Chapter 40

It was Saturday.

At 9:30 in the morning.

Inside the Huaxin Apartment, Lin Zaishan, bare-chested, was sitting at his workbench, strumming his guitar and singing.

He was singing Zheng Jun's "A Long and Winding Road."

This was an interesting old song, with simple yet profound lyrics, paired with a teasing and worldly melody, making it very flavorful.

He had just earned 100,000 yuan, making him a "ten-thousand-yuan household."

Singing this song in a relaxed manner, Lin Zaishan's mood was as bright and cheerful as the sunlight outside the window.

White Dove would be back tomorrow afternoon.

Seeing the money in the bank account, that girl would surely be overjoyed, wouldn't she?

Thinking about it, a smile curved at the corners of his mouth, and he sang even more freely—

...

The first girl I fell in love with~ I think she's very different~

One day we were in bed~ Guess what she said to me~

...

No one values your feelings, my dear~

You'd better become rich if you love me~

...

Because the road is long and winding~ We can't go without money~

The road is long and winding~ I just don't want to be too lonely~

...

After recording a demo of this song, Lin Zaishan listened to it again, found it good, and then uploaded it to the website of the Chinese Empire Music Original Association for registration.

Just like in another dimension, in this dimension, musicians can also upload their original lyrics, scores, and even arrangements to the Chinese Music Association's original music registration website to register copyrights.

In the other dimension, registering a song online costs 10 yuan.

In this dimension, it's cheaper; getting a digital copyright registration stamp for a song costs only 2 yuan.

Creators don't necessarily have to upload a demo; they can register just by uploading the lyrics and score.

Of course, they can also register with an audio demo.

Lin Zaishan uploaded the complete audio, lyrics, and score files for "A Long and Winding Road."

After paying 2 yuan, the song was registered.

This was his 72nd registered song.

In recent days, he had registered all the songs he had sung online to prevent plagiarism.

Plagiarism was a serious issue in this dimension, but it wasn't as rampant.

Everyone in the industry didn't want to be labeled as a plagiarist, and besides, plagiarizing a song wouldn't earn much money.

But it was still important to be cautious.

In addition to registering the songs he had sung, Lin Zaishan also registered any good songs that occasionally came to mind.

To save time, he mostly didn't upload demos, only the lyrics and scores.

Only when he was in a particularly good mood, like now, would he record a demo and upload it.

Before registering "A Long and Winding Road," he had registered another song by Zheng Jun— "There's No Banquet That Doesn't Disperse."

These two songs were from Zheng Jun's same album "The Third Eye," which was released in January 1997 in the other dimension. It sold 500,000 copies in just two months, making Zheng Jun the first Chinese singer to appear on "Billboard."

Lin Zaishan remembered "A Long and Winding Road" after registering "There's No Banquet That Doesn't Disperse."

The reason he registered "There's No Banquet That Doesn't Disperse" was to arrange it for the Believer Band to help them participate in a competition.

Bi Yonggang, the drummer of the Believer Band, was a straightforward and honest kid. It wasn't worth it for him to suffer heartache over a cheating girlfriend, so Lin Zaishan wanted to use music to counsel Bi Yonggang.

He had previously considered giving Zhang Hao and the others songs like "Betrayal Love Song" and "The First Tear" by Power Station, which are more cathartic and targeted at relationship changes.

These kids were inexperienced and full of hormones; singing such emotionally cathartic songs might make them more engaged and feel more.

But after some consideration, he felt these songs were too sentimental and decided against it.

Singing such songs would be like rubbing salt in Bi Yonggang's wounds, stirring up his inner pain.

So, he decided to give them a song that would open their hearts and broaden their perspectives—"There's No Banquet That Doesn't Disperse."

There is no banquet that doesn't disperse.

This applies to meals, friends, and even life, which is a slowly fading banquet.

When it comes to romantic relationships, if it's over, it's over. Why dwell on it?

In Lin Zaishan's mind, the greatest charm of music was its ability to change hearts, open minds, and welcome a new and better life.

Just like in "True Hero," it sings, "In my heart, there was once a dream, to use my voice to make you forget all the pain..."

This was Lin Zaishan's dream.

If he could bring happiness to others through music, he would also become very happy.

In addition to "There's No Banquet That Doesn't Disperse," Lin Zaishan planned to arrange two more songs for the Believer Band.

