"Help!" The chubby kid was wailing again, but this time, no one came to save him!
After a moment, he stopped his fake sobbing, shook his head with a sigh, bent down, and hugged the heavy sofa—no, dragged the heavy single-seater sofa, step by step, gasping as he moved it into the shop.
Yang Yi walked past Guo Ziyi without paying any attention to his pitiful look.
Then, Yang Yi picked up an even larger sofa and strode briskly inside. After setting it down, he lightly kicked the chubby kid, who was sprawled on the ground like a dead pig.
"Get up. No work, no lunch!" Yang Yi threatened him with something Guo Ziyi cared about most.
Guo Ziyi immediately jumped up, grumbling as he followed Yang Yi outside to continue moving things.
"Brother Yang, I'm about to take exams, you know! How can you bear to make me work instead of study?" His muttering was like a bug burrowing into one's ears, irritating.
Yang Yi didn't even glance at him and coldly shot back, "Aren't you a genius? What's there to study for?"
"I need to! I need to! Read books, practice acting..." Guo Ziyi nodded his head like a chick pecking at rice.
"Heh, you think I'd believe that?"
Yesterday, this guy had just moved in and played around all day. Yang Yi didn't buy that this chubby kid, who loved wandering off to check out pretty girls, would actually have the mind to study.
"Ahem, hello, which one of you is Mr. Yang Yi?" A voice with an accent from outside interrupted Guo Ziyi's train of thought as he tried to argue.
But Guo Ziyi was overjoyed. He dropped his work and rushed toward the newcomer: "He, my brother here is Yang Yi! Hello, welcome!"
Yang Yi also turned to look and saw a man of medium build standing at the door, dressed quite stylishly. Despite the midday heat, he was still wearing a mask and hat, not bothered by the stuffiness.
Though, didn't Murphy like that too? Yang Yi couldn't help but think of that bad-tempered but well-built woman.
"Ah-choo!" In a dance studio, Murphy, who was rehearsing a dance for an MV with the choreographer, sneezed for no reason. This worried Mo Xiaojuan for a while.
Back at the coffee shop, Guo Ziyi, who had enthusiastically run over to greet the guest, was the first to notice something off. His face filled with surprise as he pointed at the man and stammered, "You, you, you're not Eason, Chen Yijie, are you?"
The visitor was indeed Chen Yijie! To show his sincerity, he had turned down a gig and come from Hong Kong to find Yang Yi.
After being recognized, Chen Yijie casually took off his hat and mask, smiling as he nodded to Guo Ziyi: "Hello!"
Who was Chen Yijie? Yang Yi was still clueless!
But Guo Ziyi was already trembling with excitement, tightly gripping Chen Yijie's outstretched hand and shouting, "Eason, I'm your biggest fan! You have to give me an autograph."
"Easy, easy!" Chen Yijie was a bit startled by the guy's enthusiasm. Of course, he'd encountered even crazier fans before, but that was with assistants and security around. He gave an awkward smile.
Yang Yi, standing nearby, couldn't help but twitch his mouth. He couldn't bear to expose Guo Ziyi's shamelessness. Just yesterday, this guy had sworn he was Cao Fang's biggest fan.
Yang Yi stepped in to rescue Chen Yijie and invited him upstairs to talk. As for Guo Ziyi, he naturally followed eagerly, finally escaping his labor duties—he almost ran ahead of everyone.
While Yang Yi was brewing coffee for them, Chen Yijie explained his purpose. Yang Yi listened calmly, but Guo Ziyi eagerly jumped into the conversation.
"Oh, so Professor Hu recommended you!"
"Professor Hu's son is your boss? That's impressive?"
"My brother can write songs too? Really?"
Guo Ziyi excitedly picked up Chen Yijie's phone and asked him to play the song. Yang Yi focused on making the coffee, listening but staying silent.
"I came to your city..." Accompanied by guitar chords and faint static, Yang Yi's voice finally came through. Though a bit distorted, it was unmistakably his.
Guo Ziyi stared blankly at Chen Yijie, who understood and said with a wry smile, "This is the audio file downloaded from the copyright association, lossless quality."
Not to mention Guo Ziyi, even he, when listening with Old Man Hu in Hong Kong, found it grating.
But there was no helping it—the song was just too good. Like gold mixed in with sand, it still stood out. After hearing it, Chen Yijie decided to visit Yang Yi in person.
Of course, when he saw Yang Yi in the flesh, Chen Yijie finally understood why Old Man Hu had held back a laugh and warned him not to be surprised when he met Yang Yi.
Because Yang Yi's build didn't fit the image of a songwriter at all—he looked more like a laborer. Coincidentally, Yang Yi had just been moving things.
But after going upstairs, Yang Yi's calm demeanor and graceful movements gave Chen Yijie a completely different impression.
Guo Ziyi finally finished listening to the song and couldn't hold back anymore. He shouted, "Bro, when you recorded this song, did you use your phone?"
Yang Yi walked over with the coffee and asked calmly, "Yeah, what's the problem?"
What was wrong with that? Yang Yi didn't see any issue. Back in the urban village, he couldn't find a recording studio, so he just used the high-end smartphone Murphy had given him to record a demo and uploaded it at an internet café.
"Bro!" This genius kid Guo Ziyi even blurted out in Cantonese, "You're wasting such a great song! Recording it like that—turning it into noise, you know? Unforgivable!"
Yang Yi ignored him and simply gestured for Chen Yijie to drink his coffee.
Chen Yijie picked up the cup and took a sip. As a regular coffee drinker, he immediately noticed something special: "Mr. Yang's coffee is really good! No wonder you're opening a coffee shop."
"My brother's cooking is even better!" Guo Ziyi chimed in.
After some small talk, Chen Yijie finally got to the point. He wanted to buy Yang Yi's song to use as the lead single for his new album.
Guo Ziyi shouted excitedly, "Really? Eason, you're releasing a new album? When? And you're using my brother's song as the lead? Wow, we're rich!"
A barrage of questions left Chen Yijie stunned. Fortunately, Yang Yi slapped Guo Ziyi's chubby face away and said, "Sorry, ignore him."
They still had to discuss business. Since this was Yang Yi's first time selling a song, he asked curiously, "Eason, if you want to buy my song, what kind of price are you offering? I'm not familiar with the market."
Having never done business in his past life, Yang Yi naively revealed his weakness right at the start of negotiations.
Guo Ziyi, anxious for him, pulled Yang Yi aside and whispered in frustration, "Bro, that's not how you negotiate. And if you don't know the market, ask me! I know it!"