Chapter 4: 4

“Boss[1], listen to this, 《 List of Superstars Who Support Half of the Entertainment Industry Alone 》 “

In the car, Sui Qingchi closed his eyes. Wang Xiaoou, the assistant in the front row, was enthusiastically reading him an article sent by an unknown online marketing number.

“If you say that half of Yitian and its prosperous years were laid down by LOTUS, Sui Qingchi supported far more than half of Huanyi by himself…”

Wang Xiaoou paused. Liu Mei glanced at the content on her phone and immediately gave Wang Xiaoou a warning glance. Wang Xiaoou turns her head and peeks at Sui Qingchi in the back who was leaning his head against the chair, hoping that he was already asleep.

Who would’ve known that Sui Qingchi would suddenly say, “So, how’d I do that by myself again?”

The chubby female assistant was busy swiping on her phone. Sui Qingchi sat up with his eyes open and asked, “Found a good answer?”

Wang Xiaoou put down her phone, “Sorry, Boss, I thought…”

Sui Qingchi took the phone and glanced at it. Wang Xiaoou didn’t dare to grab it back from him. He closed it without expression, “The internet only teaches you how to scold me, never how to praise me.” Then he threw the phone back to the assistant.

Wang Xiaoou saw Sui Qingchi crossing his legs, looking calmly out of the window and asked carefully, “Boss, aren’t you angry?”

“Of course I’m angry.” Sui Qingchi gently rubbed his thumb and said coldly.

Wang Xiaoou dared not say anything more, sewed her mouth and turned her head.

 

Sui Qingchi came to the company today to choose songs for the new album with Wu Tian, the planner and producer. After listening to samples all morning, he wasn’t satisfied with any of them. He’d often ask to change to another sample before even listening for a few seconds. At that point, Wu Tian was simply helpless, “What kind of song do you want?”

There was still a song playing from the laptop. Sui Qingchi leaned back in his chair, stared at the progress bar slowly moving forward on the screen, and said absentmindedly, “I want it to be like ‘How Can I Be Considered Loving You’. Something that’d make you emotional with just a short verse, leaving nothing behind…” When he found that Wu Tian didn’t reply, he thought he could have some wishful thinking, so he sat up and asked, “What about the song with Teacher Yu Fei[2]?”

Wu Tian shrugged, “You didn’t make an appointment. He said he didn’t have time recently and to look forward to another time.”

Sui Qingchi frowned and stared at him, unable to say a word.

Wu Tian had seen the implicit anger from his eyes. “Do you have to have him?”

Sui Qingchi didn’t speak, but sat up again and replayed the samples. Wu Tian saw him patiently looking through them, but he ended up cutting them off one by one.

At the end of the song list, Wu Tian asked, “Can’t you just pick one?”

Assistant Wang brought coffee for both of them but Sui Qingchi didn’t drink it. He stood up and said, “I’ll have a smoke.”

 

Wu Tian drank his coffee alone with his thoughts. As a music producer, he is well aware of what has happened recently. People are say that Sui Qingchi’s new West Wind has a body but no soul. Others were mentioning how Sui Qingchi has supported half of the headlines and hot searches in the entertainment industry on his own. At that time, the young man was praised by excited music critics for his extraordinary singing skills and amazing expressiveness with words like, ‘Seeing a glimmer of the future king’ from him. This prediction was like a prophecy to some extent. The title of King has been inseparable from Sui Qingchi, but it has changed from “The Future’s King” to “Flow King” and “Chuunibyou King”. He understands Sui Qingchi’s anxiety. He is an artist. A singer, a musician. What he needs is not a trending topic, not heat, but good music. To this end, Sui Qingchi even tried to arrange songs himself, but soon realized his nonexistent talent for it and he gave up without much struggle.

It would’ve been fine if he wanted to be a net celebrity from the beginning, but Sui Qingchi used to be the main vocalist of a band. He had always presented himself as a singer, which has, and will never change.

