CH 49

Ch 49: Yin Chang’s Single

Shao Junling's confident words didn't bother Yin Chang too much. Perhaps the child had a strong personality and didn't like being provoked.

But as he looked at the other person, Yin Chang was reminded of what Yao Manhuai had said that day...

"If Yin Dong invited you to go with him when he went out for work, how would you feel?"

"You ask him if for five million he would want to record a program with you during his summer vacation."

Yin Chang let out a light sigh, wanting to speak but hesitating. He could guess that Shao Junling would definitely agree. Children didn't have many things they needed to do. For him, following him out to play and also earning money would sound amazing. But he didn't know how many vicious beasts were out there in the rest of the world. Even if he explained it to him now, he wouldn't understand.

In mid-March, Yao Manhuai personally took Yin Chang to meet a well-known musician in the industry named Ye Zhengming in the northern city. She planned to release a single for Yin Chang in the first half of this year.

The musician's name was Ye Zhengming, and he had a music production company in the northern part of the city that had gathered many talents. He wrote many songs for popular idols in the industry, but few could afford to have him personally involved.

This time, when Yao Manhuai approached him, saying she wanted a tailor made song for Yin Chang, he readily agreed.

Ye Zhengming looked to be in his forties. When he saw Yin Chang, he was like an elder meeting a younger one. He cordially invited him to sit in his office.

Yao Manhuai originally wanted to follow, but he waved his hand sending her out. "I'm making a song for him, not for you. Go wait outside."

It was the first time Yin Chang had seen someone dare to speak to Yao Manhuai in such a manner. He couldn't help but look at this person with newfound respect. But the fact that he could speak in this way also proved that Yao Manhuai and he had an extraordinary relationship.

Once inside his office, Yin Chang saw that it was a mess. The desk and floor were littered with scattered scores, and a guitar was casually placed on the ground beside a piano on the wall.

Ignoring the rules of hospitality, Ye Zhengming lit a cigarette as soon as he sat down and began chatting with Yin Chang about things related to him.

Faced with a stranger, Yin Chang didn't know what to say, so he just talked about Yin Dong. Yin Chang said that Yin Dong's departure had a great impact on him and it was because of Yin Dong that he entered this industry. However, he had been feeling lost lately.

At first, Ye Zhengming asked him a few questions. But later he didn't interrupt and let Yin Chang talk freely, saying whatever came to mind.

After listening to Yin Chang's fragmented story for nearly half an hour, Ye Zhengming finally said, "You haven't moved on from that incident yet."

Yin Chang was taken aback. He saw Ye Zhengming press out his cigarette "Xiao Yao shouldn't have let you enter the industry so early."

Just as Yin Chang was pondering over the meaning of Ye Zhengming's words, he saw the other person put his emotions aside and say, "Okay, I know what to write now. You can go back and wait. When it's done, I'll send it to you to take a listen."

Yin Chang added Ye Zhengming on WeChat. He originally thought that it would take a while for the other person to write the song, but he didn't expect that the next morning, Ye Zhengming sent the lyrics and demo of the score to his phone. The message was also very simple, just two words: "Listen carefully."

At that time, Yin Chang had just boarded the plane back to Haicheng with Yao Manhuai. He downloaded the song, put on his headphones, and listened to the lyrics. He couldn't stop listening to it on repeat, so by the time the plane landed, he already knew the song by heart.

Yao Manhuai slept on the plane. When she woke up, she saw that Yin Chang looked sad and asked him what's wrong.

Yin Chang took off his headphones, shook his head, and smiled lightly, "Teacher Ye sent me the song earlier. I listened to it this whole time."

Yao Manhuai was surprised, "So fast? Forward it to me, I want to listen too."

Yin Chang forwarded it to her, and after listening to it once, Yao Manhuai calmly commented, "This guy is still as good as ever. We found the right person. You singing this song will definitely be a hit."

Yin Chang: "..."

In the afternoon, Yin Chang returned home and saw Shao Junling wearing his thin Taekwondo uniform, clenching his fists and running around in the living room... As soon as he saw Yin Chang, the little guy bolted over, with his hands in position, standing in front of him like a rabbit on steroids.

Yin Chang looked at him inexplicably. "What are you doing?"

Fiona heard the sound and came out. "I don't know what's wrong with this child. He's been wearing this bathrobe-like outfit all day."

