Chapter 35

The only three listeners were all in a daze.

After singing just once, Li Qian stopped and looked at Liao Liao, asking, "It's roughly this feeling, right? Is it okay?"

The three people suddenly came to their senses, but their eyes were still dazed.

Liao Liao nodded slightly, somewhat stiffly, "This song... it's very good, very moving, and very suitable for me to sing."

Qi Jie and Huang Wenjuan seemed to be programmed to act in sync, almost simultaneously looking at Liao Liao, and then turning to look at Li Qian.

To Qi Jie, after three years at the women's college, she and Liao Liao had almost nothing they didn't talk about, and she knew Liao Liao's personality well: if Liao Liao could be very generous and carefree about anything, when it came to music, she was extremely proud, extremely unapproachable, and extremely confident.

But now, Li Qian casually took out a song, and immediately made her listen in a daze, and she recognized it right away.

Facing Li Qian's extremely calm face, Qi Jie suddenly found herself at a loss for words to describe her feelings.

Hidden depth?

A stunning debut?

Or... something else?

She couldn't think of it, couldn't think of it at all.

In fact, in just a short day... or perhaps just a few hours, Li Qian had repeatedly refreshed and elevated his image in her mind. Qi Jie even felt that she was starting to become numb to it.

And the most crucial thing was that at this moment, he was completely calm!

It was as if he didn't realize how shocking his casual action of tearing a few pages was, or how captivating his action of strumming and singing was...

He was calm as if he had done something completely insignificant.

It was as if he had finished a test on time and left the room, or as if he had stood up in class to answer a very ordinary question and then sat back down, or as if he had unlocked a bike, pushed it out of the shed, and started riding it with a light pedal.

He had no hint of pride, no hint of showing off, not even a hint of "I did this"!

His calmness... was suffocating.

So, without thinking, Qi Jie raised her hand to cover her chest and took a deep breath.

She turned to look at Huang Wenjuan... well, although she also had a shocked look, clearly stunned by Li Qian's casual demeanor, the young girl was at most just finding it incredible, and her expression was much more relaxed than her own.

At this moment, seeing Liao Liao's approval, Li Qian nodded and asked, "What's the second one?"

Liao Liao's movements were still stiff and somewhat flustered.

She flipped to the second page and said, "It's called 'Persistence.'"

Li Qian said "Oh" and immediately picked up his guitar again, starting to play and sing, "When night falls, loneliness is always around, the lights of dusk beating in my heart, are my infinite tenderness..."

Instantly, the three listeners were in a daze again.

The three people, three pairs of eyes, were fixed on Li Qian.

Some were staring at his hands, some at his mouth, and some... at his eyes.

After singing just once, Li Qian stopped and said, "This song has a bit of a slow rock feel, but it's very light, with a focus on the BLUES flavor. Of course, the main theme is still a pop song. I think this song would also be very suitable for your voice. I think you could especially convey the feeling of being distant from the crowd, and that... how to say it, the resilience and determination to never give up and always stay positive."

At this point, seeing Liao Liao nod, he asked, "Do you... like it?"

This time, Liao Liao was really stunned.

Subconsciously, she swallowed again and nodded stiffly, "I like it, I really like it."

Li Qian smiled calmly.

This time, before he could ask, Liao Liao quickly reacted, but before she could say the name of the third song, Li Qian said, "The remaining two songs, 'My Beloved Hometown' is a folk-style song. Uh, I think folk music has been quite popular in recent years, so I tried writing one, although the lyrics might be a bit different from other folk songs. As for 'Unfinished Love,' it's a more classical, more Chinese-style work, a kind of experiment. I even added a bit of Peking Opera... Uh, do you like Peking Opera?"

"Ah?" Liao Liao came to her senses, "Oh, I like Errenzhuan."

Li Qian smiled and said, "Anyway, I think these songs should all be quite suitable for you. The first two are the ones I just sang, and I won't sing the remaining two. You can take them home, look at them, and try singing them. If you're not interested, you can contact me anytime. I accept returns!"

This joke... was not funny at all.

Liao Liao was still immersed in a state of shock, and only managed a forced smile when she heard this—there was no such thing as returns for songs of this quality!

Others' reactions to these songs, Liao Liao didn't know. After all, in music, everyone has their own unique aesthetic, and no matter how good a work is, it can't make everyone like it. Perhaps some people wouldn't like these songs, but for her, there was no such problem.

These songs... at least the two that Li Qian had already tried singing, were all treasures to her!

They were the masterpieces she had been desperately seeking!

Priceless!

So, even without seeing the remaining two songs, without knowing the melodies or lyrics, based on his few comments and her almost unconditional trust in him, she was certain they would also be absolute masterpieces!

So... only a fool would return them!

Liao Liao clutched the thin sheets of paper in her hand and said, "Thank you."

Li Qian smiled, "I'm glad you like them."

The rooftop suddenly fell silent.

Then, Huang Wenjuan suddenly coughed.