It’s too bad that it didn’t quite work out.

 

Even after finishing his coffee, Sui Qingchi still hadn’t come back. Wu Tian coincidentally also liked to smoke, so he took his cigarette and went to the stairwell. When he walked outside, he heard two men chatting inside.

“I heard that Sui Qingchi asked Teacher Yu for a song, but he didn’t make an appointment again.”

“Alas, I’m embarrassed for him. Tang Du made one song after another. At Wu Tian’s birthday party last time, it seemed that the two talked well. I thought there was going to be a play this time, but as a result…”

“I saw it myself. Look at his listless appearance. He must be playing all night again. His makeup can’t cover the dark circles under his eyes.”

“It’s not too obvious though? How close do you have to be to see it? Look? I think he’s still pretty handsome.”

Wu Tian plans to open the door and cough so that the two people can stop talking, so as not to embarrass everyone. But before he could do that, it turns out he was already too late – Sui Qingchi was leaning against the wall behind the door, smoking and listening to the passionate discussion between the two people under the stairs.

He stood there without any noise nor complaints, silently watching the two men from the half opened door to not disturb their conversation.

The two continued to talk for another three to five minutes. The topic revolved around Sui Qingchi’s messy lace news. Then, maybe because they’ve finished smoking, they went upstairs with a smile.

Sui Qingchi wasn’t going to avoid or hide from them. He gave the two people a surprise with his cold, indifferent look.

The atmosphere was very tense. Wu Tian saw that the two men were red and white, bowed their heads and hurried out of the staircase.

When the two men walked away, Wu Tian couldn’t help saying, “Tch, just listen to them here”

Sui Qingchi took a puff of his smoke, “Was that harsh? I’ll just have to go.”

Wu Tian: “…”

While returning, Wu Tian noticed that Sui Qingchi really a looked little tired. The dark circles under his eyes weren’t some random rumor. He just had to look carefully to see it. He could not help complaining, “You still play all night when you have business today…”

Assistant Wang wanted to say something, but she was tutted by Sui Qingchi. She had already understood all kinds of Sui Qingchi’s signs and small gestures, so she quickly shut up. Leaving the meeting room, she looked at Sui Qingchi’s back and thought reluctantly, ‘He wasn’t playing all night.’

 

“There are twelve songs in the album. In addition to the two previously released, there are ten more to choose from,” Wu Tian said. “I’ll help you choose, I’ll choose thirteen, and then you can choose three more…”

Maybe it’s because he’s a bit tired, but Sui Qingchi ended up entering a trance. He remembered the songs he used to sing in West Wind in the past. At that time, there was no professional producer to accompany him to select songs, and he wasn’t qualified to ask for songs from all these famous artists. He’ll sing whatever Fu Cuo gives him. But it was still the best. He can write whatever he wants to sing, and Fu Cuo won’t have any opinion about how the lyrics are messed up or anything of the sort.

He also remembered that one morning when he opened his eyes and saw Fu Cuo leaning against the head of the bed, writing a song in the dim morning light. He only looked at the way he wrote the song, but he already knew exactly what kind of song it was, and what kind of words and lyrics it should be matched with.

At that time, he didn’t have to ask anyone.

 

“I can’t compromise with the current main track.”

Being suddenly interrupted by Sui Qingchi, Wu Tian was a little stunned.

Sui Qingchi got up, picked up his coat on the chair, put it on and said, “I’ll sort this out myself.”

Wu Tian leaned over and looked at the door, “You’re looking for Yu Fei? It’s useless, don’t go!”

Sui Qingchi walked all the way to the elevator and only said “Smoke.” Wu Tian  wondered what he meant until he saw the chubby female assistant rush in like an angry bird, grab the cigarette Sui Qingchi forgot to take on the table and catched up.

In the car, Wang Xiaoou fastened her seat belt and asked, “Where are we going, Boss?”

“Take me back to the villa first, then you’ll be free for the day. Go back and have a rest.”

