I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

"Ah."

Jiang Xinhai wasn't very enthusiastic in the conversation because she lacked energy and felt it was all just empty talk.

"To be honest, I just listened to your recording of 'Red Bean'," Li Yalin said with a smile, "How should I put it, it's absolutely amazing!"

"Thank you," Jiang Xinhai said politely.

"So, are you interested in a deeper collaboration with our company?" Li Yalin asked.

How can we deepen our cooperation?

Li Yalin lowered his voice and said, "That's right, signing a contract with the company."

Jiang Xinhai remembered Chen Ya saying that once you sign a contract with the company, you will be at the mercy of the company.

"Not interested."

Li Yalin looked back to make sure no one was around before saying, "Don't you think there's something wrong with the way you're cooperating with Zhichi?"

Jiang Xinhai paused for a moment, then said, "Indeed."

He eats her food, drinks her drinks, lives in her house, and even expects her to bring him food every day.

She suspected that if she weren't dressed entirely in women's clothing, Chen Ya would have loved to wear her clothes.

This kind of cooperation is definitely problematic!

Li Yalin said, "It's too small-scale for just the two of you to do this. The company won't give you resources to promote your albums. They'll just let you fend for yourselves. It's like you're godsons, adopted sons. They'll never treat you like biological sons."

Jiang Xinhai tilted his head: "I don't understand."

“Sigh, never mind, I’ll just say it straight,” Li Yalin sighed. “Zhi Chi has offended someone, and the company is already planning to sideline him. There’s no future in you working with him.”

"Why don't you sign with the company directly? With your talent, our company can definitely help you take off. You know, we have many multi-talented artists in our company, and we have experience in this area."

Jiang Xinhai understood.

They're poaching people; they want to kick Chen Ya out themselves.

Chapter 134 Recruiting Talent and Taking on Apprentices

Although Jiang Xinhai is young, he is not easily fooled.

Faced with Li Yalin's persuasion, she instinctively wanted to refuse.

But before she could speak, Li Yalin reached out and stopped her, continuing, "..."

"I know that you and Zhichi are both young and impetuous at 18, and I understand your mindset. However, don't rush to refuse. I have absolutely no ill intentions. Let me finish explaining before you refuse, okay?"

Jiang Xinhai hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Li Yalin clasped his fingers together and said:

"If you want to make singing your lifelong career, you first need to understand the circle and channels."

"Circles and channels?" Jiang Xinhai frowned and repeated.

Li Yalin nodded: "Yes, those two things. The former determines how far you can go, and the latter determines how fast you can go."

Jiang Xinhai slowly shook his head.

She doesn't really understand.

Li Yalin smiled and said, "You'll understand when you have more experience. The entertainment industry is only so big, and the top is only the size of a palm."

He stretched out his palm and drew a circle in his hand.

“If you go up, I’ll come down; if I come up, you have to come down. If you want to stand up there and stay firmly in place, you need someone to support you,” Li Yalin said.

This was not quite what Jiang Xinhai had imagined.

What if someone supports me? What if no one supports me?

Li Yalin laughed and said, "Let me give you an example. Who's the most popular person right now? Ruan Qingzhu, and she's the apprentice of the diva Yingzi."

"She's Yingzi's apprentice?" Jiang Xinhai was a little surprised.

"Only people in the industry know this. The banquet was held at Guihonglou, and big names in the industry were invited to witness it. I was also fortunate enough to go. Ruan Qingzhu knelt down and kowtowed eighteen times on the spot. After that, she officially became an in-law."

When Li Yalin talked about this, the expression on his face seemed to be full of longing, admiring Yingzi's superstar demeanor and her commanding presence.

"Uh..." Jiang Xinhai felt a little hard to accept.

She didn't want to kowtow to anyone except her parents.

Li Yalin laughed and said, "It was because of this party that Ruan Qingzhu met well-known songwriters and producers in the industry, and Yingzi paved the way for her. Her first album was a huge success."

