Chapter 351 - 351 326 The Agreement

Words : 1960 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

351: Chapter 326: The Agreement 351: Chapter 326: The Agreement Liu Hun didn’t expect Mu Jin, who had spoken up for him, to sign the agreement as well, leaving him feeling utterly baffled. However, now that the bet was on, there was no point in overthinking, he was set on securing the “ATM” position in the Music Producers Association. “Thank you all for appreciating me. I won’t let you down. From now on, let’s consider ourselves acquainted. I look forward to your guidance,” Liu Hun sincerely said to the few people around him and extended his left hand. With the power of the Black Dragon, he could sever all arts! Except for President Shu Qingya and Mu Jin, the rest, all four of them, didn’t escape the theft of their talents by Black Water Dragon. In the president’s office of Tianxing Group, President Hong Deren was listening to the man in front of him who had brought back the news, and this man was none other than Ou Ye. “President Hong, that’s the situation. As long as Shi Bi’er doesn’t release an album, I win the bet. Then, I’ll just need to make some small moves against the other council members, and the position of president will surely fall into the palm of my hand,” Ou Ye assured Hong Deren with full confidence. He wasn’t interested in the position itself, but in the substantial benefits provided by Tianxing Group. As far as he was concerned, apart from a bit more money each month, which he hardly cared for, the title was nothing more than empty prestige. “Well done! I’ve already transferred an advance payment to you, and the rest will naturally be yours once the job is done. But remember, having taken Tianxing’s money, you must follow Tianxing’s orders in the future, or you know what the consequences will be,” Hong Deren warned Ou Ye. As soon as he heard the money had been transferred, Ou Ye stopped paying attention to everything else. He quickly made a few perfunctory remarks and left the president’s office. Just as Ou Ye had left, Hong Deren immediately rose and respectfully beckoned to Wu Ming, who had been standing behind him, “Assistant Wu, please have a seat!” Wu Ming stood there motionless, his face expressionless as he spoke to Hong Deren, “I heard everything just now. This Ou Ye is a greedy little man who’d do anything for money and betray anyone. You must guard against him more strictly. If he makes any other moves, you need to inform me immediately.” “Yes, yes, yes! Rest assured, Assistant Wu. He’s counting on the final payment from us. As long as we keep him on a short leash with money, he’ll definitely behave,” Hong Deren said confidently. “Don’t be complacent,” Wu Ming instructed, hands behind his back, “The chairman will be back after a while, and we must strictly carry out his orders! Shi Bi’er’s album has to be stillborn!” The chilling tone of Wu Ming’s words made Hong Deren shudder as well; he quickly nodded and responded, “Rest assured, Assistant Wu. I’ve thoroughly investigated Liu Hun. He was just a filthy farmer and now he’s a nouveau riche with no background or connections. He’s just been lucky for a while. His first single was our oversight; we didn’t guard against him and let him find Yi Mengran. The second single was pure luck with the timing of the Golden Melody Awards.” “There can’t be a third time! Tell me your plan!” Wu Ming suddenly turned, his eyes sharply scrutinizing Hong Deren. “I guarantee it! I’ve heard that Yi Mengran has gone on vacation and won’t be back any time soon. Her assistant says she’s temperamental and unreachable even by her own parents, let alone Liu Hun. As for other well-known producers, I’ve already spoken to each of them, they definitely won’t collaborate with Liu Hun. He won’t be able to get past the first hurdle, and it’s impossible for him to write ten or more songs on his own anyway,” Hong Deren said, reaching up to wipe the sweat from his forehead. “I’ll say it again, don’t be complacent. Liu Hun is not the stinking farmer you’ve investigated! If you mess up again, you know what the consequences are,” Wu Ming said without waiting for Hong Deren’s reply and left the president’s office. Hong Deren, who had been nodding and bowing throughout, was now sweating coldly and hurriedly called to reiterate to each department to do their utmost to block Shi Bi’er’s new album. Liu Hun, who had been anticipating Tianxing’s sabotage, had at least prepared in advance. He rented a decent recording studio for Shi Bi’er for a month, securing a place where he could produce music. However, what followed gave Liu Hun a massive headache. “Hello, hello, hello... Producer Li! Producer Li! Hey!” Liu Hun sighed as he put down the phone, “This is already the seventeenth one! Anyone with a bit of fame in the industry, as soon as they hear it’s for your album, they hang up the phone quicker than if I were asking for a loan.” “Tianxing Group is really ruthless,” Shi Bi’er bit her lip, these days with Liu Hun overturning the heavens had given her an added hint of enchanting beauty. Liu Hun thought of Tianxing Group’s likely intervention, but he didn’t expect it to be so thorough. Being turned down after calling seventeenth people, he thought that he really had to secure the position on the Music Producers Association board. But that was a matter for later; the most important thing now was to find a suitable music producer because he had no idea about the album production process! Just as Liu Hun was sighing, a