Marriage Concerto (Small Thing Called Love) Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Qiao Yichen has already spoken to me. In the future, you can follow me.

Xiang Guang approved of Ding Meng’s enthusiasm. He glanced at Qiao Yichen and asked probingly, “Will her new song will be overseen by you?”

“Mhm, the composition of the lyrics, music, and arrangement will all be taken care of by me.”

Xiang Guang’s mouth carried a hint of a smile. He nodded faintly but didn’t speak.

Every production aspect of Ding Meng’s song had been a.s.sumed by Qiao Yichen. Ding Meng felt a little overwhelmed by the honor. Xiang Guang saw through her thoughts and smiled, “Great Producer Qiao won’t be satisfied with what other people compose.”

Ding Meng blinked in confusion. Qiao Yichen turned over to glance at her and speak, “Since you’ve already signed a contract with the company, the company has an obligation to help you record music.”

“Ah.” Ding Meng nodded. Xiang Guang raised his wrist to check the time and spoke to them, “Alright, if the two of you don’t have anymore business here, you can both leave my office.”

Qiao Yichen raised his eyes to look at him, “Who are you planning to give her to?”

Xiang Guang raised his eyebrows and asked in reply, “Does Great Producer Qiao have a suggestion?”

“Jiang Man.”

Xiang Guang paused for a moment before laughing, “It has been a long time since Jiang Man took a new recruit.”

Qiao Yichen responded without changing his expression, “Mhm, it’s about time she challenged herself again.”

Xiang Guang looked away and gave a low laugh, “Even if I agree, she may not agree.”

Qiao Yichen spoke, “I will talk to her.”

“Alright, if Jiang Man agrees to take her, I don’t have any objections.” As he spoke, he looked over at Ding Meng, “First, I’ll ask Xiao Zhou to help you familiarize yourself with the company. As for any future matters, wait until your manager is confirmed. She will be the one to communicate with you.”

“Okay, thank you CEO Xiang.” Ding Meng felt like she was in a dream. Soon she would become one of those important people who needed a manager.

Qiao Yichen left first because he still had work to do. Ding Meng didn’t have to wait for long before Xiao Zhou came over to familiarize her with the company environment.

The first stop they visited was the company dining hall. Xiao Zhou diligently gave her tips about which booths gave bigger portions. “The company’s meals are really good so everyone usually eats here. People only get take out when they’re extremely busy.”

Ding Meng nodded as she listened. Just now, Xiao Zhou had simply listed some of the dining hall’s most popular dishes, but Ding Meng was already dying to try them.

Next, Xiao Zhou took her to the company’s training center. When they arrived, there were quite a few singers in the middle of cla.s.ses. Xiao Zhou explained, “Typically, aside from from the recording studio, the singers are most often found here. The company’s training center has many cla.s.ses. You can choose which cla.s.ses you want according to your personal needs. However, you’ll need to cover a portion of the costs yourself.”

Ding Meng nodded. Even though she hadn’t earned a single cent yet, this wasn’t something to be cheap about. She would have to reduce her usual living expenses.

Xiao Zhou gave her a training center cla.s.s schedule and a list of the cla.s.s fees before proceeding to take her upstairs to the recording studio.

Qiao Yichen was inside recording a song. After detecting the new arrivals, he simply glanced at them from the corner of his eyes before returning his attention onto the person singing inside the booth.

Xiao Zhou smiled at the person inside and then brought Ding Meng to stand by the entrance, not daring to walk inside. After Ding Meng saw the person inside the recording booth, she leaned toward Xiao Zhou’s ears and whispered with astonishment, “Is that person Liang Yanyan?”

She didn’t usually pay attention to celebrities, but this Liang Yanyan had been way too popular recently. She could see Liang Yanyan’s name anywhere she went. Liang Yanyan was a typical cute and delicate little girl. With her pet.i.te figure, cute face, and even cuter voice, she had captured a large number of fans. Recently, she had been the voice of a little rabbit in a cartoon, causing countless netizens to be injured by her cuteness.

The company took advantage of this and created a little rabbit character song for her. That song’s popularity spread to such a degree that it had already become one of the top songs of the year. Even Ding Meng’s current ringtone was this song.

She really never expected that she would meet this senior in Qiao Yichen’s recording studio.