Yin Chang looked at him again and then noticed something different - Shao Junling was wearing a yellow belt around his waist.

The color of the belt symbolized the level of Taekwondo, with white being the entry level. Now that Shao Junling had a yellow belt, it meant...

"You passed the trial?" Yin Chang asked in surprise.

Shao Junling's eyes lit up and he "ummed" excitedly before running off again.

"The weather hasn't turned warm yet," Fiona worriedly said, "He's not even wearing socks or slippers, and his legs are bare. Isn't he afraid of catching a cold? Xiao Chang, you have to say something to him."

"He's running, he won't catch a cold. Let him be," Yin Chang smiled. He checked his email on his phone. Sure enough, the martial arts gym had sent him a message last night, informing him that Shao Junling had completed the trial period and had become an official student of the gym.

Yin Chang felt relieved and immediately paid for a year of Shao Junling's training online. He had passed the grueling trial period, so he should be able to stick with it for a year without any problems.

Just as he finished paying, he looked up to see that Shao Junling had changed his clothes and was staring up at him unhappily.

Yin Chang: "???"

Still lost in the atmosphere of that song, Yin Chang didn't pay much attention to Shao Junling's reaction.

Yin Chang returned to his room and wrote a sincere thank-you message to Ye Zhengming: "Teacher Ye, I listened to your song, it's really good. The lyrics express my heart very well, thank you."

Ye Zhengming replied in the evening: "Just woke up. Stayed up all night writing yesterday."

Yin Chang: "Wow, thank you for your hard work."

After finalizing the lyrics and melody, Ye Zhengming immediately had his team move into the formal arrangement and production stage.

The days passed in a hurry.

Shao Junling went to school, took English lessons, and practiced taekwondo, all with a driver picking him up and dropping him off.

Yao Manhuai directed the recording of the song and took photos for the album. They frequently traveled between Haicheng and the Northern part of the city for performances and events.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed and the recording of the new song was completed, with only the final music video left to shoot.

However, when he saw the script for the music video, Yin Chang was a little confused. He thought the lyrics of the song were about Yindong, but the script for the video included a "female lead."

When Yin Chang raised his concerns, Yao Manhuai explained that although the song was written by Ye Zhengming based on Yin Chang's emotional experiences, the lyrics were actually a prose poem that could be interpreted in different ways. He wrote this song mainly to give Yin Chang a sense of empathy when singing it, and also to be able to pour out his emotions. But in the production process, they couldn't position this song as a "song of a child's longing for his deceased father." If they were limited as such, even if the song was good, it would be difficult to promote and spread it.

Therefore, the production company added a female lead in the MV, telling a story about a young man who was hurt by love. After his love left him, the young man grew from the experience.

Yin Chang cringed at the cheesy script. He was helpless and could only accept it.

Selecting the MV leading actress was more of a struggle than expected.

Initially, Yao Manhuai picked an in-house actress to be paired with Yin Chang, but the actress kept messing up during the shoot.

There was a scene in the MV where the leading actress had to face Yin Chang and show a cold and indifferent look, then turn around and walk away after a few seconds. But as soon as that actress locked eyes with Yin Chang, her face turned red and she wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. Her eyes would sparkle and her gaze would be shy.

She couldn't even do such a simple scene, let alone the scenes of the couple's first meeting where they had to lean on and hug each other.

Yao Manhuai frowned and observed for half an hour, then directly sent the actress and her agent back.

The production team filmed Yin Chang's solo shots first while Yao Manhuai continued to search for the perfect leading actress. However, it was not easy to find someone who was suitable. Firstly, the person's popularity couldn't exceed Yin Chang's, or they would steal the spotlight. Secondly, they had to portray a "goddess" whom Yin Chang loved but couldn't have, so the actress had to have a certain level of beauty and temperament, otherwise, the fans would mock the MV.

Yao Manhuai couldn't find anyone suitable in-house, so she cast her net outside.

Many companies rushed to provide information to New Star Entertainment upon hearing the news. Yin Chang was very popular that year, and it was an excellent opportunity to gain exposure by appearing as the leading actress in his first single MV.

Yao Manhuai screened through the candidates and picked a few, but when they stood next to Yin Chang, they paled in comparison.

As time passed, the production team became more and more anxious. The producer suggested, "Why don't we change the MV script and not film the actress's face? Let's just find a girl with a decent figure and film her with her back facing the camera."

