ECG -Chapter 124 Next Time, Couldn’t You Be a Little Bolder?

Seeing him staring blankly at the car that was driving away, Xia Yumeng reached out and poked him, putting on an obviously jealous expression. “Can’t bear to part with the big star?”

Lin Hao chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right!”

Xia Yumeng immediately reached out and pinched the soft flesh around his waist, making him grimace in pain and beg for mercy.

“Everyone go back to the dorm and sleep. Old Cui, let’s send the two beauties back to Normal University!” Lin Hao knew that Cui Gang had feelings for Jiang Rong. As the saying went, “good things shouldn’t go to outsiders,” so naturally he wanted to help bring them together.

The others returned to the dorms. Lin Hao held Xia Yumeng’s hand and walked ahead, while Cui Gang and Jiang Rong followed behind.

Xia Yumeng whispered, “I saw you stop Sister Qin from continuing earlier. You don’t want to sign with their company?”

Lin Hao shook his head. “Compared with Giant Stone, Phantom’s influence is much weaker.”

“But…” Xia Yumeng didn’t know much about record companies. She only felt that Qin Ruoyun was a good person, but after thinking about it, she decided not to persuade Lin Hao. She didn’t understand these things herself, and interfering too much might make Lin Hao make the wrong choice.

Lin Hao understood what she was thinking and smiled. “It’s still too early to talk about these things. Black Fox hasn’t even gone on stage yet. Phantom doesn’t know what kind of influence they’ll have in the future, and Giant Stone knows even less!”

“Even if I sign with Phantom right now, their conditions definitely won’t reach what I want. And if I put forward my conditions at this moment, they’ll think I’m being arrogant, maybe even conceited.”

“So at this point, there’s no way to negotiate, and we can’t negotiate!”

After saying that, Lin Hao reached out and put his arm around her shoulders. At the same time, he turned his head and glanced at Cui Gang and Jiang Rong behind them.

Although the campus lights were somewhat dim, Cui Gang still saw the encouraging little look Lin Hao gave him.

He liked Jiang Rong. He had liked her ever since the first time he saw her.

He knew that Jiang Rong must understand his feelings, but she hadn’t shown any response at all. That only made him even more nervous, and he didn’t dare to take a single step beyond the boundary.

Jiang Rong walked with her hands behind her back, her steps light and cheerful. “Cui Gang, I didn’t expect your voice to sound so good when you sing!”

Cui Gang laughed awkwardly. “That’s all thanks to Haozi having a good eye for talent. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared open my mouth, and I never would’ve known I could actually sing rock!”

“Good eye for talent?” Jiang Rong giggled. “So that means you’re a hero?”

“I am—ah, no, I’m not!” Cui Gang didn’t have much experience interacting with girls. At this moment, his heart was pounding wildly, and he had no idea what to say.

At the school gate, there were always some taxis waiting every day, and today was no exception.

Lin Hao and Cui Gang were about to get into a taxi, but Xia Yumeng stopped them. “You two should go back and rest early. Why bother making such a long trip?”

Normal University was on Hexing Road, quite a distance away from Jiangbei.

Seeing that she insisted, Lin Hao could only give up. He glanced at the taxi’s license plate and said to Xia Yumeng, “Send me a message after you get back to the dorm.”

“Mm-hm, go back now!”

Watching the car disappear into the distance, Lin Hao took out a cigarette and lit one. Since Cui Gang didn’t smoke, he saved one cigarette.

The two had just turned around to walk back when they saw a white BMW parked by the roadside. Three long-legged girls got out of the car.

One of the pretty girls even blew a kiss toward the car before it finally drove away.

Several taxi drivers gathered by the roadside smoking and chatting. When they saw the girls, they started whispering among themselves. Their eyes showed envy, jealousy, and even a trace of regret.

All three girls were wearing short skirts. Under the streetlights, their long legs looked pale. They swaggered past Lin Hao and Cui Gang and entered the school.

Cui Gang glanced at the backs of the three girls and muttered, “Aren’t they cold?” Then he asked, “Haozi, are these the dance department students some of the classmates were talking about?”

