Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 136 Nowhere to Hide
Chen Hong stayed in Beijing for two days before returning to Tianjin under Zhang Yan's constant urging.

It's not that she's in a hurry to send Morse code; the main reason is that on the day of the finals, Chen Hong will be singing the theme song "Sing If You Want" as a guest. Since her own level is limited, she definitely needs to rehearse several times in advance to try her best to avoid any mistakes.

After Chen Hong returned to Tianjin, she also listened to the new song that Tian Zhen was preparing to use in the finals.

More accurately, it's a new arrangement of old songs.

In 89, Yan Su, the lyricist of "Where is the Road Ahead?", wrote a song called "Singing Peking Opera Masks".

The lyrics were written primarily from the perspective of foreigners watching Peking Opera, so they were a bit too 'lively' and 'catchy'.

Lyrics like 'Beijing Opera' and 'Beautiful, wonderful, simply OK, top-notch' always feel a bit incongruous afterward.

So he has been trying to make changes.

In this dream-fulfilling moment, Yan Su was in a hurry to collect songs, so he took out the half-finished product. Zhang Weining was in charge of the arrangement, and Yan Su was in charge of the lyrics, so they created a new version of "Rap Opera Masks".

Although it doesn't suit Tian Zhen as well as "Persistence," the style is more cheerful and more suitable for the stage.

Anyway, the audience rating is definitely not going to be low.

That's why Han Lei was clearly anxious and agitated. Although they were all colleagues in the same company and there was no competition for dominance between men and women, they had already fought to the very end. Who wouldn't want to stand out in front of millions of viewers?
So for the past few days, he has been waiting anxiously in Zhang Yan's office.

Finding songs is also a matter of fate; it's not easy to find the right ones in a short time.

Han Lei received several sample poems over the past few days, but he wasn't very satisfied with any of them. Later, he finally received one that he was satisfied with, but the other party said that they had only written the beginning and it was uncertain when the poem would be finished.

As the final draws ever closer, Han Lei becomes increasingly restless.

Just then, Feng Gong suddenly called and said that the Spring Festival Gala production team had just created a song that might be suitable for Han Lei to sing.

"Brother Gong, are you starting preparations for the Spring Festival Gala so early?"

"What do you think? This is the focus of attention for hundreds of millions of viewers, and the fact that you, 'I Am a Singer,' have made such a big splash has put a lot of pressure on CCTV."

So Zhang Yan led Han Lei to Beijing and found Wei Minglun, the chief writer of the 93 Spring Festival Gala.

"You guys are really well-informed."

Wei Minglun said in surprise, "I specially created this song to match Jiang Kun's crosstalk 'The Big Ship.' If you take it, how will he perform his crosstalk? Besides, how will I explain it to the Spring Festival Gala program team?"

Wei Minglun is a cultured man, but also has a stubborn streak.

No matter how Zhang Yan pleaded or tried to bribe him, he remained unmoved.

In the end, it was only after the Spring Festival Gala production team intervened that they were finally able to secure the rights to the song "Many Hands Make Light Work".

However, the price to pay is that after "I Am a Singer" ends, Zhang Yan must be listed as an advisor to the Spring Festival Gala program.

To put it bluntly, they were also eyeing his 'idea'.

There was no other way; in order to avoid a missed deadline in the finals, Zhang Yan had no choice but to sign a 'treaty of surrender'.

However, getting the song doesn't mean everything will be fine.

Although the song "Many Hands Make Light Work" is a good fit for Han Lei's voice, it is still a newly created song with many flaws and shortcomings that need further revision to better suit him.

But at this time, Zhang Weining was fully engaged in helping Tian Zhen adjust "Rap Opera Masks" and was unable to spare the time, nor was he willing to.

There was no other way, so Zhang Yan had to ask Xu Wei to help him make the changes.

Xu Wei is more skilled at songwriting than Zhang Weining, but when it comes to adjusting and modifying other people's songs, he is currently several levels below Zhang Weining.

For this reason, Han Lei had many complaints about Zhang Weining and almost formed an alliance with Xu Wei to oppose Zhang Tian.

Hey~
Zhang Weining is a good person in every other way, but he can't walk away when he sees Tian Zhen.

The last time he was so 'obsessed' was also the result of his indulgence—Zhang Yan and he were both in the control room at the time. If he had said something then, that Xu Wei hadn't authorized the song yet, Zhang Yan definitely wouldn't have agreed to let Tian Zhen sing it.