Lu Lingjuan asked, "What about the scenes from their 'dating period'? Should we scrap them?"

The director flipped through some previously unused footage and analyzed, stroking his chin. "To be honest, I always thought this action design was a bit far-fetched when I read the script. Because Yin Chang is just too good-looking. If I were the audience, I wouldn't understand why the female lead would leave the male lead... This song is about the male lead's process of growing up and maturing. Let's switch our perspective. If he himself hasn't grown up and is still a child at heart, the female lead can't get the emotional connection she wants from him, so she has to leave him with a heavy heart..."

The producer agreed after listening, "Yes, this explanation is good. Let's all think about how to design an action to show that Yin Chang is still a child at heart."

Lu Lingjuan had a sudden inspiration, "What if the girl holds Yin Chang's head and strokes it like a small animal?"

Yin Chang: "..."

The producer slapped his hand and pointed Lu Lingjuan, "That's a fantastic idea!"

The director also nodded repeatedly, "That way we only need to film Yin Chang's head and the girl's hand, and we don't even need to film the girl's head."

The producer snapped his fingers, "Perfect!"

When Yao Manhuai saw they had finished discussing, she was about to randomly pick someone from the eliminated contestants. But as soon as she picked up her phone, she realized it wouldn't work. If this girl knew she wouldn't even have a chance to show her face in Yin Chang's MV, would she still be willing to come?

The director on the side had already started redesigning the shots, "Let's first get someone to pose with Yin Chang, and let me see if this shot is easy to take..."

As Lu Lingjuan was looking around for a suitable girl, she saw Yin Chang walking towards her, saying, "You."

Lu Lingjuan: "?!?!"

Five minutes later, the Lu Lingjuan who'd brought herself trouble knelt down with a beautiful posture, shivering as she let Yin Chang's head rest on her lap.

Director: "Yin Chang, move a little closer...Girl, don't move back, hold onto his head...Yes, stop shaking!"

Lu Lingjuan: "..."

Director: "Touch him!...More naturally...Yes, very good! Yin Chang closing his eyes just now was very cute...keep them closed."

Yin Chang: "..."

After the two tried the shot, the director kept clicking his tongue as he looked at the footage, "Not bad, not bad. Who is she? I think this girl is pretty good... Is she Yin Chang's assistant? If not, then let's use her. Her hands are pretty too, and we're not filming her face anyway. I think the effect is pretty good."

Lu Lingjuan: "..."

Yao Manhuai heard this and simply put down her phone to size up Lu Lingjuan. She seemed appropriate so she directly said, "Go change your clothes. When you come back, we'll sign a contract and give you your actress fee."

Lu Lingjuan turned awkwardly to look at Yin Chang. She saw Yin Chang nod encouragingly at her, with a hint of a sly smile on his face.

On the eve of Easter, Yin Chang's single "Farewell My Self" quietly appeared on major music platforms.

The single cover featured Yin Chang's photo. In the picture, he closed his eyes with a slightly solemn expression, but half of his face was covered with a silver half-smiling mask. This created a strong contrast between the expressions on the left and right halves of his face.

Yin Chang's Weibo was silent, and there was no additional publicity, but the song was still discovered by observant fans.

Immediately, fans spontaneously spread and reposted the song like crazy.

"Please, everyone, go listen to it! It's so good!"

"My idol is just too amazing, he's so good at everything!"

"They actually managed to get Ye Zheng to compose a song for them, their resources are so awesome..."

"I originally thought it was just a hip-hop song that comes with being a popular star, but I was pleasantly surprised that it's a super beautiful love song!"

"My ears are pregnant ahhhh, I'm going to loop this single 10,000 times!!"

The next day, the official accounts of various music platforms finally announced this new song, and highlighted how it quickly entered the top of the new song charts within 24 hours.

At this time, Yin Chang's Weibo finally released the official MV for "Farewell My Self", allowing fans who were hungry for more to feast their eyes on it.

The beginning of the MV showed a desolate grassland. Although there was sunshine, the overall tone was gloomy, giving off a feeling of despair.

As the piano prelude started playing, Yin Chang's deep and pleasant voice followed along: "Under the warm flowers in the sunlight, swaying your dreams...The birds flying in the sky, have they been to the faraway places you wanted to go..."

A figure of a young man appeared on the screen, dressed in a black shirt, wandering aimlessly on the barren land.

"Yesterday, ignorant and fearless; today, helpless and hopeless... Time leaves no trace, dreams leave no wounds..."

