Huayu98: Starting with mentoring pop divas

Upstairs at ATV, in director Sin Chi-wai's office, the melodies of "Farewell Song" and "Love You Till I Die" were playing on repeat.

The more he listened, the more he felt that it was surprisingly consistent with the new design of the second half of the play, which was just sent by screenwriter Chen Shisan, and the intertwined love and hate between Kuang Tianyou and Ma Xiaoling.

When Li Shuo came in, he realized that Sammi Cheng had said on the phone that her "younger brother" should take good care of him. He had thought it was a young man, but it turned out to be a handsome young man.

Without much small talk, the negotiation began. I had expected the contract to be complicated to explain, so I specifically asked ATV's legal department to prepare for the explanation.

But Li Shuo's performance made Xian Zhiwei put away his complacency.

The young man scanned the contract and saw that it granted the TV series "Farewell Song" the right to use it as the opening theme, "Love You Till I Die" as the ending theme, and possibly other insert songs.

I quickly glanced at the terms and conditions: the scope of authorization, the duration, and the package price of HK$60,000.

He nodded, picked up his pen, and deftly filled in the blank space.

"This license does not include revenue from the separate distribution of the series on videotape (VHS/VCD/DVD) or in any future electronic media."

This portion of the revenue should be settled separately by the issuer with the copyright holder (i.e., the individual) in accordance with the Copyright Ordinance, or distributed through the standard channels of CASH (Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong).

I retain all copyrights to both songs except those authorized under this agreement, including but not limited to the rights of independent distribution, commercial performance, and sublicensing.

He rejected the contract.

"The price is very reasonable, and with these additions, there won't be any problems! I'm also ready to go to the studio for recording anytime."

ATV's legal team was somewhat surprised after reading these supplementary reports.

"Mr. Li...is he studying law?"

Just by casually glancing at it, they've already covered up the "door" in the ambiguous areas of the terms and conditions.

Li Shuo smiled but did not answer.

Director Sin Chi-wai didn't think there was anything wrong with these two clauses, so he indicated to the legal department to take a look and print them out. After signing the contract, he would take Li Shuo to the recording studio they were working with to familiarize himself with the place first.

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Meanwhile, in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, on the Korean Peninsula.

Inside a construction site fence with a banner that reads "CGV Cinema – about to open 1998," the renovation process was noisy.

A petite, middle-aged woman dressed in a minimalist, high-quality pearl white suit first asked her assistant to stop and signaled to others to stay.

On a middle-aged woman whose face is not particularly outstanding, her makeup features clean lines and her accessories seem simple, but in her every move, you feel that she is not ostentatious, but her temperament has a clear sense of class.

She walked alone into the lobby of the future cinema, the place where she had received a sudden message from the person she hadn't contacted in many years two nights prior, and where they had arranged to meet.

Now she is back in the lobby, standing in front of a wall.

On the wall where a section was missing, there were several dark red stains about two meters high, resembling fist marks.

She stretched out her right hand, palm facing the imprint, indicating the height she couldn't reach, and curled her lips slightly!

"At your age, you still solve problems so recklessly and impulsively. You know perfectly well it couldn't be me, yet you deliberately scare me like an idiot. Doesn't your fist hurt?!"

She muttered to herself in somewhat broken Mandarin, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes.

"It seems that it was right not to tell you some things back then."

Her gaze fell on the fingers of her right hand.

The nails of my carefully maintained index, middle, and ring fingers all have some broken ends, and the fingertips are slightly swollen.

"Hmph~ If we're going to suffer, we'll all suffer together!"

While I felt a sense of satisfaction at her retaliation that night, I didn't realize that there seemed to be something wrong with her logic.

A light touch with my fingertip brought another stinging sensation.

The physical pain seemed to stir up something deeper, and her face suddenly darkened.

She remembered what that big, stupid jerk who always made her emotional said in his anger that night!

A chilling rage filled the woman's eyes!

"It seems that all these years of constant concessions and compromises have really made you think my bottom line... can be tested indefinitely?"

She murmured to herself, turned and left, having made some decisions about the arrangements and thoughts of the past two days.

The sound of high heels clicking on the newly laid floor echoed in the empty, unfinished lobby.

Stepping onto the street, she calmly gave a single instruction to her waiting assistant and senior management team.

"Tear down all the walls in the lobby and rebuild them all. But the progress... can't be delayed even by a day."

