I'll Always Have Your Back

That evening, Lin Chudong didn't eat with the others. The film crew still had a night shoot, and he couldn't spend the whole day here. He'd only come to check on Lin Qiqi.

The young woman who'd been playing the electronic keyboard hurried over with a pen in her hand.

"Brother Fei, my name's Li Xiaomai. Could you give me your autograph?"

Lin Chudong smiled. "Sure. Li Xiaomai is a lovely name. Are you a professional?" He didn't think he'd heard her name before, but her pretty young face did look familiar.

"Mhm! I'm a student at Beijing Film Academy. I'm graduating this year, and I'm here as an intern."

"How much do you get paid per episode?"

"Hehe, five thousand."

Lin Chudong's eyes lit up. "Okay, let's add each other on WeChat."

She looked good, and her pay was low. Maybe he could find a use for her in the future.

Li Xiaomai was thrilled. "Of course, Brother Da Fei!"

After signing the autograph, Lin Chudong said, "Qiqi, I'm heading out."

Lin Qiqi pouted, reluctant to see him go. "When will you come visit me again?"

Sister Song said, "Qiqi, don't be silly. Da Fei's busy with work. He can't come visit you every day!"

Lin Qiqi looked a little disappointed. "All right."

Sister Song said, "Be good, Qiqi. Once this show wraps up, you won't have any more work lined up, so you can take a few days off. Then you can visit Da Fei on set."

Lin Qiqi's eyes immediately lit up. "That's a great idea!"

Lin Chudong smiled. "All right, I'll be waiting. Bye!"

"Bye!"

Lin Chudong went outside the film crew's set to hail a cab. Lin Qiqi's eyes never left him as he went.

The director pointed at his watch and spoke quietly to Sister Song.

"Sister Song, it's getting late. We'll lose the light soon!"

Sister Song said helplessly, "Just let the young lady watch him go, will you?"

The director couldn't help feeling helpless, too. Big productions really were a headache for directors.

Lin Qiqi watched Lin Chudong get into the taxi and murmured, "Why is Da Fei taking a taxi..."

It was almost eight by the time he reached the Piano Shop. Quite a few people were already seated inside.

There were six in the Orchestra group: flute, sheng, Western flute, hammered dulcimer, konghou, and pipa players.

All six were middle-aged or older, most of them well past their prime, though they still seemed energetic.

There were also six singers in the Harmony group, all young. They were probably fresh faces from the Performing Arts Troupe.

"Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting. Something came up and held me back."

Liang Yin and the others looked at him strangely. "Da Fei... never mind. We'll talk later. Go ahead and audition them first!"

Lin Chudong nodded. "Everyone, the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala is the day after tomorrow, and it'll be a live broadcast, so we need professional musicians."

"I'll give you all a score. The grand piano will be the main instrument. Please sight-read it once."

Sight-reading meant looking at the musical notation and translating it into a performance on one's instrument.

Put simply, it was a test of how well someone could play an unfamiliar score at first sight.

These musicians had spent years practicing countless scores, so a quick sight-reading test would give a good idea of their skill level.

The older musicians began sight-reading. Lin Chudong walked over to Liang Yin and asked quietly, "How much are they charging?"

"Sixty thousand in total. That covers rehearsals and the performance, and they'll be at our disposal for the next few days. How good are they?"

Lin Chudong nodded. "Good enough."

In terms of skill, Lin Chudong was certainly more capable. If nothing else, give him a pipa and a few roll fingers would turn these old musicians' ideas about music upside down.

But Lin Chudong couldn't be in two places at once, and their funds were limited. They couldn't hire masters for every part. This lineup was already pretty good.

"Could the Harmony group please sight-sing as well?"

As their voices rang out, Lin Chudong nodded with satisfaction.

"They're from the Performing Arts Troupe, right?"

"Right."

"Then we're all set. We can't use amateurs for a gala. If anything goes wrong, they won't take responsibility. These people from the Performing Arts Troupe are on the government payroll. If they mess up at the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, they'll lose their jobs, so they'll do their best. We should take their troupe leader out for a meal later and see if we can negotiate a discount for long-term cooperation."

