Chapter 131: Implementation of the Final Plan (Subscription Requested)

Jinghua, Chinese Music Association.

"The exchange meeting starts in four days. How are your preparations coming along?"

Inside an antique-style courtyard, an elder seated at the head of the room looked down at the dozen or so people sitting below and asked in a deep voice.

"Elder Zhuo, we have made full preparations, and the ensemble pieces have been polished and mastered," a middle-aged man sitting below the elder said with a smile. "The second-generation disciples are also working very hard. They have been practicing day and night, vowing to showcase the might of our nation's traditional musical instruments at this exchange meeting!"

"Oh, is that so? That’s excellent."

The elder stroked his beard and nodded with a smile. His surname was Zhuo, and his given name was Zhuoyi. He was the head of the National Traditional Music Troupe.

Zhuoyi looked at the people below, smiled, and then suddenly changed the subject. "How are you practicing that erhu piece 'Horse Racing' and the suona piece 'Hundred Birds Worshiping the Phoenix'? Those are the trump card pieces we prepared for the exchange meeting. There can be no mistakes!"

"Uh... this... the practice is coming along," the middle-aged man at the head of the table replied somewhat hesitantly.

"Hmm!"

Hearing this, Zhuoyi’s hand, which had been stroking his beard, paused. His clouded eyes widened as he barked, "What does 'coming along' mean! Either you are proficient, or you are not. Don't give me ambiguous answers!"

Flinching under Zhuoyi’s glare, the middle-aged man shrank back in fear, then pleaded, "Chief, it’s not that we aren't putting in the effort; it’s that those two pieces are truly... sigh..."

The middle-aged man sighed. "Without the original score published, we are only relying on listening to the melodies to transcribe them. There will always be differences from the original; we simply cannot mimic them perfectly."

"Furthermore, 'Horse Racing' is relatively easier for the erhu group because there is a video of the original performance. By watching the video to learn the techniques, we can make progress. But as for the suona group... sigh..."

The middle-aged man sighed again. "I suspect the original author used many advanced techniques when playing 'Hundred Birds Worshiping the Phoenix,' but without a video, these techniques cannot be mastered just by listening and guessing."

"Hmph!"

Zhuoyi snorted coldly. "Impossible?! How could it be impossible! Could it be that all of you, with your orthodox training and expertise, are no match for some wild amateur?"

At these words, none of the dozen people present made a sound, but their expressions varied: some were resentful, some ashamed, some defiant, some resigned, some indifferent, and some disappointed.

Yes, disappointed. And that person was Liu Yukun, the master of Li Dongning, who sat at the very end of the row.

His disappointment was not because no one present could replicate those two pieces, but disappointment in the entire traditional music troupe!

He still remembered when his apprentice had asked him to listen to "Horse Racing" and suggested recommending the original author to attend the exchange meeting to represent the country.

When he called to inquire and was rejected, his apprentice had angrily ranted about wanting to "pull the rug out from under them." He had even tried to persuade him, saying that while they were stubborn, they wouldn't stoop to stealing a junior's work or engaging in such unscrupulous behavior.

But now? Reality had proven him wrong—wrong in the most disastrous way possible!

What’s more, simply because he had made that one phone call, this group had ostracized him. If it weren't for today's meeting of the first-generation members, he wouldn't even have known that this group of people was already practicing these two pieces.

"Heh... Dongning, you did well!"

Liu Yukun chuckled to himself, then narrowed his eyes. He no longer wished to look at this group of people whose hearts had become so corrupt.

"Bang!"

Just as the atmosphere remained silent for nearly a minute, the courtyard door was suddenly pushed open, and a young man rushed in, looking panicked and holding a phone.

"What’s with the panic? What happened!"

The man at the head of the table frowned and scolded the young man who had run in.

"Master! It's bad, something has happened!"

