Chapter 296 Who gave Ying Zhicheng the guitar?

In the eyes of Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong, Li Luo has indeed demonstrated amazing talent in less than a year.

He had written several songs, one of which, "Annual Rings", became popular after being sung by Yuan Wanqing, which really surprised the couple.

Later, they heard that Li Luo’s other songs were also bought by Yuan Wanqing. The couple thought that the other party might have noticed the popularity of "Annual Rings", so she simply bought the remaining songs of Li Luo. Who knows, one of the songs might become popular again?

but……

A whole new album.

Nine songs.

All created by Li Luo?
This is completely different from what was said above!

Even for very famous singers and songwriters, it is rare for an album to be created entirely by the same person.

Not to mention he's still a high school student.

Xu Rongsheng and Cui Suling next to them were as surprised as Li Guohong and his wife.

After all, in Xu Rongsheng's opinion, although Li Luo may indeed have a talent for writing songs, it is still acceptable to just write one song occasionally.

He was more aware of Li Luo's attainments and level in online literature under the Internet paradigm.

But he never expected that Li Luo also had such a talent in songwriting.

It was so unexpected that a very famous singer actually handed over the production of his new album to the other party.

This is not just ordinary trust.

"You may not be too clear about it." Ying Zhicheng coughed twice, glanced at Li Luo with a complicated look, and then explained, "The previous song "Annual Rings" can be said to have become popular thanks to the traffic of the TV series "Yao Chi Xian Yuan"."

"But the song "Waiting for You to Get Out of Class" released by Li Luo a while ago was sung by him, and the only channel for promotion was his novel itself."

"But even so, the song 'Waiting for You to Get Out of Class' still made it to the new song chart, and within a week, it firmly occupied the top three positions."

“So Wanqing discussed it with me, including Li Luo’s own suggestions, and we initially finalized the promotion plan for the new album.”

At this point, Ying Zhicheng couldn't help laughing and sighed at the boldness and avant-garde nature of this plan. After all, this is a publicity angle that is difficult for normal people to think of.

"To put it simply, when Wanqing's new album is released, in addition to the normal promotion process, Li Luo will also have the heroine release a new album in the book at the same time."

"The book and the outside world are being promoted simultaneously, coordinating the promotion of each other."

Hearing this, Li Guohong and others were suddenly surprised, and then they suddenly realized.

"This is really interesting." Xu Rongsheng couldn't help but say, "This kind of publicity plan... It's a pity that I'm not a communication teacher, otherwise I would definitely let my students pay attention to your case. If it succeeds, at least I can write several papers."

Hearing this, Li Luo immediately pulled the corner of his mouth, thinking that Uncle Xu really wouldn't let him go...

Why do you have to write a paper for everything?
No wonder in his previous life, Xu Youyu got a headache whenever Xu Rongsheng was mentioned.

I was originally worried about what to do if the fact that I wrote an online article was exposed.

Later, after her family accepted that their daughter would write online articles, Xu Youyu had to worry again about what to do when her father always used her books as cases and wrote one paper after another.

It’s just that in this life, I took the blame for my senior sister, and was used by Xu Rongsheng as material for his thesis.

Thinking of this, Li Luo also had a headache, wondering whether he should find an opportunity to recommend "Literary Age" to Uncle Xu.

I can't always be the one taking the damage, so should Xu Youyu just hide behind me and deal damage?
It's a bit unfair.

"So how are you preparing for the remaining three songs?" Yuan Wanqing looked at Li Luo with some anticipation in her eyes and said with a smile, "The album recording of the six songs given to me earlier has been almost completed, but if I want to perform on stage, I still need to make some adjustments to the arrangement."

"Well..." Li Luo didn't want to be too shocking, so he controlled the frequency of releasing songs.

There are still more than three months until the challenge show on August 8st. Moreover, if Yuan Wanqing really wants to sing the last three songs in the next show, it will be around October at the latest.

So Li Luo was not in a hurry, and just said: "I have an idea, but I haven't finished writing it yet. Anyway, I will definitely be able to finish it before August."

