Miami, Hard Rock Stadium.
Thousands of fans flooded into the venue, gripping glow sticks and rocking sparkly tees printed with Taylor's face or her classic lyrics.
They were screaming, waving, and some were even crying tears of joy.
It looked like a zombie horde crashing the gates.
Order?
Order doesn't exist in Miami.
"Check it out. That's the Taylor Swift magic right there," Phil said, shooting a glance at Leon beside him.
The look on his face clearly said: You're not on this level yet.
Leon didn't respond, taking it as a default fact.
If he wanted to throw a concert of this magnitude, he might have the box office draw, but his catalog was painfully thin.
He'd only released a dozen or so tracks. Enough to hold down a Live House gig, sure, but a stadium tour? That was still just a pipe dream.
The group sat in a business van, waiting for staff to guide them backstage.
Leon's mind wasn't on the concert at all; he was busy fielding back-to-back phone calls.
Everyone, from close friends to people he barely knew, was calling to congratulate him.
As a music producer, his track Bang Bang had facilitated a collaboration between two major Divas, finally ending Adele's reign on the Billboard charts.
As a film investor, Straight Outta Compton was killing it with both critics and the box office, set to top the charts this weekend.
Movies and music—he was blossoming in both fields, raking in both fame and fortune.
"Sorry, Ms. Heard, I'm really swamped right now... I'm not even in New York."
"Kylie, thanks for the promo video for Compton. I'll definitely thank you in person when I get to LA..."
Just as Leon was busy dealing with these actresses looking to climb the social ladder, a noise came from outside.
Bang, bang, bang—
A young girl wearing a uniform stamped with the Taylor Swift logo was anxiously banging on the car window.
Leon recognized her immediately; she was part of Taylor's staff.
Taylor had built her own management team to handle daily operations—business consultants, legal teams, and PR reps.
A one-stop shop.
While Taylor might have been clueless about copyright issues, she definitely had a brain for career mapping.
"Hurry up, Mr. Leon! We're out of time!"
Led by the staffer, the group walked through a long, narrow employee tunnel and arrived at the dressing room area.
Leon was immediately shoved into a makeup chair.
There were only five minutes left until the concert officially started, and Taylor was already in the waiting area ready to go on.
"Is it really necessary to cake on this much powder?"
The makeup artist was expertly plastering stuff onto Leon's face, sparking a protest.
"Sorry... Miss Swift's look for you is based on Romeo. I have to match the stage play vibe as closely as possible," the artist apologized, but his hands didn't stop moving for a second.
"Romeo?" An image instantly popped into Leon's head: a pretty boy in tight velvet and exaggerated shoulder pads.
The classic Shakespearean Romeo look.
"Whose bright idea was this? It's totally stupid," Leon shook his head repeatedly.
"Miss Swift's idea. Inspired by Love Story..." The makeup artist freed up a hand to shrug, obviously agreeing with the sentiment.
The lyrics to Love Story immediately flashed through Leon's mind.
He couldn't help but wonder—if he was Romeo, then who was Juliet?
The answer was obvious.
Just as he was immersing himself in Taylor's stage design, he heard a disparaging voice from behind.
"This guy has always been so crude and rude. I don't get why Taylor insisted on having him as a guest..."
The volume was low, but Leon's hearing was surprisingly sharp.
He turned his head, squinting as he sized the guy up.
Upright posture, short black hair, about six feet tall.
Black suit, polished shoes.
The flashy Audemars Piguet watch on his wrist signaled that he was definitely not just a regular staffer.
Leon felt he looked familiar, but couldn't quite place him.
Phil, however, stepped up first to strike up a conversation: "Long time no see, Scott!"
Scott Borchetta. Leon finally realized this was the boss of Big Machine Records.
The man who held the master recordings of Taylor's albums and partial copyrights, while also acting as her manager.
He had Taylor's career firmly in the palm of his hand.
"Wow, it has been a long time," Scott said coldly, completely dismissing Phil.
"Bastard..." Phil spat lightly.
The two were similar in age and had both been movers and shakers in the record industry around the millennium.
When Scott was handling marketing at DreamWorks Records, Phil had been at his peak at Epic Records.
But now, Scott was sitting on a fortune nearing a hundred million and keeping Big Machine independent amidst the power plays of the three major giants.
Leon couldn't be bothered to talk to Scott, so he just stared at him from a distance.
Scott, unable to handle the prolonged eye contact, quickly turned away.
"Look at you, absolutely perfect~" The makeup artist looked at Leon like he was some incredible work of art. "It's like Romeo walked right into reality~"
"Fxxk, cut the crap," Leon looked at himself in the mirror with a look of utter despair.
