Chapter 44

"Wildflowers on the mountain bloom and wither for whom, quietly waiting, hoping someone will pick them. I am like that flower, waiting for him to come, to pat my shoulder and guide me as he wishes..."

In the recording studio, Liao Liao closed her eyes and sang with deep emotion into the microphone.

Yesterday, Li Qian had repeatedly emphasized that she needed to relax. Yes, she herself also felt that she indeed needed to sing the song with a more relaxed mood and state.

Wildflowers, born between heaven and earth, unrestrained, waiting alone.

This song, from lyrics to melody, was filled with a slow, swaying feeling. How could it sound good if sung with a tense voice?

Thus, she tried her best to recall the feeling when she first heard Li Qian sing this song. She made efforts to relax her mood and state, attempting to express the song with a more relaxed voice.

But... it was no use.

Halfway through the recording, she suddenly stopped.

Outside the recording studio, through the transparent soundproof glass, Zhao Meifeng and the sound engineer simultaneously raised their heads in surprise to look at her.

Liao Liao took a deep breath, removed the headphones, and opened the recording studio door to walk out.

"Phew... Sister Zhao, can I take a break? Just ten minutes, okay?"

Zhao Meifeng's face was filled with displeasure, but in the end, she shook her head, sighed, and waved her hand to indicate that Liao Liao could do as she pleased.

Liao Liao nodded, opened the door, and walked out.

Inside the room, Zhao Meifeng couldn't help but sigh, saying, "Why put yourself through this?"

Closing the door, Liao Liao's face showed a bitter smile.

Why put herself through this?

She raised her hand and vigorously rubbed her face, then walked towards the restroom.

A few steps away from the restroom, voices were already heard.

In the past, when encountering such a situation, Liao Liao would definitely make some noise to alert the other person, but this time, before she could even increase her footsteps, the conversation was already clearly heard.

"... Who says it's not true! It's already the fifth day she's occupied Studio 3, and it's said she hasn't even finished one song yet! It's making it impossible for me to schedule my accompaniment..."

"Who says it's not true! It's not just occupying the studio; she's already taken over seventy or eighty songs. If it weren't for me begging Sister Zhao, she might have kept them for who knows how long!"

"Hmph, now it's even better. It's said she spent 400,000 yuan to buy five songs from a high school kid. It's really hilarious! When she first bought them, she walked with such high spirits! Now what? She's been recording one song for five days, and it seems she can't come down from the high platform... But what can she do? The money is already spent, and she has to use it!"

"Exactly! This is called reaping what you sow! I want to see how many copies her album will sell..."

"Too few, considering the good reputation of her last single, this album should at least have some success. But when people really buy it, will they curse? Who knows..."

"Ha... Sister Qin, you're so funny..."

Both voices were very familiar.

Sister Qin, whose real name is Huang Yueqin, originally named Huang Yueqin, is one of the better-performing female singers in the company. It's said that her parents were both from a Yueju opera troupe, and she learned Yueju opera from a young age until she was discovered in a singing competition at the age of seventeen and became a signed singer for the company.

Her main style is sweet songs, and she has released five or six albums so far. Although her performance is not outstanding, it is very stable. Therefore, her status in the company is quite high, especially among female singers, where she is considered a senior figure.

The other person is Lele.

It's also a helpless situation; in recent years, the trend in the music industry has been sweet songs and folk songs, which are the most stable paths for female singers. There are those who have taken other paths, but there is only one Zhou Mo and one Zhen Zhen.

Before Zhen Zhen appeared, female singers were only seen as capable of singing soft, sentimental, and delicate tunes. Zhen Zhen's sudden rise, with her more masculine voice, singing folk songs and love songs, opened up a new path for female singers—of course, there is only one Zhen Zhen. Despite her nearly ten years of fame and being regarded as the top diva in the Chinese music industry, very few female singers have truly followed her path.

Feng Feifei's folk songs are grand, and Zhou Mo's urban love songs are deeply emotional, but they rank third and fourth among the four divas. Zhou Mo's diva status is still not widely recognized, and she retired from the music industry to get married three years ago. Now, the music industry is left with only three divas.

