I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 108 Zhou Yang as Producer (First Update)
Since the release of films like "The Lost Tomb: Reboot" and "The Haunted Village," it seems like everyone became famous overnight.

Shen Long left that rented room, formed a new film crew, and amidst the adoration of countless media outlets and the praise of relatives and friends, he led everyone in the crew to western Sichuan to film his own artistic work.

Since photographer Xu Yunyi's works "The Distant Man: Reboot" and "The Haunted Village" became popular, his phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from his juniors at the academy. In the end, he brought more than 20 juniors and rented a building next to Yanying Academy.

During the day, these people, led by Xu Yunyi, were busy filming President Zhou's new movie.

In the evening, Xu Yunyi taught them classes and worked through the night with his juniors to edit a movie. He heard that President Zhou's new movie, a tokusatsu film called "King of Beasts," was about to be released. How did he know about this movie? Because President Zhou had asked him to compose some music a few days ago, but unfortunately, it wasn't used this time.

Although Chen Jianfeng hasn't become a huge star, he has gained some fans. During the day, he works with Shen Long on the filming of their new movie, and at night, he learns new things on set.

Even Zhang Jiali, who recently joined the cast, seems to have become very busy since the release of "The Haunted Village," spending almost every day studying and working...

……

At first, Shen Hu didn't realize anything and continued to do what he always did: carrying his guitar, walking to the overpass, and busking in the wind and rain.

But upon returning to his rented room and seeing the quiet surroundings, Shen Hu inexplicably felt an emptiness in his heart.

In the following days, this emptiness gradually turned into confusion, as if everyone suddenly became busy and found their own life path.

He alone seemed to be standing still, as if he had made no progress at all.

Over the past two months, the street singers on the overpass have come and gone, but he has always been there singing, and no one has ever stopped to listen to his new song in its entirety.

Although "The Haunted Village" made him a lot of money overnight, his life seemed to remain unchanged...

Everyone was bathed in the glow of success, gradually moving towards their dreams, and he took his first step.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Zhou spoke with him on the phone. During the call, Mr. Zhou kept his promise and helped him release an album called "Ideal".

The album contains five songs, all of which were independently written by him. It took him about two years to complete. They also arranged a promotion for him and made some connections with the owners of record stores. Before the album was released, he was very excited and specially wore his most presentable suit. He carried his guitar and promoted his song "Ideal" in the car in various cities.

That day, the weather was very sunny.

There is no wind.

The first batch of 3,000 albums was initially quite popular, selling over 300 copies...

But by the next day, the number of albums sold had plummeted, ultimately selling only a few dozen copies...

By the third day, the entire album was no longer selling.

The market's feedback was like a bucket of cold water poured over his heart.

"The album, well..."

"The melody is alright, but it's... really creepy..."

"Also, Ms. Shen, your singing skills are too ordinary..."

"Besides the music itself, you also need to have good singing skills to make an album successful..."

"Your voice is neither hoarse nor high-pitched, and it's a little sharp in some places. Your singing technique is also completely unpolished. Even with auto-tuning, it can't hide its ordinariness..."

“There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people with an average voice like yours in the entertainment industry…”

"How about we stop fighting to the death, Teacher Shen?"

"..."

Shen Hu listened to everything with a smile, attentiveness, and humility.

He seemed to accept all of this, and more than once, people told him to accept his ordinariness and mediocrity.

His mentality should not be affected in any way.

However, when he saw that the few comments on the internet’s [Movie Home] regarding his [ideal] were all negative and particularly harsh, he instantly broke down.

Then, it was as if my brain had been hit hard by something, and I lost my dreams overnight. I became confused and disoriented. Although I still insisted on going to the overpass to sing every day, I had no idea when I finished singing, when I went home, when I lay in bed, or when it started to get dark.

It felt like I hadn't eaten anything all day, and I didn't even feel hungry.

Living like this is like being a walking corpse.

Mingming still had over 100,000 RMB hidden in her bank account...

But it seems that life is even worse than when I was destitute and couldn't even afford a guitar.

On October 17th, his debut album, "Ideal," had completely stopped selling.

Not a single ticket was sold in a whole day. The merchant refunded more than two thousand tickets to [Xuanshi Entertainment], and they were all stored in the company's warehouse.

The few albums that were sold were also returned...

evening.

He received a call from Shen Long.

"How about we call it quits? You can come and make a movie with me..."

He received a call from Shen Long.

The encouragement Shen Long gave on the phone was gone; instead, he told him to accept reality and stop hitting a wall.

