Chapter 23
Xie Yang took Hu Biao to the address of the office building in the contract to take a look.
“Six floors, fully furnished, a prime location in the business district and one lease term is 10 years… my god.” Hu Biao stood in the center of the reception hall and looked away from the luxurious chandelier overhead to Xie Yang. “Where did you get such a good place? It is opposite the Rongding Group’s building and the location is really divine.”
Xie Yang also hadn’t expected that Qiu Xing would give him such a good place that was so close to Rongding. He looked through the windows to the opposite Rongding Building and replied, “From an old man with a hard mouth and a soft heart.”
“Eh?”
“From an acquaintance.” Xie Yang turned around and looked at the time. “Contact the decoration company as soon as possible. The company should be registered in a month so decorate this place and add some equipment. We will officially start recruiting after the performance.”
Hu Biao nodded eagerly. “Okay, I promise to find a good decorating company and arrange our base camp comfortably!”
Hu Biao left and Xie Yang was also ready to leave by car.
Wu Shui was about to start the car when Xie Yang suddenly remembered what Qiu Xing said yesterday about ‘you only came to me when you need help.’ He shouted at Wu Shui to stop and took out his phone to send a WeChat to Qiu Xing.
Xie Yang: I just saw the office building. It is very good, thank you. Is it convenient for me to go to Rongding to find you. Shall we eat lunch together?
Qiu Xing replied in seconds: Inconvenient.
“……”
Xie Yang put away his phone and told Wu Shui, “Go to the studio.”
On the way to the studio, Xie Yang plugged in his headphones and played the accompaniment of the new song on a loop before opening Weibo.
Eating melons always made people happy.
After a night, the hotspots on the Internet had changed again.
The activities of IUD fans regarding Mo Bin ended with Mo Bin deleting the new announcement. They turned to the Weibos of the old team members and finally noticed a detail they should’ve noticed a long time ago. IUD was suspected of releasing a new song at the performance! The evidence was Tong Jian’s post.
The fans were afraid they might be mistaken and suppressed their excitement. They ran to Tong Jian’s Weibo to cautiously ask if a new song was really going to be released. Tong Jian replied to a fan in seconds, stating that it was indeed a new song. The accompaniment recording had already been completed and the song recording would officially start over these next two days. Afterward, Tong Jian showed a bit of humour by saying that the new song was ‘really good and amazing.’
The fans got the exact news and were all happy. Then ran to the comment area to scream ‘ahhhhhh.’
After more than a year, IUD was finally going to release a new song!
Fans started to revel and took it as a default that the new song was made by Xu Chenhao. Fans who used to tear at Xu Chenhao after he left IUD followed him. They went to Xu Chenhao’s new Weibo post and thanked him for coming back.
Tong Jian presumably noticed the movements of the fans and quickly sent another post.
Tong Jian: No, everyone is wrong. The new song is Yang Yang’s work. Don’t hate Yang Yang anymore. He is great!
This could be regarded as poking the hornet’s nest. All the celebrating fans became as quiet as chickens with their necks pinched. Tong Jian’s comments area was once again occupied with ‘ahhhhh’ but this time they were horrified.
By the time Xie Yang opened Weibo, the fans had just ended their horrified screams and were repeating ‘tell me this isn’t true’ under Tong Jian’s post.
Tong Jian was really stupid and actually picked a comment to seriously reply: It is true. Yang Yang is really good! He paid for the fifth anniversary performance. Without him, there would be no performance. Don’t hate him so much. Everything outside is fake. He is really good!
What? The show was being paid for by Xie Yang?
An earthquake once again shook the IUD fan circle.
Xie Yang was amused by the silly appearance of the fans. He opened the WeChat group and typed: Tong Jian, don’t post on Weibo again.
Hu Biao had probably also noticed the trend on Weibo and several messages popped out.
Hu Biao: Tong Jian, what are you doing?!!
Hu Biao: You might have a mouth but how can you say everything? Shut up! You uninstall Weibo for me. Until the show is over, your Weibo will be managed by me!
Tong Jian: What’s wrong? I’m just telling the truth and explaining so that the fans won’t hate Yang Yang.
Hu Biao: What do you know?! Do you think IUD isn’t hot enough on Weibo right now? Do you want to stir up hype again? Believe it or not, someone will go to check if Xie Yang has ever composed music before and how well he composed it. Then a pile of black materials will come out!
Hu Biao: There is also the matter of Xie Yang paying for the performance. Fans might not hate Xie Yang for this but before everyone sees Xie Yang’s strength, there will definitely be someone who will blacken IUD by saying that we agreed to keep Xie Yang and sing the song he composed due to Xie Yang’s money! Xie Yang paid for himself to stay in IUD! The fifth anniversary show that he paid for is to make a green leaf for himself! It is supposed to be for the fans! Their feelings are discredited by you selling IUD to hold up Xie Yang!
Hu Biao: You really cause trouble when I don’t watch you! Uninstall Weibo for me!
Tong Jian was probably frightened by Hu Biao’s words and spoke after a quiet moment: I uninstalled it… will it really be like Brother Biao said? I’m sorry, I didn’t expect it.
Xie Yang shook his head and typed: It’s fine. Concentrate on practicing the song. No matter what is spread outside, we will speak with strength.
Tong Jian and Hu Biao didn’t speak anymore. Xie Yang guessed that Hu Biao had called to scold Tong Jian.
