Out of curiosity, Cheng Chen personally went to the bar where the composer worked. Coincidentally, it was located in E City, quite close to his home.
Cheng Chen’s mother got married, moved to E City, and now works in the government. As a result, she was busy all-year around and rarely left the city. While Cheng Chen had left the city once in a while, E City was still the place where he spent the longest time.
After finding Lu Zheyu, Cheng Chen didn’t rush to contact him, but observed him from afar in the bar.
“Lu Zheyu?” the bar owner replied, looking a little surprised as he knew of Cheng Chen’s identity. “He’s from Gongshui County. He came to work part-time here during summer vacation. He seems to be short of money. He’s a nice kid, though, he works hard and can compose songs. But he’s a bit withdrawn and doesn’t like to socialize.”
Cheng Chen shook the wine glass in his hand gently. “Is that so?”
“Yup,” the bar owner nodded, “Are you looking for him? How about I call him over now?”
Cheng Chen didn’t respond for a while. Finally, he said, “I heard he’s still a minor?”
The bar owner paused for a second, before speaking in a hurried tone. “Misunderstanding, it’s just a misunderstanding, Cheng-zong. This is a legal bar. He’s over 16 years old so this can’t be considered child labor.”
Cheng Chen: “…”
He then glanced at the boy who was pouring wine for the guests. After putting down his own glass, he said, “I’ll buy the most expensive wine here and ask him to send it over.”
The owner understood instantly. He nodded then walked away.
—The employees here could get commissions from the wine they sell.
Lu Zheyu had just finished serving wine to a guest in a private room when out of nowhere, his boss pulled him to the side, smiled, then stuffed a bottle of wine into his hand. He asked him to serve it to a guest in the corner of the hall.
With wine in his hand, he walked towards Cheng Chen, who was watching him walk over.
The teenage boy had a nice face and good figure. Even compared to trained artists, he still had an edge. On top of that, his talent in music was undeniable.
If anything, it made Cheng Chen even more itchy to poach him.
Suddenly, there was a slight thud sound, as the bottom of the wine bottle gently hit the table. Cheng Chen was startled back to his senses.
The boy who served him the wine looked a little cold. While the bottle had been placed on the table, his grip didn’t loosen.
Lu Zheyu then opened his mouth. “I won’t accompany you to drink, sleep, or chat. If you regret it now, cancel the order.”
Cheng Chen: “…”
‘Why did I cause such a misunderstanding?’
After a moment of silence, Cheng Chen finally asked back, “You… don’t know me?”
Lu Zheyu: “No.”
“……..”
Cheng Chen only smiled, thinking that it must’ve been due to his excellent conduct in abiding rules and not casually revealing his identity to others.
He wasn’t angry about the misunderstanding. If anything, he relaxed. “Do you think I asked you to serve the wine to me because I have some impure intention towards you?”
Lu Zheyu replied, “You’ve been staring at me for three hours since you came inside.”
Cheng Chen: “…”
‘Since when did I have such good patience?’
He subconsciously raised his hand to check his watch. It’s true – it’s been more than three hours since he entered the bar.
Cheng-zong, who finally felt embarrassed, still managed to calmly ask, “How do you know that I stare at you for so long?”
Shouldn’t the teenager be busy with his work?
Lu Zheyu didn’t reply.
However, his calm and defensive eyes seemed to say: “This is just the most basic awareness to prevent unsightly things.”
Cheng Chen: “…”
–so he was regarded as a pervert.
Both a little angry yet amused, Cheng Chen frankly said, “You guessed right. I came here to look for you.”
Cheng Chen wanted to give the teenager his business card, but after thinking about it, he didn’t do that. Instead, he said, “In fact, someone from my agency had come to you before. I’m also an agent from Chengzhou Entertainment. I heard the song you composed and want to talk to you.”
When he said this, Lu Zheyu didn’t reduce his guard – if anything, he became more vigilant.
He continued, “If you don’t believe me, I can call to confirm my identity.”
Lu Zheyu then stared at him for a moment. Finally, he let go of his grip on the wine bottle. “I don’t plan to sign with an agency.”
Then, the teenager looked like he was about to turn around and leave.
Cheng Chen immediately stood up and said, “Why? Is it because you’re still underage?”
“….”
“If it’s an age issue, the agency can negotiate with your paren—”
“No need.” Lu Zheyu interrupted him and walked away without looking back.
It’s clear that there was no room for negotiation.
Cheng Chen failed this time.
His refusal was so decisive — Lu Zheyu clearly looked like he didn’t want to have anything to do with the entertainment industry.
Cheng Chen didn’t bother him again, but every time he returned to E City, he would go to that bar to sit for a while.
Lu Zheyu worked part-time in that bar for the entire summer vacation.
When the two met, they were just a customer and a waiter.
Cheng Chen didn’t have any other ideas. FOr him, it was not a big deal — the location was close to home, and there were plenty of interesting things in the bar. It was a very suitable place to hang around.
Every time he ordered, he would find Lu Zheyu and chat with him. Although the teenager never had any expression and didn’t like to pay attention to him, Cheng Chen still enjoyed his time.
After the summer vacation, Lu Zheyu returned to Gongshui County. When Cheng Chen came to the bar at that time, he didn’t see the teenager. The bar owner informed him that high school had started, making Cheng Chen feel a little at a loss.
The next time Cheng Chen heard about Lu Zheyu was when he heard the songs the bar singer sang.
