Chapter 44: Torrent Part 1

Cui Lin becoming more polite was not Li Tingzhou’s imagination.

Ever since he had asked his uncle for help regarding the matter of Feng Mo parachuting into Night Heart Seven to try and snatch Mengmeng’s well-earned victory, not only had he been thoroughly teased by his uncle, but his disastrously poor pursuit tactics had also been mercilessly mocked.

One’s own uncle really didn’t pull his punches, criticizing his nephew as if he were nearly worthless.

“Your handsome face and tall stature were inherited from your parents. Your privileged family background was accumulated through three or four generations of hard work. What do you have yourself that you can list off four, five, six points about?”

At this, Cui Lin could still maintain his composure and rebut with reason and evidence:

“Everything I learned since childhood, I practiced solidly and diligently. I never took shortcuts. I have never used a stunt double or voice actor for my roles; every single shot was personally filmed by me. I admit, even if I didn’t want to rely on my parents, I still benefited from their influence. But for resources I can get through my connections and my own ability, why should I pretend to be noble and avoid suspicion by giving them to someone else?”

He had also been about to say that he should be getting his first Grand Slam in August.

But a trophy not yet won ultimately didn’t count, so he had to regretfully let it go.

“By that same logic, using the energy and resources around me to pursue someone I like—what’s wrong with that?”

Duan Xinze nodded calmly. “Absolutely no problem.”

He very much appreciated and agreed with Cui Lin’s confidence. Having family conditions and connections but refusing to use them, insisting on experiencing the real ecosystem of the entertainment industry, deliberately enduring hardship when there was none—that just meant the kid’s brain was beyond saving.

The same principle applied to pursuing someone.

The problem was, Cui Lin was completely going about it the wrong way.

“Because of your request, I’ve paid a little bit of attention to that young man.”

Cui Lin instantly pricked up his ears, his gaze vigilant. “Uncle, besides paying attention to him, don’t do anything else. And definitely don’t listen to my mom’s nonsense!”

Duan Xinze laughed again. “Before you pursued him, did you clearly know what kind of person he is? Have you investigated the type of person he dated in the past? In other words, you haven’t even figured out whether he likes cherries or mangosteens, yet you’re forcefully shoving a big, thorny cucumber at him. Is that right?”

Questioning his hard work, his achievements—Cui Lin endured it.

But questioning his understanding of Li Tingzhou? Cui Lin instantly flared up!

“He dated girls in the past, yes, but if he hasn’t tried a guy, how does he know he wouldn’t like it? Besides, plenty of research shows that a person’s sexual orientation isn’t fixed; it’s determined by many factors. I’ve carefully analyzed his dating history. Although he started early, none of the relationships lasted long. Sticking to one type aesthetically only shows that he’s not very demanding regarding appearance and personality. It’s more likely laziness—because of habit, he always goes for the same type of person…”

That day, Duan Xinze wasted an entire afternoon listening to his nephew analyze Mengmeng’s orientation.

It wasn’t until Cui Lin recounted his few interactions with Mengmeng that Duan Xinze finally extracted the key information from a pile of nonsense and identified the problem.

“You’re the pursuer. You should be appropriately humble, showing tolerance, consideration, enthusiasm, gentleness, and other positive traits—not act like a self-centered young master in front of the person you like.”

Who exactly was chasing whom?

Expecting the other person to accommodate you? That was completely turning things upside down!

“Look at the things you’ve said and done. Has any of it pleased anyone?”

The fact that Mengmeng hadn’t blocked you was purely because this kid had good upbringing and knew how to maintain decorum.

Cui Lin was stumped. At that point, he truly fell into belated, dawning regret.

“First, hide your overly aggressive affection. Start by becoming friends with him.”

Beyond that, Duan Xinze couldn’t offer any better advice. He even imagined the worst possible outcome for his nephew: “Liking someone doesn’t necessarily mean you have to possess them. Just being close can also feel like happiness.”

Cui Lin looked at him in disbelief. “Uncle, how can you be like this?”

“As you said, everyone around him likes him very much. If he’s that good to his friends, good to the point of holding nothing back, then before you can become a lover, you have to surpass all those good friends of his.”

Cui Lin gasped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “But he has so many friends.”

Duan Xinze sighed. “Friends also have different functions. You need to have your own uniqueness, something that makes you irreplaceable…”

For a period afterward, Cui Lin was deep in reflection.

What kind of friend possessed a uniquely distinct function, so unique as to be completely irreplaceable? He wanted to become such a person by Mengmeng’s side. Even if there was no spot, he would forcibly carve one out.

But before Cui Lin could arrive at a concrete conclusion, Eldan parachuted in.

This mixed-race Russian, with his deep-set features and a level of care for his public image exceeding even most public figures, had come before the Heartbreaker and Mengmeng fans with an aggressive, unquestionable stance. He became the second person after Mengmeng to slap the [Heartbreak Producer] label onto his social media profile biography and opened a series of official verifications.

Very quickly, Cui Lin, along with the fans, learned of his résumé.

Eldan had even met Mengmeng before Mao Maoyu. They shared a friendship spanning a full seven years, and their collaboration had begun long before Mengmeng even joined Heartbreak.

Chi Yue found it increasingly amusing: “Doesn’t this perfectly match what President Duan was talking about?”

What was an irreplaceable friend?

A friendship that was both healthy and deeply long-standing, combined with inseparable interests and ties—this kind of friend, for the 25-year-old Mengmeng, was the standard, textbook definition of “impossible to replace.”

Barring any unforeseen events, they would be lifelong good friends.

