Chapter 51: Holy shit!

At noon, they gathered for a drink.

Quite a few friends from their circle were hastily called over.

After leaving the Black Panther Band, Dou Wei had transitioned to Magic Stone Records and already re-established his own band. Moreover, he had only fallen out with the original members of Black Panther; his relationship with his old label was not bad at all. Within Beijing's music circle, his personal network, reputation, and influence were by no means weaker than they had been during his Black Panther days.

He could still be considered a counterpart to Cui Jian in the domestic rock scene, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

As for Lin Jianlu, needless to say, his circle of connections was even wider than Dou Wei's.

However, since this was considered a small post-parting gathering, everyone consciously kept the headcount small.

Dou Wei mainly brought a few members of his band, along with a girl named Gao Yuan. She was reportedly a photographer who had shot multiple album covers for Dou Wei. Standing well over one meter seventy, she was a rather striking and dashing young woman. Lin Jianlu, on the other hand, called a few of his old friends. While Liu Huan was not at home, Cui Jian, Zheng Jun, Wang Feng, Zhang Yadong, Xiao Ke, and Xu Wei were all available.

Drinking together and shooting the breeze was an immensely joyful experience.

Especially since none of these people were tied to career prospects—ah, the logic was just like that: no matter how passionate you were about something, the moment it turned into a career for making money, it was ruined! No matter how good a friend someone was, the moment they became entangled with your future and career, it was also over; you could no longer maintain a truly ordinary and relaxed mindset!

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, Lin Jianlu had dazzled with witty remarks and spoken off the cuff. To say he wasn't happy at all would certainly be an exaggeration, but every word he uttered there was actually the result of careful deliberation, carrying pressure and complex considerations. Now, however, it was completely different. He could ramble on and nonsense without fear of offending anyone, making it supremely relaxing.

Yet, not long after the drinking session commenced, Lin Jianlu realized something was amiss.

Taking advantage of a trip to the restroom, he caught Lao Xue's eye and signaled him to step outside as well. With a puzzled expression, he asked, "What is he up to? Is he being that open about it?"

Old Dou and that Gao Yuan were unusually intimate, to say the least!

Consequently, Lao Xue replied, "You didn't know? The two of them have been together for over two years. They got together before he joined Magic Stone, even earlier than Wang Fei. Word is that Wang Fei knows too. Whenever Old Dou stayed alone in Beijing, she frequently stayed at his place."

Holy shit!

Lin Jianlu was somewhat dumbfounded upon hearing this—in his past life, he only knew that Dou Wei and Wang Fei seemed to have divorced just a few years after getting married, while everything afterwards was a blur, except that Wang Fei seemed to have remarried twice—or perhaps once, and she had certainly dated Nicholas Tse. As for whether Dou Wei remarried later on, he had no idea.

This was way too hardcore!

Despite Lin Jianlu's own chaotic reputation over in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where he had been romantically linked with no fewer than six or seven girls, heaven be his witness—lustful as he might be, he had always exercised strict self-discipline. Up to this point, he genuinely did not have a single girlfriend. He had kissed Rene Liu and Winnie Hsin, but one was for a music video shoot, and the other was in retaliation when Winnie Hsin had teased him. Aside from kissing Vivian Chow, they also frequently held hands, but that was strictly required for show business. After all, the two of them were generating hype through a rumored romance; he was helping Bowie Tsang and promoting Vivian Chow, while Vivian Chow had repeatedly shown interest, which Lin Jianlu had actually never reciprocated. Apart from that, he had shared a cup of cross--hed wine and kissed Brigitte Lin just for show, but that clearly couldn't be taken seriously. Then there was Sarah Chen, whom he had also kissed once in a moment of passionate impulse.

That was it, nothing more. He was wildly popular with countless gossip rumors trailing him, yet he had actually remained exceedingly clean, devoid of any messy scandals. Most of it was just all talk!

He truly kept his wits about him; going down there was strictly to make money, not to date!

His true love was Yuan Bing, Fei, Tian...

As a result, he hadn't even expected his own family of five to be reunited anytime soon, yet Old Dou had already been playing the polyamorous game for ages, and rather openly at that. His original intention was just to catch up, but upon unexpectedly stumbling into such a situation, Lin Jianlu suddenly felt rather awkward.

Both sides were friends, and he was on good terms with Wang Fei as well—in fact, to a certain extent, even better than his relationship with Old Dou. If he hadn't known before, that would be one thing, but now that he did know, was he supposed to pretend ignorance? Never mention it at all?

