CHAPTER 104: CHAPTER 100: MY NAME IS CHU TIAN

"Chu Tian, please, can you help me out?"

Looking at the girl crouching before him... no, that wasn’t quite right. She was more of a young woman.

Well, Chu Tian was indeed soft-hearted. Since he’d agreed to help, he might as well do his best—see it through to the very end, as the saying goes.

As for whether he could do it? That was a ridiculous question. He might not be able to guarantee other things, but when it came to singing, he was quite confident.

After all, in his past life, a King wasn’t judged by experience or popularity, but by audience approval.

He had been rated by netizens as the one closest to becoming a King for five consecutive years and was crowned a King in the entertainment industry after its major reorganization. Could he have achieved that without real ability?

His transformation from a popular "pretty boy" idol to a genuinely talented artist wasn’t just empty talk; it was built on solid, step-by-step effort.

Not to mention, in his past life, just to improve himself, he had delved into three major areas: the systematic academic curriculum of music conservatories, the training methods and vocal techniques of Peking Opera, and the SLS (Speech Level Singing) technique from Berkeley.

He had spent six years in total. Outside of work, his life revolved around studying or heading off to study.

Otherwise, why do you think he was over forty and still single, only to die suddenly the moment he considered taking a break from work?

That poor guy had purely worked himself to death!

Now, while he wouldn’t claim to have perfectly mastered everything, he had at least integrated a significant portion, combining the strengths of all three approaches. Guiding a Singer should be a piece of cake, right?

He hesitated, not because he doubted his ability, but because he knew all too well how exhausting guiding a Singer could be.

That kind of work, at best, led to stress-induced mouth ulcers; at worst, high blood pressure and depression. Most importantly, it was truly, profoundly mentally draining.

Yet, looking at the person in front of him—the one he was currently most familiar with—he still couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

"Alright. But let me make it clear: when the time comes, you must follow my instructions. You can ask questions, but you can’t be stubborn or think you know better."

"Don’t worry! Just like when we recorded the song before, tell me what to do. I can take it!"

What does she mean, she ’can take it’? As if I’m intentionally trying to torture her.

Chu Tian pursed his lips but still laid it out bluntly.

"It’s probably not as simple as you think. An album is different from a single. I’ll be even stricter than before."

Xu Qingqiu looked into Chu Tian’s eyes and realized he wasn’t just trying to scare her. But she wasn’t one to back down either. Faced with difficulties, Xu Qingqiu had always confronted them head-on, growing stronger with every setback.

"No problem! I’ll put my heart and soul into it and sing every song perfectly!"

"Good. With your word, there won’t be any issues. Anything else?"

Chu Tian casually handed her the water glass as he was about to stand up and leave.

"Nothing else. Um, would you like some more water?"

Hmm?

Chu Tian looked at Xu Qingqiu’s eager expression and almost burst out laughing.

Alright then. Since I’m going to be putting in the effort, what’s a little tea and water service? I might as well enjoy being waited on by the boss.

He decided not to leave, settling firmly on the sofa and nodding with a knowing look.

"Yes, go pour another glass. I am actually quite thirsty."

"Okay, just a moment!"

Watching Xu Qingqiu hurry out, the smile on Chu Tian’s face slowly faded.

Sigh, just my rotten luck. More work. Why am I still so busy even after transmigrating?

He began to mentally plan his upcoming schedule.

Recording the album would likely take anywhere from half a month to three months at most, depending heavily on Xu Qingqiu’s performance.

Hou Yichuan had called to say the company registration procedures were complete and would be finalized in a few days. His royalty payment had already been transferred, but it would take a couple of days to be deposited into his bank account along with the manuscript fee.

He also needed to find time to transfer money to Hou Yichuan as soon as possible to get the business off the ground; at the very least, the company’s operational team needed to be assembled.

Also, this month’s revenue share from the music platform was due soon. He had to tell Hou Yichuan to arrange for Xu Qingqiu to transfer the earnings belonging to "Youmeng" through the company’s corporate account.

He couldn’t keep leaving it with Xu Qingqiu indefinitely; it was his money, after all. If he wasn’t careful, it might end up in someone else’s hands, and that would be unacceptable.

Then there was the novel website. Editor Qiu Ye had called not only about the royalty payment but also to discuss his next work.

His first novel was too short, just over nine hundred thousand characters, considered a novella in the web novel world. If it weren’t so classic, it might even have been mistaken for an abandoned project.

According to Qiu Ye, it would be best to expand it to earn more. If that wasn’t feasible, writing a sequel as a second installment would also work.

Expansion was out of the question, but he did have a sequel. He had used ten million Reputation Points—exchanged during the recent popularity surge of his last two songs—to acquire it, planning to release it after the first novel’s serialization ended.

Thinking it over, it seemed like there weren’t that many tasks, but none of them were trivial.

The company, in particular, would be busiest in its initial phase. Although Hou Yichuan was there to help, the company was ultimately his.

He would have to personally make decisions on everything, from selecting employees to planning the company’s development.

At the very least, he had to keep a tight grip on finance and human resources, right? Otherwise, the substantial sum he had invested could end up as someone else’s asset one day. That would be ridiculous.

"Your water is here!"

While he was lost in thought, Xu Qingqiu brought him a glass of water. She then sat beside him, tilting her head as she watched him drink.

Chu Tian didn’t think much of it at first as he took the glass. It took him a long while to drink even half of it, prompting him to comment, "Your glass is huge. Do you usually drink this much water?"

Xu Qingqiu was taken aback. A blush spread across her face as she nodded shyly. "Um, yes, I just... drink a bit more."

Chu Tian had no idea that she had deliberately chosen a larger glass because the one he’d used before had seemed too small to her.

Neither of them found anything inappropriate in sharing a glass; it was as if they had grown accustomed to it.

"By the way, when do you plan to start recording? And where?"

"Is tomorrow okay? I found a recording studio in Qili Camp. The equipment there is top-notch. I’ve already rented it, and it’s not too far from here."

"Sounds good."

The two slowly discussed work-related matters, and time trickled by, slow yet steady.

Early the next morning, Xu Qingqiu, having dressed up specially, eagerly drove to Chu Tian’s house with Yiyi. They picked him up and headed directly to the recording studio.

When they arrived at the recording studio, many people had already gathered. She pulled Chu Tian to sit at the side for a bit, drawing many curious glances.

Chu Tian, however, was unconcerned. He focused on looking through the song materials Xu Qingqiu had handed him.

He was familiar with the original content; in his previous life, he had heard and sung many of these songs, and had even personally arranged some. This time, he was mainly reviewing the recent revisions to ensure he was clear on them.

Once everyone had arrived, Xu Qingqiu came out from an inner room and clapped her hands. When all eyes were on her, she happily pointed to Chu Tian and introduced him, "Hello, esteemed teachers! Let me introduce you. This is Chu Tian, my friend, and also the teacher who previously guided my singing. He’s specially here today to help me."

As her words fell, the recording studio instantly became so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

Instead, Chu Tian put down the materials he was holding, stood up, and with a calm and composed smile, bowed to everyone.

"Hello, esteemed teachers. My name is Chu Tian. I’m very happy to be working with all of you."