How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 432 Skill with Words

As you step into the club, the melodious jazz music fills the air, warm yellow lights illuminate the vintage floor, and a subtle fragrance permeates the air—a unique blend of champagne and fine perfume.

The hall was already full of people, who gathered in twos and threes, holding wine glasses, chatting quietly, and occasionally letting out a soft laugh. The atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant.

"Look, isn't that Sun Gewang?" Zhao Tong exclaimed in a low voice, her eyes wide open, secretly pointing to a man in a white suit not far away.

Sun Gewang is a veteran in the music industry. With over 20 years in the business, he has countless classic works and is an idol to many, including Zhao Tong. It is no exaggeration to say that she grew up listening to Sun Gewang's songs.

"And over there, it's Queen Chen!" Zhang Jiajia clenched her fists excitedly, her eyes filled with excitement.

Chan Tin-hou is known for her unique voice and solid singing skills, and she has won numerous awards. I never expected to see her here. Tonight's trip was definitely worthwhile.

Although they often see top singers at the company, this is the first time in their lives that they have been able to see so many and such a complete group of singers at once, like tonight.

So the five of them looked both excited and reserved, following closely behind Teacher Zhang like kindergarten children, almost holding hands, except their eyes were restless, constantly looking around.

Those who knew the group thought it was their first time attending a party, but those who didn't might have thought it was paparazzi who had wandered in.

In contrast, Zhang Wen appeared calm and composed. Even billionaires were begging him to buy medicine, so a few pop stars were nothing to him.

"Teacher Zhang, over here!"

A clear and cheerful voice suddenly rang out. Zhang Wen looked in the direction of the voice and saw Jiang Li.

The other person was standing in the middle of a group of people, wearing a long black dress and a silver coat draped over her shoulders. She looked elegant and poised, and was smiling and waving at him.

"Teacher Zhang, Ya Xuan and I are going to meet some friends." Li Yuqi wasn't familiar with the people in Jiang Li's circle, and seeing artists from her own company in the crowd, she took the initiative to suggest separating to avoid becoming invisible after going there.

Those people are all superstars, even if Sister Ya-xuan went over there, she could only stand aside and smile obsequiously. She has that much self-awareness.

Zhang Wen led Zhao Tong and the others toward Jiang Li, saying, "Good evening, Sister Li." Zhao Tong and the others also greeted her.

Jiang Li pulled Zhang Wen over and enthusiastically introduced him to those around her: "Let me introduce you. This is Zhang Wen. He wrote popular songs such as 'Human World,' 'New Life,' and 'The Best of Us.' These beautiful girls behind him are members of the Future Girls group. They are very promising newcomers and my junior sisters."

"So it's Teacher Zhang! I've heard so much about you!" A middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses extended his hand first, with a sincere smile on his face. "I've wanted to get to know you for a long time, and I'm so glad to finally meet you today. I hope we'll have the opportunity to work together in the future."

“Teacher Zhang is so young and promising. The lyrics to the song ‘New Life’ are so well written. Every time I listen to it, I have a different feeling. I wonder if I would have the honor of collaborating with you?” A lady in a cheongsam next to me said with a smile.

“Hey, isn’t it a bit too abrupt of you to be thinking about collaborating with Teacher Zhang on your first meeting? I’m different. This is my second time meeting Teacher Zhang, and he will definitely collaborate with me first,” a middle-aged man wearing a beret said seriously.

"You're ugly, but you have such beautiful dreams," someone nearby joked.

Zhang Wen shook hands and greeted each of them. He recognized two of them, both of whom were singers who had dominated the music scene for many years and won numerous awards. He also recognized two others, whose names he couldn't recall at the moment, but who were also well-known and powerful singers in the music industry.

"Thank you all for your recognition. I believe we will definitely have opportunities to cooperate in the future," Zhang Wen said with a smile, which can be considered as an agreement.

These are all artists from other companies, so we can collaborate.

Upon hearing this, the singers' eyes lit up immediately. They had only been talking, but they hadn't expected the other party to actually agree. Although they had won countless awards and had their own representative works over the years, as singers, who would refuse a good song?

"Teacher Zhang, I really mean it."

"Teacher Zhang, it's a deal. I'll be waiting for your good news."

"..."

Those around were all surprised by what they saw. To be invited to collaborate by a group of top singers must be an incredible honor for a songwriter.

Who is this young man? He's got incredibly good luck.

