Chapter 52

“Huan Yang Music…” Zhong Yang also read out these four characters. “Huh? Brother Qingzhuo’s studio is together with Huan Yang?”

“Let’s go,” the driver briskly approached. “I’ll take you up.”

Jiang Ji didn’t move his feet and looked at him. “Is this Qin Qingzhuo’s studio?”

“Mr. Qin said you would ask like that, and you really did,” the driver chuckled. “Indeed, it’s not, but he told you not to worry about that for now. Go up and see for yourself.”

“Is he up there?”

“You’ll find out when you go up.”

The words spoken by the driver were in Qin Qingzhuo’s style. Jiang Ji figured Qin Qingzhuo must have taught him to say that.

“Yeah, let’s go see,” Zhong Yang whispered to Jiang Ji, “It’s Huan Yang, after all.”

Jiang Ji didn’t say anything more and followed the driver towards the Huan Yang Building.

The driver walked ahead making a phone call, probably saying something like bringing people upstairs, while Zhong Yang gossiped on the side, saying that Huan Yang was the largest record company in the mainland. Many classic albums had been released since the 1990s, and almost all of the top-tier singers in the mainland now had ties to Huan Yang.

“Do you know who the last big name Huan Yang promoted was?” Zhong Yang teased.

“Brother Qingzhuo?” Peng Keshi guessed in a cooperative manner.

“Exactly,” Zhong Yang snapped his fingers. “Brother Qingzhuo was definitely the top dog at Huan Yang back then. His momentum was no different from that of the top-tier singers. But unfortunately, he had a car accident suddenly during his peak period, reportedly because he smoked too much and ruined his voice…”

Zhong Yang deliberately lowered his voice in the latter part of the sentence, probably afraid the driver of Qin Qingzhuo would hear. Just as he was about to continue, Jiang Ji glanced at him sideways. “You seem to know everything again?”

There was an obvious warning in his tone. Zhong Yang smirked and muttered, “Isn’t that how it is anyway…”

The group took the elevator to the eighth floor and arrived at an office with the name “Cai Heng” written on the door. The driver knocked on the door, and a voice from inside said, “Come in.”

The driver leaned in. “Mr. Cai, I’ve brought the people.”

The person inside responded, and the driver turned to the three of them. “Go in, I’ll wait downstairs for you.”

Jiang Ji pushed open the door and saw a man in his thirties in a suit sitting behind the desk. Other than him, there was no one else in the room.

“Here?” Cai Heng put away the documents in his hand and, seeing Jiang Ji’s gaze scanning the office in other directions, as if he guessed his thoughts, he smiled. “Qingzhuo isn’t here.”

“But I just spoke to him on the phone,” Cai Heng stood up, walked around the desk, and approached the three people. “And we made a bet.”

Jiang Ji looked at him. “What’s the bet?”

“We bet on whether you’d give him face and stay to talk with me,” Cai Heng picked up his phone and opened a voice message. “How about this? If he really walks away, I’ll help you make an album for your artist for free, deal?”

It was Qin Qingzhuo’s voice, with a familiar tone mixed with a hint of amusement.

In fact, Jiang Ji had no intention of walking away. After all, Qin Qingzhuo was the one pulling the strings in the middle. If he walked away, wouldn’t that offend Qin Qingzhuo? Jiang Ji understood this bit of social etiquette.

“What else did he say?” Jiang Ji asked again.

“Other matters are a bit complicated. We’ll need to sit down and discuss slowly,” Cai Heng walked to the sofa and gestured with his hand. “Come, have a seat.”

The three sat on the sofa, and Cai Heng’s gaze swept over their faces one by one. “Lead vocalist and guitarist Jiang Ji, bassist Peng Keshi, drummer Zhong Yang, right?”

After finishing, he sighed, “You’re all so young,” then picked up the teapot and poured tea into the cups. “Qingzhuo cares a lot about your band. We talked for quite a while, and he briefed me on your situation. I won’t waste time with unnecessary chatter. I’ve simply organized a summary of the contract terms. You can take a look first.”

He finished speaking and handed over a paper document. Zhong Yang reached out, took it, and placed it in the middle for them to flip through.

Although Cai Heng said it was just a simple summary, the content of the document was quite detailed, including the duration of the contract, breach clauses, future development plans, and so on, all of which were included.

Compared to the contract given by Shi Yao, which was almost like a contract of indentured servitude, the document in front of them was a reasonable contract.

“To be honest, Huan Yang has never offered such contract terms to new artists before. It’s unprecedented. Apart from Qingzhuo’s involvement, I personally appreciate your performance on the show,” Cai Heng said. “What do you think? Feel free to ask if you have any questions.”

Zhong Yang seemed interested in the contract and asked many questions, while Peng Keshi listened on, occasionally asking a few questions herself.

Cai Heng answered them all, then looked at Jiang Ji. “Do you have any questions, Jiang Ji? You haven’t said anything. Are you not interested in this contract?”

“They’ve asked almost everything I wanted to ask. I don’t have much else to say,” Jiang Ji said. “We’ll discuss it again when we get back.”

“It does need careful consideration,” Cai Heng nodded, handing over a business card. “So, when you’ve finished discussing, feel free to contact me anytime.”

