Chapter 14: Hidden Pride

Following Chen Jianhao, Lu Chen came to the reserved seats area on the upper floor of the bar.

The Forget-Me-Not Bar was renovated from an old warehouse. Since the floor height is more than six meters and nearly seven meters, it was renovated into two floors, with the middle space left empty for the stage. The layout is very clever, making full use of the entire space.

Like most bars in Houhai, the Forget-Me-Not Bar has a reserved seat area. There are three tables in it. No matter how good the business is, they will be empty waiting for VIPs who may not show up.

Because running a bar is a business, personal connections are very important. Chen Jianhao already has a wide range of friends. If a good friend or a person who cannot be offended suddenly comes to the door, it is undoubtedly very embarrassing if the bar is full at this time and there is no place to sit.

That's why the reserved seats area exists.

People who come to Lu Chen to buy songs can sit in the reserved seats, so they are definitely not ordinary characters.

Perhaps because he could see that he was a little nervous, Chen Jianhao whispered as he went up the stairs: "Don't worry, it's up to you whether to sell or not. With me here, no one will deliberately make things difficult for you."

Lu Chen breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, boss."

Chen Jianhao is really a very good boss, although he is usually a bit strict with people.

Two of the three tables in the reserved seating area are empty. A man and a woman are sitting at the table near the iron fence. The man is about 30 years old, wearing a well-tailored suit and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, and his hair is neatly combed. You can tell at a glance that he is a workplace elite.

The woman is much younger, with a petite figure and a good appearance. She is dressed quite casually. She is holding a wine glass in her hand and is looking around curiously, as if she is very fresh about everything in the bar.

"Manager Song, I've brought someone here."

Chen Jianhao walked over with Lu Chen and said with a smile, "This is Lu Chen, Xiao Lu!"

The man in the suit waited until Chen Jianhao came to him before he stood up. A faint smile appeared on his face, and he nodded at Lu Chen reservedly.

The woman next to him hurriedly stood up, but forgot to put down her wine glass, and the wine spilled a little.

Chen Jianhao introduced, "Xiao Lu, this is Mr. Song Xinwei, the deputy general manager and manager of the brokerage department of Qingyu Media, and this is Ms. Dong Xuan, the assistant to the general manager."

Qingyu Media? Is it that Su Qingmei, who has a bad temper and is very arrogant, who still won't give up?

Lu Chen thought to himself, and at the same time, he extended his hand to the man in the suit in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Hello, Manager Song."

Song Xinwei extended his hand and shook his hand: "Hello."

Lu Chen extended his hand to Miss Dong Xuan again: "Hello, Miss Dong."

Dong Xuan hurriedly shook his hand and said with a little stutter: "Okay, hello, Lu Chen."

Lu Chen smiled.

This assistant to the general manager is too young, a newcomer to the workplace.

Of course, he didn't need to care whether the other party was qualified for the position of assistant to the general manager. After the polite talk, everyone sat down at the wine table.

Song Xinwei said straight to the point: "Xiao Lu, the thing is this, we came here tonight at the request of Director Su Qingmei Su, and want to buy the copyright of a song from you."

As he said, he nodded to Dong Xuan, who immediately took out a few pieces of paper from the briefcase she carried with her.

Song Xinwei continued, "Our company's legal department has confirmed that the copyright of this song called 'My Deskmate' belongs to you completely, so we are willing to buy all its copyrights at a high price. Please take a look at this contract."

Lu Chen took the contract calmly.

It is very simple for Qingyu Media to confirm the copyright of the song. Just search through the "Greater China Music Library" to find out. Whether it is the song name, lyrics or music score, you can search for it.

This is the authority and convenience of the "Greater China Music Library". Although the registration fee is very high, it avoids possible copyright disputes in law and saves a lot of trouble.

And as long as Lu Chen is willing, he can also complete the copyright transaction through the "Greater China Music Library".

But these are not the key points.

His eyes quickly scanned the clauses in the contract and soon locked on the key points.

That is the price of the copyright transfer. It is clearly written in black and white: ￥20000.00

There is also a capital 20,000 yuan at the end.

20,000 yuan!

When Lu Chen saw the price for the first time, he was really tempted.

He used to work two jobs and work more than 15 hours a day. After deducting daily living expenses, the money he earned was only 4,000 to 5,000 yuan a month.

Now, as long as he signs his name on this contract, he can easily take away 20,000 yuan.

The most important thing is that there are countless good songs in his memory, and selling one song is really insignificant.

Opposite Lu Chen, Song Xinwei keenly noticed the change in the former's expression through the ultra-thin resin lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses, and a subtle disdain flashed in his eyes.

