Chapter 141 – Breaking One’s Boat
It’s not over yet!
Wen Zhiyuan almost smashed the mineral water bottle in his hand toward the door – Could you let Laozi be in peace? (TN: not bother him or let him be alone.)
He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, “Please come in.”
Ever since he sat in this position, Wen Zhiyuan felt that he had become a shrinking turtle. There was a bunch of mothers-in-law pointing fingers, and a group of proud soldiers that went their own way. He was stuck in the middle of both sides. (TN: Shrinking Turtle: He became an extremely timid person. Mother-in-law means (curse word) for someone who is in higher position.)
For him to be alive until now without his blood vessel bursting, he must have burned 30,000 jin of incense in his previous life!
The door was gently pushed open and a thin middle-aged man came in with a girl with a ponytail.
“Hello, Director Wen…”
The middle-aged man came in, nodded and bowed to greet him, with a flattering smile on his dark face, which was wrinkled like an orange peel.
At the same time, the girl with him also bowed to greet him: “Director Wen, I’m sorry for disturbing you.”
Seeing these two instead of the former two lords, Wen Zhiyuan was greatly relieved.
He stretched out his hand and beckoned the two, smiled and said, “You’re welcome. Sit down. There’s water in the fridge.”
The middle-aged man hurriedly said, “Thank you!”
He walked quickly over to open the refrigerator in the corner and took out two bottles of chilled mineral water.
One bottle was first delivered to Wen Zhiyuan’s table, and the other was handed to the ponytail girl who had just sat down.
Wen Zhiyuan likes to drink chilled mineral water. As they all know, the bottle in his hand has been emptied.
The respect of the other party made Wen Zhiyuan show a sincere smile.
The middle-aged man, named Li Zhigao, is one of his agents who changed to this job late in his life. (TN: Another translation is “switch to a job one was not trained for”)
Among the many agents at EMI Brokerage Company, Li Zhigao belongs to the lowest level. He has not been in the industry for a long time, and he does not have any personal connection in the circle, so he can only bring ordinary newcomers.
The ponytail girl he brought is called Tang Qiaoqiao. She is 19 years old, 1.65 meters tall, with big eyes and oval face, and has good looks. She was one of the top ten contestants on a talent show last year.
After EMI Brokerage Company signed her up, they trained her in just over half a year. So far, she’s just a small artist who is getting small notices. Only few people called out to her when she walked down the street.
In recent years, there have been too many artists coming out of talent shows. With the exception of a few lucky ones, most of them are similar to Tang Qiaoqiao, and many even have dropped out of the entertainment industry and returned to their original lives.
The competition in this industry is really fierce!
Tang Qiaoqiao was someone insignificant among the artists who has made their debut in the company, so she was thrown to Li Zhigao.
Wen Zhiyuan still has a good impression on Li Zhigao. Although the other party’s ability is not good, he has a lot of respect for himself, and he was willing to work hard.
If his subordinates were people like Li Zhigao, he would be sitting comfortably.
It is for this reason that Wen Zhiyuan was willing to take care of the other party under appropriate circumstances.
He asked kindly, “Old Li, what brings you here with Qiaoqiao?”
Li Zhigao sat on the sofa with half his butt, and asked cautiously, “Director Wen, I heard that you are going to invite Lu Chen, the champion of “Singing China”, for a voice test, aren’t you?”
Un?
Wen Zhiyuan was stupefied. Not many people knew about it. Where did Li Zhigao hear it?
However, when he saw the look on his face, he understood.
It must have been Zhang Qiong, that stinky woman, who spread the news to everyone the moment she stepped outside his office, intentionally hitting him in the face. As a result, even Li Zhigao knew it1!
Flame of anger was ignited in Wen Zhiyuan’s heart, which is not appropriate to vent on to Li Zhigao.
He sighed and said, “Yes, now Lu Chen and his people are in the reception room outside, but Zhang Qiong insisted on looking for other people, so now, I do not know how to explain to him.”
Li Zhigao’s mouth is still very firm, and didn’t spit out some bitter water. (TN: Complain any grievances)
Unexpectedly, Li Zhigao showed a look of surprise: “They have come? Director Wen, can Qiaoqiao?”
