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It was still early. Lu Chen took out his phone, opened his contacts, and called Wang Jing from Nirvana Workshop. He planned to have them provide the live accompaniment for the Senqi Capital City flagship store's opening event.
Normally, Lu Chen outsourced all these tasks to Flying Stone Records, but this time the job was small. Besides, Wang Jing had borrowed money from him last time, which probably meant Nirvana Workshop was having operational troubles. Since they had a good working relationship before, Lu Chen wanted to help.
The phone rang more than ten times with no answer, then went straight to voicemail.
Lu Chen didn't worry and called Wang Changsheng.
The phone was switched off.
Now Lu Chen was a bit puzzled. Although it was only the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Nirvana Workshop shouldn't still be closed, after all, the Spring Festival period was usually the busiest time for music production companies.
After some thought, he decided to go to Nirvana Workshop in person.
They were in the same park; it was only a ten-minute walk.
When the elevator doors opened on Nirvana's floor, Lu Chen immediately saw a chaotic scene.
The workshop's main door was wide open. Tables, chairs, stools, and cardboard boxes were piled messily at the entrance. Inside, people in blue work uniforms were busy, clearly moving out.
Wang Jing, Wang Hui, and three members of the Nirvana Band stood near a corner outside, holding instruments or large boxes. All looked utterly dejected.
Seeing this, Lu Chen was shocked and hurried over. "Wang Jing, Wang Hui, what's going on? Are you moving out?"
"Brother Lu Chen," Wang Hui forced out an awkward smile, "Our workshop is done."
"Done?" Lu Chen was stunned. He knew Nirvana Workshop had never been in great shape, but it had barely survived. And this workshop was the fruit of the Wang family's hard work, how could it just end?
Wang Jing's face was pale. She twisted her hands together tightly and whispered, "Lu Chen, I owe you money."
"Forget about that!" Lu Chen interrupted. "Tell me what happened!"
Back when they worked on the My Old Classmate album, Lu Chen spent a lot of time at Nirvana Workshop and got along well with Wang Jing and Wang Hui. They only stopped collaborating because Lu Chen wanted to improve the quality of his work.
Nirvana's equipment and foundation were still far behind.
But during that time, Lu Chen learned a lot from Wang Jing and enjoyed working with these young people, they were passionate, energetic, and full of hope for the future.
So hearing that Nirvana Workshop was closing made Lu Chen feel uneasy. He wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Wang Hui glanced nervously at her sister and then explained to Lu Chen.
About a month ago, Wang Changsheng had landed a big contract, one with a huge profit margin that could have kept the workshop afloat for a year if executed well. But it required a large upfront investment.
Without consulting Wang Hui or Wang Jing, he went around borrowing money and even mortgaged workshop equipment, raising 700,000 yuan.
But unexpectedly, the other party turned out to be a scam group who set a trap for Wang Changsheng. All the investment money was lost, and creditors came knocking.
The blow was so severe that Wang Changsheng fell ill and was still hospitalized.
With that, Nirvana Workshop was doomed, the assets weren't even enough to cover the debts. Hearing this, Lu Chen didn't know what to say. The business world was like a battlefield; one wrong move could lead to total defeat.
Wang Changsheng had entered the industry later in life and lacked experience, which led to him being duped, but these scammers were truly despicable!
Lu Chen asked, "Have you reported it to the police?"
Wang Hui nodded. "Yes, not just us, several workshops were scammed. The police have filed a case, but the scammers had already fled. The bank accounts are empty. It's unlikely we can recover anything."
His expression darkened. "Money can be earned back, but my dad…"
Lu Chen patted his shoulder to comfort him. "Is someone taking care of Uncle Wang?"
"My mom's with him," Wang Hui said. "He's physically fine, but the heartache is the real problem."
At that moment, Wang Jing interjected, "Lu Chen, I'll find a way to pay you back as soon as possible!"
She looked determined, needing to get this off her chest.
Wang Hui's face flushed red. "Sis, we'll pay you back together!"
Lu Chen thought for a moment and said, "If you want to repay me quickly, I have an idea."
Wang Jing's eyes widened. "What's the idea?"
Lu Chen smiled, "Come work at my workshop. I'll give you a base salary of ten thousand yuan plus performance bonuses, you'll pay me back fast."
Wang Jing graduated from the Jingyin Department of Composition and had some work experience. She composed almost all the music on the My Old Classmate album. Her talent and skills were excellent.