Xiao Zhou used her hand to cover her mouth, “That’s her alright. Just thinking about ending up at the hands of Great Producer Qiao makes my heart hurt.”

At first, Ding Meng didn’t understand the meaning behind her words. Wasn’t having Qiao Yichen as the producer a good thing? Very quickly, life taught her that there were two sides to every coin.

Liang Yanyan, who had been singing with concentration, was interrupted by the big producer outside. “Stop.”

The stiff and cold voice traveled through the microphone and entered the booth. Liang Yanyan stopped in confusion. Ding Meng wasn’t sure if she was mistaken, but she felt like she could see fear in Liang Yanyan’s eyes.

“Even bacteria know how to evolve. You’ve sang this song so many times, but your pitch and rhythm haven’t been correct even once. Don’t think that your cute voice can conceal the flaws in your singing.” Qiao Yichen’s steady words were as cold as ice. “We’ll stop here today. If you’re still like this tomorrow, don’t even bother coming to the recording studio.”

Ding Meng, “…”

This was simply jaw dropping. Even as a spectator, she felt cold after listening.

Now, she felt like Qiao Yichen had actually been very soft and gentle as a judge. When he was in the recording studio, he was simply a devil… He could even say such poisonous words to a cute and delicate little girl like Liang Yanyan. This was insane!

Inside the booth, Liang Yanyan had clearly received a much larger injury than Ding Meng. Her eyes immediately reddened and she ran out while covering her mouth.

Xiao Zhou pulled the corner of Ding Meng’s shirt to silently retreat.

“Scary. Way too scary.” Xiao Zhou breathed out in relief only after pulling Ding Meng out of the hallway and onto a balcony. “If I was Liang Yanyan, I would have collapsed. Do you know how many times she’s been scolded into tears this past week?”

Right now, all Ding Meng could think about was, if she had recorded that scene just now and uploaded it online, Qiao Yichen would definitely have been torn apart by Liang Yanyan’s fans.

After Xiao Zhou regained her breath, she looked very sympathetically at Ding Meng, “Your debut single will be recorded by Qiao Yichen, right?”

Ding Meng, “…”

Dammit, she suddenly really wanted to terminate her contract orz.

“Ay, don’t worry. Qiao dada is only scary when he’s working. After a.s.sociating with him for a while, you’ll get used to it.” Xiao Zhou pat Ding Meng’s shoulder and spoke comfortingly, “Wasn’t Sima Xiaoxiao also scolded into tears by him before? Yet that alb.u.m turned Sima Xiaoxiao into an empress!”

When Sima Xiaoxiao debuted, her career didn’t look very optimistic. It could even be said that she had been in very dire straits. However, after her collaboration with Qiao Yichen to produce First Flower of February, she was pushed into the realm of G.o.ds.

“Getting scolded into an empress isn’t that bad, right? If Liang Yanyan can jump over this hurdle, I dare say that everyone’s image of her will undergo a transformation.”

Ding Meng felt Xiao Zhou’s words were reasonable. It was always a good thing to be a bit stricter with regards to work.

“Qiao dada is usually really busy with work. Almost everyday, he goes home when the sky is almost dark. Ah, although, it was a bit out of the ordinary while he was a judge. Everyday he would leave right on the dot, but during the day he would power through work like a machine without taking any breaks.”

Ding Meng was stunned. This happened during the compet.i.tion? He wouldn’t have done that to come home and make her dinner, right…

Before she had thought things through, a staff member wearing a work badge walked over and looked at her, “You must be Ding Meng? Manager Jiang has returned and is asking you to come to her office.”

Xiao Zhou gasped, “It’s Jiang Man. You should hurry and go.”

“Then I’ll be heading off. Thank you for taking me around the company.” After Ding Meng said goodbye to Xiao Zhou, she followed that staff member and rode the elevator up a couple floors before arriving at Jiang Man’s office.

Standing in front of the office door, she gave it a glance and knocked on the door.

“Please come in.”

A woman’s voice traveled out. Ding Meng pushed open the door and smiled at her, “h.e.l.lo, I am Ding Meng.”

Jiang Man was in the middle of flipping through some doc.u.ments on her table. When she heard Ding Meng’s voice, she looked up, “Come over and sit.”

Ding Meng pursed her lips and walked over to sit down.

“Wait a moment.”