Wang Xiaoou was a little happy when she found out she was suddenly free, but she still forced herself to pretend to be unhappy. After all, her boss is quite obviously unhappy right now.

Sui Qingchi looked at her and didn’t expose the other party’s excessive performance.

There was a bit of traffic on the road, so Wang Xiaoou turned back and asked if he wanted some music. Sui Qingchi answered with a short “Whatever.”

The radio is tuned to the music channel. Currently, the host is reading comments of a music critic,

“… Although Sui Qingchi’s annual sales of albums are very high, most of them are bought by his fans. Since his fifth album, his songs have been less and less popular…”

Wang Xiaoou cried ‘Mamma Mia!‘ in her heart and was about to change the channel when she heard Sui Qingchi say, “Keep listening.”

Wang Xiaoou and the driver glanced at each other. What else can they do? They can only listen.

 

“… Do you remember why Tang Du went to the hot search last time? It was because he sang the song 《Yellow》in The King of Music and won the show. What was the reason that Sui Qingchi went to the hot search last time? It was because of a selfie and the sentence ‘Qianlang died on the shore’

Before host’s voice fell, Wang Xiaoou felt a heavy kick on the back of her chair. She almost jumped forward and changed the channel. She thought it must be a knee jump reflex, knee jump reflex!

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When she turned to Jiaoguang channel, the radio station was playing a song. As soon as Wang Xiaoou heard the prelude, she recognized that it was Tang Du’s new song, and this song was written by Yu Fei. She thought that today’s radio station was full of thunder. Before Tang Du’s voice came out, she tactfully changed the channel. But it turns out that Sui Qingchi was a little interested in the prelude and asked her to go back.

‘Boss! you can’t go back. You’ll definitely get angry if you go back!’

 

“What’s the matter?” Sui Qingchi said, “Go back so I can listen.”

Wang Xiaoou didn’t want Sui Qingchi to cross paths with Tang Du. Even listening to each other’s songs in the car is a no-no. Sui Qingchi is her boss and Tang Du is her idol. Tang Du made his debut much earlier than Sui Qingchi, and his endeavors in the music world were much more bumpy than Sui Qingchi’s. She listened to Tang Du’s songs when she was in junior high school and bought every CD. After becoming Sui Qingchi’s assistant, she naively imagined that she might have a chance to see the singer himself in the future. But in reality, she couldn’t even do it once. Even if music programs such as The King of Music invited Tang Du, they wouldn’t invite Sui Qingchi, and vice versa. It seemed that everyone agreed to abide by these unspoken rules; The king must not meet the enemy’s king[3].

As they went back to the other channel, Tang Du’s song brought a sudden silence to the car.

Wang Xiaoou glanced back carefully. Sui Qingchi faced out the window, his expression couldn’t be seen clearly. Although it’s the song of his ‘rival’ in the music world, it’s obvious that in the face of a good song, Sui Qingchi didn’t do any ‘knee-jump reflexes’ this time.

Although Wang Xiaoou was just an assistant, she’d been immersed in the music circle with Sui Qingchi for many years. It’s also very clear that Yu Fei’s songs weren’t only good, but also stylistically more suitable for Sui Qingchi. In the last season’s The King of Music, Sui Qingchi sang the song ‘Shame’ written by Yu Fei and Tang Du. Although the industry dare not compare the two people rashly, ordinary fans, even those who don’t like Sui Qingchi, have to admit that this is a prime example of ‘Covers being better than the original.’

It’s just unknown why it seems that Sui Qingchi won’t collaborate with Teacher Yu.

 

—

Zhong Dao came to the bar to sing several songs. Fu Cuo not only taught him how to read music, but also occasionally instructed him on his pronunciation skills. He could teach music just fine, but guiding singing is a different story. He has no advantages in singing. Although he has also followed Sui Qingchi to observe several vocal music classes, he didn’t feel like they had much use. Most of the singing and pronunciation skills he knew came from Sui Qingchi. Before the world knew about it, Sui Qingchi was already skilled in the use of cavity. Now to ask him to guide Zhong Dao is like asking him to teach what Sui Qingchi taught him. What would Sui Qingchi think of him if he knows? ‘On one hand, you want to draw a clear line with me, and on the other, you’d freely give away what I give you to others. Fu Cuo, are you that cheap?’

