ECG -Chapter 114 Hai Zhi Yun Music Store

“Other than one distortion pedal being missing, everything else is fine. Mr. Lin, should I write down the discount for you?” Liu Ya asked with a smile.

Lin Hao nodded.

Liu Ya’s Arabic numerals were beautifully written. It was obvious she had practiced them over many years. For many of the prices, she didn’t even need to think before quickly writing the retail prices and discounted prices on Lin Hao’s piece of paper.

“Mr. Lin, take a look!”

Lin Hao took it and carefully went through it. After all, he only had this much money, and it really didn’t go very far.

At this moment, he once again felt extremely fortunate. Luckily, he would soon be able to sell nineteen songs and get another 3.8 million yuan in income. Otherwise, he would feel even more pain spending this money.

The six Roland amplifiers included one dedicated amplifier each for the electric bass and electric piano, two dedicated amplifiers for electric guitars, and the remaining two were multi-purpose ones. The average price was 7,200 yuan each.

An American DW five-piece drum kit cost 61,000 yuan, while a five-piece Istanbul cymbal set cost 16,000 yuan.

Lin Hao thought for a moment and said, “Add a cheaper domestic cymbal set too!”

“How about a Zhi Yin set? It’s less than 1,000 yuan!”

“Alright!” Lin Hao nodded.

There was no other way. Cymbals were consumables. Istanbul cymbals were expensive and delicate, so during rehearsals they should just use the cheapest ones.

He continued looking down the list.

A Fender 011-7400 electric guitar: 11,000 yuan, two guitars totaling 22,000 yuan;

A Roland RD-1000 electric piano and synthesizer: 65,000 yuan;

A Bach trumpet and pure silver mouthpiece: 12,200 yuan;

One suona: 390 yuan;

A Selmer E-flat alto saxophone: 42,000 yuan;

Eight microphones, a guitar wah pedal, a distortion pedal, a double-tier keyboard stand, extended microphone cables, instrument cables, and other accessories: another 8,500 yuan.

The final total came to 271,200 yuan. Lin Hao felt a sharp pang of pain, though he didn’t show it.

Liu Ya said to him, “Mr. Lin, how about this? If you can finalize the order today and don’t need an invoice, I’ll charge you exactly 270,000 yuan. I’ll also give you some guitar, bass, and saxophone stands, as well as strings, Vandoren French saxophone reeds, carrying bags for all the instruments, and the distortion pedal when it arrives!”

Lin Hao knew this was already the best possible price. If she hadn’t included the pedal, he might have tried bargaining a little more, but after hearing this, he stopped hesitating. He stood up and said, “Let’s go. I’ll pay by card!”

Liu Ya was delighted.

Actually, she had already prepared what she would say if he bargained again. After all, she had already given him a huge discount. But she hadn’t expected this young man to be so straightforward, which truly surprised her.

The two of them walked over to the cashier. Just as Lin Hao was about to swipe his card, Liu Ya asked, “Are you sure you don’t want an invoice?”

Lin Hao understood what she meant and smiled. “No need. Just write the item details honestly. I’m buying them for my own use!”

Lin Hao had plenty of experience with this. Buying something personally and buying something for a company were two completely different matters.

If he asked for an invoice, the price wouldn’t be this cheap. There would also be additional taxes.

Of course, he could add a little more money, and the music store would return the extra portion to him.

If he didn’t request an invoice, they could also adjust the item details. However much extra money he wanted added, the music store would write it down for him, as long as it wasn’t too outrageous. This was basically a disguised form of giving a rebate.

When Liu Ya heard Lin Hao say he was buying them for himself, she was even more surprised. Judging from his appearance, he didn’t look like someone wealthy. That left only one possibility: he and a few friends had pooled their money together to form a band.

However, judging from what he bought, these were all top-tier brands and models.

Of course, “top-tier” here only referred to the provincial capital. Looking at the entire country, they couldn’t really be considered the very best, but they were still extremely high-end equipment.

Lin Hao? Lin Hao?

As she watched Lin Hao paying by card, Liu Ya suddenly widened her eyes.

