novelraw Chapter 63 From "Peach Blossom in the Valley" to "Singer"
Chapter 63 From "Peach Blossom in the Valley" to "Singer"
Before the ink on the last note on the score paper had even dried, Song Ze had already turned his phone over and sent a message to Zhang Juan.
"Starting tomorrow, Phantom Sound One, for three consecutive days."
Zhang Juan replied instantly: "The recording studio has already been booked. Do you think I'm just for show?"
Song Ze was delighted.
For the next three days, he welded himself to the Magic Sound No. 1 Recording Studio in Shanghai.
She cancelled all commercial performances, media interviews, and even her invitation to eat roasted lamb chops.
The latter clearly requires more courage than the first two.
On the first day, Zhang Juan sat in the control room swivel chair scrolling through her phone, occasionally glancing up at the person behind the glass.
Song Ze is recording the verses.
It's not the chorus, and it's not the high-pitched section.
It's the verse.
He was putting pressure on himself.
He could have easily delivered a beautiful high-pitched resonance, but he pressed his voice down, stuffed it into his chest, and let it sink to the bottom of his throat.
again and again.
"They were all brave—"
stop.
Shake head.
Again.
"They were all brave—"
It stopped again.
Zhang Juan put down her phone and moved closer to the monitoring speaker.
On the seventeenth time, what came out changed.
They're not singing anymore.
That's what they're saying.
Each word in the low register has a dull quality; it is delivered without force or emotion, simply and evenly, yet each syllable feels heavy and weighty.
Zhang Juan got goosebumps on her back.
She worked as a manager for eight years and witnessed the awe-inspiring power of countless singers hitting high notes.
I've never had my scalp tingle from a low-pitched bass line.
The next day, Song Ze began to work hard on the breath control of the first four sections of "Loving You Alone in the Dark Alley".
He demanded of himself that the final verse be delivered in a soft, yet clear, voice.
Then, in the chorus, he floored the gas pedal.
When Zhang Juan heard the complete and coherent demo for the third time, she jumped up from her chair.
"Xiao Song, what you've done..."
Song Ze took off his headphones; his neck was covered in sweat.
"What's wrong?"
Zhang Juan opened her mouth, then choked out, "Are you sure this is a competition? Or some psychological warfare?"
Song Ze smirked: "Five hundred audience members, I want them to be on the verge of losing their composure before the chorus even starts."
Zhang Juan glanced at him for two seconds.
"You're really sick in the head."
Late on the third night, Song Ze dragged his leaden legs back to his apartment.
My voice is hoarse, and my mind is filled with waveform diagrams and airway markings.
He poured himself a glass of warm water, and just as he picked it up, his phone screen lit up.
Liu Yifei: "Just landed in Yanjing. Want to hear about the strange things that happened to me in Montreal?"
Song Ze typed with one hand: "Want to treat me to a double-flavor hot pot when I win an international award?"
Liu Yifei: "It's no big deal, you can eat as many meals as you want."
Song Ze made a voice call directly.
When the call connected, Liu Yifei's tired voice, sounding like he was jet-lagged, came through the phone, with the sounds of cats meowing in the background.
Dongdong and Diudiu are probably fighting over the cat tree again.
Niu Niu, Mao Xiaomi, and Dia Diao were also busy.
"Do you own a zoo?" Song Ze leaned back on the sofa.
"Don't even mention it. After walking for half a month, Dongdong tore a hole in my brand new carpet."
"Serves you right, who told you to keep more than a dozen of them?"
Liu Yifei chuckled softly but didn't reply.
It paused for two seconds.
"Song Ze, I have something important to tell you."
The tone changed.
The relaxed feeling vanished, replaced by a seriousness that Song Ze rarely heard.
"explain."
"There was a private dinner on the closing day of the Montreal Film Festival, organized by a few Chinese investors in North America." Liu Yifei paused, "Someone specifically came to me and asked you about it."
Song Ze did not move his hand holding the water.
"What do you want to ask?"
Ask Song Ze, the creator of the OST for "Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms," about his contract status, contract duration, and whether there are any plans for overseas release.
"Normal business negotiations," Song Ze said.
"That's what I thought at first too." Liu Yifei lowered his voice by half an octave. "But then he asked, 'I heard he has an 80 million yuan termination fee at Xingyao?'"
Song Ze's thumb rested on the side of the cup.
No more than ten people in the industry know about the 80 million yuan termination fee.
Yang Mi knew it was because she was trying to poach someone and had done due diligence.
Hong Jie knew because she was Liu Yifei's agent and had indirectly come into contact with Xingyao's contract terms.
How could a North American Chinese investor know this?
"Who is this person?"
"The name on the business card that says he's a partner in an entertainment fund is Victor Chen," Liu Yifei said. "I had Sister Hong check it out. The fund is registered in the Cayman Islands, and the information about the actual controller is all from a shell company."
Song Ze remained silent.
Liu Yifei continued, "The way he inquired about you was very professional. It wasn't just a casual chat at the dinner table; he did his homework. He knew that you and I had collaborated on an OST, that you got a starting spot on 'Singer,' and even that you had recently been in contact with Jaywalk Studio."
"You know about Jiaxing's affairs too?"
"right."
