A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 137 The Empress's Relationship

Night had fallen.

You can clearly hear Lin Xilei and the nanny, Sister Zhou, saying goodnight to each other, and then closing the second door from the inside.

Lin Jianlu slumped on the sofa, not wanting to move at all.

But soon it was time for the phone call.

Every night, from about 8:30 to 10:00, he would receive a constant stream of phone calls.

People like Jiang Qinqin and Zuo Xiaoqian call less often, usually once a week to ten days a week. Shen Aojun has also called a few times, every ten days to half a month. Gao Yuanyuan calls almost every week, always on Saturdays.

Lin Qingxia, Xu Qing, and Jia Jingwen received many more phone calls, but they weren't all about expressing their longing for each other. They often used other pretexts, such as career, industry news, or what they were busy with, etc.

Rosamund Kwan would call occasionally, but it would only be to ask where you were and when you were coming back to Hong Kong.

In addition, friends in the industry have gradually gotten used to it, and if they need to contact someone, they usually choose this time to call unless it is an extremely urgent situation.

People from the music industry, the film and television industry, the capital, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and so on.

The people who talked on the phone most frequently were Su Huilun and Liang Yongqi.

However, Su Huilun's calls were almost equivalent to both her and Chen Shuhua calling at the same time, so when spread out, they weren't frequent. In fact, Liang Yongqi's calls were the most frequent.

Lin Jianlu usually answers the phone with great patience, even if it's just chatting about trivial things, she does so slowly and calmly.

I was woken up by Brigitte Lin's phone call today—not that I was asleep, but rather that my mind was wandering.

After a brief chat, Brigitte Lin seemed to sense Lin Chien-lu's lack of interest and jokingly asked, "What's wrong? Nobody's been keeping you company lately? You seem pretty down."

Lin Jianlu took a deep breath and smiled, but unusually, she seemed a little weak. "There are some things I haven't figured out or fully understood yet. I need to think about them slowly."

Having been around for a while, Brigitte Lin immediately understood. "If you're bored and want to talk to someone, don't worry about the time, just call me. If you need me to come over, I can come right away."

"it is good!"

After hanging up the phone, I thought about it and then simply removed the phone battery.

I don't want to answer the phone.

I sat there with the lights on until 9:30, then finally took a hot shower and forced myself to go to sleep.

However, I didn't sleep well.

First, I tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. Even when I did fall asleep, I felt very uneasy. So much so that when I woke up in the morning, I felt a kind of fatigue similar to that of someone who had marched ten kilometers in an armed formation.

He wasn't like this in the past.

When you're young, you can sleep soundly anywhere, especially when you return to the capital after a trip. In particular, you always feel like you've slept very well for the first two nights.

It's like... waking up and feeling so good you could punch a bull to death!
But this time it didn't work; when I woke up I felt like I hadn't slept at all.

But he still forced himself to get up, washed up, changed into clothes suitable for running, and went straight out.

Mrs. Zhou and her husband were already awake. Hearing the second door open, they came out of their dormitory in the back room and said, "Sir, you're awake? I'll go make you breakfast."

Lin Jianlu waved her hand, "No rush, let me cook some porridge, I'm going for a run first."

So she went out for a run, a slow jog, much slower than usual, but still ran enough kilometers. When she returned to the yard, she started practicing her boxing routine. Lin Xilei had also woken up. The yard wasn't too cold, so she casually sat on the porch in her pajamas and a down jacket, watching Lin Jianlu practice her boxing routine with great enthusiasm in the yard.

Every now and then I would be drawn by the aroma wafting from the kitchen and run over to watch the nanny fry dough sticks.

Before 7:30, Liu Xiaoli rode her bike over again. When she entered the courtyard, she caught the tail end of Lin Jianlu's boxing match. Seeing how powerful and fierce he was, with a hint of murderous intent in his movements, she was immediately drawn to him and couldn't help but stand under the hanging flower gate to watch.

Then, after Lin Jianlu finished boxing and took a shower, everyone ate breakfast together.

But today, Lin Jianlu seemed to have a poor appetite compared to his usual self.

Everyone could tell he was in a bad mood.

After dinner, he boiled water himself, brought out a small stool from the inner room, chose a gaiwan he had casually bought before leaving, took out the tea leaves Lin Qingxia had given him from his travel bag, casually threw some in, brewed a bowl, and then slumped onto the recliner in the corridor, remaining motionless. Liu Xiaoli and Lin Xilei exchanged bewildered glances.

…………

The affair between the two girls could not possibly have made Lin Jianlu so distracted.

In fact, he seemed rather nonchalant about the two relationships he had in New York, which started almost back to back. He was only truly free at the moment of penetration; at other times, he seemed somewhat detached and absent-minded, just doing things casually.

Today, he is no longer the naive Lin Jianlu he once was.

