CH 45

Chapter 45: NianNian, I have a headache.

“They forced me.”

Hearing what Xie You said, Yu Nian’s heart suddenly ached.

“Does this happen often?”

Xie You gave Yu Nian a good look, feeling that the other’s thick eyelashes were flickering his heart little by little, and it was itching and numb.

He was two beats late before answering, “It used to be, but now it won’t.”

Inexplicably, Xie You didn’t want to mention the difficulties in the past with Yu Nian and said again, “This dinner is not to disturb the muddy water.”

Yu Nian understood what “used to be” meant, but he didn’t ask any further and continued to chat, “What about that person surnamed Ding?”

Xie You nodded, said “uh”, then nodded again, “Yeah.”

Noticing that Xie You was unresponsive and obviously sleepy, Yu Nian stopped the car slowly at a red light. His eyes fell on Xie You, and his voice was very gentle, “Go to sleep. I will wake up when we reach home.”

“I’m not sleepy.”

That’s what Xie You said, but he was very relaxed, closed his eyes involuntarily, and fell into a shallow sleep not long after.

Yu Nian smiled and drove the car more steadily, trying not to wake him up.

Arriving at the destination, there were only a few street lights standing quietly around.

Yu Nian turned off the engine. His eyes fell on Xie You’s face, and he couldn’t take his eyes off him.

When this person was awake, his aura was very strong, his eyes were sharp, and when his face was expressionless, he always made others fearful. When others mentioned him, they always felt a lingering fear.

But now that he was asleep, it seemed that the hard shell that protected him had fallen off, and even his breathing seemed soft.

He couldn’t bear to wake Xie You up, but he was afraid that he would be more uncomfortable if he fell asleep like this. So Yu Nian resolutely leaned over and helped Xie You unbuckle his seat belt while whispering, “Xie You, don’t sleep anymore. You’re home.”

Just as he was about to sit back, his breathing stopped in an instant—with the two of them in a very close position, Xie You woke up at some point and raised his arms to hug him.

The force was very light, and he hugged him vainly. He only needed to step back a little bit, and he could break away from this embrace.

Yu Nian’s eyes widened slightly, and he soon lowered his eyelashes again. With a faint smile in his eyes, instead of rejecting this tentative hug, he relaxed and asked Xie You warmly, “Are you awake?” 

“En.”

Perhaps sensing his attitude, Xie You’s arms tightened inch by inch, but the strength did not make him feel the slightest discomfort.

The sky was filled with the smell of cedar, and there was also a hint of wine. Yu Nian got close and could see the reddish tips of Xie You’s ears. His voice softened, “Are you still dizzy?” 

“En, dizzy.” 

Yu Nian was worried, “Then how can I make you more comfortable?”

Xie You stopped breathing. His throat tightened, his voice became lower and lower, and he said nervously, “…It’s fine.”

A few seconds later, Yu Nian raised his hand and hugged Xie You back, resting his chin on the other’s shoulder, “Okay.”

The next day, Yu Nian wore a white sweater to the recording studio and met Meng Yuan as soon as he got out of the elevator.

He took off his black mask and greeted with a smile, “Brother Meng, so early?”

Meng Yuan looked at Yu Nian’s clothes with a bit of disgust, but he was also numb and didn’t express his opinion. The two walked in side by side, and he casually asked Yu Nian, “How about picking up that person last night? Did they go crazy and throw up when they were drunk?”

Yu Nian lowered his head and smiled. The smile at the end of his eyes was clear and lingering, “No, they fell asleep in the car, and were very quiet.”

Thinking of Xie You pretending to be calm after letting go but actually getting out of the car and going home as if escaping, Yu Nian found that his mood could be improved for a week because of this.

“Tsk, why can’t I meet someone like this? The director of “Sounds of Nature”, Old He, likes to drink, and he loves to hold me and cry when he is drunk, with his tears and snot sticking on my clothes. There has been no progress for more than ten years at all!”

Yu Nian smiled and listened to his complaints, and while walking towards the recording studio, he chatted a few more words about Florence brand activities.

“You’re here.” Shi Rou arrived earlier than them and handed the freshly squeezed juice to Yu Nian as usual. She opened a music software and said happily, “NianNian, the song you played and sang at the scene of “To Tell the Truth”, its downloads increased rapidly after it was uploaded! How long has it been? It has already hit the new song download list! Many fans are asking if there will be a single, and what is the name of the song?” 