Qi Jie suddenly came to her senses, realizing she had been staring at Li Qian the whole time, and felt a bit embarrassed, turning her gaze away. But then she noticed that Liao Liao was still staring at Li Qian with wide eyes.

Li Qian seemed a bit awkward, smiled, and said, "Is there... something wrong with me?"

Liao Liao shook her head stiffly, still staring at him.

Qi Jie raised her hand to cover her forehead, speechless.

Huang Wenjuan gently pushed Liao Liao, and she immediately came to her senses.

The first thing she did was turn to look at Li Qian's open guitar case.

At the end of her gaze, the side pocket of the guitar case revealed the edges of two large notebooks.

Then, she swallowed again.

"That... that... actually, my album is still missing five songs!" she said.

Qi Jie and Huang Wenjuan were both stunned, then turned to look at her.

Li Qian was also a bit stunned.

Liao Liao raised her hand, somewhat flustered and nervous, but not at all embarrassed. Her arm waved unconsciously, and she said, "You don't know, I'm very picky, so even though I recently got a song from another author, I'm not sure if I'll like it when it's done, so... can you give me one more?"

Li Qian was first surprised, then couldn't help but laugh.

But Qi Jie and Huang Wenjuan didn't laugh.

It seemed they didn't think Liao Liao's actions were at all shameless.

At this moment, Li Qian thought for a moment, turned around, and took out the notebook from the guitar case, flipping through several pages. Then, after hesitating, he carefully tore out a page—since the notebook was taken out, the three girls' gazes seemed to be glued to it, unable to look away, with Liao Liao's eyes the widest and roundest.

But... with a snap, Li Qian closed the notebook.

"Take a look at this one?" He handed the torn page over.

Liao Liao took it and saw the title at the top of the sheet music and lyrics— "Cheers, Friends."

"Is this enough now?" Li Qian asked with a smile.

To get five songs at once, how could anyone still say it wasn't enough?

Although it should be admitted that in terms of getting songs, Liao Liao's face wasn't exactly thin, but at this moment, she couldn't bring herself to speak—indeed, at this moment, she had the thought of replacing one of the previously recorded songs.

Well... that was just a moment of impulse!

She consoled herself, "If I did that, others aside, I think Sister Zhao would strangle me!"

Then, she flipped through the five sheets of paper again, as if afraid one of them might be blank. After finishing, she tightly clutched them in her hand and nodded, "This time, it's enough!"

Li Qian smiled, "So... do you want to stay here, or... Teacher Qi knows, I come here every day to practice, so..."

"Oh!" Although Liao Liao was still excited, she immediately understood his meaning and said, "You continue practicing! Uh, I actually really want to keep listening to you sing, you sing so well, but..." She waved the sheets of paper in her hand, "You know, with such good songs in my hands, I can't resist, so, another day! I need to go back and look at these songs, get my fix first!"

Li Qian smiled and nodded, "Alright. I won't keep you company then!"

Liao Liao nodded, turned to leave, but was pulled back by Huang Wenjuan.

She turned back, looking at her assistant in confusion. The poor assistant couldn't say anything loudly, so she lowered her voice and mumbled, "Sister... you haven't mentioned the price yet!"

"Ah! Right!" Liao Liao slapped her forehead, turned around, and looked at Li Qian, saying, "I'm so excited... how much do you think these five songs should cost?"

Li Qian smiled and said, "Whatever you think is fine. I'm not even a newcomer, so just give me a token amount."

Liao Liao's eyes widened, "How can that be!"

She thought for a moment, her eyes turning a few times, and said, "Here's the deal, my boss allocated 800,000 yuan for this album, and we planned for ten songs, so... how about half for you?"

Huang Wenjuan was stunned, but didn't dare to say anything, only looking at Liao Liao timidly, calling, "Sister..."

Liao Liao knew the prices she had been paying for songs over the past half year, and 80,000 yuan per song was a price for famous artists! If they really bought five songs at this price from a high school student who wasn't even a newcomer, Huang Wenjuan thought they would be skinned alive by Producer Zhao!

At this moment, Li Qian was also surprised by the price, "400,000? 80,000 per song?"

He paused, then smiled, "So confident in my songs?"

At this moment, Liao Liao didn't even look at her assistant, nodded firmly, and said, "Absolutely confident!"

Li Qian hesitated, "Don't you... need to discuss this with your producer?"

Liao Liao shook her head, "Absolutely not needed!"

But she quickly added, "Of course, you know, for these songs, this price is not expensive at all, but for your current status, it's not only high, but ridiculously high! So... I have an additional condition!"

"Uh?" Li Qian was taken aback, thinking this was reasonable, and said, "What is it?"

Liao Liao stared at Li Qian with bright eyes, almost gritting her teeth, "My condition is that you must arrange the music for these five songs... you are the original author, and you should be the best at capturing the essence of these songs. Is this condition acceptable?"

Li Qian slowly smiled, "Alright, deal!"