The young man cried out, handing his phone to the middle-aged man. "Look, half an hour ago, someone posted two images on our official social media page. The content of these images is the copyright registration for the pieces 'Horse Racing' and 'Hundred Birds Worshiping the Phoenix'!"

"Copyright registration content? What does it say?" someone asked.

The young man said in a low voice, "The registrant declares that without his personal consent and authorization, no one may use or perform these two pieces anywhere, in any form!"

"What!"

The crowd gasped in disbelief. Most people don't include such specific restrictions when registering copyright; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many cover songs.

It was precisely because of this that they had confidently neglected to check the copyright registration for these two pieces, and now...

"Bang!" Zhuoyi, seated at the head, also let his anger surge as he slapped the armrest of his chair and shouted, "Have you had someone verify these two images? Are they real or photoshopped!"

"They're real!" the young man said hurriedly. "And we have already checked; he really did register them that way!"

"Bang!" Zhuoyi slapped the armrest again, furious. "Then contact him! Tell him to authorize us to perform these two pieces!"

Hearing this, the young man’s expression grew even more bitter. "We tried. He... he said... he said we are scammers."

"Scammers?!!"

Everyone present was stunned, unable to process the words.

"Heh... looks like someone is stirring up trouble," Zhuoyi sneered. But for all his anger, he was now out of options.

...

Inside the "Four Seasons Delicacy" shop, during a brief break, Yang Qing looked at Wang Ming and Li Dongning, who were sitting in the shop playing on their phones, and said speechlessly:

"I say, are you two really that bored? Bored enough to come to my shop to play on your phones?!"

Wang Ming looked up at Yang Qing and smiled. "Brother Yang, don't say that. Isn't Fang Du helping you sell the steamed buns? Otherwise, you'd be worked to death. Everything happens for a reason."

"Oh, getting all literary with me, are you?" Yang Qing shook his head and laughed. "You answered my phone earlier, didn't you? Who was it?"

Wang Ming smiled and handed Yang Qing’s phone back. "An unknown number, a scam call."

"A scam call?"

Yang Qing looked at the phone suspiciously. It was indeed an unknown number, so he didn't give it another thought. He smiled at the three of them and said:

"Since you're all free, don't leave at noon. Jin'er and the little ones aren't here today. I'll stir-fry a few dishes, and we'll call Brother Bai over to have a little drink."

"Sure!"

The three of them nodded with smiles.

After resting for a while, Yang Qing went back to making *jianbing guozi*, and Fang Du also continued to help sell steamed buns with great enthusiasm.

"How is it going? When is your army launching?"

Wang Ming leaned in close to Li Dongning, who was fiddling with his phone, and asked in a low voice, casting a sneaky glance at the busy Yang Qing.

"Soon!" Li Dongning whispered back. "The army is gathering. We launch the attack in ten minutes!"

"Nice!"

Wang Ming chuckled deviously. "They actually wanted to contact Brother Yang directly for authorization. Heh... do they think we're just sitting around doing nothing? Especially with you as our mole."

Li Dongning (→_→): "What are you saying! Can you even talk? I'm not a mole; I'm defecting from darkness to light!"

Wang Ming: "Heh..."

"Heh your head! Hurry up and get Brother Yang's phone over here!"

"Uh... what for? Haven't they already called?"

"Are you a pig? If they've already called, can't they call again? If they call now, can't they call again in the afternoon? Can't they call tonight?"

Wang Ming was stunned. "Uh, true. So what are you going to do? How about... we just disable Brother Yang's SIM card!"

Li Dongning: "...You're ruthless! I was thinking of saving all the private numbers and office lines of everyone in the association into Brother Yang's phone and then blocking them all!"

Wang Ming looked at Li Dongning blankly, his mouth agape. After a long moment, he sighed, "Just disable the card. It's faster and easier!"

"Fine! Then you use Fang Du's phone to send a text to Jin'er, telling her we're at the shop and that if she needs anything, she should use Fang Du's phone to contact Brother Yang."

"Yeah, that works!"