Chapter 48: Some Changes

At this moment, a considerable storm was brewing in a manager's office at Huasheng Records.

Seeing the newspapers and magazines that listed all sorts of embarrassing moments in her past, Guo Luyun's face turned red and purple with anger, as if she had experienced the feeling of being "red to the point of turning purple" in advance—although there were still many black and red tones mixed in.

"What on earth is going on? How did so many suddenly appear..." She had previously relied on her aunt and uncle being high-ranking executives at the record company, so she didn't have to worry about anything. She never expected that these people were just pretending to compromise, waiting for this moment to unleash a huge attack on her!

"I said back then that we should keep an eye on her. It's not like there aren't any songs for her to sing, why is she stealing them?" Chen Dilin looked at the reports with a gloomy face. "Now look what's happened, she's been caught red-handed. Let's see how she'll ever be able to stay in this industry again!"

Even a very talented genius will be hated by the entire industry and criticized by the Hong Kong media if they don't know how to behave. What's more, now they have offended Zhuang Menghua, that petty and vindictive woman, because of this.

"I think it's because you didn't handle the aftermath well, Uncle. When you approached me, you said you would make me a big star, that you would make me more famous than Pei Yansang... But after working so hard in the industry for more than a year, I'm still only half-famous. Not many people recognize me when I walk down the street!" Guo Luyun was a pampered young lady at home, and she had been taken care of since entering the industry without encountering any problems. So when she was told this, she immediately lost her temper.

"Lulu, how dare you talk to your uncle like that! Apologize to him right now!" Yin Longjuan quickly scolded her, then looked at Chen Dilin, "Old Chen, Lulu is just too young and doesn't know how to speak properly. Don't hold a grudge against a young girl like her. You must help her this time..."

"Help?! I'd like to help her, but would she let me?!" Chen Dilin saw his wife's protective look and knew pretty much what was going on.

They didn't have children when they were young because they were busy working. Later, when they wanted children but couldn't have any, his wife treated her sister's daughter as her own. He wasn't old-fashioned either, and he also worried a lot about this child who was nominally his niece but whom he had doted on for many years.

Two years ago, Guo Luyun was making a fuss about wanting to enter the entertainment industry and become a big star. They were initially reluctant to let her get involved in this mess. But later they discovered that she did have some talent, and at that time it was a period when many big-name artists from Huasheng were leaving. In the end, the couple decided to let Guo Luyun enter the industry as she wished.

In this way, firstly, it would allow my niece to fulfill her dream, and secondly, it would allow us to take advantage of the current talent gap at Huasheng and focus our resources on my talented niece.

Thirdly, it can also help them gain some rights within the company.

After all, the authority of someone who has money-making machines under their command is completely different from that of someone whose subordinates are all money-losing machines.

For the past year or so, Guo Luyun had been following the path they had laid out for her. They had even made arrangements with their old friends at the TV station to have her act in TV dramas once she achieved success in the music industry, working together on two fronts...

Unexpectedly, ever since Zhuang Menghua signed Li Sishi, their plans have been repeatedly disrupted and their resources have been constantly divided.

Zhuang Menghua had barely secured her position at the TV station, so why did she suddenly extend her reach so far, interfering with their record company?!

Could it be that he has finally lost his patience and wants to use this as a starting point to fight for the Zhao family's inheritance?

Ultimately, although Zhuang Menghua publicly claimed to be Sir Zhao's confidante, she was actually known to everyone as "Sir Zhao's second wife."

Over the years, she has not competed, fought, or made a fuss. Instead of staying obediently in the villa as a caged bird, she has run out to the TV station to become a strong woman. She has not even had children... Isn't she just trying to take advantage of the fact that the people on the Zhao family's main branch are not interested in taking over Zhao's film and television industry, so as to grasp this huge film and television empire in her hands?

Recalling Zhuang Menghua's stingy and ruthless style, which was exactly the same as Zhao Jueshi's, Chen Dilin felt increasingly terrified.

Now he and his family have completely offended Zhuang Menghua. Given Zhuang Menghua's personality of loving someone to the point of wanting them to live and hating them to the point of wanting them to die, not to mention whether he and his wife will suffer, his niece Guo Luyun will definitely not have a good time!

Perhaps the recent phenomenon of newspapers and magazines listing Guo Luyun's dark past is fueled by Zhuang Menghua and her subordinates...