After saying that, she walked straight to the row of black cars waiting, heading towards the next place she was going to "tear down".

In 1998, Seoul and Hong Kong Island, separated by mountains and sea, shared the same pulse of emerging Asian cities.

With equally dense buildings, a fast pace of life, and a restless atmosphere, the two cities mirror each other at this moment, returning to the traffic flow of Hong Kong Island.

Sin Chi-wai drove Li Shuo, who had just signed the licensing agreement for the drama's theme song, to the recording studio where he had a long-term partnership.

On the bus, Li Shuo silently did some mental calculations.

With the S$4.5 licensing fee from Ocean Butterflies Music for "It's Getting Dark," "She Must Love You," and "Andy," plus HK$18 for three songs by Zheng Xiuwen, and the recently received fees for drama theme songs, he now has over RMB43 in cash on hand.

The songs Warner Music gave to Sun Yanzi should arrive in the next couple of days.

This does not include the royalties and licensing revenue sharing that will be implemented later.

"Tsk, everyone says a single revolutionary song can sustain you for a lifetime, so what about my future... tsk tsk!" He smirked slightly.

Lost in thought, the car arrived at its destination: the headquarters of Tom Lee Music in Kowloon Bay.

As Hong Kong's most renowned music equipment empire, its affiliated professional recording studios also handle a large number of record productions. Equipped with top-notch facilities, they are the first choice for many musicians.

Li Shuo was no stranger to this place.

He ordered his professional drum set and electronic audio equipment for his home in Beijing from this store, and also ordered several of his rare electric guitars through this store.

However, this is the first time I've ever visited this flagship store in person.

Passing through the store displaying a variety of dazzling musical instruments, Sin Chi-wai greeted the store manager familiarly and then introduced Tim, the chief recording engineer of the recording studio.

After a tour, just as the specific recording time was finalized, Li Shuo was about to take his leave when a faint sound of guitar playing and singing drifted from the display area on the other side of the store.

The melody is familiar, wait, isn't this the song "Silent Imitation of Sound"?

The key point is that the voice sounds just like the original singer's.

Li Shuo looked in the direction of the sound with curiosity.

In a relatively quiet corner of the guitar display area, a handsome young man wearing a black baseball cap and casual clothes was holding a Fender ASS electric guitar and trying it out. There were several guitar cases at his feet, and the models were all newly released models from brands such as Gibson and PRS.

He played with complete focus, utterly absorbed in his own world.

Beside the handsome young man stood a smartly dressed, shrewd young woman.

While keeping an eye on her surroundings, as if to prevent being disturbed or recognized, her gaze kept involuntarily falling back to the young man playing the piano.

There was a professional scrutiny and concern in his eyes, but deeper still, there seemed to be a hidden tenderness and appreciation.

Li Shuo recognized the two people instantly, and was slightly surprised.

Isn't this Xie Tingfeng, who recently debuted and is sweeping Hong Kong with his rebellious rock youth image?

And the person next to him must be his "long-term" agent, Huo Wenxi!?

Having just "encountered" Teacher Huang Sanshi, now I've run into a future "chef" in the entertainment industry?

Li Shuo found it interesting and couldn't help but take a second look.

Huo Wenxi, on the other side, keenly noticed this "unrelated" gaze.

She frowned slightly, quickly suppressing all her personal emotions, as if she was about to politely "ask" the bystander who might be disturbing the artist to leave.

Seeing this, Li Shuo felt bored and, too lazy to explain or strike up a conversation, naturally withdrew his gaze and turned to leave the music store.

Tch~ It was just a passing fad, she's not some fragrant female celebrity.

As soon as I stepped out of Tom Lee Music, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

Li Shuo took it out and saw that it was a text message sent to Shu Qi.

"Will you be coming to the Peninsula Hotel in the next couple of days?"

Li Shuo glanced at it and replied casually.

"I'm busy. Just stay here and relax, Sister Qi. I'll let you know in advance if I really need to come."

He felt that this clear and appropriate reply would put the woman at ease.

In the Peninsula Suite, after finishing a day of filming, she turned down everything, including another invitation from Lonely Li.

Shu Qi stared at the line of stiff words on the screen, stunned for a moment, then felt a surge of inexplicable anger!

She tossed her phone onto the soft sofa beside her.

"I don't think... that's what I meant at all!"