Zhen Zhen is the senior figure in the music industry. Her album can easily achieve triple platinum or even quintuple platinum sales, which is not in doubt. However, the sales of the sweet song queen, He Runqing, are not much worse, and sometimes even better. It's just that Zhen Zhen's pioneering spirit and high status in the music industry make her the first, while He Runqing has no advantage in front of her. As for Feng Feifei, her album sales have always struggled to break two million.

Apart from Zhen Zhen and Feng Feifei, the market can only achieve platinum sales with sweet songs and folk songs.

Of course, everyone understands that the future of the music industry will not always be dominated by sweet songs and folk songs, so many female singers are still trying to find their own paths.

Liao Liao is doing this, and Lele is doing this too.

Liao Liao, in making her album, is not willing to follow any established path, whether it's folk songs, love songs, or the light rock and classical styles she got from Li Qian. She is always trying to find her unique characteristics. Lele, according to the path set by Sister Zhao, aims to become the second Zhou Mo in the music industry.

To be fair, just from the vocal conditions, she is not without a chance.

"By the way, Lele, I heard that Cui Cui's song was given to you?"

"Yes, I begged for a long time. It's said that Liao Liao refused to let go, saying she wanted to use it for her next album! Tell me, Sister Qin, isn't that a bit too domineering?"

"Ha, whether she's domineering or not, she doesn't have many more months to go. Once this album is done, if it doesn't sell... that's 800,000 yuan in production costs. Do you think the company will sign her for another album?"

"That's true! Oh, by the way, Sister Qin, how about this: let's go to General Manager Zheng together and say we're all waiting to schedule our songs. We can't let her keep occupying the studio! She's so comfortable, taking over the studio to practice, with Sister Zhao accompanying her, while we can only watch..."

"General Manager Zheng? I advise you not to go! He's already spent 800,000 yuan, and there's no turning back. As long as Liao Liao says she wants to use it, he won't dare to stop her. We should just wait. I wonder when she'll finish. Ha, I'll definitely listen to this 'great album' when it's done!"

"..."

Liao Liao's thoughts were in turmoil, standing just a few steps away from the restroom, motionless.

After a long while, she came to her senses, just in time to hear footsteps from the restroom. They were about to come out, so she walked towards them, saying, "Sure, when the album is done, I'll definitely give you a copy, Sister Qin. I hope you'll give me a lot of feedback!"

The other person's footsteps paused, but by then, they were already about to leave the restroom.

Liao Liao had already walked up to them.

The three met.

Lele looked slightly awkward, Huang Yueqin's face was cold, and Liao Liao was smiling.

Liao Liao's gaze swept past Lele, with a calm smile, and met Huang Yueqin's eyes.

At this point, they clearly knew that Liao Liao had overheard their conversation.

Lele might feel awkward, and with her shrewdness, she would likely find an opportunity to quietly explain that she didn't mean anything by it, that it was all Huang Yueqin talking, and she just went along to avoid offending her.

After all, she hasn't even released a single yet and is a completely new artist.

But with Huang Yueqin's status in the company, she had nothing to fear when facing Liao Liao. Considering the new grudges and old resentments from the company's resource allocation to Liao Liao in the past six months, it was already a sign of great restraint that she only spoke behind her back and didn't confront her face-to-face.

Liao Liao responded with a smile.

But to Huang Yueqin, Liao Liao's smile seemed to carry a natural hint of provocation.

Thus, her expression became even more unpleasant, "What, can't continue recording?"

Liao Liao smiled, "At least I still have songs to record."

Huang Yueqin's face instantly turned cold, and her eyes were filled with anger.

Her new album plan had been announced over a year ago, but it still hadn't been released. Sweet songs do sell well, accounting for about 30-40% of the female singer market, but her last album didn't perform well, only barely reaching 500,000 copies after more than a year, earning a gold record. Therefore, the company was cautious about her next album.

Liao Liao was directly insulting her—her personality was not one to tolerate such things, especially given her recent poor mood!

But unexpectedly, Huang Yueqin didn't immediately explode. Instead, she coldly laughed, "Well said, then I'll wait to see how many platinum you can sell!"

Liao Liao's face stiffened, and she smiled, "As long as it sells more than a gold record, it's fine."

Huang Yueqin also smiled, but with a hidden edge, "I heard you signed a profit-sharing contract? So, it seems there's no hope for your next album?"

Liao Liao smiled again, "Isn't everyone the same?"

