Chapter 53: I Just Learned

Chapter 53: I Just Learned

“What do you think Miss Lu Wei is really thinking? Isn’t she making Zhou A a little too angry?”

“Right. Actually, Zhou A seemed ready to back down at that moment. Was it really necessary to kick him out?”

“You didn’t see the look on Zhou A’s face when he left. He really looked like he wanted to eat someone.”

“Miss Lu Wei isn’t afraid of Zhou A, but the elders of the Zhou family are a bit troublesome too. Miss Lu Wei acted a bit rashly.”

“I wonder what she sees in those two?”

“Who knows? But didn’t she also say she would have a private chat with Zhou A later? Given Miss Lu Wei’s status, she probably just needs to say a few nice words, and Zhou A will take the chance to save face.”

“The thoughts of important people are hard to understand.”

…

Although Lu Wei’s handling was perfect, almost flawless, it still caused some unrest among the people.

Especially those from the business and entertainment circles who came today and had been surrounding Zhou A.

This group felt hurt.

Given their status, they had no real chance to connect with Lu Wei. At best, they could only say happy birthday and get their faces seen.

It was unlikely Lu Wei would cooperate with them.

They came here today. On the surface, it was just to lavish praise on Zhou A. In reality, each of them had their own requests for Zhou A, hoping to reach some kind of agreement with him in a certain field or business.

They came to build connections, network, and talk business.

But now Zhou A was kicked out, and they didn’t leave with him, which felt a little awkward.

Everyone knew Zhou A was petty and held grudges.

These people couldn’t help but feel uneasy inside. They failed to take action at the critical moment to show their support for him. Would he hold a grudge against them?

What if, in the end, they couldn’t secure any business deals and instead ended up offending him?

But if these people were given another choice, they would still stay.

Leaving would offend Lu Wei.

Staying would offend Zhou A.

Which was more important, everyone clearly understood.

Yet the most painful point for them was that even if they didn’t offend Lu Wei, they wouldn’t gain any benefits either. So they could only gather together like this and whisper complaints quietly.

Right then, the sound of a speaker system echoed through the small courtyard. Lu Wei had taken the stage to speak.

First, she briefly thanked all the guests for taking their precious time to come. Then she cracked a few harmless jokes to liven up the atmosphere.

These things had little substance or depth, but so-called social interaction was probably made up of such content.

“Everyone knows my usual rule. I normally sing two songs. But Jiaqi just released a new song this time, so I’m inviting Jiaqi to the stage to sing a song for everyone. How about that?”

The crowd clapped politely to show their welcome.

A few bosses and executives from traditional CD distribution channels publicly stated they would definitely increase their orders and marketing efforts when the time came.

The representatives sent by several domestic online music platforms were also very supportive. They immediately offered high-specification Grade-B contracts on the spot. The vice president of KuGe even brought out their top-tier Grade-A contract.

Previously, KuGe’s strategy of eagerly scooping up new artists and songs to try and overtake the competition was executed quite well. They almost succeeded in overtaking Qyin.

But when the godly song “Dullness” appeared, KuGe’s entire season of heavy investment and fierce chasing became completely useless.

This hurt KuGe deeply.

Lin Youyi, the head of KuGe’s copyright department, was even transferred from his position because of this. It seemed like a lateral move, but it was actually a demotion.

Although Lin Youyi performed quite well when trying to win over the song “Dullness”, with foresight and correct judgment.

But in the business world, people mostly look at results, not the process.

It’s all about results. The capable rise, the incompetent fall.

Lin Youyi failed to help KuGe get this song, causing the company to fall further behind Qyin.

So someone had to take the blame, and it could only be Lin Youyi.

When He Jiaqi walked onto the stage holding a microphone with an electric guitar on her back, those onlookers who had been paying full attention to the conflict between Chen Feng, Zhong Lei, and Zhou A realized what was going on.

Wasn’t the new song that college student sang earlier exactly the one Chen Feng wrote for He Jiaqi?

“Thank you Weiwei for giving me this opportunity. Next, I’ll bring you my new song, ‘Night Has Grown Deep’.” He Jiaqi lightly tapped the guitar in her arms and added, “Because we haven’t started official production yet, there’s no backing track. Today, I’ll accompany myself on the guitar.”

Lu Wei beside her promptly chimed in, “Did everyone hear that? Today, you all have the good fortune to hear the true collector’s edition premiere of a new song. Thank you, Jiaqi.”

Hearing it was really a private collector’s edition premiere, the atmosphere in the venue indeed became slightly more excited.

Everyone immediately held their breath and quieted down.

He Jiaqi smiled, plucked two chords briefly, but then stopped.

“This is a rock song. Just having guitar accompaniment doesn’t seem flavorful enough. How about this? I’ll invite the creator who single-handedly wrote the lyrics and composed ‘Night Has Grown Deep’, the most talented musical genius I’ve ever met, Teacher Chen Feng, to come on stage as a drummer, to play the drum kit for me. How about that?”

As she spoke, staff members carried a drum kit onto the stage.

These people hadn’t discussed it with him beforehand, so Chen Feng was caught off guard.

During his last dream, he had indeed learned to play the drums, but he hadn’t practiced them as much as the guitar. In his own view, he was just passable.

More importantly, he had never performed publicly before, and he hadn’t planned to step onto the stage.

But He Jiaqi’s reason was quite reasonable, making it hard to refuse.

“You… can you play the drums?”

Zhong Lei whispered, asking. She had heard Chen Feng play the guitar many times, but never the drums.

On stage, Lu Wei and He Jiaqi were waving at Chen Feng.

These two didn’t even consider whether Chen Feng could play the drums or not.

How could someone who could write such a song not know how to play the core instrument in the score?

“Forget it. I’ll go.”

Chen Feng lifted his foot and walked up a step.

Lu Wei smiled brightly.

He Jiaqi looked full of anticipation.

Zhong Lei watched his back, showing a rare trace of worry.

Sitting down at the drum kit, Chen Feng looked left and right, then personally moved the arrangement of the drum kit pieces around a bit.

This was his habit.

As the saying goes, with one move from an expert, you can tell if they have skill or not.

Chen Feng’s simple adjustment, in the eyes of those who knew, carried an inexplicable sense of meaning.

He always thought of himself as a craftsman, because he never felt he had a natural gift.

So, when Chen Feng was learning, he used a very methodical and strict approach. He didn’t seek any bursts of creative inspiration, only striving for precise reproduction.

He didn’t think there was anything special about his little habit, after all, he had never discussed performance with anyone else.

When it came to performing on stage, he was extremely lacking in confidence.

“Well, let me say this first. I can write songs, but I’m not that great at playing. You might not believe it, but two months ago I was a complete beginner. I just learned the drums this month. So consider this learning and performing at the same time. If I don’t play well later and make a fool of myself, please don’t laugh at me.”

He spoke these words, which were in a sense the honest truth, with “humility” and “modesty”.

But He Jiaqi and Lu Wei were surprised.

He Jiaqi asked, “Really?”

Chen Feng nodded. “Absolutely true. I just learned it this month.”