Lu Chen had always felt she was wasted at Nirvana Workshop. Before, he never thought of poaching her, but now Nirvana Workshop was a thing of the past.
"Ah!" Wang Jing let out a soft gasp. She hadn't expected Lu Chen to invite her to join his workshop.
Lu Chen turned to Wang Hui and said, "How about you and the Nirvana Band come over and help me out? The pay will be good. Also, I'll build you a proper Recording Room, a truly professional one!"
He had long planned to form his own band and build a recording studio. Outsourcing saved money and hassle, but working on someone else's turf made it impossible to fully realize his own musical vision.
The real issue was money, building a professional recording room costs at least several million yuan, something a small company could never afford.
But for Lu Chen now, that was no problem.
What he was essentially proposing was to absorb the entire Nirvana Workshop team into his own.
Wang Hui was ecstatic. "Lu Chen, you really want to hire us?"
Lu Chen smiled. "Of course. And for the recording room, I'm giving you a 5 million yuan equipment budget!"
Wang Hui practically drooled at the mention of "five million yuan equipment budget."
He was a typical tech geek, obsessively passionate about audio electronics in a way most people couldn't understand.
Five million yuan was more than enough to build the studio of his dreams. And that budget didn't even include the recording room's decoration, which was another huge expense.
Lu Chen then asked the other three members of the Nirvana Band, "What do you guys think?"
The three exchanged glances and then all looked toward Wang Jing.
Wang Jing bit her lip and stayed silent.
She knew very well that joining Lu Chen's workshop was the best possible outcome for both Nirvana Workshop and the band. No need to disband and hunt for new jobs, no more worrying about how to make ends meet.
Half a year ago, Lu Chen was still a small player in the entertainment industry, but now he was growing into a towering tree, a truly reliable person.
When Lu Chen mentioned a 5 million yuan equipment budget to Wang Hui, it was no empty promise.
He had the power to back it up.
The other three members' eyes were full of eager agreement, though they respected Wang Jing's decision.
After a moment's silence, Wang Jing silently sighed and nodded with a smile.
"Hooray!"
Wang Hui was the first to cheer, and the gloomy shadows on the Nirvana Band members' faces instantly lifted. Everyone was excited.
If possible, none of them wanted to split up. This was too good an opportunity.
Lu Chen said, "I was supposed to visit Uncle Wang, but right now I have a composition I need to finish, a live performance tomorrow night, with a live band accompaniment. Can you help me with that?"
He looked at Wang Jing, who nodded again.
Wang Hui hesitated, "Brother Lu Chen, but most of our instruments are still impounded."
The Nirvana Band members forced a bitter smile. The only instruments they could bring were two guitars and a bass, all personal gear they had bought themselves.
The Nirvana Band had four members: lead vocalist/guitarist Wang Jing, bassist Ouyang He, keyboardist Wen Yuan, and drummer Yang Xiaoyi. They were all around 23 or 24, still very young.
But their professionalism was solid; they had done excellent accompaniment work on Lu Chen's previous projects.
Otherwise, Lu Chen wouldn't have sincerely invited them to join him.
For a creative vagabond singer like Lu Chen, forming a band was natural. And a live band was a completely different feeling from a backing track, the audience could tell.
With Lu Chen's current status and fame in the show business community, recruiting an even stronger band than Nirvana Band wouldn't be difficult. But stronger doesn't necessarily mean better.
Plus, Nirvana Band was young and full of potential.
He smiled, "It's simple, we'll go buy whatever instruments you need right now!"
No one had any objections.
With limited time, Lu Chen acted decisively. He told Wang Hui to report to his workshop first, then drove the Nirvana Band to buy instruments and equipment, everyone picked their own gear.
With Lu Chen as the "rich guy" backing them, shopping went quickly. Including Wang Jing, all the band members got the equipment they wanted.
Lu Chen also rented a temporary business van for his sister to help with transporting instruments and personnel.
That night, he and Wang Jing finished composing the new song.
Time was tight, so it wasn't very detailed, but it was enough for the next day's endorsement event.
On Valentine's Day, February 14th, the newly formed and renamed Nirvana Band members didn't have time for romance, they started rehearsing Lu Chen's new song.
New team, new members, new work, and new instruments, the first time playing together went surprisingly smoothly.
At 3 p.m., Nirvana Band headed to the venue.
(End Of Chapter)