Chapter 77

"A-choo!"

Lin Zaishan, who was sleeping in the classroom, was woken up by a sneeze.

He rubbed his nose and turned over to continue sleeping.

Just as he was about to fall asleep again,

"A-chew!"

Another big sneeze came out of nowhere.

"Am I catching a cold, or is someone talking about me behind my back?"

The two sneezes woke Lin Zaishan up completely.

The floor was very hard, with only a thin sheet laid out, and Lin Zaishan slept on the ground, which was not very comfortable.

This small apartment had no bed, so if he didn't sleep on the floor, he would have to sleep on the sofa.

In such hot weather, sleeping on the sofa was really uncomfortable, so Lin Zaishan could only sleep on the floor.

He had some money now, but it was far from enough to significantly improve his life.

After discussing with Bai Ge, they decided to save the money. When they had more, they would rent a larger house, one that was more suitable for a music studio.

In the Huaxin Apartment, there were very suitable large houses for rent—165 square meters, 4 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, and 2 bathrooms, with all conditions being excellent, and no fear of complaints about the music studio. However, the rent was too expensive—15,000 yuan per month. The tens of thousands of yuan Lin Zaishan had were not enough to rent for a year, let alone update the music equipment.

After Beyond Company was established, there would be a dedicated music studio for Lin Zaishan to use.

But establishing a new company was a long process, involving registration, site selection, renovation, hiring, and other miscellaneous tasks. It would take at least half a year to start operating.

Before that, Lin Zaishan still wanted to set up his own music studio for convenience in composing songs.

Recently, his income from singing at weddings was stable, with about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan per month. After "The Strongest Singer" aired, this income might increase, but it could also disappear suddenly.

Previously, when he sang at weddings, only the people from the wedding company knew his identity; others didn't know he was Lin Zaishan. They called him "White-haired Uncle."

He had established his reputation in the industry purely through his romantic and touching music.

After the "Singer" show aired, his identity would be exposed.

After that, whether he could still get wedding performance jobs was uncertain.

If he could still get stable wedding performance jobs, earning 50,000 to 60,000 yuan per month, Lin Zaishan would bite the bullet and rent a large house in Huaxin Apartment.

It was reported that Sun Yuzhen's lease would expire at the end of the year. At that time, he could ask Sun Yuzhen to co-rent, paying a small portion of the rent, which would help reduce the financial burden.

With four bedrooms, one could be used as a studio, and the other three could be used for living. Bai Ge could also stay at home, not having to go to school every day, and be homeless during winter and summer vacations, which was quite pitiful.

But the prerequisite was that he must have a stable income. Otherwise, the nearly 20,000 yuan monthly expenses for a large house would be unaffordable for his family.

Today, the audience's reaction during the recording was unexpected for Lin Zaishan.

After so long, the audience still hadn't forgotten his notorious past. It seemed that using music to change his image as the old uncle would not be easy.

What if, after his identity was exposed, the wedding hosts no longer invited him, cutting off his most stable source of income? Life would be tough then.

How could he quickly wash away the old uncle's bad reputation?

Lying on the floor, Lin Zaishan tossed and turned, thinking.

Actually, washing away the bad reputation was quite easy. The one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it.

Back then, the media gave him these bad reputations. Now, if the media could unite to help him, the bad reputation could be cleared in no time.

In this world, the domestic political arena was chaotic, and ordinary people, who had been deceived many times, had developed strong self-thinking and judgment skills. However, in the entertainment industry, the public was still significantly influenced by public opinion.

If just a few major media outlets united to help Lin Zaishan reshape his image, the public would quickly accept him.

But the question was, would those major media outlets be willing to help him?

He had been at odds with them for so long. Why would they help him?

Sigh...

If he had a few media groups, he could clear his name himself without relying on others.

Lin Zaishan thought for a moment. In this world, blogs had only just started a few years ago, which was the early form of self-media.

Twitter and Weibo, such popular short blog services, had not yet appeared.

Facebook and other large social networks had not emerged either.

The internet services in this world were still quite backward.

