After sending Xiǎo Gāo away, Chen Jianhao's attention returned to Pàngzi.
His gaze was as sharp as an eagle's. Pàngzi trembled like a quail, beads of cold sweat popping out on his forehead.
Although Pàngzi proudly claimed to be number three in the audio room—with heaven as number one, earth as number two, and himself as number three—when the boss descended in a rage, every ounce of his fat shivered with panic, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
There was no escaping it. He could only squeeze out a smile that looked uglier than crying: "Boss, I know I was wrong. It was Xiǎo Gāo"
"I know Xiǎo Gāo instigated you to do this."
Cutting off his defense, Chen Jianhao said, "That's why this time I'm only docking your bonus for the month. If there's a next time—"
Able to run a mid-sized bar in Houhai, Chen Jianhao was naturally no ordinary person. Shrewd, seasoned, and intolerant of the slightest nonsense, he didn't need to ask to guess the truth of the matter.
As the mastermind, Xiǎo Gāo was someone Chen Jianhao simply couldn't tolerate, but the sound engineer couldn't just be fired and left at that. Still, appropriate punishment and a warning were necessary.
"There won't be a next time!"
Pàngzi felt as though he had been granted a pardon. He hurriedly said, "I'll definitely behave myself. I'll fix Lu Chen's vocals right now!"
Fumbling about in a panic, he went to turn on the mixing console.
Unexpectedly, Chen Jianhao paused in thought and said, "No need to fix Lu Chen's. Leave the others as they are."
Previously, the only singers at the Forget-Me-Not Bar who didn't need vocal tuning were signed artist Zhang Nana and Hesitation Band lead singer Qín Hànyáng—both pillars of the venue.
Now Lu Chen had joined their ranks! What troubled Chen Jianhao was his suspicion that after tonight, Lu Chen might spread his wings and fly away, for this world here was truly far too small.
Tapping Pàngzi on the head, he left the audio room.
Out front, Lu Chen had just finished singing the second rendition of The You of the Same Desk, earning even more enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
Along with rounds of beer sent over as tips! "Xiǎo Gāo, sing two more!" someone shouted loudly.
Encouraged by so many tips, Lu Chen wanted to sing a few more songs as well. But if the bar was a miniature world of its own, then that world had its rules, and a small fry like him had no qualification to ignore them.
As a warm-up singer, performing two songs was his duty. Adding one more at a customer's request wasn't excessive either, but if he kept hogging the stage, it would provoke public outrage—were no other singers supposed to perform?
So seeing the host come out, Lu Chen immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you, everyone, thank you!"
Just then, he saw Chen Jianhao beckoning to him from behind the bar. Seizing the opportunity, he stepped aside and yielded the stage to Sister Hong, who was coming on next.
Putting his guitar away in the backstage room, Lu Chen hurried over to the front of the bar.
"Boss!"
"Sit down and talk."
Chen Jianhao nodded, motioning for him to take a seat first, and said, "You sang well today. That song The You of the Same Desk has a lot of flavor to it. I never imagined you had this kind of strength. I really misjudged you before."
Lu Chen rubbed the back of his head, feeling quite embarrassed and not knowing how to explain.
To tell the truth, even he still felt as though he were dreaming; it all seemed a bit unreal.
Fortunately, Chen Jianhao had no intention of digging into the bottom of it. He pointed to the charming woman sitting beside him and said, "This is my cousin, Su Qingmei. She and some partners just started a media company and they're interested in you, so she wants to talk to you about signing a contract."
"Me?"
Lu Chen couldn't quite believe his ears. "Sign with a media company?"
This was something he hadn't even dared to dream of before. Everything was happening far too fast, with good news coming right on the heels of the last!
Su Qingmei smiled and said, "That's right, you!"
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Su Qingmei, director at Qingyu Media Company. I really like the songs you sing."
She reached out her hand to Lu Chen. "You can just call me Sister Mei."
"Hello, Director Su—"
Lu Chen reached out and shook her hand. Her skin felt soft and warm, making his heart beat wildly of its own accord.
Su Qingmei gave a radiant smile, choosing not to correct Lu Chen's form of address for her. "Our Qingyu Media Company mainly deals in artist management, film and television production, large-scale events, new media, and other businesses," she said. "We're currently recruiting talented new artists. If you're willing, we can sign a formal contract as early as tomorrow."
After his initial excitement, Lu Chen gradually calmed down. He asked, "Director Su, if it's convenient, might I look over the contents of the contract first?"
If it had been yesterday's Lu Chen who was offered the chance to sign, he wouldn't have hesitated at all. But today's Lu Chen possessed the immense wealth of an entire world, and had just proven it.
Therefore, while the temptation of signing with a media company was certainly great, it wasn't enough to make him lose his head.
Su Qingmei looked slightly surprised and smiled. "Of course that's no problem. I have a template of the new artist contract saved on my phone. I can open it for you to look at, or send it to you via Feixun."
Lu Chen quickly said, "Then I'll have to trouble you to let me borrow Director Su's phone. That'll be faster."
