RPAGF Chapter 072 Appetizer
Chapter 072 Appetizer
After explaining his work to Yuan Xiuqing, Yang Du ordered himself a cup of milk tea, sat comfortably in front of his computer, and began his artistic creation.
Using "The Lone Warrior" and "Today is Your Birthday" to appear on the National Day Gala is a perfectly legitimate and open strategy. Once the gala airs and there is official endorsement, even if Jiang Yinglan dislikes Yang Du, she won't be able to say a word from a moral or professional perspective.
However, all of this happened during the National Day holiday.
There are still more than two months until National Day in October.
Yang Du was not the kind of saint who could calmly wait for two months after being insulted to his face.
While the main course was simmering in the iron pot, he could still prepare a cold appetizer first, as if it were a way to collect some interest.
As for the ingredients for this side dish, Yang Du had an idea after watching Jiang Yinglan's interview that day—the theme of a wicked mother-in-law!
The conflict between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law is an age-old problem that transcends social classes.
The grudges and affections involved are so numerous that even a vast ocean of stories couldn't tell them all; they are definitely a timeless source of endless interest in family dramas.
The perspective naturally unfolds from the point of view of the female protagonist who has suffered countless injustices.
"What a tragedy..."
As Yang Du typed "I" in the first person in Word, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
Why is it that whenever I write this kind of story, it's always the female lead who suffers?
She's either betrayed by a scumbag husband or leeched off by her in-laws.
This time, however, the main conflict between the female lead and her husband is no longer with her husband, but with a hypocritical, preachy, but extremely selfish and wicked mother-in-law.
The article is titled: "On the second day of the wedding, my mother-in-law set her sights on my dowry!"
Conflict alone is not enough. In order to make the characters more vivid, three-dimensional, and full of life, Yang Du also consulted Wang Shihui beforehand and incorporated a small habit of Jiang Yinglan from real life into the text.
An hour and a half later, a lengthy 6000-word masterpiece on family ethics was freshly published.
Yang Du checked the typos and nodded with great satisfaction.
Copy, paste, send!
"—Task Evaluation: Heart-stirring!"
"—Reward coefficient: 100%!"
"—Congratulations, host, you have received a reward: 1000 lyric writing experience points."
"—Advanced Lyricist (1900/10000)!"
Listening to the pleasant mechanical voice coming from his mind, Yang Du leaned back comfortably in his chair.
Within minutes of the Weibo post being published, comments quickly appeared in the comment section.
Yang Du has been a controversial figure lately, first becoming the producer of Tao Cheng's second album, and then being criticized in an interview by Jiang Yinglan. Countless people are online waiting to see how Yang Dudu, whose account already has 120 million followers, respond.
Instead of a proper statement or rebuttal, what we got was a bizarre emotional article.
[I knew it, Governor Yang never responds, he only posts.]
[Holy crap, hahaha, I can't laugh anymore! Governor Yang, do you know this is going against the grain? It's extremely serious and should be punished even more severely. (winking)]
I was worrying unnecessarily about you, thinking you'd hide away and secretly wipe away your tears. Who knew you'd be criticizing Professor Jiang one minute and then publishing a new article without batting an eye? That's some nerve! (thumbs up)
What does it mean to stay true to your original aspiration? (Tactical lean back)
[Good job, Governor Yang! Don't pay any attention to that old hag Jiang Yinglan; she's too old to be meddling in other people's business.]
This mother-in-law is just too much! It makes me want to punch her.
Not only netizens saw Yang Du's update, but Jiang Yinglan, who was on the other side of Beijing that same evening, also saw it.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the living room was quiet.
Jiang Yinglan casually browsed today's industry news on a tablet, while her husband, wearing reading glasses, was reading the Beijing Evening News.
Big data is very perceptive; as soon as it refreshed, it thoughtfully pushed Yang Du's article to Jiang Yinglan's Weibo homepage.
Upon seeing this title, Jiang Yinglan frowned deeply and couldn't help but let out a cold snort of disappointment.
"These young people nowadays..." Jiang Yinglan shook her head. "They take shortcuts with their cleverness, taste the sweetness of online traffic, and then they can no longer settle down to walk the proper path. They are truly hopeless."
Hearing Jiang Yinglan's sigh, her husband looked up, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "What's wrong? Who made you angry so late at night?"
"Who else could it be but Yang Du, the Beijing Conservatory of Music student I mentioned to you during the day?"
Jiang Yinglan picked up her teacup, heartbroken: "After listening to a few of the songs he produced, I thought he was a rare talent, and with some guidance, he would surely achieve great things in the future."
"I made my point so clearly and strongly in a media interview a couple of days ago, just to give him a warning, to make him pull back from the brink, to realize his mistakes, and to return to the essence of art."
Hitting him and scolding him, isn't it all for his own good?
If it weren't for the fact that he had some potential, she wouldn't have bothered to say those harsh words.
"And the result?" Jiang Yinglan sneered. "They didn't appreciate it at all! Not only did they not reflect on their actions, they became even more unreasonable. It's like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, not recognizing a kind heart. I think he'll only be able to wallow in the mud for the rest of his life."
