Chinese Entertainment King: Starting as a Fat Boy and Becoming a Singing King

Xu Yao mentally went through the contract termination cases of the contestants from The Voice of China one by one.

Zhang Wei, the most popular contestant in the first season, rose to fame with "High Song".

After signing the contract, Canxing filed a countersuit, which was settled through court mediation. The two parties terminated the contract, and Zhang Wei paid a penalty of five million yuan for breach of contract.

Jin Zhiwen, champion of Yang Kun's group, is a genius in music arrangement.

He left during the contract period and was sued by Canxing for breach of contract damages of 7.43 million.

What does a breach of contract penalty of over seven million yuan mean for a musician who makes a living by arranging music?

This means he has prepaid the company his income for the next few years.

Jin Chi, a top four finisher in Harlem's group in the first season.

After participating in a concert arranged by the company in July 2014, she changed her phone number and manager, and established her own studio in August.

Chan-heung then filed a lawsuit, claiming that she earned nearly 600 million yuan from private commercial performances, including 220 million yuan in album production costs and 377 million yuan in performance and endorsement revenue.

This is the first artist contract dispute case involving The Voice of China.

The lawsuit dragged on for several years, during which she was completely blacklisted, and the final breach of contract penalty became the last straw that broke her back.

An insider revealed that 30 million could buy the title of "The Voice of China" champion. If the penalty for breach of contract is 10 million to gain freedom, wouldn't that be equivalent to earning 20 million?

Xu Yao continued to ponder, and with his subsequent shady tactics to terminate the contract, he aimed for a discount, specifically an 80% discount, which would amount to around two million.

Two million, winning The Voice of China, getting a debut single and music video—that's an absolute steal!

This is absolutely unprecedented and will never be repeated; it will be recorded in history.

During a break in the performance, Na-young's invitation arrived.

Xinyang Jinjiang Hotel, room number, tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm.

Is a song worth Na-young making a special trip to Xinyang for?

Xinyang, a third- or fourth-tier city, is not within the performance radius of a famous singer.

Once you reach Nayoung's position, you won't lack money or fame.

What she lacks are truly exceptional works that are hard to come by.

"Day Doesn't Understand the Darkness of Night" was released in 1995, "Conquest" in 1998, and "Heartbreaking Romance" in 2000.

Of course, there were representative works after that, but most of the ones that have been sung to this day and repeatedly covered by generations stopped in the 1990s.

What a singer fears most is not becoming outdated, but not having any new songs with high popularity.

The next afternoon, Xu Yao arrived at the Jinjiang Hotel on time.

Na-young booked a private tea room, not in the main building of the hotel, but at the deepest part of the annex building.

As soon as you open the door, the aroma of tea wafts out, with the jujube fragrance of aged white tea enveloped by the lingering scent of agarwood.

Na-young sat behind the tea table, her hair casually tied up.

There was no one else in the tea room.

Her agent wasn't there, her assistant wasn't there, she was all alone.

"Teacher Na-young..."

"I already told you, call me 'sister'."

"Hello, Sister Na."

"That's more like it. Come, sit down."

Na-young pointed to the seat opposite her, picked up the purple clay teapot, and poured him a cup of tea.

"Try it, I brought it myself. Are you tired from touring?"

"It's alright." Xu Yao sat down.

Na-young didn't exchange pleasantries before asking, "Did you bring your things?"

Xu Yao took a file folder out of his bag, placed it on the tea table, and pushed it over.

Nayoung took it and opened it.

Inside was a stack of A4 papers.

The first page contains the lyrics, printed in a wide-spaced format with plenty of white space.

She glanced at it once, her gaze fixed on the paper.

"I can't help but transform into a stubborn fish, swimming alone against the ocean current to the very end..."

She murmured to herself, her lips barely moving, but Xu Yao could see her throat move slightly.

This is what it means to be moved.

She turned to the second page, which contained the sheet music.

It's handwritten, with neat handwriting, and includes both numbered musical notation and standard musical notation.

She stared at the melody line, then stopped, turned back to the first page, and started reading from the beginning.

This time she read very slowly.

Xu Yao did not urge her.

He picked up his teacup and sipped it slowly.

Na-young finally put down the stack of papers.

"Xiao Yao," her voice was low, "have you registered this song with the copyright protection center?"

"It's registered, Sister Na." Xu Yao's voice was calm. "It's registered online at the Copyright Protection Center. The lyrics, music, and audio have all been registered, and there's an electronic certificate."

"Moreover, I registered before participating in The Voice of China, so I didn't need the company to authorize me."

Nayoung nodded slightly and smiled at Xu Yao.

"Xiao Yao, I've got my eye on this song. Just tell me, how much?"

"It's free."

The scene suddenly became quiet.

Every word is precious, so exquisite you could hear a pin drop.

