Chapter 17: Way Too Overpowered

Chapter 17: Way Too Overpowered

Zhong Lei was truly convinced.

“I’m only proficient in about two or three of the instruments you mentioned, and only have a little experience with the others. Even though it’s kind of annoying how you pretended to be weak to defeat a stronger opponent, I still want to apologize for my earlier sarcasm towards you.”

Chen Feng laughed awkwardly. “It’s fine. I was just joking with you at the time.”

“No. For someone who already knows how to ride a bike to pretend they don’t is actually very difficult. You even fooled me back then, which just shows the gap between us is really too big. It means my own skills aren’t refined enough.”

Chen Feng was speechless.

If he didn’t know his own circumstances, he might have almost believed Zhong Lei’s words and started getting arrogant.

Who would have thought, you, a girl with thick eyebrows and big eyes, would also betray the revolution and speak such pleasing words.

Looking at the original creator of this song, the real, genuine master from a thousand years later, Zhong Lei, being completely shocked by her own work, Chen Feng felt a very twisted feeling in his heart.

But then he thought again, didn’t this mean that in the next five short years, Zhong Lei had forcefully transformed herself from what she called knowing only two or three instruments into an all-around master?

Thinking carefully, you are actually the more formidable one!

“You’re too kind. Let’s encourage each other.”

Chen Feng decisively didn’t dare to act arrogantly anymore and said modestly.

“I’d believe you, yeah right. Okay, we saved that hundred thousand, but we’re still short fifty thousand.”

Zhong Lei got back to the main topic.

Chen Feng thought for a moment. “I can come up with fifty thousand on my end. But if I also put in fifty thousand, and since I wrote the song and arranged the music, I should take seventy percent of the profits. What do you think? Oh, and for the copyright of the version you sing, I also get seventy percent.”

Zhong Lei hesitated a little.

Actually, this way, she was at a slight disadvantage.

What if the song became popular?

She would lose out on a lot in the future.

But she quickly realized, if this song really became popular, would she still be short of money?

Just like Chen Feng, she urgently needed this chance to take off.

He was clearly still helping her, so why worry about the details?

“Deal!”

She agreed immediately.

Finally settling the matter, a huge weight lifted from Chen Feng’s heart.

Even though he gave up two hundred thousand and even threw in his own fifty thousand savings, he felt not the slightest regret. Instead, he felt quite satisfied and fulfilled.

He was even calculating that this wasn’t just a one-time deal sold for two hundred thousand, but a very long-term investment.

As long as Zhong Lei’s development path didn’t deviate too much from the other Timeline, the future profits he could recoup from that seventy percent copyright would be immeasurable.

The cost was only fifty thousand! A huge profit! An explosive win!

Zhong Lei didn’t think this way.

She didn’t think her singing was a premium resource. She believed Chen Feng’s core investment was the song “Dullness.”

So much so that even though she only put in fifty thousand and got thirty percent of the profits, she still felt slightly indebted to Chen Feng.

Zhong Lei didn’t understand. They were clearly strangers. Why was he so nice to her?

“Hey, Chen Feng, let me ask you a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“You’re not really trying to hit on me, are you?”

Zhong Lei asked with full-on wariness.

Chen Feng was stunned. He really wanted to tell her she sure thought highly of herself.

“What do you mean? Am I crazy?” He decisively played dumb.

“If not, then why did you write a song for me? And let me sing it? Suddenly I feel, with your ability, writing songs for others shouldn’t be too bad either, right?”

Chen Feng had no way to explain this. The conversation hit a dead end.

“You ask too many questions. Please don’t be like a peacock showing off its feathers and getting the wrong idea. I’m afraid I really have no intention of pursuing you. I wrote ‘Dullness’ simply because meeting you inspired me. Don’t say corny things like ‘writing a song for you’.”

Zhong Lei then relaxed a bit. “That’s good. I’ll say it upfront; I’m a non-marriage believer.”

“Come on, why are you so confident? On one hand, you dislike others pursuing you, and on the other, you assume everyone in the world will fall for you. Don’t you get tired living like that?” Chen Feng said impatiently.

Zhong Lei felt embarrassed by his words. “Ahem, let’s make things clear now so we won’t become enemies in the future.”