It was better not to take out his own battered phone from his pocket and make a fool of himself. Su Qingmei retrieved her phone from her handbag—which bore a "CHANEL" logo inlaid on the surface—unlocked it with her fingerprint, performed a few taps, and handed it to Lu Chen.
The 5.5-inch ultra-high-definition screen clearly displayed the magnified text of the clauses.
The contents of the new artist contract were very long, and reading through every detail carefully would take more than just a moment. But after giving the first few clauses a quick scan, Lu Chen grew more and more alarmed.
The harshness of this contract far exceeded his imagination! In the past, when Lu Chen browsed news and blogs online, he frequently saw stories about various actors and singers getting into disputes with entertainment agencies, tearing into each other and fighting lawsuits that became major spectacles. The reasons those stars used to accuse their bosses almost always involved the contracts they had signed.
Too harsh, inhumane, devoid of freedom, exploited—in short, thoroughly miserable.
At the time, Lu Chen had merely been a spectator watching the spectacle, not really believing it. Stars were all actors, after all, and the tricks they used to win sympathy always followed the same pattern; everyone was used to it.
But now that he had actually touched upon this circle, he realized that many things weren't completely fake.
First of all, this new artist contract required a ten-year commitment; for ten full years, Lu Chen wouldn't be allowed to leave Qingyu Media Company.
And the penalty for breach of contract was as high as ten million! If he signed it, it would mean selling the most beautiful years of his youth entirely to the other party!
This single clause alone caused a feeling of aversion to rise in Lu Chen's heart.
Secondly, the contract stipulated that during the training and internship period, new artists would receive only the statutory minimum wage, with no benefits, no bonuses, and no permission to take on private gigs to earn extra money on the side.
Lu Chen thought to himself that he might as well just find a block of tofu and smash his head against it.
In addition, once the contract was signed, his portrait rights, creation copyrights, and other rights would all belong to the company. His dividends would be determined based on seniority and performance, starting at a mere 10%!
Lu Chen couldn't bear to read any further, even though there were still many complicated clauses ahead.
He handed the phone back to Su Qingmei and said, "Director Su, I'm truly sorry, but I don't want to sign this contract."
"Why?"
Su Qingmei frowned and asked, "You didn't even finish reading it before making a decision. Aren't you being too hasty?"
Lu Chen tactfully replied, "The first few clauses simply don't suit my situation, so I really am sorry."
His family carried a massive debt, and while his hard work making a living in Beijing was tiring, the income was at least decent. While maintaining his livelihood, he could still send a considerable amount of money home every month.
If he signed this contract, regardless of what came later, he wouldn't even be able to get through the early days.
Most importantly were the rights clauses. According to the contract's demands, the company would take away the copyrights to all the songs he created, tossing him nothing more than a few scraps! If it were the old Lu Chen, perhaps he wouldn't have cared about this at all, but now that he possessed a massive treasure trove, how could he hand it over to someone else on a silver platter?
Not to mention those clauses restricting his freedom. But Su Qingmei didn't understand Lu Chen's thoughts; she assumed he was just haggling, and grew quite displeased.
She thought for a moment and said, "If it's just a matter of the clauses, contracts for new artists are pretty much the same across all entertainment, media, and agency companies. As long as you sign this contract, Qingyu Media will mobilize a massive amount of resources to train, package, and promote you. Don't just look at a tiny bit of immediate benefit!"
"Think about it carefully. Don't act on impulse and miss out on an opportunity!"
Su Qingmei very much wanted to tell the punk in front of her just how many people would kill for this contract and couldn't get it! However, Lu Chen didn't like her aggressive tone, and promptly struck back with neither excessive force nor lightness: "I'm really sorry, Director Su. Perhaps I'm just short-sighted right now. Maybe we'll have a chance to cooperate in the future."
So you're very pretty, so you're very rich, so you're a media company director—so what?
I want nothing from you, why should I listen to you?
Lu Chen straightened his back, using his gaze to convey his refusal and persistence! Even though turning down this beautiful director was no easy feat.
"Cooperate?"
Su Qingmei was so angry she almost laughed—what sheer impudence!
So what if you're handsome, so what if you can play and sing, and you think you're hot stuff just because you wrote one original song?
Too naive! If there had been a cup of water in front of her, Su Qingmei certainly would have poured it over Lu Chen's head to snap him out of it.
"Ahem!"
Seeing a dispute flare up between the two and the atmosphere grow tense, Chen Jianhao, who had been sitting quietly to the side, cleared his throat heavily and said, "Xiǎo Lu, why don't you go home tonight, think it over carefully, and tomorrow—"
"There's no need for tomorrow!"
Frowning, Su Qingmei stood up, neatly shoved her phone back into her handbag, and flashed an air of haughty arrogance across her striking face: "This humble little temple of Qingyu Media can't afford to host this great deity. This lady is leaving!"
With those words, she spun around and left, vanishing from the bar entrance in the blink of an eye.
Only, no matter how one looked at her retreating figure, it carried a rather disgruntled air.
Chen Jianhao and Lu Chen looked at each other in silence. The former sighed and muttered, "She didn't even pay for her drinks..."
Lu Chen couldn't help laughing; he had never seen his boss display such a humorous side before.