“Okay,” Jiang Ji took the card, paused, and added, “Thank you, Brother Cai Heng.”

Coming out of Cai Heng’s office, the three got on the elevator. Zhong Yang leaned against the elevator wall and said, “Damn, did Cai Heng just say he personally came to lead us? This is like manna from heaven… Should we sign?”

“I don’t really care,” Peng Keshi looked at Jiang Ji, “but does Jiang Ji not want to sign?”

Jiang Ji let out a “hmm”.

“Why not?” Zhong Yang raised his voice, “This is Huan Yang!”

Jiang Ji didn’t answer, but Peng Keshi gave him a meaningful look.

Zhong Yang didn’t catch on at first, but a few seconds later, he suddenly realized, “Jiang Ji, do you want to sign with Qingzhuo’s studio?”

After speaking, he scratched his head in confusion, “Yeah, that’s right. Didn’t Qingzhuo say he wanted to sign us at the beginning? How did it suddenly become Huan Yang?”

As the elevator descended to the ground floor, Jiang Ji dropped a “I have something to take care of, I’ll go first,” then strode out of the Huan Yang building on his own.

The question Zhong Yang had just asked was also the question he had been pondering all along—why did something agreed upon end up involving Huan Yang?

Was it because of last night’s kiss?

Last night’s kiss was indeed unexpected. Jiang Ji hadn’t intended to let Qin Qingzhuo know his feelings so early—at least not until he had paid off all his debts.

But at that moment, as if under some kind of spell, he impulsively kissed Qin Qingzhuo.

However, now that it had happened, there was no point in regretting it.

He had lived for so long, and he had never really regretted anything—regrets were useless, so it was better to think about what to do next.

From Qin Qingzhuo’s reaction last night, he didn’t seem to dislike the kiss. But from today’s involvement with Huan Yang, it seemed he also didn’t intend to take their relationship any further.

Perhaps he would pretend as if nothing had happened? Perhaps he would cool things down and let the relationship fade away slowly?

Jiang Ji hailed a taxi by the roadside.

“To Yashan Royal Garden,” he said as he got into the car.

He wanted to go see Qin Qingzhuo and ask him directly what he meant by this sudden change of heart.

If Qin Qingzhuo really intended to pretend as if nothing had happened, then he would confront him—

That kiss had undeniably happened, he remembered it, and Qin Qingzhuo couldn’t forget it either.

Moreover, he liked Qin Qingzhuo. There was no need to hide or conceal that fact. Why couldn’t he openly admit to liking someone?

Wrapped in a bathrobe, Qin Qingzhuo walked out of the bathroom absentmindedly, towel drying his hair. He had drunk quite a bit last night, and it was late when he finally went to bed, so he felt a bit tired now, with a slight ringing in his right ear.

The access control system alerted him of an incoming call. He walked to the door and pressed the answer button. The security guard on duty asked, “Mr. Qin, there’s a visitor named Jiang Ji here to see you. Should I let him in?”

Surprisingly, he came so quickly… Qin Qingzhuo was taken aback for a moment. From the driver’s call saying the person had arrived to Jiang Ji’s arrival, it hadn’t even been an hour.

Actually, he had thought Jiang Ji might come to find him, after all, he had been the one to break the appointment first, but he hadn’t expected Jiang Ji to come directly to his door—he thought Jiang Ji would at least call first.

“Let him in,” Qin Qingzhuo said.

There was a considerable distance from the gate to Qin Qingzhuo’s house. After ending the call, Qin Qingzhuo walked back to the bedroom, took off his bathrobe, and changed into loose clothes.

Returning to the living room, he leaned over to pick up his phone from the sofa. A message from Cai Heng had arrived about ten minutes ago: “They said they would go back to discuss, but judging from Jiang Ji’s expression, he probably doesn’t want to sign.”

Below was a voice message. Qin Qingzhuo played it out loud: “He looked around the moment he entered and seemed disappointed not to find you. The conversation afterwards also seemed a bit distracted. I reckon he stayed just to save face for you. I’m telling you, Qingzhuo, this boy’s feelings for you are not simple.”

Reading this message on his phone, Qin Qingzhuo remembered Jiang Ji’s serious expression last night when he said, “Then I’ll sign.”

And that peppermint-scented kiss, and the gear that was shifted wrong…

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, startling him out of his reverie.

Shaking himself out of his daze, he placed the phone aside and walked towards the door.

On the electronic screen, Jiang Ji standing at the door was looking directly at the camera.

Although he couldn’t see inside from outside, Qin Qingzhuo inexplicably felt as if he were being stared at by those dark eyes.

Collecting himself, he turned the doorknob and opened the door. Jiang Ji stood at the doorway, and his gaze, which had been slightly lowered, lifted to meet Qin Qingzhuo’s face.

“You’re here?” Qin Qingzhuo intentionally kept his tone light.

“You didn’t keep your word,” Jiang Ji looked at him, his eyes deep and dark. “Teacher Qin.”

But there was no hint of respect in the term “Teacher Qin.”

Before Qin Qingzhuo could speak, the next sentence followed:

“Are you avoiding me?” That straightforward gaze seemed determined to find some clues from his eyes. “Because I kissed you last night?”