Chapter 130: Find Her a Teacher
Seeing the two look at each other, then simultaneously avert their gazes, Jiang Shu's lips curved slightly upward.
"Lee Ji-eun, want to eat together?"
Lee Ji-eun looked into Jiang Shu's eyes, and only after receiving his permission did she walk over.
"IU Unnie." Liu Zhimin greeted Lee Ji-eun again with a cheerful smile.
"Karina sunbae." Lee Ji-eun smiled and greeted Liu Zhimin.
Although Liu Zhimin called her Ouni, when they met, she still had to address her as sunbae.
Age and seniority were considered comprehensively; one could not use only one as a social tool.
The group found a long table and sat down. It was lunchtime, and there were many employees eating, but upon seeing that Jiang Shu was the one who had arrived, many employees still chose to quickly finish their meals and leave, making space for Jiang Shu and his group.
"Taeyeon has not studied vocal music, so from today on, you must study music every day and not be negligent," Jiang Shu said, looking at Kim Tae-yeon.
"Whether you have talent or not, you must work hard."
The Limit Break bond required seven years of persistence. He wondered if Kim Tae-yeon could endure it. Let's start this morning.
In fact, even without the Limit Break, her current talent level would be enough for her to reach the level Jiang Shu remembered. However, since there was a method to reach a higher level, Jiang Shu still hoped Kim Tae-yeon could persevere.
"Yes, Chairman, I've noted that." Kim Tae-yeon nodded in response.
He already had some ideas regarding Kim Tae-yeon's vocal teacher. Although there was an illogical thing like the bond, the progress speed of Kim Tae-yeon's main vocalist bond would not be the same with an excellent vocal teacher compared to an ordinary vocal teacher.
And as for who to find for this vocal teacher…
After lunch, Jiang Shu arranged for someone to take Kim Tae-yeon's family to see her dormitory. Lee Ji-eun and Liu Zhimin went to their schedules. Jiang Shu returned to his office alone and dialed a long-uncalled number.
"Hello, Chairman Jiang."
"Director Min, I want to borrow someone from you." Jiang Shu said with a smile, listening to the voice from the other end of the phone.
"Tell me."
"The One Jung Seung-won."
Throughout Kim Tae-yeon's growth trajectory, this King of Singers, who had a super-first-tier national popularity in Korea, was very important. His musical skills continued to influence Kim Tae-yeon's music career even after 2020.
From the results, this legendary singer was undoubtedly the most suitable vocal teacher for Kim Tae-yeon.
"What do you want him for?" Min Xizhen asked in surprise, "If it's for a business collaboration, you could just contact him directly."
"It's not a business collaboration; I want him to teach a student," Jiang Shu explained.
"That might not work." Min Xizhen said upon hearing Jiang Shu's intention, "The One has not served as a vocal teacher for many years. Now, he only has a business contract with us at S.M. It's unlikely he'll teach a student."
"Could you help me ask?" Jiang Shu wanted to try.
"Yes, but I can't guarantee he'll agree."
For singers of Jung Seung-won's caliber, the company had influence over them, but it wasn't rigid. Coupled with his age, his pursuit of worldly material things was not as strong as when he was younger. Generally, for any matter, the company and the singer would discuss it, and forcefully demanding the other party to do something was not realistic.
"Then I'll trouble Director Min."
"I'll give you an answer in ten minutes." Min Xizhen hung up the phone after saying that.
Jiang Shu put down his phone, quietly waiting for Min Xizhen's reply.
Although this crazy woman occasionally acted crazy, her work efficiency was impeccable. She would quickly complete whatever needed to be done, never procrastinating.
Seven minutes later, Min Xizhen's call came in.
"Hello, Director Min."
"I've asked for you. The One said he can teach, but not this year. The earliest would be next year."
"Okay, what's the specific time?"
"Early next year."
"Good, I'll treat you to a meal another day."
"No need. Just give me Red Velvet's mini-album title track; that's better than anything," Min Xizhen said in an annoyed tone.
Red Velvet had debuted for a week now, and their mini-album should have been prepared long ago. She had given Jiang Shu the concept several days ago, but Jiang Shu still hadn't made any moves.
"Soon, soon," Jiang Shu said perfunctorily.
He had already chosen the song for the concept Min Xizhen gave him, but he hadn't sent it to her yet. The main reason was that he planned to have Lee Ji-eun enchant the song before giving it to Min Xizhen.
Unlike Tian Xiaojuan's girl group producer buff, which required binding to be used, Lee Ji-eun's celebrity producer buff could enchant as long as she participated in the production.
Although Lee Ji-eun's popularity wasn't high right now, a mosquito, no matter how small, was still meat. Any little bit of popularity helped.
He'd have Lee Ji-eun enchant it later and then send it to Min Xizhen.
"Okay."
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Shu wasn't in a hurry to consider the title track.
Jung Seung-won wasn't available to teach Kim Tae-yeon this year, so it was impossible to just let Kim Tae-yeon wait for him. A better approach would be to find her a suitable transitional teacher first.
There were plenty of teachers for the introductory basic stage in the company, but with the main vocalist bond's improvement speed, a month or two would already allow her to reach an incredibly impressive level.
So, even for an introductory teacher, it should ideally be someone with a similar style to Jung Seung-won…
If he remembered correctly, Jessica Jung Soo-yeon also studied vocal music with Jung Seung-won, right?
He also wondered if the shoehorn (referring to Jung Soo-yeon's sister, Krystal, or a similar inside joke, but the translation should stick to the literal meaning of 'shoehorn' if it's a direct translation, or simply 'she' if it's a derogatory term without a direct English equivalent that makes sense) knew the pre-debut Sica yet.
Jiang Shu cut off his divergent thinking. Finding Jung Soo-yeon was unreliable, a pure waste of time.
Taesica was good, but it was ultimately the past.
Now is the era of our Tae-U!
Just thinking about the situation at noon made Jiang Shu almost lose his composure.
It's a pity Lee Ji-eun isn't a singer known for her technique, otherwise, it would be quite interesting to have Kim Tae-yeon learn music from her, huh.
Hmm?
Technique?
Jiang Shu suddenly snapped awake.
Who said there weren't any singers known for their technique in the company?
Her vocal color wasn't similar to Kim Tae-yeon's, but because both used head voice singing and belonged to the S.M. system, the sounds they produced when singing were actually very similar at times.
However, compared to Kim Tae-yeon, who had extremely high singing IQ and strong appeal, this singer's national popularity and appeal were somewhat weaker, to the extent that even though her technique was stronger than Kim Tae-yeon's, her expressive power was still inferior to Kim Tae-yeon's.
But!
Technique meant a high level of skill, and a high level of skill meant she could teach Kim Tae-yeon, even with plenty to spare. And if he remembered correctly, this person had originally applied to DM Entertainment as a vocal teacher.
Jiang Shu picked up the desk phone.
"Check Wendy's schedule and tell me her next available time."
"From 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM, Wendy xi has no schedule," Choi Ji-yeon's voice came through.
"Contact Red Velvet's manager and have Wendy come to my office before four o'clock. Also, have Kim Tae-yeon, who registered as a trainee today, come at the same time."
"Yes."