Chapter 997: Chapter 997: Xia Xue Will Also Participate in the Finals Chapter 997: Chapter 997: Xia Xue Will Also Participate in the Finals With high-quality works at her side, she had the confidence to market Rong Yan with a focus on music, which in turn would naturally turn the negative rumors and scandals surrounding him into controversy.

Controversy is equivalent to popularity, and for artists, that meant such rumors wouldn’t be as damaging as outright negative stories.

“Didn’t you lose the stuff last time? Did you and Qi Yue manage to create a new version?” Estelle had placed all her bets on Hanks Dina, so of course, she hoped that Rong Yan could handle the director.

Rong Yan strolled in leisurely, “Fu Ya won’t be able to participate in the finale, so we don’t need to prepare a new version. The fact that the company lost things last time must be related to her, and since she can’t go, we can just use the original version. I found a backup of the audio in my laptop the day before yesterday, and what I gave to Dina was extracted myself from it.”

Estelle didn’t know whether to say she was well-prepared or to ask why she hadn’t consulted her first, so they could re-record a complete tuning version. But she knew Rong Yan had her own reasons for what she did, and perhaps there was another consideration for not providing a complete version. Not dwelling on the matter, she changed the subject, “Hey, I almost forgot to tell you.”

“Tell me what?” Rong Yan entered the office with her, and relaxed completely in the familiar environment, leaning on the sofa, stretching her body like a cat.

“Man, I don’t know what you’re up to all day, you always look so tired every time I see you.” Estelle poured her a glass of water and continued where she had left off, “Fu Ya can’t go to AQ’s finale anymore, right?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

Estelle said, “Her spot was given to Xia Xue.”

“Given to Xia Xue? What do you mean?” Rong Yan held the glass of water, took a sip, and looked up, her clear-cut eyes bright and piercing.

Estelle liked her eyes, met her gaze, and said, “It’s not a backup situation like you might think. Fu Ya has already withdrawn. If AQ were to make a substitution now, there would definitely be a backlash online. The company clearly told AQ that they were willing to pay compensation for Fu Ya’s withdrawal. Anyway, I don’t know how it was negotiated, but the result was that AQ changed the competition rules overnight. Instead of head-to-head battles, it turned into a simple combination of popularity and judges’ choice. So, in the end, it didn’t matter whether there were four or three contestants in the finale.”

“Then what’s this about Xia Xue taking over Fu Ya’s spot?” If there were only three people left, then there was no such thing as Fu Ya’s spot.

Estelle smiled slightly, leaning against the office desk, and said, “KT Entertainment invested in AQ’s project, and since they’ve put money into it, they definitely wouldn’t waste the opportunity to nurture artists. Since Fu Ya didn’t appreciate this chance, the company certainly wanted to find a way to compensate for the loss. So, when negotiating with AQ, they formed a duo with Xia Xue and Yan Qingqing, with the two making an appearance as guest singers. Yan Qingqing agreed to it as well.”

There was a guest singing part in the final, she wasn’t familiar with many people in the circle, and couldn’t be bothered to seek out big names, so she had Qi Yue help her.

But she knew that the other two contestants’ companies had brought in some big names to help boost their popularity.

“Why would Yan Qingqing agree to swap the big name arranged by the company for Xia Xue?” She frowned, puzzled.

Estelle, “I don’t know either, maybe because Xia Xue’s internet drama series just started airing, and her popularity and trending topics are doing quite well. Yan Qingqing might not want to be overshadowed by a big star, so she simply chose Xia Xue instead.”