Chapter 45: You Can Be Even More Second-Guessing

Chapter 45: You Can Be Even More Second-Guessing

Since Chen Feng had firmly decided not to return to Kelai Apartment, he naturally threw himself wholeheartedly into preparing for other matters.

He ultimately refused Zhong Lei’s proposal for him to invest in a talent agency; he felt it was unnecessary.

For one, he wasn’t familiar with the industry and figured there would be many hassles.

For another, relationships between people often break down precisely when money gets involved.

Chen Feng could “write songs” for Zhong Lei and help her with minor, inconsequential matters. They could also collaborate as deeply as possible. But Chen Feng believed he absolutely must not become her manager.

In the original timeline, Zhong Lei had never signed with any talent agency, always operating as a solo studio.

This made her path to stardom slightly more rugged, but the benefit was that she had far fewer forced engagements than other artists. She could focus on being herself, which was why she always produced stunning work.

She never engaged in hype, and she didn’t need to.

She didn’t do many commercial performances or endorsements, but she wasn’t short of money.

She made her living through her creations.

At first, making money was quite hard for her. But as she worked on one song after another, eventually releasing an album with global platinum sales, she never worried about money again in her life.

Chen Feng had already changed Zhong Lei’s life too much. He thought his best move next might not be to monopolize her entirely, but to gently guide her back onto her proper track.

Even if the overall timeline couldn’t revert to the past, the environment around Zhong Lei personally could gradually approach that other “real” timeline under Chen Feng’s subtle guidance.

Zhong Lei was quite disappointed about his refusal, but Chen Feng’s reason was that he also needed to focus on creating, and being a manager would be a distraction. Zhong Lei completely bought this explanation and believed him without question.

“Alright, don’t worry about such trivial matters. Your top priority now is to finish ‘Monotony’. Look, you’ve been practicing for days. Just stop practicing and stick to the original plan: hire people. I still own seventy percent of the song’s copyright, so I should also cover seventy percent of the investment. I have over two hundred thousand here, take it for now. In a few days, Q Music should send the payment, which will just cover the rest.”

One day, Chen Feng urged Zhong Lei to go to Zhonghai to record the song.

Unexpectedly, Zhong Lei shook her head. “I don’t think we need to go to Zhonghai.”

“Huh?”

Zhong Lei smiled proudly. “I can basically play all the instruments for this song’s accompaniment just by following the score now.”

Chen Feng was shocked. “What? No way! You learned all those different instruments? Even you couldn’t be that fast!”

Zhong Lei said, “What’s so strange about that? You improved even faster than me, didn’t you? Besides, I’m not truly mastering them, I’m just practicing those few specific notes from your score over and over. But the principles of music are interconnected. Even though I’m quite amateurish, if I slowly play the parts repeatedly, it should work. We can save a lot of money.”

Seeing Chen Feng about to say something more, Zhong Lei persuaded him. “My mind is made up, don’t try to talk me out of it. It’s unnecessary. Oh, and about the copyright: you own seventy percent, but the song you wrote already counts as your investment. Like this song you’re selling to He Jiaqi, you plan to charge five hundred thousand for it, right? So don’t measure value with money. Otherwise, I’d owe you money. Right?”

Chen Feng thought what she said made perfect sense, yet something still felt off.

“Fine, you’re the boss.”

He shrugged, too lazy to argue further.

Over the next week, Chen Feng talked about working hard, but his days were incredibly leisurely.

During this time, he followed his original plan and went to Jiangnan Conservatory of Music in Hanzhou, intending to find a reliable female student to sing the demo for “Night Has Grown Deep”.

As the top music school in the province, Jiangnan Conservatory of Music, while not as prestigious as the Zhonghai Conservatory of Music that Zhong Lei dropped out from, still had quite talented students.

On his way to the school, Chen Feng had set a very high standard in his mind and was quite worried he wouldn’t find a suitable demo singer.

One is judged by the company one keeps. Being around someone like Zhong Lei all the time, his expectations for other singers naturally rose.

But, surprisingly, he found a suitable candidate almost effortlessly; the whole process took less than five minutes.

The school wasn’t closed off, so he swaggered right onto campus.

Then, he randomly asked someone on the road how to contact a vocal music major’s academic advisor.

Truly, art schools were different. Out of ten girls, nine were beautiful, and the tenth was a goddess.

He wasn’t purposely picking, but the girl he approached was quite good-looking—tall, with a ponytail, wearing a white vest and fitted trousers. In an ordinary university, she’d easily be campus queen material.

The situation unfolded like this: Chen Feng stopped her and explained his purpose.

The girl first said she could take him to find someone, and it was very convenient because she happened to be a junior vocal music major herself.

But she didn’t immediately agree to make an introduction. Instead, she tilted her head and observed Chen Feng with great wariness.

Chen Feng understood her caution. After all, besides beautiful girls and handsome guys, the third most common sight at this school was creeps.

Chen Feng took out his phone, tapped to play a song out loud—it was the highly popular recent track, “Dullness”.

The girl was confused. “I’ve heard ‘Dullness’. It’s great. I even know the singer Zhong Lei is also from Hanzhou, and that the producer handled all the lyrics, composition, and arrangement alone. Rumor has it the producer isn’t professionally trained, but a true self-taught genius. So? What’s your point playing this for me?”

As expected of a music major, she kept up with the trends, was very well-informed, and knew the details.

Chen Feng blushed slightly, then pulled out his ID card, pointing to the name. “Oh, I’m that producer, Chen Feng.”

“Ah!”

A sharp shriek shattered the campus tranquility.

A long moment later, the girl named Qin Lu finally calmed down.

“My god! Is it really you?”

“This is crazy! Completely insane!”

“I’m your idol… no, you’re my fan… damn it, my stupid mouth. Anyway, I worship you!”

“I want to have your babies!”

That was her state after calming down.

Chen Feng had never seen such a scene before and was nearly scared off on the spot.

This girl seemed calm on the surface, but deep down, she was a bit of a nutcase!

Things in the world can be so coincidental. Although Qin Lu was a student, she knew her stuff.

She understood what was truly impressive about the song “Dullness”, so she held an almost fanatical admiration for its producer, Chen Feng.

But she didn’t fare well. Her overly-idiotic behavior earned her a “nutcase” label in Chen Feng’s mind.

If he wasn’t still counting on her to lead the way, Chen Feng would have turned and run.

“Brother Feng, what do you need our advisor for? Do you want to give a lecture at the school?”

After confirming Chen Feng’s identity, Qin Lu lost all her previous wariness. Instead, she acted like they were old friends, pulling Chen Feng along as she walked and talked.

Chen Feng freed his hand from the strange girl’s grip and said, “I wrote a new rock-style song and need someone to sing a demo for me. That’s why I came to your school to look for someone.”

“Rock style? I’m good at that! Choose me!”

Qin Lu stopped walking, turned her head, and said with great confidence.