Chapter 29

The next morning, Liaoliao woke up early. She turned her head to see Qijie, who was still sound asleep on the bed next to her. She got up and washed her face and brushed her teeth. However, while brushing her teeth, she felt something was not quite right. It was not yet seven o'clock, but there was a continuous dripping sound outside. After brushing her teeth, she pulled the curtains open and found that it was actually raining.

The rain was light, drizzling continuously.

There were several tall wutong trees in the courtyard behind the hotel. The raindrops fell onto the leaves and then slid off, creating the dripping sound she had heard earlier.

The sky was a bit misty, and in the small alley behind the hotel, people occasionally passed by with umbrellas.

She opened the window and reached out her hand.

The rain was a bit cool, the air was unusually humid, and the temperature was not low.

She glanced back at Qijie, who was still sleeping soundly, and pushed the window back a bit, leaving only a gap as wide as her hand. Then, without wearing a bra, she put on a tank top, moved a chair to the window, and sat down, quietly watching the rain, the wutong trees, the alley, the passersby, and the umbrellas outside.

The room was very quiet, with only the air conditioner blowing and Qijie's faint breathing. Outside, it was also very quiet, with only the continuous sound of raindrops falling on the leaves and the ground.

There were no car sounds, no human voices.

Liaoliao sat in this dual silence.

For her, this was a rare moment.

She was not foolish; she knew how rash and risky this trip to meet the songwriter was.

She also knew that although Mr. Caozhan had promised to give her a song, which meant her trip was not in vain, the road ahead still held no hope.

Even if Caozhan had promised to give her a song, whether it would meet her standards and whether she would use it were still uncertain.

So, what if she finished visiting the next few places but still couldn't get a song?

Or, what if she got one or two songs from someone other than Caozhan, but they didn't meet her standards?

The album was definitely going to be released. This was a rare opportunity, and she absolutely could not let it slip away. However, without better works, relying solely on the five songs she had already recorded... she knew that achieving a decent result, such as a gold record, was not a problem, but to do better was almost impossible.

As for the idea that the five songs alone could drive the entire album, that was just a delusion.

In Liaoliao's view, the five songs she had already recorded could only be considered as part of the album that needed to be driven— if there were two to three, or even just one, excellent song that fans would like and be willing to buy the album for, then the other songs could be enjoyed without disappointment. But if she relied on them to boost sales, they were not good enough!

In short, if Liaoliao just wanted to release an album quickly and achieve a decent sales result, or even use this album to barely enter the second-tier singer circle and take advantage of the popularity to make money, the resources she currently had were enough, really enough.

But if she wanted to become a sensation, or even if she didn't become a sensation, to start having her own style, her own representative works, or even to start having her own loyal fans...

She needed at least one excellent song!

But from the current situation, it was really difficult for her to find one.

The rain outside was drizzling, and she looked at the gray sky, sighing unconsciously.

"Why are you sighing?"

Liaoliao turned her head sharply at the sound, "Sighing? Did I?"

Qijie seemed to have been awake for a while, leaning against the headboard with the blanket wrapped around her, looking at her. She snorted in disdain.

This was a very beautiful scene: Qijie's face still had a hint of the blush from a good dream, her eyes were slightly squinted, but her beautiful face and delicate features looked even more dreamlike. Her long, straight, black hair, like a waterfall, was disheveled on her chest, the ends of which were delicately curled. The blanket was only piled up to her chest, exposing large areas of snow-white skin, which contrasted beautifully with her black, shiny hair and the light purple curls.

"Is the rain heavy? Where do you want to go today?" she asked.

"It's not heavy, but it started in the middle of the night... We won't go out today. We'll rest in the room," Liaoliao said.

"Okay." Qijie nodded, then stretched and got out of bed.

Liaoliao caught a glimpse of the Walkman next to her pillow.

"Hey, I wanted to ask you last night, what were you listening to? I opened it and saw a blank tape. Did you record something yourself?"

Qijie nodded, "Yeah, I recorded it myself."

Speaking of this, the sleepiness on her face disappeared, and she suddenly became excited. She had already wanted to go wash up but then sat back on the bed, picked up the Walkman, and waved it at Liaoliao, saying, "Do you remember when I called you about not finding songs online? Later, I found out that the person singing upstairs was actually a student in my class! My student! And do you know what? He said the songs he sang were written by him... I was so shocked!"

Liaoliao was taken aback and couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, so you have a little genius in your class? Ha!"

"Of course!" Qijie was extremely excited, beckoning her, "Hey, come here, come on, listen. He sings really well, and the songs he wrote are also super good!"

