Chapter 527

Karaoke spread from Japan to Hong Kong and Taiwan and was once very popular. It truly settled in the mainland two years ago, and it seemed to have spread throughout the entire mainland overnight.

Moreover, in this era, high-end consumption wasn't yet widespread. Karaoke halls were the first to install air conditioning and were equipped with large televisions, which were rare at the time, for customers to sing. Most of those who came to sing were the powerful and influential, and the first batch of people to get rich.

Some would even throw away tens of thousands of yuan in a fit of jealousy over a woman; it could truly be called spending money like water.

(Maybe if I write this, someone will say again, "What a load of crap. At that time, a few cents were very valuable; who could throw away tens of thousands of yuan because of a woman?")

The minimum consumption for singing karaoke was commonly two or three thousand yuan. Some guests would specifically order expensive foreign cigarettes and liquor. It was very common for a booth or a private room to spend ten or twenty thousand yuan in one night.

Furthermore, guests in this era were very generous; it was rare to see them quibble over the bill, and guests would even voluntarily round up the total. Therefore, this was an era where gold could be found everywhere; as long as you were bold enough, you could make money.

Zhou Andong drove, bringing Gu Qing, Liu Wenli, and two other girls. Meanwhile, Gao Zhen, Zhou Wang, and four young men took a yellow minibus and followed behind.

More than half an hour later, the car stopped at the entrance of the karaoke dance hall. Tang Lin was standing at the main entrance waiting, with two other people beside him.

One was that idiot Zhang Zuo, and the other didn't look very old, maybe twenty-three or twenty-four, wearing a suit. His skin was very fair, and he was thin and tall, looking quite refined.

"You're here!" Tang Lin said, stepping forward, "Brother Dong!"

Zhou Andong said: "We haven't eaten yet. Is there food inside?"

"Yes!" Tang Lin nodded, then introduced him to the young man: "Dahua, this is Brother Dong, Chairman of the Jiangzhou Yugong Group, and also the major shareholder of the property management company you mentioned."

"Brother Dong, hello!" Dahua reached out his hand very politely, "My name is Chang Meng Weihua!"

Zhou Andong shook hands with Chang Meng Weihua: "Hello!"

"The private room is all prepared." Chang Meng Weihua led the way in front.

Entering the dance hall, the entire lobby was about a hundred square meters. To the north was a super-large stage, and on the east and west sides were steps over a meter high. Above them were private rooms, below were ordinary booths, and in the middle was a large dance floor.

Although it was still early, the booths were almost all full.

Tang Lin said proudly: "This building is also ours. The area upstairs is about the same as downstairs, and it's used as an office and warehouse."

"Brother Dong!" Chang Meng Weihua said, "You all sit first, I'll arrange for them to bring drinks and food immediately."

Everyone sat down. The two girls were visiting such a place for the first time and were looking around curiously.

Liu Wenli was also here for the first time, but when she saw two rows of women dressed somewhat provocatively sitting on both sides of the stage, she felt a bit uncomfortable.

Zhou Andong was sitting opposite Liu Wenli. Seeing that her expression was a bit off, he followed her gaze, smiled slightly, and didn't say anything.

"Brother Dong, do you have something you need me for?" Tang Lin sat beside Zhou Andong and took out a cigarette to light one for him.

Zhou Andong took a deep drag: "Those few courtyards of mine need to be modified and expanded. Help me run around and get the paperwork done."

"Okay!" Tang Lin nodded, "That's easy to handle. Just take the blueprints and file them."

Zhou Andong said: "The blueprints are being modified. Go get them the day after tomorrow."

At this moment, the waiter brought up the drinks and food. Fruit platters and dried fruits were laid out on the table. Because Zhou Andong and the others hadn't eaten, they also brought quite a few pastries from Daoxiangcun.

Zhou Andong looked at the liquor on the table, which included both foreign liquor and beer: "Is there no Jiang Xiaobai?"

Chang Meng Weihua said with a smile: "There is. Dalin told me that if I open a karaoke dance hall, I can be without any other liquor, but I must have Jiang Xiaobai."

Zhou Andong also smiled: "There are ladies here, they don't drink alcohol. Bring them some drinks."

"Okay!" Chang Meng Weihua had the waiter send over drinks—cola, Sprite, and fruit juice—a whole large crate.

"Eat!" Zhou Andong picked up a piece of pastry and took a bite, "You're all hungry, what are you looking at?"

With Zhou Andong's words, everyone stopped being reserved; they were indeed hungry.

Zhou Andong ate until he was finally full. By this time, the entire dance hall was full of guests.

A short, chubby girl holding a guitar got on stage. Without saying a word, she sat on a chair and started to sing.

"The raw embryo outlines the blue and white, the brushwork turns from thick to light. The peony painted on the bottle is just like your first makeup. The slowly rising sandalwood incense passes through the window, I understand the worries in my heart. The brush on the rice paper stops halfway here..."

"Hmm?" Zhou Andong looked up, "This girl's voice is so clean, this song is sung very well."

Chang Meng Weihua said: "Her name is Pan Mei, she's only nineteen, and she's been in the capital for three years. When I opened this place, she came looking for me. I heard she sang well, so I kept her."

Zhou Andong didn't know this Pan Mei, which meant that this girl would eventually fade into the crowd and never make it big.

"Give me her contact information."

Tang Lin said with a smile: "Brother Dong, you already have Sister Qiu, you shouldn't be eyeing this little chubby girl."

"Get lost!" Zhou Andong scolded, "I have a friend who started an entertainment company. This little chubby girl has a great voice; if she's signed, she might have a future."

Chang Meng Weihua got up and went to the bar, found paper and a pen, wrote down a string of numbers, and brought it back: "This is the public phone at the small shop near where she lives. Every time I look for her, I call this number."

Tang Lin suddenly said: "Brother Dong, didn't you write this song?"

Zhou Andong was stunned: "How did you know?"

Tang Lin chuckled: "One time, Sister Jing was in my car, and this song happened to be playing on the radio. I asked Sister Jing who wrote it, and she told me."

Chang Meng Weihua said curiously: "Brother Dong, you really wrote it? Then you must sing very well."

Zhou Andong said with a smile: "Being able to write songs doesn't necessarily mean being able to sing them; they are two different things."

Chang Meng Weihua said: "If you can write songs, how could you not be able to sing? Why don't you go up and sing one later?"

Zhou Andong shook his head: "When others sing, they want money; when I sing, I want lives. Let's forget it."

Everyone burst into laughter. Gu Qing said with a smile: "Chairman, you should go sing one, let us feast our ears as well."

"Right, right, right!" Liu Wenli also chimed in: "Chairman, we all know that the two promotional songs for our factory were written by you, so we really want to hear you sing. It's just that we never had the chance. Now that there's this opportunity, you should go sing one and satisfy our curiosity."

"Chairman!" the two young girls looked at Zhou Andong and said coquettishly, "Just sing one, let us listen."

Looking at their hopeful eyes, Zhou Andong said helplessly: "Alright then, let me think about what to sing."