ECG -Chapter 177 The Photo Wall

The eastern wing was a study. Against the eastern wall stood a huge bookshelf, completely packed with books. Lin Hao picked up a thread-bound book. It was a copy of Wang Xizhi’s Small Regular Script Dao De Jing. He casually flipped through it. This was an old book bound by hand with Xuan paper, but he didn’t have any knowledge in this field, so he couldn’t tell whether it was genuine or fake.

There were also some pieces of furniture in the room. At a glance, they were all antiques that were over a hundred years old. Although they were ordinary items used by common families and weren’t made from premium materials like golden silk nanmu or huanghuali wood, they had a strong sense of age that made people feel an unusual familiarity and warmth.

Near the southern window was a large writing desk with the Four Treasures of the Study placed on it. There was also a piece of calligraphy that had not yet been finished.

He slowly walked over to the desk, but unfortunately, he knew nothing about calligraphy. The only thing he could tell was that it was cursive script. The brush strokes were wild and unrestrained, like dragons and snakes dancing across the paper. He couldn’t recognize a single character…

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Against the southern wall was a wide Luohan bed, probably something the owner used to rest on.

After leaving the eastern wing, he crossed the small courtyard. Qin Ruoyun and Zhang Chuanying were still chatting, so he casually entered the western wing.

This was a tea room. A large old nanmu tea table stood there, with many tea utensils placed on top: a clay stove for burning charcoal, a purple clay teapot, blue-and-white covered bowls, Ru kiln cups, and so on. There was even a huge purple clay three-legged golden toad ornament… The collection was truly dazzling.

The entire western wall was covered with photo frames of all sizes. Lin Hao walked over to take a closer look.

Looking at these photographs, he moved from one to another while clicking his tongue in amazement. This wall was practically a grand gathering of the top celebrities in the country.

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Basically, every photo here was a picture of Zhang Chuanying with some celebrity. Unlike other places where celebrity photos were displayed because someone had begged for a picture with them, these photos clearly weren’t like that. From the poses, it was obvious that many of the celebrities were either holding her arm or standing stiffly beside her with a cautious expression.

He saw a photo of Qin Ruoyun with her arm around Zhang Chuanying’s shoulders. At that time, Qin Ruoyun should have only been in her early twenties and still looked a little immature. Zhang Chuanying also wasn’t as plump as she was now.

Many film and television stars whom he had searched online before appeared in these frames. He even saw Zuo Xinghui, the father of Zuo Yao from Shanghai. Zhang Chuanying stood in front with a smiling face, while Zuo Xinghui stood slightly behind her to the side, holding a glittering golden trophy.

Judging from the setting, it should have been an award ceremony at a film festival.

Looking further down, he unexpectedly discovered his own teacher, Guan Yuchi, the director of the Drama Department at the Academy of Arts. He was standing side by side with Zhang Chuanying, seemingly chatting about something.

Continuing downward, Lin Hao felt something strange. Most of the celebrities in the earlier photos only appeared once. Apart from Qin Ruoyun, very few people had repeated photos.

But when he looked further down, he discovered that there was actually a solo photo of Guan Yuchi here. It looked like a publicity portrait. Even rarer, there were several old stills from his dramas.

In those scenes, Guan Yuchi was very young—truly a standard handsome man.

Lin Hao rubbed his chin, feeling that there was something interesting about this. There must be some story behind it.

The next photo caught his attention. It looked like a piano solo concert. A handsome young man stood in front of a grand piano, holding a bouquet of flowers, while Zhang Chuanying was personally placing a medal around his neck.

Lin Hao had seen this young man online before. He was none other than Liang Haizhou, known as the piano prodigy of Huaxia. By now, he had grown up and become a world-renowned Chinese young pianist.

Lin Hao was a little confused by this photo. He didn’t understand why Zhang Chuanying, someone from the film and television industry, would cross fields and present an award to Liang Haizhou.

Just as he was about to finish looking through them, he faintly heard the sound of the courtyard gate opening and people talking outside, so he hurriedly walked out.

In the courtyard, two people had arrived—one tall and one short. Lin Hao recognized them at a glance. The tall, bald, chubby man was none other than Gao Shuai, the singer of The Wandering Man.

The shorter man looked around thirty years old. He was at most 170 centimeters tall, with a sharp, monkey-like face and a pair of very lively big eyes. He was carrying a kraft paper bag in his hand and was speaking.

“Sister Chuanying, this is genuine pre-Qingming Longjing tea. I went through a lot of trouble to get it for you!”

Zhang Chuanying chuckled. “Alright, you little monkey. You’re thoughtful. Sit down.”

Lin Hao knew this person must be Qin Bing’s manager, Jiang Jinglong. He hadn’t expected that Qin Bing, a person so handsome, would have such a shabby-looking manager.

“Sister Yun, Sister Chuanying, this is my childhood friend Gao Shuai!” Jiang Jinglong hurriedly introduced Gao Shuai beside him with an obsequious smile and repeated nods.

