Chapter 45

"If I could do it all over again, I would choose Li Bai,

At least I could still write poems to stir and amuse girls.

If I could do it all over again, I would choose Li Bai,

My creations would reach such heights and be admired by so many.

If I could do it all over again..."

Li Mu made some adaptations to the arrangement of this song. After the last line "If I could do it all over again," he did not add a coda but instead had all the instruments stop abruptly, bringing the song to an end.

This unexpected arrangement left everyone who was immersed in the song completely surprised. They suddenly realized that the song had ended so abruptly, leaving them wanting more. However, they couldn't help but applaud, and the girls' screams filled the entire gymnasium.

The judges also showed excitement, especially the vice president of a record company from Yanjing.

Zhang Kexuan was extremely excited, leading his three friends to bow to the audience. He didn't expect this to elicit even more screams from the girls.

The host stepped onto the stage to invite the judges to score. Unexpectedly, four of the five judges gave a 9, and one gave an 8, giving Simple Plan a total score of 27, the highest in the competition so far.

The judges' comments praised the song's melody and arrangement. The vice president of the record company from Yanjing was particularly generous with his praise: "Your song is fantastic. The melody is not only beautiful but also very memorable. I believe this song will be widely sung in the future. To be honest, I didn't expect to hear such a great original song before coming to Jinling. The lead singer's voice is also very good, and his appearance is excellent. If you have other excellent original songs, I would be the first to consider signing you!"

Zhang Kexuan and his friends were extremely excited. They thanked the judges and bowed to the audience again before turning to leave the stage.

Everyone around them was discussing Simple Plan's performance, which had a profound impact on them.

From the judges' and the audience's reactions, it was clear that Simple Plan had made a stunning debut.

Chen Wan leaned forward, supporting her chin and looking at Li Mu with the enthusiasm of a die-hard fan: "You're amazing!"

Li Mu blinked: "It's just okay. Let's go; I don't want to suffer here anymore."

The four members of Simple Plan were extremely excited. After packing up their instruments, they saw Li Mu and suddenly lined up. Zhang Kexuan led the way, walking up to Li Mu, holding his right hand with both hands, and then bowing deeply, even deeper than 90 degrees.

"Brother Mu, thank you!"

Then it was Ye Tianming...

"Brother Mu, thank you!"

Then it was Xia Ji...

"Brother Mu, thank you!"

Then it was Gu Wei...

Li Mu felt like a godfather, receiving the worship of four disciples.

After the worship, Zhang Kexuan, blushing, said: "Brother Mu, about the next song..."

"I knew you wouldn't do something for nothing," Li Mu said. "Is the next competition the provincial championship?"

"Exactly," Zhang Kexuan nodded. "The band with the highest score in the next round goes to Yanjing."

"What happens after we get to Yanjing?"

"There will be two more rounds in Yanjing. The first round will select five bands, and the second round will determine the champion, runner-up, and third place."

Li Mu said, "So, I need to prepare three more songs for you?"

Zhang Kexuan was a bit embarrassed: "You've already come this far, and we have that music website thing, right? Besides, we'll pay you for the three songs, every cent."

Li Mu waved his hand: "We'll talk about money later. Let's go to your rehearsal room first. I'll give you the second song."

"Brother Mu, you're the best, no doubt about it!"

...

The second song Li Mu gave to Simple Plan was "Sunflower" by Xie Tianxiao, released in 2005.

Xie Tianxiao is revered in the future rock music scene as the godfather of rock and the king of live performances. However, most of his songs are quite noisy and don't fit the style Li Mu wanted for Simple Plan.

Simple Plan's overall style should lean towards pop. Too alternative or too rock-oriented music wouldn't be suitable for them.

However, "Sunflower" is one of Xie Tianxiao's rare positive songs. The lyrics are very uplifting, and the melody is beautiful. The arrangement is also restrained, making it a rare positive and moving song in Chinese rock music.

