Opening the Treasure Chest

Shen Jianbin said, "Da Fei, don't say that. You're a veteran of the company, and you've written many hit songs for us. How could I possibly fire you? I'm just asking you to change positions. Isn't that normal in ordinary units?"

Before Lin Chudong could speak, Su Yulin directly retorted.

"Normal what!"

"Da Fei Band, and Da Fei isn't the lead singer? Are you kidding me?"

"Besides, who can compare to Da Fei's singing skill? Those hit songs are Da Fei's representative works. Can anyone else sing them with that same flavor?"

Shen Jianbin's expression gradually became stern. Su Yulin had already signed her renewal contract, and she would remain Shen Jianbin's employee for the next year, so there was no need to be polite with her.

"The company needs to operate as a whole band, not as one individual."

"The band exists to reflect commercial value. A lead singer with good vocals is certainly important, but a lead singer who can bring in traffic is what we truly need!"

"Wu Bo was carefully selected by me. He graduated from Donghai Conservatory of Music, and is actually Da Fei's junior."

"His vocal condition, stage presence, and variety show appeal are all very strong. To say something you might not like to hear, he crushes Da Fei in every aspect."

"He is the future of our Da Fei Band!"

Hearing this, Lin Chudong let out a self-mocking cold laugh.

He never imagined that three years of hard work would result in this outcome.

Shen Jianbin said, "Da Fei, if you want to go solo, you can too..."

Lin Chudong said, "No need to say more. Let's terminate the contract."

A hint of smugness appeared in Shen Jianbin's eyes. "When you founded the company, you put in one hundred thousand. At that time, no share agreement was signed, so let's proceed according to the law."

"I'll give you the highest interest according to the bank's standard annual interest rate of four percent. The total is one hundred and ten thousand, plus your salary for this month, making it one hundred and twenty thousand. No need to look for change."

Lin Chudong scoffed. Three years ago, this broken company had nothing. He had taken out all his savings, one hundred thousand. Three years later, he was walking away with one hundred and twenty thousand. How ironic.

"What about my songs?"

Shen Jianbin said, "It's written in the contract. The copyright for the songs is for fifty years. You are the lyricist and composer. If you want to sing them, you can sing them in KTV, but not for commercial performances."

Lin Chudong narrowed his eyes. "You changed the contract?"

When they signed the contract back then, the company wasn't very formal, and the contract wasn't very detailed. Now that he thought about it, if Shen Jianbin had intended to cheat him from the beginning, changing the contract wouldn't have been difficult.

Shen Jianbin smiled faintly and said, "It was a supplementary contract. You signed it when you were drunk once."

It couldn't be blamed that Shen Jianbin acted so ruthlessly. The main reason was Lin Chudong's talent. In three years, he had written over a dozen classic works. As long as the lead singer had a decent voice, they could rely on his old songs for a while. These songs absolutely could not be taken away by Lin Chudong.

Lin Chudong sneered. As expected, it was consistent with his style of doing things. Truly despicable.

Shen Jianbin said, "The money used to buy the electric guitar was also paid by the company. It's now the company's private property. You only have an acoustic guitar, and you can take that with you."

Su Yulin slammed the table and said angrily.

"Shen Jianbin! Isn't this going too far? Da Fei built this empire. Even if he's leaving, he should leave with some dignity!"

Shen Jianbin's face turned grim, and he said coldly.

"First, in the company, employees are forbidden from calling me by my name. If there's a next time, I'll consider it a breach of contract!"

"Second, you are just employees of the company, not shareholders. You have no right to interfere in any company decisions. Do you understand!"

Bang!

Shen Jianbin slammed the table hard, and immediately, the entire conference room fell silent.

Shen Jianbin was usually very strict, and almost no one dared to talk back to him. Lin Chudong could negotiate with him, but that didn't mean others could.

Lin Chudong stood up and said.

"Alright, I'm leaving. You guys continue your meeting. I'll take my guitar."

Saying that, Lin Chudong turned and left the conference room.

He was afraid that if he stayed a moment longer, Su Yulin's temper would flare up, and she would be the one to suffer in the end.

He went to the instrument room and picked up the guitar he had bought for a thousand yuan back then, then walked out of the studio.

Outside, traffic bustled, and everyone was busy.

Only Lin Chudong, with a guitar on his back, walked slowly on the street.

The sunlight was so dazzling, as if it were mocking him, a failure.

As he walked through an underpass, a song drifted over.

A folk singer was standing in the underpass, singing the song he wrote, "Autumn Farewell," with deep emotion.

The guitar in his hand was the same as the one Lin Chudong was carrying, and it was very old.

But music, the old kind, still had its charm.

Lin Chudong didn't stop; he walked past the singer.

Seeing Lin Chudong with his guitar, the busker nodded slightly in greeting.

It wasn't until Lin Chudong had walked far away that the busker recalled that the person looked so familiar.

But he couldn't remember who it was.

Lin Chudong was like this: his songs were more famous than him, and much more so.

Lin Chudong's songs were A-list.

Lin Chudong himself couldn't even make it into the C-list.

If you shouted "Da Fei" on the street, maybe a few people would know, but if he walked down the street himself, no one would recognize him.

Unless they were die-hard fans, they wouldn't know who he was, but there was still a gap between TV and reality. Even if they recognized him, they might not dare to say hello.

Who would have thought that the dignified singer Da Fei would be walking so casually on the street?

Who would have thought that the Da Fei Band would have fired Da Fei?

Fortunately, Lin Chudong had a system. He had been signing in for three years, day after day, and had acquired a lot of skills. He could make a living anywhere.

Lin Chudong came back to his senses. The treasure chest's time seemed to be almost up.

He glanced at it; there were only a few minutes left on the countdown.

He stopped, focusing his attention on waiting for the treasure chest to open.

The sign-in system had given him many good things back then. This treasure chest shouldn't be bad either, right?

[Ding!]

The familiar voice sounded in his mind, but it wasn't a sign-in, it was the treasure chest opening.

[Green Treasure Chest x1][Intermediate Cooking Skill x1]

Lin Chudong was stunned. Cooking?

In the past three years, every gift package he had opened was related to music. He had even opened [Intermediate Whistling Skill].

This sudden one, unrelated to music, made him a little uncomfortable.

'That's fine. Having more life skills can make up for the life experiences I've missed over the past three years.'

Lin Chudong used [Intermediate Cooking Skill]. Recipes and information immediately appeared in his mind. He was already used to this feeling.

Then, he opened the green treasure chest.

[11:59:59]

The countdown began.

This time, the countdown reached a full 12 hours!

And the treasure chest had turned green. It seemed the contents inside should be even better.

Fortunately, he had plenty of time now and could wait patiently.

Before the treasure chest opened, he needed to find a place to settle down.

Crossing the overpass, he saw a piano shop with a small storefront, a recruitment notice posted on it.

[Hiring Guitar Teacher, includes accommodation, monthly salary 6000+...]

Lin Chudong pushed the door open and entered.

"Excuse me, are you still hiring guitar teachers?"

Suddenly, a quarrel came from inside.

He saw a mother with a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child arguing heatedly with the owner.

"My child has been studying with you for a month, and they can't do anything, can't even play a single song, what kind of teachers are you? Give me my money back quickly!"

"I'm telling you, if you don't refund the money today, I'll report you to the Administration for Industry and Commerce for fraudulent advertising!"

"My son isn't stupid, he can't even learn a guitar?"