Chapter 131 - Things Have Remained The Same, But People Have Changed
Houhai, ForgetWorries Bar.
It was justa little past 7 o"clock in the evening, but the bar was already full. Thecustomers were sitting together in groups. They either talked and laughed in alow voice or drank and played cards, making the night scene lively and notnoisy.
"Oh!"
With anexaggerated look on his face, David, the bartender, asked Lu Chen, who had justarrived at the bar, "Little Boss, is this beautiful lady your datetonight? May I have her name, please?"
He stared atthe woman next to Lu Chen, as if he had found some treasure.
AlthoughDavid is not a real westerner, but he grew up abroad when he was young, so hisway of thinking is not much different from that of foreigners. When he seeswhat he likes, he expresses it directly.
If the otherparty was not brought by Lu Chen, he will immediately try his best to please her.
Lu Chensneered and said, "This is my sister. If you dare to move any crookedideas, be careful if I suddenly turn hostile!"
"!"
David quicklyraised his hand and surrendered, and made a pitiful appearance: "I didn"tknow she was your sister. May I buy you two a gla.s.s of tequila sunrise?"
Lu Chen knewthis guy"s character very well. He said with a smile, "How about a gla.s.s?At least two gla.s.ses!"
David saidwith a bitter face, "All right then…"
Aftersuffering a heavy loss, the bartender turned around sadly to make c.o.c.ktails.
Lu Xi wasnot angry.
It was thefirst time she had been called a "beautiful lady", and she found thebartender interesting.
Lookingcuriously at her surroundings, she commented, "This is a nice bar."
Forget WorriesBar"s decoration style is very good. It has a little fame in Houhai circle, andthe customers who come here often have great qualities. The atmosphere isdifferent from the ordinary place.
Lu Chensmiled and said, "We have 5% of the shares."
Lu Xi hasknown about this matter for a long time, and through Lu Chen"s introduction,she already knew Chen Jianhao.
As Lu Chen"sagent and studio manager, Lu Xi"s biggest problem is her lack of experience.She has never done similar job before. Although she can look up the information,but in the end, paper is always shallow.
Many of theclear rules and hidden rules in the industries can"t be found by tapping on thekeyboard on the Internet.
And ChenJianhao can help her understand the circle where Lu Chen is. He has always beenan insider and has a wide range of contacts in the circle. He has friends fromall walks of life, so naturally he will have plenty of experience.
Lu Chen didnot know the strength of his boss until he jumped out of the bar and realizedthat his boss was very deep.
So, he askedChen Jianhao to help guide his sister.
In case ofany problems, it is also very convenient for Lu Xi to call directly for advice.
Now Lu Xi andChen Jianhao are half master and apprentice, but this was the first time shehas come to Forget Worries Bar.
Today is alittle special.
"LittleLu!"
Lu Chen listened to the sound and saw Chen Jianhao standing in frontof the railing upstairs waving to him, "Come up quickly!"
He quicklypulled Lu Xi and went upstairs.
The upstairswas also full, but the VIP seats are basically reserved, one of which has been occupiedby four people.
Seeing LuChen and Lu Xi, they got up one after another and said, "Big Chen, SisterLu Xi…"
Li Feiyu,Chen Xiaomei, Chen Xiang and Chen Xin, all the current members of Lu ChenStudio gathered together.
Togetherwith Chen Jianhao, the honorary consultant.
Lu Chensaid: "Let"s all sit down and have a chat while we drink."
Chen Jianhaofrowned and asked, "What are you doing? Coming over one by one at night?"
When themembers of Lu Chen Studio arrived, the Wandering band and Sister Na also came.When he came here just now, he met a lot of old customers in the bar below.Everyone laughed mysteriously when they greeted each other.
As a man witha lot of experience, Chen Jianhao judged that there must be a conspiracy amongthem!
It was apity that even David kept his mouth shut, no matter how much he threatened and temptedhim.
Lu Chenasked, "Brother Jianhao, do you know what day it is today?"
Chen Jianhaowas stunned: "What day?"
Heremembered that today was Thursday, August 27. What was so special about it?
Lu Chensmiled and said, "You"ll know later!"
He said toLu Xi, "Sister, you have a good time here with everyone. All the expensesin the evening are on me."
Lu Xinodded. "Un, you go ahead."
Lu Chen saidto Chen Jianhao, "Brother Jianhao, let"s go down."
Chen Jianhaowas completely out of the loop. Completely confused, he went downstairs andasked, "Where are you going?" (TN: Original text was "Chen Jianhaowas made in the cloud/fog" which basically mean he wasn"t informed.)
Lu Chensmiled and said, "I"m going to the backstage to prepare for the show. Somany old customers have come, so you accompany the guests!"
Chen Jianhaoreally obeyed him, "You finally know that a lot of old customers arelooking forward to seeing you. Don"t forget that you have shares in the bar andsing a few more songs at night!"
Lu Chenleft, the Wandering band left, and Sister Na also left. Now there are only 2 or3 old faces left in the original backstage group. All the others are newpeople.
Although itis said that the business of Forget Worries Bar is getting better and better,and the place is often full even if it"s not a rest day, but Chen Jianhao stillmisses the feeling of the past, including many old customers who also share thesame view.
