Chapter 886
Expectations and Disappointments
The rooftop garden restaurant at the Century Tower in Shenzhen.
Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, there is a bustling city skyline and the Pearl River winding into the sea, with the golden glow of the setting sun gilding everything with a flowing, warm gold.
The environment here is worlds apart from the shabby office at Alpha in Ximending, which reeks of mold and bento boxes; it feels like there's more than a strait between them.
Jay Chou sat at a simple yet substantial dining table, his hands resting awkwardly on his knees, his fingers unconsciously fiddling with the seam of his newly changed, only relatively decent pair of jeans.
The gleaming bone china plate in front of him reflected his slightly lowered face and the lingering confusion and tension in his eyes.
Landing at Lantau Airport in Hong Kong, then riding in a luxury car arranged by Lu Nini through the unfamiliar streets of Shenzhen, and finally taking this incredibly fast, luxuriously decorated private elevator to the clouds... the experience was far more impactful than imagined.
He felt like a pebble thrown into a raging torrent, passively being swept along.
The door was pushed open silently, and a figure walked in.
Jaylen jumped up from his seat almost reflexively, his movements a little stiff, and he almost knocked over the glass of ice water next to him.
He looked up—
The man who came in was young, much younger than he had imagined.
He wore a well-tailored dark casual outfit, with an upright posture and a composed gait.
His features weren't strikingly handsome, but together they gave him a calm and authoritative air, especially his deep, bright eyes, which seemed to see through everything with a serene calm that could penetrate the heart.
Lu Yang's gaze fell on Jay Chou, who was standing ramrod straight.
In that instant, a fleeting, almost imperceptible hint of disappointment flashed across the depths of Lu Yang's eyes?
Yes, it was disappointment.
In Lu Yang's mind, he had imagined countless scenes of his first meeting with this future pillar of the Chinese music scene.
The Jay Chou he envisioned was someone who, at an awards ceremony, facing countless flashing lights and the surging Korean wave, could hold his head high, exuding a touch of arrogance and confidence, and clearly declare, "Chinese pop culture is the coolest."
It's the aura of a superstar, a confident and domineering presence that looks down on everyone else, even with a touch of coolness and unruliness.
However, the young man standing in front of him was thin, and although his hair had just been combed, it still looked somewhat limp. His black-rimmed glasses could not hide the fatigue and a trace of bewilderment in his eyes after a long journey.
He stood stiffly, his eyes darting around, not daring to look Lu Yang in the eye for long. His lips were slightly pursed, revealing an obvious tension and... almost a submissive sense of obedience.
It turns out that the future "Jay Chou," before he became famous and when his dreams were still hanging by a thread, looked so ordinary, even a little timid.
The secret excitement that Lu Yang felt from "meeting his idol" vanished quickly and silently, like a punctured balloon.
A huge sense of disparity welled up inside me.
"Oh, I see..." Lu Yang suddenly realized.
Right now, he's not the dazzling superstar he once was. He's just an ordinary person who was harassed by his demanding former boss, forced by the need to make a living, and who could churn out fifty songs in ten days for a slim chance.
A seedling struggling to grow upwards in the soil.
And I am the one who has already stood at a high position and possesses the power to rewrite his destiny.
This realization quickly replaced the slight melancholy in Lu Yang's heart with a grander and more real sense of control.
His face was expressionless; he simply waved his hand lightly, his tone as indifferent as if he were instructing an ordinary employee: "Sit down."
He took the seat of honor first.
Jay Chou sat down as instructed, but his back was still not straight enough.
A huge crystal chandelier cast a soft light, making the table covered with a snow-white tablecloth sparkle, and the exquisite silver cutlery was set out meticulously.
A waiter in a sharp suit stepped forward silently and began to serve the dishes with elegant movements.
A silent dinner began.
Jaylen could barely taste the food.
He tried hard to keep his hands from trembling as he held the knife and fork; every slight clinking of the cutlery sounded particularly jarring in the extremely quiet environment.
He secretly glanced at Lu Yang a few times, but the other man was just focused on enjoying the food in front of him, relaxed and calm, as if the person sitting opposite him was just an insignificant passerby.
Why? Jay Chou's mind was filled with question marks, almost bursting open.
Why was I summoned all the way from Yizhou and given such a high-class reception, only to have a silent meal with him in this cloud-top restaurant? What exactly does the new boss want? Is it an inspection? A test? Or... did I do something wrong?
He desperately tried to recall the precautions Lu Nini had given him in the car, and to remember every movement he made as he entered the room, stood up, and sat down, afraid of being impolite in the slightest.
Every minute and every second felt like an eternity, like being fried in a pan of oil.
He felt a fine layer of sweat seeping out on his back.
Finally, the plates were cleared away, and a delicate dessert was served.
Lu Yang picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth with a composed gesture.
He looked up and gazed at Jay Chou again, his eyes calm and undisturbed.
"Alright," Lu Yang said, his voice still calm and emotionless. "Let's take a picture."
Jay Chou was stunned, almost thinking he had misheard. "...A group photo?"