As she spoke, Jiang Yinglan's finger accidentally touched the tablet screen, which redirected her to the article details page.
The page opens, and the main text appears before your eyes.
Jiang Yinglan wanted to leave to avoid getting her eyes dirty, but her gaze was fixed on the first paragraph of the article and she couldn't look away.
It's not that Jiang Yinglan suddenly unlocked a talent for enjoying reading "Zhiyin" magazine; it's just that the opening chapters were so captivating.
The article begins by presenting the intense conflict in plain sight.
The newlywed daughter-in-law had just gotten up the next morning when she heard her mother-in-law outside the door discussing with her youngest son how to get the bride's dowry to use as a wedding gift for her son.
The very first paragraph made Jiang Yinglan's nerves jump.
Is this even human?
This is outright robbery!
How could there be such a shameless mother-in-law in the world?
Jiang Yinglan glanced at her husband discreetly. Although her mother-in-law was difficult to get along with, she wasn't this eccentric.
With this thought in mind, Jiang Yinglan subconsciously continued reading.
In the story, when the female protagonist angrily questioned her mother-in-law, the mother-in-law not only showed no remorse, but also put on airs as an elder and began to lecture her with a self-righteous attitude.
"You young people are too superficial, you value money too much. Big cities are different from rural areas, money is all superficial, connections and resources are what really matter."
"Besides, we're all family. Blood is thicker than water. You helped your brother this time, do you think your brother-in-law won't remember your kindness? When you have children in the future, as an uncle, remembering this favor, wouldn't you help your nephew out?"
At first, Jiang Yinglan simply thought that this was a wicked mother-in-law who took the practice of being generous with other people's money and moral blackmail to the extreme.
As her gaze slowly moved to the next paragraph, she suddenly froze.
At this moment, Jiang Yinglan was engrossed in reading the article and habitually rubbed the rim of her cup gently back and forth with her left thumb.
Once, twice, three times.
In the article, the old woman held her teacup, gently rubbing her thumb back and forth three times along the rim, then, with a pained expression, said earnestly:
"I'm telling you all this today not because I'm after your dowry. I'm doing this to teach you how to establish yourself in the city, how to broaden your path, and how to go far in life."
"You guys, don't always be so stingy with your own petty gains, always thinking that we, as your elders, are harming you."
boom!
Jiang Yinglan felt increasingly uneasy, and the anger and shame of being offended erupted in her chest like a volcano.
She finally realized what was happening.
This isn't some fictional family drama novel; that bastard surnamed Yang is clearly insulting her!
They portrayed her, a distinguished visiting professor at the Central Conservatory of Music and a Golden Bell Award winner, as a wicked mother-in-law who spouted benevolence and morality in order to steal her daughter-in-law's dowry!
"Okay, okay!"
Jiang Yinglan flew into a rage. Her usually well-maintained face turned ashen, and her features became somewhat distorted.
"Bang!"
The teacup slammed heavily onto the coffee table, spilling tea all over the floor.
The sudden loud noise startled my wife, who immediately asked, "What happened?"
Jiang Yinglan had no time to pay attention to her husband. She picked up her phone, her fingers trembling with anger, and unlocked the screen to go through her contacts.
She's going to call the leaders at Beijing Conservatory of Music!
She wants to confront the principal of Beijing Conservatory of Music!
She wanted to ask them how they had raised a student like Yang Du who was disrespectful, insubordinate, and lawless.
All I said to him was a couple of words.
It's the other way around!
They must be severely punished!
However, just as she was about to press the dial button, reason suddenly returned.
and many more.
Jiang Yinglan's chest heaved violently, her brain racing.
Putting aside whether Jingyin would protect her own or admit that the wicked mother-in-law described in Yang Du's article was her, let's just say that after this phone call was made.
Let's just talk about the essence of this matter.
If she were to actually file a complaint or launch a protest, wouldn't that be tantamount to taking offense?
Wouldn't that be tantamount to announcing to the entire music industry and even the entire internet: I, Jiang Yinglan, am the evil mother-in-law who was scolded by netizens for coveting her daughter-in-law's dowry in Yang Du's article "The Day After the Wedding..."?
Is this something to brag about?
If this gets out, won't she become the laughing stock of the entire industry?
Where does that leave her with her old face?
This is what it means to ruin one's reputation in old age!
If you don't speak up, you'll just suffer in silence.
But... I hate it!
Thinking of this, Jiang Yinglan stomped her foot hard, her back teeth grinding together.
Jiang Yinglan, who has lived for 50 years, has never suffered such a humiliation!
Even though someone is pointing a finger at you and insulting you, you can't talk back.
Seeing her strange state, as if she had lost her mind and had been force-fed several liters of bitter herbs, her husband put down the newspaper and asked again, "What's wrong? Why are you so angry for no reason? Who made you unhappy?"
Jiang Yinglan's face turned pale and then red.
She closed her eyes, forcibly suppressing the anger that surged in her chest.
"It's nothing, I'm just feeling upset."
She got up and walked towards the study: "You go to sleep first, I'm going to the study to listen to some music."