With these two lines of lyrics, a sunny room appeared before his eyes. There was a white-dressed woman sitting on the floor, but her face was not visible. Yin Chang closed his eyes, leaned into her bosom, and the woman gently stroked his hair...

Then the scene changed, and the desolate grassland appeared again.

The young man stood on the empty ground, looking around with loneliness.

"I look up at the sky, watching the clouds gather and disperse, waiting for you to return to my side... I gaze through the autumn water, watching the falling leaves, guarding the tenderness in my heart..."

Then, the scene returned to the room just now, but this time the camera showed the white-dressed woman leaving Yin Chang while he was sleeping.

By the time Yin Chang awoke, his beloved was no longer there.

"Yesterday, ignorant and fearless; today, helpless and hopeless... Time leaves no trace, dreams leave no wounds..."

He ran around in the wilderness, unable to distinguish what was real and what was a dream.

Until the end of the music video, the young man never found the girl again. But he picked up a dirty, smiling mask from the ground, wiped off the dirt, and slowly put it on his face, echoing the single's cover.

Fans went crazy after watching the MV.

"What a heartbreaking song! I cried so much!"

"The MV is just too sad. Can't find her no matter what. I can feel the desperation ..."

"Can any sister interpret the meaning of the mask? Is it saying that Yin Chang is not actually happy now, just forcing a smile?"

"It's just an MV. I swear I don't believe anyone would abandon Yin Chang in real life!"

"You mean Yin Dong...well, let's not talk about it, it's heartbreaking."

"To be honest, when I watched the MV, I thought about Yin Dong leaving him, birds flying away and all that. It's too much like a plane crash metaphor..."

"This is Yin Chang's song! This is Yin Chang's Weibo! Can some people stop bringing up Yin Dong here? It's so annoying every time!"

"Can someone tell me who the female lead in this MV is? I want to send her a razor blade!"

"After watching it three times, I still couldn't find the name of the artist. The young lady has a strong will to survive. [smile]"

Although it was just a pop song, from the cover to the lyrics to the music video, there was a unique, luxurious feel to it.

Within the next day, "Farewell My Self" climbed to the top of the new song charts on various platforms under the strong support of fans and music lovers, far surpassing the second most popular song in terms of play and download counts.

As Yao Manhuai had anticipated, the song exploded and there was no doubt about it.

It was the end of April and Yao Manhuai brought up the issue of the parent-child variety show on Starry Sky TV with Yin Chang again.

The general manager of Starry Sky TV, Xu, was unwilling to give up and asked her to inquire about Yin Chang again. The other two previously uncomfiremd pairs of guests had already confirmed: the fourteen-year-old twin sons of famous ping-pong player Lang Yangxu, and the son of Meng Qing, a well-known actor in Hong Kong, and his current wife.

There was only one unfilled pair left, and Xu had kept it open for Yin Chang and Shao Junling, hoping that Yin Chang would reconsider.

The deadline for the final response was May 10th, because the production team needed to start working on the theme song mid-May.

Up to this point, Yin Chang had not explicitly told Yao Manhuai to notify the variety show of his final decision because he was still on the fence. He admitted that Yao Manhuai had a point; Starry Sky invited not just him but also Shao Junling. No matter what, he should ask Shao Junling for his thoughts.

On a weekend in early May, Yin Chang finally got a day off. He came home early on Saturday afternoon, determined to pluck up the courage and talk to Shao Junling. He also wanted to take advantage of Sunday to bond with his little buddy. Over the past few days, he had been so busy with the single that he had not paid much attention to Shao Junling's state.

However, when he got home, Shao Junling was nowhere to be seen. Yin Chang casually asked, "Fiona, where's Shao Junling?"

"He went to the Taekwondo gym," Fiona replied, "He goes to practice every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. He left early this afternoon, around two or three, and will be back for dinner later."

"Oh..." Yin Chang looked at the calendar and remembered that Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays were part of the trial period schedule. How was it he was so rigorous even after becoming an official member? It seemed he was really quite determined.

When it was almost six o'clock, Shao Junling came home, still wearing his martial arts uniform. To Yin Chang's surprise, he noticed that in just two months, the young man's belt had turned green.

As he was about to praise him, the boy gave him a glance from the corner of his eyes and walked past him without a word of greeting.

Confused, he called out to him, "Hey, where's my greeting?"

