I am a Big Player-Chapter 39 - Not Lacking Money_1
Chapter 39: 39, Not Lacking Money_1
Chapter 39: 39, Not Lacking Money_1
Ren He told Dongfang Mobai’s editor that he wouldn’t sell the rights just yet; they would discuss it later.
“Ah, that’s a wise choice,” Dongfang Mobai said, “We are all optimistic about the future success of the book. As long as you don’t lose momentum later on, the royalties will be far more than this. Keep it up.”
Ren He closed the messaging app. He really wasn’t in a hurry right now. His main task at this stage was to write more songs for Yang Xi—maybe enough for a full album of ten songs, right?
He had already written two and had eight left to write, meaning eight more tasks. Thinking about it, it didn’t seem too bad. He just had to grit his teeth and get through it. And if the Divine Punishment System granted him more physical fitness and Emetic Water as rewards, that would be fantastic… Ren He could only comfort himself this way.
So, what should he choose for Yang Xi’s third song? That was a rather difficult question. Yang Xi had an ethereal quality about her, one that made her stand out in a crowd. She seemed incredibly easy-going; she was good to people and handled matters well—a mature-minded girl. But if you spent more time with her, you could sense her independent and somewhat isolated temperament.
It was only later that Ren He realized she wasn’t lonely; she was just too independent. Suddenly, he thought of a female singer, Chen Li.
Some of Chen Li’s songs seemed quite fitting for Yang Xi. Ren He scratched his chin and thought, Yang Xi’s mid-range was excellent, very pleasing to listen to. And in the lower register, she could bring out a storyteller’s flavor. Should he write her Chen Li’s “Wonderful Ability Song”? He felt that “Ready to Ignite” might be still too challenging for her to handle.
When he finished writing “Wonderful Ability Song” on a piece of paper, the Divine Punishment System immediately responded, “Task: Do 100 deep squats while carrying a desk, deadline one week.”
The squats had doubled this time. Ren He felt he could manage 50 no problem, began struggling around 70 or 80, and realized that doing 100 would indeed be a challenge. He understood that the tasks given by the Divine Punishment System were within reach if he put in the effort; it wouldn’t assign him something outright impossible to complete.
With this knowledge, he now had a game plan.
That evening, on the rooftop of Yang Xi’s house, Ren He handed over the neatly folded paper to her again. Yang Xi found it a bit amusing—why did it always feel like she was about to receive a love letter? This sort of ambiguous romantic tension was spreading between them, but neither seemed in a hurry, neither wanted to be the first to reveal their feelings.
Looking at the lyrics, Yang Xi suddenly exclaimed with surprise, “These lyrics are so strange…”
“They are a bit odd,” Ren He laughed, “You play the accompaniment, and I’ll sing it for you to hear.”
“Okay,” Yang Xi said as she watched Ren He in his ordinary T-shirt, sitting on the edge of the rooftop railing, his hands supporting him. She gasped, “Be careful, don’t fall off!”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Ren He laughed.
“I’d forgotten you’re the guy who even dares to jump off school buildings,” Yang Xi said with a hint of reproach.
“Haha, start the accompaniment.”
The original performance by Chen Li was most notable for its guitar sound; adding other instruments seemed a bit excessive, so this was the perfect setting Ren He had imagined—a light breeze on the rooftop, gently fluttering their clothes.
“I’ve seen the desert in a downpour
Seen the ocean kissing sharks
Seen twilight chasing the dawn
But not you
I know beauty fades
There’s life beyond life
I know there are poems in the wind
But I don’t know you
I’ve heard desolation turn to bustle
Heard dust bury castles
I’ve heard of skies that refuse birds
But never of you
I understand that before me are all bubbles
Silence is the bitter yet Good Medicine
I understand what truly makes me proud
But I don’t understand you”
The lyrics, fanciful as a pegasus in flight, spilled out of Ren He’s mouth, mostly seeming aimless like a little girl in her room, gazing out the window, letting her imagination run wild. Yet, in the last line, it revealed the type of distress a girl feels when she’s in love.
Such is often the nature of adolescent love; fraught with worries, yet filled with longing and joy.
Yang Xi listened to Ren He finish the entire “Wonderful Ability Song,” and she didn’t know what to think. Why was it that Ren He could always produce such breathtaking songs? Was songwriting easy? It wasn’t.
If songwriting were easy, then why couldn’t she, after so many years of learning, create a single song that satisfied her? The miraculousness of Ren He was beyond words.
He was just giving away these wonderful songs to her? Yang Xi somewhat didn’t want to accept them.
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She seriously said, “Ren He, you are truly amazing, but I can’t keep taking these songs from you. Do you know how much money you could make if you sold these songs to celebrities?”
Ren He responded cheerfully, “But I’m not short of money.”
That response left Yang Xi stunned… Not short of money…
“You can get tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, for just one song,” Yang Xi thought Ren He didn’t know the value of his songs.
“That’s all small change,” Ren He said with a laugh.
This time, Yang Xi really felt helpless. When did tens of thousands become ‘small change’?
“Don’t worry about it, you can pay me back when you start earning money. Isn’t being a singer quite lucrative with all the advertisements, endorsements, and commercial events? I’m making a long-term investment,” Ren He came up with a solution, and as for the future, they would deal with it when it came.
“I might not participate in those commercial events, I just want to sing,” Yang Xi explained.
“You’ll still earn a lot even then. Come on, if you want to be a star, you’ve got to have the resolve of a star. Plus, you’ll see I really am not short of money,” Ren He said with a smile.
As if she had resolved something, Yang Xi replied with a laugh, “Alright, any more refusal would just be pretentious. If I ever become a star, we’ll calculate each song at the highest price.”
Ren He muttered softly to himself, “By then, my money will be your money anyway…”
“What did you just say?!” Yang Xi’s face instantly turned red. Even though Ren He’s voice had been soft, she heard it clearly. She’d encountered blunt confessions before, but never such shamelessly certain ones… Every time he gave her lyrics and music, it was like he was passing love notes, the shameless oaf.
“Haha, nothing, nothing. Why hasn’t your dad come up to call us for dinner?” Ren He curiously asked.
“He has an important engagement outside today,” Yang Xi explained, “I can treat you to dinner.”
“Sure, let’s go to the Hunan cuisine restaurant by your doorstep,” Ren He agreed, and as he spoke, he helped Yang Xi with her guitar, and they headed downstairs. His mind lingered on a question: Yang En had resigned, hadn’t he? Using the phrase ‘important engagement’ seemed to be the exact words of Yang En—what he would say to his daughter about his evening plans.
So, what sort of engagements could an ex-diplomat have in Luoyang?
