Chapter 10: Not Good Enough

Chapter 10: Not Good Enough

That was a woman wearing a cyan one-piece long dress. She was about 1.7 meters tall, very slender, with fair skin and a high nose bridge.

Her facial features were very three-dimensional, her eyes were clear, and her aura was very unique, like an official’s daughter from an ancient painting of ladies.

Agent Zheng Rou immediately turned around and whispered, “Weiwei, why did you come out? Go back in quickly. You don’t need to worry about such a small matter.”

Chen Feng suddenly understood. This must be Lu Wei.

Sure enough, just as the rumors said, she followed the path of an ethereal fairy who seemed detached from the mortal world.

She appeared very approachable, and her expression wasn’t arrogant, but Chen Feng always felt a hint of coldness in the way she looked at people.

Lu Wei did not follow Zheng Rou’s suggestion to leave. Instead, she quickly walked forward, slightly raised her head, and looked directly at Chen Feng. “The entire music industry knows how picky I am. You are the first songwriter who dared to come to my company to sell a song. You are quite interesting.”

Chen Feng felt very awkward.

Such cringy lines, too chuuni.

It gave the illusion of a domineering CEO from a low-quality idol drama.

The reason he dared to come was purely because he had nowhere else to go.

He also genuinely didn’t know that Lu Wei didn’t accept songs from outsiders, otherwise he wouldn’t have come.

Seeing him silent, Lu Wei clasped her hands behind her back and walked back. “I’ll give you five minutes.”

Watching her back, Chen Feng took a deep breath.

The opportunity was right in front of him. Whether he could seize it depended on this one move.

He quickly followed. Zheng Rou, who was beside him, also moved to his side as if to keep a close eye on him, guarding against him like a thief.

In the simple recording studio with excellent soundproofing, Chen Feng gently strummed the guitar strings and sang softly.

Compared to those naturally gifted good voices, Chen Feng’s voice sounded very average. If he hadn’t practiced a lot, his pitch might have been off.

In short, Chen Feng sang quite ordinarily. Lu Wei only listened quietly, while Zheng Rou occasionally showed a playful smile on her face.

After singing the first half, Chen Feng stopped just before the chorus.

Lu Wei slowly opened her eyes. Her expression showed no ups and downs or fluctuations.

“Mr. Chen, are you sure this is a song you created personally?”

She didn’t comment on how the song was but suddenly asked a question.

Chen Feng was slightly startled inside but kept his composure on the surface. “Yes.”

Lu Wei nodded lightly, and her eyes gradually became somewhat meaningful.

Chen Feng felt nervous under her gaze, not very confident.

He even began to doubt himself. When Zhong Lei wrote “Dullness,” could she have communicated with Lu Wei in advance and, in turn, drawn inspiration from Lu Wei, with the basic melody coming from Lu Wei’s side?

Was he walking right into a trap?

“The musical style of this song is very novel, and the lyrics are also quite interesting. It’s a fairly good song.”

Lu Wei finally spoke.

Chen Feng’s heart, which had just been in his throat, slowly settled back down. “Thank you for the compliment.”

“But it’s not stunning enough, not enough to make my eyes light up. Also, your playing and singing skills are quite lacking; that’s probably another reason I wasn’t further moved. In short, it’s good, but not good enough. So, I’m sorry.”

Lu Wei was really good with words, completely the opposite extreme compared to Zhong Lei. She spoke flawlessly, and even her rejection didn’t make people feel the slightest bit of resentment.

Chen Feng said helplessly, “Alright, then I’ve really bothered you today.”

He didn’t understand how Zhong Lei’s debut work, which established her position among the top hundred in the music scene for a thousand years, became ‘not good enough’ for Lu Wei.

Although this was only Zhong Lei’s early work, it shouldn’t be something people listened to and still didn’t want, right?

“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Chen. Actually, there are two reasons I reject this song. First, just as Sister Rou said earlier, I basically only sing my own songs now. So, for me to buy someone else’s song, that song must be so good that it makes my eyes light up and my heart race. Second, this song has a bit of a cynical feel, with a relatively dark emotional background, which doesn’t quite match the musical style I’ve always had.”

