The Book of All Things: Born for Joy

Zhao Jinmai looked at Zhao Qianfan, who was talking eloquently, with a forlorn expression, as if she had been walking alone for a long time. She only knew that her father was the Lord of Yang in the Underworld, but it seemed that she had never asked about his past, just as he had never asked her how many years she had walked alone in this world before she met him.

What intrigued her even more was how her father's love tribulation could be a man.

Zhao Jinmai touched his head, scratching and pulling at it vigorously. Zhao Qianfan asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Didn't your mom tell you to wash your hair? Can't you wash it yourself? Why are you pulling your hair like that? Be careful you don't go bald in your youth."

Zhao Jinmai shook his head, but finally asked the question that had been on his mind: "No, it's just that there's something I don't understand. Dad, I was just asking casually, how can you be so sure that Li Zichun is the person you're looking for? Could there be a mistake? Should I use the Reincarnation Technique to check your past lives? Maybe you've misunderstood?"

Zhao Qianfan shook his head and laughed, saying, "Little brat, you're so precocious. You're just being nosy. You're not involved in this kind of thing, so you wouldn't understand the intricacies. Love is the most touching thing. Some people, you know it's them the moment you meet them."

Zhao Jinmai pouted and said, "Just like those girls nowadays? Falling in love with every celebrity they see? Even the Republic of China era a hundred years ago wasn't this fickle and crazy."

Zhao Qianfan laughed heartily: "This love is not that kind of love. When you grow up and meet the right person, you'll naturally understand everything."

Zhao Jinmai nodded and said, "Yes, yes, it's good that Dad has someone to keep him company from now on. He won't be lonely anymore. Unlike Mom, who has no feelings at all. Don't celestial maidens have any desires?"

Zhao Qianfan stroked her head and said, "What does it matter whether this kind of thing exists or not? She adopted you before I met you. Even the ice that has been frozen for thousands of years will leave a few drops of gentle water after being with you for a long time."

Zhao Jinmai nodded smugly and said, "That's true, who can blame me for being so cute?"

......

Li Zichun lay on the sofa playing with Qitong. During his free time, he glanced at the progress bar of the Dumb System. It was still 80% away from completing the task. Looking at the bunch of random songs he got from daily check-ins, he thought, "Hmm, it would have been better not to get them at all. They're just an eyesore and a waste to throw away. When will the system give me some good songs that match my taste?"

Fortunately, I have a unique memory that I gained after the "Three Teachings Questioning the Heart" test, otherwise it would have been a real problem.

And the trouble that was supposed to happen has indeed arrived.

Yuan Zian dressed himself neatly again, walked out of the dressing room, and muttered to himself before going on stage: "The red thread of fate has been cut, the newcomer experience card is over, and this is all I can do to help you. Now it depends on whether you can withstand the storm of this world, be reborn, and make it to the end."

As Li Zichun stroked Qi Tong's fur, pondering his next plan, he suddenly received a call from Fan Liwen: "Hello, what's up?"

Fan Liwen sounded a little anxious on the other end of the phone: "Have you seen the news online? There are suddenly a lot of messages expressing dissatisfaction with you. Are you alright?"

Li Zichun was completely confused. Bad news? What bad news? Since their debut, every performance has been a success. Their fan base, popularity, and influence have all been skyrocketing. Where could there be any bad news?

Fan Liwen didn't say much, only simply saying, "Be careful lately, and don't wander around alone. The online sentiment has suddenly spiraled out of control recently, so take good care of yourself. I'll see if I can find someone to smooth things over."

She hung up the phone after she finished speaking, leaving Li Zichun and Qitong staring at each other in bewilderment.

With nothing to do, he wanted to see what kind of trouble was going on online, so he started surfing the internet. It's true what they say, you don't know until you see it!

The whole story begins with a series of bloody incidents triggered by an article. It stems from the chaotic infighting within the BL (Boys' Love) fanfiction community caused by his frequent ambiguous interactions with Zhao Qianfan.

A chaotic harem war between the male protagonist and his wife, Li Zichun, under the guidance of a polygamous relationship.