"Okay." Yuan Wanqing nodded with satisfaction, and then asked curiously, "But, you said you have an idea, what exactly is it?"

When asked by Yuan Wanqing, Li Luo paused for a moment, then turned to look at Ying Zhicheng and asked in a low voice: "Uncle Ying, what are the specific terms of the contract between you and the program team?"

"For example, is there a rule that you will definitely lose when you challenge someone?"

"Can Aunt Yuan be allowed to compete normally?"

Hearing what Li Luo said, Ying Zhicheng immediately understood what he meant. He glanced at Yuan Wanqing, then smiled and said, "Wanqing told me about this before, so when we were negotiating the contract, we also discussed it with them."

"The competition can proceed as normal. As long as she performs well and gets the top four votes, she will be considered a successful challenger."

"But at the beginning, the opponent just wanted to find an ordinary challenger and didn't think about changing players."

"It just so happened that one of the contestants discussed with the production team that due to schedule reasons, he might not be able to appear in the next few episodes."

“So it just happened to catch up with us.”

After receiving this answer, Li Luo laughed, then looked at Yuan Wanqing, coughed twice and cleared his throat: "I looked at the date before, if Aunt Yuan can hold on until the end, the second to last episode seems to be the National Day holiday?"

"Hmm..." Yuan Wanqing took out her phone, pondered for a moment, checked it, and nodded, "Yes, it's October 10nd."

"For the first of the three songs, let's write a song that is more about family and country, is that okay?" Li Luo asked, "Has Aunt Yuan tried this before?"

Yuan Wanqing frowned and shook her head, but then relaxed: "You can try."

When she first debuted as a young girl, the company created a sweet personality for her, so the songs she sang were either sweet love songs or love songs for little girls who had been heartbroken.

She is older now. Although she is in her thirties but looks like she is twenty-six or twenty-seven, she is no longer a little girl after all.

Therefore, the overall style of the new album that was just released after his comeback is more mature.

The six songs that Li Luo has given her now are basically not the types of songs she sang when she was young. This can be regarded as a transformation direction after her comeback.

"However," Yuan Wanqing reminded, "this type of song has its pros and cons. Try to write it as soon as possible so that I can take a look at it."

"Okay." Li Luo nodded, and then said, "As for the next two songs, if Aunt Yuan can make it to the finals..."

"Uh..." Upon hearing this, Yuan Wanqing laughed and shook her head, "I don't think the hope is very high. It's already great to be able to successfully challenge the club."

"Don't underestimate yourself." Ying Zhicheng said, "Listen to what Li Luo thinks."

"My idea is very simple." Li Luo laughed and pointed at Yan Zhusheng who was sitting obediently next to him and said, "If we can really make it to the finals, how about letting Zhusheng come on stage to help during the duet segment?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was stunned for a moment.

Yan Zhusheng also blinked, and was a little unresponsive for a moment.

Yuan Wanqing was the first to come to her senses and asked doubtfully, "Are you sure? What song must Zhu Sheng sing with me?"

"I have a song in my mind. Although it has not yet been finalized, I think it is very suitable for Aunt Yuan and Zhu Sheng to sing together." Li Luo smiled, "And the effect of mother-daughter duet should be quite good? But it depends on what Aunt Yuan and Zhu Sheng think. It won't be too late for you to decide after the song is written."

At this point, Yuan Wanqing doesn't dare to underestimate Li Luo, especially since the song was written by him, so he must have his own unique understanding.

Yuan Wanqing glanced at her daughter beside her, and seeing her eager expression, she laughed and said, "Okay, we'll see when the time comes."

Li Luo nodded with satisfaction and finally said, "As for the last song left, I think it should be very suitable for Aunt Yuan herself."

"Then I'll look forward to it." Yuan Wanqing smiled.

She was a person who had seen a lot of ups and downs, but when facing Li Luo, when he said these words, she couldn't help but feel a little excited.

I hope she won't be too disappointed.

"So..." At this time, seeing that they had finished their conversation, Li Guohong couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Can you let us listen to those songs of yours first?"

"Sure." Yuan Wanqing nodded, "But it would be better if there was accompaniment, right? Well... a cappella is not a bad idea either."

