Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 129 Competitors
After submitting his withdrawal application, Zheng Jun disappeared without a trace.

Zhang Yan couldn't get in touch with him, so he contacted Wu Tong—Zheng Jun had been traveling with the Reincarnation Band lately.

"I don't know?!"

Wu Tong was also a little confused after hearing the situation: "He hasn't contacted me for the past two days. I thought he was focusing on the competition—wait a minute, Brother Zhang, I'll go find out for you right away!"

Before Wu Tong could find out the results, the person who started this whole thing contacted Zhang Yan.

The other party claimed to be Chen Jiantian, the manager of Black Panther and Wang Fei, and said that he decided to open a record company in the mainland because he was optimistic about the development of the mainland.

Upon arrival, it was discovered that most of the well-known rock bands in Beijing had been recruited by Magic Stone Culture.

So he had no choice but to try his luck at some of the more famous performance venues. A few days ago, he unexpectedly met Zheng Jun and was immediately captivated by his unique voice.

He decided to sign with Zheng Jun at the time, but he didn't expect that Zheng Jun had already made an agreement with Yuanmeng Records.

"Zheng Jun only told me about this after he came back from Tianjin—sigh, I'm really sorry, Dou Wei and I are also very good friends, I never expected this..."

The other party mentioned Dou Wei, so what else could Zhang Yan say?
Anyway, Zhang Yan wasn't entirely at ease with Zheng Jun's temper, so he figured it was like defusing a minefield in advance.

“A good bird chooses a good tree to perch on, and this is Zheng Jun’s own choice. Mr. Chen doesn’t need to blame himself for it. I wonder when Mr. Chen’s music club is scheduled to be officially established? I will definitely go and join in the fun when it is.”

"Haha, Mr. Zhang is indeed a man of few words. My company has just been named 'Red Star Music Production Company,' and it will probably be officially launched in the summer. I would definitely like to invite Mr. Zhang to visit us then!"

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yan immediately called a meeting with the production team, demanding that contracts be signed with the top 32 contestants in advance, and that they not be allowed to contact external record companies during the program.

He actually wanted to make it even stricter, but many of the participating singers were just doing it for fun and couldn't accept overly demanding requirements.

After the meeting, Zhang Yan thought of Xu Wei again.

Since Chen Jiantian took the initiative to call, he probably doesn't intend to break ties with Zhang Yan, this local bully, so the possibility of him trying to get people out of the program is unlikely.

But Xu Wei is now an eliminated contestant...

Fortunately, this worry did not come true. Two days later, Xu Wei and his wife came to his door and signed a singer contract and a song and lyrics licensing agreement.

After finishing, Zhang Yan immediately arranged a dormitory for Xu Wei, a two-bedroom apartment next to Zhang Weining's rented apartment.

According to Zhang Weining, Xu Wei and his wife had a heart-wrenching cry that night.

Xu Wei gave up the college entrance examination for music, which caused a complete falling out with his family.

He later joined the army as an arts troupe member and met his wife, Yuan Feng. After being discharged from the army in 90, the two got married. However, he was still unwilling to give up his musical dream and soon spent all his demobilization pay.

For the past two years, I've relied entirely on my wife, Yuan Feng, for financial support, and now I'm finally seeing a glimmer of hope for the future.

Tsk~
How come rock singers in Xi'an always seem to meet such wonderful women? Is this a local specialty?

While Xu Wei was busy running around, Yuan Feng passed the entrance exam for a military academy and is currently studying there. So, after only two days, he had to return to school.

After she left, Xu Wei locked himself in his dormitory, saying he wanted to write a song for his wife.

This kind of enthusiasm should definitely be encouraged, so Zhang Yan hired a part-time housekeeper for him. Xu Wei didn't have to worry about three meals a day or any housework; he just needed to focus on writing songs.

During this period.

Li Haiying, who made Yang Yuying famous last year with her song "I Don't Want to Say," took the initiative to approach Han Lei, saying that she had a song that was quite suitable for him.

However, this song was written at the request of the TV series "All the Way to Dusk". Either Han Lei sings the theme song for the TV series, and the licensing fee can be lower in the future, but he cannot sing this song before the TV series is released.

Either...

Li Haiying didn't say it explicitly, but it was clear she wanted to sell it for a high price.

"Let him sing a few songs first."

Zhang Yan called Han Lei and Liu Weidong to the TV station's recording studio.

