Chương 5: Sworn Brothers

Zhang Xiaohua flicked through his mobile phone for a long time. Finally, he was left with only two names on the contact list. One was Cao Feifei and the other was Yuan Datong.

His memories told him that this Yuan Datong was a buddy from junior high school and was one of his best friends to date. He was also an iron buddy, regardless of easy or hard times.

He remembered back in the third year of high school, due to Zhang Xiaohua's extraordinary background, a group of kidnappers attempted to abduct him. Yuan Datong's came running up during their attempt to grab him after school on the way home. He came to help him even at the risk of his death; thus, the kidnappers didn't succeed. However, as a result, Yuan Datong was kidnapped and almost didn't make it out alive. Even now, there was still a 10cm long scar left by them on the left side of Yuan Datong's chest.

Zhang Xiaohua knew that Yuan Datong was crazy for music, his passion was almost at the point of devilment, and he also had a certain insight for music production. Yuan Datong had opened a studio mainly to create music. However, the status of the studio wasn't good enough and had always been tepid.

"Since this man is so loyal and good at music production, what else is there to wait for? He shall be my brother in arms!"

Deciding firmly in his mind, Zhang Xiaohua directly dialed Yuan Datong's phone and, after a short while, he heard the other party's voice across the line saying slowly, "Xiao-hua, what's wrong?"

"Big head, no time for pleasantries, I need to talk to you." At this time, Zhang Xiaohua was in a state of extreme excitement, so he also forgot about the time. It was already four in the morning and, because of his accent, when he called Datong it sounded like 'big head'.

"Big Brother, my name is Datong, Yuan Datong!"

"Oh, yeah. I'm looking to discuss something with you. Are you free?"

"..."

On the other side of the phone, Yuan Datong had already cried and said, "Big brother, do you know what time it is? Is there anything urgent? Do you have to call me at 4 am?"

"I just wrote a song and would like you to give me some advice. Of course, we can also talk while drinking. Plus I have one more important thing to discuss with you," Zhang Xiaohua said earnestly.

Of course, what he said about writing a song wasn't a joke either. With his previous memories, he had all the pop songs from Earth in his head, he could express lyrics and tunes anytime, anywhere, but he couldn't make entire songs without any help. That was also his reason for finding Yuan Datong.

"You wrote a song?" Yuan Datong on the other side was depressed. He couldn't help but cry: "Brother, do you have to harass me in the middle of the night just to make fun of me? Okay, I admit defeat, you win, please let me get some sleep."

"I really did write one. I'll come to the studio and find you." After that, Zhang Xiaohua hung up the phone, went out of the house, got into the Volkswagen Passat that his father bought him a year ago and went straight to Yuan Datong's studio.

...

Twenty minutes later, Zhang Xiaohua drove to the studio which was in the downtown area of the city.

He parked in front of a small two-story building.

Looking up, he could see that the surface of this small building was full of holes, old and dilapidated. It was in the state of total ruination and could collapse at any time. Above the door was a lighted signboard with the words "Datong Studios" on the top. However, the four-character lamp had been broken. Only one word was still barely working, and it seemed to be struggling. It looked like it would blow a fuse any second.

"Is this the rhythm of 'death'?" Zhang Xiaohua blew his cheeks and laughed. From the front, he knew how bad Yuan Datong's situation was.

He reached out and knocked on the rusty shutter door and soon the door was opened by Datong.

Zhang Xiaohua looked intently at the sight of a thick-skinned youth, wearing casual shorts, a white vest and a pair of plastic slippers. He was almost as old as himself, with a natural pale face, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses, he appeared gentle and delicate but was quite a handsome guy.

Obviously, this person was Yuan Datong.

"Brother, you really came?" Yuan Datong could not believe it.

Looking at the wounds of Yuan Datong's chest that were exposed, Zhang Xiaohua's memory came pouring like a tidal wave, and his heart could not help but be touched.

In order to save a friend, Yuan Datong could even risk his life that year. This was a real life and death brother!

After some sighs, Zhang Xiaohua was not polite and strode forward into the building not waiting for an invitation.

In his impression, this Datong Yuan was like a sworn brother to him. There was no need to be that polite; otherwise, he wouldn't find him as his partner.

After shuffling into the studio, Zhang Xiaohua looked around. Modern instruments such as guitars, basses, horns, oboe, drums, and electric pianos were everywhere.

According to Zhang Xiaohua's memory display, the second floor should be a fully equipped professional recording studio. Of course, Yuan Datong's entire net worth was also devoted here; it was both his workplace and his home. He stays here almost 24 hours a day. It was precisely because of this that he got the nickname of "Music Madness".

"You came all the way at such a time, what is the matter?" asked Yuan Datong as he went to the refrigerator, took out two bottles of beer, and readily threw a bottle to Zhang Xiaohua, he also sat down on the parlor sofa to drink.

"Like I said on the phone, I wrote a song and I wanted you to give me some advice." That being said, Zhang Xiaohua's main purpose was to see if Yuan Datong had the ability to provide music for the songs. If the two of them could not achieve the same effect as the original song in terms of synthesis, it would inevitably be unsatisfactory.

To say that, if Zhang Xiaohua knew Yuan Datong very well, then Yuan Datong also knew Zhang Xiaohua very well. After all, the two had played together from childhood till now.

Originally, when he heard Zhang Xiaohua say that he wrote a song on the phone, Yuan Datong was skeptical, he only believed him now.

When he listened to Zhang Xiaohua say it again, he couldn't help but laugh. The beer that he had just drank sprayed out his mouth. He couldn't help but say, "I say, are you sleepwalking or is this a dream? You wrote a song. Why do you keep saying that? You can't even sing, and you are tone deaf as fuck. What kind of dogshit song could you write?"

"We slowly become drunk as the night deepens,

At this moment we are so close to each other,

My thoughts appear to be shaken,

Contradictions grow deeper,

My trembling lips,

Waits for your kiss that never came,

I am but a broken-hearted woman."

Zhang Xiaohua, apart from anything else, directly sang a Cantonese version of "Broken Hearted Woman". It was actually the perfect interpretation of the song through his singing voice. Although he didn't have accompaniment music, it didn't hide the rich mood of the song.

After the song ended, Zhang Xiaohua was smug.

In his previous life, his reputation as a 'Karaoke Love Song King' was not honored for no reason. Changing voices, perfect singing voices and tone control, he could do even better than some of those of the first-line singers. It was enough to impress people!