In the future, with the development of mobile internet and smartphone technology, this world would definitely see the emergence of social service websites and short blog products with significant social influence. After some time, communication tools like WeChat, which have even greater stickiness and influence, would also appear.

If he could seize the opportunity and gain control over these influential social platforms, or ensure that these platforms did not blacken him and even promoted him, Lin Zaishan would not fear the traditional media blackening him.

Unfortunately, he did not understand internet technology and did not have the ability or capital to develop such websites.

If he wanted to seize this opportunity now, he could only become a major shareholder in those popular social websites.

But two practical problems faced him:

First, this world was different from the one he had lived in before. He could only make directional predictions, knowing that such social services would definitely appear, but he could not predict which company would eventually dominate.

Second, where would the money come from to invest in such emerging internet companies? He couldn't even afford to rent a large house, let alone invest in emerging internet companies.

He couldn't rely on Lu Chen's money for everything. Even if Lu Chen really wanted to invest, he couldn't afford it either!

Investing in such internet companies was a game of burning money, with millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of Chinese yuan not being enough. Investing in Silicon Valley in the United States would be even more terrifying, requiring investment in US dollars.

However, in this world, there was no need to invest in the United States. The domestic internet industry was also thriving.

The large central province of Zhongzhou, which included Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan, had seen rapid economic growth due to the development of the internet industry in recent years! Last year, they had surpassed the military-industrial province of Liaozhou and become the fourth-largest economic province in the country.

Following the trend of the upper echelons of China pouring money into the internet to catch up with and surpass the United States, it was not unrealistic for Zhongzhou's economy to surpass Minzhou, Shenzhou, and even catch up with Yuexzhou in the future.

Forty years ago, after the merger of Tian and Jing into the Tianjing Special Political Zone, the seven major public royal colleges of the Great Huawang clan, along with a large number of universities, moved out of the Tianjing Special Zone.

The leading royal technical universities, including the Royal Institute of Technology, were all relocated to the capital of Zhongzhou, Chang'an.

Chang'an was already home to many prestigious technical universities. The arrival of the country's strongest Royal Institute of Technology and a large number of prestigious universities from Tianjing made Chang'an the heart of China's technical disciplines.

After forty years of development and accumulation, the new district of Chang'an had become a leading global hub for emerging technology companies, rivaling Silicon Valley in the United States. It was fueling the internet industry across China and creating a vibrant economic landscape.

Thanks to the booming internet industry, Zhongzhou's influence was growing, and its traditional culture was expanding across the country and even the world.

The Huayin Laokang performance at Dongyi University was made possible by Zhongzhou's influence and the financial power of new tycoons.

Not only would there be a special performance at Dongyi University, but after the art festival, Laokang would also perform at the Royal Academy of Arts, the top public art school in China, located in Xiacheng.

Luo Benxiong's alma mater, the Royal Music College, was one of the four major colleges under the Royal Academy of Arts, located on Gulang Island, the most beautiful music college in China.

Laokang's next destination was the Royal Music College concert hall on Gulang Island, aiming to bring the most traditional and folk elements into the most elegant and luxurious hall.

The main promoter behind Laokang's southern tour was Zhang Jiale, a new tycoon from a high-tech company in the new district of Chang'an, who was also a direct descendant of the Huayin Laokang tradition.

It was rumored that Zhang Jiale had set aside a few days to perform publicly with the old artists from his family at Dongyi University.

Lin Zaishan was not yet aware of these developments.

That night, lying on the floor, he thought that if he had the money to invest in emerging websites like Weibo, which would have significant social influence in the future, it would be great.

But unfortunately, this internet venture capital game was not something he could afford to play.

Even if he earned the money to make the first round of investment of a few million, subsequent rounds of investment would dilute his shares to a very small percentage.

Only super-rich individuals or large venture capital companies could truly seize the opportunity in such an era.

And the window of opportunity was only a few years, or even just one or two years.

After one or two years, emerging social service websites would definitely rise.

Time was very tight.

In such a short time, it was almost impossible for Lin Zaishan to earn hundreds of millions of Chinese yuan, let alone tens of millions.

