"Did they contact you in private, like to explain or apologize?" Chen Ling asked bluntly. As colleagues and competitors, there was no need to mince words.
"No," he shook his head, offering no further details.
The incident was in the past, and he had won his bet. He had only wanted some attention to begin with, but he didn't expect to become an overnight sensation. The show's crew couldn't suppress the trending heat, not even with real money.
Now that he had achieved his goal, bringing it up again would look like he was wallowing in self-pity, a risky move with little reward. He didn't need to play the victim; with real talent and resources, he didn't need to take shortcuts.
Chen Ling's questions were sharp and thorough, mostly revolving around his rise to fame. Eventually, despite the roundabout way of getting there, the pre-interview hype circled back to the work itself.
"Where do you get your inspiration from when you write songs?"
"Reading, random musings."