The only consolation is that Zhong Dao successfully stood out in The Golden Voice’s audition. That day, Fu Cuo just got up and received a call from AK. He reported the good news to him and asked, “Are you at home today?”

Fu Cuo sat up and had a bad hunch, “Why are you asking?”

“Oh, I wanted to thank you in person, but I have a class today so I asked Zhong Dao to come to you and thank you face to face!”

“What?”

As soon as the phone hung up, the doorbell rang. Fu Cuo frowned, opened the curtains, and squinted his eyes as the sun came bursting in. It was noon.

He answered “Wait a minute,” got up and quickly put on his pants and a pullover. When the door opened, Zhong Dao was wearing a baseball cap and carrying a bag of… Red Fuji in his hand.

“Brother[4] AK asked me to come.” The baseball capped boy said stiffly.

Fu Cuo looked down at the bag of red apples and said, “I don’t like apples.”

Zhong Dao frowned, “Really? That guy asked me to buy some fruit as a thank-you gift…” He probably felt that it was like a shirking responsibility and said, “What fruit do you like to eat? I’ll buy it again.”

Fu Cuo randomly said, “Watermelon.”

Zhong Dao feels it. This man is hard to deal with.

Although Zhong Dao’s young face looked like he came to the door to seek revenge, as the adult, Fu Cuo let this younger generation in and left a sentence “Help yourself, I’ll wash my face first.”

While brushing his teeth in the bathroom, he wanted to know how to deal with the kid. He hasn’t had guests at home for a long time, and he always has a sense of seeing Sui Qingchi in Zhong Dao, which made things more awkward for him. He could only hope that Zhong Dao would leave after giving him the apples, or after he ate one.

When he lowered his head and spit out the foam, he heard music outside. It was the song he made last night.

After listening to the prelude, Zhong Dao was instantly attracted. He thought that people like Fu Cuo and AK playing underground bands would make punk music, but he didn’t expect that the song to be so beautiful, with such a slow and restrained melody. He only used piano and cello with a little background sound effect. The most simple and simple addition added the feeling of falling from the clouds.

But the tune of this song is also surprisingly high. He doubts whether he can reach it, or if this is a song written for female singers altogether.

As soon as he heard the first chorus, he was stopped. Fu Cuo came over and directly turned off the software.

Zhong Dao looked up and saw Fu Cuo’s rare cold expression. He also realized that he’d been rude, “Sorry, I saw that your laptop was on so I was a curious and wanted to listen.”

Fu Cuo slammed the laptop shut and said, “Do you know who’s behavior that was like just now?”

Zhong Dao frowned, “Who?”

“Sui Qingchi.”

Zhong Dao hates to be compared with Sui Qingchi. He knows that Fu Cuo deliberately said this to warn him, “Okay, there won’t be a second time. I swear.”

Fu Cuo felt that he had gone a little too far. He had done such a petty thing once and regretted it dearly. He was only a little angry just now. What he wrote in his laptop was his own secret and doesn’t want anyone to hear it.

Two people, one sitting on one side of the sofa and the other sitting on the other, were silent and worried about each other’s thoughts.

The enchanting melody of the song kept lingering in Zhong Dao’s mind. He couldn’t keep it in and asked sheepishly, “Can I sing this song? I’ve listened to it anyway.”

This… Fu Cuo felt that it was unnecessary to explain so he said, “This song is not for anyone to sing.”

Zhong Dao didn’t understand, “Aren’t songs made to be sung?” Suddenly he frowned again, “Do you think I’m not worthy of singing it?”

