Chapter 130: Sleeping Beauty Comes with Risks

Chapter 130: Sleeping with Girls Carries Risks

Aside from writing songs for Yang Xin'er, Zhang Le had only ever written for Zhou Run.

Writing for Yang Xin'er went without saying. Their relationship spoke for itself, and in the eyes of many, the reason Zhang Le managed to win her over was that the songs he wrote had moved her.

As for Zhou Run, he had only received two songs. Moreover, everyone knew that Zhang Le writing for Zhou Run was not just because of their close friendship, but also because he owed Zhou Run a favor. Writing those songs was, in a sense, a way of repaying that debt.

Beyond these two, Zhang Le had never written for anyone else, not even when the requests came from the superstars, legends, or titans of the music industry.

Nowadays, the market value of a song by Zhang Le had been hyped to an astronomical height, though it was still quite far from reaching a million.

Zhang Le was not one to turn down money, but there were some things he simply would not do for profit. When someone offered a million to buy his song, his first reaction, just as Wu Xiaoyong had described, was one of intense disgust—especially toward a wealthy girl who thought she could throw money around to get whatever she wanted.

Zhang Le felt conflicted. He frowned, looked at Wu Xiaoyong, and asked skeptically, "Why?"

"Why what?" Wu Xiaoyong asked, puzzled.

"You should know that if you asked me for a song, no matter who it was for, I wouldn't refuse. You didn't need to tell her that you were trading my songs for a night with a woman," Zhang Le said, voicing his confusion.

"I didn't want to lie to a friend!" Wu Xiaoyong replied.

"Really?" Zhang Le clearly didn't believe him, especially since Wu Xiaoyong's eyes were darting around as he answered.

"Fine! I admit it, I was set up by that woman," Wu Xiaoyong confessed.

"You already said that," Zhang Le noted. However, a thought crossed his mind. The "setup" Wu Xiaoyong referred to clearly wasn't about the act of sleeping with her. It must have been the reason why he was forced to reveal this whole situation.

"She didn't succeed in getting a song from you, so I bragged in front of her about how tight we are and that getting a song from you was a piece of cake," Wu Xiaoyong explained.

"That wasn't bragging," Zhang Le remarked.

"But she thought I was! So, provoked by her, I really started bragging," Wu Xiaoyong said with a helpless shrug.

"Did you brag that even if you traded my song for a night in bed with her, I’d still write it for you?" Zhang Le guessed. Seeing the guy nod without the slightest sense of shame, Zhang Le was speechless, and the urge to punch him began to grow.

"Smart!" Wu Xiaoyong laughed. "You aren't really going to refuse me, are you?"

"If I give it to you, wouldn't that mean you weren't bragging after all?" Zhang Le pointed out.

"You wouldn't just sit by and watch me die, would you?" Wu Xiaoyong tucked away his smile and asked, looking worried.

"Watch you die? Did you make some sort of bet with her?" Zhang Le asked.

"Smart! I told you, I was set up by this woman," Wu Xiaoyong said.

So that was where the "setup" was!

"What happens if you lose?" Zhang Le asked, suddenly curious.

Wu Xiaoyong fell silent, seemingly too embarrassed to say.

"Tell me. Once I hear it, I might actually write the song for you," Zhang Le teased, dangling the bait.

"I have to do a ten-minute striptease and post it on Weibo!" Wu Xiaoyong said with a miserable face. "Zhang Le, you can't just let me die. I've really been screwed over by that woman this time."

"You city folk really know how to play," Zhang Le remarked with a sigh. "Want me to teach you a trick?"

"What trick?" Wu Xiaoyong asked hurriedly.

"Wear a thick cotton jacket on the outside and a dozen layers of clothes underneath. Forget ten minutes; you could dance for half an hour and not show a single inch of skin. As long as you don't expose anything, what can people say about you, Young Master Wu? At most, they'll just call you a weirdo." Zhang Le said with a smile.

"I already admitted I was set up; do you think she wouldn't have anticipated that? I don't even have the chance to be a 'weirdo' anymore," Wu Xiaoyong said tragically. "It’s a ten-minute striptease, and by the end, I have to be completely naked. No blurring allowed."

Zhang Le burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"I have another way," Zhang Le said.

"What way?" Wu Xiaoyong asked.

"Deny everything until the end!" Zhang Le replied.

"Deny everything? You can say that easily. If I deny it, how can I ever show my face in public again?" Wu Xiaoyong said indignantly, then his tone shifted. "She said if I don't get your song, as long as I go through with that ten-minute striptease, she'll still sleep with me!"

"Bitch," Zhang Le muttered after a long pause.

"Zhang Le, I’m begging you, brother," Wu Xiaoyong pleaded.

"Sleeping with girls carries risks; you need to be careful," Zhang Le said with a deep sigh.

"Nonsense! The 'River Crab' gods are so fierce these days; forget sleeping with girls, even kissing or holding hands makes me worry about being censored or banned," Wu Xiaoyong grumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Zhang Le asked, confused.

"Oh, just thinking about some of the great books I was following that got castrated or even wiped off the face of the earth. Just speaking my mind," Wu Xiaoyong said. "Back to the point, give me a straight answer: are you giving me the songs or not?"

"I will!" Zhang Le laughed and shook his head, deciding to stop teasing him. "What are the requirements for these songs?"

"It's two songs!" Wu Xiaoyong held up two fingers, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Fine. What are her requirements for these two songs?" Zhang Le asked, emphasizing the word "two."

"She invested in a 'Liaozhai'-style movie about a love story between a fox spirit and a scholar. Yeah, one of those cheesy love stories. She wants you to write a theme song for it," Wu Xiaoyong said.

"Just how cheesy is this story?" Zhang Le asked with a smile.

"The spirits in 'Liaozhai' are always affectionate, good-hearted creatures. This story is no different. A fox spirit falls in love with a poor scholar, but chooses to leave him once he succeeds in the imperial examinations. Then the scholar searches everywhere for her. Just when the lovers are about to be reunited, some monk or Taoist priest jumps out to tear them apart, ending in a tragedy to wring tears out of the audience."

"If the lovers can be reunited, then humans and spirits naturally can't be together. But yes, that is definitely cheesy," Zhang Le nodded. As he listened to Wu Xiaoyong, a song already began to form in his mind. It seemed perfectly suited for such a story.

"What about the other one?" Zhang Le continued.

"The other one, heh heh!" Wu Xiaoyong chuckled. "Just give her something alluring and enchanting. If her fox spirit sings a song like that, imagine how tasteful it would be!"

"Do you want me to give her something erotic to sing just for you?" Zhang Le rolled his eyes.

"You can write those kinds of songs?" Wu Xiaoyong's eyes lit up, but seeing Zhang Le's teasing expression, he quickly added, "Am I that kind of person? Don't use your dirty mind to measure me!"

"Are you sure about this song?" Wu Xiaoyong asked, noticing Zhang Le looking at him with an awkward expression.

"I'll have it for you in two days!" Zhang Le rolled his eyes again. Just then, Wu Xiaoyong laughed heartily, having reeled in a big fish.

Watching him, Zhang Le suddenly had the strange feeling that he was the one who had been caught.