Rock and Roll: Glorious Years

On the way back to the hotel, it suddenly started raining heavily, and the group listened to all seven songs to the accompaniment of the rain.

At first, she would offer a few comments, but later she simply stopped talking and just listened quietly. When a certain sad love song came on, Mu Mian turned her head towards the car window, staring blankly at the rain outside.

Seeing that no one seemed interested in discussing the matter, Bian Lang decided to leave it for tomorrow: "Alright, let's call it a day. Everyone's tired after recording all day. Get a good night's sleep tonight, and we'll talk about song selection tomorrow."

When the car arrived at the hotel, the rain had stopped. The heavy rain had washed away the heat, and the beach under the coconut trees had a unique charm.

Back in his room, Bian Lang had just finished showering when there was a knock on the door. The doorman asked if it was Pan Jianhu, and he hastily tied his hair up and went to open the door.

After greeting Bian Lang upon entering, Pan Jianhu kept glancing around the room. When he saw the unopened letter on the table, Pan Jianhu sighed inwardly, "Sure enough, this guy didn't even read it."

Bian Lang offered Pan Jianhu a Yuxi cigarette, but Pan Jianhu waved his hand and declined, saying, "I'm not used to the roasted tobacco type." As he spoke, he took out his own Zhongnanhai cigarette and asked Bian Lang if he wanted one, but Bian Lang waved his hand and declined again.

After the two men took a few puffs of their cigarettes, Pan Jianhu finally spoke: "Let me formally introduce myself. I'm Pan Jianhu from Nanyin Records. Pan Xiulong is my cousin. Back then, Magic Disc was started by my brother and me, along with Zhu Wen. Three years ago, we had disagreements, so I left and founded Nanyin Records in Kunming."

That made Bian Lang understand even more what Mu Mian meant. As one of the founding members of Magic Disc, Mu Mian's skills and resources were certainly not lacking, and her stance was naturally on Bian Lang's side.

"Mr. Pan, did you come to see me so late because of the program?" Bian Lang had some guesses, but he wasn't sure.

"I'm also one of the main creators of this program. I asked Lao Tan to invite you over." After saying that, he pointed to the letter that Bianlang hadn't opened yet on the table.

Bian Lang glanced at the letter and suddenly realized, "Sorry, Brother Hu... I thought this was a welcome letter from the hotel..." The change in address immediately altered their relationship.

"It's alright. You've already passed the test and obtained the S-rank captain card, so whether you read the letter or not won't make a difference. I must say, you've really surprised me a bit?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"His talent is beyond my expectations, and he's surprisingly to my liking! I'll get straight to the point: have you considered signing with a company?"

Bian Lang thought to himself, "Just as I thought!" However, he had to be careful about signing with the company. After what happened on stage, his mindset had changed.

Previously, he only thought about showing off and having fun, achieving self-fulfillment. But now it's different. The belief in spreading excellent music from the original Earth is indelible in his mind, so this matter must be handled with care.

According to his original plan, since the original owner didn't have much of a network of connections in the industry, he would first build up the independent band Rolling Stones, and then gradually develop his own studio once he achieved a certain level of success and fame.

But after his mindset changed, he stopped thinking that way.

He didn't die, so there's no way to give him all sorts of physical enhancements. If he were to suffer some kind of illness or accident like in his previous life, then he would have wasted his time traveling through time.

Therefore, going it alone without resources and taking things slowly won't work, but you also can't rush into anything. If you end up with a company like Magic Disc, whose values ​​clash with yours, you'll waste all those great song copyrights. After all, he was a rock musician for over 20 years in his past life; he got drunk and slept on the stairs with Lao Xie, chased girls with Diao Lei, and split the bill with Wan Zong for barbecue...

If he were to waste these golden hits, then his past life would have been a complete waste. Bian Lang thought that if his friends from his original Earth knew about this extraordinary adventure, they would definitely cheer him on at his memorial service.

"Tiger, why did you participate in this show?"

Pan Jianhu had made various assumptions before coming, and this question was naturally within his expectations. After flicking off his cigarette ash, he spoke seriously about another matter: "I firmly believe that record companies should focus on music creation, rather than trying to exploit musicians and fans with capital. This is also the main reason why I parted ways with Xiu Long and the others."

After a pause, he continued, "The entire entertainment industry is now controlled by capital, leaving too little room for bands. This isn't just because capital chases after popularity; we rock music lovers also have problems. The fact that no one voted for Xia Yuxi during the selection process today is a prime example. If we ourselves are unwilling to acknowledge the market's choice, how can the market be expected to acknowledge us?"

Pop music isn't a monster, and rock music isn't a rat in the gutter. If there were more people like Liu Yao and you, how could Chinese rock music be looked down upon even by its own people!

Pan Jianhu's motivational speech was indeed inspiring, but Bian Lang wanted to hear something more practical: "Brother Hu, we understand all of this, but putting it into practice is another matter entirely. My bottom line is that my works must be independently completed, the copyright must be in my own hands, and I have the final say on the band members." Bian Lang directly revealed his hand, to see what Pan Jianhu would say.

Pan Jianhu had anticipated this, and this was the bottom line he could accept, but there were prerequisites. Of course, he couldn't just agree to it outright: "How about we make a bet? If you win, we'll do as you say; if you lose, you get 20% of the copyright for Nanyin. Of course, if you lose, you can choose not to join Nanyin. It's just a gentleman's agreement."

"How do we gamble?" Bian Lang didn't think much of it. Pan Jianhu's resume speaks for itself; his resources and connections must be top-notch. Nanyin is currently far behind Modie, but that's actually a good thing for Bian Lang. If he were to sign with a big company, probably no one would agree to his terms.

"This show is expected to have 6 episodes. If you can win the championship in the end, you'll be considered a winner."

Upon hearing this, Lang understood Pan Jianhu's subtext: there are no absolute favorites on this show.

"No!"

Upon hearing Bian Lang's refusal, Pan Jianhu asked in surprise, "What? Don't you have confidence in yourself?"

"No, I think the bet you offered, Tiger, is too small."

Pan Jianhu was speechless; he naturally understood the true meaning behind those words. Bian Lang, confident he wouldn't lose, was asking for a signing bonus!

"Okay, I'll add a bonus for you. If you win the championship, I'll get Ding Tong to produce an album for you!"

Hearing this, Bian Lang waved his hand and said, "Change it, I don't need any more songs!" He was already having a headache over how to choose songs, so he didn't want to take up the rock resources of this Blue Planet.

"You!" Pan Jianhu didn't know what to say.

He'd seen plenty of arrogant rock musicians, but among the younger generation, there probably wouldn't be another one like Bian Lang, who could so readily refuse a pioneering figure like Ding Tong from creating an album for him.

"Then I'll send you a musician. As long as it's not one of those old guys from the first generation, I'll poach any others you ask for!"

Bian Lang felt that Pan Jianhu had gone a bit too far, but Bian Lang's goal was to get this big shot to back down and keep the initiative on his side. As for the specific prize, that wasn't really important.

"Alright, it's settled then. Tiger, you can now get ready to go to Magic Disc and poach Huang Kai for me!"

Bian Lang's joke drew a burst of laughter and scolding from Pan Jianhu: "You little rascal! You're fixated on the Magic Disc, aren't you?"