Chapter 418: Chapter 418: 249: The Chaos Before New Year's, Differences Among People Before the Countdown to Midnight_3

Lin Wanzhou picked up a bit of vegetables with her chopsticks and placed them in her bowl, not eating, and softly said,

“Albums are more for show to the fans, most people are still just listening to singles.”

“Yeah, now who cares about what concepts your album has?” Qi Ting said, “It’s the fans who pay attention, but if you don’t put in the effort, they’ll leave.”

“Besides, there’s too many plagiarism songs on short video platforms now, they just copy brazenly. Change a little thing and it’s ‘original’, with a bunch of people underneath praising it, saying it’s much better than the original.”

“After all, you can still earn money by plagiarizing, and not just a little; who would bother being a musician? Just go up there and fish for money, copying over and over again, under the glorious label of hits.”

“There’s no helping it, that’s just the industry atmosphere now,” Xu Qingyan said, “But you don’t need to bother with them; copying over and over won’t get them anywhere.”

“Only by sticking to your own style can you carve out a path for yourself.”

If a small-time musician gets copied, they either join the bandwagon or clench their teeth and keep climbing. That’s the overall trend in the music industry, and the same goes for the film and television circles.

It’s not that the entertainment industry has gone downhill in recent years; it never was up the hill. It’s just the economic downturn bursting the bubble, weeding out the non-essentials, leaving behind a few classics, that’s all.

After finishing their meal, while Xu Qingyan went to pay the bill,

Qi Ting leaned close to Lin Wanzhou, blinked her eyes with curiosity and asked,

“Sister Zhou Zhou, why have you been working so diligently lately?”

Lin Wanzhou hadn’t always been ambitious regarding work, with songwriting always postponed. She’d avoid commercial performances if possible, focusing only on maintaining her status.

Could she be saving up for a dowry?

But now it seemed a bit too early, starting to ‘inject chicken blood’ before even a hint of marriage. And this… seemed to be somewhat overly contrary, it can’t be serious.

“Nothing much, what’s wrong with working hard?” Lin Wanzhou answered, her face not betraying a change, a picture of puzzlement.

“Oh, is that so.” Qi Ting scratched her head, feeling as if perhaps she was overthinking things, “It’s good to work hard. Wait until we build our studio… ”

Listening to Qi Ting ramble on about the future, Lin Wanzhou quietly pursed her lips, suppressing the curvature of her mouth.

If Xu Qingyan, who was settling the bill, knew Lin Wanzhou’s thoughts at the moment, “He’s working so hard for our future,” he’d definitely give a thumbs up.

She was half right.

Beep, the bill settled.

Xu Qingyan was about to head back, when he noticed someone @mentioned him in the chat group. It wasn’t any of the many chat groups from the Chang’an Spring Festival Evening, but the “Salted Fish Group” he joined during the romance variety show.

Zhou Mian had pulled him in. About forty people, all solid backstage workers familiar with each other. Lighting, props, planning, they had everything.

The entertainment industry’s underbelly, a collective of the strongest workers who alternate between feast and famine.

Though this was just a joke; in fact, people in this line made good money. The biggest drawback was the lack of control over time—if there was a job, you had to take it, otherwise, you’d lose the opportunity.

Li Zhi @mentioned Xu, Li Zhi was Chen Niannian, the girl Zhou Mian used to be fond of without successful reciprocation. Not even a story, just some affection.

“Teacher Xu, go and persuade Brother Zhou, it looks like he and his wife are having a fight,” she said.

Thinking it was a normal quarrel, he jokingly replied in the group chat,

Xu: “Why should I meddle? Isn’t it quite normal for a couple to argue over the New Year? I’m not getting involved.”

It’s all too common for spouses or couples to fight during significant holidays, with the many responsibilities and pressures. Holidays are almost a magnifying glass, coldly testing the harmony of each family.

There are three reasons: no money, raking up old issues during idle moments, and the festival disrupting the delicate balance of daily interactions—more actions lead to more mistakes, the more you do, the more you err.

Mrs. Pikachu: “It seems like it’s not an ordinary quarrel, they’re talking about divorce, and the house almost got smashed to pieces.”

Xu Qingyan’s steps halted, and he stood still where he was.

“Hiss~ Damn.”

He typed in the group chat, asking, “It’s the New Year’s, how did it get to this point?”

Mrs. Pikachu: “It seems to be about the New Year’s gift, we can’t even get through by phone now.”

“Since when do people give New Year’s gifts? That’s unheard of!” Xu Qingyan looked confused, walking toward Lin Wanzhou, suddenly realizing he had no concept of this.

Not just him, but Lin Wanzhou, Pei Muchan, even Shen Jinyue, nobody had ever mentioned “New Year’s gifts.”

“Thank you, Teacher Xu, for the meal. Are we leaving now?” Qi Ting turned her head and asked.

“Wait for me a moment, something came up, I need to make a call to a friend,” Xu Qingyan explained, “I heard they are arguing, I want to check on the situation.”

“Okay.”

Xu Qingyan walked toward the restroom to call Zhou Mian.

It wasn’t long before the call connected.

“Brother Xu.”

“What’s going on with you, I heard your place was trashed?” Xu Qingyan inquired.

“There’s been a bit of a situation, sigh,” Zhou Mian replied over the phone, probably lighting a cigarette with a flick, “I’m outside right now, got kicked out.”

“You, this….”

“No worries, probably getting a divorce, it’s for the best,” Zhou Mian took a deep breath, his voice a bit husky, “Since there are no kids, it’s enough. I’m done with this life.”

“No way, just over not giving a New Year’s gift?” Xu Qingyan said, dumbfounded, having never experienced anything like this and utterly unable to imagine it.

He had never seen Zhou Mian’s wife, only occasionally hearing her voice during chats or when there was a call for work. Impetuous, intolerant, hard to please.

Not someone with a steady temperament, but also not to say she was bad. Sometimes it might just be their choice, destined foes irritating each other until the end.

Thus, Xu Qingyan never pried into Zhou Mian’s private life, and could never have imagined it would be this outrageous.

“The New Year’s gift was just a trigger, she didn’t like the gift I gave,” Zhou Mian sighed, “We had agreed to go out for New Year’s, but I still had a little work to do.”

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