But time cannotbe turned back. The past has pa.s.sed. Now, Lu Chen and Chen Jianhao are flyingseparately. Chen Jianhao is also very gratified.
Lu Chenpromised, "All right!"
Leaving ChenJianhao, he went backstage.
It"s been alittle over a month since the last time he sang in Forget Worries Bar.
But Lu Chenalready has a strange feeling.
The big roomoutside had been redecorated and the walls had been painted with new resinpaint, which made them look clean.
There aretwo more dressing tables for singers, and obviously were not crowded.
There are alot of people in it, but Lu Chen knew only few of them.
"LuChen!"
Lu Chen hadjust entered, and someone immediately called out his name.
Astonished,curiosity, pleasantly surprised…
Everyone"seyes in the room were focused on him - is he Lu Chen?
In thecircle of bar singers in Houhai, Lu Chen is a legendary figure.
He wasdormant in Forget Worries bar in recent years. At first, he served as a waitercarrying tea and water. Then suddenly, he burst into the entertainment industrywith amazing talent and became a rising star.
The threesongs written by Lu Chen for the Wandering band all appeared on the originalsound list, of which "In Spring" ranked first list for four consecutiveweeks, which made the Wandering band famous.
The mostinteresting thing to talk about is that the song was actually exchange for 5% ofthe share in Forget Worries Bar.
Lu Chen"ssong can sell for at least 200,000 yuan!
And hehimself is also very strong. He partic.i.p.ated in "Singing of China"all the way through, overcoming one difficulty after another. Now he is in thetop 10 in the country!
Such aneye-catching figure, even if not seen personally by the singers on the scene, hisname is still famous.
Isn"t whatLu Chen achieving the dream they all share?
Lu Chennodded: "h.e.l.lo."
The other partyis a resident singer in Forget Worries Bar. They kind of know each other, atleast by name.
Then theothers reacted and greeted him.
"h.e.l.lo,Brother Chen!" "Big Chen!" "h.e.l.lo!"
With eagerand enthusiastic faces, Lu Chen couldn"t tell who was who.
He claspedhis hands and smiled, and responded, "h.e.l.lo!" "h.e.l.lo,everyone!" "Thank you!"
If he didn"ttake part in the compet.i.tion, it"s easy for him to get confused by such scenes.
Lu Chenunderstand the minds of these singers.
They justwant to get to know each other, and even want to buy his songs.
Recallingthe years when he was ignored and despised in the bar, Lu Chen"s heart wasreally full of emotions.
"BigChen!"
At thistime, Qin Hanyang, who heard the noise from the small suite, relieved him ofhis encirclement: "Come here!"
Qin Hanyangcame forward, and these singers didn"t dare continue to surround Lu Chenanymore, and they hurriedly make way for him.
Now the Wanderingband is very popular. It is said that invitations for commercial performancesare lined up until next year. As the lead singer and leader of the band, QinHanyang also became an overnight hit, and also became the idol wors.h.i.+pped bycountless bar singers.
In Houhaiarea. He"s an absolute big shot!
It is alreadya great luck to see Qin Hanyang and the Wandering band in the Forget WorriesBar tonight.
And, one hasto add Lu Chen.
Lu Chenapologized and went to the small suite.
The otherfour members of the Wandering band were all there, and Zhang Nana, also knownas Sister Na.
"BigChen!"
Sister Na wa.s.still so enthusiastic, and she gave Lu Chen a big hug on the spot.
But now whethershe or Qin Hanyang have changed the way they address him.
It used tobe Little Lu, but now it"s Big Chen.
Becauseeveryone has changed and their ident.i.ties are different.
"SisterNa…"
Lu Chensmiled and said, "You are so beautiful now."
Sister Na"sappearance was very ordinary. With her age, she could even be said to be alittle ugly.
But now LuChen sees Sister Na. The makeup is exquisite and exuberant, the whole person"stemperament is very different from that of the past. She has a little more of amature woman"s charm.
She is apowerful proof that women rely on dressing up is correct.
Sister Na loosenup her arms and said with a fierce face, "So you mean, I used to beugly?"
Lu Chen knewshe was joking. He said with a smile, "You used to be beautiful, but now you"remore beautiful!"
Sister Na immediatelysmiled with joy and said, "You have the sweetest mouth. Have you fooledany girls lately?"
Lu Chenshook his head and smiled bitterly. Originally, he wanted to invite Ye Zitongover together in the evening. But the result, he found out, after he made acall, that the other party had gone home half a month ago and would not comeback until the beginning of school early next month.
Since thistime, Lu Chen has been partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion, coupled with takingcare of the studio, the production of alb.u.ms, and taking into account the onlineanchor, the contact with Ye Zitong naturally becomes very few.
Therelations.h.i.+p between the two has therefore became a little cold.
This is alsoa helpless thing; Lu Chen cannot spend time on love.
And he andYe Zitong did not really establish a relations.h.i.+p, such a situation is verynormal.
Even men andwomen in love will be alienated by separation.
But tonight, Lu Chen doesn"t want to think about this matter.