But no one is perfect. Apart from making a mistake with Tian Zhen, Zhang Weining has done more than enough for the company. Besides, the company is a place where interests are fought for, so it is unlikely that everyone would be harmonious.

Therefore, Zhang Yan could only try his best to appease Han Lei while spreading the word that he was preparing to find another master arranger to balance things out.

If they really can't find a top talent, they can at least find someone with potential to assist Zhang Weining. They can't be like they are now, without even a suitable backup plan.

...The night before the recording of the finals, on the second floor of the villa.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Be gentle!"

Zhang Yan was lying on Chen Hong's lap, grimacing, as she helped him treat the boil on the back of his head.

"I Am a Singer" is really popular right now. Guangzhou even created a special program to let the audience predict who will win the championship in the final.

Zhang Yan has been really stressed lately.

Anything that involves making money, unless you're living off your parents, is never easy.

Xu Wei and Tian Zhen, Tian Zhen and Na Ying, Han Lei and Zhang Weining—just these three pairs of five people are enough to give Zhang Yan a headache, not to mention that he also has to work with Yan Xiaoming to coordinate the program.

"Keep your voice down."

Seeing his exaggerated shouts, Chen Hong said with a wry smile, "Anyone who didn't know better would think it was some major surgery."

"If it's a major surgery, then they'll have to use anesthesia, and I won't be able to scream even if I want to—hey, be gentle, be gentle."

After Chen Hong finished treating him, she applied some medicine and said, "You can't lie down for now, or you'll end up rubbing against the pillow."

"It's alright, it won't affect our business anyway," Zhang Yan said, and began to grope her.

Although Chen Hong did not stop her, she still said, "Don't do anything reckless, I have to record a show tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I have a measure."

Just as the two were about to connect, Chen Hong suddenly remembered a question and said, "Now that there are two more original songs, shouldn't the compilation album be revised as well?"

"That's for sure."

Zhang Yan whispered in her ear, "I've already thought it through. This compilation will only include the original songs from the top eight, plus your song and Wang Luyao's song, which will make a total of ten songs."

The ten songs are: Chen Hong's "Sing If You Want"; Han Lei's "Wandering Around" and "Many Hands Make Light Work"; Tian Zhen's "Persistence" and "Rap Opera Masks"; Han Hong's "Himalaya" and "My Hometown"; Lao Lang's "My Deskmate"; Li Chunbo's "Xiao Fang"; and Wang Luyao's "Heartbeat Rhythm".

Apart from the beginning and end of the song, and Li Chunbo's corny love song that was popular but not well-received, the other seven songs each have their own merits and could all be considered album title tracks.

With the added popularity of "I'm Crazy for Singing", Zhang Yan believes that it will definitely create a frenzy in the record industry - however, how many copies it can sell will depend on the extent of piracy.

"Honey, when will this record be released?"

"We expect it to be in August. Although they are all finished songs, the recording will be relatively quick. But this is our first time doing this, so there are many things that need to be sorted out."

“Then I’ll keep an eye on things, and you can take a good rest for a while—since you’re thinking of writing a work of pure literature, you can also start brainstorming ideas while you’re at it.”

"Let's see how things go. We still have to repay favors to the Spring Festival Gala."

The two communicated as they moved, and soon they were both out of breath.

At this moment, Chen Hong suddenly said, "I used Zhou Nan and Tao Hong's matter to appease Lu Yao and tell her that you are a person who cherishes old friendships."

"Uh~"

Zhang Yan was speechless for a moment, thinking to himself that it was true that he cherished old feelings, but using these two people as examples didn't seem quite appropriate.

Chen Hong added, "She drank too much that night and said that she had a crush on you all along. I said it's normal to have feelings for you, as long as I don't catch her in the act."

"Um?!"

Zhang Yan suddenly sat up straight, holding her knees in astonishment, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Chen Hong countered, "What do you think?"

"Well... even a rabbit won't eat the grass near its burrow. I don't really want to complicate the relationships in the company like this."

"Really?"

With a half-smile, Chen Hong took out a photo from under her pillow, which showed Wang Luyao sleeping soundly in the spring.

That quilt was so big and white!
There's not much more to say, because his change in mindset had already been clearly revealed by Chen Hong's observations.

(End of this chapter)