"Stop, stop! The focus now is on how to clear Gu Chen's name! Once the truth comes out, it doesn't matter where Gu Chen's name appears."
A 66-watt light bulb interrupted the two people who were getting all lovey-dovey.
Zhang Yun nodded. "I already have a preliminary plan for this."
Both of them looked at him upon hearing this.
"I'll first win the championship of a popular music variety show, then wait for the entertainment company to come and negotiate terms. When I sign the contract, I'll ask them to add a condition that I help Brother Chen clear his name. As for the money he owes, I'll ask them to give me the highest percentage of the contract. I'll release more songs and take on more movies, and as soon as I make money, I'll pay it off for Brother Chen."
The air suddenly became quiet.
Um……
The plan doesn't seem to have any major flaws.
Upon closer inspection, something seems off.
Finally, Cheng Jinxian broke the silence.
"No, what makes you so sure you can win the championship?"
"Or is it a wildly popular music variety show?"
"Besides, even if you win the championship, you're just a minor celebrity. Where do you get the confidence to get an entertainment company to whitewash Gu Chen's image and give you the highest contract share?"
Do you think you're some international superstar?!
Cheng Lujin felt that his thinking was somewhat out of touch with the times.
Are young people these days all so extravagant?
The champion just spouts off like that; do you think this is a wish-fulfillment novel?
Zhang Yun smiled meaningfully: "Confidence is the pinnacle."
Lu Chengjin twitched his lips speechlessly. He had thought that this kid had some kind of background or money, but now it seemed that he had been thinking too much.
Sure enough, people who hang out with Gu Chen are all a bit crazy.
“He can,” Gu Chen said.
After careful consideration, Cheng Jin concluded that with Gu Chen as a hand double, and given Zhang Yun's appearance and reputation as an original musician, as long as his singing skills weren't too bad, becoming famous would be no problem at all.
Even if her singing skills are bad, it doesn't matter. She can become famous just by starring in a brainless idol drama with her face.
Moreover, judging from Zhang Yun's voice, Cheng Lujin knew that he had a very good voice, but he didn't know how talented he was at singing.
"We can do it this way for now. In short, we need to make Zhang Yunhong famous first."
Cheng Lujin had already begun to imagine the future, but then he noticed that the two people in the room were both looking at him.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? Shouldn't we be discussing which music program Zhang Yun should participate in?"
"Why are you still here?" Gu Chen asked.
Cheng Lujin's expression suddenly changed. "You...you're not planning to abandon me and play by myself, are you?"
Gu Chen said matter-of-factly, "Give me a reason to take you out."
Cheng Jin was about to speak when he suddenly stopped.
Zhang Yun is very talented, and with a great talent like Gu Chen willing to tailor-make works for him, he is bound to become famous no matter how he debuts. It seems that there is really no need to find him, the gold medal (past tense) agent who has made a major mistake in the past.
Gu Chen had even less reason to pull him away. Although the two of them had suffered bad luck because of the same thing, Gu Chen was the pure victim. It was already good enough that he didn't hate him!
Gu Chen asked me for help before because I was the only one he could turn to, and only I would help him.
But now, with Zhang Yun's tireless help, it seems there's really nothing left for him to do?!
Cheng Lujin started to panic.
"I, I, I know about your relationship!"
After racking his brains for a long time, Cheng Jin finally came up with a reason that might make them accept him—
"You two are in the throes of a passionate romance, you must be inseparable. If something goes wrong, it'll be a huge scandal. If I were your agent, I could cover it up for you!"
"Besides, I'm very capable, Gu Chen, you know that! I've made many people famous, and I'm only one step away from being a top agent, no, half a step away!"
"Although I've fallen on hard times, I still have a lot of connections from before, which can help you get a lot of resources and avoid a lot of detours!"
"If you had any other agent, you two would have to sneak around sending messages, let alone sit together openly like this!"
That sounds...very reasonable?
Zhang Yun and Gu Chen exchanged a glance.
“Then I’ll allow you to be my agent,” Zhang Yun said.
Lu Chengjin breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt that something was off.
The way he talks sounds like he's choosing a chief eunuch for the emperor.
Do the adolescent delusions of today's young people continue into high school and college?
Next, the three of them discussed which program Zhang Yun should appear on.
Cheng Lujin finally showed his professional side, pulling up his phone screen to project onto Zhang Yun's TV and starting his explanation—
"This masked singer is pretty good. It's already aired nine episodes, and it will end in four more. I know several people in the production team, so getting you a guest appearance as a challenger shouldn't be a problem."