"Wait a minute!" Ying Chanxi stood up and trotted towards the piano room. He turned to Yuan Wanqing and said, "Auntie, wait a minute. We have a guitar here that you can use."

"Oh, that's fine." Yuan Wanqing nodded, and saw Ying Chanxi take out the expensive guitar from the piano room and hand it to her.

But when Yuan Wanqing hugged the guitar and looked at it subconsciously, the expression on her face froze.

Then she turned her head to look at Ying Zhicheng, narrowed her eyes slightly, and an ambiguous expression appeared in her eyes.

Ying Zhicheng was a little slow to react, and at first he didn't understand what Yuan Wanqing's look meant.

But when his eyes fell on the guitar in Yuan Wanqing's hand, he was stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help asking: "Xixi, isn't this the guitar I keep at home?"

"Yes." Ying Chanxi nodded innocently, "What's wrong?"

"No...so when did you bring it here?" Ying Zhicheng asked hurriedly.

"I brought it here last year." Ying Chanxi pointed at Li Luo. "Li Luo can play the guitar, so I thought he might need it, so I brought it here. During the military training at the beginning of last year, he held this guitar and sang on the playground of our school."

"Oh~" Yuan Wanqing nodded and chuckled, "I brought it last year."

"Cough, cough, cough..." Ying Zhicheng coughed a few times and quickly changed the subject, "Let's sing. Sing. We have to go back to the company in the afternoon after singing."

"Okay." Yuan Wanqing hummed softly, holding the guitar and plucking the strings. Then she calmed down and decided not to argue with Ying Zhicheng about this matter for the time being. As the rhythm gradually rose, she hummed softly.

It was the song she liked best, "Light Chaser".

Soon, the living room was immersed in Yuan Wanqing's singing.

Halfway through the song, she turned her head and winked at Yan Zhusheng, indicating that she should join in.

At the end of the song, Li Luo also sang along, and Yuan Wanqing played the guitar to accompany them.

After singing a few songs, Li Guohong and others were also moved.

"It's really good." Patting his son on the shoulder, Li Guohong said, "It's a blessing for you to be able to write a song for your Aunt Yuan."

"You can't say that." Yuan Wanqing laughed and said, "I still have to thank Li Luo." Then, Yuan Wanqing handed the guitar to Li Luo and said, "You can continue to use this guitar."

Hearing Yuan Wanqing suddenly say this, Li Luo was stunned for a moment. After taking the guitar, he looked down at the guitar, then looked at Yuan Wanqing, then turned his head to look at Ying Zhicheng beside him, and fell into deep thought for a moment.

Could it be...

"Ahem... this guitar was given to me by Wanqing a while ago." Ying Zhicheng coughed and explained in a low voice, "But I don't usually use it, so it's okay for Xixi to give it to you."

"Yes." Yuan Wanqing said with a smile, "Guitars are meant to be played. Your uncle Ying is usually very busy and probably doesn't have much time, so it's just right for you to use it."

After hearing what the two said, Li Luo finally reacted and forced a smile.

Since Yuan Wanqing said so, Li Luo would not be polite to them.

But in his heart, Li Luo still broke into a cold sweat for Ying Zhicheng.

The gift given by his girlfriend was lent to another boy by his daughter... I wonder if Uncle Ying will be angry with Aunt Yuan after he returns home?

But they are both adults, they shouldn’t get angry over such a small matter, right?

However, Ying Chanxi on the side was very confused and couldn't help but look at Yuan Wanqing and then at Ying Zhicheng.

If it was a year ago, she might not have thought anything of it, but later Li Luo told her that this guitar was quite expensive, and the normal purchase price would start at less than ten thousand yuan.

Could this be a casual gift from a normal friend?
But thinking about the fact that Aunt Yuan should not be short of money and she is an artist in my dad’s company, it is understandable that she wants to please her boss.

But when he thought about a woman giving such an expensive gift to his father, Ying Chanxi frowned slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable.

But after all, Dad and Aunt Yuan are friends in private, so Ying Chanxi couldn't say anything.

