Chapter 208: 207 Invitation From The Program Group
“How’s it going? Has it been confirmed yet?”
Chang Wen sat in the zen-filled Tea Room, looking at the man across from her, and asked this.
The man picked up a bowl of Da Hong Pao and drank a big gulp as if chewing peonies, laughing: “Guess?”
“Come on, Liang Kun, don’t keep me in suspense. I know you’re the mentor they invited, you definitely have a say in the song selection stage. And you’ve written so many hit songs, your words definitely carry weight!”
The short-haired man sitting in front of Chang Wen was none other than the heavyweight veteran singer in the Pop Music circle, Liang Kun. Hits like Shepherd, Powerless, and a series of other popular gold songs—he was not only the original singer but also the original songwriter.
Little known was that Chang Wen, famous for trashy divine songs like Good Brother and Mwah Mwah, was actually longtime friends with Liang Kun. Over ten years ago, both had been down-and-out singers whose albums couldn’t sell, both cast aside by their respective companies. This close friendship began back when they were both nobodies.
Liang Kun laughed. Even though he wasn’t singing, just speaking ordinarily, his voice was thick and magnetic: “I listened to that song—gotta say, it’s actually pretty good.”
Chang Wen laughed: “I told you, it would definitely catch your eye.”
Liang Kun: “If that kid performs live at this level, it should be no problem.”
The meaning of ‘performs live at this level’—didn’t that mean she could have a chance to perform live on stage?
Chang Wen asked with a smile: “So you’re saying the Program Group has confirmed it?”
Liang Kun nodded: “The Director said no problem, they should have already contacted her agent by now, though I’m not too clear on the details. Anyway, handing it over to them definitely won’t be an issue.”
Chang Wen took a small sip from her teacup: “That kid hasn’t signed with a company, her agent seems to be her older brother or classmate or something…”
Liang Kun was momentarily stunned: “Really? That’s too independent!”
Chang Wen sighed: “Being independent is good, signing with a company means you’re not your own master anymore.”
The Tea Room fell silent for a good while.
Suddenly, Liang Kun said in a low voice: “Let me tell you, your company is just ripping people off!”
Chang Wen pursed her lips: “Is yours any better? Forgot how they returned your album ten-plus times back then?”
Liang Kun was speechless for the moment.
His situation could be divided into two distinct phases with his breakout hit Powerless as the dividing line. The first phase was all sorts of misery, all sorts of hard work, no money for rent leading to living in the Basement; the latter phase was smooth sailing, fame and fortune, becoming a top domestic famous singer.
But that dividing line was nearly ten years ago. He hadn’t thought about the early struggles or the faces of those who didn’t believe in him for a long time. But now, with Chang Wen’s reminder, the unbearable memories flooded back.
Liang Kun sighed quite elegantly: “Life is truly unpredictable…”
Chang Wen suddenly said: “Right, one more thing—don’t tell anyone I recommended this kid.”
Liang Kun: “Why?”
Chang Wen pointed at herself and gave a bitter smile: “Being associated with me isn’t a good thing.”
“Nonsense!” Liang Kun set down his teacup and said bluntly, “Believe it or not, next time I’m on a program, I’ll say I’ve known you for over a dozen years?”
Chang Wen shook her head like a rattle: “Please, don’t! I really don’t want to be involved with you guys, don’t stir up trouble!”
Liang Kun: “This isn’t about stirring up trouble or not—singing some bad songs, what’s there to be ashamed of? I see those rapping wheat shouters still have the face to show up, at least what you sing can be considered songs!”
Chang Wen still shook her head: “Don’t stir up trouble, I’m doing fine now. If you’re associated with me, it’ll draw more fire to me, bring a bunch of paparazzi, and let me go shopping anymore?”
Liang Kun: “…”
————
That afternoon, Pei Ningle sat on the sofa in her room, holding her newly bought Guitar, practicing a fairly difficult Chord.
The young girl’s hands were already quite small, and the Chord fingering forced her to spread her fingers wide. So, after finally pressing out this extended Chord following the video on the Computer, Pei Ningle felt her left hand was about to cramp.
At that moment, she noticed Wangyu Music pop up a private message notification—since she was playing the video on Wangyu Music, she noticed the private message the second it arrived.
Pei Ningle kept her left hand in that awkward position on the Guitar, grabbed the mouse with her right hand, and opened the private message.
【Miss Pei, hello, I am the executive Assistant Director of the Tian Xia Hao Ge Qu program. We are honored to notify you that your work Dawn has been selected as a competition song for the program. We are the original production team of Tian Xia Hao Sneng Yin program, adopting a brand-new format, aiming to create a novel and unique song Talent Show…】
The young girl widened her eyes and leaned right up to the Screen, reading it word by word carefully once.
Unlike previous Talent Show formats, the focus is no longer on the singer, but on original songs;
The song authors will take the CCTV Television stage to perform their own songs, chosen by four mentors;
Liu Jiang, Liang Kun, Peng Xiaoya, Chu Tianjian—four veteran music industry superstars as mentors, almost the same lineup as Tian Xia Hao Sneng Yin which exploded nationwide starting last year…
Reading line by line, Pei Ningle was already boiling with excitement.
“Who else can stop me from blowing up!” The young girl excitedly raised her arms and shouted, “Who else!”
However, right after, her expression twisted, her brow furrowing tightly.
In her excitement just now, her left hand pressing the Chord really cramped…
————
Wang Heng and his classmates, along with students from two other majors, sat in the Lecture Hall, enduring the torment of a foreign language.
For Wang Heng, this hardly counted as torment, but for Tang Hexing, it was quite tough.
“Didn’t they say we could skip English?” Xiao Tang sprawled on the desk, saying weakly, “When can we apply to skip it?”
Wang Heng replied calmly: “After passing CET-4. Speaking of which, registration for CET-4 is in a few days—want to sign up together?”
Because of the word ‘together’ at the end, Tang Hexing keenly realized something.
He immediately asked: “You signing up?”
Wang Heng shrugged: “Of course—if the school hadn’t blocked first-semester freshmen, I would’ve signed up last year.”
Finally, the Class Dismissal Bell rang, the Teacher said “Class dismissed” and turned crisply to leave.
Wang Heng and his roommates left the Classroom, strolling slowly toward the Dormitory. In less than ten minutes, they arrived downstairs of the dormitory.
And at that moment, Wang Heng widened his eyes.
What did he see?
The petite young girl standing at the Dormitory Building doorway—wasn’t that Pei Ningle!
————