To his surprise, the young man even gave him a disdainful snort before turning away.

Just then, Fiona came out of the kitchen with a pot of hot soup and was surprised to see the two brothers at a stand off.

"What's going on?" she asked. "You two rarely get a chance to eat together. Come, sit down and have some food."

Ignoring him completely, the young man went straight to his room after hearing Fiona's invitation.

Feeling abandoned, Yin Chang felt like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, and he paced back and forth. Fiona tried her best to give him a meaningful look, but he had nowhere to vent his frustration.

After an awkward dinner, the three of them went their separate ways. Fiona tried to make things less uncomfortable, but the brothers showed no signs of reconciling.

Later that night, Yin Chang went to his bedroom with a scowl on his face, and Shao Junling stayed in the living room, seemingly avoiding him on purpose.

Fiona quietly tried to persuade him to talk to Yin Chang, but Shao Junling ignored her and stubbornly kept his head down.

Late in the night, Shao Junling finally crept back to his room.

Yin Chang had finished washing up and was lounging on the bed in his silk robe. When he saw Shao Junling come back, he put down the iPad he had been holding and narrowed his eyes coldly, "You actually came back to sleep? I thought you were going to sleep in the living room."

Shao Junling hung his head and went to take a shower. When he finished and walked to the door, he saw Yin Chang blocking the way with an angry expression, his arms crossed.

There was no way Yin Chang was going to let him go to sleep without finding out what was wrong.

"What's wrong with you? Did you learn taekwondo and suddenly get a chip on your shoulder? Do you think you're so tough?"

Yin Chang finally had a chance to vent his frustration, and he let it all out.

He even felt like laughing a little because, for a moment earlier that day, he had considered taking Shao Junling with him to that variety show. But that would have been crazy – if they went on TV like this, they'd probably be laughed at by the whole country!

Shao Junling kept his head down and remained silent, but his fists were clenched tightly at his sides.

Yin Chang sneered, "Do you want to fight me?"

Shao Junling looked up at him with bloodshot eyes filled with rage.

Yin Chang was taken aback, but he wasn't afraid of Shao Junling. This guy had only been learning taekwondo for a few days, he wouldn't be able to beat him, right?

Yin Chang was prepared to use force if he had to, but he didn't expect Shao Junling to burst into tears in front of him.

Yin Chang: "???"

Shao Junling cried harder and harder, shoulders heaving as if he had been tragically wronged.

Yin Chang was completely confused by Shao Junling's unexpected reaction. "Why are you crying!?"

"It's because you ignored me first!" Shao Junling yelled, his voice thick with tears.

Yin Chang: "......"

"When did I ignore you?" Yin Chang asked.

"Always!" Shao Junling yelled and started crying again. "You've always ignored me!"

Yin Chang couldn't keep his temper in the face of Shao Junling's tears.

He thought about when he could've given Shao Junling the impression that he was ignoring him. After thinking for a while, he could only attribute it to being too busy with work lately and not being able to pay attention to this guy. But he didn't mean to ignore him intentionally.

"I..." Yin Chang squatted down, at a loss for what to do, and comforted him, "Stop crying...you look like a spotted cat with your tears all over your face. It's so ugly."

Shao Junling paused, glaring at him in disbelief. He turned his back on him, and cried even harder.

Yin Chang was afraid that Fiona would hear him crying and think he was bullying him. He hugged him, comforting him, "Okay, I won't say anything more! You're not ugly! Don't cry, my little boss!"

Shao Junling sobbed in Yin Chang's arms for a while before finally calming down.

Yin Chang sighed inwardly, "I must have owed this kid in my past life!"

Lu Lingjuan (suggested), "Hold his head and stroke him like you would a small animal!"

Yin Chang, "???" You're amazing, come on, come here and hold my head, I'll give you this chance.

Lu Lingjuan, "............" QAQ

Shao Junling passed the grueling trial and wore his Daoist robes all day, shivering with cold, waiting for his older brother to come home so he could show off and receive praise.

But his brother didn't react at all and ignored him completely.

Shao Junling was so angry that he felt like a puffed-up pufferfish.

After that, Yin Chang was busy with his single, working early and returning late.

Shao Junling was angry for two months and was about to explode!

Author’s Note: Yin Chang's Single was inspired by Shang Dongfeng's "Boneless, Flowerless, Selfless, and Otherless". Please give it a listen!