Chapter 34 – Who Steps on Who!

Lu Chen was baffled when his shoulder was suddenly patted.

He instinctively turned his head and saw Sister Na who had appeared behind him who knows when.

There was also Qin Hanyang and the other four members of the Wandering Band!

Lu Chen couldn’t help but feel a burst of joy and said, “Sister Na, Brother Qin, you all came already?”

“Yep!”

Sister Na smiled and said, “We had some stuff to do at the bar. Fortunately, we’re not late. You just came early.”

Qin Hanyang nodded his head and suddenly asked, “Little Lu, you’re acquainted with Little Cheng?”

“Little Cheng?”

Lu Chen was dumbfounded and said, “Brother Qin, are you talking about that brat from just now?”

This time, it was Qin Hanyang’s turn to be surprised, “You really don’t know him? That was Cheng Xiaodong, Flying Band’s lead singer. They’re from Blazing Rose Bar and are a really popular band recently.

This was the first time Lu Chen heard of the name Cheng Xiaodong, but he was very familiar with the name Blazing Rose.

Blazing Rose was a very famous bar in Sanlitun. Their venue was very big and business was very good.

Blazing Rose Bar was allegedly founded in Houhai. Due to the differences in the management style of the bar and Houhai’s atmosphere, they moved to Sanlitun for a fresh start. Everybody in the industry knew about this.

Speaking of which, there is an interesting point that many of the bars in Houhai have names related to plants. For example, Blue Lotus Bar, Daylily Bar, Hyacinth, Dandelion, etc. They were different from the Western style names of bars in Sanlitun.

Blazing Rose Bar was also followed this trend and didn’t change their name even after moving to Sanlitun.

Lu Chen bitterly smiled, “I really don’t know him. I haven’t even went to Blazing Rose Bar before. He just suddenly ran over here to find me.”

He also didn’t say anything about Cheng Xiaodong’s provocation. However, Qin Hanyang should have seen Cheng Xiaodong’s slitting throat gesture.

Sister Na was lost in thought and said, “Little Ye should be pretty familiar with the Flying Band…”

There was no need to elaborate. Sister Na’s reminder may have been a bit obscure but Lu Chen understood as soon as he heard it.

Xiao Ye was Ye Zhenyang, a resident singer of Daylily Bar.

Cheng XiaoDong said, “Let’s sit down first. We need to sing well tonight. We’re going to be on stage for a while this time around.”

Blue Lotus Music Festival had an impressive reputation inside the industry. Among the various singers that performed in bars, who didn’t want to go on stage and try their luck? However, the time allotted to perform was always limited. When allocating the time, there often wasn’t enough time to go around.

Before, Daylily Bar’s singers performed many times. However, they were allocated fifteen minutes to perform at most.

The scale of this Blue Lotus Music Festival was much grander than before, and, coupled with the sponsorship of a new media company, many people were desperately trying to squeeze into the music festival and show their face.

Daylily Bar’s two singers and one band was given a full thirty minutes!

Even Chen Jianhao said that Boss Chang really gave them a lot of face.

As for how the time was allocated, Blue Lotus Bar didn’t care. They only cared about the order the singers went on stage.

Everybody sat around the table.

Qin Hanyang said, “the performance is about to start. Lets distribute the time on stage first. Sister Na?”

The person distributing the time was very important . As the big bro of Daylily Bar, Qin Hanyang was naturally unwilling to give that responsibility to someone else. Nevertheless, he had to take into account Sister Na’s opinions.

Sister Na said, “I’ll just sing one song so give me five minutes. Give Little Lu ten minutes for two songs!”

Normally, the distribution of performance time was dependent on their status in the Jianghu. Both Qin Hanyang and Sister Na would perform two songs and leave Lu Chen a song. A total of five songs fit the thirty minutes exactly.

A song’s performance time was usually around four minutes. Speaking a couple words before leaving made it five minutes.

Five minutes was enough for a solo singer but bands was a bit more bothersome. Therefore, half the time would be allocated to Qin Hanyang’s Wandering Band.

However, Sister Na actually allocated her time for another song to Lu Chen. It really was unexpected!

Lu Chen promptly said, “Sister Na, one song is enough for me.”

Sister Na smiled and said, “One song is enough? You Who Sat Next to Me and Cinderella. Leaving out either song would be regretful. We should let everybody know that our Daylily Bar has a talented singer. I’ll just sing the song that you wrote for me!”

Qin Hanyang unexpectedly nodded his head and said, “Sister Na is right. The song you wrote for her was very good!”

Lu Chen’s impression of Qin Hanyang was that he was a very reserved singer that simultaneously held the position of lead singer and leader. He gave the impression that he spent most of his time at Daylily Bar with his band members inside the small room and didn’t pay attention to other matters. Only when it was time to perform would he come out.