This ridiculous outfit... if you added a fake nose prop, he could go straight to cosplaying Pinocchio.
"Mr. Leon, standby for entrance!" the staff reminded him.
Taylor was currently performing her signature hit, Love Story.
She stood on a giant heart-shaped platform, surrounded by a set filled with pink, purple, and gold elements.
The platform extended into the center of the audience, with LED screens on both sides looping clips from her classic music videos.
Countless spotlights focused solely on her.
Taylor was wearing a silver sequined bodysuit, playing the "no pants" game.
Nothing but nude pantyhose covering her legs.
Her legs, over 43 inches long, swayed slowly. Her fans didn't seem to care about that, though; they were fully immersed in the music.
Leon, however, watched with admiration, "She seems a little thicker than she was a few days ago..."
The intro music started, and Taylor placed her fingers on the electric piano.
She flashed a sweet smile at the audience. "Miami, I love you! Tonight, let's be brave and confess to the ones we love~"
Yeah!
The cheers from the audience came like a tidal wave; some fans couldn't help but cover their faces and weep.
Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story baby just say yes
The chorus sparked a massive sing-along throughout the venue.
"Now I see why this girl is so huge..." Phil marveled.
In the eyes of a professional like him, Taylor's vocal skills weren't top-tier, and her song structures were very simple.
But she was the best-selling female artist of the new era.
After experiencing her live show for the first time, he completely understood.
Taylor's songs were catchy and easy to sing; even a musical idiot could hum along effortlessly.
This was the perfect definition of "Pop."
Combined with her impeccable stage presence, she could easily create a top-tier live experience.
After the performance ended, Taylor shouted to the fans: "You all know, we have a very special guest tonight!"
"YES!!" The fans responded in unison.
Kanye West's public apology to Taylor at Coachella had generated massive discussion in online communities.
The truth behind it had spawned dozens of versions.
Most of which pointed to Leon.
In the most widely circulated version, Leon beat Kanye up backstage at Coachella and shoved a gun down his throat.
In an even wilder version, Leon pinned Kanye to the floor backstage, and the two engaged in some intense "brotherly love."
Because of this, Taylor's fans had a natural fondness for Leon.
Assuming, of course, that the relationship between their idol and this street thug was purely platonic friendship.
"You really didn't take my concert seriously at all." In the hallway, Taylor bumped into Leon and immediately started complaining. "You haven't rehearsed with the sound engineer or the band. I'm seriously worried you're going to bomb out there."
"Of course not," Leon said with supreme confidence. "Don't you know I used to sing in subway stations? I've handled way more chaotic situations than this."
"Stop bragging." Taylor rolled her eyes. "Don't let my fans down."
With that, Leon walked straight toward the platform ahead.
With the help of the lift, he rose up from beneath the stage.
The audience instantly boiled over when they saw the unique Romeo costume.
Taylor had just sung Love Story, so this outfit was filled with implications.
Fans in the front row whipped out their phones to snap photos, uploading them to Facebook and Twitter.
Using the skyrocketing likes online to satisfy their vanity.
Setting their phones to vibrate, the frequency of the notifications that night could probably replace their bedside toys.
Leon gave a thumbs-up to the sound team behind him.
One-Two-Three-Four!
The intro to Demons kicked in, and the drummer started pounding.
The performance level was consistent as always; even audiences completely indifferent to rock music couldn't help but sing along.
But Leon felt constantly uncomfortable.
"Fxxk, this outfit is stupid..."
Singing an explosive rock song like Demons consumed a lot of physical energy, adding in Miami's humid heat...
After the first chorus, the heavy and foolish costume became unbearable for Leon.
right in front of the entire audience, he did something unthinkable—he ripped the costume apart.
"What?! What is he doing?" Taylor watched, dumbfounded, two shades of crimson rising on her cheeks.
"That's his personal style, if you've ever seen his live shows," Phil laughed wickedly.
The "shirt rip" was a standard feature of Leon's live performances, but it wasn't exclusive to him.
Many rock bands did it.
Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, could only perform at his best when he was stripping down.
Only then did Leon feel his energy being released one hundred percent.
He adjusted his in-ear monitor and roared into the microphone:
When you feel my heat, look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close, it's dark inside
It's where my demons hide!
The powerful rock energy spiked the adrenaline and dopamine of the entire audience; both those who understood rock and those who didn't went crazy.
After the song ended, Leon couldn't hide the smile on his face.
At the very least, he'd harvested quite a few of Taylor's fans; that was a done deal.
In the backstage corridor, he ran into Taylor again.
"Your performance was amazing! Maybe you should do another one~" Taylor's eyes were shining, a sharp contrast to her usual aloof demeanor.