He stuttered incoherently. Wen Zhiyuan understood, shook his head and said, “Old Li. It’s not that I don’t want to help you. Lu Chen’s asking price for a song is 250,000. I already help Zhang Shuhui to applied for this money. Qiaoqiao, there’s really nothing I can do.”
Any brokerage company, including EMI, has an internal hierarchy of contracted artists. The higher the level, the more resources they get. This is a clear rule.
In EMI Brokerage Company, among the artists under Wen Zhiyuan, Zhang Shuhui’s ranking is B, and Tang Qiaoqiao is D, the difference between the two is really great.
Therefore, while Wen Zhiyuan can apply for a fee of 250,000 yuan for Zhang Shuhui to buy songs, he can, at most, apply for 50,000 yuan for Tang Qiaoqiao.
Wen Zhiyuan really wanted to help but he’s unable to.
The main reason was that Lu Chen’s asking price is really too high. No newcomer dares to offer such a high price.
Zhang Qiong’s opposition was not entirely unreasonable.
Wen Zhiyuan is bitter in his heart.
At this time, Tang Qiaoqiao, who was sitting on the sofa, bit her lips and suddenly said, “Uncle Wen, if I am willing to pay half the money myself, is that okay?”
Wen Zhiyuan was surprised: “You… you’ll pay for it yourself?”
It is normal for singers to buy songs out of their own money, but Tang Qiaoqiao is a new artist who has just started her career. Wen Zhiyuan knows that her family is very ordinary, and the money she earned through the company is also spent for food and clothing in Beijing. Wanting to eat well is already difficult.
Now she actually wants to buy a song worth more than 100,000. This really shocked Wen Zhiyuan.
This is breaking one’s boat!
If a signed artist of a brokerage company wanted to buy songs, they can’t do it arbitrarily. According to the rules, they have to arrange it through the company, because it also involves the later production, publicity and promotion.
In fact, many entertainment brokerage companies do not like artists to make their own decisions.
For Tang Qiaoqiao to take the initiative to look for Wen Zhiyuan to propose to buy songs from Lu Chen, there is no doubt that this has taken up a great deal of courage.
And the timing is just right.
However…
Wen Zhiyuan still shook his head: “Half is not enough!”
It’s not that he’s hard-hearted, but that the company has rules, and he, as a small department head, does not have the ability to break the rules and raise Tang Qiaoqiao’s hierarchy ranking.
Li Zhigao said: “Director Wen, Qiaoqiao will pay 100,000 yuan and I will pay 50,000 yuan. Please help her apply for 100,000 yuan!”
He looked at Wen Zhiyuan and said with a sincere attitude, “It’s not easy for this child. Please help her.”
Is Old Li crazy too?
Wen Zhiyuan was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t believe it.
50,000 yuan, perhaps it’s all the savings of this man. How could an agent act so recklessly?
But at the same time. The director of the brokerage department was also moved.
In the entertainment industry, there are not many agents who can do this for contracted artists. Most of them try to squeeze out the value of the latter and finally spit it out like bagasse. (TN: Bagasse: Sugar cane waste.)
So many star idols choose their relatives and friends as agents. Even if the other party doesn’t know how to do the job at all.
Bang!
Wen Zhiyuan slapped the table, got up and said, “All right! Since Qiaoqiao called me uncle, I, as an uncle, will sell this old face to help you once, and apply for 100,000 yuan of song purchase fee for you!”
Li Zhigao and Tang Qiaoqiao were both overjoyed: “Thank you, Director Wen/Uncle Wen!”
The two didn’t hold much hope, just trying to fight for a chance for themselves.
Unexpectedly, it really moved Wen Zhiyuan.
Wen Zhiyuan smiled. Waving his hand, he said: “You don’t need to thank me. if you want to thank me, then work hard. Let’s go see Teacher Lu Chen now. Remember to be polite, and don’t neglect.”
It’s also Tang Qiaoqiao’s good luck. If it wasn’t for Zhang Qiong going against him, this opportunity would not fall on Tang Qiaoqiao at all. Moreover, if Zhang Qiong had not forced him too hard, he wouldn’t have wanted to fight for it.
