While waiting for the train to start, Xie Lan's engine rang.
Dou Sheng glanced at Mr. X on the screen and directly grabbed the phone.
He said in a lazy voice: "If you have something to say, please speak quickly. We are busy."
Mr.X choked up, "Fuck, why is it you again?"
"I'm Xie Lan's personal assistant. The boss' call will be transferred by me."
"… "
Mr.X sighed, "I can't communicate with you, so I went straight to Xie Lan."
"Thanks for the invitation." Dou Sheng stretched his legs. "He can't even speak Chinese fluently, and he's being confused by you old-timers. If you have something to say, just say it."
The call was leaked, and Xie Lan heard Mr. X sigh in extreme irritation: "Then you should listen to what he said. Investors need publicity, and the director and the person in charge have no right to say no. Director Pei is unpredictable. Although he came to the interview with a strong assumption, he didn't reveal anything after chatting with Jiada in the morning. I think Xie Lan still has a slight chance. Otherwise, if Director Pei doesn't show up in the afternoon and directly cancels the interview, no one can say anything. Give him an interview to show that he is still considering it."
Dou Sheng was amazed when he heard this, "Ah, you guys came to me and got scolded, but you forgot to be grateful."
"... Don't say those angry words." Mr. X lowered his voice, "Xie Lan has a bad temper. You can sense it more or less at ordinary times. You are too stubborn. I advise you to wait for the news and don't post directly to attack him if you disagree with him."
“Oh—” Dou Sheng suddenly realized, “Oh, that’s right, I forgot I had this trick.”
"… "
Dou Sheng was so angry that he hung up the phone and glanced at the old lady holding a foam box outside the car window, "Let's go buy a popsicle."
Xie Lan hummed, "Don't miss the bus."
Dou Sheng had just stepped out of the car when Xie Lan's phone started vibrating again. It was an unfamiliar number from City B.
He hesitated for a long time with his finger on the hang-up button, and finally picked up the phone.
"Xie Lan." Sister Kai's voice suddenly sounded relieved when she heard him answer the phone. "You left too hastily. I still have a few words to say to you."
Xie Lan hummed, but his eyes were glancing out the window following Dou Sheng.
Dou Sheng was bending over to pick out ice cream from the foam box. He took a red bean ice cream, but was not satisfied with it, so he changed it to a grape ice cream.
"Director Pei Qing has a personality like that. Talented people always speak directly. If you have seen Lingxi's works, you will know that he has something in his mind. He is a very rational artist. He speaks weakly. He is really a little sick. Please bear with him."
Xie Lan was silent for a while, "What's wrong with him?"
"This is personal privacy." Sister Kai paused and sighed, "But it's nothing. Those interviews in the early years have become rotten. His heart is not very good."
Xie Lan said, "Oh, of course, where's the brain?"
"… "
There was an eerie silence on the phone for a while, and then Sister Kai suddenly burst out laughing.
"It seems that you are not a soft-hearted person." Sister Kai smiled and said, "I am very optimistic about you, but Director Pei's concerns are reasonable. Our two persons in charge in City G will also give scores based on the interview video. You should wait for the results."
Xie Lan nodded, thanked him politely and hung up the phone.
No need to, no need to play.
The train made a sound of starting, and Dou Sheng ran back with two ice creams in his hand. Xie Lan watched him run into the carriage door, and couldn't help but search for the word "Pei Qing" on the phone.
Pei Qing studied at the Central Conservatory of Music and Berklee College of Music, majoring in cello performance, and minoring in film and television directing and animation production during his postgraduate studies. At the age of 28, he returned to China and was employed by the Central Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 30, he started his personal concert tour...
The following are some praises for genius, suspected to be written by someone himself.
Xie Lan pulled it down with an expressionless face.
… At the age of 31, he was involved in a car accident, which resulted in a fractured right upper arm, torn tendons, and severe heart damage. His cello career ended, and he underwent a heart transplant the following year.