Zhang Wen chatted with Jiang Li and others for a while, and seeing that everyone, whether they drank or not, was holding a wine glass, he temporarily left the small circle and walked towards where the wine was kept.

I had just picked up a glass of champagne from the waiter when a voice suddenly rang out from behind me.

"Isn't this Teacher Zhang?"

Zhang Wen turned his head and saw two flamboyantly dressed men standing behind him. One was wearing a black shirt that was clearly two sizes too big, embroidered with blue roses, and the other was wearing a red suit covered with glittering sequins.

Compared to the enthusiasm shown by the other celebrities around you, these two in front of you seem extremely arrogant and haughty, with their eyes revealing undisguised contempt.

The person is not good!
Zhang Wen thought to himself.

Those attending this gathering today are all people in the industry. The purpose of coming here is twofold: to catch up with old friends and to expand our network.

These two people, however, openly displayed their hostility, and this kind of behavior, which harms others without benefiting themselves, clearly went beyond the scope of a gathering.

He had never offended these people, yet they took the initiative to cause trouble. The previous award ceremony host did the same, and now these two people were doing the same. Is this what people mean when they say: "The tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind"?

Or is it that someone is orchestrating all of this?
In that instant, Zhang Wen thought of many people.

Although he often helps others and has never done anything bad, jealousy can be unrecognizable, and there are always some people who want to assert their presence in front of him, and he has made quite a few enemies in the past few months.

"What, don't you recognize us?" The man in the rose-colored shirt raised an eyebrow, his voice clearly showing displeasure.

The man in the red suit chimed in, "Isn't this normal? He just wrote a song and already managed to latch onto Jiang Li's coattails, why would he care about us?"

People around heard someone making sarcastic remarks and all looked over.

It turned out that Cheng Ke and Wu Jianghan were the ones who were speaking. Their words were so vicious. Weren't they implying that this young man was only able to stand here because of connections?

Could there be some grudge between the three of them?
Moreover, this grudge is quite significant; otherwise, they wouldn't have made a scene on this occasion today.

Zhang Wen turned around and carefully examined the faces of the two people in front of him. After a while, he asked, "Are you male models?"

After asking the question, he looked puzzled and muttered to himself, "Wasn't this supposed to be a music industry gathering? How did two male models sneak in? Is there some kind of performance going on?"

"Pfft!"

Immediately, some people around couldn't help but laugh out loud, and their eyes involuntarily turned to Cheng Ke and Wu Jianghan.

The two men were already dressed in flamboyant clothes, and now, after what the young man said, they really did look like they were busking.

Cheng Ke's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red, and he glared at her angrily, "Can't you speak properly? Who's the male model? We're singers!"

"A singer?" Zhang Wen was slightly taken aback, then his expression changed to one of sudden realization. "Oh, so you're singers. Sorry, sorry, I didn't recognize you. It's just that your outfits were so unique—all of you with your collars open and wearing tight pants. I thought you were guests invited by the club to perform. I was wondering why there were only male models and no female models." "Hahaha!" The laughter around them grew louder, and even more people gathered to watch the spectacle.

Seeing this, Wu Jianghan quickly changed the subject, coldly saying, "You really know how to joke, but to be honest, the songs you write are just so-so, all thanks to hype and someone promoting them."

"Really?" Zhang Wen smiled faintly, took a sip of champagne, and said, "I wonder what songs the two singers have to perform? Could you sing some for me so I can learn from them?"

Wu Jianghan's expression froze; these words had hit a nerve.

He became famous by participating in music variety shows, where he mostly covered other people's songs. Of course, he also wrote a few songs, but they received little response and did not cause any waves, and no one remembers them.

Cheng Ke, standing to the side, raised the corners of his mouth and readily agreed, "Okay, then I'll sing you one of my own songs to broaden your horizons."

After speaking, he cleared his throat, waved his arms to keep the beat, and began to sing.

"Your eyelashes flutter and flutter, like stars whispering secrets..."

"I pretended to look down at my toes, but actually I was secretly tracing your profile..."

The audience quickly recognized it as Cheng Ke's signature song, the song that earned him the Golden Melody Award for Best New Artist that year.

It seems this young man is in for trouble.

In everyone's mind, this young man who speaks in a very interesting way is obviously a newcomer in the industry, someone who has just entered the scene and is just beginning to show his talent. He is definitely not as good as Cheng Ke, who has been in the industry for ten years, in terms of songwriting.

