AFVSIBS Chapter 197: What Kind of Song is "A Difficult Sutra"?
Kang Wenhua was still immersed in the martial arts ambiance of Zhou Chen's "A Difficult Sutra" and took a long time to snap out of it.
"Excellent, truly excellent. This song 'A Difficult Sutra' is simply superb."
Realizing this, Kang Wenhua immediately applauded.
"Yes, this song 'A Difficult Sutra' is indeed very good. Together with 'A Life of Sword and Knife,' it is one of the best martial arts-themed songs in recent decades," Zhao Liang couldn't help but exclaim.
"This song is not only excellently composed and written, but it is also very difficult to sing, especially the Cantonese part, which requires very clear articulation. Zhou Chen managed it effortlessly. As his manager, I suddenly feel unfamiliar with his talent. This unfamiliarity comes from having never seen such astonishing talent before," Wan Fangfang gave an unprecedentedly high evaluation.
"Thank you. So, is there any issue using this 'A Difficult Sutra' as the theme song for 'Tianlong'?"
"Of course not, there's no issue at all. Ten million, I want the rights to this song."
Kang Wenhua never hesitated when it came to good songs.
Although ten million for a theme song's rights is considered an astronomical price in the industry.
But he loved the song 'A Difficult Sutra' so much that he was determined to get it at any cost.
Zhao Liang could understand Kang Wenhua's feelings at this moment. If he were in his place, he would do the same.
For a martial arts director, who could refuse such an excellent and nearly perfect martial arts song?
"Thank you."
Zhou Chen simply thanked him and didn't say much more.
According to his agreement with Wan He, his authority was very limited.
Next, the price and contract matters would be negotiated by Wan Fangfang and Kang Wenhua. Once everything was settled, he would just sign the contract.
However, the ten-million figure wouldn't change.
He would ultimately receive two million of that.
That's the life of a trainee, tough and pitiful.
But everyone was in the same situation, so Zhou Chen didn't have much to resist. Besides, resistance would mean signing a long-term contract or changing the contract model, which he didn't want.
Now it was just a matter of waiting for three years. After three years, he would be free, bidding farewell to the competitive entertainment industry and living the life he wanted.
After signing the contract with Zhou Chen, Kang Wenhua was very happy.
Upon leaving Wan He, he immediately instructed his assistant to announce that Zhou Chen's new song "A Difficult Sutra" would be the theme song for his new work "Tianlong."
"Director Kang, you mean to use Zhou Chen's popularity to attract attention and traffic to our 'Tianlong'?"
The assistant instantly understood Kang Wenhua's intention.
"Exactly, that's the effect I want. Now we have to admit that Zhou Chen is extremely popular, to the point where any superstar has to make way for him. So now that we can have him create the theme song for our 'Tianlong,' we naturally need to make good use of this big draw," Kang Wenhua confirmed.
"Understood. I'll take care of this as soon as I get back."
Quickly, under the promotion and publicity by Kang Wenhua's team, the news that Zhou Chen had composed a theme song called "Hard to Recite" for "Tianlong" started to spread online.
"Have you heard? Zhou Chen only spent ten minutes composing 'Hard to Recite', and Director Kang was very satisfied. He immediately bought the rights for one million yuan to use it as the theme song for 'Tianlong'."
"No way! Is it that amazing? Could 'Hard to Recite' be better than 'A Dream of Swords'? Why didn't they just use 'A Dream of Swords'?"
"I heard about this too. Zhou Chen felt that 'A Dream of Swords' didn't fit the plot of 'Tianlong', so he quickly composed 'Hard to Recite' for Director Kang."
"A quick composition? In just ten minutes? Are you sure this song will be good?"
"Come on, Director Kang watched it live and heard Zhou Chen sing it in person. If 'Hard to Recite' wasn't good enough, would he have spent one million yuan to buy the rights? Do you think Director Kang is stupid?"
...
For a while, everyone online was discussing what kind of song "Hard to Recite" was, that it could make Director Kang willing to spend one million yuan to buy the rights and use it as the theme song for "Tianlong" after hearing it once.
The topic related to "Hard to Recite" quickly climbed the trending charts.
This was Zhou Chen's influence—anything related to him could easily trend.
This made a certain singer surnamed Wang, who had always wanted to trend but never had the chance, almost grind his teeth in envy.
"Director Kang, you’re so smart. As soon as our news was released, topics about 'Tianlong' and 'Hard to Recite' have already hit the trending list. It looks like our ratings for 'Tianlong' will definitely be high."
Director Kang's assistant immediately gave him a thumbs-up and praised him.
"Of course, this time we didn't just get a great martial arts song, but also a big fish. You know, any program with Zhou Chen’s involvement easily breaks a 4.0 rating. Now his new song is the theme song for our 'Tianlong'. How could the attention be low?"
Talking about this, Director Kang was full of pride and satisfaction.
However, in his moment of pride, he did not forget his old friend Zhao Liang.
After all, if it weren't for Zhao Liang's recommendation, he wouldn't have thought of seeking out Zhou Chen, and it would have been impossible to get such an excellent martial arts song like "Hard to Recite".
So, in the evening, he personally invited Zhao Liang to Red Romance for dinner. Afterwards, they even studied French with two French teachers at Red Romance.
On Zhou Chen's side, after "Hard to Recite" was released, many people who knew him sent messages wanting to ask about the song.
However, Zhou Chen could only reveal limited information since he needed to keep things confidential, especially since "Tianlong" had not yet been aired. Kang Wenhua's team was leveraging the curiosity about "Hard to Recite" to draw attention to "Tianlong", so Zhou Chen couldn't say much.
"Zhou Chen, don't worry, I won't ask about 'Hard to Recite'. I’m inviting you to go swimming."
At this moment, Yang Hanhua sent another message.
"Thanks, but not tonight."
Zhou Chen replied simply.
"Why not?"
"Because it's already past nine. Considering the travel time, swimming time, and return time, it exceeds my principle of early to bed and early to rise," Zhou Chen explained.
Yang Hanhua was almost infuriated by this explanation. Many men would jump at the chance to swim with her late at night, but Zhou Chen was actually rejecting her invitation?
What a blockhead!
"Yang, Young Master Zheng wants to invite you to go swimming tonight. Will you go?"
Coincidentally, just as Zhou Chen rejected Yang Hanhua, her assistant called.