AITFYMIBP Chapter 25

TL: Hua

---

Lin Yanran’s termination statement was simple, but the lawyer’s letter detailed the various events he had experienced during his six years with Day and Night Entertainment.

These included, but were not limited to: a tyrannical contract, wage garnishment, delayed payments, failure to fulfill obligations, bouncing checks, not releasing albums, forbidding him from taking the college entrance exam, endless gigs, a disregard for the artist’s personal wishes, using blacklisting tactics to threaten his career, etc.

At the end of the Weibo post, Lin Yanran also attached several pages of his contract, highlighting the most unfair clauses.

The public, who had been busy scolding Lin Yanran for his “image collapse,” were shocked. When they refreshed their feeds, they saw the pinned termination statement.

The statement was completely unexpected. At first, people thought Lin Yanran was pulling a new PR stunt. But after they clicked on the post and patiently read through the lawyer’s letter, they were furious.

[This is the most outrageous contract I’ve ever seen! I’m in shock!]

[Yanran was still a minor six years ago, wasn’t he?! Was this contract deliberately written to scam a minor? ?]

[A 50 million yuan penalty for early termination? Another 50 million if he takes on a gig without permission? Day and Night Entertainment, you have some guts to write this and demand so much money!]

[80/20 profit share—that’s such a steep ratio, and Yanran even has to pay the company for all sorts of costs. Does he have to pay the company to release his own music? Have you never seen money before? Beggars on the street aren’t as shameless as you!]

[My god, after reading this stupid contract, I finally understand why Yanran always seemed so poor. This company is truly heartless.]

The two glaring 50 million yuan clauses in the contract immediately caught everyone’s attention. The contract was so bizarre that without Lin Yanran’s post, many people would not have believed such a terrible contract could exist, let alone for six years!

They don’t treat a minor celebrity like a human!

Many people felt sympathy for Lin Yanran.

The fact that the company used threats to prevent him from taking the college entrance exam was particularly shocking to netizens.

This was the very reason they were scolding him. But if the company was the one to blame… then Lin Yanran was a victim, too!

The public, realizing their mistake, felt guilty for blindly scolding Lin Yanran and heartbroken for his suffering. After all, the college entrance exam was a huge deal nationwide.

He had performed so well and seemed so smart on recent shows. If he had been allowed to take the exam, he surely would have done well and wouldn’t have been judged for being uneducated…

After reading Lin Yanran’s Weibo post, compared to the sadness and sympathy of passersby, the fans of Lin Yanran felt the most heartbroken and furious.

When the fans read about the inhumane treatment Lin Yanran had received, they wanted to kill the company’s executives. They immediately reposted the statement, supporting his decision to terminate the contract.

To prove Lin Yanran’s claims, his fan clubs quickly posted his schedule from the past few days. They also showed clips of him being so tired on Almighty Showdown that he had to sleep in a sleeping bag for an hour. Other fans posted photos of him from that morning, showing his exhausted face as he arrived at Rhine Academy.

The public was shocked to learn that after filming Almighty Showdown, Lin Yanran had gone on to film five more shows in just two days with barely any rest.

Even the most capable people need rest. This kind of intense scheduling was no longer a matter of the company disrespecting an artist’s personal wishes. It was a matter of them being so greedy for quick money that they were willing to risk an artist’s life!

[No wonder he slept in a sleeping bag… I was initially so cynical and thought he was doing it for attention. It turns out he was genuinely exhausted and could fall asleep in an instant.]

[This is so tragic. If I pulled that many all-nighters, I wouldn’t even have the energy to talk to anyone. But he still managed to push through and do all his work so well.]

[Oh my god, he’s barely rested for a week. Is the company trying to kill him?]

[Other people make money on shows, he’s risking his life.]

[I finally understand why he’s terminating his contract now. No one could handle this.]

[As someone who used to dislike him, I now feel so much sympathy.]

[I used to hate him because of all the bad rumors, but now it seems it was all his company’s fault.]

Day and Night Entertainment’s contract was so ridiculous that everyone who read it sided with Lin Yanran. The public opinion shifted instantly, and people who were ready to attack Lin Yanran turned their anger towards Day and Night Entertainment, demanding accountability from the company.

When Ding Weikang saw Lin Yanran’s termination statement, he was completely stunned. His ears were ringing. If it had been any other artist, he wouldn’t have been surprised. But for it to be Lin Yanran, it was completely unexpected.

Ever since he signed Lin Yanran six years ago, he was convinced that Lin Yanran would never try to leave.