"No problem~" Leon grinned, showing his teeth. "But, that costs extra!"
"You..." The joke brought Taylor's rationality back, realizing her behavior just now was a bit unseemly.
She secretly scolded herself for acting like a fangirl in front of this scumbag.
"Crap~ The audience has been waiting too long, I have to go on!" Taylor stomped in her high heels, hiking up her freshly changed long dress and running off in a panic.
At the end of the hallway, she suddenly turned back and shouted: "Only three songs left until the end, wait for me backstage~"
Leon tilted his head and nodded.
Returning to the dressing room, he immediately noticed a familiar face there—Scooter Braun.
Bieber and Kanye's manager. Leon had seen him more than once at award ceremonies.
At this moment, he was chatting and laughing with Scott, looking very close.
Leon's appearance interrupted their conversation, and Braun immediately walked over.
He actively extended his right hand. "We meet again, Mr. Leon. That performance just now was perfect, perfect enough to make me regret a little..."
"Regret what?" Leon stared at him with a playful look.
Braun was no simple character.
Born in 1981, only thirty years old.
Although young, as a manager, his status in the industry was higher than the vast majority of artists.
His personal history was legendary.
Straight out of college, he broke into the industry. By age 23, he was organizing after-parties for the NBA All-Star Game.
After that, he handled the backend work for Britney Spears' national tour during her peak.
Then, his life seemed to activate a cheat code; relying on his keen sense, he discovered the gold mine that was Justin Bieber on YouTube.
Bieber was only 12 at the time.
In 2007, he founded SB Projects under his own name, which is currently the most aggressive management company around.
He and Big Machine boss Scott were practically joined at the hip.
"Regret not seeing your live performance sooner," Braun said with a smile.
"You flatter me," Leon replied casually.
Dealing with smart people like Braun required extra caution.
"A genius like you should have even better people serving you." As he spoke, Braun looked at Phil.
The implication was self-evident—he wanted to poach the old guy's client right to his face!
For such a provocation, Phil couldn't back down.
He stepped two paces closer, lowered his head, and said deeply: "The cheetah who just learned to hunt thinks the whole savanna is his prey, until he wanders into the lion's territory."
"That's when he realizes... an old lion is still a lion."
Leon watched quietly as if he were an outsider, watching the old guy flex.
With over fifty years of life experience, Phil rarely lost when it came to clapping back.
Braun kept smiling, his expression frozen without a single change.
Ignoring Phil, he said to Leon: "I look forward to seeing your performance in two months."
"Two months?" Leon was stunned for a few seconds, then immediately realized.
He knew exactly what the guy was talking about—his contract.
There wasn't just one hunter in the entertainment jungle.
When valuable prey appeared, besides the visible players, others in the jungle already had their guns cocked and loaded.
Just as the atmosphere was getting increasingly weird, a huge cheer erupted from the concert venue.
The audience was reluctantly chanting Taylor's name, signaling the end of the concert.
When Taylor returned backstage, she didn't go to Scott or Braun first, but ran straight to Leon.
"Did you watch my performance the whole time?"
"Of course," Leon lied effortlessly.
"What did you think?" Taylor looked expectant, seemingly caring a lot about his evaluation.
"Just look at the audience's reaction~" Leon said. "It was an epic live show, right up there with Madonna's Blond Ambition tour."
Receiving such high praise, Taylor could hardly suppress the joy in her heart.
Dropping her usual tsundere disguise, she was totally in girlish mode.
"Are you coming to the after-party later?"
"I..." Tired of meaningless social events, Leon wanted to find an excuse to slip away.
"Consider it my way of celebrating your movie~" Taylor said. "I'm really curious how you managed to do it—making music while shooting such an excellent film."
"Maybe you should teach me. Who knows, maybe I can make movies in the future too?"
Unable to resist Taylor's sudden enthusiasm, Leon could only agree.
In the business van, Phil was scrolling through social media when he suddenly clutched his stomach and started laughing.
Laughing harder and harder, with no sign of stopping.
"What are you laughing at?" Leon couldn't hold back his curiosity.
"Look at this~" Phil turned his phone screen around.
The image on the phone was the scene of Leon ripping his shirt at the concert just now.
The highlight was the lower half.
Through Photoshop, someone had erased the clothes on Leon's lower body and Photoshopped a giant dck over it.
Combined with Leon's ecstatic expression while hitting the high notes, it looked incredibly ridiculous.
"In Taylor's community, some fans are now calling you 'Dark Romeo'."
"Fxxk..."
A faction of Taylor's fans extremely despised Leon; this was their masterpiece.
Seeing their idol embroiled in rumors with the notorious "Street Jesus," the haters probably were so angry they couldn't even sleep.