Chapter Fifty-Three: Leading the Chinese Music Scene to Surpass the World!

In the end, after a brief verbal exchange, Chen Nian agreed to Ye Hao’s offer: for eight million yuan in appearance fees, he would join “Creation Camp” as a vocal instructor and participate in two episodes of the show’s recording.

Eight million for just two episodes? Luo Xiaoyi, who sat beside the two of them, listened to their conversation in utter shock. In all her years in the industry, she had never heard of a program willing to pay a rookie eight million just to be a mentor.

“Brother Ye! If you ask me, you should give up being an investor. With your voice, it’s only a matter of time before you explode as a singer!”

“Brother Chen, are you sure?”

“Just say the word and I’ll buy out the company tomorrow and switch careers to singing!”

“Brother Ye! Don’t worry, if you dare buy that company, I’ll sign you under my name tomorrow!”

“Three years! Just three years, and I guarantee you’ll be famous across the country!”

An hour later, Chen Nian’s face was flushed from drinking; all his initial reserve had vanished. With arms slung around each other’s shoulders, he and Ye Hao sat together, boasting and laughing.

As their childhood friend, Luo Xiaoyi could only cover her face with one hand, unable to bear the sight of these two now.

Seeing that it was getting late, Luo Youdao called out to the butler to send Ye Hao home.

“Brother Ye! Take care, I… I won’t see you off,” Chen Nian slurred, bracing himself in the doorway as he watched Ye Hao’s figure recede into the distance.

“Alright, he’s gone. There’s no need to keep up your act,” Luo Youdao said with a faint smile, exposing Chen Nian’s performance.

“Act? What act?” The girls still looked bewildered as Chen Nian straightened up and poured himself a glass of water.

“Uncle Luo, you’re as sharp as ever,” Chen Nian replied with a subtle smile.

“You rascal, if I couldn’t see through you after all these years, it would have been a waste,” Luo Youdao teased, smiling.

“You were faking being drunk?” Luo Xiaoyi gaped in disbelief.

With that kind of acting, Luo Xiaoyi thought, not to boast, but in China, he could easily win Best Actor.

“The drunkenness was real, but the trick is how to act drunk while actually drunk. That’s the real challenge,” Chen Nian replied.

Luo Xiaoyi nodded uncertainly. She knew all the words he used, but why did they make no sense together?

“This time I used you as a favor—does it bother you?” With Ye Hao gone, Luo Youdao didn’t bother hiding anything.

“Uncle Luo, what are you saying? Isn’t this between me and Brother Ye? How does it involve you?” Chen Nian replied with a faint, ambiguous smile.

“Young as you are, you’re quite shrewd,” Luo Youdao laughed. “But I won’t take advantage of you for nothing. If you ever need anything, just let me know. As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll help however I can.”

“Alright, Uncle Luo,” Chen Nian answered obediently, nodding.

Luo Youdao had made himself perfectly clear. If Chen Nian kept acting oblivious, it would only seem forced and immature.

“That’s enough for today, Xiaoyi, see our guests out.”

Back at his rented apartment, Chen Nian collapsed into bed. In his past life, he had long since quit drinking; if not for his current body’s youth and stamina, he would’ve been downed by Ye Hao at the dinner table.

Seven days later, the finals of “The New Voice” began filming.

By now, aside from Chen Nian and Zhou Lu, every other singer on the show had been replaced.

“As long as I can defeat Chen Nian today, I’ll be famous nationwide!” In the contestants’ lounge, Zhou Jielun, China’s acknowledged rising rap star, declared with confidence.

Since Chen Nian’s meteoric rise, every singer coming to “The New Voice” wanted to challenge him. After all, Chen Nian was a walking traffic magnet—no matter win or lose, just going up against him guaranteed massive attention.

As the recognized rap star, he had to seize this wave of popularity.

“Where’s Chen Nian? Where is he?” On set, filming had started, but the man who should be on stage was nowhere to be found.

“Director Mo, Chen Nian is outside,” his personal cameraman said helplessly, phone in hand and camera slung over his shoulder.

“Outside? The show’s already started. What’s he doing outside?”

“I… I don’t know how to explain. Just watch his livestream,” the cameraman replied mournfully.

Mo Fan, puzzled, opened Chen Nian’s livestream. As he watched the scenes on screen, his eyes widened in disbelief.

At that moment, Chen Nian was sitting at a barbecue stall outside the studio, drinking beer and gnawing on skewers.

“Director Mo, do you still want me to film this?” the cameraman asked, seeing Chen Nian unconcernedly stuffing his face.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t you?” Mo Fan slapped the table, laughing.

Livestreaming himself eating skewers during a program recording—this kind of footage was unprecedented in Chinese television history.

“Just follow the plan and interview him in the shop.”

“Alright,” the cameraman agreed. Since the director had spoken, what else could he do?

“Mr. Chen Nian, this is the finals of ‘The New Voice.’ As the contestant with the most first-place rankings so far, do you have anything you’d like to say?” the cameraman asked, aiming the lens as Chen Nian turned around with a lamb skewer in hand, offering it to him.

The cameraman sighed, “Mr. Chen Nian, we’re live right now.”

“I know,” Chen Nian replied impassively. “I grilled this myself. One of a kind—miss it now and you won’t get another chance.”

“Hahaha! That’s our boy—finals and he’s still in the mood for barbecue.”

“With that attitude, winning the championship should be in the bag.”

“I wonder what kind of song he’ll bring this time?”

“No matter what he sings, beating the others should be a breeze.”

The livestream’s chat was filled with cheerful, playful messages.

The cameraman, watching Chen Nian’s innocent, harmless expression, felt like dying inside. They clearly weren’t on the same wavelength, but he had no choice but to press on with the interview.

“Mr. Chen Nian, you’ve created and performed countless hits, but after all, you’re still a newcomer who debuted just two months ago. What are your hopes for the current music scene? Do you have any dreams?”

After a brief pause, Chen Nian set down his skewer, looking seriously into the camera.

“To be honest, at first, all I wanted was to lie flat and be a carefree slacker,” he began. “But after seeing with my own eyes just how rotten this entertainment industry is, I became interested. From that moment, my ambitions changed.”

“As for my outlook on the music world? Here and now, I want to tell the world: I, Chen Nian, will become the Godfather of Entertainment!”

“I will lead Chinese music to the world stage!”

“No—not just that. I’ll surpass the world!”