The living room was quiet for a few seconds.
The meowing of the cat from Liu Yifei's side in the background sounded exceptionally clear.
Song Ze's mind was racing.
In terms of his status within the Chinese entertainment industry, he's still a relatively unknown newcomer.
I wrote a few OSTs, got an audition qualification, and just surpassed one million followers on Weibo.
With this level of prestige, let alone North American capital, even top-tier domestic funds wouldn't bother to give it a second glance.
Someone went overseas to conduct background checks, and they went to such great depth.
It's not because I like his music.
They came for something behind him.
Or perhaps it's targeting one of his weaknesses.
"Song Ze?" Liu Yifei called out.
"Yes, sir." Song Ze placed his water glass on the coffee table and leaned back. "Sis, I'm just an ordinary working man. I have nothing to lose. If he really wants to talk to me, let him come directly."
"Stop grinning like that." Liu Yifei wasn't fooled. "Capital is always watching people from overseas, and it's never been well-intentioned. You'd better be careful lately."
"understood."
Song Ze did indeed write it down.
But he doesn't have the extra energy to track down a shadow right now.
The first episode of "Singer" was recorded four months later, and the arrangement of "The Lone Warrior" was still not finalized.
Dima Creek's dolphin-like vocalizations and Tan Jingjing's textbook-level technique stood like two mountains blocking the way.
An unknown source of North American capital is ranked fourth on the to-do list.
"Alright, that's enough about the important stuff." Song Ze switched channels. "Want to play a couple of rounds?"
Aren't you sleepy due to jet lag?
"I'm tired. But I want to win even more."
Liu Yifei chuckled and did not refuse.
Two minutes later, they played a duo match in Peacekeeper Elite.
Song Ze landed, picked up an SKS, put on the 2x scope, and rushed straight to the bridge.
He played extremely fiercely today.
The breath I accumulated by spending three days locked in the recording studio repeatedly pushing the bass register and relentlessly honing my breath control was all channeled into my aggressiveness in the game.
Three headshots in a row wiped out the entire opposing squad.
Liu Yifei's character was running from the poison gas in the back, and didn't fire a single shot the whole time.
"Did you eat gunpowder today?"
"It's from practicing singing." Song Ze licked the signal flare gun. "I've been holding back for too long."
"What kind of style is your new song?"
"Keep it a secret."
"cut."
The safe zone appeared on the mountaintop. Song Ze set up his gun and waited for the others, then suddenly spoke up: "Sis, I have a question for you."
"Um?"
"Would it be embarrassing if I were eliminated in the first round of 'Singer'?"
There was a two-second silence on the other end.
Liu Yifei's response was calm: "If you were eliminated by unfair rules, I'll post on Weibo overnight to vent my anger for you."
pause.
"If you're not good enough—you pay for the hot pot."
Song Ze burst out laughing.
"make a deal."
In the game, his character climbed over a ridge, used a 4x scope to scan the last enemy, and took him down with a single shot.
A message popped up on the screen: "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!"
It was already 2 a.m. when I hung up the phone.
Song Ze lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, the name "Victor Chen" swirling in his mind.
Then he turned it off himself.
Let's survive the first round of "Singer" first.
The following morning, Song Ze returned to Xingyao Entertainment.
Zhang Juan was already sitting in her office, with a stack of printed materials spread out in front of her.
Seeing him come in, she immediately said, "Good news."
"explain."
"During Bai Lu's recovery period in Hengdian, Yu Zheng edited behind-the-scenes footage of the scene where she was injured into the production's promotional video." Zhang Juan took out her phone and opened the Weibo video.
The entire process of Bai Lu refusing a stunt double and personally performing the Phoenix Turnaround spin on wires was recorded in the footage.
The few seconds it took for her to land with a sprained ankle and grit her teeth to hold on in that frozen pose were flooded with comments.
"Yu Zheng is a really good guy." Song Ze took the phone and scrolled through the comments section.
The wind direction has indeed changed.
No one is mentioning the previous smear campaign about "resource-backed celebrities bullying body doubles" anymore.
Instead, they are called "Desperate Saburo", "Respectful Little Flower", and "Heartbreaking Bai Lu".
Zhang Juan leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs: "She gained 280,000 followers in three days, and her casual fanbase is basically stable. Once 'Chaoge' officially airs, this girl will be able to reap the first wave of benefits."
Song Ze returned the phone to her.
Bai Lu made the right move.
He pulled out a chair, sat down, turned on his computer, and brought up the arrangement project file for "The Lone Warrior".
The instrumentation in the chorus is too heavy.
He started deleting them one by one.
String section, deleted.
Delete the synthesizer pad.
Electric guitar distortion layer, delete.
In the end, only the piano, snare drum, and vocals remained.
Zhang Juan leaned over and glanced at the bare waveform on the timeline, then hesitated to speak.
Song Ze didn't even look up: "The simpler it is, the more deadly it is."
My phone vibrated.
Hsiao Ching-teng sent a message with just four words.
See you in the first issue, bro.
Song Ze stared at the screen for two seconds.
I typed four words.
"See you there."
Song Ze stared at the screen, feeling that it wasn't exciting enough, so he deleted "See you there" and retyped the four words.
send.
"Win the first prize!"