After offending capital, my songs became more and more popular.

Chapter 79 The Pioneer of the Music Scene

Having finally escaped six failed attempts to start spring and the sudden onset of summer in the mountains, Hajime thought he could finally work in a place where spring lasts all year round. But when he received the notice that the location was Beijing, a look of utter despair appeared on Hajime's face.

Shen Ming'en hated the spring and autumn in the north because it was freezing indoors and unbearably hot outdoors; if he went out to buy a drink, drinking something ice-cold would give him a stomachache, while drinking something hot would make him sweat profusely; even the air conditioning in the shops or malls was so unpredictable that he didn't know whether to turn it on to heat or cool...

Is this not?

Shen Ming'en, who was invited to the Filmmakers Awards Ceremony before sunset, was wearing short sleeves when he got out of the car. However, as night fell, he was freezing cold and had to put on a trench coat.

Shivering and occasionally sniffling, he had caught a cold.

Not far away, a girl wearing a white shirt, a black pencil skirt, and gold-rimmed glasses brought Shen Ming'en a cup of bright red hot drink and said with a smile, "Teacher Ming'en, please have some hot water."

Shen Ming'en glanced at it, then leaned closer to sniff. A pleasant blend of pomegranate, floral, and cranberry scents filled his nostrils. To be honest, it smelled wonderful and made his mouth water, but...

"Never mind..." Shen Ming'en wrapped his coat tighter, picked up a bottle of room-temperature Wahaha mineral water from the side, and said bluntly, "I'll just drink the cold one."

The girl in front of him was named Chen Jia, Shen Ming'en's assistant assigned by the company. She had a great figure, standing at least 1.75 meters tall, with a curvy figure. In the few days since she started working as Shen Ming'en's assistant, he had never seen her wear pants. Occasionally, she would even wear red-soled black high heels, and he wondered who she was trying to impress...

Despite her meticulous care for Shen Mingen, he remained wary of her, for no other reason than...

He still doesn't trust the company.

Shen Ming'en felt something was off when Ma Ling agreed to revise the contract and the profit sharing that day. Later, things turned out exactly as he expected. Although Ma Ling gave him the contract, it had neither a signature nor an official seal. The announcements Ma Ling arranged for him were all of that kind...

There are basically no appearance fees.

For example, he might do charity work, or when the government has some kind of event, he might go and sing some of their representative revolutionary songs.

It's like today's "Filmmakers' Gala," a grand event spearheaded by industry leaders and attended by a group of filmmakers, where he was invited to sing "My Motherland and I"...

This kind of announcement, which allows him to appear in public, is very beneficial to his image, but it costs almost nothing.

To be honest, Shen Ming'en not only has no objection to appearing on CCTV channels and singing patriotic songs, he would even be happy to do so. He is also very willing to help with public welfare and charity. If he didn't have a company and was a personal studio, Shen Ming'en would be happy to do these things even without any profit...

But the problem is, he now has a feeling that he's been tricked by Ma Ling.

You have to understand that regardless of whether his profit-sharing contract with the company is changed or not, the company will definitely treat him as a ruthless money-making machine, only accepting the most lucrative gigs and taking as many as possible...

But now, they not only only choose jobs that don't make money, but they also don't do as many of them.

Although he had mentioned this to Ma Ling that day, saying that he would only accept three gigs a week at most, it wouldn't make sense for the company to be so kind as not to trick him, right?

"Luckily, I didn't sign the contract that day." Recalling this, Shen Ming'en felt fortunate for his caution. That day, seeing that the contract lacked an official seal and signature, he didn't even glance at it before sending it back to Hajiling. "Teacher Ming'en, you..."

Seeing that Shen Mingen was always wary of them, his assistant Chen Jia was helpless and was about to say a few words to him when the phone on the dressing table suddenly rang.

She had no choice but to put down her hot drink and go to pick up her phone to answer it. Shen Ming'en heard her call out "Sister Ling" as she came up, so it was probably Ma Ling calling.

After exchanging a few words, Chen Jia handed her phone to Shen Ming'en, saying, "It's Sister Ling on the phone."

Shen Ming'en was putting on makeup in front of the mirror and didn't want to pay any attention to Ma Ling. He retorted, "Can't she just call me if she needs something?"

They even found her a mouthpiece, and she's so arrogant...

"No..." Chen Jia said with a slightly embarrassed expression, "It seems you blocked her, so she can't get through to you."

"Oh~" Shen Ming'en then remembered that after the recording of "Taste of Life" ended, he found Ma Ling annoying and blocked her, and had not removed her from the blacklist.

Okay, this reason is acceptable.

Shen Ming'en didn't raise his hand or speak, but tilted his ear up. Chen Jia's lips twitched, but she very consciously held the phone to his ear.

Hajime has really gotten carried away lately since he got an assistant. He doesn't do anything for his assistant when there's nothing to do, but when there is something to do, he makes his assistant do it all. In his words, "I've fought half my life, shouldn't I be allowed to enjoy myself a bit?"
Before, I had to do everything myself without an assistant. Now that I have one, why can't I even ask them to do anything?

Since they were sent by the company and had no good intentions, Shen Ming'en didn't feel any guilt.

“Ming En,” came the annoying voice of Ma Ling on the other end of the phone. “You’re at the Filmmakers’ Awards now, right?”

"What else?" Shen Ming'en pouted. "You didn't know what you were doing?"

The still-impolite tone made Ma Ling's lips twitch, but she didn't react. Instead, she continued in a fawning tone, saying, "The people attending today's event are all highly respected seniors in the industry. I'm giving you a heads-up: try not to offend anyone, and be careful with your words and actions..."

She went on and on, and just as Shen Ming'en was getting sleepy and finally couldn't resist telling her to close her butt, she added another sentence:
"There's a senior artist, Zhou Chujian, who's also going to sing a revolutionary song at today's event, just like you. If he or his staff want to ask you for a favor, please do so. It will benefit you later, you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Ming'en, who was feeling slightly sleepy, rubbed his eyes and frowned, asking:
"Zhou Chujian...is he the pioneer of the music scene, like Wei Zihan?"

The "Zhou Chujian" that Ma Ling mentioned, Shen Ming'en, is no stranger to her. He is a very famous senior in the industry. Like Shen Ming'en, he first became famous by singing "red songs". However, his output of works is far less than that of Shen Ming'en. He is the kind of senior who lives off one song for his whole life and relies on his past achievements.

The reason Shen Mingen was familiar with him was mainly because of what happened with Wei Zihan back then...

……

(End of this chapter)