Chapter Fifty-Three: "Forbidden City" Official Announcement, An Uproar Erupts

The next day.

As soon as Wang Mo returned to the company, he was called into the office by Liu Zhengwen.

Good fortune brings a cheerful spirit.

From Liu Zhengwen’s expression alone, it was clear he had good news to share.

Sure enough, the moment Wang Mo entered the office, Liu Zhengwen couldn’t contain himself: “The production team for ‘The Forbidden City’ called first thing this morning. Your song has officially been chosen as the theme song for the documentary.”

“That fast?”

“Of course.” Liu Zhengwen grinned. “Yesterday was the final day for submitting theme songs for ‘The Forbidden City.’ If we hadn’t heard anything, that would’ve meant your song wasn’t chosen. Since it was, naturally they’d notify us today. Here, this is the number for their music director, Luo Yun. He’ll be calling you soon to discuss some details—performer, copyright, contract, and so on. Once those are settled, the production team will announce it to the public. By the way, I gave him your number—the one you use as ‘Wu Yan.’”

After “Wu Yan” became famous,

Wang Mo prepared two phone numbers.

One was his original number, unchanged.

The other was marked “Wu Yan,” used solely for matters of composition.

As for “Xi Lou,” that identity didn’t require any real-world contact yet, so there was no need for a phone number.

“Alright,” Wang Mo replied, indicating his understanding.

He left the office.

Half an hour later,

Wang Mo’s phone rang—a call from an unfamiliar Beijing number. He immediately understood and picked up, “Hello?”

A middle-aged man’s voice came through: “Is this Mr. Wu Yan? I’m Luo Yun, music consultant for ‘The Forbidden City’ production team.”

Wang Mo replied, “This is he. Hello, Mr. Luo.”

Luo Yun’s tone was warm, “Mr. Wu Yan, I’ve long admired your reputation. I listened to your new song, ‘Heaven and Earth: Dragon’s Scale,’ yesterday, and was utterly amazed. In my view, it’s the perfect theme song for ‘The Forbidden City’—nothing else could compare. Your talent in composition is truly among the best in the country.”

Wang Mo demurred, “You flatter me, Mr. Luo.”

After a few polite exchanges,

Luo Yun got to the point: “Mr. Wu Yan, do you have any thoughts on who should perform ‘Heaven and Earth: Dragon’s Scale’?”

Normally, the composer has no say in the selection of the singer.

Especially with a CCTV production, they are usually very strict about choosing the performer themselves.

So Luo Yun’s question was a great sign of respect for Wang Mo.

However,

He had expected Wang Mo would leave the choice to the production team.

But Wang Mo answered seriously, “I’ve already settled on a performer. I’m confident you and the production team will be satisfied.”

“Oh?” Luo Yun was surprised. “You’re not considering a national-level singer?”

Wang Mo replied, “While the national team is excellent, in my opinion, the best choice is always the most suitable one.”

“The most suitable is the best?” Luo Yun mulled over these words several times before nodding. “We respect your decision, Mr. Wu Yan, since you are both lyricist and composer. However, our program strives for perfection. May I suggest: we’ll select a national singer to audition alongside your chosen performer, and whoever delivers the better performance will be selected. How does that sound?”

Wang Mo considered for a moment, “I have a rule for profit-sharing. If the national team can agree, I have no objection.”

With that,

He explained his condition: equal profit sharing between the lyricist-composer and the singer.

Luo Yun fell silent for a while.

At last, he replied with a wry smile, “That’s a question I really can’t answer right now. How about this: because of the contract, we’ll need you to come to Beijing in person to sign. The singer will also need to come to record the MV. Bring your chosen performer with you, and we can discuss any issues face to face—how does that sound?”

Go to Beijing?

Wang Mo’s heart skipped a beat.

He, a fallen celebrity, going to Beijing?

And to CCTV, no less?

It was a sensitive situation.

