ECG -Chapter 170 The Little Fox Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Qin Ruoyun noticed the trace of surprise in his eyes and couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Lin Hao was from Northeast China, and he had never even been to Yanjing before, so why was he so interested in the courtyard houses?

Looking at his expression now, he had clearly recognized these two dishes. Could it be that he could tell they were dishes from the Manchu-Han Banquet?

“Eat some food!” Yang Qianyi began encouraging them to eat.

The waiter picked up the Maotai and started pouring the liquor.

“Lin Hao, do the dishes seem familiar?” Qin Ruoyun asked with a smile.

Lin Hao nodded. In his previous life, although he had been poor, he had spent ten years in Yanjing, so naturally, there were occasions when he had eaten dishes from the Manchu-Han Banquet. At that time, there were many restaurants in Yanjing claiming to serve Manchu-Han Banquets. Although they were not authentic, they were still edible.

“I saw it online before, and then just now I heard the waiter announce the names of the dishes when they were served. That’s when I remembered they should be dishes from the Manchu-Han Banquet.” As he spoke, Lin Hao picked up a piece of braised pork tenderloin and put it into his mouth.

“Mm!” He praised it without restraint. “Delicious! Authentic!”

After hearing Lin Hao’s explanation, Qin Ruoyun dismissed her doubts. After all, the internet had all kinds of information nowadays, and being able to look up what dishes were in a Manchu-Han Banquet wasn’t anything unusual.

The eight dishes from the Manchu-Han Banquet, although they didn’t include things like bear paw, hasma, or deer tail, still had a very clever balance of meat and vegetables.

After three rounds of drinking and several courses of food…

“Lin Hao, you have to help me produce an album!”

Lin Hao responded with an “mm,” then only after a moment did he realize what she meant. Everyone said Qin Ruoyun was extremely lazy, so why was she wanting to release a new album again not long after releasing Seeing Flowers Through the Mist? After thinking about it, he immediately understood her intention.

“No problem. Is it another six-song quality album?” He looked at Qin Ruoyun, whose face was already flushed red.

Qin Ruoyun nodded. She understood very well that quality was the true path, not winning through quantity. Especially now that she was already at her position in the domestic music scene—if Lin Hao’s six songs were all classics, then she could take a good rest for two years.

The three of them chatted in a very pleasant atmosphere. Yang Qianyi said that their company had already invested in Qianqian Listening and had licensed many copyrighted songs to the website.

Lin Hao found it a little strange. Regarding Qianqian Listening, he had only discussed it with her over the phone during the Spring Festival. How was it that they had only invested now after such a long time?

After thinking about it, he realized he had taken things for granted. Investing in a company was not that simple; negotiating for several months was perfectly normal.

He quickly congratulated her and offered some of his own suggestions, especially regarding the future development of music websites. Yang Qianyi nodded repeatedly and carefully remembered each point.

The three of them drank and ate.

Qin Ruoyun noticed a hint from Yang Qianyi’s eyes. She sighed inwardly, but still asked, “Lin Hao, your contract with Phantom Entertainment will expire in November. Can you consider signing for another year?”

Since Lin Hao had come for this meal, he had already expected they would ask this. Instead, the matter of signing with [Black Fox] probably wouldn’t be brought up again.

After all, [Black Fox] was not popular yet, and he had already rejected them once. Bringing it up again now would only create awkwardness.

“President Qin…”

Lin Hao had only said two words when Qin Ruoyun’s pretty face darkened, and she pretended to be angry.

“From now on, call me Sister Yun! Why are you calling me President Qin? That sounds so distant!”

At this moment, the three of them were slightly tipsy. Qin Ruoyun was using the alcohol as an opportunity to bring their relationship closer, and it was indeed perfectly timed.

Lin Hao chuckled. “Alright, then I’ll call you Sister.”

“That’s more like it!” Saying this, Qin Ruoyun picked up her small five-qian ox-eye blue porcelain cup again. “Come, let’s have another one!”

The three of them finished the liquor in their cups, and the waiter hurried over to refill them.

Seeing that their glasses were full again, Lin Hao smiled at the waiter and said, “You’ve been standing here for quite a while too. Go down and rest.”

The waiter smiled with his lips pressed together. Knowing that the guests had something to discuss, he gave a slight bow and left.

“Sister Yun, I have a bet with Yu Huai. If I lose, after May 3rd next year, I’ll have to work as his ghostwriter for a year. So renewing my contract with Phantom is really inappropriate, and there’s truly no way for me to renew it either!”

As soon as Lin Hao finished speaking, Qin Ruoyun and Yang Qianyi remembered this point. They had to admit that he was right. Lin Hao’s contract with Phantom was set to expire on November 12th this year. If they renewed the contract, it would indeed conflict with his bet with Yu Huai.

The two women fell silent. Although Phantom had gotten two songs for free through this bet, saving 700,000 yuan, they had lost the opportunity to renew their contract with Lin Hao. Thinking about it carefully, they had really picked up a sesame seed while losing a huge watermelon.

