Lin Chudong rolled his eyes. "What nonsense are you talking about? Hurry up and eat. Stop hitting on girls!"
Jia Lu realized she'd said the wrong thing, and quickly lowered her head, her face turning bright red.
She'd just imagined too much. One look at Tian Yingxiong told her he was about to hit on a girl. He hadn't even made a move on her yet, and she'd already shown her hand.
Tian Yingxiong's gaze fell on Jing Feifei again. She looked like she was having a great time. She should be easy to hit on.
"Hey, what do you play?"
"Rock keyboard!"
"Wow, not many girls play rock, huh?"
"Enough talk. Let's play rock-paper-scissors!"
Jing Feifei stood up, planted one foot on a stool, and began playing rock-paper-scissors with Tian Yingxiong, full of swagger.
They played for a while, trading wins and losses. Jing Feifei drank quite a lot, but didn't even turn red.
Tian Yingxiong's ears were red from drinking. He lowered his voice and said,
"What's her angle? She's totally my type."
Lin Chudong patted him on the shoulder and said,
"Don't get any ideas about her. Her dad might buy your company and fire you."
"..."
After a few rounds of drinks, Lin Chudong said,
"Old Tian, you've got other connections, right? Help me out."
Tian Yingxiong shook his head. "Cut the crap. I'm practically finished. What connections could I have?"
Lin Chudong smiled. "Playing it cool, huh? I heard your uncle works in Film and Television."
Tian Yingxiong froze for a moment. "You even know that? You've really looked into me, huh? He's just dabbling, made a few TV dramas, worth tens of millions at most—not hundreds of millions. Nothing special."
In the Entertainment industry, there were plenty of TV production companies with assets worth tens of millions. They might have substantial assets, but that didn't mean they could put tens of millions into making a movie.
A company couldn't gamble all its money on one project. If it lost, the whole business might go under.
A company like that could put at most three to five million into making a TV drama.
Seeing how serious Lin Chudong looked, Tian Yingxiong asked, "What, thinking of breaking into Film and Television?"
Lin Chudong smiled. "No, just asking around. Have your uncle add me on WeChat. I'll pitch myself and offer to write a Theme song for one of his TV dramas."
Tian Yingxiong wiped his hands. "At least you've got a real reason. All right, I'll put you in touch!"
If they hadn't been drinking, Tian Yingxiong wouldn't have let even this much slip.
Lin Chudong added his uncle on WeChat, exchanged a greeting, then went back to eating.
Making a name for himself in the Entertainment industry through music alone was just too difficult.
Before, Lin Chudong had only been held back by the system. Now that he was free of its restrictions, he could do whatever he wanted and try his hand in all kinds of fields.
A boost in popularity would help the band, too.
As things stood, they were still too fragile. They'd built up a little following, but couldn't weather a storm.
Tian Yingxiong kept playing rock-paper-scissors with Jing Feifei. It only took a few more rounds for him to get drunk and pass out. In the end, he spent the night in Lin Chudong's dorm.
The next morning, Lin Chudong opened his eyes and made a lavish breakfast.
When Tian Yingxiong came out and saw the table full of food, he was stunned.
"This is what your band eats? I'll chip in. Let me come over for meals."
"Keep dreaming. I'm short a rhythm guitarist. Come play guitar for me, and I'll let you eat."
"Damn, you look so insincere."
Wang Zhi got up, and the three of them had a simple breakfast.
"Old Tian, keep an eye out for a rhythm guitarist for me. Someone cheap and easy to manage."
Tian Yingxiong curled his lip. "You want all the good things for yourself. Find one on your own."
"Damn, when you're not drinking, you're ice-cold."
"..."
"Don't leave today. Give my bassist a crash course. If you dare run off, I'll post what you did with Feifei yesterday and let the richest man come after you!"
"Holy crap, Lin, recording me was pretty low!"
"I did you a huge favor. When you get the chance, write me a song. I want a duet for a couple, like the one you wrote for Zhang Yao and Li Dan."
Zhang Yao and Li Dan were a famous couple in the Entertainment industry. Lin Chudong had written them a hit song, which had made Tian Yingxiong incredibly jealous.
"Write you a duet for a couple? You're single. Who are you going to sing it with?"
"None of your business. I'm going to fake a couple pairing."
"Fine. Pay attention in your bass lessons, and I'll think about it."
Tian Yingxiong was forced to stay at the Piano Shop and give Wang Zhi lessons all day.
He'd started out as a bassist, and his fundamentals were excellent. Plus, he had plenty of relatives in the Entertainment industry, so he had connections galore.
How else could that bastard have won a Golden Melody Award?
Since he'd finally come over, Lin Chudong had to get everything he could out of him.
That evening, they went to perform at the Black Forest as usual, treating it as band practice.
Videos of Da Fei singing at the bar had already started spreading online.
Sun Jie brought his phone into Shen Jianbin's office and showed him the Short video. "Brother Bin, look. Da Fei's fallen so far that he's singing at a bar. 'Chengdu' went viral, but it hasn't brought him any money."
Shen Jianbin narrowed his eyes. "Da Fei worked with us for three years, and only now have I realized I don't know him at all."
"When did he write 'Chengdu'? Does he have any other songs? Do you know?"
Sun Jie shook his head. "I barely ever talked to him outside of work, as you know."
Shen Jianbin slapped the desk. "Damn, he kept things from us all these years. Looks like he'd been plotting to leave for a long time. I was right to fire him."
Sun Jie said, "Exactly. If he'd given us that song, we could've made a lot of money."
Shen Jianbin said, "Forget it. He's just a bar singer. We don't need to bother with him."
"Tell Wu Bo to get ready. This music festival will be his first performance. He has to take Da Fei's place perfectly."
If Lin Chudong had been fired and kept a low profile, Shen Jianbin wouldn't have worried.
But now the guy was appearing on Variety shows and putting out hit songs. Shen Jianbin was genuinely worried Wu Bo wouldn't be able to handle him.
"Lin, I've got the music festival sorted out for you. Your band isn't famous, and you've got a pretty early slot. The performance fee is 50,000 for two songs—that's a good deal. I won't take a Red Packet; just treat me to dinner later."
"The festival organizer's boss is surnamed Meng. I had to down three glasses of Baijiu before he agreed to let you play. You'd better hurry up and call me your godfather!"
Lin Chudong was on the phone. Hearing Tian Yingxiong's good news, he laughed.
"I'll treat you to dinner some other day. Bye."
Liang Yin was immediately thrilled. "Yes! We really get to play at a music festival! I'm so excited. There must be over ten thousand people in the audience, right?"
"More or less. Several thousand people—dozens of times bigger than a little bar."
Liang Yin said, "I have to go. I need to get the outfits sorted and find you guys some decent stage clothes. I'm off. Bye!"
Jing Feifei shouted, "Boss, I want Studded Leather Clothes!"
Chen Jianguo said, "Xiao Lin, you'll be going head-to-head with Da Fei Band this time. What songs are you planning to use against them?"
Lin Chudong smiled. "'Chengdu' is definitely going on the setlist, but I'm planning to make it the second song."
"As for the first one, I'll give you the sheet music in a bit. Playing at a bar is small-time. The music festival will be my first real performance since my comeback."
"We have to get the crowd fired up. Old Chen, I'll be counting on you."
Chen Jianguo thumped his chest. "Don't worry. This old body of mine will see it through!"
"Young people are full of fire. It's good to have an opponent. Whoever they are, I'll stand by you in this fight!"
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