1994: I Became a Literary Master in America

Chapter 47 Jeffrey, you can't fall in love!

Columbia University's School of Music has a tuition fee of $58,000 per year.

New York University is similar.

Syracuse University... Many people may not know Syracuse University, but it is one of the top universities in New York and belongs to the Ivy League.

The tuition fee is over 50,000 yuan a year.

This is just tuition!

Not to mention, the cost of studying art is far higher than that of other subjects.

Ordinary people really can't afford to go to these kinds of schools. Domestic celebrities often go to the United States to study music because their money is too easy to earn.

But for Americans, sending their children to art school is something that ordinary families can only dream of.

Take Vanessa as an example. She was able to attend Syracuse University's School of Music because her background and family circumstances were not bad.

Her mother was the principal violinist of the New York Philharmonic, and her father was an older white male teacher.

In the 90s in the United States, this was considered an upper-middle-class family.

Unless some disaster strikes, it is highly unlikely that it will fall below the kill threshold.

But if it were Tupac...

Syracuse University's School of Music? Don't even think about it.

Xu Shengjie wasn't worried about money.

He is confident that he will achieve upward mobility after the World Cup.

But he was actually a little reluctant to go to school... not because he couldn't afford the tuition, but because he didn't want to waste time.

If all else fails, find a top student from a music academy as your girlfriend and exploit her.

……

Xu Shengjie and Alan Menken had originally agreed to meet at a time that was only one and a half hours long.

But once the two of them started talking...

He's a very talkative person, so he just kept chatting.

They talked about music, then football, then literature, then film, and finally back to music.

"Ten thousand dollars, I'll make it for you."

I estimate that recording this song will only take two to three hours.

The master tape and 500 magnetic tapes are free, but you'll have to pay for the engineer's fees. The total will be $10,000.

This is called folding!

If it's a regular fee, and Manken personally oversees the production, the cost would probably be at least 50,000.

Even excluding Manken's fees, it would still cost around 20,000. Manken's price is incredibly, incredibly, incredibly low.

"I'll go back and think about it."

"Hmm, I'll take my time to consider it. If there are any new songs, I won't mind."

For the foreseeable future, until September, I will be in New York, coaching Tina X.

Xu Shengjie glanced at Tina.

The little girl chatted with the two grown men. At first, she was very enthusiastic, but now she was listless.

Looking at the time, it's already past eight o'clock.

He talked with Menken for at least three hours.

Xu Shengjie then got up to say goodbye.

Before leaving, Manken offered his advice again: "It's very difficult to release songs as an independent musician."

Every year, hundreds of young people in New York want to become independent musicians, make a name for themselves, and then be noticed by big record labels.

However, it is very difficult.

If you want to take this path, you need to think it through carefully.

Trying to go it alone is by no means an easy thing.

By the way, once you've finished recording this song, I can help you submit it to the radio station. As for the rest, you'll have to figure that out yourself.

"I will seriously consider it."

Xu Shengjie understood Manken's meaning perfectly: he was advising him to find a record company.

But once he signs with a record company, will he still have freedom? His decades-long lazy nature makes him unwilling to be bound by anyone.

However, Menken is not wrong either, going it alone...

impossible!

Who was the last person who wanted to go it alone?

Haha, anyway, Xu Shengjie can't remember any of them.

Leaving the recording studio, he prepared to take the elevator downstairs.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Christina's voice suddenly rang out: "Jeffrey, wait for me!"

Xu Shengjie hurriedly pressed the door open button, and Christina rushed in like a whirlwind, panting heavily.

"Which floor are you going to?"

"And you?"

"I'm going to the underground parking garage."

"Then I'll go too."

Xu Shengjie looked at her with a puzzled expression and pressed the B2 key.

The elevator quickly descended.

The elevator was quiet. Christina seemed a little conflicted, keeping her head down and not saying a word.

Xu Shengjie laughed and asked, "Aren't your parents coming to pick you up?"

"They don't care about me. Taking Mr. Manken back will get me back."

"Huh?" Xu Shengjie was taken aback. "Then why are you coming to the garage with me?"

"Jeffrey, you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes, that's right!"

You can't have a girlfriend.

Why?

"Because when I grow up, I want to be your girlfriend!"

Christina raised her head, stared at Xu Shengjie, and said loudly.

Xu Shengjie stared at the little girl with his mouth agape.

At this moment, the elevator had arrived at the parking garage. Xu Shengjie thought for a moment, then reached out and patted her little head, grinning as he said, "Okay, we'll talk about it when you're older."

"Okay, I'll allow you to spend time with your girlfriend now."

But you must remember, you absolutely, positively, positively cannot get married until I grow up and change my mind, okay?

Are all little girls in America so precocious?

However, Xu Shengjie didn't take it to heart.

This little girl is only fourteen; she's still a long way from adulthood.

When she grows up, she might forget these ridiculous words she said today.

As for him...

marry?

Pooh!

Never in this lifetime.

Xu Shengjie stepped out of the elevator, looked at Christina who was still standing inside, staring at him with a stubborn expression, and suddenly smiled.

"Okay, I promise you."

The elevator doors slowly closed.

Xu Shengjie hopped on his motorcycle, waved to Christina, and sped away with the roar of the engine.

What a fun day!

……

To be honest, Xu Shengjie didn't take the matter to heart.

But the little girl remembered it.

After Manken took her home, Christina slipped into her room with her schoolbag on her back.

She was lying in bed when she suddenly started laughing foolishly.

A moment later, she sneaked out again, picked up the cordless phone in the living room, slipped back into her room, and dialed a Louisiana phone number.

"Hello, I'm Christina Aguilera. I'm looking for Brit. I'm her friend."

A moment later, a little girl's voice came through the phone.

"Tina, what made you decide to call me? It's almost ten o'clock, and I was about to go to sleep."

"Brit, I'm in love!"

"What?"

"I met a super, super, super charming man."

"Hmph, how charming can she be?"

"Anyway, he's 100 times more charming than Justin."

"Impossible, Justin is the most charming boy."

"Tch, you said it yourself, he's just a boy..."

"You're not allowed to talk about Justin like that, or we won't even be friends anymore."

Furthermore, Justin said he seems to be signing a contract very soon.

"Tch, he can't even beat a 10-year-old girl. He cried after losing. He has no manly qualities at all."

Let me tell you, I met someone today who is very talented.

You probably know Vanessa Williams, right? She raves about him and is even planning to buy his songs.

"Who is it!"

The little girl on the phone seemed a bit confused.

"Jeffrey, a very, very, very handsome man."

"Wow, Tina, you haven't fallen for an old man who could be your father, have you?"

"Pshaw, Jeffrey is only a few years older than me. Even though he has a girlfriend, I'm definitely not going to lose to her."

Christina said with certainty.

Then she started arguing with the girl on the phone.

About ten minutes later, she angrily hung up the phone, then lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling and chuckling to herself.

……