"Speaking of which, there is one more thing." Ying Zhicheng looked at Li Luo, then at Li Guohong, and reminded him, "Li Luo's income is already quite high. My suggestion is that you should set up a company for him."

"He now has a starting income of several million a year, and paying taxes directly according to his personal tax amount is somewhat of a loss."

"Although the company's tax is a little higher than normal individuals, it is definitely better than his large personal income."

"Also, after we have a company, some things will be convenient. When we sign an agreement with him in the future, we can do the accounting directly."

"Including Li Luo's income from writing articles, you can ask the website where you write online articles. It should be possible to change the contract signed by individuals into an agreement signed with the company."

"Or you can sign an agency contract with the company in your personal name. There should be many ways."

"It just so happens that I want to sign an overall contract with you regarding the production of the new album, and clarify some copyright and profit-sharing details."

"See when you are free and register the company first."

After being reminded by Ying Zhicheng, Li Luo finally reacted.

To be honest, the tax rate set by the state for the author's personal remuneration is actually not high.

For example, last year, excluding the income from his song sales, his income from royalties was probably only a few hundred thousand.

If this income were given to an ordinary worker, the tax he would have to pay would be quite a lot.

But he pays taxes at a constant rate of around 11%, and even according to national policies, he receives corresponding tax refund benefits at the end of the year.

But this year, things are different.

Because since February, his monthly income has increased to hundreds of thousands. Even if we don't consider the income provided by Huayue Film and Television from the new album, the royalties alone are estimated to be several million a year.

If the tax rate is calculated based on personal royalties, then at the end of the year there will be no tax refund, but rather, you will have to pay additional taxes.

Thinking of this, Li Luo nodded and said, "Well, I'll ask the editor if there is any precedent in this regard. As for the company's affairs..."

"You are not yet an adult, so your parents have to come for this." Ying Zhicheng said, "If Lao Li is not familiar with it, I will ask my secretary to help you with the process. It is quite simple to register a company."

"Okay, I'll think about it." Li Guohong also heard the importance of this matter and nodded immediately, "But I won't bother you first. I'll ask my brother. He used to do business, so he should have some connections in the Industrial and Commercial Bureau here."

"That's fine." Ying Zhicheng smiled, then patted Li Guohong on the shoulder, "Now that Li Luo has made a name for himself, and you two are no longer tinkering with that breakfast shop, it's a good opportunity to set up a company. You can help Li Luo sign contracts and so on, and pay yourself and your sister-in-law some wages. You can also help him avoid taxes, so that he doesn't have nothing to do."

After hearing what Ying Zhicheng said, Li Luo thought it was a good idea.

When the store is bought and the company is established, my parents will have nothing to do, so they will go to the store to take a walk and see how business is going.

Go to my uncle’s milk tea shop, order a cup of milk tea, enjoy the air conditioning, and chat.

Li Luo had something to do, so he asked his parents to sign the contract for him so that he had something to do.

Thinking of this, Li Luo grinned, patted Li Guohong on the shoulder and teased: "Dad, you will be the general manager of our company in the future, on the same level as Uncle Ying. You can hold your chest high when drinking and bragging in the future."

Hearing this, Ying Zhicheng couldn't help laughing and then burst into laughter.

Li Guohong's face turned red after hearing what he said, and he said unhappily, "You are not ashamed. It's just a small company. How can you compare with Lao Ying and the others?"

"That's different." Ying Zhicheng laughed and said, "I'm just a senior employee working for the shareholders. A little equity dividend is the limit for me."

"If your Li Luo's songs become popular after being sung by Wanqing, I guess many people will come to him privately to ask for songs."

"This book is a bestseller right now, and maybe there will be a chance to sell the rights to a film or TV show in the future."

"I've inquired before. For a work of his caliber, the copyright fee is currently around tens of millions at the very least."

"When your company is established, with Li Luo as your cash cow, the valuation will not be low."

After hearing what Ying Zhicheng said, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong both felt a little dizzy, as if they were flying into the sky all of a sudden.

Li Luo, however, remained sober and coughed twice to remind him, "My online articles are all plagiarized works of entertainment from real life. The copyright is still difficult to sell and it is easy to cause disputes."