Some people sighed inwardly, wondering how this young man had offended Cheng Ke and Wu Jianghan. They feared he was in grave danger tonight.

As the chorus finished, Cheng Ke stopped and said with a smug look, "Did you hear that? This is what a song should be like. Unlike some people, who write nothing but pop songs that have no substance whatsoever."

"Not bad, here's a reward!" Zhang Wen pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at Cheng Ke. "Catch."

Cheng Ke reflexively reached out to take it, opened it, and found it was a one-yuan coin.

"Here's a little heart for you, keep the change." Zhang Wen said, then looked around and asked, "Anyone else want to tip?"

"..." Everyone was speechless.

Cheng Ke isn't busking, so isn't giving him a one-yuan tip an insult?
Besides, even if it's a tip, you should put 100 yuan in your pocket.

"No one's giving me a reward?" Zhang Wen looked around and then said, "Since no one's giving me a reward, then I'm the number one donor. Hurry up and thank the number one donor."

Enraged, Cheng Ke threw the coin in his hand onto the ground.

"What the hell..."

"I have a question," Zhang Wen suddenly said loudly, interrupting Cheng Ke's cursing. He then rubbed his chin and asked the question that had been bothering him, "That song just now, did you write it?"

"Of course!" Cheng Ke said matter-of-factly.

"But why do I feel like the lyrics were written by a voyeur? Pretending to look down and secretly tracing—if this happened on the subway, wouldn't they just report you for harassment?"

"puff!"

"puff!"

Laughter rose and fell all around.

I can't hold it in anymore, I really can't hold it in any longer.

Even the female singers who were hailed as goddesses couldn't help but laugh.

When people first heard Cheng Ke sing, they didn't feel anything, but now that the young people are saying this, it really does feel like they're being spied on.

Someone curiously asked the person next to them, "Who is this young man? I've never seen him before?"

"I don't know. Wu Jianghan just said that this person is clinging to Jiang Li's coattails. Jiang Li should know him."

“Him? I know him,” Li Yuqi said, leaning closer. “Have you heard Jiang Li’s song ‘New Life’? He’s Zhang Wen, the composer of that song.”

"What? He's Zhang Wen?"

"Is it Zhang Wen, the one who wrote the three hit songs 'Human World,' 'New Life,' and 'The Best of Us'?"

Everyone was utterly astonished upon hearing this.

If we're talking about the most sought-after songwriter in the music industry right now, it has to be Zhang Wen, who's even been called a 'hit song maker'.

Many singers wanted to ask him to write songs, but they couldn't because they didn't know him or had no way to contact him, so they could only sigh in vain. They never expected to meet him in person today.

If this young man is indeed the hit song generator, then Cheng Ke is indeed overestimating himself.

Putting everything else aside, all three songs written by Zhang Wen have topped the China Hot Songs Chart, while the song Cheng Ke just sang only achieved a best ranking of fourth.

They're not worlds apart, but they're quite different.

I really don't know where Cheng Ke gets his confidence from, actually saying that Zhang Wen's songs became popular through hype. You try hyping one yourself.
Cheng Ke's face turned pale and then purple, especially when he heard the laughter of his colleagues around him, his anger surged even higher.

"You don't know anything! This is called the stirrings of youth, a delicate depiction of emotions!" Cheng Ke retorted loudly.

"Oh? A thrill? Where does it go? Is it in your lower body?" Zhang Wen slowly swirled the wine in his glass and continued, "I suggest you change that 'secretly sketching your profile' to 'Please allow me to admire your beauty,' at least you won't be seen as a pervert."

The laughter around them was like fireworks exploding on New Year's Eve, one after another. Even Sun Gewang, who always maintained a senior's air, couldn't help but cough to cover up his laughter and said to Chen Tianhou next to him, "This Teacher Zhang has a sharp tongue, but what he said seems to make some sense."

"To be able to write songs like 'Human World' and 'New Life,' you must have some skill with your words," Chen Tianhou said with a smile.

Seeing that Cheng Ke was in an awkward position, Wu Jianghan quickly stepped in to save the day, saying in a strange tone, "Zhang Wen, you should take care of yourself first. The songs you write all rely on fans to boost data. The chorus of your song 'The Best of Us' has a melody that is highly similar to a web song from five years ago. I'm afraid it was plagiarized, right?"

These words were like a thunderbolt thrown into the crowd; the laughter around them instantly ceased, and everyone looked astonished, with only the jazz music continuing to play.

……

(End of this chapter)