Peninsula's Life Begins in 2016

Chapter 95 The Gilded Cage

As Jiang Yan slowly walked towards the elevator, just as he turned the corner of the corridor, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and unlocked it; the screen showed a text message from Kenzie.

[Jiang Yan, I'm on my way to HR now. Before Lee Soo-man and President Kim have a chance to say hello, I'll process your resignation first. Remember this after you leave the company: don't be so reckless anymore. All companies have the same rules, except SM has ingrained hierarchy into their very bones.]

Jiang Yan stared at the screen for a long time, then pressed the lock screen button, put the phone back in his pocket, and silently walked into the elevator.

Lin Xiaolu also quietly floated in and leaned against the corner of the elevator.

The elevator mirror reflected Jiang Yan's cold and hard profile. He chuckled to himself, "I must be the producer in SM's history who joined the company for the shortest time and was fired the very next day. I'm afraid no one will be able to break this record for the next ten years."

Lin Xiaolu wanted to say a few words of comfort, but she swallowed them back, afraid that if she said something wrong, she would be threatened and have the string pulled. She could only nod vigorously, her semi-transparent head shaking like a rattle.

The elevator stopped on the sixth floor with a ding.

Jiang Yan stepped out of the elevator and went straight to the door of Recording Studio No. 1.

Pushing open the door, the iMac screen inside was still lit up, and the project file for "Zimzalabim" lay quietly in the most conspicuous position on the desktop.

He walked to the mixing console, sat down, put on the monitoring headphones, and his fingers rested on the cold faders.

Lin Xiaolu floated behind him, watching his fingers fly across the keyboard, the dense waveforms on the screen constantly changing with his movements.

She opened her mouth several times, wanting to ask him why he was staying when he was about to leave, but looking at his focused profile, she swallowed her words.

I sat there for three hours.

From afternoon to dusk, a ray of setting sun slanted in through the gaps in the blinds, casting golden stripes on the mixing console.

Jiang Yan polished the demo of "Zimzalabim" three times from beginning to end, adjusting every detail to the best he could.

After completing the final export, he saved the project file to his work hard drive and then encrypted and backed it up to his private cloud.

Then she organized and categorized all the files, placing them neatly in the center of Kenzie's desk.

He picked up a pen, tore a page of white paper from his notebook, and bent down to write a few lines.

[Teacher, the demo for the last song is finished. I guess the company will most likely accidentally forget to credit me, but it's okay. These three songs are for you. Thank you for your guidance these past few days. Jiang Yan.]

After finishing writing, he bowed deeply to the empty recording studio.

Lin Xiaolu floated quietly to the side, watching, when suddenly she felt a lump in her throat.

She knew that Jiang Yan was not good at expressing his inner feelings, but all his gratitude and reluctance were hidden in these three songs and these few lines of text.

He bid farewell to the place where he had only stayed for a few days in his most clumsy yet sincere way.

Jiang Yan straightened up, picked up his coat from the back of the chair, and walked to the door.

He glanced back at the recording studio one last time, then reached out and pressed the switch on the wall.

The lights went out immediately, and darkness swallowed all traces.

He pushed open the door and went out.

The corridor was quiet. Passing by Ahn Jung-hwan's office, warm yellow light shone through the crack in the door, and you could vaguely hear him talking on the phone.

Jiang Yan didn't stop walking; he went straight to the elevator and pressed the down button.

The elevator doors slowly opened.

There was a person standing inside.

Kim Sung-hoon.

Jiang Yan paused for a moment, then walked in without changing his expression. "Chief Kim."

Kim Sung-hoon let out a hoarse, cold snort as a response.

The elevator doors slowly closed.

In the small, enclosed space, only the faint hum of the elevator could be heard.

The two stood side by side, neither of them speaking, as the numbers jumped down layer by layer, making each second seem exceptionally long.

"bite."

We've reached the first floor.

The elevator doors slid open to both sides, and Jiang Yan stepped to the side, gesturing for them to enter.

Kim Sung-hoon walked out with a gloomy face, but after taking only two steps, he suddenly stopped.

He turned around, took out a notebook and a pen from the inside pocket of his suit, turned to a page, scribbled something down, and soon placed it in front of Jiang Yan.

You didn't think that was the end of it, did you?

The handwriting was messy and sharp, almost piercing the paper.

Jiang Yan looked at the line of text, then glanced at Kim Sung-hoon, and remained silent for a moment.

Is he mute again?

He smiled slightly and said, "Chief Kim, take care of yourself."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the lobby entrance. Kim Sung-hoon froze on the spot, his face darkening again.

Jiang Yan walked out of the SM building, went to his white Hyundai, opened the car door, got in, and inserted the key into the ignition.

The car slowly drove away from the SM building, and the bustling street scene of Apgujeong receded slowly on both sides of the car window.

Jiang Yan didn't go straight home. Instead, he turned around and drove to the vicinity of Banpo Bridge on the Han River, where he found a quiet parking space and turned off the engine.

He pushed open the car door and got out, looking at the ripples on the river surface stirred by the wind. The setting sun dyed the river water a warm orange-red, and the bridge in the distance was bustling with traffic, a scene of everyday life.

Lin Xiaolu floated outside the fence, swinging her semi-transparent legs, looking down at the rushing river below, and whispered, "Jiang Yan, how about we live off Bitcoin in our retirement? Anyway, we can never spend all that money in a lifetime."

Jiang stretched lazily, looked up at the sky dyed fiery red by the sunset, and rolled her eyes speechlessly. "Then I might not even live to see profits by next October. You might as well tell me something more reliable: how will Lin Yoona help me next?"

"How else can I help you? I'll introduce you to be a producer." Lin Xiaolu pouted, showing little interest.

"I know it's about being a producer, but I want to know which company they'll work for, or whether they'll become a freelance producer."

Lin Xiaolu cleared her throat, sat cross-legged in mid-air, and put on a serious expression as if she was about to get down to business.

"There are two songs on the USB drive she gave you, one is called 'As If It's Your Last,' and the other is called 'Kil'."

This Love.

"What? Does she want me to go to YG?" Jiang Yan asked casually, watching the ship slowly sailing across the river.

"Mistaken? How did you know?" Lin Xiaolu was stunned.

"This naming style is very much in line with YG," Kang Yeon said, looking at Lin Xiaolu. "But I'm curious, who are these two songs for? Does it mean 2NE1 will successfully renew their contracts this year?"

"Ani, 2NE1 will disband in November, and these two songs are by BLACKPINK."

"BLACKPINK? YG is launching a new girl group?"

"Yes, this is the most suitable path for you at this stage. This girl group will become a huge hit in the future. Their debut will be their peak, and they will eventually become the most successful girl group in the world."

Lin Xiaolu floated back from the shore and lay on the hood of the car. "This is the path she prepared for you after she started working with you, because she felt that you would be wasting your time at SM for the next few years. It would become your gilded cage."