If it weren't for Su Qingmei's request, as the deputy general manager of Qingyu Media, he would not bring people here in person to discuss a small contract of only 20,000 yuan with a kid who is still wet behind the ears.

Of course, the 20,000 yuan must be a huge sum of money for the kid in front of him, and he must be dizzy.

Lucky boy!

However, Lu Chen was not knocked unconscious. After learning the price, he began to carefully check other terms.

The more he looked, the uglier his face became.

It was normal to sell all the copyright terms of "My Deskmate" except the right to authorship, and Lu Chen also agreed, but what was the point of not allowing him to continue singing this song in any public place?

That is to say, after he sold the song, he couldn't even sing it in the Forget-Me-Not Bar?

Another clause was that Qingyu Media had priority over his works. Before the former confirmed the waiver, he could not transfer his future works to a third party!

It was simply unjust!

If Lu Chen signed the contract without reading it carefully, he would be tied to Qingyu Media and lose the initiative over his own works.

There was indeed a trap behind the high price inducement.

Lu Chen understood and resolutely returned the contract: "Sorry, I can't sign this contract."

He said the same thing to Su Qingmei yesterday.

Song Xinwei was waiting for Lu Chen to sign. He didn't expect Lu Chen to refuse. He was shocked: "What?"

Lu Chen repeated the words.

This time Song Xinwei finally understood. He felt humiliated and his face changed immediately: "Can I know why? Is it because of the price?"

"Then I think you should know that this price is impossible for others to give!"

In fact, Lu Chen understood this.

The current era is no longer the 1980s and 1990s. The rise of the Internet and the prevalence of piracy have led to a great decline in the record industry. Today's singers and stars compete for fan economy and eyeball economy. All kinds of crazy hype and various ways to gain popularity are no longer the time to make a fortune by releasing a best-selling record.

The status of songwriters of pop music is naturally not as good as before.

And now that technology is advanced, even ordinary people can create with the help of software such as "Singer-songwriter Master", the threshold for composing lyrics and music has been greatly lowered, and the market is flooded with countless third-rate inferior works.

Amateur authors write a song that can still be sung, and they don't need to spend money to register in the "Greater China Music Library". As long as they upload it to a certain music website to prove their copyright, they are willing to sell it for three or five hundred.

Professional songwriters are much more expensive, but newcomers or third-rate authors can only charge two or three thousand at most for a song, and that's if someone wants it. Most of the time, no one is interested even if it is discounted.

Qingyu Media paid 20,000 to buy Lu Chen's "My Deskmate", which is already a treatment for a famous artist!

You must know that this is Lu Chen's first work, and his work has not been tested by the market.

That's why Song Xinwei was so annoyed-how can newcomers nowadays be so ignorant of the world?

But Lu Chen was not concerned about the price.

"Price is not a problem."

He said seriously: "I am willing to sell the copyright for 20,000 yuan, but I cannot agree to other terms."

The value of "My Deskmate" is definitely more than 20,000 yuan, but Lu Chen took into account the relationship between Chen Jianhao and Su Qingmei, and he did not want to offend a media company, so it didn't matter if he suffered a little loss.

However, the premise is limited to this song!

Song Xinwei understood what Lu Chen meant, and his attitude did not change at all. He sneered: "Xiao Lu, think about it, if there are no such terms, will our company offer such a high price? Who do you think you are? And your signature rights are still there, this is a chance for you to become famous, you must know how to cherish it!"

He almost pointed at Lu Chen's nose and said "Don't be ungrateful"!

Lu Chen raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "Manager Song, I am just a nobody. A big company like Qingyu Media is really out of my reach. You should find someone else!"

If Su Qingmei heard his last two words in reply, she would probably be furious.

Lu Chen is also a person with a temper. His pride is deep in his bones. Although he has bent his waist and lowered his head because of the pressure of life, his knees are always strong!

After speaking, he stood up and nodded to Dong Xuan, and then said to Chen Jianhao: "Boss, I will go down first. I have to go on stage later."

When Lu Chen and Song Xinwei were negotiating just now, Chen Jianhao had not spoken. Now he smiled and said: "You go, I will accompany Manager Song to drink two more glasses here."

"Thank you, boss!"

Lu Chen did not even look at Song Xinwei and left the reserved seat area directly.

Song Xinwei was so angry that he almost dropped his glass. He looked at Chen Jianhao and said coldly: "Boss Chen, your guys are really strong-willed. I have seen it today!"

"Haha, young people are like this"

Chen Jianhao laughed and said: "It's the same. Who hasn't been young? Come on, drink!"

How could Song Xinwei drink any more? He was feeling unprecedented frustration.

(End of this chapter)