Chapter 513: Wen Ming 3
"Want to be a resident singer at Ye Se? That’s not easy." Tan You and the bartender’s conversation was clearly overheard. A middle-aged man at the bar turned slightly, quickly sizing up Tan You before speaking in a slightly flippant tone.
Tan You glanced at him. He wore a flowered shirt, ripped jeans, and had a pair of sunglasses hanging from his collar. To put it nicely, it was a hip-hop look. To put it less kindly, he looked a bit like a street punk.
Tan You wasn’t the least bit angered by his tone. ’In the world of fame and fortune, why would anyone respect you right off the bat? You have to show them what you’re capable of first.’ To put it bluntly, this industry was just that cruel, and just that realistic.
And at Ye Se, ability naturally earned you respect. At the very least, that was relatively fair. After all, they didn’t care about your looks or background, which gave ordinary people a chance.
Tan You simply took off her sunglasses. "I know. I’m here to apply for the resident singer-songwriter position."
"Oh? A singer-songwriter?" The man’s interest was piqued. "Let me introduce myself. I’m Ye Li, the owner of Ye Se. Have you written original music before? Do you have any work to show?"
Tan You shot him a glance. "I’ve only written the lyrics and sheet music. I haven’t had time to record anything."
She had spent the last three days in the hospital recovering. Where would she have found the time for that? But she had indeed transcribed a good amount of lyrics and sheet music. ’Who could blame her? She was a singer-songwriter, after all.’ Even without plagiarizing, Tan You was confident her skills were more than up to par.
Ye Li stared at the thick, black leather notebook Tan You took out, his voice full of doubt. "Are... are all of these...?"
"How could that be possible?" Tan You laughed. "It’s just a few songs I’ve accumulated over time."
Ye Li breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. For a second there, I thought this whole notebook was full. I was wondering when writing original music got so easy."
Tan You simply smiled at Ye Li’s probing words. She flipped through the notebook, casually tore out a page, and said, "Take a look."
Tan You had only given him half the sheet music and lyrics. Ye Li was a musician himself, and after just a few lines, he could tell the song was high-quality. But... he’d only seen half of it. The rest was missing.
He shook his head and looked at the composed Tan You. "You’re not here... just to apply for a resident singer gig, are you?"
Tan You finally smiled. "That’s right. I heard Ye Se works with a record company. I want your recommendation."
"A recommendation isn’t something I can decide on my own," Ye Li said, calming down. "Everyone has to agree. Even if this song is truly your own work, all that proves is that you can write. I still don’t know how well you can sing."
Tan You smiled back. "Then how about we find out for real tonight?"
"Alright, then get up there and sing tonight, and we’ll talk after!" Ye Li agreed instantly. "You’ll sing this one? It sounds like rock."
"Soft rock, I’d say. It’s not that hardcore, more like pop," Tan You said with a laugh. "I’ll sing this one, but I need to rehearse with the band first."
"Of course. Be my guest." Ye Li admired talented people, and Tan You’s confidence was a refreshing sight. ’Isn’t his love for music the whole reason he opened Ye Se in the first place? To meet more kindred spirits?’
"You’re just going to rehearse right here? Aren’t you worried it’ll get..." Ye Li asked casually as he watched Tan You get in sync with the band.
Tan You shrugged. "I’ve already registered the copyright for all of them. Even if someone does plagiarize it, that just means a lawsuit. They’d basically be handing me money."
She hadn’t been completely idle during her three days in the hospital. Besides, Tan You had been around the entertainment industry; she knew all too well the importance of protecting one’s copyright. And with the Beauty System, registering her copyrights was unbelievably smooth—she didn’t even have to show up in person.
As soon as Tan You said that, the expressions on some people’s faces changed immediately. Tan You pretended not to notice. She wasn’t some naive greenhorn who didn’t know anything; why would she be careless enough to perform her own work in front of a crowd without any protection?
That would be asking for trouble. Anyone who dared to do something like that was either a reckless fool or had already made foolproof preparations. Tan You happened to be the latter.
Ye Li smiled and shook his head, draining the drink in his glass. "I’m really starting to look forward to your performance tonight."
Tan You gave a slight nod. "I’m starting to look forward to it, too."
She had been through several worlds and had experienced the entertainment industry a few times, but she had never been the one on stage. Now that she was about to step into the spotlight, Tan You felt a long-lost sense of excitement.
Around seven o’clock, people started trickling into the bar. After the opening resident singer performed a few songs, the atmosphere started to heat up. Tan You stood in a dimly lit corner, her eyes narrowing unconsciously as she watched the people dancing on the floor.
Ye Li stood beside her. "Nervous?"
"Not at all," Tan You said, shaking her head calmly. "This is where my dream is about to begin. ’Ten years of thankless toil, and then overnight, the whole world knows your name.’"
"Well said!" Ye Li clapped loudly, but then felt a little disgruntled. "This is why I don’t like talking to you cultured types. You turn a phrase so elegantly it makes the rest of us sound uneducated."
Tan You patted his shoulder and flicked her high ponytail. "You can wax poetic all you want. It’s my turn to go on stage."
When Qi Ying and Wen Ming divorced, Tan You hadn’t been so high-and-mighty as to refuse her share of the assets. ’In this world, you can lose anything but money.’ Besides, Wen Ming had been married to Qi Ying for three years and acted like his mother for all three. Even hiring a nanny for that long would have cost a fortune.
Tan You wasn’t one to neglect herself. Plus, with her skills in makeup and styling, whipping up a stage look for herself was a piece of cake. It just goes to show you should always learn as much as you can, because you never know when it might come in handy.
Take right now, for example: makeup, styling, all of it was done by Tan You herself. Once she had a stable job, she was even considering making her own clothes. She really couldn’t stand current fashion, finding it all a bit provincial.
After raising Wen Ming’s beauty value to 80, she was considered quite a beauty in everyone’s eyes. With a few finishing touches from Tan You’s skillful hands, under the stage lights, there was only one word for her: dazzling.
Ye Li murmured to himself, "She didn’t look like this when she was offstage."
A man suddenly spoke up. "She has that star quality."
"Old Yan, that’s high praise." Ye Li turned to glance at him. "I thought you guys weren’t coming today."
"We weren’t planning on it, but then we heard you had a new singer-songwriter here. We wanted to come check out her skill level." A somewhat hoarse voice, the kind that came from too many cigarettes, spoke up.
"Her songwriting is top-notch," Ye Li praised enthusiastically. "As for her stage presence, I was already blown away during rehearsal. Can you believe it? She can hit such high notes!"
"I felt like she was going to blow the roof off the place."
Old Mo, the one with the smoky voice, shook his head. "Just being able to hit high notes is nothing special."