The university art festival band competition they were participating in was held over two days.

Because there were so many participating bands, almost all the university bands in Minzhou would come to Donghai to compete by the end of October.

There were nearly a hundred bands, and one day wasn't enough to complete the competition.

The first day was the preliminary round, with each band performing one song. After that, 24 bands would be selected to enter the final round on the second day, which would also be the climax and closing performance of the Donghai University Art Festival.

In the final, each band would have two songs to perform.

Together, that made three songs.

According to tradition, the top three bands, the champions, runners-up, and third-place winners, would also perform an encore.

So, Lin Zaishan had to arrange at least three songs for the Believer Band.

If the Believer Band performed well, he would also prepare an encore song for them.

Among these, "There's No Banquet That Doesn't Disperse" was definitely going to be arranged.

The pure vocal difficulty of this song wouldn't be too challenging for Zhang Hao's beautiful high-pitched voice; the main focus would be on emotional expression and the band's arrangement and accompaniment.

The second song Lin Zaishan wanted to arrange for the Believer Band was "High and Vast" by another band, Power Station.

This song would be more challenging for Zhang Hao to sing.

Zhang Hao's high-pitched voice was similar to Su Jianxin's, but it was uncertain if he could sing "High and Vast" as powerfully as Su Jianxin.

This was a song for ensemble singing, and everyone in the Believer Band could participate. If the practice went well, the live performance would definitely have a great atmosphere.

Using a new love to forget an old one is the best way to move on from heartbreak.

But in fact, unwavering friendship can also effectively dilute the pain of lost love.

Lin Zaishan hoped that Bi Yonggang would be moved by "High and Vast" and realize that no matter how lonely the world might be, he would always have his good friends and music by his side.

Losing love is not the end of the world.

There are many things in this world that can rival love.

As long as one's mind is open and not narrow, life can be lived freely and proudly.

The third song, and the ultimate trump card for the final, was "Heaven Above" by Zheng Jun.

This song was written by Zheng Jun to mourn a musician friend who died in the 9/11 attacks, but the emotions it conveys go beyond that.

"Disheveled hair flying, the cold wind of the twelfth month, wild doves soaring through the blue sky..."

From the very beginning, this song conveys a grand and melancholic atmosphere.

As a rock man, one should have such a grand mindset.

What's the point of being entangled in petty love affairs?

A true man should have a broad vision and lofty aspirations.

The homeland may be sad, but the beauty of life remains.

What's the big deal about losing love?

It doesn't matter if everything is lost.

Because there is still heaven above.

When the world turns against you, all you need is a slight smile.

That's what a true man is.

The realm of "Heaven Above" was too high, and Lin Zaishan was concerned that Zhang Hao's talent and breadth of mind might not be enough to convey the song's depth.

But he still wanted to try arranging it for Zhang Hao and the others. If it didn't work, he would change the song.

He wanted these young rockers to experience the sentiment of the old rockers and not to be so short-sighted in their views on life and music.

Lin Zaishan himself really liked "Heaven Above." He had even considered using this song for the first round of "The Strongest Singer."

If the old man's voice sang this song, it would definitely dominate the stage and shock everyone!

But unfortunately, Lin Zaishan's current voice wasn't as high.

He had tried singing this song before, but the effect wasn't good.

This kind of song can't be sung with falsetto; the entire atmosphere would be lost. It must be sung with a solid high note.

Lin Zaishan's current physical condition wasn't great, his breath support wasn't strong enough, and his high-pitched voice was a bit rough. Singing with full effort could easily cause him to choke and fail to control his breath.

In the formal recording, he couldn't take such a risk. If he messed up the recording, it would be very embarrassing.

Through the recent familiarization, protection, and training of his new voice, Lin Zaishan vaguely sensed that his voice was unlikely to recover to the super-high pitch of the old man's young days.

His voice had undergone a change, becoming more mature.

Singing three octaves higher would be almost impossible with his real voice, as it would easily cause problems.

Like the classic high-pitched song "Love Until Death" from another dimension, with 8 D3s, 35 C3s, and 25 B2s, continuous high notes, and constant fluctuations, requiring extremely strong breath support, Lin Zaishan couldn't sing it with his real voice now.

There was also Zhang Yusheng's "I Await," with a highest note of E3. If Lin Zaishan tried, his real voice would definitely break.

