Kapitel 34: He's Panicking
Redakteur: Tennesh
Rodney was still at a loss when he arrived on the 50th floor the next day. He wasn't sure if he'd made the right call in deciding to transfer. He'd had many questions he wanted to ask when he visited the 50th floor yesterday, but for some reason, none of them had come out. He'd signed his contract in a daze and left in the elevator.
After tidying up in the office Fang Zhao had assigned to him, Rodney entered Zu Wen's studio.
"How are you, senior colleague? I'm Rodney, the new hire." Rodney wanted to introduce himself first.
"Cut the bullshit and start helping out." Zu Wen didn't bother to lift his head and pointed to an empty work space beside him. A desktop and other equipment were already in place.
Besides Zu Wen and Zeng Huang, the studio also housed the three other new recruits and Rodney, for a total of six people. The technicians loaned from other departments had left. From now on, the project was an in-house job.
Even though the department had expanded, the workload was still very heavy. They hadn't completed the day's tasks yet, so there was no time to welcome the newbies.
Rodney stopped talking, headed to his work space, and turned on his equipment. He scanned the list of tasks assigned to him. He was surprised. No wonder the department had to expand. Large scenes involved so many elements. Fang Zhao was also a demanding producer who paid close attention to detail. There was no room for fudging. It was time to get serious.
Fang Zhao was recording the second song with Pang Pusong. He still wasn't happy after two straight days of recording, so they had to continue today. Around noon, Zu Wen's staff had completed their assignments for the morning and Rodney still saw no sign of Fang Zhao.
"We've finally finished before lunch for once." Zu Wen rubbed his eyes.
"I'll buy lunch," Zeng Huang said. It was his turn to buy lunch. He left for the cafeteria after asking Rodney if he had any dietary restrictions.
Only then did Zu Wen turn his attention to Rodney.
"You're a new hire? I heard you also graduated from the Yanzhou University of Science and Technology," Zu Wen said.
"Yes. I've heard about you, senior alum. Your graduation project is still on display in the exhibition hall for outstanding student projects," Rodney responded.
"Work hard. The future of our department is bright. You've bet on the right boss." Zu Wen shifted to morale-boosting mode.
"Our boss being?"
"Fang Zhao, of course. He's the head of our department."
"Oh." Rodney nodded and pondered briefly. He followed up with another question. "Say, senior alum, don't you think that Manager Fang looks like Old Shen?"
The "Old Shen" Rodney referred to was a veteran Reg Dimension instructor at the Yanzhou University of Science and Technology. He was well-regarded within the industry. The only thing was that he was too serious and spooked people wherever he went.
One particular scene stayed with every single class of Shen's students: the sight of the entire class paying him their undivided attention. Even if their minds were wandering, they would pretend to be listening to put the old man in a better mood, because if he was in a bad mood he could easily flunk a higher percentage of students.
When the class ahead of Rodney's had gotten on Old Shen's bad side, he dropped the pass rate for the final exam to 50 percent, flunking half of the class. He also refused to give a make-up exam, so the students who flunked ended up having to retake the course with Rodney's class. This time they learned their lesson and managed a bare pass.
Zu Wen graduated three years ago, so he did remember Old Shen, but he misinterpreted Rodney's comment.
"How dare you say that boss looks like an old man?"
"Hush, hush—I'm referring to his aura, not his appearance." Rodney gesticulated wildly.
"You said what you said. I'll remember this transgression."
"No, I just think Manager Fang is a bit... different?" Rodney explained frantically. He just felt that even though Fang Zhao was younger than they were, he had the nerve-inducing presence of a senior professor.
Zu Wen didn't think it mattered. "Artistic types are different from us technical types. There's usually something different about them. As long as he treats us well and lets us game during office hours, I don't care if he's a monster."
"True." Rodney forgot about the weird vibe Fang Zhao had given him yesterday. Zu Wen was right. As long as they were well-paid and could game during office hours, who cared about anything else? They just had to do a good job on their assignments. Whatever else was going on, there was a producer to cover for them.
"Oh, I wanted to ask you something. Senior alum, why is there a lower urinal in the bathroom? Does someone in our department bring their kid to work?"
Zu Wen glared at Rodney like he was an idiot. "It isn't for you and it isn't for a kid. It's for a dog."
"Oh."
While Fang Zhao was tweaking with Pang Pusong's vocal style and articulation and Zu Wen was hard at work with his junior colleagues in the studio, the demo for the second chapter had been delivered to Duan Qianji.
This was something Duan Qianji had demanded of Fang Zhao. Once the demo was ready, he had to send her a copy for vetting.
Listening to the demo ended up taking half a day.
