Chapter 149 An Ultra-Difficult Song

Entertainment Around You – No Pop-ups
Story Setting Time: April 2007
Recommended Song: Mayday – "Post-Youth's Poem"
Disclaimer: This work is purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, or events is entirely coincidental!

After seeing off the boys from BIGBANG, the waiting room finally quieted down.

Jiang Yihan stood up and began vocal warm-ups. To sing "Intersleep" later, he needed to properly warm up his vocal cords to deliver his standard level of performance.

After a while, the live broadcast began. Jiang Yihan stopped practicing and went to watch the live show on site, watching the performances of Wonder Girls and BIGBANG. The song Wonder Girls promoted was still their debut track, "Irony," a youth-infused piece that suited them well. Meanwhile, BIGBANG promoted "Dirty Cash," and their stage presence was extraordinary. Their dazzling choreography, seamless coordination, and impressive vocals compelled Jiang Yihan to applaud them from the bottom of his heart.

The very last act of the broadcast was Jiang Yihan. He adjusted his collar and stepped onto the stage at the host's introduction. The stage was filled with dry ice, giving it a somewhat ethereal atmosphere. The moment Jiang Yihan appeared, everyone forgot to scream; it was as if the entire audience had lost their speech, completely captivated by Jiang Yihan, standing utterly still. This was the charm of Jiang Yihan.

"It has always followed closely behind me, making me remember the pain; it swept past my eyes, and everything turned dim. Everyone is smiling, they are smiling, pushing me farther and farther away. I don't understand, everything is so sorrowful, can you hear my voice from the outside?"

When Jiang Yihan reached the high-difficulty transition in the chorus, he felt an uncomfortable sensation in his throat, yet he persevered and pushed his voice upward. During the instrumental break following the chorus, Jiang Yihan skillfully lowered his head, pretending to keep time with the music while secretly clearing his throat over and over, suppressing the discomfort before continuing his performance. All of this was concealed flawlessly, and no one knew.

"I hope you can hold me right now, hold my frozen heart. I look from afar, feeling that nothing can stay in my heart. I can no longer live alone. I hope you can hold me right now, hold my frozen heart. I am lost in a deep, peaceful sleep during winter, unable to find a way out alone. Can you wake me up?"

No matter how many times one listened, one could not help but admire Jiang Yihan's grasp of this song. The high-difficulty pitch transitions and the deeply emotional delivery made the entire temperament of the song intoxicating.

When Kim Heechul once again announced that today's Mutizen Song winner was Jiang Yihan for "Intersleep," no one questioned it. Although the other singers felt a deep sense of regret—Jiang Yihan had monopolized the number one spot for three consecutive months, something everyone envied—it was simply the undeniable truth. Jiang Yihan's strength and popularity were unstoppable. Looking at the cheers of the crowd, what else could anyone say?

As Jiang Yihan stepped off the stage, Jiang Ziyi walked up and handed him a bottle of water. Jiang Yihan took a sip, only to find his throat intensely itchy. The previous discomfort surged back, and a sudden cough caused him to spit out the water he had just swallowed. Jiang Ziyi was startled at first, but then let out a sharp cry.

"Oppa, why is there blood in the water you spit out?" Jiang Ziyi's words carried explosive impact.

Jiang Yihan felt as though his throat were on fire, an indescribable sensation swirling within his windpipe, and a faint metallic taste of blood spreading from his throat to the tip of his tongue. He hurriedly swallowed, forcing the blood in his mouth back down, but his throat remained tingly and numb, making speech somewhat difficult.

A group of people immediately gathered around, looking at Jiang Yihan anxiously. Knowing they were worried about him, Jiang Yihan swallowed once more, trying his absolute best to mask the discomfort in his throat, and forced out his voice, "It must be bleeding gums, it must be bleeding gums, don't worry, don't worry." Seeing Jiang Yihan's smiling face, the surrounding people hesitantly dispersed.

However, Jiang Yihan quickly clamped his mouth shut as a wave of nausea surged from his throat. If he didn't keep his mouth closed, he feared he would vomit right then and there.

Accompanied by Li Ran and Jiang Ziyi back to the waiting room, Jiang Yihan finally spoke up: "My throat feels extremely uncomfortable, very itchy, and there's still a hint of a bloody taste. It feels like my throat might have bled just now." Jiang Yihan coughed lightly again and again to soothe his throat, yet he always felt as though something was stuck inside.

"What!" Jiang Ziyi and Li Ran blurted out simultaneously, both thoroughly frightened.

"Don't worry, my throat just feels a bit uncomfortable, I'll go get it checked at the hospital tomorrow and it'll be fine," Jiang Yihan quickly comforted them. But Jiang Ziyi and Li Ran clearly weren't buying it, because Jiang Yihan's voice was currently much huskier than usual; there was definitely something wrong with his vocal cords.

