Chapter Ninety-Three: A New Source of Income

Hu Pao’s performance could not help but make Jiang Xiwen admire the old master Benshan even more. In Spring Festival Gala sketches years later, this style of applause would become one of Benshan’s favorite comic bits. It seemed the saying was true after all: art comes from life, and life is full of wishful imagining.

“Xiwen put it well. I don’t even know what he said, but it gets my blood pumping!” Hu Pao said with an awkward grin.

Yang Wei swatted the back of his head. “You punk, you’re better at flattery than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Luo Xiaoyin paid them no mind. He kept his eyes lowered, lost in thought.

Damn it, if I don’t borrow a little from the future, there’s no way I’ll get him interested.

Seeing Luo Xiaoyin’s expression, Jiang Xiwen knew he was worrying about their capabilities. Jiang Xiwen’s little speech had lifted his spirits, but building a large-scale game was not something that could be done on a whim.

Jiang Xiwen could not make Luo Xiaoyin understand his programming skill right away, but at this moment he could win him over with the thing Luo Xiaoyin knew best: music.

“Xiaoyin, I wrote a song. Listen and see whether it works.” Jiang Xiwen glanced at the other two. “Yang Wei, Hu Pao, don’t laugh at me. I’m going to sing now...”

“Xiwen, you’re something else, a real man of many talents!” Yang Wei clapped loudly, then smacked Hu Pao on the back of the head again. “It’s your turn to clap now, and you’ve gone quiet again.”

“Oh? You can write songs?” Luo Xiaoyin’s face at once showed genuine interest.

Ignoring the two clowns, Jiang Xiwen nodded at Luo Xiaoyin and began to sing.

What he sang was a song Luo Xiaoyin would compose many years later: the theme from the online version of Sword and Chivalry 2. Jiang Xiwen knew the melody well. His voice was ordinary, but he could hold a tune; he sang it cleanly from start to finish without missing a note. Though it was only unaccompanied singing, it still brought out the song’s mood and atmosphere.

Yang Wei and Hu Pao both found themselves deeply affected. They could not help praising him. “Xiwen, you really wrote this? It sounds pretty good.”

From the moment Jiang Xiwen began to sing, Luo Xiaoyin had furrowed his brow. By the time the song ended, his expression had become one of utter astonishment.

He understood music, especially pieces that blended folk and classical elements. Combined with the lyrics, the song drew him into a world of chivalry and heroic passion.

“Yang Wei, do you have an instrument?” Luo Xiaoyin said at last, and the instant he opened his mouth, he wore a look of almost wild fervor.

Except for the time he had once seen this fellow playing rock in a bar, Yang Wei had never seen Luo Xiaoyin like this. He hurried into the inner room and brought out a guitar. “Only this one. It’s acoustic. I rigged up some karaoke sound with it, just enough to have something musical going on. It was meant for show. See if it’ll do.”

Luo Xiaoyin did not answer. He took the guitar, tested a few notes, and began to play. At first the rhythm was still a little off, and Jiang Xiwen softly hummed along beside him. Before long, a captivating melody began to drift through the room, and Jiang Xiwen stopped humming and listened quietly.

Though it was only an ordinary guitar, the piece it produced brimmed with the flavor of clashing swords, thundering horses, and tender heroism. As Luo Xiaoyin’s fingers danced across the strings, different scenes seemed to flow into everyone’s ears. Hu Pao and Yang Wei’s expressions changed from surprise to rapture.

They had always thought Luo Xiaoyin was limited to either frenzied rock or gentle campus folk songs. They had never imagined that the tune Jiang Xiwen had just sung could, in his hands, become something so stirring and resonant.

Luo Xiaoyin truly was a genius. He had heard it only once, yet he remembered every note and added many variations of his own.

Jiang Xiwen had heard a more perfect, fully arranged version before, and because he was still thinking about finding Zhang Ya, he was naturally not as absorbed as Hu Pao and Yang Wei. Still, hearing Luo Xiaoyin play guitar at such close range was the sort of dream many fans of Sword and Chivalry longed for. It had its own unique charm.

When Luo Xiaoyin finished the piece, Jiang Xiwen could not help saying, “It’s a pity there’s only one guitar. If it could be arranged with several instruments and then produced on a computer, the effect would be much better.”

The look Luo Xiaoyin gave Jiang Xiwen was like that of a master musician finally meeting the one person who truly understood him. He placed both hands on Jiang Xiwen’s shoulders and said excitedly, “Xiwen, have you already produced it? You have to let me hear it!”

Jiang Xiwen shook his head with a smile. “Xiaoyin, if I had the skill to arrange music, I wouldn’t have needed to ask you here. I just hummed this tune on a whim and then put some lyrics to it. Your first performance just now already added far more than I sang myself, and that’s what made me realize it needed more instruments to support it.”

