Volume Two: Shadows of the Past, Chapter Sixty-Nine: How Much Do You Know About Lin Xi?

As luck would have it, after Gu Tao joined Jingrun, she followed Ling Ruohan's advice and enrolled in instructor Yuan Mengru's training course, studying music theory alongside Li Qingwei. In the end, they coincidentally "graduated" together.

When Li Qingwei mentioned this to Chen Jing, Chen Jing remembered his own promise to write a song for Gu Tao. After giving it some thought, he decided that since the two were now familiar with each other, he would simply provide them with a duet to test the waters with a single.

When he arrived at the guest area of Ling Ruohan's office, no one else had arrived yet. They had agreed to meet at nine o'clock, and looking at his watch, Chen Jing noted there were still over ten minutes left.

Just as he was thinking this, the door opened, and he saw Gu Tao walk in alone. Upon entering, she spotted Chen Jing sitting on the sofa and was visibly startled.

"Um... Ah Jing, did you get here early? Have you been waiting long?" Gu Tao asked, walking in with an embarrassed expression.

"Not at all. I just arrived."

"Oh?"

Gu Tao replied with a soft "oh" and then fell silent, causing the atmosphere to quiet down. Chen Jing considered saying something to ease the awkwardness, but the door opened again, and this time, Li Qingwei walked in.

"Aha! Boss Jing, Gu Tao, sorry for keeping you waiting!" Seeing that both were already there and he was the only one left, Li Qingwei immediately rubbed his head in embarrassment.

With everyone present, Chen Jing no longer held back and pulled out the manuscript book he had brought. Li Qingwei and Gu Tao immediately fixed their eyes on it.

"Take a look," Chen Jing said with a smile. Seeing their impatience, he didn't keep them in suspense and handed the book over. "For this song, the male part is rap, and the female part handles the high notes. I thought it would suit your combination well, so I wanted you to try singing it together. See if you like it."

Li Qingwei laughed carelessly. "Heh, if it's a song from the boss, how could we not like it? As long as the boss says it’s suitable, it’s definitely perfect for us."

Gu Tao wasn't as thick-skinned as Li Qingwei and couldn't come up with such smooth talk; she simply nodded, feeling too shy to say anything. Chen Jing had only brought one copy of the score. Since Li Qingwei couldn't compete with Gu Tao to read it or crowd her, he had to suppress his excitement and wait for her to finish.

After reading through the song, Gu Tao gave Chen Jing a complex look before handing the book to the eager Li Qingwei.

"'Thank You for Once Having Been Here'!" Li Qingwei read the title on the cover aloud as he took the score. "What a great title! As expected of the boss, heh." After buttering up Chen Jing, he opened the book and began to hum along to the arrangement.

"You... how have you been lately? That girl in my story..." If it were before, Li Qingwei wouldn't have been able to grasp the song's rhythm just from the score, let alone hum it out. But after two months of systematic training, he was no longer the same Li Qingwei. He had mastered the necessary music theory skills, so humming the rhythm from the sheet music was perfectly fine.

After reading the whole song, Li Qingwei said excitedly, "Boss, I love this song, especially the rap part. I love it!"

Chen Jing smiled faintly. "As long as you like it." He then turned to Gu Tao and asked, "What about you, Gu Tao? Are you dissatisfied with the song? Or do you not want to sing a duet with Qingwei?"

Seeing Gu Tao sitting silently after reading the score, Chen Jing assumed she didn't like it and couldn't help but ask.

Hearing his voice, Gu Tao was startled. She waved her hands hurriedly. "No, no, I like this song very much. I believe I can coordinate well with Qingwei to perform it. I was just zoning out for a moment, thinking about what kind of emotions I should use to sing it. I’m not dissatisfied at all." She rushed to explain so that everyone would know she liked the song.

"Heh, exactly, exactly. How could Gu Tao ever dislike me? We spent a whole month as classmates under Teacher Yuan's guidance. Boss, don't try to sow discord between Gu Tao and me," Li Qingwei joked.

Chen Jing gave him a look of mock annoyance. "Alright, alright, enough with your sharp tongue. Since you're satisfied, start practicing. Just have the company record the demo based on the arrangement I wrote, and I'll come back to help you finalize it later."

"Understood, boss!"

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going. Practice hard, good luck." He directed the last bit of encouragement at Gu Tao.

