Chapter 132: System Upgrade Mission (Subscription Requested)

June 11th, sunny, a beautiful day with a gentle breeze.

"Hehe... it has begun."

Li Dongning checked the time—eleven o'clock sharp—and let out a villainous chuckle.

On the internet, just as many netizens were idling away, a post suddenly appeared:

"The long-awaited first concert of Diva Ying has finally concluded. The goddess truly lives up to her title; she is absolutely incredible! Next, let’s look forward to the International Musical Instrument Exchange to be held at the Jinghua Grand Music Hall on the 15th of this month. I hope our China emerges victorious in every battle!

However, what I want to know is whether our 'God Qing' will represent our traditional Chinese instruments in this competition. Looking at the repertoire of traditional Chinese music, I believe there isn't a single piece currently that can rival God Qing's erhu masterpiece 'Horse Racing' or his suona piece 'Hundred Birds Worshipping the Phoenix.'

With God Qing on our side, victory is certain!"

As soon as this post was published, the comments and discussions exploded:

"Exactly! With God Qing, this battle is ours! I love 'Horse Racing' so much; it gives me the thrill of galloping across the grasslands every time I exercise. I support God Qing representing China!"

"I support God Qing too, but I just want to know—is this 'exercise' of yours legitimate?"

"Heh, why do kids need to know so much? I also support God Qing, but our support alone is useless; we need the China Music Association to back him."

"Right, that makes sense. Why don't we go to the official Weibo of the China Music Association and ask them if they support God Qing?"

"Sure, but what if they don't?"

"If they don't... hehe..."

"Hehe... if they don't, then what are we netizens for?"

"Hehe... if they don't, my forty-meter blade is already thirsty!"

"Hehe... if they don't, my fifteen-meter pencil is already worn to the nub!"

"Hehe... if they don't..."

A string of identical "hehes" lined up perfectly. As time passed, more and more netizens joined in. In less than an hour, the post had been pushed to the top by the users. Then, stirred by those with ulterior motives, the netizens flooded the official Weibo account of the China Music Association.

In an instant, the official account was overwhelmed.

Inside the small shop, Wang Ming watched as thousands of comments demanding "Yang Qing to represent China with traditional instruments" flooded the Weibo page. He stared blankly at Li Dongning and asked, "Your internet trolls... this is terrifying."

Li Dongning opened his mouth, stunned for a moment before saying, "The trolls I hired are professionals, and they... they already pulled out!"

"Pulled out?! Then these are... real netizens!" Wang Ming was dumbfounded.

"Yeah!" Li Dongning looked at Yang Qing, who was still busy working, and muttered, "I didn't expect so many netizens to support him. Based on this popularity, he’s already at a second-tier level."

"Not yet," Wang Ming shook his head. "Yang's popularity is terrifying, but as of now, he isn't a star. At most, he’s somewhere between a celebrity and a major influencer. Although he has works, he hasn't officially debuted properly."

"True, but it won't be long," Li Dongning smiled. "Isn't that what we're working on right now?"

"Hehe... you're right!"

...

At the China Music Association, President Lu Baiwu looked at the people sitting in the conference room with fury in his eyes, then said to Zhuo Yi in a deep voice:

"You've seen the demands of the netizens on Weibo, haven't you?"

Zhuo Yi’s expression turned grim; he realized that his traditional instrument troupe had been set up by someone with malicious intent.

"Since you've seen it, how do you plan to handle their demand for the list of personnel for the traditional instrument group at this exchange?" Lu Baiwu asked coldly.

Zhuo Yi replied, "The candidates have already been decided. If they want the list, we’ll just publish it."

"Hmph! That's easy for you to say! Is that person named Yang Qing on your list? If he isn't, and this creates an even bigger public opinion disaster at such a critical moment, will you take responsibility?"

Lu Baiwu stared coldly at Zhuo Yi. "I don't care about the petty schemes in your heads. I want this incident resolved smoothly! I’m giving you one hour to handle this. If you can't, I will! You know the consequences if I have to step in."

After saying this, Lu Baiwu didn't give Zhuo Yi a chance to retort and walked out. As the president of the China Music Association, he had long been dissatisfied with the traditional instrument troupe, with their obsession with seniority—did they think this was an ancient imperial court?

Once Lu Baiwu left, Zhuo Yi looked gloomily at the others, remaining silent. The atmosphere was incredibly suffocating.

