ECG -Chapter 200 Zheng Lao Liu, Your Sixth Brother

“Alright then!” Qin Ruoyun sighed. She truly couldn’t figure out what went on inside this kid’s head all day. During last year’s Spring Festival, she and Yang Qianyi had actually taken the time to visit that website Lin Hao had mentioned—Qianqian Listening.

The site was located in an old office building on the Fourth Ring Road. Conditions were extremely shabby, and there were only five people working there in total. When they heard that Phantom Entertainment was interested in investing, the middle-aged founder in his forties and his four employees had become so excited that tears filled their eyes.

In the end, Phantom invested three million yuan for a forty-percent stake in Qianqian Listening. The attached condition was that every year, Phantom would provide at least fifty licensed songs that users could download for free.

No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like a losing business. At the moment, the website’s only source of income was a few advertisements. Even so, she and Yang Qianyi had chosen to trust Lin Hao.

“Haozi, you can’t keep being an unsung hero in this matter. When the time comes, I’ll ask some friends at the radio station to mention your name.”

Lin Hao really didn’t care about such things. He simply wanted to help those people. Since Qin Ruoyun meant well, he just chuckled and didn’t say anything.

Qin Ruoyun complained a bit more about Yu Huai. His song had already been revised three or four times, yet he was still making changes and hadn’t sent it over. Meanwhile, Zhu Yitao and Que Yun’s Above the Moon had already entered the recording studio…

No sooner had Lin Hao hung up Qin Ruoyun’s call than another one came in. Looking at the number, he saw it was a cell phone from Xuecheng. Completely unfamiliar.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Lin Hao?” The voice on the other end was male and unfamiliar.

“That’s me. And you are?”

“It’s me, Zheng Ziqiang—Zheng Lao Liu. Your Sixth Brother!” The man’s tone was exaggeratedly warm and familiar.

Lin Hao became even more confused. He had absolutely no recollection of this person. Where had this “Sixth Brother” suddenly come from? His family didn’t have any relatives in the provincial capital.

“Dukou Bar, remember? Zhao Xiaoyi? I was the one who introduced all those bands at Dukou to Fourth Sister…”

Damn! Lin Hao cursed inwardly. A thin man with flowing long hair and a bamboo-stick-like frame immediately appeared in his mind.

He remembered now.

Zheng Lao Liu, who called himself Xuecheng’s number-one gold-medal agent. In reality, he just found gigs for bands and singers and took a cut in the middle.

“Haha, right, right, I remember now. Hello, hello!” Lin Hao laughed politely, though he certainly didn’t call him “Sixth Brother.”

“Oh, brother, it took a lot of effort to find you!” Zheng Lao Liu sounded extremely familiar. “Still in school?”

By then, Lin Hao had entered the dormitory. He casually switched his phone to speaker mode and tossed it onto Meng Pangzi’s lower bunk before starting to take off his clothes. He had run countless laps earlier, and his T-shirt was soaked through front and back.

“Yeah, still in school,” he replied absentmindedly. He had already guessed why the man was calling.

“Got anything going on tonight? Sixth Brother’s treating you to drinks!”

“Heh, sorry, but our band has rehearsal tonight. Really don’t have time. Maybe another day.”

“A band?” Zheng Lao Liu was momentarily stunned. He knew every band in Xuecheng and had never heard of anyone recruiting Lin Hao. Then he quickly understood—it had to be a student band. After all, they attended a professional arts college, so that was perfectly normal.

Bare-chested, Lin Hao rummaged under his bed for his transparent plastic washbasin. He tossed a towel and a bar of soap into it, picked up the phone from the bed, and said, “I’ve got to go take a shower. Let’s chat another day?”

Zheng Lao Liu immediately grew anxious.

“Brother, how about we meet up?”

“I’ve honestly been swamped lately. Another day. I’m hanging up now.”

Without waiting for another word, Lin Hao quickly ended the call.

In his previous life, he had never had a good impression of middlemen like Zheng Lao Liu who lived by squeezing others for profit. He knew exactly what the man wanted, which was why he had no interest in dealing with him.

What Lin Hao hadn’t expected was that at noon the very next day, Zheng Lao Liu actually showed up at the school cafeteria.

Coincidentally, Lin Hao had just finished eating. He told the carefree Zheng Lao Liu they should talk outside.

Wu Xiaozhou had met Zheng Lao Liu once before and found him vaguely familiar. He wanted to go along with Lin Hao, but Lin Hao pressed him back down.

“Lin Hao, I’ve got a job. Came to ask if you’re interested!”

Standing beneath the shade of a tree not far from the cafeteria, Zheng Lao Liu pulled out a pack of Soft Zhonghua cigarettes. After handing one to Lin Hao, he got straight to the point.

Lin Hao took out his lighter and lit Zheng Lao Liu’s cigarette first.

“Ever since Dukou closed down, I stopped performing at nightclubs. Thanks anyway.”

Still as skinny as ever, Zheng Lao Liu raised two bony fingers and waved them.

“Two hundred yuan for one night. Just six songs. What do you say?”

“It’s not about the money. I genuinely don’t have the time. Sorry.”