Liaoliao waved her hand, "No thanks! What grade do you teach... Oh, second year, right? A second-year high school kid's stuff, I'm not really interested..."

She paused and added, "But you, my dear, be careful. A high school boy who can write his own songs has a huge impact on girls... Don't fall for it!"

"Che!"

Qijie beckoned her again, "Come on, just listen to a bit, okay?"

Liaoliao shook her head and smiled, then turned to look out the window.

She wasn't sure if it was because of the rain, but her mood today was not good.

Qijie put down the Walkman, disappointed and helpless, and went to wash up.

At this moment, Liaoliao suddenly asked, "Hey, my dear, did you get the person's permission to record their song?"

"Huh?" Qijie was washing her face and didn't hear clearly. She turned off the faucet and looked at Liaoliao. Liaoliao had to repeat her question. Qijie was taken aback and then shook her head, "What? Is that... not good?"

Liaoliao touched her nose, turned to close the window, and said as she walked over, "Not just not good! It's a big no-no in the industry!"

Qijie nodded, looking confused, thought for a moment, and then smiled, "No worries, I'll just listen to it myself! You didn't even want to listen to it when I offered!"

She went back to continue washing her face.

Just as she finished and came out, someone knocked on the door.

Qijie got dressed, and Liaoliao went to open the door.

It was Huang Wenjuan, and she was carrying several bags of food.

"These are fried dough sticks, this is soy milk, I also bought a bowl of millet porridge, whoever wants to drink it can, and I bought a steamed bun!" She put the food down, smiled at Qijie, and asked Liaoliao, "Sister, are we going out today?"

Qijie was praising her, saying to Liaoliao, "I mean, has Wenjuan been mistreated by you? She's so dedicated, even in the rain, she went out early to buy breakfast for you!"

Liaoliao ignored them and started to slowly look for clothes and put them on.

Gradually, the room became quiet.

She first took off her tank top, put on a bra, then opened her suitcase and put on a T-shirt, and one by one, put on her jeans, socks, and shoes... After everything was done, seeing everyone staring, she forced a smile, sat down by the bed, and said, "Eat, you guys! Why are you looking at me?"

Qijie looked at her, "Hey, what's wrong with you? I felt something was off earlier!"

Huang Wenjuan looked at Liaoliao and then at Qijie, wanting to say something but didn't dare.

"Actually, Sister Liaoliao occasionally turns into a literary girl," she thought to herself.

Liaoliao picked up the soy milk, inserted a straw, and took a sip, then picked up a steamed bun, carefully bit into it, chewed slowly, and swallowed.

Then, she looked at Huang Wenjuan and turned to Qijie, asking, "Wenjuan, Qijie, do you think this trip of mine is a bit too unrealistic?"

Qijie was taken aback, "Why are you asking this? This is a bit... unlike you!"

Huang Wenjuan quickly tried to comfort her, "Sister, actually, you're... too impatient!"

Liaoliao turned to look at her. Seeing that she wasn't angry, Huang Wenjuan continued, "I know you're not satisfied with the current song selection for the album, but classic songs aren't that easy to get. To be frank, even the four big names in our company didn't become famous overnight. They slowly rose to fame, one album at a time. Their first albums didn't sell well either. It took them several years to gain some fame and status before they could get some good songs... Uh, I'm just saying, don't be mad if I'm wrong!"

Liaoliao smiled, "You're actually quite knowledgeable about this? It's okay, go on."

So Huang Wenjuan said, "You always want to achieve everything at once, which is not very realistic!"

Liaoliao nodded, fell silent for a moment, and then put the half-eaten steamed bun in her mouth, chewing it quickly.

Huang Wenjuan turned to look at Qijie, her eyes filled with a questioning look.

Qijie shook her head, indicating it was fine.

Then, she beckoned Huang Wenjuan, "Come, Wenjuan, sit on the chair, let's eat!"

After Huang Wenjuan sat down, she had an idea and brought the Walkman over, handing it to Huang Wenjuan, "Come, listen to this."

Before Huang Wenjuan could reach for it, Liaoliao laughed, pointed at Qijie with her chopsticks, and took the Walkman, saying, "Do you really have to be so eager for others to listen?"

As she spoke, she put down her chopsticks, put the headphones in her ears, and said with a smile, "I'm warning you, I might criticize your so-called masterpiece to pieces!"

Seeing that Qijie was just smiling, she reached out and pressed the play button, then picked up her chopsticks to pick up a fried dough stick. But soon, her chopsticks stopped in mid-air.