Sixty thousand for one performance was too expensive. Da Fei and the others only charged a hundred thousand for a music festival appearance.

An orchestra shouldn't have cost that much. A thousand or so per person for an appearance fee would already have been quite good.

They'd probably seen that the owner didn't know the going rates and had named an outrageous price. They'd have been happy with twenty thousand for the gig.

The auditions soon ended. They were all well qualified, classically trained musicians, more than capable of providing accompaniment.

"All right, that's it for today. Take your parts home and get familiar with them tonight. We'll rehearse all day tomorrow, then again the day after tomorrow in the morning. In the afternoon, we'll do the dress rehearsal and perform."

The dozen or so musicians left. Lin Chudong said, "Feifei, Little Jia, you two need to practice hard, too. Don't let anything go wrong."

They both nodded. Of the four musicians in the band, the two women would be performing this time, and it was a live gala broadcast. They couldn't let Da Fei down.

Liang Yin said, "Da Fei, did you visit Lin Qiqi on set today?"

"How did you know?"

"I saw a video of you cursing someone on my phone. Was it real? You even dared to curse out Li Zhilin?"

Lin Chudong was taken aback. "Show me?"

Liang Yin and Jia Lu started looking through their phones. Jia Lu frowned.

"It's gone now. But I really saw it earlier. Brother Fei, did you actually curse someone out?"

None of them thought it was a joke. They were all worried.

Lin Chudong told them everything that had happened that day. Everyone was stunned. Da Fei was way too impressive. He'd even dared to curse out a top star.

"When will the show air?"

Lin Chudong said, "In a few days, probably. I wrote the ending theme for them, so we can record it after the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala."

"Once the ending theme's recorded, they'll be pretty much done. They're wrapping up filming in a few days. Add in the editing, and it should be out in about a week."

Jia Lu said, "Brother Fei, do you think the show will bring us more attention?"

Lin Chudong smiled. "I only have a few minutes on screen, so it probably won't do much. If the ending theme takes off, maybe it'll help a little."

It was getting late, so Old Chen and Jia Lu headed home first.

Liang Yin said, "Da Fei, stay at my place tonight. I hired some workers to whitewash your room this evening."

Lin Chudong paused. "Would that... be appropriate?"

"Of course. My place is pretty spacious. Stay for a couple of days, then move back once the work's done."

"Okay."

That night, at Liang Yin's place.

As he entered the spacious house, Lin Chudong looked surprised.

"Boss Lady, I never would've guessed your family was so well-off."

Liang Yin rolled her eyes. "Don't make fun of me. This is all I've got."

"You can sleep in that room. Feifei and I will share."

After the room was ready, the two women changed into their pajamas and brought out some fruit. Lin Chudong got to enjoy a pajama show put on by the two beauties, a real feast for the eyes.

After they finished the fruit, Jing Feifei said, "Brother Fei, Boss Lady, I'm going to bed. You two can chat!"

Once Jing Feifei had gone into her room, Liang Yin tiptoed over with a contract and a bank card.

"Da Fei, the money from mortgaging my house came through. I borrowed three million two hundred thousand. With our previous performance fees, minus some expenses like costumes, we have three million one hundred and fifty thousand left."

"This is all the money our company has. I haven't counted the instruments or anything like that. This is the equity contract. The company didn't have any money before, so I never drew one up."

"Now that we have money, we should sign it. There are two shareholders in the company right now: you and me."

"You'll get fifty-one percent of the shares, and I'll take forty-nine."

Lin Chudong was taken aback. "Boss Lady, I haven't put in a single cent."

Liang Yin said, "You're contributing your skills. Without you, there wouldn't even be a band. I've put in a little money, but compared with your talent, it's nothing."

Looking at the equity contract, Lin Chudong felt conflicted.

"So you're basically giving me one million six hundred thousand?"

Liang Yin smiled. "Hehe, I'm not giving it away. I'm counting on you to help us make money in the future."

"Even if we lose money, it doesn't matter. I still have the Piano Shop."

"Da Fei, go all out! I'll always have your back!"