Peninsula's Life Begins in 2016

Chapter 99 The Best Kotaro

Jiang Yan's towel stopped on her wet hair, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

"Oppa, don't stay silent." Kim Minchan turned around, looking up at him with her small face. "Are you thinking about how to apologize to me again?"

Jiang Yan gently placed the towel on her head and wiped it very lightly.

"Minjung, it's all my fault today, I even forgot what time you'd be back."

"It's okay." Kim Minchan's head bobbed as he was being wiped. "Oppa was busy, and Jimin unnie is a very nice person. She knew Oppa didn't come to pick me up, so she said she would come back with me."

"That won't do either." Jiang Yan draped the towel over his shoulder, bent down to look her in the eye, and said, "From now on, no matter how busy you are, call me directly when it's time. Don't take the subway by yourself, understand?"

Kim Min-jung looked at his serious expression, blinked, and then flicked his forehead.

Jiang Yan was stunned by her action.

Kim Min-jung withdrew his fingers, put his hands on his hips, and his little face was full of a lecturing attitude. "Oppa, you don't need to treat me like a child anymore. I'm fifteen years old now. I came from Yangsan, and I've been sitting much further away than this."

"And I know Oppa just left the company, and you're looking for a new job, right? So you'll definitely have a lot to do. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

Looking at the tiny person in front of him, at her still dripping hair, at her hands on her hips and her feigned fierce posture, Jiang Yan felt an even stronger surge of bitterness in his heart.

But continuing would be too sentimental, so Jiang Yan simply stood up, walked to the drawer, took out a hair dryer, plugged it in, and gestured with his chin toward the chair next to him.

"Come on, dry your hair first. You'll catch a cold if you talk with wet hair."

Jin Zheng obediently sat down in the chair, with her back to him.

The hairdryer hummed, and warm air blew through her long hair.

Nothing happened that night, and for the next three days, Jiang Yan went into complete seclusion.

Every morning at seven o'clock, I would take Kim Jin to the company, and when I got back, I would immerse myself in my bedroom working on music composition. I would grab a quick bite of bread for lunch, and after picking up Kim Minchan in the evening, I would continue working until two or three in the morning.

He recorded the vocals himself, adjusting every detail according to Yoona's instructions on her USB drive, even for "Kill".

The very first line of the song "This Love" has been changed, but I can change it back later anyway.

After listening to the finished versions of the two songs, Lin Xiaolu stood there in mid-air for a long while, stunned.

"Why is your modified intro even more explosive than the original? Is that appropriate?"

"It's appropriate. Although it's an imitation style, I still need to add some of my own elements. Otherwise, the first impression I give that senior will only be that of an imitator."

Jiang Yan exported the audio file, saved it to a new USB drive, and backed it up three times on his computer: one encrypted to the cloud, one on an external hard drive, and one hidden in a compartment of his desk drawer.

After finishing all that, he picked up his phone and sent Lin Chong'er a message: 【The demo is finished.】

The message was replied to almost instantly: "Okay, I'm meeting IU for coffee today. I'll bring your demo with me."

Jiang Yan stared at the words on the screen, his fingers hovering over the keyboard for a moment.

IU.

Lee Ji-eun.

She is a top solo female singer from the peninsula and an absolute ruler of the music charts.

Based on what he's learned in the past two days, IU and Teddy do indeed have a very good relationship.

It's definitely more appropriate for her to deliver the demo than for Yoona to do it directly.

Lim Yoona is the face of Girls' Generation and an actress, but not a musician.

She went to Teddy to recommend a new producer, and Teddy would politely accept the demo but would most likely throw it into a drawer to gather dust.

But IU is different. IU is a professional singer, a songwriter, and a musical partner recognized by Teddy. She said, "Senior, listen to this. Teddy will definitely listen."

Jiang Yan went through the chain of relationships in his mind and had to admit that Lin Chongji was indeed meticulous in his work.

Okay, Nuna, thank you for your hard work.

[It's not hard work for you, but for you, producing two songs in just a few days, did you stay up all night again?]

[She's asleep.]

Who are you kidding?

Jiang Yan didn't reply. He locked the screen and put his phone in his pocket.

He had one more thing to do: he reopened his laptop, logged into his overseas account on the Bitcoin exchange, and spent half an hour processing the latest batch of buy orders.

In April, the price of cryptocurrency was still hovering around $400. According to Yoona's plan, the first phase of building a position had just begun, and she still had several months of buying opportunities.

Lin Xiaolu floated behind him, watching the numbers flashing on the screen, and muttered softly, "Every time I see you doing this, I feel like it's not real."

"Me too." Jiang Yan closed his laptop, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the ceiling. "A month ago, I was still working on a demo and eating instant noodles in a convenience store. Now I have a Bitcoin investment account with 20 billion won, and I've just been kicked out by the largest entertainment company on the peninsula. I'm about to go knock on the door of another entertainment company."

He paused, then chuckled self-deprecatingly, "You ask me how I feel? I feel like I'm dreaming."

"Then pinch yourself and see if it hurts."

"Don't pinch him, what if he really wakes up?"

Lin Xiaolu was taken aback by his words, then lightly scoffed, floated in front of him, raised her hand and flicked his forehead like Kim Minjung did. Although her finger went right through, she did the action very seriously.

"Are you awake?"

"I don't feel anything."

That means it wasn't a dream.

Jiang Yan saw her raise her hand again to play it once more, and quickly turned her head away, saying, "Alright, alright, it's really real, don't play it anymore."

Lin Xiaolu withdrew her hand with satisfaction, floated into the air, sat cross-legged, and looked at him with her chin in her hand: "So are you nervous? It'll be after Teddy hears your demo."

Jiang Yan thought for a moment, then shook his head: "I'm not nervous."

"real?"

"Really." Jiang Yan stood up, went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water, "Being nervous is useless. The demo is already done, and U will help me submit it. Whether Teddy will listen to it, and what his reaction will be, are things I can't control. Being nervous about things you can't control is pointless."

He carried his water glass back to the living room, sat down on the sofa, picked up the remote and turned on the TV: "All I can do now is wait and prepare for the next step."

Lin Xiaolu floated over to his side, watching the variety show being replayed on the TV screen, and suddenly said, "You're more composed than I thought."

"Is this the first day you've met me?"

"Okay, never mind."

A burst of laughter came from inside the variety show, immediately drawing the attention of the two.

Lin Xiaolu secretly glanced at Jiang Yan's profile. The television screen's glow cast alternating light and shadow on his face, creating a sharply defined silhouette.

She suddenly realized that when she first met him at the barbecue restaurant, he was like a college student dressed as an adult, but now, that outer layer seemed to have grown into his bones.