Yu Nian drank most of the juice in the glass in one go and asked, “This song was written temporarily during the recording; I can’t even remember the words now. If you let me sing it again, I will definitely not be able to sing it. As for the title of the song,” he struggled for a while, “Maybe it’s called… Nameless?”

“Haha, Nameless? NianNian, you are too perfunctory!” Shi Rou laughed. She took the empty glass that Yu Nian handed over and praised, “But to be honest, the more I listen to this song, the better it sounds! Before I went to bed last night, I only wanted to listen to it once before going to sleep, but I didn’t expect to repeat it so many times! When I woke up and brushed my teeth in the morning, I hummed this song subconsciously.” 

Meng Yuan praised Yu Nian more, “RouRou, with your self-control, if you listen to the songs in NianNian’s EP, won’t you stay up all night?”

Yu Nian interrupted with a smile, “Where is it so exaggerated? The song hasn’t even been recorded yet. Well, I don’t know how the final effect will be.”

“Just be humble! When the production teacher comes, you can start recording the music track. The sound of instruments and everything else will be included, so you can just directly record the song. If you are not satisfied with anything in the middle, tell the production teacher directly. You’ve written the song yourself, so you have the initiative.”

Yu Nian: “Okay, I know.”

Meng Yuan looked at the schedule, “Then I’ll stop nagging. I’m going to a meeting later, so I won’t be here with you.” He looked at Shi Rou again, “Please pay attention to everything.”

“Okay, Brother Meng, don’t worry.”

Once Yu Nian devoted himself to doing things, he would be extremely focused. He spent more than a week in the recording studio, over-taping, recording instrument sounds, adjusting details with the production teacher, and sometimes even forgetting dinner.

He had a calm and unassuming personality. He could chat with anyone, and the people who worked with him got along very well. During the break, the guitar teacher still held Yu Nian to teach him the basics of guitar. Yu Nian was also interested, so he followed it seriously. After two days, it was fruitful, and he asked Shi Rou to record a video of him playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on Weibo with great interest.

[Suddenly, I want to learn the guitar! NianNian looks so good holding the guitar and singing! His smile is so pure, I can hardly breathe!] 

[Hahaha, is NianNian learning the guitar? This twinke twinkle little star sounds so good! The fingers that pluck the strings are so full! This person begged to post more on Weibo, but there had been no movement for many days. Feeling sad. crying.jpg]

[Looking at NianNian patched up my roken heart QAQ. I liked him so much before, how can it be all fake? I don’t believe it!]

After Yu Nian posted on Weibo, he saw several similar comments and asked Shi Rou, “What happened?”

Shi Rou happened to be checking trending searches and hastily said, “Yes, NianNian, do you know Li Yin?”

Yu Nian nodded, “Yes, I’ve heard his “The One I Love”.”

“It’s him! The song “The One I Love” was so popular before that I used to sing it when I went to KTV. Since his debut, he has followed the creative and capable route, but it was revealed this morning that all the lyrics and music work with his name were written by others!” 

Yu Nian was surprised, “Ghost writing?”

“Yes, it’s ghost writing,” Shi Rou explained, “In fact, this kind of thing is quite common in the circle. In order to stir up people and spread news, the company will buy some lyrics and directly sign them in the artist’s name, usually signing a contract with the original author. But this method is very risky and not very ethical, just like this time.”

Shi Rou pointed to the phone, “The team that has been writing for Li Yin for the past few years felt that Li Yin was popular, but they were given too little money, so they directly exposed the matter.” 

The teacher who taught Yu Nian guitar was also there, flipping through hot searches. He said, “In fact, there have been rumors that the lyrics and music written by Li Yin himself are nonsense, and none of them are usable, but there is actually a team behind him helping to write songs. When there are too many people, the risk of exposure is even greater.”

“I think so too.” After reading the whole story, Shi Rou sighed, “Now Li Yin’s fans are all blown up, saying that they feel like they have been fooled for the past few years. Some loyal fans don’t believe it, but that team threw out all the evidence, and it is 100% solid, and now it depends on how Li Yin responds.” 