Chen Feng got a bit angry. Just sing the song. Isn’t it good to make money together nicely?

Can we not stir up all this romance drama?

“I have two questions. Were we on very good terms before?”

Zhong Lei thought and shook her head. “Not really.”

“Are we on very good terms now?”

Zhong Lei gave a very fair assessment. “Just so-so.”

Chen Feng nodded. “See? Since it’s never been very good, how can we become enemies?”

“That’s true, ha… haha…”

Perfect awkward chat. Topic terminated.

The next day was the weekend. Chen Feng was off work, so the two of them went to a law firm to sign the contract.

Even brothers keep clear accounts. They clarified their respective responsibilities and rights in advance to avoid future disputes.

Neither of them had a manager; they had to handle everything personally.

After signing the contract and returning, Chen Feng gave the complete sheet music to Zhong Lei.

“Let me guide you through singing the whole song first.”

As Zhong Lei looked down at the sheet music, Chen Feng said this.

“No need. I’ll look at the score myself. I’ll sing it on my own first. If there are problems, you can point them out.”

“Alright.”

An hour later, Zhong Lei came down.

At this moment, an extremely intense light was shining in her eyes.

She finally knew what the complete state of the song “Dullness” was like.

The feeling was exactly like a foodie tasting a signature dish from a state banquet chef, or like an old drunkard drinking an eighty-year-old top-tier Maotai.

How satisfying was that!

She had initially anticipated an emotional reversal in the latter half of “Dullness” and had been imagining and guessing what the reversal in lyrics and melody would be like.

When she saw the complete sheet music and had already sung it once upstairs with a pilgrim-like state of mind, she finally understood.

She just wanted to say, Chen Feng was really strong!

This was too perfect!

The suppression and gloom of the first half formed a perfect contrast with the passion and defiance of the second half. Whether it was the lyrics, the melody, or the emotion, they echoed each other seamlessly.

When singing the first half, the low mood could bring one to tears, but after singing the second half, passion surged, goosebumps rose uncontrollably all over, making one just want to ask how high the sky was, how thick the earth was, how vast the Universe was.

Even more terrifying was that this was precisely the flavor she had vaguely deduced during her days of daydreaming recently.

She herself also felt that everything about this song should be exactly like this; the perfect melody she had been pondering and speculating about in her heart should be exactly like this!

Therefore, even though she was prepared, her admiration for Chen Feng still became like a mighty river, unstoppable.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Feeling uneasy under her gaze, Chen Feng grew apprehensive.

He was also a bit panicked. Please don’t really fall in love with me!

What established Zhong Lei’s place in history wasn’t love songs.

According to historical records, she never developed romantic feelings for anyone in her life.

If she fell in love with him and wrote nothing but stuff about love and affection, or worse, some whiny heartbreak songs about emotional setbacks, then it would be over.

“I find that I still underestimated you.”

After a long while, Zhong Lei slowly said.

“Stop talking about all this nonsense. You sing.”

Chen Feng didn’t want to chat with her anymore and urged.

Zhong Lei took a deep breath, picked up her high-end Guitar worth thirty thousand, and ran her fingers over the Guitar strings.

A continuous, pleasant Guitar sound rose.

Chen Feng only vaguely felt that, with the same foundation, Zhong Lei’s prelude had changed compared to before.

From the very beginning, she firmly grasped the emotional reversal and progression of the song.

She began to sing.

A long time later, as her voice gradually faded and the Guitar’s final notes vanished, the room fell into a prolonged silence.

Zhong Lei wasn’t speaking because she was very nervous; Chen Feng, the song’s creator, evaluation of her performance was very important.

Chen Feng wasn’t speaking because he was dumbfounded.

He was completely shocked.

Damn it all!

She really didn’t need him to guide her. She just looked at the sheet music once and sang it exactly with this feel!

This time it was absolutely the original sound reproduction, no doubt about it. It was exactly the same as the “Dullness” he heard a thousand years later in his dream, a song that had been passed down for a millennium!

Precise down to the detail of every pronunciation, precise down to every hidden breath adjustment.

Pitch, intonation, emotion, every aspect was perfect to the extreme.

Chen Feng just wanted to say, Zhong Lei was really strong!

Way too overpowered!

If this song didn’t become popular after being released, it would simply defy all reason!