Volume 1: The Outlaws of Mount Liang 057 Shan Hai Edition Four Brothers

  After Du Xin Yu pulled Zeng Shan away, Luo Yi said to Yuan Jing: "Xiao Jing, want to go together and listen?"

  Yuan Jing hastily shook her head, this occasion was a bit too high-difficulty for her. Luo Yi knew Yuan Jing's thoughts and also worried that bringing Yuan Jing to a place with too many people would be hard to handle, so he nodded and said: "Xiao Jing, you sit here for a while, I'll go take a look. Shan Er is too honest, don't let Du Xiaojie sell her out."

  When Luo Yi walked up to Du Xinyu and Zeng Shan, he happened to hear Andrew talking to Zeng Shan. Du Xinyu was already unable to handle such complex sentence structures, so Luo Yi directly took over the conversation.

  Thanks to the great CET-4 and CET-6 exams, Luo Yi's other subjects weren't doing well, but his English level was still impressive. In sophomore year, almost everyone in the class had a copy of the CET-4 strategy book, and when Luo Yi played games, he would always have a vocabulary handbook open next to the keyboard, memorizing two words at a time. Another major side effect of Luo Yi playing games was that he could recite entire scenes of dialogue from memory, and even in his sleep, he would blurt out "Yes, Sir!" in a standard Virginia accent.

  As for Luo Yi being able to know the English spelling of the rare word "珊瑚" is Coral, thanks to a great programmer who named an instant messaging software he modified as Coral...

  Luo Yi suddenly appeared and started conversing with foreigners in English, which shocked Du Xinyu. He had thought he would show off his few sentences of English, but unexpectedly this country boy could speak English so fluently, and the most embarrassing thing was that what he said, he himself couldn't even understand...

  Zeng Shan turned around to see Luo Yi coming over, and her heart was filled with joy. She quickly stood up and stuck close to Luo Yi, as if she had found a protective umbrella. Seeing that Luo Yi's mouth was full of gibberish, she was also shocked and asked in a low voice: "Luo Zi Ge, you can still speak foreign languages?"

  Luo Yi smiled triumphantly and wrapped his arms around her waist, then continued what she was saying to the foreigners: "My fiancée said that you all look very handsome."

  The foreigners burst out laughing and a young man said: "Your fiancée is very beautiful, we are all jealous."

  Luo Yi translated the sentence verbatim for Zeng Shan to hear, and Zeng Shan's face turned red. The foreigners in front of her didn't seem so intimidating anymore.

  "Why did they say I'm your fiancée?" Zeng Shan asked in a low voice.

  "I introduced myself like this to them." Luo Yi said shamelessly.

  Zeng Shan couldn't help but want to clench her fists and punch someone, but seeing that there were several foreigners staring at her in front of her, she felt embarrassed and could only awkwardly lower her head, continuing to pretend to be a gentle lady.

  Several foreigners saw Luo Yi's dignified and elegant demeanor, while his fiancée was delicate and lovely, and they immediately felt a good impression. They poured Luo Yi a glass of wine and introduced themselves: there were four people in their group, named Andrew, Philip, Rogers, and David. They were an American male quartet, having practiced for many years, planning to make a big fortune by performing, but unexpectedly the US was experiencing an economic crisis, and even the rent for their concert venue couldn't be covered. As a result, the four talented singers had no choice but to end up singing in a nightclub, barely scraping together enough tips to get by. This time, they took a risk and boarded a cruise ship from the US to Shanghai, with the goal of trying their luck in this oriental adventurer's paradise, seeing if they could make some unexpected fortune. However, for now, they had just arrived in Shanghai and could only sing in the bar for the time being; later there would be a performance here.

  "What kind of song are you singing?" Luo Yi asked casually, actually he didn't understand much about music, just finding a topic to chat. When ordering drinks earlier, Du Xinyu deliberately humiliated him, and he naturally knew it. This would give him an opportunity for revenge out of thin air, and he wouldn't let it go. His vocabulary was limited, and some words had to be combined according to their Chinese meanings, but he believed that Du Xinyu definitely couldn't tell.

  "The most popular, Western music." Andrew replied, he was the leader of these four people.

  "'Folk song of the countryside?' asked Luo Yi."

  "Well, it can also be called rural folk songs."

  "Rural folk songs?" Luo Yi's interest was piqued. "I just so happen to know a few, who among you has brought a guitar?"

  "Of course, what folk singer doesn't bring a guitar when going out?" David took his guitar from behind and showed it to Luo Yi, laughing and saying, "Luo, you also know how to play the guitar?"

  Luoyi smiled and stretched out his hand, indicating that David should lend him the guitar. David was an open-minded person, seeing Luoyi stretch out his hand, he handed over the guitar. Luoyi lightly strummed the strings, tested the sound, then played a chord and sang softly:

  ……”

  Luo Yi finished singing, not only the four singers were stunned, but also more than a dozen tables of people around them were amazed. David was the first to react, clapping loudly, and soon the applause erupted from all directions. Even the boss of the club came over to see what was happening. However, the dim lighting in the bar made it impossible for anyone to tell who had sung, and everyone thought it was just the singers rehearsing.

  Du Xinyu's confidence completely collapsed when Luo Yi sang out the first English word. English songs, guitar, and talent that was hinted at but not revealed, plus a face that seemed to be barely related to the words "handsome" and "rugged"... this was the standard for a boyfriend that could be shown off in her friend circle. And this young man had even hugged her before. Du Xinyu couldn't help but feel a little fluttery in her heart, thinking about how she had been kidnapped and then rescued by this country bumpkin in such an embarrassing way... was it fate? Oh dear, she had slapped Luo Yi on the ship, was that too much? She didn't know if he would hold a grudge. Even if he didn't, what if he thought she was a spoiled girl?