He was a womanizer, but he was not lacking in beautiful women.

What truly distracted him and made him lose his appetite was the series of tasks that followed—unconsciously, he gradually began to understand why wealthy and powerful people could date many girlfriends at the same time, or even have multiple wives and mistresses while maintaining their primary marriage, because they simply didn't date!

Where do we find the energy and spirit to spend on dating young girls?

For a man, especially a successful man, beauty or love, no matter how much they come his way, are nothing more than a bonus after achieving success in his career.

They no longer date; they dedicate 90% of their energy to their careers.

They simply choose those who love them and allow them to get closer.

If you want something but the other party isn't interested, you either give up or just throw money at them.

Fortunately, Lin Jianlu knew that he had a handsome face, so he didn't have to use such simple, crude, and tasteless methods on most girls—but his career was still the priority.

There are so many things I'm struggling with.

In fact, he originally had no intention of singing English songs or making it in the Western entertainment industry. Later, whether it was due to self-inflation or being inspired by others, he figured it was just a few English songs, so he might as well sing them! It was no trouble at all to copy them!
Records from Europe and America are expensive and have a large market. If you can sell some records and gain some fame, it can also boost your influence in the Chinese music scene—it's practically a risk-free and highly profitable business.

He had given this matter careful thought and planning.

He first presented three relatively simple works, partly to avoid appearing inexperienced right away, and partly because he planned to spend more time in America to find some reasons to create.

Now that the songs are recorded, his original plans have completely fallen apart—many of the English songs he liked, which he originally intended to sing, and the plans he made to spend more time in New York to justify his actions, have turned out to be pure wishful thinking! Creating a piece of work requires no explanation, no justification; I just wrote it, and that's never the problem! The only problem is that he might not be able to sing those songs well!
In my past life, when I listened to finished music, I didn't take it seriously and didn't care. But when I actually met him in person, even though the harmony singer Columbia assigned to me wasn't anyone special, the sheer depth of that black man's ethnic talent and the richness of his voice made me feel like I was dead.

It has nothing to do with skill; that's just how that big black guy was born with that voice.

Therefore, some songs cannot be sung, and even if you force yourself to sing them, you will not be able to reach the power they should have.

then what should we do?

Before outsiders even noticed, Lin Jianlu had already begun revising the song selections for her first English album—crossed out, crossed out, crossed out!
But he was unwilling to give up.

Previously, he created a so-called "hodgepodge" album, which was criticized by many musicians, music critics, and media in Hong Kong and Taiwan for its chaotic musical style. He didn't care at all. What nonsense about so-called consistent musical style! Do you think Teresa Teng didn't want to sing rock? She loved it, she just couldn't sing it well or become popular! Chen Shuhua also really wanted to sing rock!
Being able to release a hodgepodge album, and have each song reign supreme in its respective style, is a pure testament to talent—the problem is that you have to be able to sing it with the style and power it should have!

This isn't some artsy, hipster thinking; it's based on the most practical consideration of selling albums!

Chinese people singing Chinese songs, especially those who have been doing live streaming for almost ten years, have absolutely no difficulty. The accompaniment track is already recorded, so they just go into the studio and sing, and it only takes a few takes!

English songs are not difficult, and I've sung many, many songs. But when you sing them live and when you actually go into a recording studio, you instantly realize that, as most Hong Kong and Taiwan musicians generally acknowledge, the breadth, depth, technique, versatility, and overall musical literacy of the Chinese pop music scene are indeed fifty years behind those of Europe and America!
If you can't sing well, even if the original work is good, it has nothing to do with you, and you might really not be able to sell your songs!
But what can be done then?
With so many great songs left unsung, are we limited to the teenage pop style like "Baby"?

Emmmm…

Just as I was taking a couple of sips of tea, my phone suddenly rang in the inner room.

Lin Xilei jumped up and went straight to the inner room to get it. Lin Jianlu took it, glanced at it, and answered the call, "Hello?"

It was Su Huilun, who was very excited. "Ah Lu, Brother Duan just called me! I sold 12 copies in the first week! And that's just the first week! I'm sure I'll sell even more next week. I'm going to be a superstar!"

Lin Jianlu burst into laughter.

If the album sells over 100,000 copies in its first week, it will almost certainly sell even more in the second week. In that case, it's a sure thing that the album will eventually sell over 500,000 copies in Taiwan. If the decline in the third and fourth weeks is slower, there is a great chance that it will break 800,000 copies in the Taiwan market alone. If it can still sell over 100,000 copies in the third and fourth weeks, then it will be heading straight for over 1 million copies. Actually, it doesn't even need to be 1 million copies. If two consecutive albums sell over 500,000 copies in Taiwan, she can easily be crowned a queen of pop.

"Congratulations! Queen Lun!"

(End of this chapter)