After signing the contract in black and white, Alex had a long, one-on-one conversation with Daniel and benefited greatly from it.
For him personally, this conversation could no longer be called a simple chat, but a process of being subverted and reshaped. After obtaining the Flash back cheat, his mind was filled with thoughts of studying hard, developing quietly, waiting for the money he could make from the cheat to come in, and then naturally rising to the top and enjoying a life of luxury.
But Daniel told him the truth: among Black celebrities in the arts and sports industries, very few manage to avoid bankruptcy after fading into obscurity or retiring. A large proportion of them even die young due to the combined effects of extravagance, indulgence in alcohol and sex, and drug abuse.
For example, if you casually sign a document handed to you by a trusted confidant while drunk, you might inexplicably find yourself without a property or burdened with a huge debt.
A seemingly ordinary romantic encounter could lead to a lawsuit, with the victim facing fabricated rape accusations. The victim might spend a fortune to settle privately, bearing the stigma for life, or spend even more on a legal team to rebuild their reputation, only to suffer a mental and physical breakdown after countless court battles and media bombardment. They might also face years of exorbitant child support and relentless blackmail due to the victim's intentional act of fathering a child. They might even contract a novel sexually transmitted disease and die within a few years.
The unclear relationship with gangs is a major hidden danger for black celebrities from poor neighborhoods. On the one hand, living and growing up there inevitably leads to ties with gangs. On the other hand, this background makes them special targets of various law enforcement agencies. After becoming famous, a slight misstep can result in either paying money to avoid trouble or going to jail.
Greedy relatives and childhood friends, ubiquitous petty swindlers, swarms of Wall Street con artists, backstabbing from brokers, managers, lawyers, and accountants, guns and drugs smuggled into cars and rooms by henchmen, unintentionally miscalculated taxes, unintentionally misspoken words...
All of these factors could potentially deliver a fatal blow to him, so he must possess energy, self-control, discernment, and vigilance far exceeding those of ordinary people, even those of white people of equal status.
While the road ahead is fraught with danger, Daniel also tells him that in this era of increasing emphasis on equality and political correctness, he can also gain countless benefits based on his mixed race skin color. The prerequisite for obtaining these benefits is to have a very thorough understanding of how American politics and interpersonal relationships work, as well as the corresponding interpersonal skills and initiative.
Want to rise from obscurity to success? No way. A bright but invisible student is a bookworm and a target of bullying. Only a bright leader deserves success.
For example, this BMI membership application.
"To get organizations like BMI to speed up their work, you have to put pressure on them, and playing the race card is a very good way to do that. So you have to understand how to use politics and public opinion to put that pressure on them."
"Besides money, people in America also like something like supermarket loyalty points. Supermarket points can be redeemed for goods, but once they accumulate enough points, they exchange them for money, power, friendship, attention, and even spiritual fulfillment and satisfaction. For example, some wealthy people are willing to spend $100,000 in New York to host a charity gala, and then spend a large sum of money to fly to Africa and back, just to give locals plastic backpacks worth a few thousand dollars. Why don't they just buy backpacks worth hundreds of thousands and send them over? For the points. They personally hand the backpacks to the local children and take a photo as a souvenir. The wealthy use these points to exchange for moral self-satisfaction and fame; celebrities use these points to gain favor with the public and the media; and high school students use these points to accumulate social experience for applying to good universities..."
"There are many ways to spend points, and countless ways to earn them, but you must remember that only by becoming someone who can provide points to others can you truly be an invincible winner."
Under Daniel's patient guidance, Alex re-planned his life.
He went back to school and went to see his music teacher first.
"Wow, Alex, so you're APLUS who writes about Thrift stores! You're doing a fantastic job, congratulations! We were all kept in the dark by you!"
This was the first thing the music teacher said to him upon meeting him.
