I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

"Is that JX the same JX mentioned in 'The Poetic Life'?"

"It's so close! Our old leader! He's coming back to take over soon!"

Several long-time employees even stood up and, ignoring the fact that the chairman had not yet announced the end of the meeting, rushed out of the meeting room and ran to the window to look down at the main entrance.

These veteran employees all came from the era of Zhichi and Jiangxinhai. They all worked under Zhichi and had personal contact with him.

Although they hadn't met many times, Zhichi still left a deep impression on them.

When they left Haiya sadly back then, they were secretly heartbroken.

Hearing today that their old leader was coming back, they immediately felt the same way as a king returning home, with the utmost loyalty of his former subordinates.

Haiya, your emperor has returned!

Lu Qingzhou looked at Qi Xiaochun with a face full of doubt.

What he wanted to ask was: Wasn't it said that Zhichi was very unpopular back then?

Isn't this making it so that the company is almost unable to pay salaries?

Qi Xiaochun was also puzzled.

She was just a receptionist at the company back then, and the company changed hands after she had worked there for less than two months.

She hadn't had much contact with Chen Ya, and they'd never even met.

Chen Ya's knowledge of the company's operations was all hearsay.

If this hadn't happened today, she would never have known until her death that some of her colleagues had such deep feelings for Zhichi.

One person ran, then another, then a third. Soon, many people ran to the windows of the building, looking down, wanting to see JX.

Some were former subordinates, and some were new employees. Those who knew JX wanted to see the changes, while those who didn't know JX wanted to see who he really was.

Downstairs at Haiya Company, the door of a black sedan was pushed open.

A girl with long, jet-black hair and fair skin stepped out of the car.

……

Xu Xiangxiao pressed the button to connect with Dao Lang.

The phone rang only once before it was quickly answered.

The images appeared simultaneously on the central control screen and the large screen in front of everyone.

In the center of the image is Dao Lang's weathered face.

The photographer Lu Yu brought, along with Jiang Xinhai, simultaneously pointed their video cameras and mobile phone lenses at the large screen.

In the center of the big screen, Dao Lang smiled憨厚ly.

"I've been waiting for this call for so long."

Chapter 178 Everything Was Within JX's Calculations (Four Chapters Combined)

To everyone's surprise.

It was as if Daolang had known all along that he would meet them.

I will meet Xu Xiangxiao and Jiang Xinhai, and I will meet Cui Dayou and Wang Feng.

You will see all these familiar or unfamiliar faces.

Unlike ten years ago, when he struggled at the bottom and experienced all sorts of people, he still had an indistinguishable innocence on his face.

Ten years later, his appearance remained unchanged, but his eyes held the maturity that comes from experiencing great ups and downs and seeing mountains and seas.

This miraculous transformation is as subtle as a ripple on a vast ocean to others, and is difficult to notice.

But in Jiang Xinhai's eyes, it was as obvious as a raging storm.

She quickly realized where Daolang's aura came from—the background of the video was indeed an endless expanse of mountains and sea.

"Dao Lang, where are you? Your background is fake, isn't it?" Jiang Xinhai asked.

Dao Lang looked back and saw that the sky behind him was a clear blue, with only two wisps of clouds gently covering the mountain peaks where the grass was almost gone.

He was holding a phone, and the camera panned down, revealing:

The clouds and mist rise from below, forming a rolling sea of ​​clouds.

The churning clouds resembled a surging ocean, while the towering green mountains standing amidst the clouds resembled reefs.

Dao Lang exhaled a puff of hot air and said with a smile, "This is not fake. See? This is the Qilian Mountains, which are 3800 meters above sea level. I am right here now."

This is the Qilian Mountains, far away in the blue sea. The monsoon winds blowing from the vast Xianbei Sea in the north cross the unobstructed land and climb all the way to this place, forming a large amount of rainfall.

The clouds that struggled to reach the mountain peak made the weather here unpredictable; often, after taking just a few steps, a torrential downpour would begin, and after a few more steps, the sky would clear and bright.

Dao Lang's skin had darkened due to the local climate, and his beard covered his entire face, making it clear that he had been here for a long time.

"Why are you here?" Jiang Xinhai asked.

Dao Lang took two steps and said, "A few years ago, Zhi Chi came back and told me that he had a difficult task for me to do, and asked if I was willing."

“I said, since it’s something you need me to do, what’s there to talk about whether I’m willing or not? I’ll do it. Then I traveled all over the country, and recently I even came here. I’ve been doing this for three or four years now, and it’s made me look old.”

He said this with a calm expression, but to others, it seemed rather tragic.

A perfectly healthy person has been reduced to this haggard state because of a single sentence from JX; anyone would feel a pang of sympathy.

“We’ll talk about that later,” Dao Lang waved his hand and said, “I’ll tell you why I knew you would call me: it was Zhi Chi who told me.”

Jiang Xinhai nodded: "I guessed it."

No one was surprised by Dao Lang's answer.

Now, not only her, but also all the people around her have completely gotten used to Chen Ya's way of doing things.

“But you’ll never guess why he told me this,” Dao Lang said with a mysterious smile. “He said that if you make this call, it means my hard times are over and I can come out of the mountains ahead of schedule.”

"You want to make a comeback? Return to the music scene?" Jiang Xinhai asked, somewhat surprised.

"No, no," Dao Lang waved his hand. He thought for a long time about how to organize his thoughts, but finally gave up and said, "Words are too weak. Let me show you."

He held up his phone and walked forward.

Through the camera lens, everyone could see a vast expanse of yellow and green grassland, with groups of white goats gathering together. In the middle of a flat plain nestled among the mountains, some houses with blue bricks and red tiles formed a settlement.