"Lazy Cat, don't just brush the issue aside like it's nothing! The throat is a huge deal, this song is already demanding on the vocal cords, what will you do if your throat is really ruined? No way, we're going to the hospital for an examination right now." Li Ran frowned. A singer's vocal cords were the single most crucial component; how could something go wrong? Absolutely not.

"That's right, Oppa, stop trying to comfort us. Seeing you cough up blood just now scared me to death. You have to get checked, otherwise we won't rest easy, and neither will you." Jiang Ziyi joined Li Ran in the persuasion.

"Sigh, I should have never told you if I knew you'd get this nervous," Jiang Yihan said helplessly. "Alright, alright, we'll go to the hospital tomorrow, okay?"

"No! We're going right now." Li Ran and Jiang Ziyi spoke in unison.

And just like that, Jiang Yihan was dragged off to the hospital.

Otolaryngology, X-rays, a comprehensive examination—Jiang Yihan was practically dissected. After being fussed over for several hours, the results came out quickly. There was nothing majorly wrong with Jiang Yihan's throat.

"What do you mean nothing's wrong, he was coughing up blood!" Li Ran felt as though they had gone to the wrong hospital.

"Don't rush, don't rush." The doctor could also perceive the anxiety of the people before him, but instead of panicking, the doctor smiled. "I know Jiang Yihan too, and I really like his songs. All the fan nurses in our hospital are huge fans of his, so don't worry, there is truly nothing wrong."

The doctor's unexpected reply left Jiang Yihan somewhat amused and exasperated. To run into someone who liked him even while coming to the hospital for a checkup—what formidable luck. Li Ran also felt somewhat helpless upon hearing this, and his anger subsided a bit. "Then what on earth happened? Why did his throat suddenly bleed?"

"Actually, throat bleeding is indeed a warning sign that the vocal cords are in poor condition, but it also depends on many factors. If the cause is severe, then it's indeed a big problem, but Jiang Yihan's case this time is not a major issue." The doctor patiently explained, "The main reason Jiang Yihan's throat bled today is because it was too dry and lacked proper protection. Before singing, Jiang Yihan didn't fully 'warm up' his vocal cords, and today's vocal demands during the performance were extremely high. As a result, his throat was overly dry, leading to excessive friction during vibration, which caused the bleeding. In other words, today's incident was purely accidental."

Purely accidental? Unbelievable.

"We just conducted a thorough examination of Jiang Yihan's throat. Jiang Yihan has always taken very good care of his voice, so there are no major problems. Today's incident was merely an accident. I believe Jiang Yihan has always been careful with pre-performance warm-ups; he probably just grew a bit negligent today, which led to this minor mishap." After the doctor finished speaking, Li Ran clenched his fist. Clearly, there had been far too many visiting juniors lately, which was why Jiang Yihan hadn't properly exercised his vocal cords today. And when it came to venting frustration, the most familiar and intimate group of five was naturally the target. Meanwhile, across town recording a show, the five members of BIGBANG all shivered simultaneously. Hehe.

"Jiang Yihan, the vocal demands you place on your throat are always very high, but because you take excellent care of yourself, you've avoided any serious trouble. In the future, you must continue with your own maintenance regimen. Everyone has a vocal care method that suits them; your method is very effective right now, so you must stick with it." The doctor exhorted earnestly, "Don't go singing without fully warming up like you did today, especially with such difficult songs. If an accident like this happens again next time, it won't be so simple. You know how important the vocal cords are to a singer." The doctor's earnest words caused the expressions of all three people present to turn solemn.

"Go back and get some rest these past two days, stop singing for now, and try to speak as little as possible to let it recover, and there will be no problem." The doctor concluded with final instructions. Thankfully, there were no major issues; he only needed to rest for a couple of days. This made Li Ran and Jiang Ziyi breathe sighs of relief, their tense hearts finally settling down.

However, today's minor mishap served as a warning to Jiang Yihan: he had to strictly maintain and pay attention to vocal care from now on, or the next incident wouldn't be just a minor accident like today's.

After the doctor prescribed some throat-protecting medication, the three of them took the prescription and prepared to head to an external pharmacy to purchase the medicine. In South Korea, most hospitals did not have in-house pharmacies; there were specialized external drugstores where one had to take the hospital prescription to buy medicine. Just as Li Ran took the prescription and prepared to leave, the doctor called Jiang Yihan back once more.

"Um, excuse me... could I get an autograph? My daughter is truly a huge fan of yours." Unlike the authoritative physician from moments before, the doctor now seemed somewhat shy—merely a genuine fan of Jiang Yihan and a devoted father loving his daughter.

Jiang Yihan smiled and took the CD from the doctor's hand. To his surprise, it was an authentic copy of Jiang Yihan's third full-length album. The doctor even pulled it right out of his desk drawer, showing that he genuinely listened to Jiang Yihan's music. Jiang Yihan skillfully signed his name before bidding farewell and leaving.

As the door opened, the crowd immediately dispersed with a rustle. There were probably dozens of people crammed outside—doctors, nurses, and orderlies alike—forming quite a rare spectacle.