If he doesn’t fight back, Zhang Qiong will only trample on his face even more!
Wen Zhiyuan was actually gambling that Lu Chen’s strength was as strong as he had expected.
A singer-songwriter who wrote “In Spring”, “You Who Sat Next To Me” and “The Brightest Star In The Night Sky” should have no problem writing a song suitable for girls?
Wen Zhiyuan, who took Li Zhigao and Tang Qiaoqiao to the reception room, didn’t have full assurance in his heart.
EMI Cultural Brokerage Company, reception room.
Lu Chen and Li Feiyu have been waiting for 10 minutes.
To tell the truth, Lu Chen was a little unhappy in his heart. He took the initiative to come to them to do a voice test. But the result, he just sat on the sofa and waited.
But the receptionist was beautiful and polite, and the coffee provided was delicious, so he could bear it.
Li Feiyu, this thing2, was captivated by the big-chested and white-skinned receptionist. He kept peeking at them when drinking coffee.
Lu Chen suspected that he is into receptionist – There is also Sister Xiaomei in their studio!
“You must be Teacher Lu Chen, right?”
Just as Lu Chen began to get a little impatient, three people appeared at the door of the reception room.
Among them, the one walking in front is a middle-aged fat man with a round waist. He smiled like Maitreya Buddha: “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I’ve kept you waiting!”
He came over and extended his hands to Lu Chen: “I’m Wen Zhiyuan, the director of EMI Brokerage Department. Nice to meet you.”
Don’t hit someone who shows a smiling face. Wen Zhiyuan’s sincere attitude made the little unhappiness in Lu Chen’s heart disappeared. (TN: A Chinese saying: Don’t hit someone who shows a smiling face – The other party has already apologized and is showing a smiling face, so you should forgive him.)
He stood up and shook hands with the opposite party. He said with a smile, “Hello, Director Wen. We haven’t waited long. Your company’s coffee is delicious.”
Wen Zhiyuan let go and said with a smile, “This coffee was brought by our boss from Brazil. We don’t have this here in our country. If you like it, Teacher Lu Chen, I’ll ask Xiao Wang to pack some for you.”
Lu Chen chuckled: “Director Wen, you are too polite. Just call me Lu Chen.”
Wen Zhiyuan said: “You are one of the judges in “Singing China” next season. You are worthy of the title teacher.”
The first season of Beijing Satellite TV’s “Singing China” was very successful, and its audience rating has surpassed Xiangnan Satellite TV’s “Super Singer” and the production cast of the second season of next year has already been reserved.
At that time, more singers are bound to participate. Among the reasons why Wen Zhiyuan applied for Lu Chen’s song was that Lu Chen’s identity as a judge for the next season of “singing China” has also been written into the list.
Lu Chen modestly said: “It’s just an audition judge in the singing area.”
“Singing China” has a total of seven major singing area. In addition to Beijing singing area, the other singing areas have different audition judges. Lu Chen is one of them, not the four judges who will determine the winner.
Beijing Satellite TV has long told Lu Chen that it is nothing more than a publicity stunt.
________
TN: About the title. Breaking One’s Boat – to be resolute and cut off any means of retreat, or A Last Stand or It’s All or Nothing.
TN: Another mistake, the “Sound Test” on the previous chapter is actually “Voice Test”. I finally understand the meaning of “voice test”, this means that the songwriter will listen to the artist sing, and from what the songwriter heard or the singer’s style of singing, the song writer will create a song suitable for that singer.
TN: I’ve altered the sentence here. Here’s the original machine translation: “It must be Zhang Qiong, the stinky woman, who just went out with her front foot and her back foot outside, talking about everything and beating herself in the face. As a result, even Li Zhigao knew it!”
Here’s the raw: 那肯定是张琼那个臭婆娘前脚刚出去,后脚就在外面到处乱说,存心打自己的脸,结果连李志高都知道了！
TN: “This thing” – this word contains derogatory meaning. However, it does not reach the level of swearing. In addition, the word is sometimes used between people who are close to each other. A word of ridicule. At this time, although there is a derogatory meaning, there is no derogatory component.
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