Chapter 88

10: Yu Yong-jin Criticizes Li Huanle

"Interesting!"

After finding the relevant news, Li Huanle squinted his eyes and smiled, then muttered to himself.

"Yu Yong-jin Reviews 'Huanle Musician: A Third-Rate Rookie Who Has Lost His Spirit'"

This afternoon at 6 PM, famous S.M music producer Yu Yong-jin published a music review on a certain media outlet, stating that "Huanle Musician's works have lost their former spirit and have become a mediocre third-rate rookie."

In the review, Yu Yong-jin first acknowledged the uniqueness of Huanle Musician's earlier works. However, he then harshly criticized Huanle Musician's new song "Do Your Best First" performed on SK yesterday, calling it extremely mediocre and lacking the spirit of his past music, leading him down a path of mediocrity.

Yu Yong-jin also questioned the authenticity of Huanle Musician's statements on the show and suspected that everything was part of CCM's promotional plan for a new artist.

He also warned Huanle Musician that maintaining the uniqueness of his music is essential for a long and successful career. If he persists in this direction, he will become a true third-rate rookie musician.

...

Li Huanle also found Yu Yong-jin's review. Although it wasn't as heavily processed by the media, the general message was that Li Huanle's new song had lost its distinct and unique personal characteristics. The entire review conveyed a sense of pain and hope that this newcomer wouldn't go astray, which is why the language was so sharp.

The netizens' responses were largely divided into two camps: one supporting Yu Yong-jin's views and the other opposing them. However, regardless of which camp, most believed that Yu Yong-jin's intentions were good and that he was trying to advise Li Huanle. Only a small number of people were unhappy with Yu Yong-jin's review.

Yu Yong-jin's speculation at the end of the review about whether it was a CCM promotional plan also became a hot topic of discussion.

As a father figure in the Korean music industry, Yu Yong-jin's words naturally attracted a lot of media attention and were reprinted with varying degrees of processing.

However, regardless of how it was processed, Yu Yong-jin's sudden criticism interrupted the media's praise for the new rising composer, and for a time, there were many more skeptical voices online.

Fortunately, due to Li Huanle's four recent works and his witty and strong image on the show yesterday, many young people liked him. As a result, the number of comments on his Naver video page increased dramatically.

What was slightly surprising was that music critic Kang Myung-suk used Yu Yong-jin's review to publish another one. His words were similar to Yu Yong-jin's, stating that this song lacked the former characteristics but also believed that this didn't mean Li Huanle had lost his uniqueness. As a senior in the music industry, Yu Yong-jin's words were a bit too harsh.

Later, Park Jin-young of JYP and Yang Hyun-suk of YG also joined the conversation on social media. Yang Hyun-suk simply forwarded Li Huanle's video and expressed his hope for a future collaboration.

Park Jin-young, on the other hand, directly said that he really liked Li Huanle's music.

This was a clear contradiction to Yu Yong-jin's review, and it was obvious that they were trying to challenge him. For a time, the internet was buzzing, and netizens and media gradually formed two camps.

Regardless of the motivations of Yang Hyun-suk and other music industry giants, they provided some help to Li Huanle.

However, the controversy had already formed, and if not addressed, it would indeed be a laughing matter for Yu Yong-jin and S.M.

Li Huanle didn't think Yu Yong-jin was being so kind as to advise him, but Yu Yong-jin had also put himself in a difficult position, not expecting Yang Hyun-suk and Park Jin-young to join in.

"Troublemaker!"

Li Huanle touched his nose, his face turning serious. Then he closed his eyes and carefully recalled the situation. Faced with this, Li Huanle's choice was naturally to fight back.

"Playing tricks with a genius who has memory fragments (cheater) is not a wise choice!"

About twenty minutes later, Li Huanle opened his eyes, placed his hands on the keyboard, and began to edit his Naver video page's personal profile, asking a friend to help create a text video.

About thirty minutes later, a new video appeared in Huanle Musician's video section. Within the next two hours, it sparked a storm of discussion.

At that moment, Li Huanle was supervising Jeon Bora and the others as they cleaned the house. However, under the intense gaze of the girls, Li Huanle also joined the cleaning team.

What made Li Huanle nervous was that while cleaning, Lee Ji-hyeon almost drank the wine in a bottle on the table.

At first, Lee Ji-hyeon was just curious about the bottle with a slightly unusual color. She picked it up, opened it, and smelled it, thinking it was alcohol. Seeing it next to Li Huanle's computer, she assumed it was some good wine and wanted to take a sip.

Fortunately, Li Huanle, standing at the door, noticed and quickly stopped her. Under Lee Ji-hyeon's strange gaze, he poured the wine down the toilet.

Li Huanle didn't explain, just smiled, and continued working until 10:30 PM, finally cleaning the room.

...

Walking down the streets of Gangnam, Li Huanle walked at the back, holding an umbrella, watching the girls laughing and chatting in a group ahead. Suddenly, he felt that he might have misunderstood something in the past.

For some reason, Li Huanle suddenly felt that these girls were much simpler than himself. What they wanted was always the same... to be stars.

Despite the long years of training, which cost them a lot of time, they still seemed... so simple.

"But... what about the future?"

For a moment, this thought crossed Li Huanle's mind. He shook his head to clear it and thought seriously, "Besides the company, what do I want? Go back to China? What about the future? And Min-kyung, should I really ignore her?"

"Li Huanle, what are you thinking, walking so slowly!" Jeon Bora turned around and shouted at Li Huanle, who was lagging behind. She looked more bold after drinking a lot.

Li Huanle's body suddenly stiffened... 'What am I thinking, why am I walking so slowly?'

"What am I thinking?"

Li Huanle suddenly quickened his pace, walked up to Jeon Bora, pinched her cheek, and then walked to the front of the group.

"Ah! Bastard!!"

Jeon Bora, realizing what happened, let go of Lee Ji-hyeon's hand and wobbled after him.

At that moment, Li Huanle, hearing the footsteps behind him, started jogging, his face showing a hint of excitement. Jeon Bora's meaningless words inexplicably sparked something in Li Huanle.

Although Li Huanle no longer rejected Safe Happiness Corporation and was willing to work hard for it, he still didn't have a clear goal of his own. Looking back, he realized that he had been moving very slowly, even regressing.

At this moment, Li Huanle suddenly wanted to take big steps and move faster. Perhaps by doing so, he could find what he truly wanted to do.

Thinking about his recent efforts and the sense of fulfillment from the successful implementation of his plans, Li Huanle unexpectedly found the entertainment industry... very interesting.

This interest came from a special feeling. When all his plans were realized as he had envisioned, and produced the desired effects, Li Huanle felt an unexpected sense of satisfaction, a feeling somewhat like... control.

Controlling the entertainment trend?

Guiding the media trend?

Or perfectly triggering a network effect and public discussion?

Actually, Li Huanle couldn't quite explain it, but whatever it was, he found it interesting. Although his small influence couldn't control anything, he thought it would be great to find his own enjoyment while achieving the company's goals.

To put it another way... finding joy in work?

For a moment, Li Huanle was suddenly filled with motivation, which could also be seen as a self-encouragement. Regardless of the goals achieved during this period and whether he found it interesting, the reality was that he was mentally exhausted.

"If I move faster and more forcefully, would it be better?"

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