Seeing that Lin Hao had completely shut down the conversation, Zheng Lao Liu’s expression instantly darkened. He stared at him silently.

After taking two drags from his cigarette and seeing that the man still wasn’t speaking, Lin Hao flicked the half-smoked cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his foot.

Looking him straight in the eye, he said seriously, “I appreciate that you thought of me, but schoolwork is intense, and our band rehearses every night. I truly don’t have time to perform anymore. Sorry.”

When Zheng Lao Liu saw that he was about to leave, his eyes rolled, and he quickly stretched out a hand to stop him.

“A band rehearsal? Well, sooner or later you’ll need gigs too, right? In all of Xuecheng, who knows the venues better than your Sixth Brother? When do you rehearse? Maybe I’ll come take a look?”

Lin Hao felt the last of his patience wearing thin. If he wanted to play paid gigs, why would he need someone like Zheng Lao Liu taking a cut off the top?

“We’re not interested in doing gigs. Thanks.”

After saying that, he turned and headed toward the dormitory.

“Hey!” Zheng Lao Liu snapped angrily. He reached out and grabbed Lin Hao by the shoulder. “What, you think you’re somebody now? You still think He Lao Si is backing you up?”

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Hao seized his wrist, pivoted his body, and executed a clean shoulder throw, slamming him heavily onto the ground.

Students who had just finished dinner were walking out of the cafeteria in small groups. The moment they saw a fight break out, they all stopped.

Northeasterners have always possessed the admirable traditional virtue of loving a good spectacle, and at that moment it was on full display. In less than thirty seconds, students had formed layer upon layer of circles around them until the area was packed solid.

Zheng Lao Liu felt a tight pressure in his chest and struggled for quite a while before he could catch his breath.

Then Lin Hao’s face appeared before him.

“You think you’re worthy of mentioning Fourth Sister?”

“I’ll say it one more time—I don’t have time. Don’t come looking for me again!”

With that, he straightened up and walked away.

The crowd erupted into applause and automatically parted to make a path for him.

Some of the female students immediately began whispering among themselves, their eyes full of admiration.

“That’s Lin Hao?”

“Yeah, Lin Hao from Class Three, Piano Major, Class of 2002!”

“He’s so handsome…”

“I bought that Ferry Crossing album of his. It’s really good!”

“Hey—I heard he’s involved with that female bar owner.”

“Is that why he doesn’t have a girlfriend?”

“Nonsense! I heard those were just rumors!”

“Come on—where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I think it’s definitely true!”

“Say that again and I’ll scratch you!”

“You’ve got a crush on him, don’t you?”

“…”

Hearing the applause, Wu Xiaozhou, Fatty Meng, and the others hurried outside.

They arrived just in time to see Zheng Lao Liu struggling to get back to his feet.

Wu Xiaozhou flew over and planted a kick squarely on his raised backside.

“Momma!”

With a miserable yelp, Zheng Lao Liu pitched forward and landed face-first on the ground.

The group had no interest in continuing to beat a man when he was already down. They ignored him and went after Lin Hao instead.

After that, the matter was forgotten.

Lin Hao didn’t take it to heart and continued focusing on his own affairs.

Three days later, during dinner in the cafeteria, Lin Hao noticed that Yan Xiaoqi wasn’t there and asked Gao Laoda about him.

Gao Laoda sighed.

“He’s been having problems with his girlfriend these past two days. They’re probably at the artificial lake right now.”

Wu Xiaozhou slammed his chopsticks onto the table.

“That girl was trouble from the start. If they break up, good riddance. Better now than having her put a green hat on Xiaoqi later…”

Bai Zhitao reached under the table and pinched his thigh.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” she whispered.

Ding Lanlan sat beside Fatty Meng, eating quietly with her head down.

Chu Xiaomei sat by herself. Her boyfriend, Qi Xuebing, hadn’t come today, and she also remained silent, staring at the table.

For the past few days, Lin Hao had been rehearsing with them every night. During the daytime everyone was busy with their own things, so he hadn’t really noticed any changes in Yan Xiaoqi.

At that moment, Gao Laoda’s phone rang.

He made a shushing gesture and answered it.

On the other end, Yan Xiaoqi’s voice sounded hoarse.

“Laoda, come drink with me.”

“Sure. Where are you?”

“The south bank of the artificial lake.”

“Wait for me.”

After hanging up, Gao Laoda looked at everyone.

“Looks like they really broke up. He’s asking me to go drink with him.”

Lin Hao thought for a moment.

“Taozi, you three head back first. The rest of us will go keep Xiaoqi company.”

Bai Zhitao and Ding Lanlan both nodded.

Chu Xiaomei looked as though she wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, she remained silent.

As they left the cafeteria, Bai Zhitao quietly reminded Wu Xiaozhou not to drink too much.

Fatty Meng overheard her and immediately looked toward Ding Lanlan.

But Ding Lanlan said nothing. She simply waved goodbye and headed toward the women’s dormitory.

Arm in arm, Bai Zhitao and Chu Xiaomei quickened their pace and caught up with Ding Lanlan.