Most importantly, Li Sishi, whom Zhuang Menghua recently signed, is clearly aiming for Pei Yansang's position as heir. If her niece doesn't step aside, it might not just be her dark past that gets exposed in the future.

"Make way?! Why should I make way? Do you think I'm afraid of her?!" Upon hearing her uncle Chen Dilin's well-intentioned advice, Guo Luyun became even angrier.

Although Guo Luyun, who has always been quite confident in herself, had a vague sense of unease after watching Li Sishi's singing and dancing performance, she was at that age where she was young and arrogant and couldn't afford to lose, so the more she was persuaded, the more unconvinced she became.

After making this concession, she might never be able to overcome this hurdle again!

“How can you be so insensible, child? The situation is not what it used to be. If that woman surnamed Zhuang really wants to interfere in Huasheng, your uncle and I will have to back down…” After hearing her husband’s explanation, Yin Longjuan was temporarily pulled back to her senses from her protective instincts.

To put it bluntly, the reason they've been able to dance so enthusiastically all these years is that the Zhao family and Zhuang Menghua don't really interfere with the record company. They only come a few times to discuss the allocation of song resources, and everyone just argues on the surface without really breaking ties.

Because Huasheng rose to prominence through film and television soundtracks, it was able to rival PolyGram during the heyday of Hong Kong's film and television industry in the 1980s. Now, Zhao's film company has declined while television stations have risen, but they are also cooperating with multiple record companies. With readily available good songs and talented composers from major companies like PolyGram, Rolling Stone, Kaihua, and Best Music, who would be willing to spend time and money on original compositions?

Not to mention that Zhao's film company has been so neglected over the years that it has even rented out its cinemas and theaters one after another...

Without TBL's resources and promotion, what future can Huasheng have? If they anger Zhuang Menghua, she might cause trouble and shut Huasheng down, and they'll be left with nowhere to turn!

Not knowing that the real world requires a lot of consideration, Guo Luyun's eyes reddened as she was told: "In the end, you're just afraid of that guy surnamed Zhuang. Anyway, I've had a tough year, so I'm just going to quit the entertainment industry and go back to Citibank to continue my studies!"

Watching Guo Luyun's furious departure with heavy steps, Yin Longjuan looked at her husband with a troubled expression once again.

"Sigh, children are all debts. I'll find a way to clean up this mess for her. But from now on, we might... have to act according to Zhuang Menghua's wishes." At this moment, Chen Dilin finally felt that his life of torment was just a dream of inevitable retribution.

What's the point of arguing so much?

In the end, when the Zhao family's "own people" made their move, wasn't he the first one to be used as a pawn to make an example of them?

Rather than being used and then discarded, it would be better to switch sides with Zhuang Menghua and become a "tainted witness" to help her seize power in Huasheng—this way, she might not only be able to handle the aftermath for her niece who is about to retire from the entertainment industry, but also preserve the lives of the couple in this constantly turbulent situation.

After all, Huang Qianyan has been quite well-behaved lately, and with Li Sishi as her successor, Zhuang Menghua has these two promising young actresses to rely on.

Perhaps it can continue the glory of the 1980s...

So having subordinates versus not having subordinates gives you...

Other people's feelings are really different. In their past lives, Huang Qianyan and Li Sishi both squandered their good fortune. After Zhuang Menghua lost her capable generals, she had to be much more restrained in her actions. Now, Huang Qianyan is doing alright, and Li Sishi has risen to prominence... Well, it's only natural that some "wise birds" know to choose their tree to perch on based on the situation.

However, one thing that puzzled him was why Li Sishi didn't release such a song earlier, since she had one that was perfect for livening up the atmosphere at a concert.

Meanwhile, Li Sishi, unaware that her changes have caused the villain from her previous life to consider defecting to her side, is facing the same problem.

"Was it a song written for you by a talented fan?" Zhuang Menghua made this guess because she remembered Lu Yiting saying that it was taken from a collection of fan letters from Li Sishi.

Li Sishi remained silent for a moment before answering, "No."

"So how exactly did you get this song?" Zhuang Menghua asked again.

Taking a deep breath, Li Sishi continued calmly, "I got it in Annam... Back then, my parents were always arguing, and I had no interest in studying. I spent my days skipping classes with the more outgoing classmates. Later, in a bar, I met an old band who had fled overseas with me to escape the chaos of war..."

