ryethenovel Chapter 4 Digital Music Club
Chapter 4 Digital Music Club
On the night of the "Campus Singer Competition," Lin Feng earned a profit of 5400 yuan from his 20 MP3 players. After deducting the cost of the 4 freebies, he still made a profit of 3880 yuan. The initial investment wasn't large, but the profit margin was decent.
The next afternoon, Lin Feng hummed a little tune as he headed to Taisheng South Road to continue purchasing goods.
Lin Feng strolled over to Lao Liu's stall.
Old Liu was sitting with his legs crossed, checking yesterday's accounts with a calculator, humming a tuneless little tune.
He looked up and saw Lin Feng, then stood up with a smile: "Oh, student brother's here? Is there something wrong with the computer?"
"Boss Liu, take 32 more units of the same model as last time. Make sure they have the best A-grade boards, and the casing can't have a single scratch."
Old Liu's eyes widened in disbelief: "You've sold all 24 of those units?!"
It's only been a few days... Public mold machines aren't exactly in high demand, so is this student just playing around with it?
Lin Feng gave a soft "hmm" in response.
Old Liu's facial muscles twitched a few times, and his smile almost squeezed his wrinkles into a chrysanthemum.
"Wow! You're a real hidden gem!" He pulled over a stool, wiped his face with his sleeve, and said, "Sit down! Standing is tiring!"
He turned and shouted gruffly into the inner room, "Qiang! Quickly bring out that unopened box from my inner room! The one that says 'Grade A'! Hurry up!"
Then, he took out a Zhonghua cigarette and handed it to Lin Feng.
"Absolutely the best board, the battery life is top-notch!" He then picked up a lighter and respectfully lit a cigarette for Lin Feng.
"The playlist... should it stay the same?"
Lin Feng looked at Old Liu's arrogant yet obsequious manner and chuckled as he exhaled a smoke ring: "Still the same old look."
In the days following his return from Taisheng South Road, Lin Feng was extremely busy.
The second batch of 32 MP3 players sold out quickly.
Students who were unable to secure a ticket at the "Campus Singer Competition" but had registered their reservation information actively sought to purchase one.
Lin Feng's MP3 business became a huge success.
At first, he traded in the dormitory; dormitory 407 was like a temporary digital product store.
The roommates all went through a process from initial curiosity and doubt to later envy and attraction.
Now that Li Hao has the Patriot Moonlight Box, he's more interested in Lin Feng's playlist.
Wang Peng and Zhao Xiaodong each bought a Linfeng product, but Wang Peng wanted to make money with Linfeng.
Lin Feng shared the playlist and 12 hit songs with Li Hao, and naturally recruited his three roommates as his helpers, all of whom joined the digital music club.
"Sichuan University of Technology Digital Music Club"
With the popularity of "The First Snow of 2002" and the campus singing competition, this name has already gained considerable recognition at Xichuan University of Technology.
For many students, it's like a trendy label, representing that you might hear good songs earlier than others, and representing a kind of subtle "coolness".
Even if it was just a marketing gimmick by Lin Feng at the beginning...
But as more and more members joined, it was forced into becoming a reality.
Lin Feng appointed himself as the president of the society, and thus an organization began to take shape.
A week later, the first event of the "Sichuan University of Technology Digital Music Club" was "grandly" held on the lawn next to the basketball court.
The reason we chose the lawn was because we had nowhere else to go.
He wanted to borrow a spare classroom, but the Digital Music Club was not a formally recognized club by the school, and the procedures for borrowing a classroom were complicated and could not be approved at all.
Lin Feng, along with Li Hao and Wang Peng, carrying a borrowed speaker, a handwritten song list, and a stack of printed "MP3 Usage Tips," sat down on the lawn, and that was their "club activity."
There weren't many people, only about twenty. Most of them were regular customers who had bought MP3 players, and there were also a few pure music enthusiasts.
Everyone sat in a circle, with Li Hao playing music. Wang Peng explained how to charge the MP3 player safely. Lin Feng sat in the middle, chatting with people about the latest good songs.
"This song, 'Mice Love Rice,' is a new release and will soon become a hit." After Lin Feng finished playing the song, everyone's eyes lit up.
A boy wearing glasses raised his hand: "President, can I copy this song?"
Lin Feng smiled and said, "Everyone who came today will receive one. The playlist will be updated monthly and will only be available to club members."
