Chapter 55: The hand of both gods and ghosts appeared simultaneously.

"...A butterfly flying against the wind!"
"Even if the world is destroyed, I will reach the finish line!"
Chen Meijing's singing was no longer important.
At least four-fifths of the entire audience were dumbfounded.
The remaining one-fifth didn't even react to what was happening.
However, Chen Meijing's vocals did not give anyone time to recover.
The heavyweight chorus slapped right into action!

"I am a rebellious butterfly!
A butterfly soaring freely~"
"Unafraid of the blinding brilliance, we shall eventually meet at the peak!"
"Fly, proud butterfly!"
"Holy shit!!"
"Hahahahahahaha!!"

It wasn't until the song title on the screen changed from "The Butterfly Flying Against the Wind" to "I Am a Rebellious Butterfly" that the audience finally understood what was going on.
Accompanied by the chorus, expressions of sheer shock washed over everyone's faces.
Immediately afterward, the entire venue burst into laughter, completely uncontrollable.
Chen Meijing also smiled relaxed and carefree, looking to be in exceptionally high spirits.

"Haha, this is priceless! Li Can is so hilarious, actually making a bet with Chen Meijing using a song like this."
"As expected, it's a reward! Hahaha, looks like Chen Meijing was totally speechless about Li Can too."
"Hilarious! You, Li Can, can make me sing 'Little Chicken Little Chicken', but in return, I get to sing 'Rebellious Butterfly' to you as a reward to myself."
"Indeed, haha. I really didn't expect this. To be fair, this song has this uncanny vibe of being dead serious while making trouble."

During the interlude, the singers in the audience even chatted and laughed with each other.
The lyrics were simply too explosive.
Had Chen Meijing not mentioned beforehand that it was just a joke, they would have genuinely thought this was a public feud.
The director felt a brief jolt of panic before sighing in relief.
Then, he chuckled.
As long as it wasn't a genuine conflict or a real feud, it was no big deal.
After all, this was just playful banter between a producer and a singer, nothing to be taken seriously.
Besides, with Chen Meijing pulling a stunt like this, it was bound to generate massive trending attention.
It wasn't like she was intentionally cursing anyone out; it was just a joke among good friends!
Anyway, the music industry was never short of straightforward emotional outlets, and there were plenty of tracks truly loaded with gunpowder.
Subtle and direct, foul-mouthed and cultured, satirical and explicit—there were simply too many to count.
If you called it abstract, it was top-tier, mind-blowing madness; they really knew how to play.
But as for the aggressiveness of the song... this was barely scratching the surface.

However.
Amidst the uproarious laughter of the crowd, there was only one person trembling with rage.
Yao Jingye wore a frosty expression, but his fists were clenched tight.
What Li Can said at the very beginning had now become crystal clear.
What bet? It was all utter bullshit!
He was straight-up cursing him out!
Yao Jingye's mentality completely shattered.
Yet, none of the artists present knew any of the behind-the-scenes drama, and they were all laughing without a single care in the world.
Every single laugh caused a buzzing ring in Yao Jingye's head.

Finally.
Chen Meijing's song reached the second chorus.
When the choir-like harmonization of "I am a rebellious butterfly" echoed through the venue, the audience lost it completely.
"Hahahahaha!"
"I'm dying of laughter, I can't take it!"

Nobody expected that for such a prank track, the arrangement would actually alter the vocal effects, creating a textural shift upon the second repeat to add a sense of freshness.
Isn't this technique usually reserved for serious, technical masterpieces?!
The musicians felt their entire bodies go numb.
As expected of the whimsical Li Can, the dual-nature producer of both genius and madness.
A move of divine brilliance and a move of demonic craft appeared in the very same song.
How on earth did he play with music like this?!