Lin Hao nodded. With a long sigh, he thought about how society had become like this. Ten years later, outside the art colleges in Beijing and Shanghai, countless luxury cars would be parked every night. Who knew whether they were fathers coming to pick up their daughters, or “godfathers” coming instead.

The two continued walking back. Lin Hao advised him, “You need to be a little bolder. That was such a good opportunity just now. The campus lights were dim too—you should have bravely gone and held her hand!”

“I-I don’t dare!” Cui Gang’s face turned red.

Lin Hao poked him with a hand, looking like he was disappointed that iron couldn’t be turned into steel. “You brat, next time couldn’t you be a little bolder?”

“I’ll try, I’ll try!”

“Try my ass. Are you planning to wait for the girl to make the first move? Just reach out and grab her hand!” Lin Hao earnestly lectured him. Otherwise, watching this was really making him anxious.

That morning, just after Lin Hao finished class in the Drama Department, he received a call from Fan Gang.

“Lin Hao, did you buy the plane tickets?”

“Plane tickets? What plane tickets?” Lin Hao was stunned.

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

He immediately realized what was going on.

“Teacher, I was just joking with you. I bought them. The flight is tomorrow night, direct to Shanghai!”

“You brat, if you screw this up, when you come back I’ll tear your skin off!” Fan Gang said through gritted teeth.

Lin Hao chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely bring back a gold award for you, old man!”

“Good! If it’s not a gold award, you brat can just stay over there and don’t come back!” After saying that, Fan Gang hung up.

Lin Hao knew that his teacher was all bark and no bite. Still, he was glad Fan Gang reminded him, because he had completely forgotten about this matter.

He quickly headed back to the dormitory. After returning, he grabbed his ID card and bank card and went out.

Walking through the campus, he thought for a moment before calling Xia Yumeng.

“Yumeng, I’m going to Shanghai tomorrow night for the competition. Do you want to come with me? We can go together.”

Lin Hao felt a little nervous inside. If Xia Yumeng could go with him this time, that would be great!

With two days of free time, he could just find a five-star hotel and enjoy himself. Also, he wondered if he could get a room together with her… Just thinking about it made him excited…

Xia Yumeng lowered her voice. “I’m in class! My parents are coming to the provincial capital during the May Day holiday, so I can’t leave!”

“Alright then!”

The blazing flames of desire in his heart were instantly extinguished by a bucket of cold water. Lin Hao could only lower his head gloomily and walk away.

There was a ticket agency on the street outside the school, so Lin Hao didn’t need to go all the way to the airport to buy one. He quickly got his ticket, then made another trip to the bank and withdrew ten thousand yuan.

People said that when traveling, even a poor family should have enough money on the road. At this time, there was no Alipay or mobile WeChat payment yet, and many places didn’t conveniently accept bank cards either. Cash was still the most reliable.

On his way back, he passed by a music store. A speaker outside was playing Shen Zizhe’s song “Too Far”. Lin Hao wandered inside.

“Student, want to buy a Shen Zizhe CD? ‘Too Far,’ it’s extremely popular!” The owner was a thin man in his early thirties who was sorting through the CDs behind the counter.

“Oh, I’m just looking around.”

Lin Hao looked over the CDs on the wall. Most of them were artists under Jushi Records, and there weren’t many from Meiying. He casually picked up one of Han Ying’s albums.

Han Ying was quite photogenic. She was wearing a leather jacket and leather pants, holding a bright red electric guitar while standing on a deserted road. The album was called “Cheers, Friends.”

After looking at the back, aside from the title track, there were five other songs he hadn’t heard before. Lin Hao frowned.

He didn’t understand why she hadn’t released an EP single and instead had made a full album. Moreover, the other five songs hadn’t even asked him for help. Was this to save money?

“Boss, give me a discount. How much?”

“45!”

While paying, Lin Hao asked again, “Do Shen Zizhe, Zhao Ni, and Wang Xiaonan not have any new albums?”

The owner smiled. “I heard they’ll be coming out soon, but it’ll still take some time. These three are incredibly popular right now. A lot of people come asking about them!”

Lin Hao nodded and walked toward the door, but the owner called him back.

“Hey, student, wait a second!”

Lin Hao turned around and looked at him, not knowing what he wanted.

The man lowered his voice mysteriously.

“I’ve got another great CD here. Do you want it?”