Jiang Xiwen casually made up an explanation. To an expert like Luo Xiaoyin, it sounded a little unbelievable, but one thing was certain: this was a completely new song. Whether or not Jiang Xiwen had actually written it, the fact remained that he had such a musical talent at his side, and that alone made Luo Xiaoyin worth bringing into this studio that had not even been officially established yet.

“Xiwen, I promise you. Once I come back from training in Beijing, I’ll go find you, and then I’ll join you in setting up this studio!” Luo Xiaoyin was still immersed in excitement.

Yang Wei chuckled. “Well, that settles it. Little Luo, stay for lunch. As for money, that problem’s solved. You don’t need to haul that huge speaker away anymore anyway. You still need it to listen to music, don’t you? No point selling it.”

Luo Xiaoyin hurriedly said, “I won’t sell the sound system. But I have something more important to do. I have to go back and get my bandmates together. We need to bring this song to life. It’s just too perfect.”

Without waiting for Yang Wei and the others to answer, Luo Xiaoyin turned, opened the door, and ran up the stairs.

This was a real windfall. A treasure. Talent, no doubt about it. Looks like Qi Fatty should start by making single-player games before he moves on to his antivirus software. I wonder what sort of effect it would have if antivirus software had music set to it.

Jiang Xiwen’s thoughts began to wander again.

“Xiwen, you’re amazing. Even that artistic type Luo can resonate with you.” Hu Pao shot him a thumbs-up and praised him loudly.

Yang Wei smacked the back of his head again. “Enough. Keep flattering people like that and I’m not feeding you lunch.”

Hu Pao hurriedly fell silent.

Jiang Xiwen laughed. “You two, together you really do make quite the pair.”

Hu Pao waved both hands at once. “Don’t say that, Xiwen. Brother Wei is my boss. I wouldn’t dare put myself on the same level as him.”

Thump. Another hit.

Yang Wei said impatiently, “Is that flattery or an insult? If I don’t teach you a lesson for a few days, your mouth starts floating off again. If you have time, think about how to make our business run better.”

“Yang Wei, that’s enough. You keep hitting his head like that, and even the smartest man would be beaten stupid.” Jiang Xiwen tried to stop him. “There aren’t many people coming to the KTV? From what Xiaoyin just said, your equipment got smashed?”

“Damn right, that brat Zhang Fang did it. Thanks to your help, I beat him up and got some face back, but he definitely won’t let this go.” Yang Wei said bitterly.

After Yang Wei finished, Hu Pao asked, “Xiwen, what’s KTV? A new name for karaoke?”

“Idiot!” Yang Wei lifted his hand halfway, then remembered what Jiang Xiwen had just said and lowered it again. “KTV is basically... basically karaoke. Xiwen’s well read, and he knows computers and music, so of course he knows the fancy new term.”

It was clear Yang Wei did not entirely understand what Jiang Xiwen was talking about, but he did not want to lose face in front of him.

Jiang Xiwen smiled. “Yang Wei, do you have enough capital? Why not open an indoor karaoke place? Then you won’t have to worry about nobody showing up in the dead of winter. Put in air-conditioning, and you can do business in both winter and summer.”

“Indoor? Wouldn’t that just be a bar? I can’t afford that,” Yang Wei said, shaking his head.

Jiang Xiwen paused slightly, then suddenly understood. This era had not yet seen the indoor private-room KTV. It seemed that model had come from Taiwan. He remembered that when he had once helped install a new system for Cash Box, he had seen资料 saying they had only entered Shanghai at the very end of 1994 and opened their first branch there.

At that thought, a spark lit in his mind, and a new way to make money immediately took shape.

“Yang Wei, listen. I’ve got an idea. You can try this first.”

“Oh? Xiwen, let’s hear it.” Yang Wei was very interested. He had known Jiang Xiwen for less than a day, and this kid had already surprised him too many times. Maybe what Jiang Xiwen was about to say would be another idea that could really help.

“Rent a large apartment and divide it into two private rooms. Put a karaoke setup in each room and focus entirely on karaoke business. It’s different from a bar. Just set out drinks, fruit platters, and some snacks, and that’s enough.

“Try it on a trial basis for a month after the New Year and see how it goes. Make sure the songs are all the newest releases.”

Jiang Xiwen paused, then continued, “You should know this: a lot of people feel awkward singing in front of strangers. Private rooms solve that. Friends can gather together, choose their own songs, and sing on their own. It’s similar to singing at home, but with a much larger selection of songs and with food and drinks provided. It’s also a lot less noisy than a bar, so both adults and children can come and have fun.

“Then you make a list of the songs on the discs and let them choose with a remote. If they want food or drinks, they can just call a waitress to bring it in...”