Huayu: Please leave me alone, I really want to retire from the entertainment industry!

Chapter 55 Yang Mi Wants to Be Song Ze's Angel Investor

Song Ze stared at the ceiling.

Thirty million, three-year commitment.

This number lingered in his mind for half an hour.

He sat up, opened WeChat, and sent a message to Zhang Juan: "Sister Juan, please cancel all my plans for tomorrow. I'm going to see Yang Mi."

After sending the message, I locked the screen and lay back down.

Three seconds later, her phone vibrated. Zhang Juan: "?????? You sent this at 11:30 PM???"

Song Ze did not reply.

Her phone vibrated again. Zhang Juan: "What are you doing seeing Yang Mi? You wouldn't want to—"

Song Ze typed four words: "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Zhang Juan's message box displayed the word "you," paused for ten seconds, and then changed to "okay."

Song Ze turned his phone face down and closed his eyes.

Make enough money and leave, or go see the scenery four seconds later.

His body made the choice for him.

The following afternoon at 2 PM, Zhuxi Tea House.

Yang Mi sat in her usual spot, with two cups of tea and a tablet in front of her.

When Song Ze pushed the door open and came in, she was looking down at her phone without even looking up.

"It was three days faster than I expected."

Song Ze pulled up a chair and sat down.

"How long do you think I'll struggle with this?"

"At least a week." Yang Mi put down her phone and pushed the tablet in front of him. "But you're more clear-headed than I thought."

The screen displays a draft contract.

The title is not "Agency Agreement" or "Exclusive Agreement"—it is "Strategic Partnership Agreement of Jaywalk Music".

Song Ze didn't move.

Yang Mi leaned back in her chair, resting her chin on one hand.

"I don't buy out your future, I invest in your future."

She held up three fingers.

"First, your contract with Xingyao will be retained, and Zhang Juan will remain your manager; Jiaxing will not interfere. Second, Jiaxing will provide funding and resources to establish your independent music label. Third, profits will be split 50/50."

Song Ze looked down and flipped through the contract.

There are no non-compete restrictions, no exclusivity clauses, and no traps of unilateral termination.

The terms even explicitly state that the partner has the right to terminate the partnership in writing at the end of any calendar year.

He flipped to the last page, then flipped back. "Yang Mi, her conditions are unrealistically good."

Yang Mi smiled and tapped a line of bold text on the screen with her index finger.

Song Ze looked over—"Additional condition: If Song Ze wins the overall championship of 'I Am a Singer 2017,' this agreement will automatically be upgraded to an independent studio support program. Party B will have full operational decision-making power over the studio, while Party A will only participate in profit distribution as the primary investor."

Song Ze's finger stopped on that line of text.

Yang Mi picked up her teacup.

"To put it another way—if you win the singing competition, you're the boss. I'll just be your angel investor."

After a long silence, Song Ze finally spoke: "Why?"

Yang Mi put down the cup and leaned forward.

"A person who can write 'Cool' and 'Left Finger Pointing to the Moon' shouldn't be bound by a contract." She paused, "I bet you can help Jaywalk Studio carve out a niche in the music industry. That niche is worth far more than 30 million."

Song Ze stared at the signature section on the last page of the contract. It was empty. Yang Mi hadn't signed it beforehand. He signed first; the initiative was in his hands.

"I'll sign after 'Singer' ends." Song Ze extended his right hand.

Yang Mi reached out and shook hands with him decisively.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you." She released her grip, took a sip of tea, and said, "Now you can go and refuse that thirty million. Remember to be polite; although Hongtao is easy to talk to—"

Song Ze stood up. "I'm leaving now."

"Hey." Yang Mi called out to him, pointing to another teacup on the table, "You haven't drunk your tea."

"I'm not thirsty."

"Okay, let's go."

Back at Xingyao, Song Ze recounted the plan verbatim. Zhang Juan sat in her office chair, gripping the armrests, frozen for five seconds.

Then she suddenly stood up and walked around the office three times.

"Keep my agency contract? Jaywalk Studio provides the money and resources? Independent label? 50/50 split?"

"right."

"Winning the title of 'King of Singers' automatically grants access to an independent studio?"

"right."

Zhang Juan stopped after circling four times and slammed her hands on the table. "Song Ze, what is Yang Mi doing?"

"She calculated it better than either of us."

Zhang Juan rubbed her face vigorously, sat back down, and started clicking away on the calculator.

I pressed it for half a minute, then looked up.

"If the label operates normally, plus the appearance fee from 'Singer' and subsequent commercial premiums—"

She slammed the calculator on the table.

"I'll go and refuse Hongtao right away."

"Wait a minute," Song Ze stopped her. "I'll make this call myself."

He took out his phone and dialed Hongtao's number. Three rings later, the call connected. "Brother Hong, I've thought it through regarding the exclusive agreement."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "Speak."

"A three-year contract is too long for me, I can't sign it. But I will definitely give it my all on the 'Singer' stage."

There was a two-second silence. Hongtao smiled.

"Understood. The first recording session will be on January 10th next year. Detailed rules and the contract will be sent to your email later."

"Okay, my agent will handle the contract."

"Okay. Song Ze—" Hong Tao paused for a moment, "See you on stage."