And Yang Peian's "I Believe," a very powerful song, with a highest note of #D3—2 #D3s, 5 D3s, and 26 C3s, almost all high notes, and difficult pronunciation in the high range, requiring a lot of breath control, but now Lin Zaishan no longer had the ability to easily handle #F3, so he couldn't sing this song without lowering the key.

Because his voice had changed significantly and wasn't as high as before, Lin Zaishan really liked Zhang Hao's voice after meeting him.

Many songs from another dimension that he couldn't sing now, Zhang Hao could if he trained his voice well.

If he could cultivate this young man, he would surely become a sharp blade in the music industry.

"Ring ring ring—"

Just as he was about to register a new song, his phone rang.

It was Sun Yuzhen calling.

"Hello?"

Lin Zaishan answered Sun Yuzhen's call.

"Uncle, are you up yet?"

"It's almost ten o'clock, of course, I'm up."

"I'm working overtime at the station. We just finished a meeting, and I have two pieces of news to tell you, one good and one not so good. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Let's hear the bad one first."

"Why the bad one first?"

"Hehe, no reason, just tell me."

Lin Zaishan had once heard a story about two people. One person only ate the best grape from a bunch, while the other only ate the worst.

This eating method meant that the former always ate the best grape left, while the latter always ate the worst.

It seemed that we should envy the former because he knew how to enjoy.

But in fact, the former only had memories, while the latter still had expectations.

"Alright, I'll tell you the not-so-good news first—You've been scheduled for the first episode of 'The Strongest Singer.' You'll start preparing next week. The formal recording is on the 15th of next month, and the time is tight."

"It doesn't matter; I've been preparing to participate."

"No, you don't understand. Being scheduled for the first episode has a reason, which I can't tell you now. I'll explain it to you in person later. In short, it's not good news."

"Alright, what's the good news then?"

Sun Yuzhen lowered her voice and said, "The good news is that you've been listed as an A-level participant in our group, the highest level, personally listed by our boss. He really likes you! Out of 60 participants, only 10 are A-level. Each episode only records one A-level participant, do you understand what that means? It means that among the participants recorded with you, there won't be any strong competitors. You are the strongest participant in the first episode."

"I thought you were going to tell me about some good food. What's so good about this news? To me, your good news and bad news are the same. My goal is to win the championship, so I don't care about the order of recording or the A or B levels."

"You don't understand the show. I'm telling you, this is really good and bad news. If you want good food, I'll come to your place after work tonight and cook for you. I'll explain it to you then."

"You cooking for me, that's the real good news, hahaha."

Sun Yuzhen was speechless. How could this old man be so greedy for food?

After talking to Sun Yuzhen, Lin Zaishan received another call, from Liu Mengmeng.

Tomorrow, which was Sunday, Fang Nan had another wedding banquet and invited him to perform, two songs for 5,000 yuan.

Being able to eat, sing, and earn money, this was truly good news for Lin Zaishan.

That afternoon, Lin Zaishan was at his workbench, arranging music and writing accompaniment scores for the Believer Band.

His phone suddenly rang.

It was Lu Chen calling.

Putting down his work, Lin Zaishan answered the call, "Hello, Chenzi?"

"Brother Shan, I've been busy with family matters these past two days and haven't had time to call you. Do you have time tonight? Let's have a drink and chat."

"Let's skip the drinking. My voice isn't in good shape, and I can't drink much. Let's have dinner together instead." Lin Zaishan was worried about not having dinner. Sun Yuzhen had called him at noon to say she would be working overtime and couldn't cook for him.

"Ah, dinner... Well, I have a dinner engagement tonight. How about I cancel it and have dinner with you?"

Lin Zaishan could tell that Lu Chen was hesitant and said with a smile, "Don't cancel it. Go ahead and eat. I'm still working on some music and don't know when I'll finish."

"What kind of music are you working on?"

Lu Chen was interested. "New songs?"

"Sort of, helping a small band arrange a few songs." Lin Zaishan changed the subject and said, "Call me after dinner when you have time. There's a coffee shop near where I live that has a jazz performance tonight. Let's go there, listen to some jazz, and chat." It was Saturday, and Lin Zaishan remembered that Shuichuan Stone had a jazz night on Saturdays.

"Alright, I'll call you later tonight."

"Good, see you tonight."