Chen Feng felt a little better inside. “I understand.”

“Here’s what I’ll do: although I won’t buy it myself, if later I have friends in the industry who are releasing new albums and want to acquire songs, and I think the style fits, I’ll recommend your song to them.”

After saying this, Lu Wei turned her face away and yawned, seeming a bit sleepy.

Zheng Rou, who had been standing beside her all along, immediately stepped forward and said, “Weiwei, you didn’t sleep well last night. You should go eat and rest early.”

Lu Wei agreed and then looked at Chen Feng. “Sorry about that. That’s it for now. Please leave your phone number with Sister Rou. If there’s an opportunity, Sister Rou will contact you.”

Chen Feng nodded and clasped his hands in a slight bow. “Thank you. Then I’ll take my leave.”

He quickly packed up his guitar, turned around, and left.

After he had gone far, presumably having taken the elevator, Lu Wei, who had seemed sleepy-eyed earlier, became energetic again, holding her stomach and laughing heartily.

Zheng Rou was puzzled. “What’s wrong? Weiwei, what are you laughing at?”

“I really didn’t see it. This Chen Feng guy looks quite manly on the outside, but there’s a little girl living in his heart.”

As Lu Wei spoke, she laughed.

Zheng Rou asked, bewildered, “Why do you say that?”

“There’s a saying that the handwriting reflects the person. Actually, this saying fits even better with music creation. Every song, especially from a songwriter who handles both lyrics and composition, is almost a true reflection of their inner self. The essence of songwriting is to spread out one’s inner world and broadcast it through music. For a songwriter, the greatest achievement isn’t fame, but gaining more resonance with one’s own inner world.”

“You think this song was written by a woman, so you asked him earlier if he created it personally?” Zheng Rou asked.

Lu Wei nodded. “Yes.”

Zheng Rou said, “But it sounded quite bold and powerful to me. Some female composers write bold works too.”

Lu Wei smiled. “Sister Rou, different fields have different experts. I can’t explain it clearly to you. It’s a kind of hard-to-describe sense of smell.”

Zheng Rou smiled wryly and shook her head. “Forget it, forget it. Anyway, I just need to be a good agent for you. This isn’t my specialty; it’s okay if I don’t understand. But speaking of which, this Chen Feng is still quite interesting.”

“Yeah, so what I just said was also serious. We can’t mess with her. I’ll keep an eye out for opportunities for him later.”

“Why help him?”

“I don’t know. It’s just rare to see someone with such clear eyes, without a trace of distracting thoughts. It feels quite interesting. And Sister Rou, didn’t you hear what he said? He never studied music before; he learned everything on his own. Someone who can teach themselves to write such a song shows he has strong creative talent. Maybe he’ll give me a big surprise in the future?”

“That’s true.”

The conversation between the two upstairs was unknown to Chen Feng.

He completely took Lu Wei’s offer of a referral as mere politeness and didn’t hold any hope for it.

If Lu Wei really valued him, she would have asked for his contact information personally, or at least exchanged WeChat or something, not just had him leave a number with Zheng Rou.

He had seen too much of this kind of social courtesy; he was so used to it he had become numb.

He opened his notebook again and drew a final line through the name Reed Studio.

He had tried almost all the somewhat reliable music companies and studios in Hanzhou City.

Complete wipeout.

Chen Feng looked at the upcoming schedule for Kelai Apartment. The year-end was approaching; many landlords’ and tenants’ contracts were about to expire. He would be very busy.

He felt bitter inside.

It was impossible for him to quit his job for these two songs and travel around everywhere trying to sell them.

Although life was frugal now, at least he had a stable, formal job.

To drop everything for two songs and embark on the uncertain path of selling songs—who knew what the future would hold?

What if he still couldn’t sell them after a year or so?

Wait to die?

He would just keep living like this for now and see if any suitable opportunities came up later.