  "Wow, this song is really wonderful. It's a typical American western song, but I've never heard anyone sing it before?" David exclaimed.

  Luo Yi said, you must have heard it before, unless you're also a crosser. This "Greenfield" is a reserved song of the Four Brothers Quartet that swept across America in the 1950s, and after being introduced to China in the 1980s, it has been circulating among Chinese university students over the years. In Luo Yi's dormitory, there happened to be a die-hard fan of the Four Brothers, and Luo Yi also learned guitar from him.

  "Lu, this song, if it can be matched with harmony, is very suitable for our combination." Andrew thought of the opportunity sensitively. They couldn't mix in the US, one reason was that they didn't have a signature song. The song Lu sang was fresh and simple, with both folk flavor and modern style, it's really unreasonable if this song doesn't become popular.

  Luo Yi said: "Actually, this song was originally a male voice quartet song, but I only have one person and can't sing out the harmony effect. If you're interested, I can write out the harmony score for you."

  Andrew asked: "Luó, did you write this song?"

  Luo Yi originally wanted to find the feeling of being worshiped, but after thinking about it, he didn't have a single music cell in his body. He could write songs and arrange harmonies, which was also unbelievable. These few Americans would only need to ask a few more questions and he would be exposed. It's better to put the blame on someone else. He pretended to look sorrowful and said: "This song was written by one of my teachers. He wrote several other similar songs as well. Unfortunately, until his death, these songs were never released. In this world, only I still remember these few songs."

  Everyone pretended to be in pain for a while, mourning the non-existent music teacher. Then Philip asked cautiously: "Lu, do you have any other relatives besides your music teacher?"

  "There's no one else, I'm his sole heir."

  "So you're certain you own this song... right, you said there were several, do you own the rights to them?"

  Philip is a dropout from the law school to sing, with a strong sense of legality. Like Andrew, he saw the prospect of this song and needed to understand something about intellectual property rights.

  "There's no problem," Luo Yi said. "If you plan to sing this song, I can give you the authorization. We can find a lawyer to handle this matter."

  "This is great!" Andrew said, "Wait a minute, let me ask the boss here if he knows any lawyers, we can sign right away. We can give you...". As he spoke, he looked at his companions, and everyone's eyes were filled with hopeful expressions. Andrew gritted his teeth and said: "30% of all performance profits."

  Lu Yi's face was calm, but in his heart he was overjoyed: Wow, 30% of the performance profits, I'm going to get rich! In those days, the four brothers were making a fortune on the American music scene. Now, even if they're not as prosperous as they used to be, as long as this knockoff version of the Four Brothers band doesn't decline too much, earning one or two million dollars a year shouldn't be a problem, right? 30%, that's $300,000, $600,000... anyway, it's a lot of money!

  "Boss, come over here!" Luo Yi shouted at the club boss who was standing far away watching the commotion.

  The boss of the club was a Chinese man who had been abroad and was quite efficient in handling matters. He saw Luo Yi waving at him, so he walked over, asked a few questions to clarify things, and immediately arranged for someone to help with the procedures. None of them, including Andrew, had ever seen an authorization letter before, nor did they bring an agent with them, so everything was left to the club boss's arrangement. They drafted a protocol stating that Luo Yi authorized Andrew's band to exclusively use his songs for commercial performances, and after deducting necessary costs from the revenue, 30% would be taken as royalties to be given to Luo Yi.

  After signing the contract, Andrew hastily asked Luo Yi to write out the lyrics and melody of "Greenfield" for them. They planned to start rehearsing immediately and would perform the song at the bar in a little while.

  Luo Yi asked Du Xinyu to take Zeng Shan back to their seats and keep Yuan Jing company for a while. Du Xinyu didn't argue with him, and obediently took Zeng Shan away. While Luo Yi and Andrew were busy signing the agreement, Du Xinyu and Zeng Shan quietly watched from the side. From their conversation, Du Xinyu could roughly hear some clues and knew that Luo Yi had successfully made a deal, which increased her good impression of him by several points. It seems that this country bumpkin really has countless secrets hidden on him.

  Luo Yi and Andrew found an empty room, Luo Yi taught "Greenfield" to Andrew and others from start to finish. These people are all professionals, they understood it after listening to it once, and for the places where Luo Yi was not very clear, they also supplemented them based on their experience. Luo Yi said clearly that he had only learned from his teacher, and it was normal that some places were not remembered clearly. For the treatment of harmony part, Luo Yi also made an explanation, four singers tried while listening, and soon they cooperated like a model.

  "Okay, okay, Luo, we must start rehearsing right away. Soon we can perform here and I can imagine how many dollars will be thrown at us." Andrew excitedly said while pulling Luo Wei's hand.

  "Alright, you guys go ahead and rehearse, I reckon I'll leave soon and won't be able to appreciate your wonderful performance," Luo Yi said. "By the way, can any of you lend me a guitar sometime? My original guitar...I didn't bring it over."

  "No problem, you take mine first." David enthusiastically handed his guitar to Luo Yi, "You take it, I can borrow one at the bar."

  Luo Yi thanked him and took the guitar to find Zeng Shan and others. The chorus group closed the door and started rehearsing, they were full of confidence, and the sound of the guitar had already become the crisp sound of gold coins hitting the ground in their ears.

  Luo Yi still had some confidence in the Americans' credit, and besides, these songs were originally pirated, so he didn't care much about the risk. Luo Yi left his hotel address with Andrew and promised to recall the scores of the other songs within a few days. Luo Yi told them the names of these songs, such as "Seven Water Lilies" and "Five Hundred Miles", which made Andrew and others stare in amazement.