The story revolves around a power struggle between the early group of actors including Li Zichun, Zhao Qianfan, Li Jiawei, Liu Xueqi, and Uncle Qi, and the later group including Yuan Zian, Wang Zijie, Cheng Xinghe, and Zhong Lingling.

If that's all, it's not too bad.

The problem was that things gradually went awry afterward. The articles became increasingly outrageous and wildly imaginative, featuring a wide variety of identities, from bar hostesses to street sweepers to prostitutes at night, with all sorts of marginalized workers appearing one after another.

I must say, it's quite well-written.

Li Zichun was getting quite engrossed in reading; these people were something else. But halfway through, he realized the story had abruptly ended—the eunuch had inexplicably dropped the story.

He thought it was a website update issue, so he refreshed the page and found that the entire article was gone.

A million alpacas were stampeding through my mind. It was like watching a movie, and just as the story was reaching its climax, the power went out. I felt a surge of anger build up inside me, slowly turning into a fit of rage.

Unwilling to give up, Li Zichun refreshed the page again, only to find the entire website gone, displaying a system crash message indicating it was under maintenance.

By the time he finished reading about everything and understood how things had unfolded, it was already late at night several days later.

During the time he missed, a lot could have happened.

The website's closure after being reported was the work of his and Zhao Qianfan's fans, mainly his obsessive fans. They even mobilized online resources to dox all the authors' information and gathered other fans to insult and threaten the authors, as well as file complaints and personal attacks against their locations or workplaces. Many people resigned as a result.

Originally, everyone was just writing something in their spare time after work to pass the time and share their fantasies with like-minded people. There was no outside dissemination or commercial disputes. But now, because of this, everyone knows about it, and some have even lost their respectable jobs and livelihoods. Anyone would feel resentful in this situation.

Finally, the enraged author and fellow readers engaged in a fierce online argument. The incident quickly became a trending topic.

The public dominated the headlines of major online platforms with trending topics such as "freedom of creation," "privacy and human rights," "freedom of viewing," "don't hurt if you don't love," "fans' self-restraint," "rational idol worship," "cyberbullying," and "the side effects of role models."

The central figure in these trending searches is "Li Zichun," a relatively new internet celebrity.

The entertainment industry was in turmoil. Some joined the fray, while others watched coldly. Still others, eager for drama, added fuel to the fire, spread rumors, dug up behind-the-scenes secrets, fabricated stories, and so on.

Li Zichun coldly observed these human scenes, what a magnificent drama!

Originally, this was just an ordinary online incident that people would forget about after a few days when something new came up. But unexpectedly, things escalated, and eventually the "Great Zhou National Cultural Propaganda Department" and the "National Arts and Literature Committee" were directly called out to comment and mediate.

Of course, such departments receive countless messages every day and naturally don't have time to deal with these matters, but one thing is certain: the "gold medal assessment" of Li Zichun was not held as scheduled, but was postponed indefinitely.

This move has caused a huge stir. Although the authorities haven't said anything, this small action has already revealed a lot.

When Fan Liwen called to explain the issue to him, it was already too late, and he was the kind of person who wouldn't care about fans, a special group.

By the time he understood the whole story and wanted to do something with Fan Liwen for those who lost their jobs and for the website, the best opportunity had already passed. The official notice of the postponement of the gold medal evaluation had been issued, and the website had been temporarily shut down due to reports. The seeds of resentment among the affected creators had already been sown, and it was all too late.

Within a week of the whole incident, everything seemed to have settled down, and he was isolated by the entire entertainment industry.

And those who wanted to speak up for it suddenly fell silent.

Despite this, there are still people speaking up for him.

Director Zhang Xiaochuan, who had worked with him, spoke up for him, but he was criticized so much that he immediately turned off the comments section.

Zhao Qianfan, Uncle Qi, Li Jiawei, Liu Xueqi and others spoke up for him, but were so criticized that they shut down their accounts, and his fans lost a lot of support.

Other artists who worked with him also went from being incredibly popular to fading into obscurity overnight.

Only those who speak ill of him are still alive, and the more they say, the more fans he gains. Many people thought he would never rise to prominence again, so they became increasingly reckless.

Li Zichun had long since become indifferent to interpersonal relationships, and he never expected things to develop so rapidly, catching everyone off guard and ending before they could even react.