Seeing the disappointment on their faces, Lin Hao felt a little reluctant. After hesitating for a moment, he said, “Sister Yun, President Yang, how about this? After the contract expires, my public asking price will rise to 500,000 yuan per song, but I’ll charge Phantom 300,000 yuan per song. What do you two think?”

“And I’ll also try my best to prioritize writing songs for Phantom!”

After saying that, Lin Hao took out a cigarette and handed one to Qin Ruoyun. Yang Qianyi didn’t smoke, so there was no need to offer her one.

Back then, when Lin Hao signed a songwriting contract with Phantom, it was because he was still unknown and needed a stepping stone to move forward. Now that his goal had been achieved, and soon [Black Fox] would also become famous, selling songs would then become something he could freely handle. There was no point in being tied to Phantom anymore.

Yang Qianyi was secretly shocked.

When they held a meeting last year, Old Jin had asked what the maximum amount they should offer Lin Hao was, and the number she gave was exactly 300,000.

Could this really be a coincidence?

Another thing—why did Lin Hao dare to raise the price to 500,000?

It was true that Yu Huai’s lyrics and compositions cost 500,000, but he had been famous for many years. After enduring and struggling for so long, he had only managed to raise his price to this level in the past two years.

But Lin Hao was a newcomer. Although he had gradually gained fame because of Han Ying and Shen Zizhe, suddenly raising his price to this level was indeed a little too aggressive.

Could it be that he was so confident he could defeat Yu Huai?

Qin Ruoyun glanced at Yang Qianyi. Seeing that she was standing there blankly without any reaction, she also began calculating silently in her heart.

Lin Hao’s rise was only a matter of time. Whether it was 200,000 yuan per song or 300,000 yuan per song, as long as the quality was good, it would be worth the price.

Then she thought about his bet with Yu Huai, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that this matter was strange from every angle.

Originally, she thought Lin Hao simply wanted to use this matter to gain fame. But now, it seemed that he might be trying to kill two birds with one stone—or even three birds…

Because if Lin Hao won this bet, he wouldn’t just gain fame. He had also used this matter as an excuse to politely refuse renewing his contract with Phantom.

Lin Hao must have clearly understood the relationship between Yu Huai and her, or between Yu Huai and Phantom. So he was afraid that this bet would be blocked, and therefore used the promise of writing songs for Phantom for free to shut her and Yang Qianyi up.

The more Qin Ruoyun thought about it, the more she felt that the young man in front of her was full of mysteries. Everything about him seemed unfathomable. This kid had been making plans step by step, seeing three moves ahead after every move, and had calculated everyone into his strategy.

She stopped hesitating, picked up her wine glass, and stood up. With a slightly drunken, charming expression, even her voice became sweet and soft.

“Alright, then it’s settled. No matter how successful you become in the future, the two of us will still be your sisters!”

Yang Qianyi understood what Qin Ruoyun meant and also smiled as she picked up her wine glass and stood up.

“That’s right. If you keep calling me President Yang from now on, I’ll get angry too!”

Lin Hao looked at the stunningly beautiful Yang Qianyi, then at the equally sexy and alluring Qin Ruoyun. Especially since her pair of straight legs covered in black stockings were so close to him, he couldn’t help feeling a wave of heat surge through his body, and a slightly wicked thought unexpectedly rose in his mind…

He quickly suppressed that thought and cursed himself for letting alcohol affect him. At this moment, he didn’t dare to stand up, so he just held up his wine glass and waved his hands repeatedly.

“Both sisters, please sit down quickly. Otherwise, I won’t drink this wine!”

Qin Ruoyun and Yang Qianyi had no idea what Lin Hao was going through at that moment. Seeing him say that, they both sat back down.

The three of them finished a glass together.

Qin Ruoyun put down her glass. She had originally thought Lin Hao would stand up to pour the wine and then take advantage of the opportunity to call her “sister.” Unexpectedly, Lin Hao remained sitting there without moving, and she couldn’t help secretly complaining that this kid was getting more and more arrogant.

Lin Hao couldn’t read minds. If he could have heard that, he would definitely have shouted that he was wronged. At that moment, he was only afraid that if he stood up, he would embarrass himself. How was that being arrogant?

Yang Qianyi, however, didn’t think too much about it and stood up to pour the wine.

As Lin Hao smelled the faint fragrance coming from Yang Qianyi, the scent of a mature woman was extremely alluring. Before he realized it, sweat had appeared on his forehead.

Qin Ruoyun found it a little strange. The air conditioner was on, and Lin Hao was only wearing a white shirt. How could he be feeling so hot?

Just as she was about to ask, she heard the sound of a man and woman arguing outside.

“Wei Yuan, are you even still a man?”

A woman’s angry voice rang out.

A man lowered his voice and said, “My dear aunt, I’m begging you, can we go outside and talk?”

When Qin Ruoyun heard the name Wei Yuan, her brows immediately furrowed. She stood up and said:

“I’ll go out for a moment.”