Na-young's hand paused on the tea table, her fingertips still resting on the edge of the lyric sheet. She looked at Xu Yao with a scrutinizing gaze, as if she were re-evaluating the person before her.

"Free of charge?"

Nayoung repeated it, her tone flat.

She has seen far too many young people.

Some demanded a price right away, some feigned aloofness, and some beat around the bush.

But the phrase "free of charge" made her unsure.

I don't want money, I just want something else.

Other things are often more expensive than money.

"Xiao Yao," Na Ying put down the lyrics paper, "just tell me what you want to do."

Xu Yao didn't beat around the bush. He naturally knew that Na Ying was straightforward and never liked beating around the bush.

"Sister Na, I want to be on the Spring Festival Gala."

That's how conversations are; you're always afraid the air will suddenly freeze.

Na-young paused for a moment.

She looked at Xu Yao, as if to confirm whether he was joking.

Then she laughed, with a hint of "you're still too young."

"Xiao Yao, are you overestimating my abilities? The Spring Festival Gala isn't something I can decide. Director Ha Wen's team has its own selection criteria and program considerations. As a singer, I'm lucky if I can sing my four minutes well."

She paused for a moment and looked at Xu Yao.

"Besides, it's not that I'm being mean. But no matter how good your song is, can it buy you a ticket to the Spring Festival Gala?"

She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear.

Different, thought, sky, open.

She uttered those four words in silence.

Xu Yao wasn't in a hurry; he naturally wouldn't fight a battle he wasn't sure of winning. He waited for Na Ying to finish speaking before he spoke.

"Sister Na, I heard that you already have a song on the Spring Festival Gala this year, a song created on the theme of the Chinese Dream."

Na-young's eyebrows twitched slightly. Although her Spring Festival Gala song had been publicly rehearsed, the direction of the song was little known.

"Sister Na, I'm a newcomer, and I'm fearless like a newborn calf. I don't understand the rules and ways of this industry. I was just saying that casually, so please forgive me if I offended you."

"Just tell me, I'm listening."

"All you need to do when communicating with the Spring Festival Gala production team is mention that you'd like to bring a newcomer along to sing with you. Whether the production team agrees or not is their business."

Xu Yao paused for a moment, observed Na Ying's expression, and felt that it was not impossible, so he continued, "In other words, you only need to say this one sentence to give her face."

Na-young looked at him and remained silent for a while.

Then she picked up the teacup; the tea had gone cold, but she didn't mind. She slowly swallowed it and then put the cup back on the table.

The porcelain struck the wood with a soft sound.

"So, for every song you sing, I'll pass on a message to the Spring Festival Gala production team."

"Yes, just say one thing: whether it succeeds or not has absolutely nothing to do with Sister Na."

Na-young leaned back in her chair, looking at Xu Yao.

From the moment this young man entered until now, it's clear that every word he said was carefully planned beforehand. His calm demeanor makes him seem a bit too mature.

"Since you've already thought it through, do you think I'll agree?" Nayoung countered.

"Sister Na, it doesn't matter how many lines I sing in the duet single, where I sing it, or whether I get any highlights. I just want to be on stage, that's all. This is a promise I made to someone."

Xu Yao explained his motives, and whether Na Ying believed him or not was her business.

In front of such a powerful woman, Xu Yao knew perfectly well that he had to be honest.

Naturally, Xu Yao also knew that a single song wasn't enough to get Na Ying to do favors for the Spring Festival Gala production team.

He took another piece of paper from the document bag and placed it on the tea table.

"Sister Na, the movie version of 'Silent Separation' will be released soon. It stars Huang Xiaoming and Yang Mi and is adapted from Gu Man's novel of the same name."

"Sister Na, take this song to the production team of 'My Sunshine' and ask them to use it as the theme song for the movie. Given your status and the fact that the song is tailor-made for you, they would be more than happy to do it."

Na-young did not speak.

"This song, combined with your performance and the popularity of the movie..." Xu Yao paused, "Sister Na, I predict that this will be the most popular single next year, and possibly the only one..."

Every word Xu Yao spoke carried an unquestionable certainty, which was clearly inconsistent with his actual age.

Na-young looked at the handwritten proposal on the tea table.

The film's release date, theme song collaboration model, and distribution timeline are all clearly outlined in just a few lines.

She looked up at Xu Yao, her expression showing surprise for the first time, but it quickly turned into admiration, and she smiled.

"You've already thought of how this song will become a hit, Xiao Yao." Na Ying's tone changed. "Netizens all say you're a scheming fat man, good at planning. Seeing you today, it's true."

Xu Yao knew he had a chance, and immediately replied with a smile, "Sister Na, if you don't have a heavy burden on your shoulders, who would recklessly gamble with tomorrow?"

Na-young asked with interest, "I'm very curious, who exactly is this person you promised to? Why are you going to so much trouble for him?"