I became a music industry godfather by writing confidantes.

Chapter 040 Returning a Kindness

Just as I hung up the phone with the director of "Life After Life: Falling Flowers," the door to the mixing room was pushed open from the outside.

Yang Du stopped what he was doing, turned around, and was somewhat surprised.

The people who came in were none other than Tao Cheng and her agent, Sister Hong.

"Senior? Sister Hong?"

Yang Du asked in surprise, "What a rare guest! Senior, you actually have time to come see me now?"

Yang Du couldn't help but be surprised.

Since "Flammable and Explosive" became a viral hit online and successfully topped the charts for two weeks, Tao Cheng, who was already in the midst of promoting the song, has become even busier.

After filming the music video non-stop, he flew all over the country to attend various events, keeping himself extremely busy.

At 10 o'clock later, "Flammable and Explosive" will still be able to take the championship for the third week.

"Don't even mention it..."

Tao Cheng, completely abandoning any semblance of a female celebrity, sprawled on the soft sofa and let out a long sigh: "Isn't it because I was thinking of you, my great benefactor? So I squeezed out some time to come see you. Otherwise, I'd probably be catching up on sleep in the van right now, I'm so tired."

Upon hearing this, Sister Hong, who followed her in, couldn't help but laugh and tease, "Don't try to act innocent after getting the better deal from Yang Du."

Hongjie turned to look at Yang Du, her face beaming with undisguised smugness: "Yang Du, you may not know, but in the past two weeks, our Orange has signed countless high-profile business contracts."

"The most impressive thing is that she secured the Asia-Pacific spokesperson position for the top international cosmetics brand, Berliman. Your senior's current commercial asking price is more than double what it was before the release of the song 'Flammable and Explosive,' and there are no buyers available. Brands are lining up to book her."

After hearing this, Yang Du smiled and gave her two thumbs-up gestures, just like Hu Yifei: "Congratulations, senior! May your career reach new heights."

"So, we're here today specifically to express our gratitude." As she spoke, Sister Hong took out a beautifully wrapped gift box and handed it to Yang Du. "It's just a small gift, a token of our appreciation."

Tao Cheng, sprawled on the sofa, urged, "Junior, hurry up and open it to see if you like it. This was specially brought back from abroad by Sister Hong, and it cost more than 40,000 yuan."

Yang Du didn't stand on ceremony. After thanking him, he accepted the gift box and opened the packaging.

Inside the box lay a pair of high-tech, well-made monitoring headphones.

Most importantly, it's a custom-made model.

This thing is not only expensive, but it is also an essential tool for a music producer.

"This is too much trouble. I really like the gift, and it will come in handy. Thank you so much, senior and Sister Hong."

Yang Du smiled as he carefully put the earphones away and placed them on the worktable.

"I'm glad you like it." Sister Hong glanced at the densely packed audio tracks on the computer screen and casually asked, "Is the post-production of 'Painting Heart' almost finished?"

"Yes, we're making final adjustments. It'll be almost done, and we should be able to finish this week."

"That's good. Now that your own Qiuniu Studio is officially established, I wonder when our producer Yang will start planning for her fourth child?"

Yang Du currently has three works: "Flammable and Explosive", "Song and Smile" and "Painting Heart", which is practically his fourth project.

Sister Hong added with a smile, "You're in high demand right now. Countless singers and agents within Jinshi are watching your every move."

Yang Du stroked his chin and said, "To be honest, Sister Hong, there really is a plan for a fourth child, and it's based on a song called 'Red Rose'."

"Oh?" Sister Hong's eyes lit up.

"But this song is more suitable for male singers; it requires a lower vocal range." A figure suddenly flashed through Yang Du's mind. "By the way, Sister Hong, I remember Lin Xu is one of your singers, right?"

Sister Hong paused for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, she's a newbie I'm mentoring."

"If he's free recently, let him come to the studio for a recording audition. If his voice is fine, then we'll let him sing this song."

Upon hearing this, both Sister Hong and Tao Cheng were taken aback.

I originally came to express my gratitude, but I didn't expect to receive a single as a gift.

Yang Du is now a completely different person. "Flammable and Explosive" is about to win three weeks at number one, and "Painting Heart" even caused a stir among young pop star Xu Xiao, who fought for control of the recording studio. Although it caused quite a stir, it also shows the high quality of the song. Not to mention, "Singing and Smiling" is still generating buzz online.

Although the two haven't seen the sheet music for "Red Rose" yet, given their previous achievements, it's unlikely they'll do too badly.

Hearing Yang Du's words, Sister Hong was overjoyed.

"Yang Du, I really don't know how to thank you enough," Sister Hong said with emotion. "Lin Xu has been under my management for almost half a year now. He has good looks, and who wouldn't be mesmerized by those puppy-dog eyes? His voice is also very distinctive, but we just haven't found the right songs for him yet."

"His voice is really not suited to the kind of saccharine pop songs that are popular these days. I also don't want him to debut with just any bad song and waste his potential, so I've been holding back."

"The company did recommend two songs before, but I felt they were lacking, so I turned them down. Now this kid is still eagerly waiting."

Sister Hong became increasingly happy as she spoke: "Now that I have your new song as a safety net, it has finally solved my urgent problem. On behalf of Lin Xu, I would like to thank you, the producer, in advance."

"Sister Hong, you're too kind. Lin Xu was the one who showed me the way back then. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to find Teacher Wang, and I wouldn't have been able to work with the production company, haha."

Asking Lin Xu to audition, the favor of showing him the way was just a joke.

In this industry, you can't go far by going it alone.

When Yang Du's career was still in its infancy and he needed a stepping stone, it was Tao Cheng and Sister Hong who gave him tremendous trust and support.

Without their efforts to overcome pressure and opposition, even a junior college student like him wouldn't have been able to secure the position of producer for "Flammable and Explosive" despite producing a competent arrangement.

Not to mention, Sister Hong also introduced Yang Du to Yuan Xiuqing, a great general.

These are all genuine favors.

Relationships need to be maintained and managed. Giving the opportunity to release new songs to singers under Sister Hong's management is not only a way of reciprocating kindness, but also for the sake of a longer-term cooperation between the two parties.

For example, right now.

After the two listened to the demo of "Red Rose", Yang Du thought for a moment and said, "By the way, Sister Hong, there's something I need your help with."

Sister Hong's smile faded, and she said seriously, "Tell me, as long as it's something I can help with, I definitely won't hesitate."

"I need to renegotiate the revenue sharing with the company regarding 'Red Rose'."

"Renegotiate?" Sister Hong was somewhat surprised. "As far as I know, you're already getting 3% producer points plus 10% of the lyrics and music royalties, which is top-tier treatment in the industry. How do you plan to negotiate?"

"It's not a matter of the percentage of points," Yang Du explained. "In the past, my 10% share was first taken by platforms like Tencent and NetEase Cloud Music, who would then take 30% as channel fees, and the remaining amount would be settled from there."

He paused, then said firmly, "But this time, I want to try a different settlement method."

Hongjie: "Your map is way too short!"