"This 'Good Music in Xia Country' is also good, but they've only started filming their second season. At most, I can help you skip the auditions and get you started from the preliminary rounds, which will take a long time."
"This singing competition show is a recent hit, and it's quite suitable for you. The audience is mostly young people. However, it requires contestants to be able to sing, dance, and rap, and it's best if they can also do sports, like playing basketball... How are you in these areas?"
Zhang Yun, as was his habit, modestly replied, "I know a little about everything."
Cheng Lujin thought he really only "knew a little," so he said, "Forget it, young fans are very aggressive. If you have even the slightest problem, they'll find something to criticize you to death. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it. Let's just honestly participate in the singing program."
"My suggestion is that you choose from the two programs mentioned above. The other programs are not in the same league as these two, so there is no need to participate."
Zhang Yun turned to look at Gu Chen sitting next to her, "Brother, which one do you want me to participate in?"
Seeing this, Cheng Lujin said with a hint of sourness, "Hey, this is your debut platform. You make your own decisions. Why are you asking him? Are you just going to listen to him like that?"
Zhang Yun nodded, "I'll do whatever you tell me to do, brother."
Cheng Jin smiled and deliberately provoked him, saying, "So if he asks you to take calcium supplements, you'll go too?"
“I’ll go, but I only accept taking photos with my brother,” Zhang Yun said seriously.
Now it was Cheng Lu Jin's turn to be dumbfounded: My goodness, you're being way too sycophantic!
Gu Chen frowned: "Watch your mouth in front of A-Yun!"
"Pretentious~" Cheng Lujin muttered under his breath.
Don't think he can't see that your little angel has been completely devoured by you, you dog! The hickeys on his neck are still fresh!
How could you bite such a beautiful neck!
You're putting on airs like a gentleman right in front of me!
We're all human beings, how could you be so dog-like?!
Cheng Lujin thought to himself, but on the surface he wore a professional smile and said:
“My suggestion is that you participate in Xia Guo's Good Voice. The first season of this show made four or five newcomers famous, and the champion is now a top-tier singer. The show is currently very popular, so if you start from the preliminary rounds, you can gradually build up your fan base.”
"This show is quite demanding in terms of songs. Even if you have a smooth run from the preliminary rounds to the finals, you still need to prepare six songs. Considering that there will be a revival round in the middle, you need to prepare at least seven songs."
Before Zhang Yun could speak, Gu Chen said, "I'm fine."
Zhang Yun gave up on expressing his opinion and nodded, saying, "I'll listen to you, brother."
"Okay, in that case, I'll contact the program team right now and register you for the preliminary round."
After saying that, he looked at Gu Chen and said, "Make sure the first song is of the highest quality so we can make a name for ourselves right away."
Gu Chen said, "Don't worry."
"By the way, could you sing me a song? Just a cappella."
Cheng Lujin looked at Zhang Yun and asked one last crucial question.
Zhang Yun smiled and stood up from the sofa. From the pile of newly purchased items that hadn't yet been unpacked, he found the guitar he had bought earlier, tuned it a few times, and began to play—
"Love is a strange thing; I started to lose control of my whole body."
"Love is a skill, and I was not even myself at first."
"I've done so many foolish things for you, the first of which was writing poems for you~"
"I write poems for you, I freeze for you, I do the impossible for you, I learn to play the piano and write lyrics for you, I lose my mind for you..."
"...I can forget everything, but the one thing I can never forget is your face~"
He played the guitar, looking at Gu Chen with deep affection and focus, each word flowing smoothly and naturally from his heart.
The beautiful singing voice transformed into a meltingly loving embrace that enveloped and permeated Gu Chen, making his heart pound.
Cheng Lujin's eyes widened, and her mouth opened as if she could fit an egg inside.
After finishing the song, Zhang Yun paused for a moment, savoring the long-lost emotions in his heart, before saying to the two stunned people, "I've made a fool of myself."
With that, he put the guitar back.
After a while, Cheng Jin finally came to his senses and asked Gu Chen beside him, "...Did you write this for him?"
The amazement in Gu Chen's eyes hadn't completely faded when he heard this, and he shook his head, "I haven't even started writing mine yet."
Cheng Lujin gasped, his voice cracking with excitement: "Original?!"
Zhang Yun paused for a second before saying, "I guess so."
evildoer!
Cheng Lujin looked as if she had seen a ghost.
