Chapter 159 You Are Not Worthy

After a fairly long period of bustling preparation, the company co-founded by Lu Zhou and Pan Chengyi was finally established, named Legend Entertainment.

The company was located in the Longxin District of Jinghua City. Pan Chengyi was quite efficient, and the necessary primary team had basically been put together. Of course, the last and most important role had yet to be secured.

In its starting phase, the company had only two initial shareholders.

Lu Zhou was the primary shareholder, and Pan Chengyi was the second shareholder, with no one else involved.

Currently, Legend Entertainment had only one artist: Lu Zhou. Thus, he was both the boss and the employee.

At this stage, the livelihoods of the entire team rested squarely on his shoulders.

If his career developed well, the team would eat well; if it didn't, the team would go hungry.

Judging from the current situation, however, the new team held very high expectations for Lu Zhou. This was probably because Pan Chengyi had successfully painted a grand picture of the future for them during the recruitment process, leaving everyone on the team full of drive.

Pan Chengyi assigned a female assistant to Lu Zhou. She was a returnee who had just graduated from a lesser-known foreign university, 24 years old, named Lin Aihua.

Lin Aihua disliked the name her parents had given her, considering it old-fashioned and tacky, so she urged everyone in the company to call her by her English name, Linda.

Linda claimed to love behind-the-scenes work in the entertainment industry, with the dream of one day becoming a top-tier manager. For now, she was starting out as an assistant.

When asked why she chose to join Legend Entertainment, Linda's candid answer was what persuaded Pan Chengyi and Lu Zhou to hire her.

She had said, "I actually wanted to gain experience at a major corporation, but I failed the final interviews for the big companies I applied to. I suppose they thought my qualifications weren't enough, so I plan to hone my skills at a small company first. There are quite a few small companies out there, but after looking around, Legend Entertainment is the only one with an artist I'm optimistic about. That's why I came."

This was precisely the kind of assistant Lu Zhou wanted: candid, free of excessive scheming, hardworking, upward-looking, and confident in his potential.

The assistant position was settled, but another crucial post remained unfilled: the manager.

Regarding the manager, Lu Zhou had a specific candidate in mind, and that person was Qiu Mingbo.

However, Qiu Mingbo was still employed at Shixiang Entertainment and had not yet made his move.

Lu Zhou knew he would eventually leave, so he intended to keep the manager position open for him.

Pan Chengyi had already met with Qiu Mingbo to talk, but the feedback was far from ideal.

In Pan Chengyi's words:

"Qiu Mingbo has some interest in you, but he said there are plenty of heavyweights in the entertainment industry trying to poach him away from Shixiang Entertainment. Right now, your appeal to him simply isn't enough."

"When Qiu Mingbo left Tianyin Entertainment back then and went to Shixiang, his professional prestige didn't expand further; instead, it took a hit. That already caused him to lose face once."

"Even if he were to leave Shixiang now, getting him to jump ship to our newly opened small company—which has only you as an artist, and whose potential he still views with reservations—would undoubtedly be a gamble for him."

"If he wins the gamble, fine; if he loses, he'll become a laughingstock in the industry. The cost is simply too high for him, which is why he refused."

"In essence, Qiu Mingbo believes your current achievements aren't enough to warrant him taking the risk to be your manager. He hasn't seen your massive commercial value yet."

Every single word Pan Chengyi spoke stung, but every single word made sense.

Lu Zhou rubbed the bridge of his nose and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Then we'll wait a bit longer. He will come," Lu Zhou said.

At the time, Pan Chengyi could not understand how Lu Zhou could remain so confident that Qiu Mingbo would eventually agree to join Legend Entertainment after being rejected.

It wasn't until a certain day, when Pan Chengyi learned that top composition master Qin Yi was going to hold an apprenticeship banquet for Lu Zhou, that he finally understood in astonishment where Lu Zhou's confidence came from.

In the composition circle, who did not know Qin Yi's name?

Qin Yi was known among industry musicians not because he was a phenomenal piano master, nor because he was Wang Yanhua's teacher, but because he was a renowned film and television score master in the domestic industry.