This sensitive temper can definitely catch up with a certain King he knew. Fu Cuo thought it was both frustrating and funny, so asked him, “Why are you here, again?”

“To thank you for your guidance. I want you to see the results.” Zhong Dao said and asked, “Do you have a pen and paper?”

Fu Cuo didn’t ask him why. He was also a little curious about what he wanted to do. Write him a check, maybe? He threw a pen at him, “I don’t have paper.”

Zhong Dao unscrewed his pen cap, bowed his head and wrote on his hand.

Fu Cuo was stunned at that second. For a moment, he seemed to see a 19 years old Sui Qingchi in him.

 

The sun was shining outside the window, but he was in a trance immersed with pattering rain. The illusion of rain after many years seemed to cool his back with chills.

That day, he and Sui Qingchi went to perform at a location introduced by a senior, but they took the wrong bus and got stuck in an abandoned station in the midst of heavy rain. The experience of isolation gave birth to inspiration. He suddenly wanted to write a song about being abandoned at the end of the world. The return bus would take at least half an hour to come anyways.

The rain made the world so vast, as if there was only the gray road that stretched infinitely in front of them, and the small station that sheltered them from the wind and rain. Holding the guitar, He tried several chords. When he hesitated on which one to use, Sui Qingchi suggested the F key. Sui Qingchi has always been more decisive than him and had amazing musical intuition. He set the F major for the unborn song, and soon found the right track from his previously aimless attempts. He was surprised by the melody he hummed. Although there was only one wooden guitar, there was the sound of rain hitting the road behind them and the gentle thunder in the distance; the most natural drum and bass.

Sui Qingchi sat there watching the rain, listened attentively for a while, and suddenly asked him, “Do you have a pen and paper?”

He had a pen in his guitar case, but he didn’t bring a score. Sui Qingchi pulled off the cap and raised his pen to the road and looked at it for a while. The thin nib carried the gaze of the handsome young man as he was thinking. Fu Cuo’s illusion seemed to give the nib a soul.

 

Then he raised his left hand and wrote the first lyrics in his palm.

With the sudden downpour that came down like a joke,

I hear the sinister laughter of the world.

 

That day, Sui Qingchi was wearing a white long sleeved T-shirt. While writing on his hand, he pulled  his sleeves higher back, and the black handwriting extended from his palm to the young man’s young and strong forearm. After writing, Sui Qingchi showed him the “lyrics”. He didn’t know whether he was showing off the words or a part of his body, but he bowed his head down to appreciate it. He didn’t know which was making his heart beat so quickly; the lyrics, the lines drawn on the man’s arm, or the light blue veins under it all that beat along with his own.

 

The sound of Zhong Dao’s pen resting interrupted Fu Cuo’s thoughts. He didn’t have time to stop Zhong Dao from singing the impromptu lyrics. Whether the lyrics are well written or not is another matter, but the singing… Is really good.

Fu Cuo kept thinking of Sui Qingchi and how he’d do things. He thought that Sui Qingchi wouldn’t sing it like this. He would sing it more loudly, like in the dome of a Church… Sui Qingchi wouldn’t sing so blandly here. He would definitely treat it as a memory point…

When Zhong Dao finished singing, he looked at Fu Cuo, returning him to his senses. He coughed and said, “I’m done checking the results. You can go now.”

Although Zhong Dao was stubborn, he was not shameless. He was rejected like this and had nothing more to say. He put down his sleeves, put on his backpack and left.

As soon as he opened the door, he suddenly stopped. Fu Cuo looked up and wanted to ask ‘What else do you want to say?‘ but he couldn’t utter a single word.

Sui Qingchi stood outside the door, his sunglasses reflecting Zhong Dao’s surprised expression. Fu Cuo looked at Zhong Dao and Sui Qingchi standing face to face. This scene looked very strange, as if Sui Qingchi, 18, and Sui Qingchi, 27, bumping into each other head-on. One wanted to be blind and the other wanted to tear the other apart.

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