HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 2 [002] Wu Wukai and Wheat Field Music

Qi Yuan was somewhat excited. It was it, it was it, it had the feature he wanted most.

Its features are truly unique; the panel glows with golden light when you draw it out.

"Successfully extracted, gained new features, 50/50 chance."

?

Qi Yuan was completely stunned.

50-50?

What the hell.

What kind of features are these?! There's not even an explanation.

However, his intuition told him that this 50/50 characteristic was definitely a rare thing, and it even shone with golden light when it was drawn.

As we all know, in later pay-to-win games, gold items are much more expensive than ordinary items.

"Never mind, we'll look into it another time."

Qi Yuan glanced down at the hour and minute hands of her watch.

Time is up.

Today is the day he and Song Ke, the founder of Wheatfield Music, have agreed to meet.

After a year of development, Qi Yuan has made a name for himself in the music industry.

"I Want to Love You Too Much" and "Wildflower" were both popular songs last year.

While "1997 AD" is not as widely sung as the previous two, it is of higher quality, as it is an officially commissioned celebratory song.

Qi Yuan's ability to defeat a host of competitors and have his work "1997 AD" selected by the authorities has already proven his creative ability and talent.

With his creative talent, good looks, and creative ability, he is a promising future singer.

After those songs became hits, many record companies contacted Qi Yuan, wanting to sign this promising new star.

This includes some very famous large record companies.

But Qi Yuan refused them all because those record companies were either in the south or in Taiwan, which were too far away.

With large record companies, there are too many famous and talented singers, so the resources that can be allocated to him may not be much.

The saying "It's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix" illustrates this point.

After considering all options, Qi Yuan finally decided to take things a step further with Mai Tian.

Wheatfield is a new company, founded last year.

To date, only one album, "Gao Xiaosong's Works: Youth Without Regret," has been released.

That's not the point. The point is that Wheatfield started out in campus folk music.

Although the company is newly established, it has already made many connections with talented people.

The singers in "Youth Without Regret" include Liu Huan, Lao Lang, Ye Bei, and many other talented people behind the scenes with strong production capabilities.

A company that has only recently been established and has a strong network of connections is a good fit for him at this stage.

Most importantly, the company is located in Beijing, which would be convenient for him, a student at the Beijing Film Academy.

Qi Yuan tidied his hair, dressed smartly, and went out.

As he walked through the Beijing Film Academy campus, many faces that would later appear on the big screen passed by him, and many girls greeted him.

"Qi, you're dressed so handsomely, are you going on a date with some senior student?"

"Oh? Talented Scholar Qi already has someone he likes. He's wasted his time."

"I've never heard of anyone at our school that Qi Cai Zi likes. Could it be someone from the Central Academy of Drama?"

Qi Yuan turned a deaf ear to these voices.

He came out of the gate of Beijing Film Academy, took a taxi and went straight to the place where he had agreed to meet Song Ke.

……

A narrow alley. A long-established mutton soup restaurant.

"Master Qi, you've finally arrived."

Song Ke has an ordinary appearance, with small glasses on her face.

"President Song, it's been a long time," Qi Yuan said.

Song Ke graduated from Tsinghua University. After returning from the United States, she teamed up with Gao Xiaosong to found Wheatfield Music. She is a very capable person.

He only founded Wheatfield last year, and the company doesn't have any signed artists.

Perhaps due to the company's lack of financial resources in the early days, Wheatfield treated its artists very leniently, almost like they were left to their own devices.

This can be seen from the later cases of Park Soo and others. Their first album was a hit, but they didn't release their second album for several years.

If this were a record company in Taiwan, a highly commercialized industry with mature production lines, they would be exploiting you relentlessly, and even one album a year would be considered a low number.

By the way, Park Seo signed with Wheatfield last year and released his first solo single, "The Train Heads to Winter," but it didn't make much of a splash.

After the food was served and they chatted about all sorts of things, Song Ke got down to business: "Talented Mr. Qi, would you like to join our Wheat Field?"

From January of this year until now, Song Ke has been contacting Qi Yuan.

In his view, Qi Yuan was a 'scumbag woman'.

They were having a great conversation and it seemed like they could sign the contract soon, but Qi Yuan said she hadn't thought it through and needed to consider it carefully.

He was about to give up when Qi Yuan gave him a glimmer of hope.

Sigh, what can you do? Qi Yuan is just so sought after.
A whole host of record companies with more resources than Wheatfield Records are vying to sign Qi Yuan.

All he and Maitian could offer Qi Yuan was a relaxed artist management environment.

"I've thought it through. I can sign a record deal with Wheatfield Records, but that's all. And I must have full control over my albums," Qi Yuan said seriously.

Song might accept a contract that only involves signing a record deal.

Compared to other record companies, his Wheatfield is very small and weak. How could he be qualified to force Qi Yuan to sign a management contract or even a full contract?

However... Qi Yuan wanted to take control of the album's production, which made things a bit difficult for him.

Yes, Qi Yuan has written songs for celebrities such as Zhang Xinzhe, and he has excellent songwriting abilities.

However, Qi Yuan's debut album was the most important album in the early stages of Wheatfield's establishment. If the leadership was handed over to Qi Yuan, a newcomer who had never produced an album before, and it turned out to be a disaster, Wheatfield could just shut down.

In short, the risk was too great; for Song Ke, it was nothing short of a gamble.

They won; Wheatfield has a bright future.

We lost, and the company has to go out of business.

As someone who transmigrated from the future, Qi Yuan has the experience of living two lives.

Song Ke's dilemma was within his expectations.

He added, "How about this, we compromise: we can release a single first. If the single does well, I'll control the album myself. Otherwise, I'll leave it to you."

Song Ke immediately responded, "Okay, we'll do as you say."

"President Song is so generous!" Qi Yuan said happily.

As Lu Xun once said, people's temperament always prefers compromise and moderation.

If a room is too dark and a window needs to be opened, everyone will disagree. But if you suggest tearing down the roof, everyone will naturally agree to open a window.

(Lu Xun: I really did say that.)
Noticing Qi Yuan's subtle expression of success, Song Ke was both amused and exasperated. He realized that he had just fallen into Qi Yuan's trap.

A college sophomore who is not even twenty years old actually has such deep thoughts, trying to deceive and ambush him, an older comrade.

That's it, that's it.

Currently, among the artists signed by Wheatfield, there isn't one with more potential to become popular than Qi Yuan.

Qi's decision to give up a big company and sign with Wheatfield is a gamble, isn't it?
The value of international students in the 1990s was extremely high, and the United States is now a beacon of hope.

He could have found a decent job in the United States, but he chose to return to China and found Wheatfield. Wasn't that a gamble?
Since it's all gambling anyway, he might as well go big and gamble on Qi Yuan, on whether Qi Yuan could become famous.

(End of this chapter)