Li Yalin continued, "As I just said, the circle you're in determines how far you can go. When you reach the top, you'll inevitably clash with the older generation of superstars, and their accumulated popularity is something you can never catch up to. So what should you do?"

"What should we do?"

“Look, Ruan Qingzhu doesn’t have this kind of trouble. She’s Yingzi’s apprentice, and her achievements are Yingzi’s achievements. Tell me, in this circle, who would dare not give her face?”

Jiang Xinhai nodded: "That makes sense."

He looked at Jiang Xinhai and said, "Ruan Qingzhu is an artist signed by our company."

"If you join our company, we can easily connect you with many big names and celebrities, making your path smoother."

"Then what channels did you just mention?"

“I won’t use technical terms, but I’ll just say it’s all the channels that make you famous.” Li Yalin leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup, opened it, and blew on it. “Our company knows the director of the Spring Festival Gala. When the time is right, you’ll see how fast you can go once you’re on the Spring Festival Gala.”

He slowly shook his head and sipped his tea, seemingly waiting for Jiang Xinhai to make a statement, yet also seemingly unconcerned about her thoughts.

"So, what are your thoughts?"

Jiang Xinhai looked at him and said seriously, "I thought that as long as the song was of high quality and the fans liked it, it would become popular."

Li Yalin smiled.

"Who told you this?"

Jiang Xinhai paused for a moment and said, "That's what I think, and that's what Zhichi also says."

"He doesn't understand."

Li Yalin gave a brief comment.

"His writing of 'Too Softhearted,' 'Forgetful Water,' and 'Sad Pacific Ocean' was purely due to good luck."

"It just so happened that Heavenly Kings Liu Yuhua and Ren Xianqi were missing songs for their albums, so the company helped them find some. The demos were sent to the two Heavenly Kings, and they were quite satisfied with them, so they arranged for the songs to be included."

"If he were to rely on himself, how long would it take to make a name for himself? Think about it, he's so young, he doesn't have formal training, and if the company hadn't provided him with a platform, he would have spent his whole life singing in bars."

Jiang Xinhai remained silent, feeling inexplicably sad, before finally saying, "Is that so?"

"Yes, he has been with the company for a year and hasn't produced any decent work. If it weren't for the company providing this platform, he doesn't know how long he would have been stuck there."

Li Yalin seemed somewhat dissatisfied, and said, "But he himself seems dissatisfied, feeling that he should have become famous long ago. Doesn't he realize that if it weren't for the Heavenly King singing those few songs of his, would he have become famous?"

Jiang Xinhai said, "But he is very talented."

Li Yalin remained expressionless after listening.

“Your song ‘Red Bean’ does show that he has some talent, and he’s a little better than the average lyricist and composer,” Li Yalin said. “But you haven’t seen anyone who is truly talented.”

Jiang Xinhai hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

The talent she described was probably even more exaggerated than Li Yalin imagined.

Li Yalin stood up and said, "I'll introduce you to someone who is truly talented. Please wait a moment."

After saying that, he went out, and after a while, he came in with another person.

"Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Lu Ren, and this is Ms. Jiang Xinhai."

Jiang Xinhai stood up and saw the man Li Yalin had brought in. He was wearing square-framed glasses and had thick lips.

He was wearing a black training uniform and had his hair in a ponytail, looking quite flamboyant.

Compared to Chen Ya, he truly looked like an artist.

Li Yalin said, "Teacher Lu Ren is the go-to lyricist and composer for pop diva Yingzi. Yingzi's rise to fame is largely due to his strong support behind the scenes."

Lu Renchong nodded to Jiang Xinhai and said in a loud voice, "Hello!"

Then, he sat down in a seat on the side, let out a long sigh, and lay down on the chair.

"I got drunk with Qi Qing yesterday and agreed to write a song for him while I was dizzy. Today I suddenly feel like I have hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. The pressure is enormous."

As soon as he sat down, he chatted casually with Li Yalin, who smiled and said:

"You're something else. Others can't even get Qi Qing to sing their songs, and you're just showing off."

