ECG -Chapter 168 Fatty, I Heard You Like Me?

The moment Que Yun opened her mouth, Qin Ruoyun and Yang Qianyi were pleasantly surprised. That one line sounded completely different from the way Lin Hao had just sung it. It was as if this song had been tailor-made specifically for her.

Zhu Yitao also became more and more excited, especially when Lin Hao sang the part again by himself:

“I wait, I imagine, my soul has already broken free…
The sound of hooves rises, the sound of hooves falls…”

This rap section added even more endless charm to the song.

Originally, he hadn’t held much hope. He had thought it was just a love duet, but he never expected it would turn out to be this kind of style.

The rehearsal continued.

After Que Yun sang a few lines, Lin Hao stopped playing and turned his head toward her.

“You need to open up your voice a little more. This song uses a combination of ethnic-style music and rap. You need to bring out that kind of powerful, clear singing voice—like someone standing on the grasslands and singing freely…”

“This line,” Lin Hao’s piano began again, “the wind has dried the sorrow…”

After singing it, he said, “For this word ‘dried,’ open your throat a little more. Don’t be afraid of sounding hoarse. Let your voice out as much as possible. Understand?”

Que Yun nodded.

“Understood, Teacher Lin. Let’s do it again!”

…

Qin Ruoyun and Yang Qianyi left the stage and sat on the leather chairs, quietly chatting.

More than an hour later, Zhu Yitao and Que Yun gradually entered the right state, and their singing became better and better.

“Ruoyun, I actually want to make a bet with you,” Yang Qianyi said softly.

“Oh? You’re really that confident in this song?” Qin Ruoyun asked.

Yang Qianyi nodded.

“Although it hasn’t gone through arrangement yet, and the piano accompaniment is too simple, at first listen the whole song has this feeling of being neither completely traditional nor completely modern.”

“But I’d bet on it—this song won’t even need much promotion. It will definitely become popular all over the country, spreading through the streets and alleys. It’ll become the most popular song this year, and even next year!”

Qin Ruoyun didn’t say anything for a long time.

Yang Qianyi had only entered this circle in recent years. Her specialty was piano, while Qin Ruoyun herself had studied vocal music professionally. How could she possibly fail to hear these things?

Lin Hao really was impressive.

After only hearing Zhu Yitao and Que Yun each sing one song, he was able to accurately determine their positions and quickly create a song perfectly suited for both of them. This kind of ability—forget about Yu Huai, even looking across the entire Chinese music industry, there probably weren’t many people who could do it.

Thinking again about the bet between Lin Hao and Yu Huai, she had a feeling that Yu Huai’s chances of losing were very high. He might suffer a huge blow from this, and would also lose one million yuan.

However, Old Yu had earned plenty of money over the years. Not counting his real estate, his savings were probably at least ten to twenty million yuan. With his stingy personality, losing one million would definitely make his heart ache for several days, but it wasn’t a big deal.

The loss of his status was what he would find hardest to accept.

Although she still didn’t know what kind of song Yu Huai would create for her, with Lin Hao’s song “Seeing Flowers Through the Fog” already setting such a high standard, Yu Huai would probably find it difficult to surpass.

She turned her head and said to Yang Qianyi:

“Tell Xiaolan to cancel the restaurant reservation. Tonight, let’s go eat at Sister Xue’s place!”

Yang Qianyi nodded.

“Forget about his bet with Yu Huai for now. I need to have this kid write a few more songs for me!”

Yang Qianyi was stunned, not understanding what had happened to her.

In the past, Qin Ruoyun only released one album every two years. Why was she suddenly so proactive this time?

Qin Ruoyun wasn’t joking at all.

She asked, “How much money can the company currently mobilize?”

“At the moment, we can use a little over eight million yuan. Shen Zizhe and the other two’s new albums are selling pretty well. If we wait another month, having ten million shouldn’t be a problem.”

Qin Ruoyun thought for a moment. “Let’s buy it for ten million. Take a bigger step forward. Qianyi, you’re still being too conservative!”