Thinking this far, Chi Yue looked at Cui Lin with a grin of schadenfreude. “Do you have any ideas now?”

Cui Lin flipped through his schedule and had his assistant, Little Wang, book him a flight and hotel to G City. He wandered around his large flat for a long time, then chose mealtime to call Mengmeng.

Because he was far away, Chi Yue couldn’t quite tell if he succeeded.

When Cui Lin wandered back over, the expression on his face was even very calm.

Little Wang hesitantly asked, “Boss, are we still booking the flight?”

Only then did Cui Lin answer, with restrained pride, “Book it. And also, I want to order a bouquet of flowers, to be delivered on the afternoon of the 5th. Wait…” He quickly flipped through the photos saved in his album, selected them in a batch, and sent them to Little Wang. “Avoid the main flowers that appear in these photos. Nothing with overly romantic symbolism. Nothing too blunt or too ordinary in meaning either. Preferably in blue and purple tones.”

He had seen Mengmeng post a photo of the island sunset on Weibo.

Cui Lin analyzed it carefully and felt that Mengmeng’s photographic focus was absolutely not the sunset clouds or the coastline. Those were too shallow. It had to be a more encompassing, calmer imagery. Hmm, like the sky!

What color was this sky?

Something between blue and purple.

Barring surprises, this should represent Mengmeng’s recent mood.

~

Eldan’s graduation postponement controversy stirred up a small tremor in the Music Circle.

At first glance, one might think postponing graduation was a capital crime. However, when fan groups led by the Heartbreakers tallied up the academic backgrounds within the music circle, those who had been laughing gleefully stopped smiling: Out of ten music guys, four hadn’t finished high school, three dropped out of university, and three others had such bizarre previous careers that their educational backgrounds were impossible to determine.

Looked at this way, Eldan’s postponed graduation was actually incredibly prestigious.

It was like a saying actor fans loved: “XX is professionally trained!”

Academic qualifications for celebrities were like being 180cm for a man’s height. As long as you had it, it would definitely be pointed out on N occasions, in N ways, either deliberately or inadvertently, N times.

Eldan didn’t mention it because he was doing as the locals do, learning from Li Tingzhou.

And Li Tingzhou didn’t bring it up proactively because he didn’t want to be seen as showing off. It wasn’t like he was a PhD in engineering or medicine; what was so great about it? Even more, he didn’t want people nagging him: “Hey, you went through all that effort to get a doctorate, just to get this kind of job? The entertainment industry is so unstable, living meal to meal. With your qualifications, you could totally get a university faculty position. Just maneuver things this way and that, and after the time limit, you could go take exams for titles like such-and-such level, and then…”

“So that’s how it is. Can I take those exams too?” Eldan voiced his question.

Li Tingzhou knew him well. “You’re just curious. You wouldn’t truly like it.”

Comrade Li Fushun thus dropped the idea.

After a brief lunch break, everyone resumed their busy work. Once “Torrent” was confirmed, it was followed by continuous meetings to hash out the details. In the afternoon, a Deputy Music Director from Diamond came by. He was both Ren Shiyu’s talent scout and mentor—basically the man who raised First Sister like his own daughter since she started.

Yet, this same handsome old man immediately clashed with Li Tingzhou the moment he opened his mouth!

The accompanying camera crew was ecstatic: Was First Sister and Mengmeng finally going to argue?

But they were quickly disappointed.

The one arguing was Vice President Pang and Mengmeng.

They didn’t quarrel with red faces. Both men were very gentlemanly, strictly adhering to the principle of “disagreeing on the issue, not the person.” Once a matter was discussed, it was immediately put aside, and they quickly recovered their composure to calmly discuss the next matter.

Old Pang possessed an extremely profound literary and aesthetic sensibility. He was also part of the overseas-study generation. He could play bass, his saxophone was top-notch, and rumor had it he could also play the erhu a bit. In Diamond’s early days, Old Pang practically built their music library single-handedly, earning so much in royalties his hands went numb. He’d achieved financial freedom way back in the 1990s. Therefore, when he looked at Mengmeng, he felt an intense sense of déjà vu—

This kid is just like me!

Because of this resemblance, Old Pang frequently launched probing strikes to test Mengmeng’s depth.

Mengmeng didn’t tolerate it in the slightest.

With such a strong, powerful backer at Hundred Blossoms, why should he tolerate anything?

Even ten more Old Pangs, he could still push back hard. “Why can’t it be changed like this? With a grandiose name like ‘Torrent,’ if we only use simple string arrangements, the song’s strengths won’t be showcased at all.”

Li Tingzhou wasn’t afraid of heavy workloads. As long as the time was planned well, larger volumes could always be finished.

What he feared was having someone discourage him before the work even started.

The moment Ren Shiyu encountered Old Pang, she reflexively fell back into dependency, retreating with a clear conscience. Li Tingzhou felt a dispirited sense of: “More than a month of coaxing, gone to waste.” Seriously, sis? You were not saying this last night!

You said you wanted to sing “Torrent,” so I’m arranging a proper symphony orchestra for you.

How come the moment your mentor shows up, you take it all back?

In that instant, he really wanted to ask First Sister: Sis, did you get a new script without telling me? Just tell me if you did. I’m a really good actor now.

Li Tingzhou took a deep breath. “I’m going out for a smoke.”

Mao Maoyu watched for a moment, then followed him out.

“What now?”

Was it really okay to just leave a mixed-race guy spouting misused idioms in there to deal with it?

Li Tingzhou said nothing, just silently smoked. After half the cigarette had burned down, he finally spoke: “Next time, don’t buy such strong ones, okay?”