Chapter 501: Procuring Song and Choreography

Once the night practice was over, Su Ruowan sneaked into Su Muyan’s room.

Su Muyan often sought unknown music producers from abroad for songs and bought off the music rights after he picked a tune he liked. Normally, a song would be selected before the lyrics were added by a hired composer or the singer themselves. The same goes with the choreography. The singer was free to hire a choreographer too.

Some of Su Muyan’s songs were bought but the lyrics were filled in by himself. It was easy with the foreign musicians as there was a chance local ghostwriters would blackmail and expose him, putting his career at risk.

“Muyan.” Su Ruowan entered the room in suspense. She cautiously asked him, “Have you gotten it?”

Speaking from personal experience, Su Muyan tried to ease her tension. “Stuff we bought is ours to keep. Don’t be scared. Nothing bad’s going to happen.”

“Okay.” Su Ruowan may appear ridden with guilt and worry, but scared? As if. Nevertheless, she still acted scared in front of Su Muyan.

“Oh, you. Take it easy or people will see through you.” Su Muyan grinned.

Wanwan was too kind and timid. The song was theirs since they bought it with their money, so there was no need to feel guilty and burdened. Su Muyan went to check on the downloading progress. It was completed.

Su Ruowan nodded and took great courage in replying, “Muyan, I got it. The whole thing is my fault. I shouldn’t have acted on impulse and agreed to it.”

“It has nothing to do with you.” Su Muyan was on her side. Following a sudden thought, murderous intent became visible in his eyes. He inquired, “Are you still hanging with He Lu?”

That woman was no angel with all that mind games and dirty tricks. She played a part in pushing Wanwan to perform her own original on stage and even made Wanwan look bad this morning.

“Lulu didn’t mean to.” Su Ruowan weakly defended He Lu.

Of course, she knew better than to hang out with He Lu, but there was no turning back for her now. She had no choice but to dance around He Lu since they were supposedly tight.

“People never repay you with kindness. When will you change that character of yours?” Su Muyan sighed and helplessly shook his head. This was no time to make a fuss over it. He urged her, “You better watch your back.”

Wanwan had always been a bleeding heart, and this was the case with Shen Xi and He Lu. If it were someone else in Wanwan’s position, the person would have despised Shen Xi and He Lu for their doings!

“Got it.” Su Ruowan added. “Lulu is just frank and not mean at heart.”

Su Muyan laughed in rage. “More like a snake in the grass. You’re naïve to tell her everything. Keep her at arm’s length. You’re competitors at the end of the day. How many times do I have to tell you this?”

Su Ruowan bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Muyan. I’ve disappointed you.”

Looking at her dejected face, Su Muyan did not have the heart to lecture Su Ruowan. Perhaps it was a good thing that Wanwan was innocent and kind, he could just take the burden off of her and stand by her.

A kind heart was better than having none like Shen Xi, that brat. The thought of Shen Xi sent Su Muyan in a fit of rage.

Su Ruowan sensibly followed behind Su Muyan as he tapped a folder on the desktop and a music file inside. Music began to play.

“These are the songs. Let’s have a listen to see what you like. You can try to fill in the lyrics and I’ll help you with that.” Su Muyan told her.

Su Ruowan gratefully stared at him. Her voice was soft and sweet like cotton candy. “Thank you, Muyan.”

“It is nothing if it helps you sail smoothly to your debut.” Su Muyan could already see it. He would be delighted for his sister to debut front and center but more so over the moon to step on Cosmos Entertainment to get ahead.

Nevertheless, he hit a stalemate with Mr. Xixi, unable to make any progress with the latter in the past two days. Su Muyan struggled to come up with a way to get through to him.

Yet, he was determined to make a breakthrough, or impress for a lack of a better word. Still, he did feel better that he was not alone in this. Mr. Xixi was not close with the other mentors as well.

“I will do my best.” Su Ruowan cheerfully balled up her fist.

“I believe you can do it. You are the best among all these trainees.” Su Muyan looked proud.

