Once you figure out their bottom line, it's time to show your true colors and push your advantage.

Time passed slowly.

Three days later, as soon as Chen Meijing cleared her schedule, she rushed straight to the studio.

At that moment, everyone's expressions looked somewhat peculiar.

Gazing at the various comments regarding the Chen Meijing incident online, Li Can’s face was plastered with question marks.

"This is getting a bit ridiculous, isn't it?"

"Indeed, extremely ridiculous."

"How strange. Let's keep watching..."

Everyone in the studio felt something was amiss. Exchanging glances, their eyes were filled with doubt.

Initially, everyone assumed that once the gossip about Chen Meijing's stage accident spread across the internet, the so-called "inside story exposé" would follow. Regardless of the overall trending heat, at least a considerable number of people should be focusing on this aspect.

For instance... gossip about who Chen Meijing had offended, or who had friction with her.

However, reality turned out completely different from expectations.

Where was any conspiracy theory? Not only was there no discussion on how the stage accident occurred, but even complaints or criticisms regarding the issue were exceedingly rare.

Netizens' attention seemed to be entirely focused on Chen Meijing's quick-wittedness.

They were chatting endlessly about her stage capabilities.

[ Wow! Sister Meijing's adaptability is simply too strong! ]

[ Look, this is the capability of a professional singer. Can those lip-syncers learn a thing or two?! ]

[ To be fair, she really has professional ethics. ]

Comments like these were immensely beneficial to Chen Meijing.

Yet... it was completely different from what had been anticipated.

"Could this be a form of building someone up only to tear them down? Good grief, are they trying to make the audience think this is all just a staged hype?"

"No, that's not it. With such obvious obstruction completely lacking any backlash or negative focus, there must be paid internet trolls guiding the narrative. But the heat isn't outrageously high, and the words of praise aren't that sickeningly exaggerated rhetoric either... Building her up just to tear her down later doesn't seem very likely."

The moment this thought arose, Li Can shook it out of his head.

The impact of internet information at this time was certainly not that ferocious yet; short videos had not yet arrived, and big-data algorithmic promotion had not yet taken shape.

The general public was hardly subjected to carpet-bombing by marketing videos.

The era of web traffic was just beginning to sprout, and growing genuinely disgusted by marketing schemes was a rather difficult feat. On the contrary, something like a brilliant stage reaction was genuinely admirable.

Besides, the video had decent traction, but it wasn't exceptionally high—completely incomparable to the popularity of Chen Meijing's own songs.

When the popularity of gossipy side-news falls far short of the popularity of the work itself, it becomes very difficult for an artist to be targeted by such praise-and-smear tactics. Instead, it helps solidify their image.

The disgust caused by most over-publicity primarily stems from the over-promotion itself—marketing packaging so absurd that it fails to match the work, or artists lacking the moral standing for their positions while making a fuss over nothing.

If a mere stage reaction could be used to build someone up for a subsequent takedown, that would truly be too ridiculous.

"Brother Can, then... what are our next arrangements?"

Chen Meijing asked softly.

"Not so fast, wait a moment."

Li Can furrowed his brows deeply.

The discussion volume and directional trends surrounding Chen Meijing were somewhat abnormal. The probability of someone intentionally intervening was extremely high, but it still fell within the normal range.

Paid trolls surely wouldn't work purely out of love for the cause...

Could shifting the focal point be an attempt to cover up some other issue?

"The real problem..."

"Damn it, I get it!"

Li Can slapped his forehead hard.

He suddenly realized his previous blind spot in thinking.

"That Yao Jingye making a move was indeed targeted at me, but he didn't want to make things too big, so he turned his target to Chen Meijing instead, hoping to use this to rap my knuckles and teach me a lesson."

"As for his motive... it definitely isn't trying to vent anger for that Yao Liang. It's very likely because we found out about the foul practices in their trendy brand's business model, and he's somewhat worried that I'll expose it. He wants me to shut up and back off in the face of difficulties."

"But he's also very clear that we only know these tricks without concrete evidence. As long as they do good PR, if we expose them, we would be the ones playing with fire. Of course, he would also bear uncontrollable risks."

"I get it too!"

Lin Feng slapped his thigh, revealing a sudden look of enlightenment.

"Although they are confident in handling our exposure, they don't dare to gamble on this front either. In matters like this, it's always better to have less trouble than more, seeking stability as much as possible. So they only released a small signal?"

"Precisely. It's just that he probably didn't expect us not to be so reckless. Most likely, that kick from Brother Can made the other party mistakenly believe Brother Can is a reckless hothead, a ticking time bomb."

"Hmm... assuming I were Yao Jingye, indeed, the key point still lies in avoiding risks. Profits are far more important than saving face."

Everyone chimed in with their thoughts.

They grew increasingly certain of Li Can's theory.

"Haha!"

Li Can shook his head and laughed.

He hadn't expected that having a slightly poor image in other people's eyes... could actually have its benefits.

That desk truly hadn't been replaced in vain.

Otherwise, Yao Jingye might have resorted to a different method to eliminate potential hazards, and his caution regarding risks might not have been as high as it was now. After all, sheer belligerence cures everything, and the fierce fear the reckless.

The entertainment industry.

It is a grand game of cowards.

Everyone has their own weaknesses while simultaneously holding dirt on others, keeping each other in check to form a temporarily stable structure.

The so-called "pulling one hair and moving the whole body," or being forced by circumstances... amounts to nothing more than this.

Li Can couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

These intricate plays had truly been thoroughly mastered by Yao Jingye.

It's just that... Yao Jingye was still a bit too straight-laced.

"Well, things become much easier to handle then."

Li Can's smile gradually turned mischievous.

The smile of a sunny, cheerful young man sent a chill through Chen Gang sitting opposite him.

"Yao Jingye's bottom line lies in profit, and whether he himself gets exposed. Since we lack evidence, he has the confidence to face exposure, but he doesn't want to bear the risk."

"Then let's play along. We won't cross his bottom line, but on that basis, I can make him boil with anger."

Li Can exchanged glances with everyone, and joyous laughter instantly filled the studio.

They felt completely devoid of psychological burden regarding the upcoming "escalation of conflict."

"Doesn't he want to divert attention? Then let's show him some tacit cooperation and accompany him in the diversion!"

"Having tacit understanding is great. That way, he'll surely know who this song is sung for."

Li Can chuckled, glanced at Chen Meijing, and began to inquire.

"Meijing, this concerns your future prospects. Your own thoughts are the most important. After all, you are the one standing at the very front..."

"Brother Can, it's fine. Let's proceed according to the original plan!"

Chen Meijing smiled.

"Besides, I've been wanting to scold him for a while now anyway."

"Alright."

Li Can nodded.

"Then let's do it!"

...

Following Li Can's final decision, everyone sprang into action.

They contacted Wang Yongchang, reported the relevant matters in detail, and swiftly made preparations.

Wang Yongchang actually knew the intricate details of Li Can's latest stunt... but he had no intention of stopping him, at most offering a few words of persuasion.

Starmedia and Haifeng were not in cooperation; instead, they were walking very close to Jiayi's artists.

To take a step back... Li Can was only an affiliated name there anyway.

Playing within the rules was fine; losing one's composure was one's own problem, nothing to worry about.

Thus.

Amidst various preparations from all sides,

the MiusicHF Music Awards Ceremony finally officially commenced.