Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 149 Let your wife come over
I originally planned to stay in Beijing for only two days.

But to show that he wasn't just making empty promises, Zhang Yan stayed a few more days and quickly bought the small courtyard next to the dilapidated house inside the Second Ring Road.

The two sides together make more than 400 square meters.

The demolition and reconstruction procedures are a bit complicated, and I guess I'll have to find someone to help smooth things over.

However, this already made Chen Hong very happy.

After returning to Tianjin that evening, the frequency of sending Morse code while riding on it increased significantly.

Of course, in a real contest, Tao Hong is still better; her well-trained core muscles move like a small electric motor.

The next day, upon returning to the MV production team, they found that Wang Jinghua was doing a pretty good job, but the progress was a bit slow—mainly because she was always worried about things going wrong, so she arranged for a longer rehearsal time.

After offering a few words of encouragement to the film crew, Zhang Yan inquired about the recent song collection situation.

Wang Jinghua said, "Two of the songs are pretty good—and someone in Taiwan has been asking if our deal to buy the songs at a high price still stands."

The high price paid by Yuanmeng to invite songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan was purely a desperate attempt before the finals. At the time, there was no feedback, but unexpectedly, news has suddenly come.

What song is it?

"It's called something like 'I Love the Country More Than the Beauty,' supposedly a martial arts-style song, a new song written by the famous musician Xiao Chong. Apparently, he's recently in debt from gambling, so he's eager to sell it for a high price."

This is also a song that's on the list of songs in my dreams.

How much did he ask for?

"Buy it out for 30,000, and I won't take any commission afterwards."

Tsk~
This might be more reasonable in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but it's not quite appropriate in mainland China, because songwriters in mainland China are basically doing one-off deals. If a song becomes a hit, the singer might give the songwriter a big red envelope, which is considered a sign of good character.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Yan ultimately rejected the deal.

Although he knew that this deal was likely to be profitable, the problem was that he was preparing to establish industry order, and it would be inappropriate to suddenly disrupt the industry's unspoken rules at this time.

Even if this unspoken rule is unreasonable, some compromises must be made if you want to become an industry leader.

After discussing the song collection, Wang Jinghua then proactively reported on Zhang Yadong's situation.

This was Zhang Yadong's first time proactively seeking work at the company, and he encountered an insurmountable obstacle. His emotions had completely collapsed.

But he didn't dare to lash out at Wang Luyao, so every day when he got home he would sulk with Cao Fang, and I heard he even smashed the newly bought TV.

Wang Jinghua disliked this kind of man who was a bully at home, but she didn't want to interfere in other people's family affairs, so she could only report him to her boss.

So he encouraged Wang Jinghua and told her to keep up the good work and keep an eye on the filming. Zhang Yan then went back to the company's location.

Although it was called a residence, it was actually just a large courtyard. Some of the rooms had been converted into karaoke rooms, while others served as offices and lounges.

When Zhang Yan arrived, Wang Luyao was not in the karaoke room, but was chatting with Han Hong in the living room.

Wang Zhongqi was also there, but he didn't participate in the conversation between the two women. Instead, he quietly wrote something in the corner.

Seeing Zhang Yan come in from outside, Wang Zhongqi quickly stood up and said, "I have contacted half of the people on the list for the New Year's Eve concert, but a few have clearly declined our invitation—such as Li Guyi."

"Did Teacher Li refuse?"

Zhang Yan was somewhat surprised. During "I Am a Singer," the two sides had clearly collaborated quite well.

"I know what happened."

Han Hong raised her hand and said, "Professor Li Guyi is currently preparing for a lawsuit, so he probably doesn't want to meet Wei Wei at this time."

Zhang Yan, now considered an industry insider, immediately realized, "So she's finally going to sue the reporter who wrote 'That Kind of Disease'?"

After singing "Asian Heroic Spirit", Wei Wei became the most popular touring singer, busy with commercial performances every day to make a lot of money. Later, she didn't know why, but a layer of red rash appeared on her face.

As Wei Wei's mentor, Li Guyi disapproved of Wei Wei's "not doing her proper job," so he publicly linked this matter with her unauthorized performances, telling her to tone it down and go to the hospital for a check-up.

At that time, Wei Wei had just dumped her ex-lover and interfered in the marriage of a famous crosstalk performer, almost becoming the teacher's wife of a lesser-known performer, so she was targeted by various tabloids.

As a result, these words were quickly manipulated and misinterpreted, and it was said that Li Guyi discovered that Wei Wei had AIDS—the teacher personally told her to go to the hospital, how could that be false?