He secretly remembered those who had helped him and created a group chat. The first thing he posted was: "I am very sorry for the trouble this incident has caused everyone. I hope we can cooperate again in the future. Thank you all for your care and support during this time. But when everyone is criticizing me, for the sake of your careers and personal safety, please stand with them and criticize me together. Don't let yourselves and your families get hurt."

The impact of this incident was far-reaching, even directly destroying Li Zichun's efforts over the past few months, and also making him see clearly the comings and goings of people around him.

The artists he collaborated with, apart from Yuan Zi'an who held a relatively high position at Seagate Media, included newcomers like Feng Zhennian and Qin Yuzi, who suddenly had hit songs. This directly impacted the status and resource allocation of others within the company. During this incident, many people were subtly maneuvering, with their fan groups getting involved to show him that the entertainment industry isn't for just anyone, especially not someone who debuted as an internet celebrity.

Although Jiang Yiyi and Zheng Conghu wanted to help him, they both ran their own studios and had a large number of people to support, so they couldn't risk their lives. Nevertheless, they sent him messages of concern and apologized for not being able to step in.

Li Zichun also expressed his understanding and replied to the message, indicating that there would be opportunities to cooperate in the future.

The final news of Fan Liwen's contract termination shattered his last glimmer of hope.

"After multiple meetings and discussions by the board of directors of Huating Entertainment Company, it was decided that Mr. Li Zichun's ability to resume performance of the contract within a reasonable period of time is no longer possible, and the fundamental purpose of the contract cannot be achieved."

The actions of Mr. Li Zichun and his fans have seriously violated the relevant provisions of the contract and company regulations, causing losses and adverse effects to our company. We hereby formally notify Mr. Li Zichun that the contract signed by both parties on April 13th of this year is terminated from the date of this announcement. After the termination of the contract, please come to the company within seven working days to complete the handover procedures for your departure.

This is to inform you.

The online release of this notice directly signifies that all of Li Zichun's efforts have been in vain, and his months of hard work have been rendered useless, marking the official failure of his plan to become a big shot in the entertainment industry.

The phone call between Fan Liwen and Li Zichun lacked its previous warmth and courtesy, resembling the polite exchanges between familiar strangers. They agreed on a time to complete the resignation procedures and discussed subsequent compensation and other matters.

Fan Liwen initially disagreed with the dismissal. She believed such matters could simply be left unresolved; the internet has no memory, and it would all be forgotten in a few days or months. Besides, he hadn't done anything wrong, and it was unrealistic to have all his efforts overturned so inexplicably. However, this was only her opinion. The board of directors disagreed. In their view, Li Zichun was no longer of any use, and the incident directly impacted the company's public image and stock market value. At this point, sacrificing a pawn to save the king was the most important thing.

Fan Liwen's numbers and votes were insufficient to compete with them, so she had no choice but to compromise.

Li Zichun listened silently, and in the end just nodded lightly, pretending that nothing had happened and treating it with a normal attitude.

Looking back on the whole incident, it seems he was expelled from the entertainment industry without doing anything, which is utterly absurd. This entire event was recorded in history as "The Fall of the Moon Emperor."

From being universally known and praised to being universally hated and forced to leave the entertainment industry, it only took a few days.

When capital abandons you, it doesn't even bother to say goodbye; it just slaps you away like a beggar.

The silence of good people, the joy of bad influences, and the rapid exodus of fans—it all truly reflects the grand dream of fame and fortune in the entertainment industry. We watched him rise to prominence, watched him host lavish banquets, and watched his empire crumble.

Li Zichun let out a long sigh. The entertainment industry is really tough. You've successfully caught my attention and ignited my fighting spirit to conquer. Today you ignore me, but tomorrow I'll see how I sweep your hometown across three thousand miles.

The next day, when Zhao Qianfan accompanied Li Zichun out of Huating Entertainment, he felt neither sadness nor joy. The company was surrounded by people, some who disliked him, some who liked him, some who were just watching the spectacle, and some who were reluctant to leave. He looked at them coldly and expressionlessly, and left without looking back.

From now on, I really have to go it alone. It's only reliable to take control of my own destiny.