The backstage of the Forget-Me-Not Bar is a spacious, segregated room with two smaller suites partitioned off inside.
This backstage area is a space belonging exclusively to the bar singers.
The outer room features a row of dressing tables, storage cabinets, and five or six soft chairs for the resident and request singers. The two small suites come equipped with sofas, televisions, a wine cabinet, a private restroom, and other amenities, making them the exclusive territory of the signed singers and the band.
Even though they all sing in the same bar, the status of the singers is worlds apart.
When Lu Chen walked in, a male and a female resident singer were already sitting in the outer room. The male singer was playing on his phone, while the female singer was touching up her makeup. Neither of them paid the slightest attention to Lu Chen, who had just pushed the door open.
That is because, in this little circle, Lu Chen holds the lowest status.
"Morning, Brother Ye, morning, Sister Hong!"
Lu Chen greeted the two of them out of habit, then sat down at his own spot and placed his guitar case aside.
His spot is in the very corner of the backstage area.
The male singer gave an indifferent "hmph," but the female singer put down her makeup sponge and smiled, saying, "Little Lu, you're late today. The boss chewed you out, didn't he? Hehe!"
Sister Hong is over thirty years old and has been a resident singer at the Forget-Me-Not Bar for five years. She specializes in love songs and has a very decent vocal range. Although her looks are not particularly striking, she still has a bit of a reputation in the Houhai bar singer circle.
However, compared to Sister Na, Zhang Nana—one of the main pillars of the Forget-Me-Not Bar—she still falls quite short.
Even so, she always maintains a condescending arrogance toward Lu Chen. Her seemingly concerned inquiry actually conceals a hint of teasing and mockery.
Had it been the Lu Chen of yesterday, he certainly would have felt depressed and aggrieved, his heart burning with a fire he couldn't vent.
Yet having experienced three different lives in his dreams, his mindset has undergone a change that even he himself failed to notice. He calmly smiled and said, "Thanks for your concern, Sister Hong. I already apologized to the boss."
Sister Hong was taken aback, and the words she intended to say next instantly stuck in her throat.
She let out a soft "hmph," ignored Lu Chen, and picked up the makeup sponge she had just put down.
At that exact moment, the door to one of the inner suites suddenly opened, and a man wearing a black leather jacket and shoulder-length hair walked out.
"Brother Qin!"
Sister Hong and the male singer reacted quickly, immediately standing up and smiling as they greeted him.
Lu Chen was a beat slower, but he stood up as well and said, "Morning, Brother Qin."
This leather-jacket-wearing Brother Qin—Qín Hànyáng—is the true heavy hitter at Forget-Me-Not, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Hesitation Band. He is the indispensable soul of the Hesitation Band, and even the boss Chen Jianhao treats him with great politeness.
The Hesitation Band has five members in residence at Forget-Me-Not. Aside from Qín Hànyáng, there is also a lead guitarist, a bassist, a drummer, and a keyboardist.
For a bar like Forget-Me-Not, supporting an entire band is no easy feat. Conversely, the presence of the Hesitation Band elevates the bar's reputation and popularity, making them its undisputed pillars.
Qín Hànyáng's face remained expressionless as he gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.
He picked up a few sheets of manuscript paper from the dressing table, turned back toward his room, and closed the door.
Sister Hong and the male singer couldn't help looking a bit sheepish, but how could they possibly have the qualifications to cross Qín Hànyáng? One must know that a single word from him could get them kicked out of Forget-Me-Not or even make it impossible for them to survive in this Houhai circle.
Lu Chen chuckled inwardly. He and Qín Hànyáng are worlds apart, and since he has no intention of cozying up to anyone, he doesn't care what the other man's attitude is. Naturally, he is spared the embarrassment of trying to suck up to someone who couldn't care less.
A bar is also a little Jianghu, and Lu Chen is merely a tiny shrimp in that world.
He sat back down and began to tidy up his messy hair.
The atmosphere in Houhai bars is different from the mixed bag of Sanlitun; bizarre outfits and sloppy, decadent, depraved-looking singers are not welcome here, so personal image is very important.
Out on the stage, the voice of the emcee has already drifted over, signaling the start of the warm-up.
Lu Chen must hurry and prepare; he will be going on stage shortly.
As for what song to sing tonight, he already has a preliminary idea in mind.
While the emcee tells jokes to liven up the atmosphere, the waiter who had been guarding the bar entrance earlier sneaked stealthily into the sound room located on the right side of the backstage.
The sound room is tiny, filled with audio and lighting control equipment and computers. Countless cables and wires are tangled like a spiderweb, and red, green, and blue LED indicator lights flash incessantly.
Sitting in the middle of the "spiderweb" is a pàngzi weighing well over two hundred jin. Wearing oversized monitoring headphones, he nods his head from side to side while losing himself in the music, half an unfinished hamburger tossed onto the workbench in front of him.
"Pàngzi, Pàngzi!"
The waiter called out twice, but the other man didn't hear him. Having no other choice, he had to step forward and give him a hard shove.
Pàngzi abruptly opened his eyes. Seeing that it was the waiter, he couldn't help frowning. He took off his headphones and said with displeasure, "Xiǎo Gāo, instead of attending to customers outside, what are you running in here for? Out you go, out!"
He is the sound engineer for the sound room, and in this little room, even Chen Jianhao has to listen to him.
Xiǎo Gāo naturally knows this, so he hurriedly offered a bottle of Kingway beer with a ingratiating smile.
