House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 182 – Tattooed Man Goes Online

Speaking of this, Mo Xiaojuan became unhappy. She said, “The company’s explanation was that Teacher Duan’s schedule was too busy. Today, I called Teacher Duan to ask about her health and found out that she indeed had an appointment, but it was for Zhenzhen’s new album.”

It was unclear whether this arrangement was made before Mo Fei presented the 12 songs. Mo Xiaojuan couldn’t argue with Sister Ling, but she felt very unhappy.

Mo Fei frowned, but with her calm temperament, she didn’t plan to make a big deal out of it. She nodded and said, “Then how about this Teacher Jin?”

The meeting was originally scheduled for yesterday, but Mo Fei postponed it to today. Mo Xiaojuan still received Jin Yingming and showed him the scores of a few songs and had some communication to a certain extent.

“Teacher Jin is pretty good!” Mo Xiaojuan said excitedly, “He is very humble and not as tough as Teacher Duan.”

“Xiaojuan, don’t talk about Teacher Duan like that. She’s just strict,” Mo Fei scolded.

Mo Xiaojuan pouted, “Okay, strict. Anyway, Teacher Jin speaks and acts very gently and is a very easy-going person. Then I asked him about his views on the songs, and some of the concepts he mentioned are quite similar to yours. His thinking is also very agile. He’s probably a producer with real talent!”

She was originally faintly worried that the company would change its mind and invite a producer with little ability to perfunctorily handle Mo Fei. Now it seems that Mo Xiaojuan felt she was overthinking things and had misjudged the situation. 1

“Anyway, you should meet him first and then evaluate him! I’m not as professional as you guys.” Mo Xiaojuan said with a smile.

…

In the reception room, Mo Fei met Jin Yingming. The latter was a middle-aged man in his 40s or 50s, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, sitting upright with his hands on his knees.

Mo Fei was not good at dealing with people, so after a few words, she mostly listened and spoke less. Fortunately, Mo Xiaojuan was there to crack jokes, and the initial atmosphere wasn’t too awkward.

“What does Teacher Jin think of the songs on my album?” Mo Fei asked lightly.

When it came to the songs, Jin Yingming was enthusiastic and full of energy. He first praised the ability of the lyricist and composer, Mu Li’ang, saying, “This is a versatile creator. I have never seen anyone so talented who can handle blues, rock, ancient style, and many other genres at the same time! And what’s rare is that all the songs he creates are top-notch!”

Immediately, he talked about some of his preliminary thoughts on music arranging.

Jin Yingming basically didn’t change the original melody much, but added some obscure instruments to make the accompaniment of the song more full and round.

Jin Yingming was in high spirits and talked a lot before he said with emotion, “I heard that Mu Li’ang hides himself very well and rarely shows his face. It’s a real pity. I really want to get to know him and discuss the use of some musical instruments with him.”

In Jin Yingming’s opinion, Yang Yi’s original scores were already close to perfection and not at all monotonous. They also integrated various instruments, which was a topic he liked to study. Over the years, he has been experimenting and exploring his own set of methods in the small notes of those small stars!

Mo Fei nodded gently. She still listened more and spoke less, but she approved Jin Yingming’s musical philosophy.

At today’s meeting, Mo Fei finally felt relieved. Although Jin Yingming was not well-known, he was indeed a capable person. Mo Fei began to look forward to working with Jin Yingming and see what kind of results they could produce with Mu Li’ang’s works!

…

The early promotion of “Prison Break” received mixed reactions from readers. Some strongly opposed and doubted Yang Yi’s double opening, while others remained supportive of Yang Yi and looked forward to what kind of story he could create for them.

Of course, most of the latter were converted from the former. 2

For example, Mu Yucheng was initially very worried that the quality of the work would not be guaranteed after Yang Yi’s double opening. However, later on, as he followed a group of discerning people studying the tattoo in the promotional poster, Mu Yucheng gradually developed a strong interest in the book ‘Prison Break’.

Finally, the day when the new book was released arrived. Mu Yucheng had been waiting in front of his computer. He didn’t know if he was the first, but he clicked into the first chapter as soon as it was available.

This novel revealed its uniqueness from the very beginning.

There was no chapter name, and below the chapter number was an illustration.

Mu Yucheng glanced at it and quickly skipped over it, not because he wasn’t interested, but because he had seen this illustration countless times. It was exactly the beautiful tattoo on the back.

The story began to unfold with words, and what Mu Yucheng saw was a scene in a tattoo shop. The protagonist, Michael Scofield, was receiving tattoos covering almost his entire upper body, amidst the buzzing sound of the machine.

“Michael Schofield?” Mu Yucheng furrowed his brow. This was a foreign name. Did the story take place overseas? (Note 1)

However, it wasn’t hard to understand. Tattoos were still a relatively niche hobby in China and not recognized by the mainstream people.

Mu Yucheng didn’t mind and continued to read calmly.

Michael was receiving his tattoo when the tattoo artist, the gypsy woman with a nose ring, Syd, had a conversation with him.

“…Most people, when they get their first tattoo, will choose a small design. Sometimes it’s the initial of their mother or girlfriend’s name, sometimes it’s something similar. But not you, you spent two months and went directly for a whole set of tattoos. If it were someone else, they would probably need several years!”

Michael put on his clothes, took a deep breath, and said with great meaning, “I don’t have several years…or, I wish I had!”

Upon seeing this, Mu Yucheng rubbed his stubbled chin and felt that the author had intentionally planted some foreshadowing when describing this part.

However, he didn’t need to guess, as the story progressed quickly from there.

Michael, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, returned to a high-end and luxurious high-rise apartment and began tearing down the clippings posted on the floor-to-ceiling window.

Dressed in a suit and leather shoes? So, this guy with the terrifying tattoo is a gentleman? Mu Yucheng found the story more and more interesting.

Even more interestingly, there was another illustration that appeared, showing a hand tearing off the clippings. Mu Yucheng looked at it with great interest.

There were several stickers that could still be seen clearly, such as one that looked like a subway map, and another cut-out that clearly outlined the headline: ‘Lincoln Burrows’ final appeal was rejected!

The text of this chapter only described Michael opening the window in the bright lights of the night and, like a baseball pitcher, threw his computer hard drive into the artificial lake below.

What happened after that?

Mu Yucheng felt that things were not simple. This tattooed man had already begun to clean up the traces. He was definitely going to do something big!

But the darn chapter stopped right there!

“Ahhhh!” Mu Yucheng grabbed his head in frustration. He went back to the webpage and first gave the author a reward as a leader, and then urged him to update in anger, “Yang Yi, you can’t keep leaving people hanging like this. Hurry up and update, or I’ll break your legs!”

(Note 1: Originally, Xiaohan was considering adapting the story to take place within China, but since it involves too many sensitive elements and the current climate is too tense, it’s better not to touch upon it.) (Author’s note)