Duan Qianji ended up looping the crude, incomplete demo all afternoon.
She took a long sigh and pressed a few buttons on her desk, commanding her assistant: "Send He Hao and Wayne up. We can move on to the next step already."
Zhu Zhen flashed a look of surprise. "Got it."
'It's about time we let the world know that Silver Wing can produce a decent virtual idol, a real idol!" Duan Qianji said, looking into the distant sunset.
Zhu Zhen relayed the latest gossip. "Boss, it seems that Master Glifetz has been asking around about the Polar Light project."
Glifetz was the former head of the virtual idol department at Silver Wing, the producer in charge, the master virtual idol producer that Silver Wing wooed with a hefty salary. He had produced a few relatively successful virtual idols in his day. He later retired from producing and, as a master of his craft, became a visiting professor at various universities. He taught the occasional class, accepted the rare apprentice, and invested in some projects.
Silver Wing's lucrative offer had lured this long-retired master producer. Before the project kicked off, he confidently vowed that he would jump-start Silver Wing's long-struggling virtual projects. But reality delivered a slap in the face instead.
Glifetz had fallen ill after last year's virtual idol project had fizzled. The official word was that he was still recovering in the hospital, still remaining there after more than a year.
When Duan Qianji had purged last year's project team, Glifetz was naturally upset. Quite a few staffers were students he had handpicked. They were all forced out by Duan Qianji.
When she heard her assistant mention Glifetz, Duan Qianji laughed sarcastically. "That old geezer. I'm sure he's panicking."
Of course Glifetz was panicking—the virtual idol department he had failed to reform was making waves this year. And it had generated heated discussion right off the bat. That was good news for Silver Wing, but not for Glifetz. If the Polar Light project took off, the reputation he had worked for years to build would be in jeopardy.
"Ignore him. Let him keep playing ill at the hospital." Duan Qianji couldn't help another snicker. "I wonder if his condition will 'deteriorate' again."
Kapitel 35: Comeback?
Redakteur: Tennesh
The coastal Yanzhou city of Jinggang is home to several large sanatoriums. Jinggang was a scenic city constantly bathed in sunshine with warmer winters. Many people liked to recover in Jinggang.
Inside a sanatorium in Jinggang.
Famed musician and virtual idol producer Glifetz was sitting by his room's French windows. Typically, this was the time of day he was in his best spirits. He could take in the sunshine of Jinggang peacefully. But today, he was in no mood to enjoy the warm sunbath that so many envied.
Glifetz frowned deeply as he read a news item passed to him by an assistant.
Standing next to Glifetz was one of his former students, one of the staffers forced out by Duan Qianji when last year's virtual idol project had failed.
"Teacher, any new moves from Silver Wing?" the young man asked.
"Yes." Glifetz closed his eyes. He wanted to think hard about what Silver Wing was up to.
Glifetz had run the virtual idol project last year. While he didn't have a total grasp on the thinking of Silver Wing's senior management, he was usually half there. Silver Wing had never paid much attention to virtual idol projects. That had been the culture since Silver Wing's founding. The label had never produced a presentable virtual idol ever. Even if it decided to get in the game now to boost its profits, it would take time. At least, that was what Glifetz thought.
Glifetz thought the failure of his virtual idol project was a function of Silver Wing's internal problems, not his fault. Yet industry insiders and clueless observers were influenced by the media to think that the downfall of last year's virtual idol project was on him. How ridiculous.
Glifetz insisted he was not to blame. He even told close friends: "Silver Wing's virtual idol project was beyond salvation." Just two days after he'd made that comment, it somehow made its way to Duan Qianji and the entire virtual idol department was purged. The few students he had handpicked were kicked out. Glifetz lost a lot of face and became the subject of his colleagues' ridicule.
Because Silver Wing had never produced any substantial virtual idol projects, many news outlets did not draw a firm conclusion—whether the project had failed because of Glifetz or as the result of internal corruption at Silver Wing. Only when Polar Light had debuted at the end of the year did many observers think back to Glifetz's fall from grace after the failure of last year's virtual idol.
Unfortunately, journalists who wanted to interview Glifetz found that he was heavily secluded. He refused interviews by videoconference as well. Since the man in question was nowhere to be found, the journalists could only speculate in their daily reports.
Jinggang was a considerable distance from Qi'an, Yanzhou's political and financial hub, and people in Jinggang didn't pay much attention to the entertainment industry, so the heated discussion in Qi'an never spread to Jinggang. That was also why Glifetz picked Jinggang to recover.
The failure of last year's virtual idol project had dealt Glifetz a blow, but he'd never thought it was his fault. The news of his ongoing illness was indeed fake. He had recovered a long time ago.