When the lyrics were written, Chen Wan was the first to praise them: "The lyrics of this song are really great. A sunflower seed struggling to sprout in the dark soil, the words are concise and profound. These lyrics could be considered modern poetry."

Li Mu smiled: "Is it that good? You're so generous with your praise."

"It is," Chen Wan nodded seriously. "Nowadays, lyrics are all about love in pop songs and cynicism in rock songs. But this 'Sunflower' is a truly positive and uplifting work."

Zhang Kexuan and the others also praised it, especially Ye Tianming: "I think the lyrics of this song are better than 'Li Bai,' with deeper meaning."

"You know what deep meaning is?" Zhang Kexuan smirked, then continued: "But it is indeed very meaningful, and I think it's very good."

Li Mu said, "These lyrics have a wide range of uses. They can inspire young people, give hope and encouragement to those suffering, and even be used for anti-war and anti-terrorism messages. If you make this song popular, there's a good chance it will be featured on TV or used by TV stations."

"What about the melody?" Zhang Kexuan asked eagerly. "Brother Mu, sing it for us, let us appreciate it."

"Sure." Li Mu picked up Zhang Kexuan's guitar and said to Ye Tianming and Gu Wei: "I'll play and sing the first verse, and you can join in on the second verse."

The basic accompaniment was simple. The drummer just needed to keep the rhythm, and the bassist just needed to find the root notes of the chords, which wasn't difficult for them.

Then, in Simple Plan's rehearsal room, Li Mu sang "Sunflower" for the first time.

"That beautiful sky is always boundless,

A seed is buried beneath the clouds,

Nourishment comes from the muddy ground,

It sprouts and grows, still following the will of heaven...

Countless raindrops fall before me, covering the earth,

Standing here, there is only one question,

Sunflower, if you only grow in the dark,

Sunflower, will you bloom (will you be afraid)?"

Li Mu's voice was better than Zhang Kexuan's, so he sang it very emotionally. Xie Tianxiao, a rock uncle in his forties, didn't have a voice that appealed to pop music listeners, so Li Mu deliberately made his singing style more pop-oriented, making it more accessible to the general public.

Zhang Kexuan was overjoyed. With this song, he was confident that they could participate in the final in Yanjing as the provincial champions!

Li Mu taught the song several times. After Zhang Kexuan memorized it, he explained the arrangement to the band members. After passing on all the information, Li Mu asked, "When is the next competition?"

"We'll wait for the notification," Zhang Kexuan said. "The preliminary rounds for over fifty bands will take several days, and then the scores will be used to select the bands for the next round, and they will be notified of the specific competition times."

Li Mu smiled: "With a perfect score of 30, you got 27, you'll definitely make it to the next round."

"Of course," Zhang Kexuan said excitedly. "The highlights of the provincial preliminaries will be broadcast on major satellite TV channels next Saturday. I wonder if they'll show our 'Li Bai.'"

"They definitely will," Li Mu patted his chest. "The TV stations want to attract viewers, and Simple Plan, both the people and the songs, are perfect for that."

Li Mu continued, "When the performance photos from today are ready, remember to send them to me. I'll decide which portal to post the PR thread on."

"Sure!"

"PR threads and online support require money. I'm broke, so you'll have to cover the costs."

"Is that a problem? Is 100,000 enough? If not, we can add more."

Li Mu nodded: "100,000 should be enough for now."

Li Mu already had a plan for how to use the 100,000 yuan. First, he needed to set up two servers, one for Eting and one for creating a forum.

There were no group chat tools like QQ groups at the time. If Zhao Kang were to build a team of online supporters, he would lack a platform to manage the members and issue commands. With hundreds or even thousands of supporters, effective communication would be crucial. Building an internal forum would be a cost-effective solution, capable of supporting a team of thousands or more, providing long-term benefits.

The cost of two servers, including hosting and bandwidth, would be a few tens of thousands of yuan. Giving Zhao Kang another 50,000 yuan to use as initial funding for building the team would also allow him to test Zhao Kang's management skills.