Now it was Wang Mo’s turn to smile wryly. “Mr. Luo, I can’t answer that right away either. Give me half an hour and I’ll get back to you.”

Luo Yun was puzzled.

Why was a trip to Beijing so hard to answer?

But he still said, “Of course, that’s fine. But time is tight. The theme song collection ended yesterday, and today is the day we announce the result. The whole internet is waiting for our team’s announcement. I’ll go ahead and publish the news—do you agree?”

“That’s fine,” Wang Mo replied.

…

After hanging up, Wang Mo immediately went to find Yuan Xiong and explained everything.

Then he asked, “Brother Xiong, should I go to Beijing?”

If he went, his identity would be revealed to CCTV, with unpredictable consequences.

If he didn’t, hiding forever wasn’t a solution either.

Yuan Xiong’s expression was complicated as he stared at Wang Mo for a long time.

He’d only not seen Wang Mo for a single day, and the guy had already landed the theme song for a CCTV show?

Having been his agent for three years, how much of Wang Mo’s talent had he overlooked?

“I really was blind!” Yuan Xiong suddenly slapped himself.

???

Wang Mo was stunned.

Why such a big reaction just because he mentioned Beijing?

Could it be that Yuan Xiong had sad memories there?

A betrayal? Cheating? Cuckolded?

For a moment, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Yuan Xiong, still cursing himself, noticed Wang Mo’s expression and realized he was overthinking things. Annoyed, he said, “Stop imagining things. As for Beijing, you absolutely must go! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“Why?” Wang Mo asked.

Yuan Xiong replied, “You’ve never been officially blacklisted, and that’s your confidence in going to Beijing. If you can successfully sign this theme song with CCTV, you’ll have even more reason to face public scrutiny openly in the future.”

After thinking for a moment, Wang Mo agreed.

He nodded, “Then it’s settled. I’ll head to Beijing tomorrow!”

…

Meanwhile,

The music world—especially the circle of composers—was in an uproar.

“The collection of theme songs for ‘The Forbidden City’ is over, right?”

“It’s finished. They should announce the result today.”

“Whose song was chosen?”

“Old He, it must be yours.”

“Old Zhao, you’re just as good.”

“Haha, well, I heard six songs made it to the final review.”

“That’s old news. Everyone knows which six songs they are.”

“Latest insider scoop: ‘Soul of the Palace’ has the highest votes.”

“Come on, Old Fan, you were so humble the other day, saying you’d probably be eliminated. You owe us a treat!”

The industry had been eagerly awaiting CCTV’s theme song selection.

Especially since the production team for ‘The Forbidden City’ had such high, even harsh, standards that most composers had their work rejected. This only fueled everyone’s curiosity about who would finally win this incredibly difficult contest.

At ten in the morning,

As everyone waited with bated breath,

The production team for ‘The Forbidden City’ posted an announcement on their official Weibo:

“Announcement: The theme song for the large-scale documentary ‘The Forbidden City’ has been decided.

Thank you all for your support. Over the past three months, the production team received over two hundred submissions. After careful selection, we have chosen the song most fitting for the documentary. The details are as follows:

Theme song: ‘Heaven and Earth: Dragon’s Scale.’

Lyricist: Wu Yan.

Composer: Wu Yan.

Arranger: Wu Yan.

Performer: To be determined.

Currently, the music video is in active preparation. Expected release in one week. Please stay tuned…”

No sooner had the announcement been posted

Than industry insiders and attentive netizens got wind of the news.

But in the next moment,

Everyone’s eyes nearly popped out.

“What?”

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

Exclamations of shock came in waves.

Everyone realized that the final theme song for ‘The Forbidden City’ was not one of the six songs everyone had predicted, nor was it ‘Soul of the Palace,’ the rumored favorite. Instead, it was a song called ‘Heaven and Earth: Dragon’s Scale’ that no one had ever heard of.

Of course, that wasn’t the most shocking part.

The true shock was the songwriter: Wu Yan.