Lin Yanran had seen how the company operated. Even when they had been more exploitative in the past, going as far as to tear up his cherished songs, he never resisted or brought up terminating his contract. At most, when he got too angry, he’d just shut himself away and cry…

So what had gotten into Lin Yanran today? Why was he challenging the company and trying to terminate his contract? Was it because he had recently gotten popular, or had something else triggered him?

Ding Weikang looked down and read the Weibo post again.

If it weren’t for the name “Yanran” being so clear, he would have thought he was seeing things.

Because of the controversy surrounding the college entrance exam, a lot of people were already paying attention to Lin Yanran. So when he dropped the termination bombshell, it naturally garnered a lot of attention.

Ding Weikang saw the comments and likes soaring in real time. Major forums and marketing accounts were also following the story closely. Their company’s current situation was extremely grim.

Day and Night Entertainment’s official Weibo account was already getting bombarded with angry comments. The company’s executives were furious. They immediately called Ding Weikang over and scolded him like a dog.

With no other choice, Ding Weikang tried to call Lin Yanran again to convince him to delete the Weibo post. But this time, he found that Lin Yanran had directly blocked his number…

Unable to reach him and losing the public opinion battle, Ding Weikang had to find a way to counter the narrative. He looked at the PR team he had just hired to fix Lin Yanran’s image, realizing he now needed them to save the company.

Day and Night Entertainment was not going to let Lin Yanran get away with this easily. The lawsuit was in its early stages, and the contract was still valid. So, the company decided to play dirty and stall the process.

Soon, Day and Night Entertainment released its own statement and lawyer’s letter.

They couldn’t deny the contract’s unfair clauses, so they changed the subject and played the victim.

They claimed to have poured a lot of effort into Lin Yanran over the past six years, listing a bunch of gigs to make it seem like they had invested tens of millions of yuan in him and never mistreated him.

As for the college entrance exam incident—since denying someone’s right to an education is illegal—the company couldn’t admit to it. Instead, they hinted that they had actually urged Lin Yanran to take the exam. They claimed that he had chosen to go to the promotional event himself because he was shortsighted and only wanted to make quick money. They then accused Lin Yanran of “shamelessly” putting all the blame on the company to get out of his contract.

After spreading these lies, they hired marketing accounts and bots to muddy the waters.

They also leaked that Lin Yanran had taken on the Super Idol gig without the company’s permission, implying that he was only terminating his contract because he had already secretly found another company to sign with.

His act of abandoning his former company for a more successful one was utterly ungrateful.

In short, every mistake was Lin Yanran’s fault, and the company was an innocent, helpless victim. They were weak and wronged, a complete contrast to their tyrannical contract.

Lin Yanran’s fans, seeing the company play the victim, immediately created a table to refute their claims.

[You only released six singles in six years and not a single album. You must have put so much effort into him!]

[Where did the tens of millions of yuan go? Was it used to buy those rejected songs?]

[In the first year after signing Yanran, he was either at promotional events or on his way to them. The next five years, he was virtually unheard of. Even Super Idol, which made him famous, was a gig he found himself. So what exactly did you do to “nurture” him?]

[He’s been called uneducated for years because of the college entrance exam. Ruining someone’s future is unforgivable. Yanran should have sued you sooner, you animals!]

[Sisters, why waste words on a company like this? A single “Pah!” will do the trick.]

[Pah!]

[Pah! This is disgusting!]

Lin Yanran’s fan base wasn’t large, but they were sharp and worked hard to clarify the situation. Although the hired bots and haters tried to confuse the issue, the public remained clear-headed and sided with Lin Yanran.

However, Lin Yanran wasn’t a major celebrity. At most, he was a recently-revived star with some presence. So, the lawsuit was only a hot topic for a short time. By evening, the netizens, who constantly sought new gossip, had mostly moved on. After all, similar lawsuits between celebrities and agencies were common, and no one except the fans cared that much.

With the public scrutiny gone, Day and Night Entertainment was ready to resume its attack on Lin Yanran. But just as their bots were about to start, Gu Siyue liked Lin Yanran’s termination post, and he did it at 8 PM, when the traffic was at its peak!

The single like sent a jolt through Gu Siyue’s manager, Zhong Xiao. Who would have thought that a man who barely touched his own Weibo would log on to get involved in a junior celebrity’s contract dispute?

The most critical thing was that not only did he like the post, but he also went out of his way to help the other person…

So this is what “not caring” looks like now?

Zhong Xiao looked up at the man dressed in black, leaning against the window and talking on the phone with Lin Yanran. Only one song lyric echoed in his mind: If this isn’t love~

After Gu Siyue’s like, the popularity of Lin Yanran’s lawsuit skyrocketed.