"Did I brag? No! I'm really under a lot of pressure."

Lu Ren turned smugly to Jiang Xinhai, placed one hand on the table, and said:

"I listened to your demo of 'Red Bean'. Your breath control is steady, your pitch is great, and you have a lot of potential. I've already thought of a song that would suit your inspiration."

He tapped his fingers on the table, muttering to himself, "Damn, damn... Hmm, that's good. If you join the company, I can write a song for you in three months."

Li Yalin exclaimed, "Three months? That's fast!"

"If it weren't for Qi Qing, I could have given it to her earlier." Lu Ren scratched his head.

"Three months?" Jiang Xinhai leaned forward and asked, "Is that for the entire album?"

Li Yalin and Qi Qing looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chapter 135 Directly Challenges the Former Queen of Pop

The two were speechless for a while about Jiang Xinhai.

“Miss Jiang, song production isn’t that simple. You certainly don’t want me to produce shoddy work and write some cheap, shoddy songs, right?” Lu Ren said.

Jiang Xinhai's eyes lit up: "It's very difficult to produce an album of songs in three months, isn't it?"

Lu Ren and Li Yalin exchanged another glance: "Of course it's very difficult!"

"If you ask one person to write the lyrics and compose the music, it will be even more difficult, right?"

Lu Ren smiled wryly and said, "These are all comments from outsiders. An album usually has several songwriters. It's not a question of whether it's difficult or not; it's simply impossible for one person to write it."

"Right, right?" Jiang Xinhai patted his chest. "I think so too. It scared me to death. I thought there was something wrong with me."

That was indeed what she originally thought.

But a man named Chen Ya made her lose confidence.

Lu Ren and Li Yalin had no idea what she was talking about.

"Ms. Jiang Xinhai, what's your decision?" Li Yalin asked. "Are you interested in joining our company?"

Lu Ren snapped his fingers and said, "If you join, I'll call Yingzi and introduce you to her in a grand way right away."

Li Yalin said with some surprise, "In that case, Jiang Xinhai is really lucky. How could other fledgling singers possibly get such treatment?"

Jiang Xinhai thought for a moment and said, "If I sign with a company, will I be able to sing 'Zhi Chi's' songs?"

Li Yalin said, "I estimate the chances are slim. As I just said, Zhichi is already going to be shelved."

Why is he being kept in cryogenics?

"Need I say more?" Lu Ren loosened his belt and said, "He said directly on a public platform that Dao Lang sold more albums than Ying Zi. Damn, Ying Zi was furious. I've never seen Ying Zi so angry before."

Jiang Xinhai asked, "Did Yingzi request that he be placed on the freeze?"

Li Yalin smiled bitterly: "Even if she hadn't made that request, his future would have been difficult. Yingzi has made it clear in the industry that anyone who collaborates with Zhichi is going against her."

Jiang Xinhai covered his mouth in surprise: "Did she really say that?"

“That’s not what she said exactly, but that’s the gist of it,” Li Yalin said. “Gao Xiaobo said something similar. Anyone who wants to cooperate with Zhichi in the future will have to think twice.”

Lu Ren said, "His problem is that he thinks too highly of himself. He wrote two songs and dared to challenge the queen of pop. He has never been beaten up before."

"Yes, at his current level, he can only work with some up-and-coming actors, but which up-and-coming actor would dare to work with stars like Yingzi and Gao Xiaobai? Even if the company doesn't actively sideline him, he still won't get any work."

"Actually, I quite admire his talent. His novel 'Too Softhearted' did sell very well, but I guess he has some issues with his personality," Lu Ren said.

Li Yalin noticed Jiang Xinhai's displeasure and explained:

"The company is deliberately putting him on hold, which is a favor to Yingzi. He's already having trouble getting work, so it's better to punish himself with three drinks and put him on hold for now. In three to five years, Yingzi will forget about this and the matter will be over."