"Because they miss their hometown, they call themselves the band 'Planting Flowers,' which is said to imply that no matter how much beauty they create outside, they should always remember to return to their roots..."

"How famous is this Zhonghua Band in Annam?" Actually, Zhuang Menghua asked casually, because the Zhao family also started in the Southeast Asian region, and they also had uncles and brothers there. Every year, they would travel to Southeast Asia to do business and visit relatives, and of course, they would also make a few trips to Annam, which belongs to the Southeast Asian region, for inspection.

None of them in this industry had ever heard of this band; they guessed it was one of those talented but unlucky bands who had no one to support them.

“It wasn’t very good, and their families didn’t like these old folks who were still young at heart. One by one, they left the band or passed away. Some of the songs I have are the ones that the last member entrusted to me before she died. She hoped that if I had the chance to return to Hong Kong in the future, she would find someone to tell the world about the accumulation and regrets of their band’s life, even though their band is no longer around…” Li Sishi lowered her head and sighed.

"So you secretly put some songs in the scrapbook?" After hearing this explanation, Zhuang Menghua became very interested in the song resources Li Sishi had. "Can I ask if there are any..."

How many songs?

“I’ve gradually organized some over the past two years, but not many, because many of them are rather scattered drafts that need to be deciphered and reassembled according to the band’s own ‘codes’ or filled in based on memories…” Li Sishi replied.

"Since you are the 'legitimate' heir to these resources and are using your own strength to complete and combine them..." Zhuang Menghua's gaze sharpened, "Have you ever thought about..."

Should I add a label of 'creative talent' to my resume?

Upon hearing this question, Li Sishi's heart sank at first, but then she felt certain: They've arrived.

She didn't have any system or cheat codes to back her up, nor did she have any major missions that required her to change the world, so the benefits she gained from her reborn memories felt somewhat overwhelming.

To keep them for oneself seems like an excessive "waste," as there's no way or opportunity to properly explain their origin; to simply leave them as a memory seems like an excessive "waste."

In the end, all she could do was painstakingly gather these things from her memories over the years of her rebirth and create "mysterious code" that only she could understand.

As for the song "Glamorous Debut," she wrote it after deciding to enter the music scene and become a singer. She took some time to pick out several songs of various styles and kept them safe for future use.

She had witnessed the complexities of the entertainment industry and was no saint, so she couldn't remain indifferent to these "resources" that were very helpful to her career in the entertainment industry.

But all she wanted in this life was to make herself and her family live peacefully and happily, so she had no grand ambitions to conquer the world. Occasionally, she would use these things to get herself out of trouble—that was enough.

She would compete for other resources from the company's allocation by relying on her own abilities and a bit of "luck".

“I’m just a lucky one who received a gift,” Li Sishi said, then told Zhuang Menghua that she didn’t intend to put her name on the works—even though Zhuang Menghua said she would arrange it for her and guarantee that there would be no trace of it.

"Furthermore, I hope that if these works are used in the future, the name of the Flower Planting Band will be written in the creator column, and all related income will be donated to charity." Li Sishi added this last point, amidst Zhuang Menghua's unpredictable expression.

Hearing Li Sishi's words, Zhuang Menghua stared at Li Sishi for a long while and slowly said, "You are undoubtedly a lucky person who keeps his promises, but I can't judge whether you are smart or foolish for the time being."

Li Sishi met her scrutinizing gaze without fear, displaying an unyielding attitude.

After a long while, Zhuang Menghua lowered her eyes and said, "Fine, since you want to do this, I won't force you. Anyway, these resources will always be useful and profitable for me. As for the part that belongs to you and that band, I will let you arrange it yourself."

"Thank you for your understanding, Miss Zhuang." Li Sishi bowed to her.

"Alright, you can go out now. I have an appointment with someone else—" Before Zhuang Menghua could finish waving her hand, the person outside had already casually turned the lock and opened the door.

In the instant they passed each other, Li Sishi seemed to see the complex look Huang Qianyan was giving her.

Li Sishi, puzzled for several days about why Huang Qianyan was behaving this way towards her, was finally stopped by Huang Qianyan, who approached her and asked, "Do you have time to talk?"