At the time, the Chinese public was terrified of AIDS, and it was also synonymous with promiscuity. So when this news spread, it was met with all sorts of sarcastic and cynical remarks, almost driving Wei Wei crazy. Then, in a daze, she complained to a journalist friend about Li Guyi, believing that Li Guyi was meddling and causing trouble, which led to the spread of rumors.

Then, the journalist friend, through artistic embellishment, concocted a powerful article targeting Li Gu Yi, portraying him as the root of all evil.

"This……"

Zhang Yan hesitated for a moment, then instructed, "Brother Wang, make arrangements in advance to try to keep Wei Wei from being too high-profile."

Wei Wei is currently one of the top three performers in China, so it would be inappropriate not to invite her; however, it would also be inappropriate for Wei Wei to make a high-profile appearance at the New Year's Eve concert while the two are currently embroiled in a lawsuit.

"I will try my best."

Wang Zhongqi said helplessly, "For this kind of thing, you really have to find someone who is more familiar with the music industry. Otherwise, I won't be able to figure out the rights and wrongs and grudges involved, and I might offend someone without even realizing it."

"Then I'll let Xu Yue come in and help you. He's quite well-informed in the industry."

After discussing this matter, Zhang Yan asked Han Hong and Wang Luyao, "How's the song recording going?"

Han Hong said, "Brother Ning said I need to adjust it again, and I also need to adjust my voice."

This refers to the song "When I Grow Up, I Will Become You". After discussion, Zhang Weining and Zhang Yadong decided that Han Hong was the most suitable person in the company for this song.

However, this song is not well suited to folk singing style; she needs to handle it with more delicacy and gentleness.

[PS: Han Hong's rendition of "The Pear Blossoms Bloom Again" proves that she is also very strong in delicate, soft vocals, and can definitely handle this song.]

"not so good."

Wang Luyao said dejectedly, "Zhang Yadong locked himself in the practice room, saying he needed to think carefully about how to adapt the song to find the same feeling as before."

Isn't that just a waste of time?

What has truly changed is Wang Luyao's physical and mental state. No matter how beautifully you compose a piece, you can never return to the shadows of the past.

Following Wang Luyao's directions, Zhang Yan arrived at Zhang Yadong's karaoke room. Upon opening the door, he saw Zhang Yadong lying sprawled on the floor, looking like a lifeless salted fish.

Zhang Yan stepped forward and kicked his shoes. Zhang Yadong, who was spacing out, then realized that his boss had arrived. He quickly got up and said, "Mr. Zhang, when did you get back? I... I was just thinking about how to revise the song."

In fact, he had already given up, or more accurately, given up on Wang Luyao.

Zhang Yadong wasn't stupid; after a while, he saw the real problem. Although Wang Luyao's voice was good enough to sing the song, she lacked sufficient emotional expression and technique—and that flash of inspiration that day was a special case.

But Wang Luyao contributed the most revenue to the company and was the first of the Five Dream Tigers to become popular. He had only been with the company for a few days, so how could he dare to go back on his word and replace Wang Luyao?
So the matter reached a stalemate.

Aren't you afraid of catching a cold?

Zhang Yan said, "Writing songs isn't about physical labor, and you can't just keep pushing yourself. Here's what you do: go back and rest for a couple of days, take a shower, get a haircut, and come back when you're refreshed to work on how to revise the song."

Seeing how considerate his boss was, Zhang Yadong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, declined a few more times, and then packed his things to go home.

"correct."

Zhang Yan suddenly called out to him again: "Remember to have your wife come over tomorrow."

"what?"

Zhang Yadong was somewhat confused. His wife, Cao Fang, stayed home to take care of the children and shouldn't have anything to do with the company. Why was Mr. Zhang suddenly bringing it up...?

"Ah for what."

Zhang Yan said with a straight face, "Isn't your biggest problem your emotions? I think your wife's recent mood is quite suitable for this song. Let her talk to Lu Yao more, maybe she'll get some inspiration."

The task of properly disciplining Wang Luyao definitely requires his personal involvement, but the process is far from proper, so he needs to find a scapegoat to cover it up.

Cao Fang is quite suitable; she can add a few words and ease the tension between the couple. Zhang Yan doesn't really want to get involved, but Wang Jinghua cares a lot, and Chen Hong is also a bit bothered. He can tell which side is more important.

"Uh~"

Zhang Yadong felt somewhat embarrassed and increasingly regretted bringing his wife to Tianjin, but it was too late to regret it now. He could only awkwardly say, "I understand. I'll have her come over first thing tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)