He then gave examples of singers over the phone, saying that they all became famous overnight, and that some singers did work hard but were talented, and that they waited for their opportunity before finally becoming famous!
Shen Hu had actually given him many opportunities.

The recording studio was the best place to record the album, the album was released, and all the necessary promotion was done, but the market and the internet have already proven everything.

It's not that he lacks talent; it's just that his talent has no market value, and no one would recognize it...

After receiving the call, Shen Hu hung up without saying a word and silently looked at the empty rented room.

He stared blankly at the ceiling, his mind a jumble of images flashing through his mind...

Mocking, sarcastic, head-shaking, negative...

Faces, words, and countless nights spent alone on their guitars.

Immediately afterwards, he suddenly felt that he had no strength left in his body.

He closed his eyes.

Forget it, facts have proven...

I failed in everything – singing skills, arrangement, composition, voice, appearance, and temperament.

He took out his cell phone.

I made a phone call to the staff of [Xuanshi Entertainment].

“Sell me all those albums. I don’t want the company to pay for my dreams…”

The person on the other end of the phone seemed somewhat taken aback.

After hanging up the phone, he walked step by step towards the guitar, silently picked it up, and was just about to smash it when it suddenly dawned on him: this guitar was given to him by President Zhou…

His hand froze in mid-air, then slowly lowered.

Immediately afterwards, the telephone rang urgently.

He glanced at the phone instinctively and realized it was Mr. Zhou calling.

"Tiger, where are you?"

"Mr. Zhou, I, I, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Upon hearing Zhou Yang's concerned voice on the phone, Shen Hu suddenly broke down emotionally for some reason.

He apologized profusely, tears streaming down his face...

"Tiger, where are you? I'm coming right now..."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Mr. Zhou. I'm so sorry for making you work so hard for nothing, wasting your time on a scoundrel like me. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"..."

Overwhelmed with emotion, like a burst dam, tears streamed down my face.

He kept apologizing and shaking his head, feeling both guilty and wronged. He suddenly sat down on the ground like a child...

"Calm down, I'm coming right away. You're at your rented apartment, right? Wait for me, calm down, you must calm down, you haven't done anything wrong to anyone!"

"I... Mr. Zhou, I... my album flopped. Nobody listens to it, nobody watches it. I have no talent, I have nothing. I... I feel like..."

"Wait for me! Don't hang up! I'm coming right away, things aren't as bad as you think!"

On the other end of the phone.

Zhou Yang, who is usually very calm, seemed a little anxious at this moment.

Immediately afterwards...

Shen Hu heard a series of hurried footsteps and the sound of a door being pushed open.

Vaguely...

"I'll go get busy now!"

"You guys start editing the movie!"

"..."

"Wait for me, don't hang up!"

"..."

“Mr. Zhou, you don’t need to come over… I’m actually fine. I won’t do those shady things, I…”

"Don't hang up!"

..............................

8:15 p.m.

Zhou Yang rushed to the rented room.

He saw Shen Hu.

Under dim light.

After not seeing him for a while, Shen Hu seemed to have lost a lot of weight. His eyes were sunken, and although his skin wasn't deathly pale, it lacked a healthy rosy hue.

He was sitting in a chair at that moment. When he saw me come in, he subconsciously stood up, but he seemed to be too excited and fell down.

When he got up again, his eyes were bloodshot.

What do you want to say...?

But in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.

She forced a smile and hastily tidied her appearance...

After seeing his appearance, Zhou Yang sighed, but also felt relieved.

He found a chair and sat down...

Shen Hu lowered his head and sat down, but dared not look at Zhou Yang.

"If the album flops, so what? We can just do it again with the next album..."

Zhou Yang smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

Shen Hu looked up, his face bitter: "President Zhou, I...I want to hear the truth...I beg you, tell me the truth..."

What truth do you want to hear?

"Am I talented?"

"Have!"

"Musical talent?"

"Yes!"

Shen Hu fell silent.

Zhou Yang's voice was too confident, just like the confidence he had when he first met him.

Shen Hu wanted to say something, but ultimately realized that at this moment, President Zhou had absolutely no reason to lie to him about anything.

he……

What a shit!
After seeing his expression, Zhou Yang let out a long sigh.

“Let’s try again! One failure proves nothing.” Zhou Yang laughed.

"But……"

"Okay, if you trust me, I'll work with you on the new album, and I'll be your producer!"

"what?"

Shen Hu looked at Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang patted him on the shoulder, stood up, and looked at him seriously: "Let's try again!"

(End of this chapter)