Li Ran skillfully cleared the path ahead, while Jiang Ziyi guarded Jiang Yihan's side. Amidst a guard of honor of white coats, they left the hospital. The constant smile on Jiang Yihan's face made everyone who had rushed over to see him feel that the trip had been well worth it. Jiang Yihan was indeed living up to his legendary reputation.

Upon returning home, Li Ran immediately placed a call to Li Tong, briefly explaining the situation of the day and canceling all of Jiang Yihan's scheduled activities for the next two days.

"Li Ran, since Yihan has some free time over the next two days, let's finalize the drama details. The production crew is already prepared and can start filming at any time. Take these two days to completely rearrange Yihan's subsequent schedule; once filming starts for the television series, time will be extremely tight." Li Tong urged promptly.

Li Ran patted his own head. Recently, he had been somewhat overwhelmed by Jiang Yihan's commercial endorsements, with countless advertisers continuously reaching out, making Li Ran's head spin to the point that he had actually forgotten about the television series. Director Xu Le's "It Started with a Kiss" had approached Jiang Yihan for discussions quite early on, but he hadn't expected everything to be ready now. It really was time for proper planning.

That very evening, Li Ran obtained the entire planning proposal. After reviewing it in detail, he arranged to meet with Xu Le and Song Namin the following day.

"Manager Li, hello." Both of them stood up to greet Li Ran upon his arrival. By now, Li Ran had also become a top-tier manager in South Korea, holding considerable status and prestige.

"Hello, yes!" Li Ran remained a man of few words. After sitting down and ordering a cup of coffee, he quickly got straight to the point: "You didn't hand over your casting sheet yesterday. Bring it out now so I can take a look and get an idea of the situation."

Xu Le hurriedly searched through the table and handed Li Ran a casting roster. It included character selections, selected actors, audition photographs, and the actors' relevant profiles and resumes—it was thoroughly complete.

Li Ran lowered his head and began to read. "Have you shown this casting list to our company? MBC..."

"We did show this casting list to your esteemed company, and President Li said you would be the one to make the final decision." Xu Le looked somewhat nervous. If there were no issues with the cast, subsequent sponsorships could be finalized very quickly, meaning filming could begin at a moment's notice. Therefore, this was the most critical hurdle. Everyone knew that given Jiang Yihan's current market value, any television series he participated in would be overwhelmingly welcomed by all. Consequently, the selling point of collaborating with Jiang Yihan drove countless management agencies to send their own artists to the auditions, creating quite a unique spectacle. The list currently in Li Ran's hands still felt weighty. "On MBC's side, we've discussed it: as long as Jiang Yihan has no objections, they have no objections. What MBC is more concerned with is what you would consider an appropriate per-episode fee for Jiang Yihan from our broadcasting station."

"Tell me MBC's offer." Li Ran still didn't raise his head, carefully cross-referencing the information of the main cast members.

Xu Le felt the palms of his hands breaking out in sweat. Li Ran was truly the formidable manager who had helped Jiang Yihan reach his current standing, possessing an exceptionally strong ability to control the situation. Xu Le hesitated; negotiation and tactical maneuvering were not his strong suits anyway, let alone the fact that they were currently inviting Jiang Yihan—they were the ones asking for a favor. Ultimately, Xu Le decided to skip the process of driving prices up and down and directly reported MBC's bottom line: "Twenty-five million won per episode."

Upon hearing this figure, Li Ran raised his head. For the first time today, a smile appeared on his face as he uttered two words: "Not bad." Inwardly, Li Ran was actually somewhat surprised. Although Jiang Yihan's market value was currently astronomical, it was primarily concentrated in music and film; in television, Jiang Yihan was merely a rookie with zero prior experience. Therefore, Li Ran's initial benchmark was twenty million won per episode, which was already the rate for an A-list television actor. He hadn't expected MBC to be willing to spend so lavishly, offering top-tier television lead remuneration to win Jiang Yihan over. It seemed that thanks to Jiang Yihan's blessing in the first half of the year, SBS had profited far too much, leaving the other two broadcasting stations deeply distressed. While KBS still couldn't find an opportunity to strengthen its cooperation with Jiang Yihan, MBC had seized this chance and was naturally holding onto it tightly. Such an episode rate certainly satisfied Li Ran.

It took about ten minutes for Li Ran to finish reviewing the entire casting roster. After making numerous marks on it with a pen, he said, "Overall, there are no problems. I've written down some suggestions on here, and I hope you can discuss them when you get back, then consult with MBC. Come talk to me again once there's a result. As for the cast, there are basically no issues." Hearing Li Ran say this, Xu Le finally let out a sigh of relief. With the main problem essentially resolved, the drama project was practically set.

"Now, let's talk about the product placement and advertising issues within the television show." Li Ran smiled slightly as he brought up today's other major agenda item. Were the advertisers who had been swarming to their doorsteps recently prepared? Li Ran was ready.