Qin Ruoyun gave a faint smile.

“We’ve met before.”

Gao Shuai bent over slightly, his face full of smiles. “Yes, yes. Sister Yun and I even performed on the same stage seven or eight years ago!”

After saying that, he respectfully called out to Zhang Chuanying, “Teacher Zhang.” He didn’t dare call her “Sister Chuanying.” He knew very clearly that not just anyone was qualified to use the word “sister” with her.

Zhang Chuanying nodded and didn’t say anything. It wasn’t because she was arrogant; it was simply that there were too many second-rate singers like this. They truly weren’t enough to catch her attention.

If Qin Ruoyun hadn’t brought them over, even Jiang Jinglong wouldn’t have dared casually step into her home.

People often said that once someone reached a certain level, they became easygoing and approachable. But in this industry, a proper amount of arrogance and mystery was also a shield to avoid too many troubles and disturbances.

“Lin Hao!” Qin Ruoyun waved toward him.

Lin Hao walked over with large strides.

“This is my younger brother, Lin Hao,” Qin Ruoyun introduced him. “Jiang Jinglong, Qin Bing’s manager! Gao Shuai, our famous singer!”

Qin Ruoyun’s introduction was perfectly proper, except that she made her relationship with Lin Hao sound a little closer, making it impossible to tell whether this “younger brother” was an adopted brother or an actual relative.

At the same time, she didn’t belittle Gao Shuai either. This was a common custom in the entertainment circle—when meeting face-to-face, everyone praised each other and gave one another a bit of status.

Lin Hao smiled and shook hands with the two of them, neither humble nor arrogant.

Jiang Jinglong couldn’t figure out Lin Hao’s background, but anyone whom Qin Ruoyun personally called “little brother” probably wasn’t simple. So he continued maintaining a respectful attitude while shaking hands with Lin Hao.

But Gao Shuai was clearly stunned. After all, he was someone in the music industry, so of course he knew that the lyricist and composer of Qin Ruoyun’s latest song “Seeing Flowers Through the Fog” was named Lin Hao. He also knew that the lyricist and composer of the two songs that won Han Ying the Golden Award at the National Youth Song Competition was also Lin Hao.

Then, thinking about Shen Zizhe and Zhao Ni, who had suddenly risen from obscurity, he immediately understood.

The Lin Hao in front of him had to be that Lin Hao!

That newly rising genius lyricist and composer!

“Oh my, Teacher Lin, I finally get to meet you in person!” Gao Shuai tightly grabbed Lin Hao’s hand with both of his big hands.

Lin Hao didn’t find it strange. If this person heard his name and had no reaction at all, then he really wouldn’t deserve to survive in the music industry.

So many singers from Meiying were singing songs written by him, and one of his songs had even appeared on the Spring Festival Gala. If he still hadn’t paid attention to who wrote the lyrics and music, he would be far too slow.

Someone that slow would eventually be eaten alive in this industry, leaving not even scraps behind.

Seeing that he was still well-fed, healthy, and intact, he was probably a pretty sharp person. In Beijing slang, he was what they called “jī zéi”—clever and shrewd.

“Oh? You know me?” Lin Hao pretended to be clueless.

The excitement on Gao Shuai’s face was perfectly measured. “I haven’t missed a single one of your songs. I’ve saved them all on my MP3. Every day I listen to them countless times! They’re all absolute classics. Especially Miss Qin’s song ‘Seeing Flowers Through the Fog’—it’s definitely like this!”

As he spoke, he released Lin Hao’s hands and gave him a thumbs-up.

Lin Hao also chuckled. This bald, chubby man really was an interesting character. He praised himself while, at the same time, subtly complimenting Qin Ruoyun.

At this moment, Gao Shuai was genuinely excited. He never expected to have such an opportunity today. Not only could he visit the legendary Zhang Residence as a guest, but he could also meet Lin Hao, the currently most mysterious young lyricist and composer in the industry.

If Lin Hao could write a song for him, that would be amazing!

“Haozi, didn’t you have something to do? You two go inside and talk,” Qin Ruoyun said to Lin Hao.

“Alright. Sister Chuanying, Brother Jiang, you chat first. I’ll talk with Brother Gao for a few minutes,” Lin Hao said with a smile before looking at Gao Shuai.

Gao Shuai had only heard Jiang Jinglong say that he was bringing him to Zhang Chuanying’s house. He had no idea that someone wanted to see him about something.

Now that he heard Lin Hao say this, he was even more confused. He looked toward Jiang Jinglong, who hadn’t even sat down yet.

Jiang Jinglong only realized at this moment that it was actually Lin Hao who wanted to talk to Gao Shuai. He was even more puzzled.

But after thinking about it, there was no way Lin Hao was going to do anything improper to Gao Shuai, right? What was there to worry about?

So he winked at Gao Shuai, signaling: Go ahead, it’s fine!