Huayu 1995

Chapter 104 What are you two spying on? (Seeking monthly votes)
"Su Chao...come here..."

As Su Chao emerged from the princess's private room, he saw Yan Siyuan waving at him from the doorway of another private room not far away.

Chen Jiantian's eyes were also visible through the crack in the door.

What are those two old bastards spying on here for?

When Chen Jiantian saw the bulge around Su Chao's waist, he almost fainted and went to meet the King of Hell.

This guy has a habit of asking people for resettlement fees.

Is it possible...

"Brother, I can't drink anymore. I just had two big cups at the Princess's place."

Su Chao's alcohol tolerance is just so-so.

"You drank and took things, did you manage to reach an agreement with them?"

Yan Siyuan glanced at Chen Jiantian with sympathy.

Brother Chen, I can't hit him.

Because I can't beat him, and I'm also counting on him to make money for me.

All I can do is curse him in my heart.

"You'll still fulfill your contract with Star Records for your first album, right?"

Chen Jiantian was teetering on the brink of collapse.

"What do you mean?"

Su Chao looked completely innocent.

"Didn't you say you were going to sign with PolyGram?"

Yan Siyuan also noticed something was wrong; was there some misunderstanding?

"No, I meant that the deal to write a song for the princess has been finalized. Don't you think I'm awesome or not?"

Su Chao did it on purpose.

If you don't hurt him badly, he won't remember you at all.

However, he didn't dare to go too far.

If Chen Jiantian had a heart condition and died from anger, then he would have no choice but to lead the Red Star Production Cooperative to glory with tears in his eyes.

"You..."

Chen Jiantian was so angry he wanted to kill someone.

Zheng Jun is gone, and he never thought of killing him, but now that Su Chao is still alive, he feels uneasy.

"Oh dear, oh dear, grab him, quickly grab him!"

Su Chao wasn't afraid at all.

If it really came down to a fight, he could beat the two people in this private room to their knees and call him "brother."

"Alright, laugh if you're happy. If you really beat him up and he runs away, who will you cry to?"

Yan Siyuan gave Chen Jiantian a push.

"Humph~"

Chen Jiantian turned his head away.

"What, aren't the terms good enough?"

Yan Siyuan was quite curious.

“It’s not open…” Su Chao sighed. “He brought the princess with him, and I thought he was going to seduce me, but it turns out he’s just a figurehead.”

"Why weren't any conditions set?"

Yan Siyuan completely ignored Su Chao's last words; this kid was just all talk.

If he were truly a womanizer, he would have been a serial philanderer long ago.

"There's no need to set conditions at all; Red Star is still too weak."

Chen Jiantian sighed.

Major record labels can provide singers with better production and distribution channels, and even if the revenue share is lower, they can still make a lot of money.

Small companies like Red Star can only rely on increasing their revenue share.

However, if the company receives less, where will it get the funds to expand the market and enrich its distribution channels?

Moreover, even with increased revenue sharing, it still wouldn't be as much as what major record labels earn.

The only option is to increase the revenue share further.

This is a vicious cycle.

Since the music market boom last year, new record companies have been established almost every day, and old record companies have gone out of business.

This is why many singers disappear completely after releasing only one album.

"Then why did you refuse?"

Yan Siyuan didn't quite believe it was all because of personal relationships.

Su Chao is a very ambitious kid.

It's impossible to let such a great opportunity slip by just because of friendship.

If he can sign with PolyGram and receive their full support, it wouldn't be difficult for him to become a top-tier singer across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, given the quality of his songs.

What others have struggled for years to achieve, can be accomplished overnight—it's practically a shortcut to success.

It took Princess Wang seven or eight years from releasing her cover of Teresa Teng's songs in 84 to making "Easily Hurt Woman" a hit in 92.

"I asked him if it was possible for PolyGram to become mine someday, and he didn't answer me..."

That's too petty. You have no guts at all. How can you achieve anything great?

PolyGram is nothing special!
"Pfft~ cough cough cough..."

Chen Jiantian could hardly believe his eyes.

My dear subject!

Why... why rebel?

Although Su Chao didn't say anything more, his silence spoke volumes.

"You are really ambitious."

Yan Siyuan breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, you didn't have any designs on Casablanca.

He didn't know that one reason Su Chao looked down on Casablanca was that karaoke bars were quickly being replaced by newer forms of entertainment such as karaoke lounges, nightclubs, and bars.

Another issue is that high-end karaoke bars these days have problems.

They might get investigated someday.

Su Chao doesn't want to become a lawbreaker.

"Anyone who doesn't want to be a general isn't a good soldier, don't you think?"

Su Chao, who had already revealed his disloyal intentions, was proactive and ambitious.

"Okay, so this is your first album. What are your thoughts?"

Chen Jiantian calmed himself down.

Although he knew his general harbored rebellious intentions, with a formidable enemy at hand and the general commanding 100,000 iron cavalry, he had no choice but to appease him for the time being. If the general rebelled, he could simply remain here and forget about home.

