The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 361 Jiang Nansun's Opportunity Has Arrived
Nine o'clock the next morning.

A taxi was parked in front of Fairfield by Marriott Hotel.

Wang Niulang, who was on duty, stepped forward and opened the car door, only to find that it was Yang Tao who got out of the car.

"Manager Yang, what's going on here—"

"I have something to take care of back at the hotel." Yang Tao forced a smile to hide her nervousness.

"Oh." Wang Niulang wisely refrained from asking any further questions.

Yang Tao walked through the glass revolving door and into the hall.

Sun Guangting walked towards us.

"Yang Tao, what brings you here?"

"I arranged to meet a friend at the lobby bar," Yang Tao explained awkwardly, clutching her handbag strap tightly.

Sun Guangting nodded, already guessing who Yang Tao had come to see.

Just then, another guest walked into the lobby. Sun Guangting greeted Yang Tao and went to meet him.

Yang Tao breathed a sigh of relief, took out her phone from her bag, and dialed Liu Qing's number.

Soon Liu Qing appeared at the entrance of the lobby bar and gestured to Yang Tao.

Sun Guangting led the guests to the front desk, and as he turned around, he saw Yang Tao following Liu Qing into the lobby bar.

"Mr. Gao, Senior Yang Tao is here."

Liu Qing walked up to Gao Yunyue and stood in front of her.

Yang Tao bowed slightly.

"Hello, Mr. Gao."

When Yang Tao walked over, Gao Yunyue had already carefully sized her up.

Women who can become lobby managers of four-star hotels are generally good-looking and have a good temperament.

Star fruit is one of the best among them.

Naturally, this left a good impression on Gao Yunyue.

"Sit down, Yangtao."

Yang Tao had just sat down when Gao Yunyue's voice rang out again.

“I remember you were the one who greeted me when I last came to Fairfield by the Bay Hotel. I didn’t see you this time. I asked Manager Sun and found out that you resigned… Did something go wrong at work?”

Yang Tao shook her head.

Gao Yunyue then asked, "So someone's trying to poach you?"

Yang Tao shook her head again: "It's not about changing jobs, I'm preparing to start my own business."

She made many plans on the way here, and one of them was when asked about her plans after resigning.

Gao Yunyue was very interested in this: "Is it related to the hotel industry?"

"No, I plan to develop specialty tourism."

This was also the explanation Yang Tao had prepared long ago.

Normally, the conversation would end here.

Since the two weren't very familiar with each other, Gao Yunyue wouldn't pry further into the matter.

But what Gao Yunyue said next completely surprised Yang Tao.

"If you're planning to start your own business, do you have enough investment? If not, I can invest some money for you."

His tone was sincere; it didn't sound like he was joking.

Yang Tao was speechless for a moment.

After regaining his composure, he hurriedly replied, "That's enough, Mr. Gao. I found a college classmate to partner with. We'll pool our initial capital from both sides. We didn't initially plan to make it too big."

Gao Yunyue nodded readily in agreement.

"If you need anything, you can come to me. If you find it inconvenient, you can also contact Ono... You and he should be quite familiar with each other, right?"

It turns out that he was waiting for me here.

Yang Tao perked up and carefully replied, "It's alright. I was the one who received Mr. Yang when he first came to the hotel. Later, when he mentioned that he was a freshman at Yanjingmao, I realized that we were alumni. So we added each other as friends on campus and occasionally chatted about things at school."

Gao Yunyue picked up her coffee and took a sip.

"I heard from Liu Qing that you used to be the most beautiful girl at Yanjingmao University."

"No, no, it was just everyone joking around, don't take it seriously," Yang Tao explained, blushing.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Liu Qing's voice rang out from the side.

"Our school doesn't have the concept of a 'school beauty,' but the boys always like to pick out the girls in the school and rank them. They do this every year. In recent years, Senior Yang Tao's ranking has never fallen out of the top ten, even after she has graduated."

Yang Tao was so anxious she was almost in tears.

She knew Liu Qing was trying to put in a good word for her in front of Gao Yunyue, but she really didn't need it.

Yang Tao now wishes she could be as ordinary as possible in Gao Yunyue's eyes.

"is it?"

Gao Yunyue put down her coffee and looked at Liu Qing with curiosity.

"Yang Tao has consistently been in the top ten, so where are you?"

Liu Qing shrugged.

"I'm ranked outside the top 20. Anyway, I've always been able to only look up to Senior Yang Tao."

Is it that low?
Gao Yunyue's first reaction was that Liu Qing was deliberately belittling herself in order to elevate Yang Tao.

But then I suddenly understood.

Nowadays, college students are generally quite naive, and most people prefer innocent and pure girls.

People with striking looks like Liu Qing are at a disadvantage.