Xie Lan's fingertips paused for a moment, then slid down again.
There was a long period of blankness after the car accident until he founded Lingxi Animation at the age of 34, and became famous with the Chinese animation work "Thousand Mountains and Mourning".
There are some messy news later. An animation director, who should have lived behind the scenes, supported a newspaper.
Dou Sheng came back with a popsicle and read out from Xie Lan's phone, "I've been in the industry for four years, and 19 of our works have been defunded. Lingxi Animation is currently in an awkward situation in terms of investment."
"Wow, all six major screenwriters of Chinese comics have worked together before, but they didn't stay for long. Lingxi's scripts are currently basically outsourced to the studio. It is reported that there are four unfinished works that have not been broadcast, all of which were bought by Pei Qing himself and not released... His father is suspected to be a senior executive of a certain production company, to be confirmed."
Dou Sheng became interested and used Xie Lan's phone to pull down, "Look at this. During the production of the popular movie "Thousand Mountains and Destroyed", the music director had a fight outside a bar late at night. Both of them had criminal records. Later, the music director ran away from the project team. It's awesome!"
Xie Lan was numb.
Dou Sheng stuffed a popsicle into his mouth and said, "Do you feel better after reading this?"
"No. I just wanted to fight him." Xie Lan took a bite expressionlessly. The ice melted on the tip of his tongue, but it was not the taste he imagined.
He was stunned for a moment before looking down at the thing in his mouth, "Why is it chocolate ice cream?"
The train had already started, and Dou Sheng sat down next to him. "Children who are in a bad mood must eat chocolate, believe it."
Xie Lan said "oh", looked at the platform gradually moving backwards outside the window, sighed, and ate his ice cream.
One million is gone.
Arranging music is indeed a challenge, and it is understandable that he is criticized for his lack of professional skills. It's all gone, but at least he knows how to make money from this and what direction he should work towards.
Xie Lan pondered for a while, and then calmed down a little, then he clicked on the list of Chinese cartoons on Bilibili.
He has watched more Japanese comics since he was young, and rarely Chinese comics. This summer, he can watch Chinese comics when he is bored during the provincial training, and then make up for the theory of composing music, find out more ways to create original works, so that there will be better opportunities in the future.
The first on the list is "A Thousand Mountains and a Lost Trail", a Chinese animation masterpiece by Pei Qing.
Xie Lan scrolled down with a cold face, and selected the animation at the bottom that few people watched.
The machine suddenly vibrated in my palm.
"Ermao's personal assistant shared a video with you."
More than 900 meters, the progress bar moves extremely slowly.
Xie Lan looked up in confusion, "What?"
"Don't you want your boyfriend to comfort you?" Dou Sheng picked up the headphones hanging in front of his chest and stuffed them into his ears. "My boyfriend wants you to watch cat movies."
Cat movie
Why watch cat movies
Dou Sheng suddenly raised his head and pressed the noise reduction box on his headphone cable.
The world suddenly became quiet, and then a familiar panting sound rang next to Xie Lan's ear, along the ear bone and eardrum, all the way to the brain nerves.
"!"
The screen was shaking badly. In the dim environment, one could vaguely make out the narrow gap between the parking garage of Yingzhong and the canteen. The GoPro was tied to Dou Sheng's arm, and the lens was tilted upwards to shine on the red brick wall of the canteen, shaking violently up and down. A slender white hand appeared from time to time, being held by another hand and pressed against the wall. It was a live broadcast of cannibalism in the middle of the night not long ago.
Xie Lan: “?”
His pupils trembled, and he covered the screen with his hand, looking around.
The high-speed train seat was spacious and open, and there was only Dou Sheng around, but Xie Lan's heart was still beating like a drum.
In the headphones, his panting and Dou Sheng's panting came one after another. After a moment, the panting sound was suddenly blocked, and the muffled and violent breathing was soon covered by the sucking sound.
