Chapter 50

"You two discuss it. Dong Xu, what did you want with me? Let's step outside and talk."

Zhang Xian gave Liu Dongxu a glance, calling him out into the courtyard.

"Big Brother Xian, I originally wanted you to help revise my song, but now..."

Liu Dongxu looked like he was about to cry, his face twisted in despair.

If only Zhang Xian had said his song was bad, Liu Dongxu might still have hoped to salvage it—but Chen Huan just told him to throw it in the trash, and that crushed him completely.

"Enough, Dong Xu. Creation needs inspiration. Wait until you feel it again before you write another note!"

Zhang Xian offered a casual word of comfort, then lit a cigarette.

"Then I'll just focus on finding a job—I've got an interview this afternoon."

Liu Dongxu exhaled a plume of smoke, gazing up at a forty-five-degree angle to the sky; he was already growing resistant to interviews, since every single one ended in failure, severely denting his confidence.

Zhang Xian looked at the utterly dejected Liu Dongxu and silently sighed inside: Brother Dong Xu is no longer the ambitious American returnee he used to be!

"Zhang Xiaoxian, Dong Xu, what are you two up to?"

The two sat in silence, smoking. Zhang Dongshan walked into the courtyard dragging his suitcase—he'd just finished two back-to-back music festivals last night and flew straight back to Beijing this morning.

"Dad, you're back just in time—Chu Yourong wants to join our Xianyu Music. Why don't you talk to her?"

Zhang Xian had zero interest in company affairs; if his dad judged him as having started working and cut off his rewards, he'd have nowhere to cry.

"Yourong joining our company? That's great news! No need to chat—she's family!"

Zhang Dongshan's face beamed with joy: two artists in the company—one him, one his daughter-in-law. This family business was practically unshakable.

"Uh, it's not just Chu Yourong—Han Ziwei and an agent named Huan Jie too. I promised them three a 15% equity stake in the company. They're inside discussing it now."

"Huan Jie? Chen Huan?"

Zhang Dongshan's eyes widened in shock.

"Yeah, that's her."

Zhang Xian nodded.

"Alright, I'll handle this!"

Zhang Dongshan shoved his suitcase at Zhang Xian, smoothed out his messy hair, then strode confidently into the house.

"Uncle Zhang, you're back!"

Seeing Zhang Dongshan enter, Chu Yourong, seated on the sofa, immediately stood up to greet him.

"Yourong, sit down, sit down—we're family, no need for formalities."

Zhang Dongshan waved his hand, then his gaze settled on Chen Huan—he recognized this well-known agent in the industry, and years ago, they'd even had some dealings.

But later, their social standings diverged sharply; Zhang Dongshan remembered Chen Huan, but she likely didn't remember him.

"Ah Huan, do you remember me?"

"The 2003 Qingge Competition—we were both contestants!"

Before becoming a professional agent, Chen Huan was a singer herself. Many agents in the industry had once been singers or actors—after failing to become famous, they leveraged their strong social skills to switch careers. Chen Huan was exactly like that.

"2003 Qingge Competition?"

Chen Huan's long-buried memories instantly flooded back—she'd been just eighteen or nineteen then, full of musical dreams.

That year, she won an Excellent Award at the Qingge Competition—a consolation prize, yes, but still her first and only nationally recognized accolade.

"I remember now!"

"You sang 'Grassland Love' back then, didn't you?"

Chen Huan couldn't recall Zhang Dongshan's name, but she remembered his appearance and the song he'd performed.

"Yes, yes! I never thought after over twenty years, you'd still remember!"

Zhang Dongshan beamed, studying the still-stunning Chen Huan as he remarked: "All these years, Ah Huan, you haven't aged a bit—you still look so young!"

"Mountain Brother, you're joking. I was eighteen or nineteen then; now I'm over forty."

Chen Huan laughed and shook her head.

"Over forty? Where did you get that idea?"

"You look at most twenty-five!"

Zhang Dongshan waved his hand repeatedly, but his eyes remained glued to Chen Huan.

This kind of mature, still-stunning beauty was his absolute type!

By contrast, Wang Shulan had completely lost her appeal to him.

Seeing this, Chu Yourong and Han Ziwei exchanged a quick glance, both utterly baffled.

Chu Yourong even muttered inwardly: Could Huan Jie become my future mother-in-law?!

"Dad, you two talk about the partnership—I'm going out with Dong Xu!"

At that moment, Zhang Xian called out from the courtyard.

His whole strategy was to avoid any company business, lest he get tagged as "working" and lose his rewards.

As for how much equity to give Chu Yourong and the other two—it didn't really matter. Chu Yourong was his person; no matter how much the company paid out, he'd get double.

For Chen Huan and Han Ziwei, he could just bind them later if more Lying Flat Assistant slots opened up—provided they had strong earning potential.

With his dad's rewards in hand, none of this was a problem. Giving away a little equity just made him look generous!

"This kid!"

Zhang Dongshan shook his head, then turned to Chen Huan with a wide smile: "Ah Huan, let's talk. I'm in charge of the company."

"I heard from Zhang Xiaoxian that you're joining Xianyu Music—I welcome you with both hands!"

Zhang Dongshan declared outright.

"Mountain Brother, Zhang Xiaoxian just said we three get 15% equity. Xianyu Music is a startup—don't you think that's too little?"

"Too little? That's way too little!"

Zhang Dongshan nodded deeply in agreement: "For you and Yourong to join Xianyu Music is an honor to our company. With you two here, Xianyu Music is no longer a small workshop—how could we give you so little equity?"

"Then name your number!"

"Myself and Yourong each take 10%, Ziwei 8%!"

This was the result of the earlier discussion among the three: the idea of starting their own company had merely been a negotiating tactic by Chen Huan and Zhang Xian. The core asset of any music company is its creators—especially outstanding ones—and twenty-two-year-old Zhang Xian had immense potential!

Thus, after deliberation, Chen Huan and the other two decided to make concessions.

"You and Yourong each take 10%—no problem!"

Zhang Dongshan agreed without hesitation, because in his view, this wasn't even worth mentioning.

Chu Yourong was his own daughter-in-law; as for Chen Huan, she'd soon be his "future spouse." All the meat was stewed in the same pot—10% or 20% made no difference.

But Han Ziwei's 8% was another matter—she was an outsider; equity had to be genuinely given away.

"Ahem, I don't yet know this young lady."

Zhang Dongshan turned to Han Ziwei. The girl was quite pretty, but she couldn't compare to his daughter-in-law Chu Yourong, and she lacked a certain warmth.

"Shan Ge, this is Ziwei—Han Ziwei, a member of the Moonlight Girls. Before Yourong went solo, they were teammates."

Chen Huan introduced her.

"That's right—I'm old and don't understand today's youth tastes. I'm not sure about Xiao Han's market appeal, so I need to discuss her equity share with our little Xian."

Zhang Dongshan said this tactfully.

"Uncle Zhang, I'll take 5%—but with one condition: I want Zhang Xian to write me a song every year."

Han Ziwei agreed to join Xianyu Music with Chen Huan and Chu Yourong not only because of her close ties to them, but also because she recognized Zhang Xian's creative talent.

"Face" had become a massive hit—it was impossible not to be envious.

Her vocal ability was nearly equal to Chu Yourong's; she simply never had good songs.

"That's fine—I think little Xian will agree."

Zhang Dongshan had quietly searched Han Ziwei's name on Weibo—good heavens, 11 million followers.

Her popularity wasn't much less than his own daughter-in-law's!

Giving her 5% equity? A guaranteed profit!