Gu Siyue’s fans, Jingyeshi (Silent Night Poem), were shouting “Ahhhhh, hubby, you actually still remember your Weibo,” while at the same time rushing to follow in their idol’s footsteps to help Lin Yanran increase his popularity.

Soon, hashtags like #GuSiyueLikesYanranTerminationPost, #GuSiyueWeiboActive, and #GuSiyueRemembersPassword were all in the top ten.

Lin Yanran, who had unexpectedly gone viral again, was surprised that Gu Siyue would stand up for him.

If his lawsuit had any issues, it could bring Gu Siyue a lot of unnecessary trouble. Lin Yanran called Gu Siyue to thank him and silently vowed to repay the favor.

He then took advantage of the trend to anonymously post the voice messages Ding Weikang had sent him.

“Yanran, don’t reply to this trending topic about you not taking the exam. I’m working on a solution for you right now.”

“No matter who asks you, keep quiet. Don’t say that the company told you not to go.”

The release of these two voice messages was equivalent to Day and Night Entertainment incriminating itself.

[@Day and Night Entertainment, come out and explain this.]

[@Day and Night Entertainment, what happened to you “urging” Yanran to take the exam? What’s with the different stories?]

[@Day and Night Entertainment, you’re not even done with the PR, and you’re already hiring bots to spread rumors?]

Ding Weikang, who was so anxious he couldn’t sleep, slapped himself hard after hearing the recordings. How could I have given them ammunition, and how could I have forgotten about it in my panic?!

Because of the recording, no one was willing to believe anything Day and Night Entertainment said. Even those who were on the fence now saw the company’s true colors.

Even the head of the bot farm they hired was turning on them, saying they no longer wanted to work for them.

After all, everyone had either gone through the college entrance exam or seen a loved one do so. They studied for over a decade for this single, most important test.

And yet, this heartless company, for the sake of money, prevented an underage Lin Yanran from taking it. A company that could do something like that was utterly devoid of humanity!

Even the paid bots had hearts and love. They felt for the minor who was powerless against a malicious company. This was a job they refused to do.

Not only the bots, but the marketing accounts also began refusing Day and Night Entertainment’s work. The company’s official Weibo had to disable comments, crying out into the void. Since they had lost all integrity, hardly anyone was willing to give them the time of day.

The next day, inspired by Lin Yanran’s bold move, other minor celebrities from Day and Night Entertainment also stepped forward. In the past, they were too scared to fight the company alone. They had endured every injustice, thinking they just had to last until their contracts expired. But they had never seen a way out. Now, they saw an opportunity.

This coalition of Day and Night Entertainment artists began posting their own tyrannical contracts. Some people even anonymously revealed that they were forced to accept the unspoken rules by Ding Weikang and others through coercion, threats, deception, etc.

This wave of revelations caused an even bigger stir.

The artists’ claims indirectly supported Lin Yanran’s statement that the company used blacklisting tactics to threaten their careers.

In truth, everyone had already guessed it was about unspoken rules, but they couldn’t bear to think the worst. After all, Lin Yanran was only 22, and six years ago, he was still a minor…

No one wanted to imagine a minor being subjected to such darkness.

Lin Yanran’s fans were furious. If words could kill, Day and Night Entertainment’s executives and Ding Weikang would have died a hundred times over. When fans saw the anonymous posts, they asked Lin Yanran if he had been affected.

He replied directly on Weibo: “Don’t worry, I didn’t go.”

Lin Yanran still had the recording of Ding Weikang threatening him to go with the EC CEO, President Li. But since other artists had already exposed the situation, he didn’t need to post it.

After two days of fighting the company, public opinion was overwhelmingly on their side. Everything was moving in a good direction, and if all went well, his lawsuit would be smooth sailing.

Lin Yanran picked up his phone, thanked everyone who had messaged him, and went to bed feeling at ease.

He had been so physically and mentally exhausted that his internal clock failed to wake him up.

By the time he woke up, it was already bright outside, and his phone was ringing nonstop.

Lin Yanran answered Yingying’s call and immediately heard her excited, tearful voice.

“Brother, several of the Day and Night Entertainment executives and Ding Weikang have been arrested!”

“What happened?” he asked. He had just slept in, and now he was completely out of the loop.

“I’m not exactly sure, but it seems like EC’s side of the investigation found a producer named Li who was involved in some criminal activities such as s*x trafficking and prostitution. And that led them back to Day and Night Entertainment. They were all taken away this morning.”

Yingying’s voice at the end sounded like she was celebrating a great victory.

“Karma is a good thing, wuwuwuwu!”

---