For the first time in his life, Xie Lan felt his scalp tremble. He took a deep breath and glared at Dou Sheng.
Before Dou Sheng opened his mouth, Xie Lan suddenly opened his mouth and gasped twice in the earphone: "Enough, enough..."
Xie Lan pressed the pause button in panic and held the phone against his chest with the screen facing inward.
"Is this the cat movie you were talking about?"
Dou Sheng nodded, "Yeah."
Xie Lan: "What else do you want to say?"
Dou Sheng leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "The world's best cat movie, Big Cat and Two Cats, one episode."
"???"
Xie Lan quickly raised the screen and took another look.
Damn, one episode is more than twenty minutes long.
Dou Sheng said seriously, "I found this material when I was cleaning my hard drive a while ago. My little cat was so impressed after seeing it, so I plan to make a documentary. I'm not sure if it will be updated monthly or quarterly, I'll see how it goes, maybe daily."
"???"
Xie Lan was dumbfounded.
He stared at Dou Sheng blankly, remained silent for a long time, lowered his head and turned over the screen.
The screen was frozen on the red brick wall, and the edge of the picture reflected the corner of Dou Sheng's head as he kissed him.
Dou Sheng whispered, "I won't record anything that's too extreme. This is just footage that I accidentally shot while recording the video. There's nothing outrageous about it."
He paused and hissed, "Forget it. I think you might not be able to bear this—"
Xie Lan dodged his extended sword.
Dou Sheng: “Hmm?”
Xie Lan said coldly: "I'd be foolish to believe you. You should check yourself to see if there is anything excessive."
"oh."
Dou Sheng nodded seriously, "Then you check it out."
A magical way of comforting, a way of comforting that makes people blush.
But Xie Lan was indeed comforted. At least after taking off his headphones, he pondered for a long time before remembering the name of the person who had just angered him. He tried to regain the feeling of anger but failed. His mind was filled with those vague and shaking shots and the panting sounds in the headphones that eliminated all background noise.
The heart is full of dirty things, and you need to stick ninety-nine and eighty-one yellow talismans on your body to drive them away.
On the way back, I was feeling confused.
Xie Lan spent a long time browsing the Chinese comics list, and finally picked a fairy-tale comic called "Young Swordsman" produced by a small studio, with average art and special effects, and just over 10,000 followers, but the reputation was okay. He clicked on it because the cover protagonist's eyebrows and features looked a bit like Dou Sheng, sharp and bright, and he loved the whole thing.
The show is pretty good in terms of image, the main character's storyline is great, there are a lot of ancient Chinese lines, and it can be used as a daily accumulation.
Xie Lan watched until they got off the bus. He was so tired that he fell asleep at home. When he woke up, it was already noon the next day and the sky was bright.
He sat up from the bed in a daze, turned on the phone, and was stunned by the countless messages.
After a moment, he clicked on the Yingzhong Provincial Training Elite Group.
The closed venue for the provincial training this year is Yingzhong. For Yingzhong students, it is no different from going to school. The specific schedule has been announced - inhumane 7 am to 9 pm, half a day off per week, two provincial coaches lead the team. Since the camp is set up in Yingzhong this year, the "class teacher" is Lao Ma.
Then came the explosion of private message notifications from Bilibili, and those pushed to the screensaver were all from the up-loaders he had followed.
-Congratulations to Xie Lan!
-Congratulations, you won the first place
-The gods fought and won! Waiting for the official announcement!
-Congratulations to my little brother!
Aze sent Xie Lan dozens of crying emojis. Xie Lan frowned and scrolled up for a long time before he saw the message.
"My idol is awesome!! I know you can win, I know! I'm so excited, I'm screaming until my throat is hoarse, can I work under you this summer vacation?! Please, idol, take good care of me!!"
"?"
Xie Lan was confused for a while, and finally had a premonition of something and clicked on Weibo.