Gu Chen was already amazing enough, but now another one has appeared!
Moreover, although it was just an impromptu performance, he could see that Zhang Yun's performance was much more powerful than Gu Chen's back then!
He had only ever felt this way with established superstars who had been famous for many years, but Zhang Yun looked only twenty years old!
In the past, when praising someone in the entertainment industry, a common phrase was "He was born to do this job."
Upon meeting Zhang Yun today, Cheng Jin realized that this statement was not a polite compliment.
But there really are such people!
I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to mentor someone like this!
Cheng Lujin felt every cell in his body was excited.
He excitedly turned around, wanting to hug Gu Chen beside him to vent his joy, but Gu Chen grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him out of the house.
"Bang!"
The gate closed, and Cheng Lujin and the gate embraced.
"???"
"Thud—thump—" Cheng Lujin, whose face was pressed against the door, heard the sound of something falling inside.
Not long after, Zhang Yun's trembling voice, mixed with intermittent meows like a cat's, came from inside: "...I write poems for you...for you...still...ah..."
Depend on!
Gu Chen, you're a real bastard!
Upon realizing what was happening inside, Cheng Jin angrily kicked the door, then limped downstairs clutching his throbbing foot.
...
As night fell, the orange lamp cast a hazy, ambiguous glow over the room.
Zhang Yun lay limp on the bed, too weak to even move a fingertip.
A hand reached out and pulled the air-conditioning blanket that had slipped down to his waist to cover him, gently touching his still flushed face.
Zhang Yun squinted her eyes like a cat, enjoying the caress of his hand, and yawned.
"Tired?" Gu Chen asked, sitting on the edge of the bed in his bathrobe.
"Hmm." Zhang Yun nodded, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
Gu Chen smiled and lowered his head to kiss his eyes. "Go to sleep if you're sleepy."
Zhang Yun's eyes were already closed, but her fingers were still clutching the corner of his bathrobe as she murmured, "I want you to hold me while I sleep."
"Okay." Gu Chen smiled and lay down next to him, wrapping his arms around him.
Only after Zhang Yun fell asleep in his arms did Gu Chen carefully withdraw his hand, gently kiss his forehead, and leave the room.
He took a pen and paper to the guest room next door, sat down at the desk, and quickly wrote something on the paper.
He would pause every now and then, his slender fingertips tapping lightly on the table, humming a soft melody.
Gu Chen wrote very quickly, rarely pausing once he started, and soon he had filled more than ten pages.
He wrote page after page, the clock on the wall ticking, time passing second by second.
It wasn't until Gu Chen reached for a new blank sheet of paper and found nothing that he snapped out of his daze.
He glanced at the time; it was already four in the morning.
Gu Chen suddenly smiled slightly, picked up his pen, and named the newly written song, which had not yet been named, "Thinking of You at Four in the Morning".
He then stacked the song and the other nine songs he had written that night together, clipped them together, and took them back to the master bedroom.
Zhang Yun was still sleeping peacefully on the bed.
He placed the manuscript containing the lyrics and melody on the bedside table, then undressed, crawled into bed, and fell asleep holding the person on the bed.
...
Before Gu Chen even opened his eyes, he heard a familiar melody.
He got up and went outside, looking towards the balcony from which the sound was coming.
Zhang Yun sat by the window, holding a guitar in one hand, with the manuscript of the song he wrote last night on the music stand in front of him.
As he played the piano, he sang softly. The not-too-intense morning light from outside the window shone on him, casting a faint golden halo around him.
Gu Chen was instantly taken away from breathing.
"You're awake?"
After Zhang Yun finished singing this short section, she put down her guitar, got up, and walked towards him.
He hugged Gu Chen and breathed into his ear, "Looks like I didn't work hard enough last night. You actually had the energy to secretly write songs behind my back? Ten of them, huh?"
Gu Chen smiled and was about to kiss him when she remembered that she hadn't brushed her teeth after waking up and her breath smelled bad.
He pulled Zhang Yun off him and said, "If you suddenly have an inspiration, you'll lose it if you don't write it down quickly."
After saying that, he added, "I'll go wash up first."
"Okay, I'll wait for you to go have breakfast together!" Zhang Yun said with a smile to his retreating figure.
When the two returned after having breakfast, they found Cheng Lujin waiting at Zhang Yun's door.
"Why are you here again?" Gu Chen asked.
Cheng Lujin said, "Of course I have something to discuss with you."
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