"...I came up with that excuse so the little brat couldn't hold Xixi's hand. He didn't even notice—later during the performance, he was still cheerfully clapping for me." That night, Yang Yi boasted about his clever trick to Mo Fei over the phone.
"Pfft! You're something else. Do you really need to be that guarded? They're just four or five years old, they don't even know the difference between boys and girls yet!" Mo Fei, amused by him, scolded playfully.
"Hey, don't say that. Since Xixi's in kindergarten, we have to be careful. There are so many malicious people in this world. I think when you get back, we should discuss how to teach Xixi about child sex education. I'm planning to buy some books to study up on it," Yang Yi said seriously.
Having been influenced more by Western education growing up, Mo Fei was quite agreeable to this idea.
The two talked about Mo Fei's recording session that day. She gave Yang Yi a detailed account of her performance and happily shared how the audience had praised her singing.
"When does this episode air? I want to watch your performance," Yang Yi said, intrigued. Though he'd heard Mo Fei sing before, he hadn't heard the live version of this song.
"It should be two weeks from now, Friday night at ten. But when you watch it, don't laugh at how dazed I looked on camera. I didn't even know what to say up there," Mo Fei said worriedly.
"How could I? Your dazed look is the cutest thing in my eyes!" Yang Yi whispered sweet nothings.
They lingered in their affectionate moment for a while, until Mo Fei remembered something: "Yang Yi, there's something I can't decide on. I need your advice..."
It turned out that after the recording ended, Li Manman, who had been fawning over Mo Fei the whole time, clung to her, sweetly calling her "Sister Mo Fei" over and over.
"...She asked me for Mu Zi'ang's contact info. She wants to ask him for a song." Listening to Mo Fei's voice, Yang Yi could picture her pouting like a little girl whose toy had been snatched away.
Yang Yi chuckled inwardly and asked, "How did you respond?"
"I wanted to refuse outright. I think Li Manman is way too fake!" Mo Fei's instincts were spot-on this time. "But she was so overly enthusiastic, I didn't know how to say no."
"So did you give her Mu Zi'ang's email?"
"No, I was worried Mr. Mu Zi'ang might get upset. So I told Li Manman I'd have to ask him first," Mo Fei said to Yang Yi. "But I'm also afraid that because of my recommendation, he might feel obligated and not refuse, which could affect his judgment."
"Just give her the email address. It's fine! Mu Zi'ang won't mind—after all, your company already knows that email," Yang Yi said. "Mu Zi'ang will make his own judgment. Don't overthink it. He'll make the right choice."
Yang Yi wanted Mo Fei to focus purely on her music without distractions. As for Li Manman, he'd handle it all himself. A single rejection email would solve the problem—no need for Mo Fei to stress over it.
"Is that really okay?" Mo Fei asked worriedly.
"It's fine. Just tell Li Manman that you asked Mu Zi'ang, and he doesn't mind sharing an email address. But whether she can win his approval is up to her own effort," Yang Yi coached Mo Fei.
What effort? All her sweet talk and flattery would be dealt with in one email—he wouldn't even take the bait.
...
However, Yang Yi did fall for someone else's sweet talk.
After Ju Jie found out his money order had been cashed, he hurriedly sought out his so-called advisor Du Lun: "The money's been spent, and that Mu Zi'ang sent me the sheet music and lyrics from a new email!"
"How's the song?" Du Lun asked curiously.
"Take a look." Ju Jie didn't know how to judge it.
Du Lun read the lyrics first, and his expression immediately turned strange. How to put it? The song title alone was peculiar: "Finally, You Became Someone's Mistress."
"This song, this song..." Du Lun smiled bitterly, unsure how to evaluate it.
"Du Lun, do you think this Mu Zi'ang is deliberately ripping me off? Writing me a song like this!" Ju Jie said gloomily. "'Finally, you became someone's mistress'—is that even a lyric for a person to sing?"
"Cough, A-Jie, hold on. I see the lyrics are neatly structured and catchy to read. Let me check the melody," Du Lun said soothingly.
Unlike Mo Xiaojuan, who became an agent through her family connection to Mo Fei and relied on sheer stubbornness to navigate the entertainment industry, Du Lun was a true insider. He'd once dreamed of debuting himself, but as a trainee, his talent was mediocre, never reaching the level needed to debut, so he switched to being an agent.
Still, he had the necessary musical literacy. Reading the score, he could sing it.
After a moment, Du Lun stumbled through a few lines: "Though I never said it out loud, I already had a预感..."
Savoring it, Du Lun said to Ju Jie, "Melodically, it's fine. It's a catchy pop song—easy to sing and sounds pretty good."
"A song about a mistress sounds good? Du Lun, have you been cheated on too?" Ju Jie spewed nonsense, not holding back even with his own people.
A flicker of helpless anger passed through Du Lun's eyes, but he held it in and chuckled, "Don't say that, A-Jie. How about I play the tune for you?"
After Du Lun's demonstration, Ju Jie grudgingly acknowledged it, but he was still dissatisfied: "Is this Mu Zi'ang senile? The songs he wrote for Chen Yijie and Mo Fei are so good, and this is what he gives me?"
"It's not bad, just the lyrics are a bit unusual," Du Lun reasoned. "Three million for a buyout of this song isn't bad. If he'd given you a song like 'Woman Flower,' I wouldn't dare let you use it. With this one, Mu Zi'ang could earn at least ten million in royalties over a few years—why would he sell it to us? Giving us this song means he didn't plan to use it himself, so we don't have to worry about him changing his mind and suing us later!"
"Put that way, it makes sense." Ju Jie nodded thoughtfully. "But how can I sing a song like this out loud?"
"Heh, A-Jie, you don't get it, do you? Right now, you can't boost your profile through normal means. But if you switch up your style and marketing approach, with this song and some deliberate media hype, we can package you as the 'Prince of Heartbreak Songs.' Look, you'd have no competition—you'd definitely blow up fast!" Du Lun's mind was racing.
"Will I really get famous?" Ju Jie was tempted. Becoming a big star was his dream—the driving force behind giving up his privileged life to train and debut!
"Really!" Du Lun felt this was his chance too, and he pushed hard.