She remembered!

Over the past year or so, there had been more than a dozen songs that were especially popular in nightclubs. She had heard that the original songwriter was Lin Hao, the guitarist and singer from Duko Bar!

Could it be the same person?

After Lin Hao finished swiping his card, he noticed that the female shop owner was still staring at him blankly. He smiled and asked:

“Boss Liu, is something wrong?”

“Are you the Lin Hao who sings at Ferry Bar?”

Lin Hao was stunned. Had he become that famous already?

He nodded.

Liu Ya was delighted. “It really is you? I especially like your songs The First Snow of 2002 and The World Outside. They’re so good!”

Lin Hao smiled and nodded. “Thank you!”

“What are you doing?” Liu Ya asked curiously. She wanted to know why Lin Hao was buying so many instruments. “Are you planning to form a band?”

“Mm, a rock band!” Lin Hao replied with a smile.

“Rock?” Liu Ya was a little surprised. There weren’t many people playing hard rock in the provincial capital these days.

“Have you found a place to perform?” Liu Ya asked him. “Ever since Ferry closed down, I heard several bars have been looking for you these past few days. Are you still going to sing?”

Lin Hao quickly shook his head.

What a joke! His guitar was still at Ferry and he couldn’t even get it back!

Besides, during the day he had to study. The postgraduate entrance re-examination was coming up in April. At night, he had to lead the others in rehearsals. In May, he would have to go to Shanghai for the competition, and in June, he would have to go to Beijing for the music festival. Where would he find the time to sing at bars?

Not to mention, after selling his songs in a few days, he would earn another 3.8 million yuan. That was another huge sum of money. As long as he had enough money to spend, there was no need to earn that little bit of hard-earned cash from nightlife gigs.

Liu Ya looked a little disappointed. “What a pity. Then I won’t be able to hear you sing anymore!”

Lin Hao smiled. “Don’t worry. At the latest, before winter comes, you’ll be able to buy our band’s album!”

“Really?” Liu Ya’s eyes lit up again.

Lin Hao put away his bank card and nodded with a smile.

Liu Ya said somewhat embarrassedly, “I really was blind to your identity. If I had known it was you, I shouldn’t have made money off you!”

Lin Hao burst out laughing. “There’s still time. Give us a few more things. Things like the sustain pedal for the digital piano, and some other small items I forgot to buy!”

Liu Ya quickly nodded. “No problem!”

Lin Hao gave her a thumbs-up. “Boss Liu is generous!”

The two of them laughed together.

“Boss Liu, when can you deliver the goods?” Lin Hao asked.

Liu Ya thought for a moment. “It should be no problem before dinner. Where should we send them?”

“The Music Department of the Provincial Art Academy!”

“Alright, no problem!” After saying that, Liu Ya suddenly had an idea. “Mr. Lin, could I take a photo with you? You’re going to become more and more famous in the future, and I might not get another chance!”

Lin Hao was also surprised by how clever this woman was. However, he had a pretty good impression of her, so he smiled and agreed.

Liu Ya quickly asked the big-eyed female clerk to go to the office and bring out her digital camera.

The two first took a picture inside the shop, with a wall full of electric guitars hanging behind them. Then they walked outside and took another one standing on the steps.

Liu Ya shook hands with Lin Hao and asked with a smile, “Could I hang our photo in the music store in the future?”

Lin Hao smiled and nodded. “Sure, I authorize you.”

He knew she was only being polite. At least before he became famous, she probably wouldn’t actually put it up.

The two exchanged phone numbers, and only then did Lin Hao say goodbye.

Liu Ya watched Lin Hao walk away before happily returning to the shop. She had simply been thinking, whether there are dates or not, shoot three arrows anyway—she wasn’t even sure whether Lin Hao would really become famous.

At this moment, she never could have imagined that a few years later, these two photos would make all her peers across the country envious and jealous.

Hai Zhi Yun would later grow bigger and bigger, opening branches in many large and medium-sized cities across the three northeastern provinces. And much of that would be related to the fame brought by these two photos.