Logically speaking, when writing song lyrics, one must strictly avoid tone clashes—meaning the pronunciation and pitch of the lyrics need to align with the undulating contour of the melody.
For instance, a rising second-tone character is best placed within a similarly upward-moving melody; otherwise, a tone clash is extremely likely to occur.
Yet this song was bizarre.
If pronounced according to the original reading of "nì dié" (rebellious butterfly), it was clearly a demonic move, clashing with the melody and causing a tone clash!
However, when pronounced as "nǐ diè" (your daddy)... fucking hell, the tone clash disappeared!
Which proper musician could possibly have such a brain-wave?
They tailored a whole banquet just to serve that single saucer of vinegar—and somehow didn't spill a drop.
After all, everyone present consisted of musicians, and they totally caught the absurd comedic punchline of the song. They couldn't have been happier.
Bursts of laughter erupted from time to time.
Yet every single laugh poked and prodded at Yao Jingye's nerves.
Yao Jingye, who understood nothing about music, completely missed the musical joke. The only thing he understood was: "This bastard is cursing me."
He didn't understand the music, but he sure as hell understood "I am a rebellious butterfly" (your daddy).
Every time he recalled how, when Li Can had cheerfully said, "I'll sing this for you," he had foolishly smiled, put on a magnanimous front, and blabbered about "understanding the younger generation"?
Did I really understand you, my foot!

Amidst an atmosphere where everyone else was having the time of their lives while one person suffered, Chen Meijing sang until the end.
When the final, fatal quadruple repetition rang out, emphasizing the point repeatedly, the audience's laughter surged to a whole new level. For Yao Jingye, the emotional piercing was akin to a devastating finishing blow launched instantly from zero frames.

"I am a rebellious butterfly! I am a rebellious butterfly!"
"Hahaha!"
"I am a rebellious butterfly! I am a rebellious butterfly!"
"Hahahahahahaha!!"

Finally, the song came to a close.
Chen Meijing let out a long breath.
She laughed along with the audience.
The grievance that had previously accumulated in her heart was swept completely clean.
The reason she called it a joke with Li Can was because it was all pre-arranged, but they had made sure Yao Jingye knew the song was dedicated to him.
Even if they hadn't run into him by chance, the plan was to go "apologize" to him before the gala anyway.
Don't ask; asking means they shared a tacit understanding.
You have to know I'm cursing you, but I won't say it out of my mouth. Whether it's humiliating or not remains strictly in a Schrödinger's state.

"Hmph!"
Yao Jingye had grievances he couldn't voice, so he just had to swallow them hard.
Unable to bear the laughter filling the venue any longer, his face turning ashen, he flicked his sleeve and stormed back to the VIP room by himself to seethe in anger.
What could he do?
He knew Li Can was cursing him.
Yet he hadn't explicitly cursed him.
It was practically a curse.
Before it crossed the baseline of his actual interests... should he fucking retaliate or not?
If he made a big fuss and retaliated, wouldn't that just mean he was bringing humiliation upon himself first?!
Not a single one of the PR tactics he had prepared came into play.
Utterly stifled!
Sickeningly infuriated!

Completely different from Yao Jingye's red-hot fury, out in a commercial van parked outside, Zhao Ze and Chen Gang were howling with laughter. While laughing, they cooperated with Chen Meijing's manager to post gossipy little anecdotes about studio behind-the-scenes on the internet.

[The explosive little tale behind Chen Meijing and her producer's bet]
[A true portrait of what goes around comes around]
[The wheel of fortune turns, and Chen Meijing fulfills her wish to reward herself]

The general content was...
Chen Meijing was tormented by a bizarre song and subjected to Li Can's devilish training, causing her to sink into total emotional breakdown.
So Li Can came up with this track, singing it to Chen Meijing every day to encourage and roast her at the same time, while promising that if Chen Meijing succeeded, she would also get to sing this song back to him to vent her frustration.
As for whether people believed it or how absurd it sounded—that didn't matter.
Because the real truth was even harder for people to believe once spoken aloud.

Chen Gang was practically grinning from ear to ear.
Even when Li Can and Lin Feng's group withdrew from the venue, preparing to slip away early, he couldn't stop laughing.
"Brother Can is truly a genius. Absolutely no one knows that the person actually being cursed today is someone else entirely."
"Of course."
Li Can chuckled smugly, smiling with utter confidence.
Everyone else was in the dark; only he knew the truth.
This was what you call reverse-Truman's Music World—Chu as in the sound of Chu (Tru-man / Chu-sheng).
"Musicians must let their music do the talking. Look, didn't the music just speak?"
"Hahahahaha!"

Amidst uproarious laughter, the commercial van started up and drove off into the distance.
Yet tonight... it seemed destined that someone would not be getting any sleep.