The atmosphere at the scene immediately became lively.
"President, why is the song order messed up when it's uploaded to the machine?"
"Any recommendations for better quality headphones? The ones that came with my headphones sound a bit muffled."
At the edge of the crowd stood a girl with long, flowing hair, big eyes, wearing a white T-shirt and denim skirt, listening quietly.
Lin Feng noticed her.
As the event ended, the girl approached and asked softly, "President, I'd like to join the Digital Music Club, but I don't have an MP3 player. Is that alright?"
As she spoke, her fingers unconsciously twirled the ends of her hair, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Lin Feng.
Lin Feng asked, "Which department are you in? What's your name?"
"I'm a freshman in the music department, my name is Shen Jingyi. I can play guitar and write songs; I won't just take up a spot without doing any work!"
Lin Feng nodded: "Welcome. Leave your contact information, and I'll notify you of the next event."
Shen Jingyi smiled, left her contact information, and then left.
Li Hao leaned closer, nudged Lin Feng with his elbow, and stared at Shen Jingyi's retreating figure: "Brother Feng, this junior is pretty good-looking. And she's from the music department! Our club has struck gold!"
Lin Feng glanced at him: "Stop messing around, pack your things first."
Li Hao chuckled twice: "I'm just thinking about the club's future! More beautiful female members will mean more people for future activities!"
He quickly picked up the speaker, humming "Mice Love Rice" as he spoke.
After several club activities, problems arose one after another.
The first event was on the lawn, and the weather was good, so it was fine. The second event happened to be on a rainy day, and the event had to be canceled at the last minute.
The third event was moved to a corner of the cafeteria.
The cafeteria ladies started mopping the floor at eight o'clock, and a group of people were chased to several different places.
Wang Peng looked frustrated: "Brother Feng, what do we do? It's like fighting a guerrilla war."
Even worse is the propaganda.
Lin Feng printed out several posters and posted them on the bulletin board at the entrance of the cafeteria. When he went to check the next morning, they had been completely torn down.
Li Hao went to ask, and the building manager replied matter-of-factly, "Posters without approval cannot be put up! Which department are you from? Do you have the approval slip?"
Li Hao returned looking disheveled: "Brother Feng, in our gang, we have to do everything secretly..."
Lin Feng didn't speak, he just smoked and was lost in thought.
Without a proper name, one's words lack authority. Without a formal identity, everything becomes awkward.
Publicity had to be done covertly, event venues had to be found by chance, and the connections between members were loose.
This is not a long-term solution, not to mention the bigger plans in his mind.
"Brother Feng," Wang Peng pulled up a chair and sat down, his tone more serious than usual, "I've been thinking about this for the past couple of days, and our 'Digital Music Club' can't keep running like this. We need a proper set of rules and a relatively fixed venue."
Wang Peng is usually quiet, likes to tinker with computers, but is very meticulous.
"Look, firstly, with more people, it's inconvenient to notify them. Secondly, if people have questions about digital products or want to share good songs, they can't find a group to go with. Thirdly, it's not good to always hold events in such a secretive way."
I heard that formal clubs can apply for classrooms and activity spaces, and they also get a small amount of funding. It's not much, but it's prestigious. Plus, it makes recruiting easier.
What Wang Peng said was exactly what Lin Feng was thinking about. However, establishing a formal club required school approval, which wasn't easy.
He thought of asking Chen Tao from the student union for help.
That evening, Lin Feng treated everyone to hot pot and explained the gang's predicament.
Chen Tao laughed and said, "It's a good thing that you want to formalize your organization. Folk organizations sound free, but they can't get anything done. If you want to do things properly, you have to follow the proper procedures."
Lin Feng offered him a cigarette: "Give me directions."
Chen Tao lit a cigarette and counted three points on his fingers.
First, prepare the application materials. The organization should have a clear bylaw, including its purpose, activities, and organizational structure.
Secondly, we need to find a current teacher to be the advisor for the new club.
Third, after all the materials are prepared, submit them to the Student Union's Clubs Department for review. Once they approve them, submit them to the School Youth League Committee for final approval.
Lin Feng listened attentively.
Seeing his serious demeanor, Chen Tao reminded him, "The head of the student associations department is Wu Feng. He's quite... rule-abiding. Make sure your materials are well-prepared, so he doesn't have a chance to find fault."
Lin Feng nodded, understanding the situation.