"Okay, good luck to you too, Ah Jing," Gu Tao replied with a smile.

Li Qingwei, still wanting to chat, asked curiously, "Boss, your movie is hitting theaters on May Day, right?"

Chen Jing nodded. "That's right."

"Great! I'll definitely go see it four or five times to support you."

"Heh, if you like action movies, feel free to go, but don't go out of your way to pad the box office. There's no point in that."

Seeing Li Qingwei bring up the movie, Gu Tao quickly added, "Um... Ah Jing, I will go support it too."

Chen Jing chuckled. "This type of movie might not be suitable for girls, so you don't need to feel obligated to go."

Gu Tao shook her head and smiled. "I actually like action movies quite a bit. When I was little, I loved watching martial arts films and really admired those heroes."

"I see~" Chen Jing thought for a moment and smiled. "If there's an opportunity in the future, I'll help you fulfill your childhood dream."

Gu Tao looked at him in surprise. "How?"

Chen Jing shrugged. "I'll probably be making some martial arts films next. When that happens, I'll invite you to make a cameo as a swordswoman, so you can get a taste of the martial arts world. Haha."

Gu Tao's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Just as Chen Jing was about to nod, Li Qingwei couldn't help but interject, "Boss, what about me? What about me? I want to be a hero too."

Chen Jing nodded and said seriously, "Sure, I think there's a role that would be perfect for you."

Li Qingwei asked with anticipation, "What role? Is it a hero?"

Chen Jing shook his head.

"Then is it a grandmaster?" Li Qingwei asked again.

Chen Jing shook his head again.

"Then what role is it?" Li Qingwei was stumped.

Chen Jing said with a straight face, "A lecherous villain!"

Li Qingwei: "..."

"Pfft... Hahaha!" Gu Tao couldn't help but burst into laughter on the spot.

Chen Jing didn't banter with Li Qingwei any further; he reminded them to practice hard and then left. Once he was gone, Gu Tao's tense body finally relaxed slightly.

"Actually, Gu Tao, you don't have to be so nervous," Li Qingwei said suddenly. "Boss Jing is really good to his own people and is very easy to get along with. You don't need to look so nervous every time you see him. You're just making things awkward for both of you, aren't you?" He smiled at her.

Gu Tao said sheepishly, "You noticed?"

"Aha, with how nervous you were, it would be weird if anyone didn't notice," Li Qingwei shrugged.

Since Li Qingwei had said that, Chen Jing must have noticed her unusual behavior as well. At that thought, Gu Tao's cheeks burned with heat.

Li Qingwei said with conviction, "Heh, I know the boss is handsome, and you women will inevitably get nervous when you're with him. But the more nervous you are, the more distant you seem. Just be natural. Trust me, that's the way to go."

Gu Tao didn't argue; she remained lost in thought, wondering what she was thinking about.

Chen Jing returned to his office, wrote a few things, and left after less than an hour. He drove to a quiet cafe, scanned the room, and spotted the person who had asked to meet him. It was Xu Ce from Tomorrow Entertainment.

Chen Jing walked over, sat opposite him, and got straight to the point. "Speak. What do you have to tell me?"

He had received a message from Xu Ce last night. Originally, he hadn't wanted to respond, assuming Xu Ce just wanted to lobby him on behalf of Tomorrow Entertainment. However, the message mentioned that Xu Ce wanted to talk about Lin Xi, which piqued Chen Jing's interest, leading him to agree to the meeting.

Xu Ce said unhurriedly, "Chen, don't be in such a rush. Let's order some coffee and chat."

"Forget it," Chen Jing retorted. "We have nothing to talk about. If you have something to say, say it. Once you're done, we leave. It’s that simple."

Seeing Chen Jing show him no respect, Xu Ce narrowed his eyes. He stared at Chen Jing for a moment before continuing with a smile. "You really are impatient. Fine, let's get down to business. My manager was there last time, so it wasn't convenient to talk about these things. Now that it's just the two of us, let's have a proper talk." He emphasized his words, "Let's have a proper talk about that woman, Lin Xi."

Chen Jing didn't care about the atmosphere Xu Ce was trying to cultivate. He looked at him calmly and said indifferently, "Fine, how do you want to talk?"

Xu Ce thought for a moment and asked directly, "Chen, let me ask you: how much do you really know about Lin Xi?"