So why did he stay in the hospital?
The first reason was to give the impression that he'd given his all to the virtual idol project and left no stone unturned, that he was sick from exhaustion and quite ill at that, to project professionalism and dedication. A restrained show of vulnerability would tilt news coverage in his favor.
Second, he was embarrassed to appear in public. The failure of last year's virtual idol project did indeed taint his reputation, so he wanted to wait until Silver Wing launched its virtual idol this year. If the project was still lackluster, then people would conclude that Silver Wing's virtual idol projects were beyond saving.
That way, the criticism would ease. Everyone would think that it was Silver Wing that had tarnished his reputation, even landing him in the hospital.
Glifetz had been waiting since the beginning of the year, but there had been no sign of movement at Silver Wing. He'd finally breathed a sigh of relief when someone heard that Silver Wing offloaded the virtual idol project to a newcomer. Even Silver Wing itself had given up, ceasing to lavish funds on virtual idol projects, so no one would be willing to stir the pot again. It wasn't a matter of producer talent. The problem was Silver Wing itself.
But now, Silver Wing's true intentions were being unveiled.
But a big chunk of the year gone, three seasons later, the story still wasn't over. Silver Wing had to have saved the best for last, Glifetz suspected, so he ordered his people to keep digging. He'd never believed Silver Wing would put a newcomer in charge of a virtual idol project.
"Ha—Silver Wing can fool others, but not me. Duan Qianji must have been planning this."
Ding!
Glifetz received a text message.
A glimmer flashed in Glifetz' eyes after he read the message. He became absorbed in deep thought.
"Teacher, is there news?" the young man beside him asked.
"The second movement will be released before November." He checked the date. It was Oct. 25. It would be any day now. Glifetz had set up several alerts. He would be notified immediately when there was news about the second chapter.
The first chapter was just a teaser. The second chapter would reveal Silver Wing's true colors.
Was it a continuation of the "epic"? Or a publicity stunt?
Gliftez knew his comeback hinged on the second chapter.
__________
Inside Silver Wing headquarters in Qi'an, Fang Zhao grabbed a copy of the new music video and shouted in the direction of the studio, "Zu Wen, head upstairs with me."
"Upstairs where?" Zu Wen yawned. He badly needed a gaming session to rest his overworked brain.
"The top floor," Fang Zhao responded.
Zu Wen nearly fainted at the sound of the two words "top floor."
"The top floor?"
"Hurry up and get ready. We'll head up in five minutes. Chairwoman Duan is waiting for us." Fang Zhao glanced at the time.
Even though Silver Wing had given Fang Zhao full authority, he still had to run his final product by senior management. The top executives were starting to pay attention. Plus the success of the second chapter depended on Silver Wing's next move. This was something Duan Qianji had stressed when she ordered the budget allocation.
Fang Zhao needed to bring a technician. Zu Wen was the senior technician in the studio, so naturally, Fang Zhao brought him along. If the projection equipment needed to be fine-tuned and levels needed to be adjusted, Zu Wen would have to do it on the spot.
When he heard the big boss was already waiting upstairs, Zu Wen felt his legs give in even more. He scrambled. When he washed his face, his hands were shaking. All he could remember was the stern look on the faces of Duan Qianji and other senior execs at the debriefing for last year's virtual idol project. The staffers had become pinatas. All they'd wanted to do was curl up in a corner.
After tidying up, Zu Wen followed Fang Zhao into a special access elevator.
"Boss, I'm nervous." Even taking deep breaths couldn't calm his nerves. Zu Wen felt as if the temperature inside the elevator was plunging.
"Think of it this way—after the second movement, we get our gaming console."
"No, that makes me more nervous. What if we fail?"
Zu Wen was so nervous his teeth were clattering. He turned to see Fang Zhao as calm as always. He was baffled. It was genuine calm, not faked.
"Boss, I have a question I'm not sure if I should ask," Zu Wen said.
"If you're not sure, then don't ask it."
"But I can't help myself." Zu Wen stared at Fang Zhao. "How come you're not nervous? What if the second movement fails? Of course I'm not doubting the quality. I quite like it myself. But will other people like it? Will the Yanzhou Music Association give a positive review? Will the Polar Light project really end up a success? Every time I think about these things, I get nervous, lose sleep, and become unsettled. How come you don't feel anything?"
Fang Zhao pointed at his head. "That's because I feel fearless every time background music plays in my head." That's what calmed him on the battlefield, and it served the same purpose now.
"..." Zu Wen looked at Fang Zhao to make sure he wasn't kidding. "It's mind-boggling to me. What do you carry around in your head?"
"Probably a large symphony orchestra."
Geschenke
-- Geschenk
erhalten Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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