The phone call ended. Zhang Juan leaned closer.

"What was his reaction?"

"You're too kind."

Is it better to be polite or not?

Song Ze put his phone back in his pocket. "He's a producer, not a child. Just make sure the contract is agreed upon; don't worry about anything else."

Zhang Juan nodded, grabbed her coat, and walked out, but turned back at the door.

"By the way, Dilraba's drama 'Perfect Couple' premiered today, and her team invited you to do a live stream together tomorrow at 3 PM."

"OK."

On the day of its release, "A Perfect Match" simultaneously entered the top five of the hot song charts on three platforms: Tencent Music, NetEase Cloud Music, and Kuma Music.

The number of fan-made videos on short video platforms exceeded 10,000 within two hours.

Dilraba's Weibo post was retweeted over 100,000 times in 40 minutes, with the comments section filled with "sweet and addictive".

The following afternoon at 3 PM, the "Let's Start Playing" live stream room in Shanghai.

When Song Ze arrived, Dilraba was already sitting in front of the camera, wearing a light yellow hoodie and a bun hairstyle, waving at him while touching up her makeup.

"You're here? Have a seat."

Song Ze sat down and waved to the camera. The number of viewers in the live stream jumped from 30,000 to 120,000.

The comments section exploded—"Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!" "A match made in heaven!" "Song Ze, what did you do to our Dilraba?"

Dilraba tilted her head to look at the comments, laughing so hard she almost fell over. "They said you did something to me."

"I just wrote a song."

"Then why don't you sing a short song live?" Dilraba clasped her hands together. "The fans are waiting."

Song Ze crossed his arms. "Okay. But you have to dance first."

The comments section instantly shifted to "Jump, jump, jump" and "Requesting ethnic dance."

Dilraba stood up and pushed her chair back.

"Okay, let me show you what Xinjiang girls are like."

There was no music, no preparation.

She spun around three times in the small space of the live broadcast room, then flipped her wrist and twisted her body into a clean and crisp angle.

The hem of the hoodie swung out in an arc.

The number of viewers in the live stream jumped to 280,000.

Song Ze applauded.

Dilraba's dance is relaxed and flamboyant from the inside out, which is completely different from Bai Lu's overflowing ethereal beauty.

Dilraba sat back down, panting, and fanned herself with her hand.

"Alright, it's your turn."

Song Ze began singing the chorus of "A Perfect Match." It was a cappella, without accompaniment.

The comments section remained silent for a full two seconds.

Then I went crazy—

"Opening one's mouth and kneeling"

"A cappella sounds better than studio recording."

"I will pass this down to my family."

The number of viewers in the live stream exceeded 400,000.

Dilraba waited for him to finish singing the last note before placing both hands on the table.

"That's going too far. The moment you open your mouth, it makes me feel like I'm just a decoration next to you."

"You're just a pretty face." Song Ze said without changing his expression.

"vase?"

"The kind that looks good."

The barrage of comments exploded again.

As the live stream neared its end, Dilraba glanced down at the live chat and then suddenly turned her head to the side.

"Hey, if I had told you I liked you during the live stream, would you have been fired by Sister Mi immediately?"

The live stream was silent for half a second. Song Ze paused for a moment, his hand holding the water glass still.

He put down his cup and looked at the camera.

"I don't know if I'll get fired. But I'm sure your fans will come through the internet and cut off my cell phone signal first."

Dilraba laughed so hard she curled up into a ball, her forehead almost touching the table.

The comments started to get out of control—

Song Ze's survival instinct is off the charts.

"Cut off the signal along the network cable, hahaha."

After the live stream ended, Dilraba turned off the camera and leaned back in her chair for a while to recover.

"Your answer just now is enough to trend on three different social media platforms."

Song Ze stood up and packed his things. His phone vibrated. It was a WeChat message from Yang Mi—

"I watched the live stream. Dilraba may be a bit loose-lipped, but I'd give you nine points for your answer."

Song Ze replied with a question mark. Yang Mi replied instantly: "I deducted one point so you wouldn't get arrogant."

Song Ze locked his phone. Dilraba was still scrolling through her phone when she suddenly looked up. "Song Ze, did Honey watch the live stream?"

"I've seen it."

"What did she say?"

"I'd rate myself a 9 out of 10."

Dilraba blinked. "What about me?"

Song Ze walked to the door and turned back. "She didn't mention it." Dilraba's phone case slammed against the closed door with a dull thud.

Outside the door, my phone vibrated again in my palm.

Bai Lu sent me a photo—on the set of "Chaoge," she was wearing Deng Chanyu's full suit of armor, kneeling on one knee, holding a red-tasseled spear in her backhand.

There was no trace of the timidity he had shown when he joined the crew in his eyes.

The caption reads: "Deng Chanyu reports for duty. Please inspect her, senior brother."

Song Ze zoomed in on the photo and looked at it for a long time.

He typed two words and sent them: "Promising."

Scrolling up the chat history, I saw that Bai Lu had recently posted videos of her practicing late at night and screenshots of her worn-out scripts.

He took a screenshot and sent it to Zhang Juan: "Prepare an S-level script library for this future Best Actress, preferably one about a female general."