name suddenly popped into his mind—Chai Rong! After being reminded by Fang Tingmei, Liu Hun indeed remembered an important person—Chai Rong. Chai Rong, as an independent director of Hui Le Group, had his own network and resources. Additionally, he was grateful to Liu Hun for stepping in to help him bring the anniversary of the Golden Melody Awards to a perfect close, so he happily introduced a music producer called Xue Gang to Liu Hun, to help Shi Bi’er produce the album. Having received the news, Liu Hun spent three consecutive days at home writing songs, using up half of the artistic talent he had borrowed from Ou Ye and the other four people, writing ten songs. To avoid unexpected emergencies, he still kept half of his artistic talent in reserve. When the appointed day arrived, Liu Hun, with the playlist in hand, accompanied Shi Bi’er to the East City Star Dream Factory’s rented recording studio. Liu Hun and Shi Bi’er had been waiting for over half an hour in the recording studio before Xue Gang finally sauntered in late. Wearing flip-flops and black-framed glasses, his tired eyes and greasy hair looked completely out of place, but Liu Hun reconsidered, thinking that perhaps all artists were like this, so he warmly welcomed Xue Gang inside. Xue Gang walked into the recording studio with a carefree stride, and as soon as he sat down, his gaze started drifting over Shi Bi’er as he said, “As expected of a goddess. Seeing you in magazines is nothing, you have to see the real person to know how beautiful she is.” Shi Bi’er smiled slightly and politely replied, “Thank you for the compliment, Producer Xue, but let’s talk about the music instead.” “Let’s rest a bit first, I’m also tired! We can rest and then talk about business,” Xue Gang said lazily to Liu Hun, “Tell me, Liu Manager, don’t you serve your guests a cup of coffee or something?” Even though Liu Hun was already feeling dissatisfied with Xue Gang’s successive behavior, he courteously made a cup of coffee for him, taking Chai Rong’s feelings into consideration. “What the hell is this? You call this coffee?” Xue Gang spat out the coffee after just one sip. “Producer Xue, the facilities here are indeed a bit rudimentary, but please forgive us,” Liu Hun said, softening his tone. “Rudimentary? How can you have the nerve to call it rudimentary? This is clearly trash!” Xue Gang pointed around the studio and said, “Look at this! Look here! And look over here! Others like Feng Xiaoxiao, Deng Qi, Xu Moyu, and whatnot – their places are a hundred times better than this dump. If not for Director Chai’s face, I would never step foot in here in my life!” Shi Bi’er, smiling, smoothed things over with Xue Gang, “Producer Xue, please forgive us. Besides, isn’t producing good music with subpar equipment proof of your extraordinary talent?” “A goddess is a goddess indeed! Your words are always so sweet,” Xue Gang said as his small eyes gleamed brightly at Shi Bi’er, almost as if he wanted to see right through her. “Ahem... Producer Xue, let’s talk about the album,” Shi Bi’er shifted away from the topic, clearly repulsed by Xue Gang’s leering. “The album, huh...” Once the conversation turned to the album, Xue Gang’s smile vanished and he leaned back in his chair, tilting his head and said, “You know, Liu Manager, my production fee isn’t low, but considering Director Chai’s face, how about I charge you twenty thousand per song?” He really dares to ask for a lot, Liu Hun thought to himself with a sarcastic smile. He had looked into the fees of many music producers and knew that aside from top-tier producers like Yi Mengran, others like Xue Gang usually charged around ten thousand. But now, the man had the audacity to ask for twenty thousand right off the bat. “Okay! I agree, Producer Xue,” Liu Hun nodded and accepted the offer. He had no choice but to be blatantly exploited since Xue Gang was the only decent music producer they could find at the moment. If Liu Hun knew the production process of the album himself, he would’ve told this so-called Producer Xue to get lost long ago. Xue Gang didn’t expect Liu Hun to be such an easy target, and with a sinister smile, he added more demands, “Manager Liu, I require inspiration and a team, and you’ll have to cover my team’s daily expenses, right?” “How much exactly?” Liu Hun asked Xue Gang. “Not much, just fifteen hundred a day,” Xue Gang said, asking for the moon without any reservations, now having a clear understanding of Liu Hun’s psyche. Fifteen hundred a day, that’s forty-five thousand a month; money was certainly no object. Thus, Liu Hun nodded and agreed. “The transport to pick me up and drop me off, the food, as well as accommodation for my team...” Xue Gang listed an endless array of demands and requirements, and Liu Hun kept recording and agreeing to them all. Eventually, once all terms had been negotiated, Xue Gang felt that he should take his time fleecing Liu Hun and only then agreed to start looking at the music. “Manager Liu, how many songs are we planning to record for this album?” Xue Gang asked professionally. “We have prepared ten,” Liu Hun replied. “Ten? That won’t do! Twelve!” Xue Gang cocked his head and decided on the spot without so much as consulting Liu Hun, and still not satisfied, he said, “What kind of songs are these ten? Who wrote them? Let me see them.” Shi Bi’er glanced at Liu Hun, and with his nod, she then handed over the song list to Xue Gang.

Chapter 351 - 351 326 The Agreement

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