Zhang Weining, Gao Xiaosong, and Lao Lang were making final adjustments to "My Deskmate" when Zhang Yan came in with his entourage.

Gao Xiaosong gave a thumbs up and said, "Teacher Zhang, your record company is truly full of hidden talents. With Brother Ning's help, our song is absolutely amazing!"

Zhang Yan smiled at him and then introduced Li Haiying. Actually, Lao Lang and Zhang Weining had both recommended Gao Xiaosong to Zhang Yan in the past two days, saying that his creative abilities were quite good.

But Zhang Yan brushed it off vaguely.

The main reason was that he knew from information from later generations that this person must have some dark history, but he didn't know the specifics of what happened.

To avoid getting into trouble, it's best not to go into deep cooperation.

Seeing that there were still so many people in the recording studio, Li Haiying asked those who were not involved to leave first.

Even the agent Liu Weidong was turned away, leaving only Zhang Yan and Zhang Weining, the music director, to stay.

After Han Lei became familiar with the lyrics and melody under Li Haiying's guidance, Zhang Yan and Zhang Weining both picked up their monitoring headphones at the same time.

"Wandering far and wide, the road is long and the water is deep."

Lost and confused, one village after another.

Watching the setting sun sink and then return.
The earth never ages, the sky never grows desolate, and time stretches on and on…

After the first four lines were sung, the two people at the monitoring station were immediately impressed. This song, compared to Zhang Weining's adaptation of "The Legend of Gods," better showcased Han Lei's vocal characteristics.

The song is bold and grand, and with its catchy lyrics, it gives people a sense of both vicissitude and open-mindedness.

After Han Lei finished singing, he thought for a moment and then said, "Brother Ning, President Zhang, let me sing it again. I feel that I can sing this song even better."

Judging from his eager expression, you can tell that he is quite satisfied with the song.

Zhang Yan took off his headphones and looked at Li Haiying: "Teacher Li, we'll take this song. Name your price."

Li Haiying was waiting for these words. He smiled and held up one finger, which definitely didn't mean one thousand yuan, but ten thousand yuan.

At the time, this was not only an astronomical price, but also an unimaginable price for most people – after all, many highly respected veterans in the music industry only sold a song for three or four thousand yuan.

In fact, Li Haiying didn't expect Zhang Yanzhen to give that much. His target price was four thousand, which was a case of asking for the sky and then bargaining on the spot.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yan thought for a moment and then countered, "How about seven thousand three?"

This time, Li Haiying couldn't hold back anymore. He subconsciously opened his mouth, wanting to ask Zhang Yan if he hadn't inquired about the market price, but he realized his mistake and quickly changed his words, saying, "Mr. Zhang is such a straightforward person!"

"Haha, I feel like I've made a profit by getting this little bit of money to befriend Teacher Li!"

Zhang Yan was certainly not a fool; he only spent a fortune on horse bones.

More importantly, it was meant to be shown to Han Lei, because after listening to "Walking Around the World," he realized that Han Lei would most likely make a name for himself this time.

At this point, spending an extra two or three thousand yuan to make the relationship between the two parties more closely is a great way to achieve a lot with little money. But if Han Lei becomes famous and the company makes a fortune a few months later, the cost of achieving the same effect will probably be dozens of times higher.

Moreover, in order to appear 'sincere', Zhang Yan deliberately set the price at 7,300, making it round and even, as if it were the result of repeated bargaining.

When Zhang Yan and Li Haiying completed the transaction and returned to the recording studio with the contract, Han Lei was still tirelessly practicing the song repeatedly.

Zhang Yan didn't say much, but simply placed a copy of the contract on Han Lei's jacket.

until 9 p.m.

Zhang Yancai received a call from Han Lei while he was at the villa.

"Mr. Zhang, this is... this is outrageous!"

Han Lei exclaimed excitedly on the phone, "Zhang Li's 'Sing If You Want' only asked for 4000, why is Li Haiying asking for it...?"

"Don't get excited, don't get excited."

Zhang Yan calmly said, "People from Guangdong are like that, they're very good at calculating. He saw how much you liked this song, so he asked for an exorbitant price... It doesn't matter, as long as the song is good and suits you to sing."

When Han Lei heard Zhang Yan say this, he assumed that Han Lei's love for "Walking Around the World" had given Li Haiying the idea of ​​extorting him.

This made him feel both regretful and touched, so he said firmly on the phone, "Mr. Zhang, don't worry, I will definitely not let you down!"

(End of this chapter)