The entertainment industry has always had major events followed by minor events, and there is no rest every day. After watching it, these few people didn’t pay attention to this matter anymore and continued to work on the EP. Three or four days later, Shi Rou mentioned something during lunch, saying that Li Yin posted an apology, but when he turned around, he was scolded by fans and passers-by who turned from fans to black, and this matter became popular on the hot search.

Originally, this matter should’ve ended here, but they didn’t expect that there would be a follow-up.

“The station revealed that the person who wrote Li Yin’s name was Yao Yang, who wrote the music in the four-member team and occasionally wrote the lyrics. He wrote the song “The One I Loved”. He is really talented. The price was raised several times, and Li Yin agreed. This time, Yao Yang asked for a price increase again, and Li Yin felt that the price was too high, so he disagreed, and the two parties broke up.” 

In the office, Meng Yuan was holding a cup of hot coffee. He blew on it and continued, “After the incident of Li Yin’s ghost-writing was exposed, many passers-by praised Yao Yang on Weibo, saying that he did a good job in exposing the ugly side of the entertainment industry. In such a short few days, he just gained hundreds of thousands of fans.”

Yu Nian practiced the song all morning and was sipping tea to moisten his throat, “And then?” 

“I reckon he is a bit ambitious. He has been behind the scenes for a long time and wants to stand on the stage in front as a singer-songwriter. Maybe he thought that the money was not enough, so he wanted to make a name for himself using Li Yin. But Li Yin is not a big hit, and the popularity has passed in two or three days, so he has to find a home and continue to fry.”

Meng Yuan took a sip of his coffee, turned on his phone, and handed it to Yu Nian, “This man knows the rules quite well. His words are not clear, so let the people guess. Look at what he said, ‘The few newcomer singers who have become popular recently have been speculated to be talented people, but I don’t know if there is someone like me behind the scenes who have been deprived of the right to sign his own work’.” 

Shi Rou propped her chin with her hand, “Brother Meng, your analysis is really powerful! This Weibo post has dragged several people into the water! And the last sentence will arouse many people’s compassion and sense of justice.”

Meng Yuan tapped his finger on the top of the desk, “That’s right, it will be in hot search in a blink of an eye.”

Yu Nian flipped through the comments on this Weibo and found everything there was to say.

[Mr. Yao has been ghostwriting for so long; do you know some inside story, but for some reason, you can’t say it? Please break the news! We support you!] 

[Newcomer singers who have become popular recently? Lin Xiang, He Junyu, Zhao Jing, and Ouyang Yu can also be barely counted. People are welcome to add! Oh, but among these few people, which one of them is a scammer? Teacher Yao wants to do something big?]

[Let go of NianNian, we will not agree, but if you want to break the news and hype, go ahead!]

[Hurry up and take away the cute little Minxi too! Also, he originally sold his works voluntarily, but now that they couldn’t agree on the price, he’s tearing their faces apart, selling misery, and even claiming to be righteous and expose the darkness. What about his face? Compared with Li Yin, he is not much different!]

The Internet caused a storm, but Yu Nian was not affected by it. He devoted himself to recording songs. Whether it was himself or the company, all had great expectations for the first EP, and the pressure on the work team was also great. As a result, the end of the song recording was getting later and later. For two nights in a row, Yu Nian went home in the early morning.

After closing the car door, Yu Nian said goodbye to Shi Rou. After watching the car drive away, he stepped onto the curb and subconsciously glanced at the empty roadside.

When he recovered, Yu Nian put his hands in his pockets, lowered his head, and smiled.

What was he expecting?

After entering the elevator, Yu Nian sent another message, asking Shi Rou to pay attention to safety on the road. After putting away his mobile phone and stepping out of the elevator door, he walked around the corner and stopped in an instant.

Seeing the person wearing a dark gray long cashmere coat standing against the wall at the door of his house, Yu Nian was surprised, “Xie You? Why are you here?” As he spoke, he walked up to him, only to find that Xie You had his head down and his face pale. His lips were bloodless, and his forehead was covered with a thin layer of cold sweat as if he was holding back something.

“You—”

Before the next sound came out, Yu Nian was embraced by Xie You with one hand, and then Xie You’s deep and forbearing voice came from next to his ear, “NianNian, I have a headache.”