Seeing the conversation getting more heated, Lele looked from one to the other, forcing a smile, "Sister Qin, Sister Liao, we're all from the same company... let's both say less, less... " She pulled Huang Yueqin's arm, "Sister Qin, I have a couple of lines I'm not sure about, I want to ask for your guidance..."

She pulled hard, and Huang Yueqin took a deep breath, following her. As they passed, she stopped, turned to look at Liao Liao's side face, and said in a low, gritted voice, "I'll wait to see how you fail!"

After saying that, they walked away, arm in arm.

Liao Liao, facing them, smiled helplessly.

After a moment, she composed herself, walked into the restroom, turned on the tap, and splashed water on her face. She then looked at her water-streaked face in the mirror.

"Ha, it's all over anyway, Liao Liao, why are you so nervous?"

After saying that, she took a deep breath, wiped her face with a few tissues, and resolutely walked out of the restroom.

...

"Wind is not wind, clouds are not clouds, whether I love you or not, it doesn't matter, it's just passing by. Flowers are not flowers, mud is not mud, you dancing in the desert, coming and going, I need a bit more luck..."

It was around seven in the evening, and the Western restaurant was full, with many people waiting at the counter, holding number cards. As usual, whether they were waiting for their dishes, sipping wine, or waiting at the counter, most were couples.

Li Qian, wearing white sneakers, jeans, and a white T-shirt, sat on a high stool, holding his guitar, swaying slightly to the rhythm, singing with deep emotion.

Many people were watching him.

After finishing a song, light applause sounded around him.

Li Qian smiled at the audience, took a short break, and then strummed the guitar, starting the next song.

...

At the counter, Chu Bingbing was watching Li Qian's performance. Turning to see Fang Shennan coming out, she smiled and asked, "Shennan, how was it? Your aunt gave him a chance to sing here for three days. Give your aunt some feedback, is he qualified?"

Fang Shennan's face showed no smile, standing there and listening to half a song. After Li Qian finished, she said indifferently, "His voice is good, and his pitch is accurate. His male voice adds a certain flavor to Zhou Mo's songs."

Chu Bingbing was surprised, "Wow, that's quite a high evaluation!"

Fang Shennan glanced at her, nodded, "He sings well, but his breath control is a bit lacking. He probably didn't train from a young age."

Chu Bingbing suddenly laughed, reaching out to pinch Fang Shennan's cheek, "Princess, you always look so cold. Aren't you tired? You're wasting such a pretty face! Come, give your aunt a smile!"

Fang Shennan awkwardly pulled away from her hand, not showing any displeasure, just muttering, "Aunt... so many people are watching!"

Chu Bingbing smiled, withdrew her hand, and said, "Alright, since you gave such a high evaluation, your aunt will let him stay."

Fang Shennan nodded slightly, "I'll go then."

Chu Bingbing, hearing this, grabbed her, leaning in to whisper, "Is he quite handsome? Do you know who this young man is?"

Fang Shennan turned to look at her, her eyes clearly saying, "What does it have to do with me?"

Chu Bingbing rolled her eyes, but still leaned in to whisper, "I already asked, he's from your school! And he's also in the second year of high school!"

This time, Fang Shennan's face showed a hint of surprise, and she even subconsciously turned to look at Li Qian.

But it was just a moment.

Soon, she resumed her cold expression, saying, "I'll go, Aunt." Then she walked towards the door without looking back, not even glancing at Li Qian again.

Chu Bingbing sighed, watching her leave, then turned to watch Li Qian sing.

...

The restaurant is called "Love or Not Western Restaurant." Li Qian hadn't eaten there before, but from the number of customers, the business seemed to be very good.

It was here that he was given the chance to try singing for three days.

When he arrived at 6:30 PM, he found that a girl was already playing the piano, and she was quite good. So he knew he was there to fill the second time slot, as playing the piano for too long can be tiring.

From 7 PM to 8 PM, he sang about 13 or 14 songs. The audience's reaction was good, and even a guest requested a song. So, although he might not get a permanent spot, and the three-day trial was unpaid, he had already earned his first income.

A guest requesting a song costs 20 yuan, and the restaurant gives it all to the singer.

This was much better than singing in the subway, right?

When the last scheduled song was finished, Li Qian checked his phone and saw it was 8