"That's true." Ying Zhicheng pondered for a moment. He hadn't thought of this before, but then he said, "But there are also many original songs in your book, right?"

"In fact, it can be picked out separately at that time. Just pay attention when adapting it. Copyright issues are still easy to avoid."

"even……"

At this point, Ying Zhicheng's heart skipped a beat and he was actually somewhat tempted.

Li Luo also asked his secretary to investigate this novel, and it is now very popular on the Qidian platform website.

Qidian is now backed by Penguin and is itself the largest male-oriented online literature website in China.

For any book that becomes extremely popular on the Internet, the copyright price remains high.

For copyright disputes like "I'm Really Not a Celebrity" which are in a state of ambiguity, it is not impossible to sell the copyright if one really wants to.

When Li Luo heard what Ying Zhicheng said, he suddenly remembered it.

Although when he entered the industry, there were basically no popular books with entertainment themes that could sell film and television rights.

Even if we only talk about urban themes, very few can be sold. This theme is mostly the preserve of female writers, and urban male-oriented works are rarely considered when purchasing copyrights.

But in the earlier days, that is, at this stage, many film and television companies actually did not understand the specific chemical reaction between online literature and film and television, so they still purchased the copyrights of many popular books.

Among them was a novel about entertainment themes. Even though it was later blocked, the film and television copyright was still sold and even made into a TV series.

Thinking of this, Li Luo became a little moved.

Ying Zhicheng also had similar ideas to Li Luo.

Huayue Film and Television's foray into the TV drama field in recent years has actually been somewhat difficult to adapt to.

Although it has produced one or two hit TV series, as well as some fan-oriented film and television dramas, it is still far from gaining a firm foothold.

The previous "Eternal Love of Jade Pool" received mixed reviews, but the revenue was supported by two young handsome actors. It was not a huge profit, but it was still acceptable.

There is another urban romance drama "You Are My Love Forever" coming out during the summer vacation, but I don't know how it will perform.

But judging by the popularity of Li Luo's novel, the plot should be pretty good, right?
I don’t know what it would be like if it were made into a TV series.

With this idea in mind, Ying Zhicheng's thinking became more active.

However, these ideas were not yet mature, so he did not continue.

Afterwards, the four families chatted on the sofa for a while, and around two o'clock in the afternoon, the parents left one after another.

When we walked out of Bi Hai Lan Ting, Ying Zhicheng's driver was already waiting downstairs.

Without waiting for Ying Zhicheng to help him open the car door, Yuan Wanqing opened the door and got in.

Ying Zhicheng quickly got into the back seat from the other side and explained in a low voice: "I usually leave it at home. I don't know when Xixi brought it here."

"I'm not angry." Yuan Wanqing crossed her arms and looked out the window calmly, "You don't need it anyway."

"Well... you can't say that." Ying Zhicheng took the initiative to pull Yuan Wanqing's hand over and hold it, "After all, this is your birthday present to me. Otherwise, why don't I find a reason to let Xixi take the guitar back?"

"Forget it." Yuan Wanqing laughed and shook her head. "I'll be more careful next time and try to give you something you can use. Just think of the guitar as a gift to Li Luo."

"so……"

"That's good." Yuan Wanqing turned her head to cover his mouth, then said, "A gift is just a gift. There's no need to attach too much special meaning to it. If you want it, I can give you something else next time."

The driver sat in the driving seat, turning a deaf ear to the conversation in the back seat. He drove steadily, pretending he heard nothing.

On the other side, Yan Zhusheng watched Li Luo carry the guitar back to the piano room, and couldn't help but whisper to him: "Next time on your birthday, I'll give you a new guitar."

Li Luo: "...Isn't this guitar good? Your mother gave it to you specially."

"After all, it belongs to Uncle Ying." Yan Zhusheng said seriously, "I'll give you another one, so that this guitar can be returned to Uncle Ying."

"What are you talking about?" Ying Chanxi had just gone to the bathroom and asked curiously after coming out.

"Nothing." Yan Zhusheng shut up immediately when he saw Ying Chanxi coming over.

(End of this chapter)