off by an invisible barrier.
The screen went completely blank for two seconds, with no new comments appearing.
The strumming in the chorus suddenly intensifies.
"I should play along and pretend I didn't see it—"
After the pause, the comment section exploded.
Backend data shows that 2,000 new comments were added within five seconds.
"Holy crap, this was written on the spot? This word is amazing."
"Isn't this a direct attack on those who orchestrated this scheme?"
"Does this scumbag who's been universally condemned online really have this kind of talent? Does he even need to create hype?"
Active users began to flock in.
Hundreds of thousands of likes and shares formed a torrent, crushing the top-ranking online troll accounts in less than a minute.
Weibo influencer "Independent Ear Emperor" posted a long article, the first sentence of which reads: "No synthesizers, no million-dollar equipment, just a wooden guitar strumming."
Netizens flocked to various entertainment forums to watch the drama unfold.
Those big fan accounts that fueled the Song Ze stand-up comedy ticket incident were bombarded with comments from passersby, and three fan leaders with over a million followers were pressured to set their accounts to only show posts from the past six months and close their comment sections.
The Weibo Entertainment Ranking is refreshed every ten minutes.
9:30 PM.
The page flickered, and the leaderboard was rewritten.
First place: #Song Ze (actor)#
Second place: #I should play along with your act and pretend I don't see it#
Third place: #Keep it simple#
Fourth place: #listening to music#
The top four entries were all marked with a deep red "Explosive" label on the right, and their popularity was a full million points higher than the fifth-ranked entry.
The #ZhangYilinSelfHarmIncident#, which was previously ranked in the top three on the trending topics list, didn't even make it into the top ten.
The second floor of a villa provided by the production team for the guests in the suburbs of Shanghai.
Song Ze placed the cooked medium-rare steak onto a porcelain plate, pulled out a chair at the table, and sat down.
Holding a knife and fork in his right hand, he cut a piece of beef along the grain and put it in his mouth.
The phone screen on the corner of the table remained lit.
The number of unread messages in Weibo private messages has changed from "99+" to "...", an unreadable limit.
Business managers from various music platforms somehow obtained his phone number, and friend requests kept popping up.
He swallowed the beef, picked up a tissue to wipe the grease off his fingertips, opened WeChat, and tapped the calculator on his phone.
Tap your thumb rapidly on the 3x3 grid.
The song's popularity, coupled with the subsequent exclusive licensing fees across all online streaming platforms, conservatively estimates that the royalties earned within a year will be in the seven figures.
With the previous "Cooling Down" incident, there's finally a glimmer of hope for the 80 million yuan penalty for breach of contract.
The numbers had just been calculated when the screen was forcibly covered by a pop-up call interface.
Caller ID: Zhang Juan.
Song Ze slid the answer button, pressed speakerphone, and tossed the phone back onto the table.
Zhang Juan's rapid breathing came through the speaker.
"Xiao Song, the company's senior management just finished their meeting. The board of directors tore up the resolution to abandon you. The public relations department has received the largest budget in the past few months and is going all out to promote the campaign. Also, those two brands that sent termination letters this afternoon, three different senior executives called me in the last ten minutes, saying that there was a mistake in the internal process and they need to get the contract back to sign."
Her tone rose, and every word conveyed the exhilaration of turning the tide.
Song Ze did not respond.
He picked up his knife and fork and cut another piece of bloody beef.
The fork struck the porcelain plate with a crisp sound.
"Sister Juan."
"None of these are useful."
The breathing on the other end of the phone suddenly stopped.
Song Ze chewed on the beef, his tone flat.
"This is defense, not counterattack. A song can change public opinion and make investors see my commercial value, making them willing to tolerate me temporarily for this small benefit. But the core problem remains unresolved."
He pushed the plate forward two centimeters.
"Zhang Yilin entered the venue with a knife and cut her wrists in front of hundreds of people, causing her to bleed. The label of 'public security hazard' cannot be washed away by a single song."
All that could be heard on the other end of the phone was the sound of someone drinking water and swallowing.
"The legal department agrees," Zhang Juan said in a low voice. "Then let's investigate along the lines of those two brands' undisclosed shareholders and see if we can uncover their connection to Wen Ziliang's group?"
"It's no use."
Song Ze directly rejected the idea, saying, "A scheme of this caliber wouldn't have any overtly visible transfer records. It involves three or four shell companies in between, and in the end, they'll only find a scapegoat, either a legal or financial manager."
Zhang Juan slapped the desk, the sound vibrating even through the microphone.
"Nothing works, nothing works, where is the breakthrough? We can't just let Zhang Yilin come forward and admit that she was instigated, can we? The police just finished evaluating her this afternoon; she has severe paranoid personality disorder and delusions. The court might not even accept her words as valid testimony."
Song Ze stared at the string of numbers on the calculator on the table.
Just then, a cell phone rang through Zhang Juan's empty office.
"Xiao Song." Zhang Juan's voice suddenly tightened. "My personal cell phone rang. The caller ID is a landline from the Seventh Ward of the Municipal Mental Health Center."
Song Ze sat up straight instantly.
At 11:30 p.m., the nurses at the mental hospital called the agent's private cell phone.
Abnormal.
"Answer. Put it on speakerphone."
After the two clicks of the button, the speaker did not play the nurse's voice.
First came a burst of rapid breathing, tinged with a kind of excitement that sent chills down one's spine.
"Brother Song".
The voice was soft and sweet, with an upward slant at the end.
Zhang Juan's breath was stuck in her throat.
"Zhang Yilin?"
"Yes, it's me." A soft laugh came from the other end of the phone. "Sister Juan, can you give the phone to Brother Song? I miss him so much."
Song Ze's knife and fork stopped in mid-air.
"Zhang Yilin, you should be in your ward right now." Zhang Juan lowered her voice, trying to make it sound calm. "Where's the nurse? Let the nurse answer the phone."
"Nurse..." Zhang Yilin drawled, "She tried to grab the phone just now, and I gently pushed her... just once... But don't worry, Sister Juan, I didn't kill anyone."
A muffled dragging sound came from the other end of the phone.
Even through the screen, Song Ze felt a chill run down his spine.
"Can you ask Brother Song to come and see me?" Her voice was tinged with that sickly sweetness again.
There was a two-second silence.
Then came a crisp sound.
"Zhang Yilin, what did you break?" Zhang Juan's voice finally broke down.
"Glass."
Zhang Yilin's tone was calm. "I took it from the nurse's treatment cart. I was originally looking for a knife, but it's okay, this will do."
Zhang Juan suddenly stood up from her chair.
"Zhang Yilin, listen to me—"
"Brother Song, if you don't come to see me, I'll kill myself."
A very faint groan came from the other end of the phone.
It felt like something sharp was pressing against the soft tissue; with just a little more force, it would pierce through.
"Sister Juan, turn on the speakerphone and turn the volume up to the maximum. I want Brother Song to hear me."
Zhang Juan's fingers were trembling.
"Brother Song, please come see me, okay?" Zhang Yilin's voice suddenly became incredibly gentle, so gentle it sent chills down one's spine. "Come, I'll tell you a secret. But only you are allowed to come, okay?"
There was a one-second pause.
"—Wen Ziliang."
Song Ze tightened his grip on the table.
"Sister Juan."
His voice was flat.
"Get the car ready for me."