In the end, Lao Xue saw right through his thoughts and said, "Everyone knows, and she knows too. Just don't bring it up."

Fine then...

Come to think of it, Lao Wang herself had originally played the role of the third wheel knowingly. Old Dou had a formal girlfriend back then, his first love, and what's more, Lao Wang's boyfriend at the time was Old Dou's sworn brother...

Ugh, looking at it now, it might not even be accurate to call her the third wheel; she might have to be counted as the fourth, assuming Gao Yuan was already caught up in this complex web of relationships back then!

Screw it! Let's just pretend not to know!

…………

"Oh, a BMW! Hey..."

The next morning, Lin Jianlu drove his new car to find the crew of *Spicy Love Soup*.

Half a month prior, Zhang Yang had been nagging incessantly. Filming had been underway for about a month, yet Lin Jianlu hadn't even shown his face, leaving him to watch various gossip magazines and tabloids broadcast news of Lin Jianlu's romantic rumors in Hong Kong and Taiwan day after day, which had driven Zhang Yang out of his mind with anxiety.

Now that the man had finally appeared, Zhang Yang let out a sigh of relief, tossed his phone aside, called a break for the crew, and eagerly sprinted over himself to pick him up. "Where are the keys? Let me take a spin!"

Lin Jianlu tossed the keys to him, but instead of jumping right into the car, Zhang Yang walked around it admiringly. "Hey! This car is so brand new, it could sell for four hundred thousand! At least! Oh, and it's the high-end trim—four hundred thousand is too low, fifty thousand minimum!"

"Get lost!"

"I'm out of money, Lu, sigh... In another week at most, this crew is going to shut down!"

Lin Jianlu looked at him without speaking, offering a cold smile.

Zhang Yang chuckled as he sidled closer, looking somewhat sheepish. "Let's put that aside for a second. Did you mention the matter I called you about last night to your boss?"

"I mentioned it. The boss agreed."

*Spicy Love Soup* was an urban romance film, which almost predestined it to target the young demographic market. Consequently, Zhang Yang had always wanted to style it with a more trendy vibe. Who knew how he suddenly came up with the idea late last night, calling Lin Jianlu in the middle of the night to request the heavy use of popular songs as soundtrack inserts?

Since he knew Lin Jianlu and they had a good rapport, he naturally wanted to take advantage of his proximity to secure song licensing from Rock Records—he wasn't willing to pay much, and free usage would be best!

Not only did he want the songs for free, but he also demanded that a few pop stars be dispatched to make cameo appearances, specifically naming Jonathan Lee, Wakin Chau, Emil Chau, Sarah Chen, and Winnie Hsin. It would be ideal if all of them could show up, even for just a single shot—this was helping them promote their work in the mainland after all, so how could he possibly have the nerve to charge a talent fee?

Surprisingly, when Lin Jianlu made a call to Lao Duan, Lao Duan actually agreed straight away.

Word had it that a few years ago, during UFO Records' prime, they had teamed up with famous Taiwan producer Chu Yanping to launch a youth film titled *Seven Wolves*... Huh, what a name...

Regardless of a film's box office performance, the crucial point was that the movie heavily featured musical works from UFO Records. Among them, the track "Never Look Back," co-performed by Wang Jie, Dave Wang, Chang Yu-sheng, and Yao Ke-lei, became an overnight sensation following the film's release. Chang Yu-sheng could even be said to have launched his career from this springboard, subsequently rising to superstardom. In 1992, through his album *The Ocean*, he reached his personal peak, reportedly selling over 3 million copies worldwide, with some claiming 6 million...

Back in those years, if Rock Records hadn't timely propelled Sandy Lam to stardom and seen Wakin Chau explode in popularity, they might well have been completely crushed by UFO Records.

In short, that had been an extremely successful and classic commercial case combining cinema, pop music, and commercial idols. It seemed Lao Duan wanted to replicate that formula—whatever!

"I'll rest for a couple more days before joining the crew. You handle the arrangements; either way, I have to head back down south in half a month!"

"Got it! I'll have your scenes wrapped in a week! ... Grab a drink tonight?"

"If you don't hit me up for money, we drink!"

"Don't be like that, Lu. Do a brother a solid. I'm not making idle promises; the moment my movie hits theaters, the box office will start at ten million, and I guarantee you'll make money! If I dare to shaft you, I'm a goddamn son of a bitch!"

"No way!"