Half an hour later, the car parked downstairs at the studio.
This recording studio had been rented by Xu Chenhao for a long time. As he got out of the car, Xie Yang stopped and looked in one direction. Wu Shui soon noticed that something was wrong and blocked Xie Yang. He lowered his voice and stated, “There is a paparazzi’s camera in the van diagonally opposite.”
Xie Yang withdrew his gaze and continued to move forward. “Don’t care about them. These things can’t be avoided in the future.”
Wu Shui nodded.
The two of them went up by elevator and saw the others had already arrived. Tong Jian was sitting in a corner while Ke Lan was whispering to him. Xu Chenhao was sitting in the other corner with headphones on and eyes closed.
After Xie Yang entered through the door, Tong Jian immediately got up and moved over. “Yang Yang, I—”
“Stop.” Xie Yang looked in the direction of the studio some expectations and eagerness in his eyes. “Start recording the songs. We are busy with too many things and there is no time for gossip.”
Everyone quickly adjusted their state and entered working mode.
the old members of IUD were very familiar with each other’s voices while Xie Yang was completely unfamiliar. Before the official recording, the recording engineer asked Xie Yang to sing a random section to let everyone recognize his voice.
After thinking for a moment, Xie Yang picked a song from his last life that showed his skills and range. He finished singing and found everyone looking at him with a strange expression. He spoke as calmly as possible. “How is it? Did I smash IUD’s signboard?”
The recording engineer recalled it and was pleasantly surprised. “No wonder why Hu Biao chose you. You are a natural born singer.”
Tong Jian applauded excitedly. “Yang Yang, you have a great voice!”
Ke Lan’s attention was elsewhere. “Was this song also written by you?”
Xie Yang released his slightly tense fists and nodded.
“The tone is clear, the personal characteristics are obvious, the range is wide, the treble is strong, the bass is stable and the breath is very full. Your skills are a bit jerky but they are all mastered.” Xu Chenhao commented as he looked down at the lyrics in his hands. Then he glanced at Tong Jian. “I originally planned to let you sing the chorus for the new song. Now I changed my mind. Please harmonize with Xie Yang.”
Tong Jian stared. “Eh?”
Both Ke Lan and Xu Chenhao smiled. Then Tong Jian finally reacted and also nodded with a smile. “No problem, I will harmonize with Yang Yang!”
Xie Yang’s lips curved up. “No. Let Tong Jian sing the chorus and I will harmonize. IUD is your stage and I am just accompanying you.”
Xu Chenhao disagreed and wanted to say something but Xie Yang preempted him. “I am the boss. Listen to me.”
Everyone, “……”
Everyone worked together for a day and the progress was good. They basically had the prototype of the new song. Everyone ended the recording at around 5 o’clock and agreed to continue recording tomorrow. They took the elevator downstairs together.
The elevator reached the parking lot and once the door opened, there was a bombardment of flashes. Wu Shui immediately reached and walked in front to block the large number of paparazzi coming over.
“Tong Jian! You said that IUD’s new song was written by Xie Yang. Is this true?”
“Xu Chenhao, why aren’t you making a new song? Did you really run out of inspiration? Why did you return to IUD? Are you ready to come back?”
“The internal staff of Wenyi said that Wenyi actually prepared the venue for IUD’s fifth anniversary performance. Is leaving Wenyi just hype and will you sign back with them after the performance?”
“Xie Yang! Your classmates say you can’t compose at all. What do you think of your classmates’ words?”
Several microphones from the crowd crossed Wu Shui’s blockade and entered the elevator. Everyone reacted instantly. Xu Chenhao and Ke Lan tacitly guarded Tong Jian and Xie Yang in the middle. Their assistants walked on the outside and they said nothing as they got off the elevator and walked toward the parking lot.
The paparazzi surrounded him unhesitatingly and kept asking questions incessantly. Some people secretly shoved Wu Shui and the assistants guarding the outer circle to try and rush to Xie Yang.
Xie Yang noticed that the content of some questions was almost exactly the same as Hu Biao’s guess on WeChat about public opinion. It was like reading Hu Biao’s previous WeChat message.
“Xie Yang! What do you think of the comments online that you are using IUD’s commemorative performance to support yourself?”
“Xie Yang! There are rumours that the new song you wrote is actually a piece of music bought from Master Long Shuyou. Why are you stealing someone else’s work and claiming it as your own?”
Xie Yang stopped.
Ke Lan and the others were also stunned for a while before they became busy holding back Xie Yang, afraid he would be angry. Xu Chenhao frowned and stated, “Buying and stealing music is nonsense.”
Seeing an opening, the paparazzi became more and more excited and asked even more annoying questions. There was even a question about how much the fifth anniversary performance was sold to Xie Yang.
Everyone reached the side of the car. Xie Yang backed away and first protected the other members getting into the car. Then he turned around in front of his own car and faced the paparazzi. “All your questions can be answered at the fifth anniversary performance. The ticket selling starts in three days and I wish you a successful ticket grabbing. In addition, I will advise some people to not engage in small moves. Regarding the internal contradictions of IUD, I hope you don’t involve innocent people. It doesn’t matter if your voice is sore, you can watch the performance as well. I will send you a ticket for the VIP seat. October 20th, Dazhou Stadium. You are welcome to come.”
After saying that, he got into the car under Wu Shui’s protection and closed the door with force.