"Let's start building the team. The songs are all ready. We'll record a demo when we have some free time... There's just one problem that's a bit troublesome. Although I've put together most of the songs, the styles are rather mixed."

Su Chao had already realized this problem.

There's no way around it; other artists' albums are all made by teams coming together, choosing a theme, and then collecting or inviting songs around the theme song, or even creating their own.

Su Chao, on the other hand, resembled a middle-aged woman at a vegetable market.

Take a look here, and if it's suitable, buy some; if it's suitable over there, buy some too.

When put together, it naturally becomes a Northeastern stew.

"It's a problem, but it won't have too much of an impact if you post it, as long as the different styles don't make up too much of the proportion."

Chen Jiantian felt it wasn't a big problem.

Because many albums cannot achieve a completely consistent style.

Maintaining a consistent style is too costly.

Moreover, there are always some singers who want to try different styles.

This allows them to expand their territory or transform their business.

As long as it doesn't affect the overall style, it's fine to include some songs of other styles.

"There's quite a lot of variety."

There are love songs, which probably make up the largest proportion.

For example, "The Moon Caused the Trouble", "Little Sun", "Bored", "Only Love Strangers", "Dark Fragrance", "Return", and "Chess Piece" all belong to this category.

"Like the Wind, Free," "Life Is More Than Just the Present," and "Glory" belong to other styles and don't match the other songs at all.

"If there are too many different styles, we can divide the album into two sides. Side A is one style, and we can choose one song as the main promotional single. Side B is another song as the main single. These are not problems. If the two styles are very distinct, it might even be a selling point."

Chan Kin-tim is a veteran musician; solving this kind of problem shouldn't be too difficult for him.

"Hey, that's a great idea."

Su Chao's eyes lit up; it felt like releasing two albums from one cassette tape.

"What song did you sell to the princess, and for how much did you get?"

Chen Jiantian asked sourly.

Could this be considered ancient border smuggling of iron and salt, or pre-war arms trafficking?

"The price is acceptable..."

Su Chao gestured a ten, then a two.

"Twelve thousand? Then the song quality must be pretty good."

In mainland China, a song can be bought for a few thousand yuan. Although a song costing 12,000 yuan might not be good enough to be a main track, it can still be used as a selling point.

"One hundred twenty thousand."

Su Chao gave him a disdainful look.

Even a dog wouldn't write 12,000!

"Uh...uh..."

Chen Jiantian was panting heavily. He suspected that Su Chao was bragging, but it didn't seem like he was.

They suspected the princess had gone mad, but Xu Xinchun was a seasoned veteran.

If the princess came by herself, he would rather believe that Su Chao served her very well and then gave her 120,000 yuan as a "sugar baby fee".

But there were two people in the private room.

"120,000, all stuffed into your pocket?"

Yan Siyuan looked at Su Chao's bulging pockets; there were actually 20,000 yuan inside.

Unfortunately, he was too embarrassed to speak up.

"No, it's only 60,000 yuan. This is a deposit. I'll collect the remaining 60,000 yuan after I finish the song and give it to them."

Su Chao took out the money.

He counted out 20,000 and gave it to Yan Siyuan, and counted out 5,000 and gave it to Chen Jiantian.

It's not that he has good qualities.

Rather, it's so that it will be easier to ask for money again next time.

The two creditors didn't hold back either.

However, they found it mostly unbelievable:

"They've already paid you a deposit before you've even seen the finished product?"

There are just too many idiots these days.

There aren't enough scammers.

If Su Chao were to commit fraud, he could bankrupt people in no time.

"Didn't I just sing 'The Moon Caused the Trouble'? I sang both the Mandarin and Cantonese versions, so isn't that the finished product? Okay, I have to go now, I have friends waiting for me."

Su Chao is going to entertain some friends.

After he left, the two people in the private room fell silent.

Chen Jiantian sighed.

It was a truly agonizing night, full of ups and downs.

When Zheng Jun was invited to talk, it was around the same time as today.

The only difference is that Zheng Jun didn't turn back.

Su Chao turned around.

Not only did he turn back, but he also stared at his throne as the leader.

"Now you can rest assured, not only is the first album secured, but the second album is also no longer a concern."

Yan Siyuan broke the silence.

"I don't have to worry about it anymore, but I feel a little insecure about my position, haha."

Chen Jiantian chuckled.

"Actually, when you want to retire someday, it wouldn't be bad to hand over the reins of Geng Hongxing to him. He's someone who can accomplish great things."

Yan Siyuan didn't think there was anything wrong with Su Chao inheriting Red Star.

"Yes, he's better than me."

Chen Jiantian agreed with his old friend's opinion.

He spent the first half of his life in petty scheming, a pure-blooded businessman. But when he reached middle age, he suddenly had the idea to create a utopian musical kingdom.

However, the reality is cruel.

He found that being a good person is harder than being a bad person.

It's infinitely more difficult!
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were struggling.

(End of this chapter)