“Okay.” She peacefully sat and sized Jiang Man up. Jiang Man wore a simple patterned blouse, but based on the material and workmanship, it was obviously a luxury brand. On her bottom half, she wore a pair of black work trousers. Her hair was leisurely tied back into a ponytail.

Her appearance was very simple and professional, which gave others a feeling of trust.

After Jiang Man called the secretary in to take the doc.u.ments, she finally sat down on her chair across from Ding Meng. She leaned back on the chair and sized Ding Meng up before speaking, “You look pretty good, even though you can’t be considered extraordinary in the entertainment industry. However people aren’t as picky about the appearances of singers as they are with actors. I haven’t watched your compet.i.tion, and I don’t know the particulars about you, but this is the first time CEO Xiang has poached someone from another company. You ought to have some value.”

“…” So, was she supposed to say thanks?

Jiang Man looked at her some more before speaking, “Qiao Yichen has already spoken to me. In the future, you can follow me. As long as you work hard, I can be a very agreeable person. I also need to mention that I don’t like it when singers under my management are caught in scandals. Therefore, while you’re under my care, you’d better behave yourself.”

“Ok, I understand…” Ding Meng felt as if she was facing a teacher.

Jiang Man nodded, “Ok, your job right now is to record your debut single. Qiao Yichen is in charge of it so he will follow up with that. Before the song is written, your primary responsibility will be to practice at the training center.” As she spoke, she pa.s.sed over a list of items to Ding Meng. “Qiao Yichen was your compet.i.tion judge. He has a better understanding of your circ.u.mstances than I do. This was what he gave me just now. It contains all the courses that you need to attend. Over the next few days, I will find time to finish watching your compet.i.tion. After that, I will help you find your footing.”
Ding Meng was surprised. She froze for a moment before receiving the list of items from Jiang Man’s hand. She spoke politely, “Okay, thank you.”

Jiang Man laughed, “You don’t need be so stiff. I’m not your teacher.”

Ding Meng, “…”

Had she been that obvious?

Jiang Man lowered her head as if she was contemplating something, “Mm….next month there is a concert. I will think of a way to get you in.”

Ding Meng was stunned, “A concert?”

“Yeah, the Popular Cla.s.sics Celebration concert. Many well-known singers will be partic.i.p.ating.” Jiang Man searched through the pile of doc.u.ments on her table and handed a pamphlet to Ding Meng, motioning her to take a look.

Ding Meng turned to the first page and saw Mo Zhen, Gu Xin, and Sima Xiaoxiao…

She swallowed and looked up at Jiang Man, “You want me to perform in this concert?”

Jiang Man looked at her and leaned back on her chair, “What, you don’t have the confidence? Even though I haven’t watched your compet.i.tion, you did win first place so your level of skill can’t be that bad. I also heard that you challenged Sima Xiaoxiao in the finals.”

Ding Meng felt like the pressure was a bit high, “I didn’t challenge Sima Xiaoxiao…” Heavens, other people thought her performance of First Flower of February was a challenge to Sima Xiaoxiao?!

Jiang Man shrugged her shoulders indifferently, “You don’t need to be nervous. I’m not a fan of Sima Xiaoxiao. In fact, I haven’t liked her for a while now. If you can defeat her, I will be very happy.”

Ding Meng, “…”

She felt like her manager was a bit of the aggressive type.

“However, don’t get your hopes up too high either. Many people want to partic.i.p.ate in this concert. I can only do my best to help you fight for a spot.”

“I understand, thank you.” She was already grateful for this much. The fact that she, who hadn’t even come out with an original song of her own, could have the opportunity to attend a concert of this scale was already like a fairytale.

“Alright, that’s all. Take the concert details and read through it.”

“Ah, okay.” After receiving a business card from Jiang Man, Ding Meng left her office. Instead of immediately heading for the training center, she found a place to sit down and started flipping through the concert details.
.
The first page was filled with singers that she recognized. If it was yesterday, she wouldn’t have even thought of possibly sharing a stage with these people. Even though Jiang Man said she may not be successful, Ding Meng somehow trusted her abilities. She wasn’t sure if that was because Jiang Man was someone chosen by Qiao Yichen or if that was because of Jiang Man’s strong character.

She gave another couple glances at the pamphlet in her hand before discovering that Qiao Yichen’s name was written in the concert’s music director column.