Alex said, "Thank you, I really mean it. All my musical knowledge comes from you. I never thought this song would be a success. Lowry is my brother's best friend, we hang out together all the time. I gave him the song I wrote on a whim, and then… sometimes wonderful things just happen suddenly, like a dream, and everything caught me off guard. After recovering from this dream, a voice in my heart told me to thank God and many other people. You were the first person I thought of in this school. Without your help and encouragement, I wouldn't be where I am today."
The music teacher laughed, "No, all students are taught in the same way, but you are the only one who has achieved success. It's mainly due to your personal talent."
"You flatter me," Alex said modestly. "Actually, I was planning to thank you at a more formal occasion. Because my song got me accepted by BMI, the American Broadcasting Association, and they were going to hold a small membership ceremony, just some chairs in a stadium and... you know, the very simple kind. But unfortunately..."
He carefully adjusted his facial muscles, making a wry smile.
"Oh?" The music teacher's interest was piqued. "Why couldn't it be held as scheduled?"
"I… I'm not sure, it seems like something got stuck somewhere. Actually, I feel like I've encountered racial discrimination…" Alex replied.
"Racism!" The music teacher exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"It's just a feeling…maybe, you know, we're very perceptive about these things, we can sense something…" Alex shrugged, "I was originally planning to report this to the principal…"
"You absolutely have to go!" the music teacher urged him. "There's no time to hesitate when it comes to discrimination, let's go now! Let's go!"
The music teacher led me to the principal's office.
The principal, a bald, elderly Black man, listened patiently as Alex repeated his statement.
"They were planning a small ceremony, but it was deliberately thwarted, right?"
The principal picked up the phone. "This kind of thing can't be tolerated. I know, some white..." He glanced at the white music teacher and rephrased, "Institutions with such a long history as BMI often harbor many old racist minds..."
He made a phone call to some social connection, and after finishing, he smiled and said to Alex, "So the author of that song Thrift Shop' is at my school, haha. What grade are you in? How old are you... Wow, a fifteen-year-old composer, a BMI member, hmm, we definitely need to have a ceremony. What help do you need? Just tell me."
"That's right," Alex replied. "My agent suggested I ask you if we could get help from the local councilor. He also suggested I try writing to Chicago's equality organizations."
"That's a great idea. I'll call Congressman Underwood; he'll definitely be willing to help. As for the affirmative action organizations… well, it's probably better if you contact them yourself. You have a good agent, young man. I'll give you an address and phone number for an affirmative action organization. They have an office near the University of Chicago…"
With the help of the music teacher and the principal, Alex executed Daniel's idea perfectly.
"Maybe I've gone too far with perfection. If I go too far, won't BMI hate me? After all, they didn't do anything..." He thought to himself, feeling uneasy.
As I walked out of the principal's office and said goodbye to the music teacher, I was unexpectedly stopped in the corridor by two thugs.
"YO! APLUS..." A thug with a sleazy air leaned closer, "Did you write that song for Little Lowry?"
"Yes." Song Ya, who had been completely transformed, was not flustered at all.
"Let's talk this over, how about you write a song for my brother too?" He pointed to another thug, "His rapping skills are pretty good too."
Alex shoved him. "Are you serious? Huh?" He stepped forward, pressed his forehead against the other's, and looked directly into his eyes. "You know I write songs for Little Lori, don't you know to ask who my boss is? Huh? Ever heard of the Regional Short-tailed Cat? Huh!? You're blocking my way!?"
The other person retreated step by step, until he was forced to stand against the wall as punishment. "Did you ask me to write a song? Hmm? Your rapping skills are pretty good, aren't they?" He then changed his target and continued to push him...
The two thugs fled in panic.
Alex immediately wanted to put his hands on his hips and laugh out loud.
Unexpectedly, his joy turned to sorrow. He turned around and saw the cheerleading goddess walking gracefully toward him with 'charm'. Soon after, he noticed the rugby team's forward at the other end of the corridor, already rubbing his fists to warm up.
"FXXX!"
Thinking quickly, he rushed into a group of passing girls, picked the one he liked the most, and said, "Hi, can I get to know you?" He was really going all out to avoid getting beaten up.