Chapter 61

Wang Dongliang promised to find out as soon as possible. Cheng Xiaoyu treated him to lunch, and then they parted ways. Looking at the spacious streets of the capital, with red lanterns hanging from the streetlights, Cheng Xiaoyu felt no festive joy at all.

Cheng Xiaoyu returned to the hotel, took out his notebook from his bag, and went online. He first logged into the alumni directory, then the class message board, which had not seen any new messages for almost half a year. Seeing the low user activity on the alumni directory was a huge challenge for Cheng Xiaoyu. To be honest, business management was not his strong suit, and it was frustrating to have a treasure trove without delving into it.

Cheng Xiaoyu put aside his aimless thoughts and began to browse the three major Chinese music websites. At this time, music websites were still quite profitable due to strict copyright protection, but they were only intermediaries for music content, with the lifeline still controlled by content providers (record companies). The exclusive download rights for a popular star's album would often be contested by several websites, but they later found this to be counterproductive. After the three major websites grew large and controlled most of China's internet traffic, they began to form a tacit agreement and established a music network federation for coordination. This allowed the three websites to enter a healthy competition, no longer competing for exclusive download rights, but instead adopting a revenue-sharing model. Thus, the songs of major stars could be downloaded from all three websites, reducing the cost and sharing the benefits. However, a major star's album would only be available for download on the websites one month after the physical CDs were released in music stores. During this month, users could pay to listen or listen to some tracks for free, as required by the content providers. They could also click to purchase, and the website would deliver the CD directly to their door.

Each of the three websites had its own focus. Cicada Music was the earliest music website, with a comprehensive music library, mainly promoting pop music, and featuring a large number of resident music critics. Qingyi Music focused on traditional, classical, opera, and folk music, with the most comprehensive library in China. It also organized concerts, music salons, and did well in pop music. GG Music, based on the GG chat software, had the largest user base and focused on pop and original music. It gathered a large number of online original singers and had a dedicated independent original music chart, launching many popular new artists.

Cicada and Qingyi Music also allowed new artists to upload their own recordings, but compared to GG Music, they did not have separate charts for new artists, making it harder for new artists to stand out.

Due to the existence of the music network federation, the charts of the three major websites were unified, based on download and listening volumes. They also jointly held the China Music Awards annually, which was the highest honor in Chinese pop music.

Cheng Xiaoyu registered a username called JAY'SPoisoN on GG Music, with the tag "independent musician." However, he had not yet uploaded any music.

GG Music shared revenue with creators based on downloads, and the download price for each song was set by the creator. They could set it as high as 1000 yuan per song or make it free, giving creators a lot of autonomy.

Generally, as an unknown independent musician, to gain popularity, the uploaded songs would be free to listen to and download to attract clicks and downloads, hoping to make it onto the charts.

Once they gained a certain level of fame and a stable fan base, they would choose to charge for downloads. Many people uploaded music to attract the attention of record companies, hoping to become signed artists. Talented singers would find it easier to sign with record companies, but few would become famous nationwide.

Cheng Xiaoyu had recorded a song called "Sunny Day" and planned to upload it to test the waters, but he was indecisive about whether to upload it to Cicada or GG. Although he could upload it to both, his OCD did not allow him to be indecisive. So he had not made a decision.

Today, he finally decided to register on GG. He planned to record and upload several more songs when he returned to SH. As for Sin Eater, Wang Ou had already registered it on the three music websites, with the tag "band." The works had not been uploaded yet because they had not been recorded. Wang Ou had only uploaded a few high-quality videos.

Cheng Xiaoyu also looked up information about Lean Fox online but found nothing useful.

In the afternoon, he received a call from Su Weilan, asking him to go to Wangqiao Police Station to give a statement and sign some documents. A driver would come to pick him up, and Su Weilan gave him the driver's contact number.

Su Weilan's tone was not bad with Cheng Xiaoyu, as he received a substantial dividend from Shanghe Records every year, and many of Shanghe's stars' concerts were organized by his company. Concert tours were usually handled by record companies, but they only went to major cities. Concerts in secondary cities, due to the risks, were often contracted to cultural media companies like Su Weilan's.

Su Weilan did not take Cheng Xiaoyu seriously. If he had intended to be friendly, he would have personally taken Cheng Xiaoyu to the police station in the afternoon, rather than sending a driver. In his view, Cheng Xiaoyu had no value in forming a relationship. If not for Aunt Zhou's call to his father, who then instructed him, he would not have made the trip.

Cheng Xiaoyu did not mind others' disdain. He was confident that he could accumulate strength and then soar to great heights.