The duo listened to the music together to choose a tune.

Su Ruowan quietly remained attentive. Sure, she did not have the talent to compose a song, but that did not mean she could not appreciate a good song. She could pick up the good from the bad easily.

Su Muyan was quite accomplished in music. To him, the first few songs were mediocre and probably would do for Youtube singers. However, it was not good or mind-blowing enough for Wanwan to make it huge on the main stage.

Su Ruowan grew impatient as she listened on. Did Muyan give any thought to this? She might as well write her own songs than use these trashy songs.

The pair sat for a while giving an ear to the music. They had to first filter through the songs, then pick a few before making their final decision.

Suddenly, their eyes lit up when the prelude of another song came on after a lackluster one. They exchanged a glance and continued listening.

With the song coming to an end, Su Ruowan became unsure. Was it just a less trashy song out of all the rest? She turned to Su Muyan. “What do you think about this song, Muyan?”

Su Muyan nodded. “You can definitely perform this song on stage and make a splash with the nice and catchy tune, but it’s hard to say if it’d be a big hit.”

There was a saying going round in showbiz that publicity was what drew attention, but to make it big, it took fate. These words rang true not only to artists but also to songs. It was easier to make a splash through hyping, but to blow the audience away required both quality and chance.

Ten minutes later.

The QQ account Shen Xi got from Yuan Yu suddenly beeped. The icon was blinking under the name, Su.

Su sent a cropped picture. [Su: This is the song I picked. Get someone to choreograph the song too.]

Shen Xi imitated the former account user’s style of speech. [Microwave: Sure, of course. I have someone in mind. Leave it to me. You can count on me.]

[Su: I want the choreography in two days.]

Shen Xi curled her lips while her lean fingers danced around the keyboard. [Microwave: Alrighty! Get the money ready and leave the rest to me.]

Chapter 502: Not Taking Someone Else’s Word For it

No further reply was heard from Su. It was only a transaction of money for service between a buyer and a seller. There was not much to talk about.

Looking at the song Su Muyan sent over, Shen Xi knew they would pick this particular song. Nevertheless, all the songs, except for this one, were originals. These one-minute originals were a ploy to confuse them.

The song Su Muyan picked was downloaded from a niche pay-per-stream platform. Although it had a nice and catchy tune to it, the song was not mind-blowing. Still, it had its uniqueness.

Shen Xi searched high and low for two days to finally choose this song. The creator was intellectually handicapped but had a unique talent in music.

There was only one song uploaded and it was recent. It had not gathered much attention with less than a thousand clicks and downloads at less than fifty. Shen Xi asked Yuan Yu to contact the creator, but there had not been any news so far.

It would be a shame to lose such a unique talent. If the creator was willing, Shen Xi could hire them to work under Cosmos Entertainment. If signing onto a company was not their cup of tea, Shen Xi would consider a long-term partnership to buy their songs.

Since finding out that Mr. Yun Xiao was Mr. Xixi, Su Muyan had been trying to reach out, engage, collaborate with, and win over him.

Sadly, nothing seemed to work with Mr. Xixi. No matter what he did, Mr. Xixi remained indifferent. Running out of ideas, he took comfort in the fact that the other mentors made zero breakthroughs too.

It was the same for Su Ruowan as well. The day after settling on a song, she would appear occupied with the lyrics during breaks and would ask Mr. Xixi of his opinion. She was pissed to tears by his single comment that it was good.

However, the other trainees were envious of Mr. Xixi’s attitude to Su Ruowan. They knew that Su Ruowan was outstanding and more talented than any of them. Still, it was a lot of people’s dream to be praised by Mr. Xixi.

Many may think so, but not everyone. He Lu and others who were close to Su Ruowan had their suspicions that Mr. Xixi was not fond of Su Ruowan and was simply fobbing her off.

Sure, Su Ruowan had skills, but she was no Mr. Xixi. Everyone in the entertainment world, much less her, paled in comparison to Mr. Xixi.