To become a major shareholder in a mainstream self-media website seemed even less realistic than getting major media outlets to help him clear his name.

If he had a billionaire friend, it would be great.

He could suggest to his friend to invest in such emerging internet companies.

If his friend became a major shareholder in the future, he could also break free from the constraints of major media and have a good self-promotion channel.

This would not only help him promote himself but also promote Beyond, making future promotions more efficient.

Sigh...

Lin Zaishan sighed again, thinking about the old uncle.

He had already reached the top of the music industry. If he had continued, he would be a super-rich man now!

Which superstar from the golden era was not a billionaire?

Unless they had failed in investments or gotten involved in gambling or drugs, they would have become billionaires just from selling records.

Unfortunately, those good times were gone.

Now, accumulating huge wealth through record sales was only a dream.

Thinking of dreams,

Lin Zaishan suddenly thought of the image of Empress Li Xiaoni.

He had just dreamed about this goddess, but he wasn't sure if it was a real dream; the feeling was very vague.

He had experienced similar hallucinations while sleeping before, as if he had dreamed about Empress Li.

In the memories of the old uncle, Li Xiaoni was one of the few women whose name he truly remembered.

Or, more accurately, Li Qilin had left a deep impression on the old uncle.

Li Xiaoni, who was Li Qilin's secret, had not escaped the old uncle's eyes.

On October 15th, ten years ago—tonight—Li Xiaoni personally found the old uncle, thanked him, and asked if he remembered the girl from the past.

At that moment, the expectant look in Li Xiaoni's eyes, like a fire about to ignite, completely exposed her identity.

The old uncle immediately recognized that the Empress Li in front of him was the little kid who had followed him for a long time and whose eyes would flash with fire in bed.

When the little kid was with him, he found her very annoying. But when she disappeared, he missed her.

Especially when Old Lin often mentioned Qilin, missing her and worrying about her.

This made the old uncle want to find Li Qilin so that Old Lin could see her again, chat with her from time to time, and feel at ease.

But no matter how hard he searched, the little kid seemed to have vanished.

It wasn't until Li Xiaoni appeared in front of him that the old uncle realized—oh, Li Qilin had become Li Xiaoni!

The old uncle could feel that Li Xiaoni wanted him to recognize her.

But at that time, he was already in such a sorry state that he didn't have the face to recognize her. It was better to pretend he didn't know, so she wouldn't worry about her identity being exposed.

So, he gave Li Xiaoni a harsh response.

Thinking about Old Lin's constant thoughts about Li Qilin, he still told her: "My grandpa misses that little girl."

If she understood, she understood; if not, it didn't matter.

After that, he was driven away by Li Xiaoni, and they both avoided causing each other trouble.

Just as Li Xiaoni couldn't forget the old uncle, the old uncle also couldn't forget Li Xiaoni.

The old uncle never paid attention to news about other stars, but when he occasionally saw news about Li Xiaoni, he would still pay attention.

If someone around him blackened Li Xiaoni, he would never hesitate to use his already aged fists to fight them.

This was the only thing he could do for the little kid he had wronged so much.

Not for any other reason, just to make himself feel better.

After reading the old uncle's various memories, Lin Zaishan understood that the old uncle had complex feelings for Li Xiaoni. It was a mix of love, regret, and the helplessness of life's unpredictability.

Every time the old uncle fought for Li Xiaoni, each punch left a particularly satisfying feeling in his memory. When he was hit, the feeling was even more satisfying, with a hint of self-torture.

In Lin Zaishan's view, these punches and hits were not just fighting against those who blackened Li Xiaoni; he was fighting against his own life.

"A-choo!"

Lin Zaishan sneezed again, rubbed his nose, and wondered if he was really catching a cold.

Did he catch it from Zhang Hao's girlfriend?

If so, he would have to remind Zhang Hao to stay away from his girlfriend if she had a viral cold.

The band competition was only a week away, and he needed to protect his voice and avoid getting a severe cold.

---

[Kneeling for recommendations!]

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