The car sent by Shanghe Records' Beijing branch was a regular Mercedes S-Class. Su Weilan did not deliberately target Cheng Xiaoyu by sending a broken-down car, as he still had to give face to his uncle, Su Changhe, and not let the Su family lose face.

As soon as Cheng Xiaoyu got out of the car at Wangqiao Police Station, he was stopped by a short, fat middle-aged man with narrow eyes, just like Zheng Long. He wore a gold chain around his neck with a green jade Buddha pendant.

Cheng Xiaoyu found it amusing; these people who often commit evil acts often seek religious protection. From his appearance, Cheng Xiaoyu knew he was a relative of Zheng Long. He did not intend to acknowledge him and tried to enter the police station.

Zheng Jun quickly followed, but did not dare to touch him. The strong, black driver who got out of the Mercedes with sunglasses on, clearly a professional bodyguard, blocked Zheng Jun. Zheng Jun had no choice but to follow from a distance and entered an office in the police station.

The officer who took the statement was the same middle-aged man from yesterday. As soon as he saw Cheng Xiaoyu, he stood up and pulled out a chair for him. He said, "Mr. Cheng Xiaoyu, please sit. I'll get you a cup of tea, or would you like a drink? I can send someone to buy it for you."

Cheng Xiaoyu smiled and said, "No need, just a cup of tea will do." As soon as he sat down, he saw the detention room across from him. The detention room had iron bars, and the inside was clearly visible. The group of auxiliary police from yesterday were inside, and Biao Ge was standing with his head down.

The detention room had a cement floor, no heating, no blankets, and no place to sit. More cruelly, they were not allowed to wear shoes. The group was freezing, hugging themselves and walking around to stay warm. The three who had beaten Cheng Xiaoyu yesterday were even worse off, handcuffed to the iron bars, unable to squat or sit, and could only stand barefoot, weakly leaning against the wall. Seeing Cheng Xiaoyu sitting outside, they did not dare to look out, only facing the wall, afraid of being seen by Cheng Xiaoyu.

This room was not usually used for taking statements, but the police station had arranged it here to appease Cheng Xiaoyu. The old officer brought a cup of hot tea from the next room and carefully placed it in front of Cheng Xiaoyu, saying, "I'm sorry, we don't have good tea, but please have a sip."

Cheng Xiaoyu said, "It's fine. Ask me anything, and I'll answer truthfully."

The old officer immediately sat down opposite him and said, "Just a few questions, just a few. It's just a formality. You can sign and leave. These people won't get off easy." He spat in the direction of the detention room, and no one inside dared to speak.

At this moment, Zheng Jun hunched over and entered, kneeling in front of Cheng Xiaoyu, tears streaming down his face. "Young Master Cheng, please be merciful. Just take me, I'll take all the blame. Please don't pursue my son and the others. They don't know any better." He then started to slap himself hard.

The old officer, seeing this, did not know what to do. He stood up, trying to help Zheng Jun, but did not dare to look at Cheng Xiaoyu. He could only mutter, "Mr. Zheng, why do this to yourself?"

Cheng Xiaoyu looked at Zheng Jun's already red face and felt a bit of pity, but the fate of the Zheng family was not in his hands. To show the reasonableness of the situation, their fate was already determined, and they would be treated as a criminal gang. Zheng Jun himself could not escape.

Most of the wealth of China's tycoons was tainted with original sins. If investigated, none would be clean. At the very least, they were guilty of tax evasion, and those who only evaded taxes were considered the most conscientious.

Although Cheng Xiaoyu felt a bit of pity, he had no sympathy. He said sternly, "When you harm others, you must be prepared to be harmed. The law will take its course, and I will not interfere with justice." His words were righteous and just. In fact, even if he wanted to interfere, he could not, and if he could, Zheng Long would likely spend his life in prison.

Zheng Jun did not get up, and the old officer advised, "Mr. Zheng, think of other ways."

Zheng Jun took out a checkbook from his pocket and said, "Young Master Cheng, please be merciful. To express my apology, name your price. Whatever I have, it's all yours."

Before he finished speaking, Cheng Xiaoyu stood up and said, "If you had taught your son better, this wouldn't have happened. I won't take your money. Use it to help your son in prison, so he can have a better life." He then said to the old officer, "I'll sign, just follow Wang Dongliang's statement."

The old officer quickly handed over the notebook for Cheng Xiaoyu to sign and praised his handwriting.

As Cheng Xiaoyu walked out of the detention room, the old officer escorted him out, while Zheng Jun remained kneeling inside. The group of yesterday's attackers, barefoot and crying, looked at their kneeling leader, ironically, at this moment, they were the ones most hoping for fair justice.

And Cheng Xiaoyu, was he not also a perpetrator?

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