Chapter 43: Ning Cai in Peril

Liu Ruyun was nearly stupefied, feeling as if she could barely breathe. This song could only be described as a masterpiece! It utterly eclipsed every song she had released since her debut. No, it was more accurate to say that every single one of Wang Tianqi’s songs was enough to overshadow all of hers.

How could it be that right after breaking up with Shen Xian, Shen Xian managed to get such an outstanding song from the "Postman"? She was indignant! She regretted it deeply!

Chen Feng stared blankly, his eyes fixed on the spotlights above as he began to question the meaning of life. He felt as though he had met his lifelong nemesis—the Postman.

The second judge had no desire left to criticize; there simply wasn’t a single flaw to target. With decades of experience in the industry, he had seen and heard much, and though he was known for his sharp tongue, he had to concede in his heart that all four of Wang Tianqi’s songs were trump cards in their own right. The most incredible thing was that all four belonged to Wang Tianqi alone—at that point, even a pig could soar to the skies with such talent.

It was time for the scoring.

"This song truly amazed me. The lyrics are profound, the melody is catchy. I give it a ten."

"I give it a ten as well," the second judge declared, no longer daring to artificially lower the score.

"‘Not That Simple’ feels like the narrative of someone who has weathered countless storms and finally sees the truth of everything; it also interprets the essence of love. The Postman is remarkable, a true genius. I give it a ten."

"I’m even more curious about the Postman’s age—how could someone so young write such songs with such depth? I’m now a fan. I give it a ten, too!" The fourth judge laughed heartily.

The fifth judge also gave a ten: "This song is not only beautiful, but it resonates perfectly with my current state of mind. A great work is one that evokes empathy in others. I give it a ten!"

Thus, in the final showdown, Wang Tianqi received a perfect score of fifty from the judges.

The audience voting began. Everyone stared at the massive screen. The vote count started rolling.

Five hundred votes!

Six hundred and fifty!

It quickly surpassed the nine hundred mark and kept climbing.

"Ten seconds left to vote!" the host reminded everyone.

Nine hundred and fifty votes, with the last two digits still spinning!

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..." the host started the countdown.

When the countdown ended, the final tally appeared on the big screen—one thousand votes!

"Wow, one thousand votes, a full score!" Liu Sheng was the first to leap to his feet, cheering. "The Postman is incredible! Wang Tianqi is incredible!"

"One thousand votes—the first perfect score since the launch of ‘Singer King’!" The first judge stood and applauded. "Congratulations to Wang Tianqi for creating a miracle!"

"One thousand votes—even the top kings and queens of music have never achieved that!" The fifth judge also joined in the applause. "Today, we have witnessed a true miracle!"

Liu Ruyun stared fixedly at the vote count on the screen, her heart filled with turmoil and regret. All of this should have been hers!

If she had only delayed her breakup with Shen Xian by half a month, could she have reached the threshold of superstardom with these songs?

Chen Rumeng was also present, feeling as though she was in a dream. All those wild boasts Shen Xian made—had they really come true?

"Let us congratulate Wang Tianqi, who has won first place in the ‘Singer King’ PK tournament, becoming the champion and making history—creating a true miracle!" Wang Ling’s voice trembled with emotion.

From this moment forth, Wang Tianqi would be a rising star.

He bowed in the direction of the host.

"Wang Tianqi, I’d like to interview you—how are you feeling right now?" the host asked.

Wang Tianqi replied, "I’m most grateful to my boss, Shen Xian, who gave me a new lease on life. I am also grateful to Teacher Postman, whom I have never met, for giving me the soul of rebirth. Thanks to Ning Cai, President Ning, for recommending me into this program. I thank the production team, the judges, and all the audience who have supported me. Lastly, I thank my girlfriend, who never left my side and gave me the motivation to keep going!"

"And by the way, a little advertisement—my girlfriend is now my manager. For any business collaborations, you can contact her. Her details are on my short video account homepage."

Thunderous applause erupted.

The awards ceremony followed. Wang Tianqi, holding the champion’s trophy, was filled with emotion.

The live stream’s comment section was ablaze.

The trending topics quickly appeared.