Pàngzi accepted the beer without the slightest courtesy, glanced at him, and asked, "Spit it out. You're being overly polite for no reason, what do you want? Let me make myself clear first: small matters are negotiable, big matters are out of the question!"
"It really is a small matter." Xiǎo Gāo instantly perked up, hurried over, and whispered a few words into Pàngzi's ear.
As Pàngzi listened, his expression grew bizarre. He looked Xiǎo Gāo up and down as if seeing him for the first time, and said, "You little punk are quite vicious, and you call this a small matter?"
Xiǎo Gāo laughed ingratiatingly, "It really is a small matter. I just can't stand that punk Lu Chen, relying on his pretty face to act all arrogant. We're just teaching him a lesson so he learns that in Forget-Me-Not, getting by on looks alone doesn't cut it!"
"Hmm."
Pàngzi nodded thoughtfully, raised a hand to stroke his thick double chin, and said, "What you're saying makes sense. You tell me—he's handsome, but his singing is subpar. Instead of going to Sanlitun to work as a gigolo, he runs over to Houhai to play the literary youth, and then expects me, Pàngzi, to clean up his messes. Isn't this... isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"
Xiǎo Gāo chuckled slyly, "Right, exactly! Pàngzi, you're doing him a favor, really."
His expression suddenly shifted. Pointing at the one-way glass window of the sound room, he said, "Lu Chen is going on stage!"
The wall separating the sound room from the stage is fitted with a one-way perspective glass. The people inside can see the entire scene of the stage, but the people outside cannot see in.
The person holding a guitar and walking toward the center of the stage—who else could it be but Lu Chen?
"Pàngzi, do it now!"
Xiǎo Gāo stared fixedly at Lu Chen, urging anxiously.
"What's the rush!"
Pàngzi glared at Xiǎo Gāo and said, "I know what I'm doing, I don't need you telling me how to do my job!"
As he spoke, he reached out and pressed a button on the audio console, and the LED indicator lights on the neighboring auxiliary mixing console instantly went dark.
The singers in Houhai bars basically sing live and even use live accompaniment. Without real skills, it is very difficult to survive here. However, a singer's voice can be adjusted inside the sound room; good pitch correction has the ability to turn decay into magic.
Truly professional sound engineers wouldn't deign to work in a bar, and Forget-Me-Not couldn't afford one anyway. Therefore, backstage pitch correction is handled by semi-professional sound engineers who, combined with quasi-professional digital equipment, can completely fool laymen without any problem.
Among the customers who come to the bar to spend money, there are insiders who know their stuff, but not many, and those who know the inside story certainly won't say anything.
Lu Chen's guitar and vocal skills are quite ordinary. The only reasons he has had the opportunity to take the stage and make some extra cash—aside from his advantage in looks—are thanks to the backend audio tuning done by Pàngzi the sound engineer.
What pisses Pàngzi off is that Lu Chen has never once slipped him any perks, acting even more high-profile than the resident singers!
So now, egged on by Xiǎo Gāo, his resentment flared up, and he temporarily shut down the mixing console.
With this move, the sound of Lu Chen playing and singing on stage will not receive any optimization processing; it will be presented in its raw, unfiltered state directly through the power amplifier into the hundreds-of-thousands-of-yuan JBL speakers.
His true colors will be exposed!
Pàngzi chuckled and threw a look at Xiǎo Gāo, saying, "Just wait and watch the good show!"
Xiǎo Gāo nodded hard, clenching his fists in excitement—Lu Chen, let's see what face you'll have left to keep hanging around Forget-Me-Not!
At this very moment, Lu Chen has no idea he is being plotted against.
He sat on the piano bench, cradling the guitar in his right arm, and freed his left hand to adjust the angle of the microphone.
Past eight o'clock, coinciding with the weekend, more and more customers are appearing in the bar. By now, roughly two-thirds of the seats are occupied, and quite a few of them are regulars.
Once he finished preparing, Lu Chen spoke into the microphone, "Thank you all for coming to Forget-Me-Not. First off, I'll perform a song for everyone called Flying Pigeon. I hope you'll like it!"
Scattered applause rang out across the bar, and a female customer who recognized Lu Chen let out a loud, hooligan-style whistle.
"Go for it, Little Lu!"
Many customers laughed, and the atmosphere became lively and vibrant.
Lu Chen gave an embarrassed wave to the crowd and prepared to begin his performance.
"Brother Jianhao."
Behind the bar, the alluring woman looked at Lu Chen on stage, a glint of light flashing in her eyes. "Your little helper has a good look, he's got a great handsome-guy vibe, and he can play and sing. Send him to my company."
"Him?"
Chen Jianhao chuckled dryly, shaking his head as he said, "Little Lu's hardware is alright, but his playing and singing are far too amateur. Warming up the stage here is his absolute limit, and he even has to rely on backstage pitch correction to hold it down. Do you really want to sign him?"
"Never mind then."
The alluring woman said decisively, "I don't take anyone without a foundation; my small company can't afford to groom them."
Beijing has three excesses: officials, rich people, and good-looking men and women. People with outstanding appearances are everywhere.
Musically speaking alone, Beijing has three major music academies, plus all sorts of music training institutions. Who knows how many fresh faces come out every year? Why go through the trouble of grooming a guy with no foundation?
The alluring woman had just said it offhandedly and wasn't being all that serious.
At that moment, Lu Chen strummed the guitar strings.