He Lu had just got pointers from Mr. Xixi when she ran into Su Ruowan on her way back. Noticing the music score in Su Ruowan’s hand, He Lu eagerly held her arm. “Wanwan, are you looking for Mr. Xixi? I want to come with you!”

Su Ruowan grinned. “You should carry on with your training. I can head there myself.”

“I’m not busy at all. I’ll go with you.” He Lu was not going to miss the drama. While walking, she relayed the detailed advice she got from Mr. Xixi and added her spin to it.

Su Ruowan may appear unfazed on the surface, but inside, jealousy was brewing. She could not fathom why Mr. Xixi would do this to her. What did she do wrong for Mr. Xixi to single her out?

Still, she put on a brave face and ditched her dignity to come looking for him.

This was Mr. Xixi they were talking about. So long as she could win Mr. Xixi’s favor, Su Ruowan would sooner or later climb to great heights in the music industry just like Qi Xiu.

Hence, no matter how much Mr. Xixi disliked her, made things difficult for her, or had a problem with her, Su Ruowan must bear with it and persevere. Soon, Mr. Xixi would be able to see the effort and good in her, subsequently accepting her and taking her under his wing.

Muyan said the song she picked was great and good enough to perform on the main stage. Mr. Xixi was bound to speak highly of the song.

Su Ruowan managed to finish the lyrics at last just so Mr. Xixi could take a look at her skills. This was the day Mr. Xixi would see her in a new light.

He Lu was walking with Su Ruowan to the studio where Mr. Xixi was before she was called away by one of the trainees. Even though she was disappointed to miss the drama, she had to leave because Ms. Xia Mi was looking for her.

Traumatized by Mr. Xixi’s attitude, Su Ruowan was reluctant to look for him. While fast approaching her destination, she caught a glimpse of Mr. Xixi coming out of the studio and heading in the opposite direction of the corridor. She picked up the pace to catch up.

Since the trainees were undergoing training in their respective studios during this time, there was not a soul in the corridors.

“Mr. Xixi,” Su Ruowan drew close and cried.

Shen Xi turned back to find Su Ruowan jogging toward her. She nodded in the face of Su Ruowan’s docile and ingratiating smile.

“Mr. Xixi, I composed this. If I could trouble you to take a look.” Su Ruowan nervously and expectantly handed her music score over.

Instead of accepting the music score, Shen Xi blurted a cold reply, “I’m off duty.”

It was a bitter pill for Su Ruowan to swallow as she awkwardly chuckled. “Can I buy a bit of your time for a quick comment?”

Shen Xi answered, “No.”

She then turned around to leave, callously and heartlessly.

Rage brought tears to Su Ruowan’s eyes. Clutching the music score in her hands, Su Ruowan chased after Mr. Xixi before her emotional burden began to overflow. Since it was better to get to the bottom of the issue than continue to be in the dark, she cut to the chase. “Mr. Xixi, what did I do wrong to deserve this treatment?”

Shen Xi was amused by her questioning. What did she do wrong? Everything. Su Ruowan should know better than to ask such a pathetic question.

With Mr. Xixi refusing to even look back, Su Ruowan ran after him as bitter and raging tears streamed down her cheeks. “You must be lying when you said you didn’t know Shen Xi. You’re doing this to me because of her.”

She had nothing to lose now that things were not getting anywhere. Rather than be tormented, trying to figure out the reason behind his aloof and perfunctory attitude, it was best to straighten it out.

Shen Xi was diverted. ‘Excuse me, but I am Shen Xi.’

Su Ruowan resentfully clenched her fists, having determined that Mr. Xixi knew Shen Xi. Shen Xi must have badmouthed her to him for Mr. Xixi to treat her as such. Su Ruowan added. “Mr. Xixi, I trust that someone of your wits and status, you won’t just take someone else’s word for it. I can tell you my side of the story if you let me.”

Shen Xi refused to cast her a glance or give her the time of the day. Tsk tsk. When it came to having no boundaries, Su Ruowan reigned number one. Su Ruowan would take on anyone who was against her.