"Hmm." Lu Yang had already stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window on one side of the restaurant, which had a wide view overlooking the city nightscape.
Jaylen quickly put down the untouched dessert, stood up somewhat flustered, and walked to Lu Yang's side. He was shorter than Lu Yang, and standing next to him made him appear even more reserved.
He didn't even know what expression to make, he just stiffly straightened his back.
Lu Yang's assistant had already prepared the camera and quickly pressed the shutter button on the two of them.
The moment the flash went off, Jay Chou instinctively closed his eyes.
After the group photo was taken, Lu Yang seemed to have completed some task and let out a soft sigh of relief.
He turned around, waved casually at Jaylen, and spoke in a flat tone as if he were dismissing an unimportant subordinate:
"Okay, that's all. You can go now."
“…?” Jaylen was completely dumbfounded.
That's it? A meal? A photo? And then... nothing? He didn't even have a chance to say a few complete sentences to the boss! Did the boss just want to see what he looked like? Or did he just want to personally verify what the "wooden" young man Director Wang Jing described was like?
A profound sense of loss and being ignored overwhelmed him instantly.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat too dry to make a sound. The boss's indifferent attitude and waving gesture acted like an invisible barrier, blocking all the questions he wanted to ask.
"Secretary Lu will make arrangements for you," Lu Yang added, turning and walking towards the rest area on the other side of the restaurant, clearly not intending to continue the conversation.
Jaylen could only swallow back all his questions and confusion.
He gave Lu Yang's retreating figure a barely perceptible bow, then, like a small animal being pushed by an invisible hand, he silently and dejectedly followed Lu Nini away from this top-tier space that filled him with both awe and utter confusion.
The elevator is going down.
The only sound in the cramped space was the faint hum of machinery.
Jaylen leaned against the cold metal wall, feeling all his strength drained away by that bizarre dinner.
He clutched his old canvas bag tightly in his hand, inside which were the manuscripts he cherished as his life, but now they seemed particularly heavy and superfluous.
Lu Nini stood beside him, her posture upright and her gaze unwavering. She could sense the intense frustration and confusion emanating from the young man beside her.
Finally, the elevator reached the ground floor lobby. Lu Nini led him to the car parked at the entrance.
Stepping out of the building's revolving door, the warm, humid air of early summer in Shenzhen hits you, carrying a mixture of car exhaust fumes and the smells from the distant green belt.
The city's neon lights had already lit up one after another, and the hustle and bustle of people and cars instantly pulled Jay Chou back to reality.
Standing on the bustling street, watching the endless stream of cars and hurried pedestrians, Jay Chou felt an unprecedented sense of alienation and absurdity.
"Miss Lu... Miss Lu..." He finally couldn't hold back any longer. As Lu Nini opened the car door for him, he spoke in a dry voice, with a heavy Yizhou accent and a cautious probing tone, "Why did the boss... call me here today?"
He looked up, his eyes behind his glasses filled with confusion and a hint of barely perceptible grievance.
"Is it... just for a meal and a photo?"
Lu Nini paused for a moment.
To be honest, she didn't know either.
The boss's thoughts are always hard to fathom.
She had also noticed her boss's reaction upon seeing Jay Chou today, the obvious sense of disappointment, and the subsequent cold treatment; she was equally surprised.
But she knew her responsibilities.
She turned around, looked at the nervous and confused young man in front of her, softened her tone, and tried her best to comfort him: "Xiao Jie, don't overthink it."
She chose a more intimate way of addressing him, “The boss has his reasons for doing things. Maybe…maybe he heard about what happened at Alpha, that you were being bullied by your former boss and had to write fifty songs in ten days, and he thinks you have a lot of resilience and are a talented person, so he specifically wanted to meet you and see you for himself?”
She paused, observing Jay's expression, and continued, "Don't feel too much pressure. The boss called you over and met with you personally, which in itself shows how much he values you. After you go back, just focus on writing songs and preparing your new album. The boss specifically instructed that Alfa... oh no, now it's Century Light and Shadow's music studio, and their top priority next year is to do everything they can to promote your debut and get you a solo album! This is fantastic news!"
"Promote my debut? Release an album?" Jay Chou's eyes lit up for a moment, but were then overwhelmed by deeper confusion.
The enormous pie left him dizzy, creating an incredibly bizarre contrast with the lackluster dinner he had just had.
"But...the boss...didn't tell me anything..."
He didn't even say a single word of encouragement like "work hard."
Looking at his bewildered yet somewhat naive and anxious expression, Lu Nini sighed inwardly.
She reached out and gently patted Jay Chou's shoulder, a slightly intimate gesture that made Jay Chou tremble slightly.
"Silly boy, it's enough that the boss can see your potential. Does he expect me to teach you how to write songs step by step?"
Lu Nini's tone carried a hint of sisterly reassurance, "The boss giving you this opportunity and making this promise is the greatest recognition! So many people would kill for that! Just remember, it was the boss, your mentor, who discovered you. You must do your best to repay him in the future, and never be ungrateful." (End of Chapter)