Chapter 56: Double the Joy

Chapter 56: Double the Joy

“No, you keep saying you’re not someone who judges by looks, but isn’t this still judging by appearances? Besides, if I lost weight, I’d definitely be good-looking too!”

“You should lose the weight first before saying that! Can you not talk about things that haven’t happened yet as if they’re a given?”

Chen Feng wasn’t the kind of person who got familiar with others easily.

On the contrary, he was actually very wary of strangers and wouldn’t readily accept someone’s friendship.

But Fatty Ou Junlang probably had ninety percent of his skill points allocated to getting chummy with people.

Although Chen Feng was left feeling both amused and exasperated, the inherent distance he kept from strangers was unconsciously shortened.

“Alright, enough joking around. Chen Feng, let me introduce you.”

Lu Wei stepped in at the right moment. If the two kept arguing like this, it would probably never end. “This is the future successor of the Ouhe Group, Ou Junlang.”

“The Ouhe Group?” Chen Feng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood. “That Ouhe Group? The one people in Jiangnan Province can’t avoid for food, drink, shelter, and pretty much everything else?”

“Ahem, Teacher Chen, you’re exaggerating. It’s not that impressive. My father just runs a small business to get by, that’s all.”

Ou Junlang said modestly.

Chen Feng nodded. “That’s one very nutritious way to ‘get by’.”

Ou Junlang said, “If you keep this up, I’m going to get mad at you!”

Chen Feng curled his lip. “As if you aren’t already mad.”

“Let’s not talk about that for now. Look, I’m even calling you ‘teacher’. Bro, I’m serious. Sell me two songs. I really love music. If I don’t make a name for myself soon, I’m going to…”

Chen Feng said, “…have to go home and inherit the family business worth billions, right?”

Ou Junlang was shocked. “How did you know!”

Chen Feng chuckled. Wasn’t it obvious?

He really wanted to refuse outright. After all, this Fatty seemed completely unreliable no matter how you looked at him.

If he sang, he’d probably have to pay to produce an album himself, and he wouldn’t sell many copies. That would damage Chen Feng’s reputation as a genius songwriter.

But since Lu Wei came over to introduce them and seemed to intend to connect them, refusing too bluntly wouldn’t be good.

“I’m not very familiar with your singing skills and style. Tell you what, later send me two of your representative songs to listen to, and I’ll think about whether I can write something for you. If it really doesn’t work out, don’t blame me.”

Ou Junlang’s plump face, which didn’t match his name at all, scrunched up in discomfort, like a badly wrapped, failed meat bun.

“I… I don’t have any representative songs.”

Chen Feng froze on the spot. He really wanted to use this as a reason to block him.

But he himself had faced setbacks everywhere for the very same reason before. The only person who gave him a chance back then was Lu Wei, the woman standing beside him now.

He forced a friendly smile onto his face and patted Ou Junlang on the shoulder. “It’s okay. Then just sing the songs by others that you’re best at. It’s the same.”

“Great! Then I’ll go prepare right now! I have some recordings from before, but they’re on my assistant’s phone. I’ll have him send them over immediately.”

After saying that, Ou Junlang turned and ran off.

After he left, Chen Feng wiped the sweat from his brow and complained to Lu Wei beside him, “You’re really giving me a tough problem here.”

Lu Wei shook her head. “I’m helping you. This time, you offended Zhou A too deeply. Today, although I managed to hold him back, my influence only works here. Once you walk out of this door, if he wants to cause trouble for you again, I won’t have much I can do. But if you can become friends with Ou Junlang, Zhou A won’t dare to act so recklessly anymore.”

Only then did Chen Feng understand her real intention. “Thank you.”

The Ouhe Group was a local enterprise in Hanzhou City, Jiangnan Province, but its strength was immense. Its industries covered materials, energy, construction, environmental protection, and many other areas. It was the leading entity in the manufacturing industry of the entire Jiangnan Province.

If Ou Junlang was covering for him, things would be much easier.