Like a tour guide, Dao Lang held up his phone and led them along, saying as they walked, "We've established a total of 20 schools. This one in Bihai Province is the most difficult one I've ever run; the conditions are extremely harsh..."

"What school? Be more specific?" Jiang Xinhai asked.

“Oh right, you guys don’t know,” Dao Lang said, “in the past few years, JX has funded the establishment of 20 music schools across the country.”

"Ok?"

This news is unheard of; no one has ever heard of it.

“Our school is a bit special. It doesn’t charge tuition and even provides subsidies. It’s specifically for gifted children,” Dao Lang said. “Moreover, we adopt an elite policy. There aren’t many students, but every single one of them is talented. Look, our child is right in front of you.”

He pointed to a group of children playing.

On the screen, everyone saw a group of children wearing sheepskin coats, their faces tanned red from the high altitude, clapping their hands.

At first, everyone thought the children were playing some games that only children would understand, but after watching for a while, Wang Feng's eyes narrowed, and he was a little shocked.

The children weren't playing a game; they were looking for the beat. One child was rapidly clapping a "boom-boom" rhythm on his arms and thighs, while the other two children were searching for different beats, one for the upbeat and the other for the downbeat.

The clapping of the three children inexplicably combined to form a very harmonious impromptu drumbeat.

Most importantly, they are incredibly fast!

The lead child's hands were almost blurry in the air, producing a series of sharp, crackling sounds like pearls falling onto a jade plate, while the other two children remained perfectly composed, finding the right beat for each other.

To someone who doesn't understand music, these children are just randomly tapping away, but the sounds they produce happen to be very rhythmic.

Since everyone present was a musician, they immediately noticed that something was wrong.

"These kids are something else," Wang Feng said, squinting.

"Yeah, their rhythm is amazing!" Jiang Xinhai said. "Dao Lang, do they usually play like this?"

Such scenes are common here. Because he's so used to them, he's become indifferent to them. Dao Lang didn't understand at first and asked, "What are you playing?"

But he immediately realized what he meant and said, "Oh, you mean this? It's because we have a limited number of percussion instruments here, so these kids have to practice bare-handed like this."

He waved his hand and said to the children, "Stop playing, Jike, sing a song."

"What are you singing?" the child asked, his face round and chubby.

Sing whatever you like.

The child turned his head and began to sing:

"That's a magical road to heaven—wow!—"

Jiang Xinhai swayed slightly, and the live stream chat was filled with comments.

They were astonished.

This child sings so well!

The song is Jiang Xinhai's "The Road to Heaven". The child sang the climax, which is very difficult. The child's breath control was perfect, the pitch was accurate, and the key was even raised.

"The air is thin here on the plateau, so the people who live here have large lung capacity and are naturally the best high-note singers. He's a little above average here, maybe an average guy. Okay, go have fun, kids."

After he finished speaking, everyone standing in the private music archive was stunned.

This level of skill, if you filmed a video of it and posted it online, it would go viral.

He only calculated it as slightly above average?

Daolang continued walking forward, saying:

“We already have graduates here, but JX told me that we should let them stay at the school to teach and mentor newcomers, instead of sending them directly into the music industry, because the current music environment is not good…”

He walked down a long corridor lined with photos of many musicians, some of whom he recognized, including AXL of Guns N' Roses, Slash, David Bowie, and Lang Lang.

All the faces were familiar.

Not far away, a rapid drumbeat came, so fast that it was astonishing, and the rhythm was so accurate that it was breathtaking. Wang Feng could hardly believe it when he heard it.

"Dao Lang, Dao Lang, listen to me, answer me, who is playing this drum? Is it a recording or is it a real person playing it?"

"Hmm?" Dao Lang was a little puzzled. "Of course, it was our students who knocked on it."

Suppressing his shock, Wang Feng said, "Let's go in and take a look."

Dao Lang pushed open the door and went in. On the wall of the music room hung a photo of Keith Moon, the drummer of the band Who, with a drum set in the center.

A boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a sheepskin coat, with snot hanging from his nose and his face flushed from the high altitude, was sitting in front of a drum set, playing the drums incessantly.

He casually held the drumsticks in both hands, exuding an air of authority, the drumsticks flying through the air, leaving afterimages.

“This kid, when he grows up, he’ll definitely be one of the top drummers in the country,” Wang Feng said.

For a veteran rocker like Wang Feng, this statement is an extremely high compliment.

"Really? Teacher Wang, is this child a very good drummer?" He Ling asked.

“Very good. His speed and power are comparable to many adult professional drummers,” Wang Feng said.

After saying that, he asked again, "Is he the best drummer in your school?"

"No, he's still practicing. He needs to be even better to graduate," Dao Lang said. "We provide elite education here; only the best can stand out."

Wang Feng couldn't utter a single word.

If that kid wasn't good enough, how many drummers would be ashamed to death by now?

Jiang Xinhai turned to look at Gao Xiaobai and said with a smile, "Teacher Gao, what a coincidence! Didn't you think that music education in China was lacking before? You see, JX felt the same way, so he opened 20 schools and cultivated so many talents."

Everyone looked at Gao Xiaobai, whose face turned very ugly.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "This scale is still too small after all..."

“At least he did something, didn’t he?” Jiang Xinhai made no attempt to hide the harshness on his face, his smile blatantly sarcastic. “It’s better than him just talking and then doing nothing.”

After Jiang Xinhai finished speaking, the viewers in the live broadcast room were all overjoyed.

"Hahahaha... Gao Xiaobo got slapped in the face right in front of everyone, that's so satisfying!"

"Yeah, I was really annoyed with him just now. You know that China's musical foundation is weak, so you went abroad to study, right?"