After a long while, an elder frowned and said, "One hour, how can we solve it in such a short time? This is..."

"What's the difference between an hour and a day?" Zhuo Yi snapped. "The core issue is whether that man, Yang Qing, should be on the list for this exchange! Tell me, should he or not?"

Everyone remained silent; no one wanted to take the bait, as whoever did would surely become the target.

"Hmph!"

Seeing no one speak, Zhuo Yi sneered, "Keep contacting him. If we can get the licensing for those two pieces, everything can be resolved smoothly. If we can't..."

Zhuo Yi paused, his face darkening further. "If we can't, then we publish the list, and Yang Qing must be on it!"

Upon hearing this, the group was silent for a long time before someone asked, "But if we publish the list and Yang Qing... refuses?"

"If he refuses, then it’s no longer our responsibility! Let those netizens go find him for an explanation!" Zhuo Yi barked coldly.

...

On the second floor of the small shop.

"The last dish, red-braised pork is here!" Fang Du shouted like a waiter, setting the dish on the table before sitting down.

Yang Qing followed him and sat down. He looked at the group and smiled, then turned to Bai Zhijun, who was already sipping wine, and asked, "Brother Bai, what about your wife? You didn't invite her to eat?"

"Forget that," Bai Zhijun glared. "If your sister-in-law came, would I even be able to drink? You really are... I already sent her food over."

Yang Qing gave him a thumbs up. "...You’re ruthless!"

As he spoke, he looked at Wang Ming, confused. "What did you do to my phone? Why did the SIM card break for no reason?"

"Cough..."

Wang Ming, who was eating, choked a bit. He looked at Yang Qing and began to lie: "I saw your phone was a bit dusty, so I tried to clean it, and I accidentally dropped the card on the floor and stepped on it."

Yang Qing looked at him suspiciously. "Really? Why do I feel like you three are hiding something from me today?"

Wang Ming + Li Dongning + Fang Du: ...

Your intuition is a bit too accurate!

Just then, Bai Zhijun interjected, "Can you stop wasting time? Just go get a replacement SIM card; it's no big deal. Eat and drink! Come on, bottoms up!"

"Right, right, right! Come on, Brother Yang, hold up your glass, let’s have a drink with Brother Bai!"

With Bai Zhijun interrupting, the three of them quickly changed their expressions and shouted.

Yang Qing: ...

As they ate, drank, and chatted, time slowly slipped away. The few who had only intended to have a few drinks were starting to feel the effects of the alcohol.

Suddenly, a ringtone sounded. Wang Ming picked up his phone, saw who it was, and instantly sobered up.

"Hello, Sis, what's up?"

"What's up?! Don't you know what you've done? You guys are something else! Give the phone to Yang Qing!"

Wang Ying's cold voice came through. Wang Ming shuddered, then handed the phone to Yang Qing, saying, "Brother Yang, my sister wants to talk to you."

"Me?"

Yang Qing took the phone, confused. As he listened to what Wang Ying said, he froze, staring blankly at Li Dongning.

A moment later, the call ended. Yang Qing looked at the three of them with a complex expression:

"You guys are really... sigh. Xiao Ying said the China Music Association's official Weibo just published the list for the exchange, and I'm on it. So..."

"So you're going to participate, right!"

When Li Dongning heard this, he was thrilled. The battle was won, and he stopped hiding it from Yang Qing, laying his cards on the table:

"That's right, the three of us did this! The goal was to get you to participate in this exchange, to fight for our country! And to slap those idiots in the face!"

Yang Qing looked at the excited Li Dongning, remained silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I won't..."

As soon as these words left his mouth, the smile on Li Dongning's face froze. He looked at him in disbelief. Wang Ming and Fang Du also stared at Yang Qing blankly. They had done so much, the purpose was clear, but they never imagined Yang Qing would refuse!

"Ding!"

But at that moment, just as the three of them were in disbelief, and just as Yang Qing was about to finish his sentence—"I won't participate in the exchange"—a system prompt suddenly rang in his mind, cutting his words short.

"Ding! System upgrade mission released!"

"Mission: Promote the charm of traditional Chinese musical instruments at the International Musical Instrument Exchange and win glory for the country!"

"Mission success: Reward of 100 achievement points! System upgrades to LV2, unlocking the self-purchase interface!"

"Mission failure: The host will have a month of bad luck, and this bad luck will affect those closest to the host!"

Yang Qing: ...