Ultimately, they're just a bunch of greenhorns who don't yet know how to appreciate this mature and glamorous beauty.

Are you and Yang Tao still on the list?

"Senior Yang Tao is still in the top 20, but my ranking is too low to mention."

Gao Yunyue immediately became interested.

Judging from Liu Qing's words, Yang Tao has already fallen out of the top ten?

Suddenly, Gao Yunyue became extremely interested in the girls who were ranked in the top ten.

Will there be any red beans in this?
"Someone organized a campus beauty poll on the school's intranet before, but it was taken down after only two days... Back then, it was the beginning of the semester, so the rankings weren't very accurate. Now the rankings have basically stabilized."

Of the top ten, the "Sisters Who Make Waves" contestants occupied the first nine spots.

Upon hearing this, Gao Yunyue became even more interested.

Who ranks first among the Sisters Who Make Waves?

"There used to be some controversy about who was number one, but ever since Mr. Yang's Bawangchaji opened, the number one spot has become well-deserved... In our school, if you ask the principal's name, not everyone can say it, but if you ask about Milk Tea Fairy, everyone knows who we're talking about."

Yang Tao nodded vigorously to distract Gao Yunyue from her.

"Yes, yes, Hongdou is the undisputed school beauty right now."

Gao Yunyue smiled and nodded, then turned around, took out a business card from her bag, and handed it to Yang Tao.

"You've probably heard about my plan to acquire Fairfield Inn... Of course, I hope you can succeed in your business, but starting a business is rarely a quick process. If you want to come back to work at the hotel, you're welcome anytime."

Yang Tao stood up and took the business card with both hands.

"Thank you, Mr. Gao. I will do my best."

Gao Yunyue raised her hand and glanced at her watch.

"I have a video conference later, so I'll be going now. Since you and Liu Qing know each other, sit down and chat for a while longer."

After saying that, he stood up and left.

Yang Tao and Liu Qing stood up together and watched Gao Yunyue leave.

Yang Tao breathed a sigh of relief once the person was out of sight.

Turning her head, she looked at Liu Qing and said with lingering fear, "I was scared to death just now."

Feeling guilty?

I knew your relationship with Yang Muye was more than just casual.

Liu Qing thought this to herself, but on the surface she pretended to understand Yang Tao.

"Senior, are you really planning to start a business?" "Yes, didn't I just say? I'm going to focus on unique tourism. I'm planning to combine wedding photography with travel and create a travel photography online platform."

"Mr. Yang, are you investing?" Liu Qing asked instinctively.

Yang Tao had nothing to hide from Liu Qing, so she readily nodded and admitted it.

"Even if you hadn't caught Mr. Gao's eye, I would have wanted to bring you in to help out," Yang Tao said sincerely.

Liu Qing's professional competence had already been fully demonstrated during her time in the student council.

Liu Qing herself was quite tempted by the suggestion, but she knew very well that Yang Tao didn't dare to snatch someone away from Gao Yunyue right now.

"Senior, didn't you say you'd already found a partner?"

"You know that person too, right? Do you remember Sun Xin?"

Liu Qing nodded.

She didn't have much contact with Sun Xin, but she knew that Sun Xin, like Yang Tao, was a prominent figure among the business school students of that year.

"I heard that Senior Sun Xin found a pretty good job after graduation. Is she planning to poach someone from her?"

"No, Sun Xin and I both recently resigned, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to persuade her so easily."

Liu Qing was taken aback, then thought to himself—

No wonder.

While the two were chatting idly, Gao Yunyue, who had gone upstairs to her room, dialed Yang Muye's number.

Yang Muye had just finished class and was on his way back to his apartment.

"Mother, is something the matter?"

What's going on between you and that girl named Jiang Nansun?

"Didn't I say before? Her aunt is the vice president of Jingyan Group, and she's good friends with that girl named Zhu Suosuo from Sisters Who Make Waves. That's how they got to know each other."

"Then why did you just casually give away the song you wrote for Ayao?"

“Mom, that song was written based on A Yao’s experience. Besides, it wasn’t just given to Jiang Nansun. She only has the performance rights; the copyright is still in my hands.”

"So, are you planning to sign her next?"

"I really am considering that."

Seeing that she couldn't win the argument with Yang Muye, Gao Yunyue sighed helplessly.

"I don't care what your plans are, just don't do things like this again. I've already explained it to Hongdou for you this time, what about next time?"

“Mom, Xu Hongdou isn’t as naive as you think.”

"I'm just afraid that if she's too sensible, you'll bully her... Hongdou is a good girl, you understand what I mean, right?"

"Mom, I—"

"Okay, I was just saying. There's something else I wanted to tell you. I just met with Yang Tao, the assistant manager of the lobby at Fairfield Hotel, and we talked for a while. Did you know about her resignation?"