Pan Chengyi was also involved in musical composition, so he naturally knew of Qin Yi's reputation.

Putting aside Qin Yi's status in the classical music circle, even within the entertainment industry proper—though he was not strictly a part of it—the massive investments in famous films and television dramas meant producers loved spending heavily to hire him for soundtracks. This gave Qin Yi an unshakeable position within the entertainment industry's scoring circle.

This man's musical composition was extraordinary. The scores he created for films and television dramas always fit the themes perfectly, possessed distinct stylistic characteristics, and were full of inspiration.

Now, he was going to take Lu Zhou as his disciple...

Pan Chengyi had no idea how Lu Zhou had managed to establish a connection with Qin Yi. Connection aside, how had he managed to touch the master's heart and make him willing to take him on as a disciple?

It was truly a mystery.

What did being taken in as Qin Yi's disciple mean?

It meant an elevation of Lu Zhou's market value; it meant the opening of a brand-new tier of networking resources.

However, Pan Chengyi still didn't truly grasp at that moment what Lu Zhou meant by "Wait a bit longer, he will come." That confident tone wasn't solely backed by the fact that Qin Yi was taking him as a disciple.

The day of the apprenticeship banquet drew closer with each passing day.

Linda recently received notice from Lu Zhou telling her to cancel all his less important upcoming promotional shoots.

She was baffled. Why turn down money? Was the boss busy with new musical creations?

That would be a good thing!

Yet, after her initial excitement, she found that Lu Zhou didn't seem to be creating anything new at all. Aside from essential shoots that couldn't be postponed, he locked himself in the studio's piano room every day, practicing the piano crazily.

Linda suspected he might have lost his mind.

She desperately wanted to ask: Brother, did you make a mistake? You're in the entertainment industry, not trying to become a concert pianist! Practicing the piano this hard, are you trying to pursue a career as a pianist???

Who in the entertainment industry needed such professional piano skills? Understanding basic music theory, writing new pop songs, and then making money, money, and more money was the fundamental truth!

Yet Lu Zhou had recently turned down quite a few lucrative jobs, wasn't writing new songs, and was instead burying himself in practicing the piano???

Had he gone mad?

Linda couldn't understand this bizarre operation of his. She wasn't his manager, just a junior assistant, but since Lu Zhou's manager hadn't arrived yet, she involuntarily took on the worries of a manager.

The dedicated Linda felt that Lu Zhou's behavior was inappropriate, so she went to Pan Chengyi to offer admonishment.

Pan Chengyi simply replied, "He has been issued a challenge. Let him practice."

Linda wore a puzzled face: "Huh? Issued a challenge by whom?"

"Wang Yanhua. He's going to have a piano showdown with Lu Zhou at the apprenticeship banquet. Your boss is probably cramming at the last minute so he doesn't lose too much face in front of everyone," Pan Chengyi guessed.

Linda was dumbfounded. "Is Wang Yanhua out of his mind? He actually issued a piano challenge? Who in the country can beat him at the piano right now... Isn't that a dimensional reduction strike? Can he have a shred of shame?"

Pan Chengyi smiled. "He probably issued the challenge precisely because he wants to win back some face."

Linda blinked, suddenly feeling a surge of sympathy for her boss.

Whenever she thought of the apprenticeship banquet, she couldn't help but picture the scene of her boss being pinned to the piano and brutally crushed. What a truly miserable sight that would be...

Sympathy is a great motivator for hard work.

Seeing Lu Zhou grinding day and night in the piano room, Linda, thinking he was pitiful, stayed by his side outside, serving tea, bringing water, and delivering meals. Her service was impeccably attentive, and the way she looked at him even carried a trace of tender concern.

Lu Zhou always felt something was slightly off about her, so he simply gave her a holiday.

Before leaving, the forcibly-vacationed Linda gave Lu Zhou an energetic fighting gesture and encouraged him:

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself! Just do your best! In our hearts, you'll always be the best!"

Lu Zhou: "???"