Lu Chen worked at Daylily Bar for three years but the total amount of times he spoke with this big bro the last few years was less than just now!

Therefore, when Lu Chen heard Qin Hanyang’s praise, he couldn’t help but feel a bit flattered.

“It was my good luck to be acquainted with Lu Chen!”

Sister Na smiled happily and said, “Little Lu, I already arranged the song that you gave me. Tonight, the Wandering Band and I will go on stage together with the Wandering Band playing the accompaniment. After that, the remaining time will be left for you!”

Speaking of arranging, Lu Chen felt really ashamed. Even though there were an uncountable amount of classics in his memories and arranging the melody wasn’t a problem, he didn’t have the ability to completely arrange the songs from scratch.

This was mainly because Lu Chen was lacking knowledge in those skills. He still needed to properly study and develop his abilities. Otherwise, in the future, he would only be able to write melodies and unable to arrange songs, making it easy for others to denounce him.

Nevertheless, since Sister Na insisted and Qin Hanyang didn’t have any objections, Lu Chen was given time to sing two songs.

Wandering Band’s main guitarist, bassist, drummer and keyboardist looked at Lu Chen with a “little brat got lucky” expression, making Lu Chen feel very embarrassed.

Qin Hanyang picked up a form that Lu Chen hadn’t seen before from the table and looked over it once then wrinkled his brow.

Sister Na was very perceptive and asked, “What happened? Is there a problem?”

Qin Hanyang shook his head and said, “The problem isn’t a big problem. It’s just that Little Lu’s arranged time to go on stage isn’t with us. The Flying Band is ahead of him and after him is Compass Band then it’s us two.”

According to the past conventions, the singers of a bar were all scheduled to go on together since many singers would sing with the accompaniment of their bands like Sister Na and the Wandering Band.

However, situations like Lu Chen’s where he was specifically separated were very few.

Sister Na didn’t seem to mind as she said, “this doesn’t matter right? Little Lu’s performance level is most suited for solo performances!”

Qin Hanyang muttered, “I heard that tonight’s music festival was primarily to promote Compass Band.”

Compass Band was created two years ago. The band’s lead singer, Gan Lang, is a singer with some history that is currently signed with Blue Lotus Bar. Compass Band was already well known as for their rock’n’roll style within the industry. Their popularity exceeded that of Wandering Band by a lot.

The news that Qin Hanyang received was that Compass Band already signed on with Light Rain Media. Tonight’s music festival was held to promote Compass Band. After the performance, the change would be officially announced.

Light Rain Media even invited a group of industry insiders and media reporters.

Therefore, Compass Band’s performance tonight was the highest priority at tonight’s Music Festival. Lu Chen was scheduled for right before them and right before Lu Chen’s performance would be the recently successful Flying Band. Regardless of how you examined it, it was a pincer attack.

Qin Hanyang and Sister Na were both experienced members of the Jianghu and only needed to examine the situation for a brief period of time before figuring it out. Sister Na hesitated for a moment and said, “Little Lu, do you want to change the song?”

Flying Band and Compass Band were both in the rock’n’roll genre. Their performance was sure to be full of fervor. This, in turn, could easily stir up the audience’s emotions and cause the entire atmosphere to be stimulated.

If it was Wandering Band that was stuck in the middle, Qin Hanyang’s experience and fundamentals could completely hold onto the situation. However, if Lu Chen sang You Who Sat Next to Me and Cinderella when everybody was excited and happy…

Lu Chen wouldn’t even be able to sing a couple lines before getting booed off the stage – the style was completely wrong!

The audience that came to participate in the Music Festival wasn’t your everyday fan. If they believed the performance wasn’t good, they would directly start booing. Very few singers would persist to the end in these situations.

Qin Hanyang agreed and said, “Yeah, switch to a more energetic song. Our band can play the accompaniment!”

The order was already set. Changing the order spontaneously was certainly impossible since it wouldn’t be respecting the organizers. However, a band accompanying a singer on stage was not a problem.

With the support of Wandering Band, Lu Chen’s prestige certainly wouldn’t be inferior. However, he would have to give up on his two original compositions.

By this time, how could Lu Chen not understand? It actually turns out that he became the stepping stone of someone else. No wonder that whatever Flying Band came over to provoke him.

“Thank you Brother Qin, thank you Sister Na. However, I think that going on stage myself shouldn’t be a problem!”

Lu Chen was very grateful for Qin Hanyang and Sister Na’s good intentions and reminder. However, he never had the intention to cower back.

Instead, his fighting spirit was thoroughly riled up!

Want to step on me? Then let’s see who steps on who when it is all said and done!