At that time, he was drinking with his friends. His drunken friends found the songs to be enjoyable. They were in a good mood and wanted to tip the singer. Maybe it was due to the alcohol, but Cheng Chen was quite out of his normal character. When the bar owner came over, he boldly asked, “I’ve never heard of this song before. Who wrote it?”
The owner thought that he had recognized it, and said with surprise in his voice. “The music was composed by the singer himself, but the lyrics were written by Xiao Lu. All the customers who came here all praised it.”
“…”
Cheng Chen tentatively asked, “He also writes lyrics?”
The owner replied, “Yes, that boy is very talented. Not only to my bar’s singers, but he also wrote lyrics for the talent show your company held last week. There was a contestant who sang a song with lyrics written by Xiao Lu. However, he didn’t sing well and was eliminated in the second round. What a pity.”
Cheng Chen: “….”
—That teenager was unwilling to sign with his agency, but was willing to write lyrics for others?
He continued to ask, “Does he get paid?”
“Of course he does. If he wasn’t short of money, he wouldn’t come to work for me every day despite the dark circles under his eyes…. But I swear I didn’t overwork or abuse him. I always allowed him to leave early and even paid him more.”
Cheng Chen glanced at the bar owner, not knowing where he got such a strong smell of survival desire.
But what he said was right — if Lu Zheyu wasn’t short of money, he wouldn’t come here to work.
Since he was short of money, why didn’t he want to sign with his agency? Surely, he could earn more money than now?
Cheng Chen didn’t understand, so he tried to test him.
The result of the test was that…. While Lu Zheyu was eager to earn money, his way of earning them was a bit… illegal.
He never signed a contract with anyone, only made verbal agreements. He didn’t accept account transfer, only via WeChat or cash.
He also doesn’t know how to promote himself. In his words, cooperation depends on fate, and his business depends entirely by word-of-mouth.
—There was simply no job security at all.
The teenager wanted to make money, but it seemed that he had many concerns. Cheng Chen had a guess in his mind: Lu Zheyu didn’t tell his family about his jobs.
Why did he do that?
Later, Cheng Chen found someone to cooperate with Lu Zheyu several times. He didn’t hide much. The frequency made Lu Zheyu realize that something was wrong. When they met again in the bar during holiday, Cheng Chen confronted him.
“If you sell your own works for others like this, they will claim your works as theirs. You, as the real creator, will be buried. Aren’t you unwilling?”
It was the first time the two sat face-to-face like this.
Lu Zheyu was still as indifferent as ever. “They paid me.”
Cheng Chen continued, “If it’s a formal transaction, the profit you can earn from your work is far more than what they give.”
“….”
The teenager remained silent, so Cheng Chen went straight to the point, “Since you are willing to work anyway, why don’t you cooperate with me? I can help you publish and promote your work. I can find you a singer, keep your credits, and share the profits according to the agency’s contract. But since you’re unwilling to sign, there’s no need to sign for the time being. You can still collect the benefits in your own way.”
This should almost dispel all of Lu Zheyu’s concerns. But still, the teenager hesitated.
Lu Zheyu didn’t refuse outright. “Why?” He asked
Cheng Chen answered, “You can regard this as my risky investment. You can compose the songs according to your wishes, and the agency will help you. When you come of age, you can consider signing a contract with the agency. But if you’re still unwilling at that time, I won’t force you.”
Lu Zheyu: “…”
Not even a literal pie falling from the sky1too good to be true would be this good.
Cheng Chen handed the initiative to him.
Poverty was his original sin — Lu Zheyu agreed after consideration.
During winter vacation, he quit his job at the bar and began to enter an unfamiliar environment with his familiar job.
During that time, Cheng Chen came to see him almost every day.
Generally speaking, composers and lyricists don’t need agents. Lu Zheyu didn’t know why this guy was so idle, but he didn’t like dealing with strangers, so he was happy to receive an agent to help him contact others for his work.
During that time, Cheng Chen went home more often.
Every day when his mother came from work, she could see her son lying down at home.
“Why haven’t you been flying around the country these days? Do you want to roost on earth after flying in the sky for a long time?”
Cheng Chen: “….”
He was used to being scolded like this. He didn’t even flinch. He listened to the song with his headphones as he replied, “I have accumulated filial piety for twenty years. Now, I plan to dedicate it to you and dad all at once.”
“…”
As expected, Cheng-zong was kicked by his mother once again.
He didn’t do anything at home. She really doesn’t want this “filial piety”.
Cheng Chen really didn’t have anything to do outside of E City recently. He went to the company to handle documents during the day and occasionally went to see the teenager.
At first, he thought that Lu Zheyu was interesting. If the teenager refused to sign really because he didn’t want his family to know and wasn’t able to sign alone, then when he came of age, he wouldn’t have a reason to refuse.
Before that, he was sincere and it wasn’t a losing deal anyway.
The two met in the bar where Lu Zheyu worked before. When the teenager encountered difficulties, he would often sit there for a whole day.
He has far more patience than ordinary people. He could revise a song four to five times a day. If it were someone else, they would’ve been furious to death, but Lu Zheyu’s eyebrows wouldn’t even twitch.
Cheng Chen watched a “forget about food and sleep” performance on the spot and had someone buy food for him and send it to the bar.
Thankfully, Lu Zheyu ate it. After the meal, he gave Cheng Chen 200 yuan. “Don’t buy it in the future.”
Cheng Chen was puzzled. “Why?”
“I don’t like to owe favors to others. I can’t eat what you buy for me. And since I have to pay for it, if I eat at your level everyday, I’ll get bankrupt in no time.”
Cheng Chen: “……..”