"Yes, I know, she told me."

"So you also knew that she resigned to start her own business?"

"I know, I was the one who encouraged her to resign."

"what?"

“She chatted with me online a while ago and said she wanted to start a project that combined wedding photography with travel. I thought it was quite interesting, so I encouraged her to quit her job and start her own business, and I invested in her.”

Gao Yunyue was convinced after hearing this.

One dares to speak, and the other dares to believe.

I originally wanted to use the matter of Yang Tao to give Yang Muyi another warning, so that he wouldn't do anything to betray Xu Hongdou.

But Gao Yunyue held back the words she was about to say.

Yang Muye had never been in a relationship before high school, yet he was incredibly skilled at winning over girls, almost unbelievably so.

Forget it, I shouldn't worry about it.

I was hoping to chat with Yang Muye a little longer, but then Yang Muye said someone was looking for him and hung up the phone.

On the campus of Southeast University in Shanghai.

As Yang Muyi put down his phone, he took another phone from Xu Sanduo beside him.

The call was from Hu Ling.

When she called Yang Muye, the line was busy, so she called Xu Sanduo instead.

Obviously something urgent.

Yang Muyi picked up his phone: "Sister Ling, what's wrong?"

"I just received news that someone has taken a liking to 'The Wind Rises'."

"Is it going to be the Spring Festival Gala production team again?" Yang Muye joked.

You wish!
Hu Ling on the other end of the phone said irritably, "The Spring Festival Gala production team won't act that quickly... But speaking of which, you didn't send this song to Jiang Nansun to film a video just to get the Spring Festival Gala production team's attention, did you?"

"That's certainly been a consideration," Yang Muye readily admitted.

It's a win-win situation anyway, so whether it succeeds or not doesn't matter.

"Their video was uploaded too late. Even if it goes viral online quickly, it won't be ready for the Spring Festival Gala program selection."

"So when you say someone likes this song, you mean—"

“JJ, he found out that you wrote this song. Just now, his manager called me and wants to buy the song.”

Yang Muye raised an eyebrow.

Is the timeline converging again?

JJ did indeed cover "The Wind Rises" in his past life, and it was one of the more famous covers.

This song is indeed perfect for showing off your singing skills.

But that's all more than a decade from now. Right now—

JJ is indeed very popular.

The only singer in the current Chinese music scene who can rival Jay Chou.

However, this did not prevent Yang Muye from making a decision.

"Sister Ling, I told you before we partnered up that I don't sell songs."

"Didn't they sell 'The Most Dazzling Ethnic Trend' to Phoenix Legend?"

“That song was an accident. You know, it was originally written as a parody of ‘The Lone Warrior’ and its style was inspired by Phoenix Legend. But this song, ‘The Wind Rises,’ is different.”

"That's why I'd like to suggest you listen to the other party's sincerity first... I'm not just referring to money."

Hu Ling added this specifically.

It's really pointless for two rich kids to talk about money.

"What sincerity?"

"JJ has received an invitation from Hunan TV and has confirmed that he will participate in this year's New Year's Eve Gala. He plans to sing two songs at the gala."

Did JJ Lin appear on Hunan TV's New Year's Eve gala in my past life?

Yang Muye didn't remember.

But one thing is certain.

Hunan TV must have spent a lot of money to get JJ to sing his signature songs.

With so many representative works like "Jiangnan", "A Thousand Years Later", and "Cao Cao", is it really that hard to pick out just two?
Why did I have to choose "The Wind Rises"?
Seeing that Yang Muye remained silent, Hu Ling continued on the other end of the phone:
“Starting with the album ‘Cao Cao’ two years ago, JJ began to explore diverse musical styles. After the success of his new album this year, he wanted to try different styles. He happened to hear ‘The Wind Rises’ online and his interest was piqued… This is what his manager said, but I think there is an even more important reason he didn’t mention.”

This year, JJ's new album and Jay Chou's album are neck and neck, and fans of both artists are showing a bit of a competitive spirit.

JJ and Jay Chou don't seem to be competing against each other, but the atmosphere has already been built up to this point. There's no open rivalry, but some subtle competition is definitely going to happen.

Jay Chou has now confirmed his participation in the Spring Festival Gala, which is a good start.

JJ accepting the invitation from Hunan TV's New Year's Eve Gala can be seen as a form of response.

But this is not enough.

Simply singing his own original songs would hardly be enough to overshadow Jay Chou, who has already performed twice on the Spring Festival Gala.

In this situation, the only way to win is through unconventional means.

We need to come up with something completely new.

It was against this backdrop that "The Wind Rises" came into the view of JJ and his management team.

(End of this chapter)