About ten minutes ago, Mr. Jiada posted a Weibo.
Mr. Jiada: Everyone in the industry knows that Director Pei is not easy to approach. I have asked people to contact him several times before, but it didn't work out. However, Director Pei always remembers to leave me a chance. This time, he took the initiative to invite me to compete. Unfortunately, due to the obstacles of personal style and product tonality, I have no chance to work on "The Boy on the String". I benefited a lot from talking with Director Pei yesterday. I hope we can meet Director Pei soon.
Xie Lan read this passage over and over again until his phone automatically turned off, revealing his stunned face on the black screen.
He frowned and simply sent a private message to Jiada.
-Xie Lan: What do you mean
Jiada didn't reply directly, but sent a WeChat account.
Xie Lan added him suspiciously, but before he could say hello, he sent several tearful-noodle emojis to Xi.
-Jada: It’s over…
-Xie Lan: Director Pei didn’t give it to you
-Jia Da: Yeah. I brought a demo of the work that was officially planned for "The Boy on the Strings". He listened to a part and said it was not good. After talking for a few minutes, he completely rejected it. He told me that he would try it again next time he had a chance. To apologize, he even treated me to a pot of Da Hong Pao for 488 yuan.
-Xie Lan: ...Can you tell me why
-Jia Da: He said that my temperament is not compatible and I can't write the feeling he wants. This damn director always refuses me with this reason. He even refuses me when I actively approach him!!
-Jia Da: I hope he will always buy out his own productions!
"The other party has withdrawn a message."
"The other party has withdrawn a message."
"The other party has withdrawn a message."
Xie Lan: “…”
After a while, Jiada calmed down and asked: You should have passed, right? Congratulations, your works are really very spiritual. I really followed you on the Internet in the early years. The new generation pushes the old generation forward.
Xie Lan frowned for a long time, pressing the screen hard word by word.
-Xie Lan: What a ghost.
-Jada: ?
-Xie Lan: Take a screenshot at will, don’t withdraw it
-Jia Da: ...You are Grandpa Niu.
The draft blew the half-closed door open. Dou Sheng, who had just woken up, came over from the next room in slippers with his hair standing on end. He looked at the camera like an old man on the subway, "What the hell is this?"
Pei Qing replied to Jiada, just now. And he only replied with four words -
"It's just not cooked enough."
WeChat suddenly vibrated again, and a contact with the same name and profile picture as Pei Qing on Weibo requested to add Xie Lan as a friend.
"Add him." Dou Sheng yawned, "Give him a chance and see what he says."
Xie Lan hesitated for a moment, but decided to pass.
I didn't say hello to you, I just sent you a picture.
The picture above is a scoring sheet. The scoring criteria are basic skills, structural ability, compatibility with the music style, and judges' preferences.
In addition to Pei Qing and Sister Kai, there are two others in City G who watch the interview videos and give scores.
Jiada's score was mosaiced and could not be seen. Only the elimination stamp could be seen.
Xie Lan's average score for basic skills was 6.6, his structural ability was 8.2, and his musical style was 10.
He noticed that Pei Qing only gave 5 points for basic skills, which lowered the overall average score.
But during the interview, he mentioned Xie Lan's architectural ability many times, but he gave it 8.5 points, which was higher than the average.
Pei Qing put a check mark on the column for judges' preference.
"Is this considered a sudden turn of events? What's the train of thought behind this guy's mind? He dislikes your virility and ends up wanting you?" Dou Sheng frowned and said, "Ask him what's going on."
Xie Lan was silent for a moment, "I won't go anymore."
"Hmm?" Dou Sheng opened his eyes, "Are you really not going?"
Xie Lan hummed.
Before going there, he and Dou Sheng had not done any research on being a director, and did not know about the "glorious" lives mentioned in the encyclopedia.