“You don’t need to feel like you owe him too big a favor. He’s just like that. In the small circle of Hanzhou, everyone knows Ou Junlang and Zhou A don’t get along. He already disliked Zhou A and often put him in his place on various occasions. Today he arrived a bit late. Otherwise, when Zhou A was giving you trouble earlier, he probably would have jumped in first.”

Chen Feng understood. “So that’s how it is.”

“Ou Junlang is also genuinely sincere about wanting to sing. He’s spent a lot of wasted money on it and worked very hard. It’s just a pity he never sees any improvement. As far as I know, he made a three-point agreement with his father. If there’s no significant improvement within two years, he really will be dragged back home.”

“Alright, I’ll listen to his songs first.”

Actually, after Lu Wei’s analysis of the pros and cons, Chen Feng was already tempted.

Then Lu Wei remembered the main reason she came over and asked Chen Feng if he could play the CD.

Chen Feng naturally wouldn’t refuse this free pre-release advertising and agreed immediately.

Lu Wei went off excitedly.

A minute later, the intro to “Monotony” began playing in the courtyard.

Inside a room on the second floor, several popular female singers sat with Zhong Lei.

Lu Wei made a sound of surprise and asked, “The same style as ‘Dullness’?”

Zhong Lei nodded. “The style is consistent, but it has been elevated.”

The others glanced at her with slight surprise.

The word “elevated” might sound casual, but it carried significant meaning and shouldn’t be used lightly.

Zhong Lei’s confidence was very strong.

However, after the simple intro passed and Zhong Lei’s singing began, they slowly understood what she meant.

At a cursory listen, the structures of “Dullness” and “Monotony” were indeed the same, but there were some extremely skillful subtle details that fundamentally distinguished the two songs.

The others in the courtyard outside were also gradually drawn in by the singing.

At first, people were just curious that this seemed to be a new song they had never heard before.

But not long after, their emotions were gradually swept into the song.

The sounds of conversation in Caiwei Cottage slowly faded away, leaving only the singing.

…

“So, what does everyone think of this song?”

The song had been finished for a long time, and the room was still silent. Zhong Lei broke the silence to ask.

Actually, she wasn’t really seeking others’ opinions.

She herself knew the song was very good. She just felt she should say something to end the silent atmosphere.

After a long while, it was Chen Li who spoke first. “Teacher Chen is too amazing, beyond imagination amazing. If I had known about this song earlier, I would have paid a million for it! Sigh… But it’s okay, it’s not too late to buy it now! If Teacher Chen has any new songs, I’ll pay a million! Don’t anyone try to snatch it from me! I’m almost going crazy wanting to release a new album.”

Chen Li hadn’t expected that, after missing “Dullness” a month ago, she would now miss two more classic songs in a row: “Night Has Grown Deep” and “Monotony”. She was clearly the first one to express interest in buying Chen Feng’s songs!

So it must be that a low offer gives you no rights. Given this quality, offering two hundred thousand was definitely a joke.

She heard He Jiaqi paid eight hundred thousand for “Night Has Grown Deep”. She probably really needed to offer a million to show she was serious.

The others were a little surprised.

A million per song was absolutely a shocking, sky-high price in the industry.

Chen Li’s determination was clear.

Everyone thought to themselves that if Chen Li and Chen Feng really agreed on this price, it would naturally mark Chen Feng becoming the highest-paid music producer in the country at the moment. This set a baseline for the others present.

In the future, when they wanted to buy songs from Chen Feng, they probably couldn’t offer a price lower than this, could they?

This group of people didn’t know yet that outside, Chen Feng was already being pestered by Ou Junlang again.

Ou Junlang, having just finished listening to “Monotony”, rushed to block Chen Feng first.

“Teacher Chen! This is also written by you, right? It must be! I’m begging you! Give me one! No matter what price others buy from you at, I’ll pay double! Double!”

Chen Feng grinned widely. “Really?”

He laughed very happily.

Because, three seconds ago, his WeChat chimed. It was a message from Zhong Lei.

“Chen Li says she wants to buy your new songs for a million each.”

Double the joy. It felt wonderful.

This easy mark.

I’ll take advantage of him, and he’ll still have to say thank you and cover for me.

What a good guy.