#The biggest dark horse of ‘Singer King’ emerges, Wang Tianqi takes the crown!#
#Four masterful hits, each a bombshell—Zhang Cheng’an and Liu Ruyun’s defeat was no injustice!#
#The Postman is truly incredible—turning a complete newcomer into a champion!#

Wang Tianqi’s songs were soon uploaded to short-video platforms, and various music platforms scrambled to obtain the rights, promising maximum traffic support.

Li Xiurong came to ask Shen Xian for his opinion.

Shen Xian said, "Let’s release the rights, but I want to meet with every representative who comes to negotiate."

In this world, copyright awareness had reached a near-fanatical level. The laws and regulations around intellectual property were extremely thorough. Anyone who played a song without authorization could be sued into bankruptcy by the copyright holders.

Not only were music platforms fighting for the rights to Wang Tianqi’s songs, but the Postman’s works sparked even more of a frenzy—platforms were practically waving checkbooks in Shen Xian’s face.

Wang Tianqi was about to become very busy, with numerous brands already in talks for endorsements and commercial performances.

Upon returning to Nanzhou, Ning Cai hurried back to the company.

Seeing Shen Xian seemingly at leisure, Ning Cai said, "Come with me."

Shen Xian instinctively wanted to refuse, but seeing the seriousness on Ning Cai’s face, he relented. "Alright."

No sooner had they arrived at the company than they saw Wu Fan sitting in the conference room, legs crossed arrogantly. Beside him were two middle-aged men in suits.

Upon seeing Shen Xian, Wu Fan gave him a disdainful look, not even bothering to speak, simply dismissing his presence. He tossed a pile of contracts onto the table. "Ning Cai, I want to terminate my contract!"

He didn’t even bother to use her title.

Ning Cai opened the termination agreement and saw that the penalty was laughably small.

Normally, if an artist wanted to break their contract, the penalty would be astronomical—often in the hundreds of millions. But Wu Fan was only offering a few million.

"The penalty stipulated in our contract is 120 million. How has it become just a few million?" Ning Cai asked, frowning.

Wu Fan remained nonchalant. "If you think I’m paying 120 million, you’re dreaming. The most I’ll pay is five million. If you’re not satisfied, talk to my new legal team."

He gestured at the two men—they were the legal team from Red Queen Entertainment!

If there was any legal team worth fearing, it would be Red Queen Entertainment’s. They were called the "Nanzhou Sure-Wins," constantly embroiled in lawsuits but almost never losing.

Though Ning Cai wasn’t afraid of Red Queen, if it really came to a lawsuit, she knew she would most likely lose against their lawyers.

"President Ning, I’ve studied your company’s management contract carefully. If you insist on seeking the full penalty, your company could be seriously harmed in the process." One of the lawyers courteously placed a document in front of Ning Cai, a line drawn in black ink. "Is your company possibly involved in tax evasion or fraud?"

Ning Cai’s heart skipped a beat.

She was meticulous about taxes. To prevent artists from evading taxes, she always had the company withhold and pay taxes on their behalf, so that what the artists received was already after-tax income.

But she’d overlooked one thing: artists would take on private jobs or sign dual contracts with her.

For instance, if an artist received a performance offer and knew the client was willing to pay fifty million, the client would pay Ning Cai, and after taxes and company cuts, the artist would receive around twenty million.

What would the artist do? They’d approach the client privately and say, "Report thirty million to Ning Cai, and give me the remaining ten million under the table."

The client would save five million, the artist would make an extra five million, and both sides would be satisfied.

Ning Cai was the one who lost out. She had investigated such incidents before but never found concrete evidence.

Now, Red Queen’s legal team tossed evidence right in front of her. "Although dual contracts are the artist’s personal behavior, regulation falls under your company’s responsibility. Are you sure you want to make this a big issue?"

He smiled at her.

Wu Fan was indeed guilty of tax evasion, but who would take the fall?

Ning Cai, of course.

When the tax authorities came to investigate, who would they check first?

Ning Cai.

Who would bear the brunt of public opinion?

Still Ning Cai.

Wu Fan would only play the victim: "It was all the company’s doing—I didn’t know! I was always the one being exploited!"

Ning Cai looked up, fixing her eyes on Wu Fan.

But Wu Fan, emboldened, met her gaze without a hint of fear.