He was really angry after the interview because he thought the director was a normal person. But there are a group of artists in the world who are really not normal. No matter what kind of sympathetic suffering they have suffered, their personalities become extreme and difficult to get along with. When he was in the British Symphony Orchestra, he heard some seniors talk about it.
He was less angry, but also more determined not to cooperate.
He couldn't stand people who habitually used verbal violence, especially when the task was already very difficult and it happened during the preparation for a competition.
Xie Lan sat on the bed, his hair was a mess and his mind was a little blank.
He had just woken up, or rather, he was not yet awake. It was not a suitable moment to make a decision, but he still picked up the phone and even made a faint "tsk" sound like Dou Sheng usually did.
"Young man—" Dou Sheng suddenly became alert, "I feel like you're going to blow up the world, think twice."
"Um."
A few minutes later.
Xie Lan_em: I am very grateful for the invitation from the project team. However, since I am not a music arranger, after carefully understanding the workload of the chief music arranger, I feel a little reluctant. We have reached a consensus with the project team on this point. The college entrance examination and mathematics competition are overwhelming, and there is no place for good birds to roost in good trees. I will miss "The Boy on the Strings" this time. I benefited a lot from talking with Director Pei yesterday. I will improve my music arrangement theory in the future. I hope Director Pei can find an excellent partner, Pei Qing, as soon as possible.
As soon as the message was sent, WeChat started vibrating wildly.
-Pei Qing:
- Pei Qing:
- Pei Qing: Is there something wrong? Can't you understand this table
-Pei Qing: Making trouble
- Pei Qing: You don’t even do your own work seriously, but you copy half of someone else’s homework
Xie Lan thought for a moment and replied, "It's better for both sides to make a statement, otherwise you might get scolded. You're welcome."
- Pei Qing: What do you mean, you don’t want to cooperate? Is it because your words are too straightforward
Dou Sheng started yawning over Xie Lan's head again, one after another, endlessly.
Infected by this, Xie Lan also yawned at the screen.
I am angry because of the other party's arrogant attitude, but I don't refuse to cooperate because of this.
-Afternoon Grape Ice: I’m afraid that after we cooperate, we will fight every day.
-Pei Qing:
-Afternoon Grape Ice: I am indeed aware of my shortcomings and decided to practice on my own first.
- Pei Qing: ... Which one do you think you will believe
-Afternoon Grape Ice: It’s up to you. I can only read these two sentences.
- Pei Qing: …
A large number of onlookers quickly gathered under the Weibo post.
-Hmm? Lanzi didn't pass either
-It doesn't seem like a failure, but both parties gave up after communicating.
-Who should be the main arranger
-Ah... Aze
-It's so funny, Aze was broadcasting live, but now he looks confused
-Latest news, Aze is crying
-Didn’t you just brag that you were going to work for an idol
-Aze should be awakened by reality. He licked Xie Lan so hard that all his fans couldn’t stand it.
-Wait, he started to speculate whether this was the idol's love and intention to help him get promoted.
-Don't cue your god, I'm asking if you're running a competition
"Ermao is so grumpy. He thinks one million is too much." Dou Sheng stretched out his hand and rubbed Xie Lan's head randomly.
Xie Lan struggled out of his clutches, paused for a moment and frowned again, "Will there be any bad effects?"
"What can it be?" Dou Sheng curled his lips and said nonchalantly, "Since you have already decided not to cooperate, and Jiada has already resolved the issue, your handling of the matter is the most appropriate. It saves face for the project team and does not damage your own image. You are worthy of being a senior."
Xie Lan said nothing.
There was still some confusion in his mind from waking up.
I was unconsciously scrolling through my homepage, and came across more than a dozen melodies that I had uploaded during this period of time to canvass votes. If put together, they could form one or two complete songs.
"Looking ahead and behind is a must for social people like Ms. Zhao Wenying." Dou Sheng put his arm around his shoulder, stroked his collarbone and gently squeezed it, saying with a smile, "Young man, just hit wherever I point."