Yang Qianyi’s expression immediately tightened. Qin Ruoyun rarely said things like this. The two of them were indeed best friends, but they were also business partners. Because of their personalities and family backgrounds, Phantom was publicly under Yang Qianyi’s name, but many people in the industry knew who the real boss behind Phantom was.

Business was business, and friendship was friendship. She had always kept them separate. Precisely because the company wasn’t truly hers, she had always moved forward steadily, not daring to be even slightly reckless.

She really didn’t want to take too many risks. Even inviting Lin Hao this time, she had originally planned to let the two newcomers each release a single first to test the waters. Then, after selecting Luo Ke and the other two, she wanted to make a quality album for each of them.

One had to know, that would mean twenty songs in total. Lin Hao’s price was 200,000 per song, so twenty songs would be four million.

In this era, aside from a giant like Rock Music, even ordinary companies would proceed step by step and wouldn’t dare release so many albums at once.

But Ruoyun’s words weren’t wrong. Lin Hao had proven his ability time and time again. She should indeed increase the scale within the limits of his contract and squeeze out as much remaining value from him as possible.

The sky gradually darkened, and before they knew it, three hours had passed.

Zhu Xiaolan and Jin Yongnian had already left long ago. After all, they still had a mountain of things to deal with.

At this moment, Lin Hao also felt a little tired. Fortunately, Zhu Yitao and Que Yun were both very smart. Although they still hadn’t reached the level of being able to record the song perfectly, there were already not many problems with their singing. Both of them had deeply understood and felt the meaning of the song.

“Yitao, Que Yun, it’s not easy for the two of you to work together. In the future, there will especially be many temptations from fame and fortune. I hope you can look farther ahead. One of you is the scale, and the other is the weight. The moment you separate, you’ll fall into mediocrity. Remember this! Remember it!”

After hearing Lin Hao’s words, Zhu Yitao and Que Yun respectfully bowed to him.

“Teacher Lin, we’ll remember!”

…

At dusk, Yang Qianyi drove her silver Audi A4 westward toward the West Fourth Ring Road, with Lin Hao and Qin Ruoyun sitting inside the car.

At the same time, beside the artificial lake at Xuecheng Art Academy, Fatty Meng sat on a bench, his heart pounding wildly.

Because sitting beside him was his goddess, Ding Lanlan.

“Fatty, I heard you like me?” Ding Lanlan tilted her head. Her beautiful big eyes had long eyelashes that fluttered as she blinked. Each blink made Fatty Meng’s heart race even more.

Fatty Meng stammered for a long time, his face and neck turning red.

“Y-yeah…”

“How about we date?”

“Ah?!”

Fatty Meng felt his vision go dark. He almost fell into the lake.

Happiness had arrived too suddenly…

He stuttered for a long time but couldn’t say a single complete sentence.

“Don’t agree? Then I’m leaving!”

Ding Lanlan stood up and was about to leave. Fatty Meng panicked and grabbed her hand.

“I-I’m willing!”

Ding Lanlan turned her head and gave him a charming smile. Fatty Meng became even more intoxicated.

The two of them held hands and slowly walked around the lake. Usually, Fatty Meng was someone who could talk endlessly, but now he was surrounded by such immense happiness that he didn’t even know what to say.

As the sky grew darker, the two of them walked back.

Ding Lanlan stood in front of the girls’ dormitory building, Block B, quietly watching Fatty Meng’s tall and excited figure.

Her vision gradually blurred, and two lines of tears rolled down her cheeks…

Fatty Meng ran all the way up to the fourth floor. The moment he entered Room 428, he burst into loud laughter.

Cui Gang sat cross-legged on the upper bunk. A thick trumpet tutorial book was spread across his legs. He held the brand-new Bach trumpet in his hand. Although he wasn’t playing it, the three fingers of his right hand kept pressing the valves along with the sheet music.

Wu Xiaozhou was lying on the lower bunk, reading an English version of Advanced Metal Bass Tutorial.

Both of them were startled by Fatty Meng and stared at him blankly.