Singer

Translator: Lynn

Before they realized it, it was already noon, and Long Zichen instructed his accompanying staff to go out and buy boxed lunches. After Jian Jie and the staff quickly filled their stomachs, the recording work resumed without interruption.

The first song they recorded was “Dream.” It had a gentle melody in a folk style, not focusing on showcasing technical skills but rather on its profound and hopeful lyrics about human peace. Long Zichen particularly favored this song. Nowadays, such humanistic songs were not very common, so it could be refreshing for the public, accustomed to love-themed songs, to experience a change in taste.

Long Zichen aimed for a simple and unadorned aesthetic in the composition. He decided to use only piano accompaniment and added some drums to enhance the atmosphere. Guitar, bass, and other instruments were discarded.

After a brief rehearsal, Jian Jie sang into the microphone once again:

“…There is no killing, no war. I hope all people can live in peace and happiness. You may call me a dreamer, but I know I won’t be alone. I hope that one day, you can join me and let us share this world together…”

After the initial recording, Long Zichen listened attentively to the effect several times and then suggested a few additional lines. The song was completed in just over thirty minutes.

The next few songs went smoothly, and by 6 pm, they had recorded six songs. The song production took over an hour, and darkness had already fallen.

Long Zichen was elated to have accomplished so much work in one day. Waving the CD he had made, he excitedly said to Jian Jie, “It’s been a long time since I had such a great time. This is the kind of rhythm I want! Xiaojiejie, today is an amazing day!”

Jian Jie couldn’t help but release a long sigh of relief and replied with a slight smile, “I’ve been feeling nervous all this time, and I haven’t seen you so satisfied in a long time, Mr. Long.”

Innocently, Long Zichen asked, “I hope I wasn’t too strict and didn’t scare you, right? Xiaojie, you need to differentiate between public and private matters. Don’t blame me!”

Jian Jie smiled gently and replied, “Of course not, you were right to be strict.” Then he suggested, “Mr. Long, everyone has been busy because of me, so let me treat you all to dinner. It’s the least I can do.”

Long Zichen’s assistant, Zhou Jia, a young man in his mid-twenties who had been in the industry for five or six years, quickly interjected, “What are you talking about, Xiaojian? You can’t spend money on us.”

Other staff members echoed Zhou Jia’s sentiment, saying that Jian Jie shouldn’t spend money. At that moment, Long Zichen made a final decision, “Why are you all so polite today? Can’t bear to see this cute kid spend money, huh? Alright, I’ll treat you all to hot pot. I don’t want you to call me stingy behind my back.” Long Zichen received his salary at the beginning of the month and instantly transformed into a confident and generous person.

“Brother Chen is domineering today!” “Brother Chen is mighty!” “Boss Long is the best!” The staff cheered when they learned that Long Zichen would be treating them while heading outside the recording studio.

As they reached the gate, another group of people was entering. The person at the front wore sunglasses and although dressed casually, exuded a superstar aura.

Seeing this group, Long Zichen greeted them with a smile, “Ding Jiangyu, Teacher Dongping, you’re here to record songs too.” Although Jian Jie didn’t know these two individuals, he joined the staff in calling out, “Hello Ding Jiangyu, Hello Teacher Dongping.”

The person with sunglasses was the legendary heavenly king, Ding Jiangyu. Alongside him was Liu Dongping, a renowned music producer who Long Zichen respectfully referred to as Teacher Dongping. Hearing Long Zichen’s words, Ding Jiangyu and Liu Dongping stopped, and the three of them exchanged polite words.

Ding Jiangyu, despite his status as a heavenly king, remained low-key and humble. With many years of experience in the industry and a reputation for being well-behaved, he was highly regarded in the circle. Long Zichen had interacted with Ding Jiangyu before and was familiar with him. Ding Jiangyu kindly said to Long Zichen, “I’m here today to record a new album.” Then he turned to Jian Jie and asked, “Are you also bringing a newcomer to record songs?”

“Yes,” Long Zichen replied with excitement. “The young talent I’ve been nurturing is named Jian Jie. His singing skills are not bad, although he can’t compare to Ding Jiangyu. Today, I brought him here to try recording a few songs.” Long Zichen’s humility was evident. No matter how big the company was, they wouldn’t treat a recording studio, worth thousands of dollars a day, like a vegetable market where they could freely browse. Bringing Jian Jie here meant there was more to it than just having fun.

Certainly, Ding Jiangyu also understood the situation. After pondering for a moment, he turned to Liu Dongping and asked, “Dongping, if I recall correctly, among the selected songs this time, there were two songwriters named Jian Jie, right?” Upon receiving Liu Dongping’s confirmation, Ding Jiangyu continued, “Yes, I also heard from Lao Lin that one of the songwriters is a young artist, possibly a newcomer in your team?” Long Zichen couldn’t help but chuckle and said, “What a coincidence, it’s ‘Paradise’! It’s the same as ‘Start Again.’ This memorable song was written by a newcomer on my team. Kids are full of ideas, you know. Even if they haven’t mastered singing yet, they aspire to create. I jokingly call him ‘Singer What.’ The most important thing is not just about singing skills; even if you sing alphabet songs, you can become popular.”

Ding Jiangyu’s weakness was his inability to write songs, so praising Jian Jie’s songwriting skills in front of him was not a wise move. However, Long Zichen was careful enough not to overlook Ding Jiangyu’s singing abilities and complimented him both openly and secretly. Long Zichen hoped to create a good impression of himself and Jian Jie in front of Ding Jiangyu. After all, a single word from Ding Jiangyu held more weight than any amount of publicity.

As expected, no matter how humble someone may be, they still enjoy flattery. Ding Jiangyu seemed to appreciate the compliment and smiled, saying, “If you compare it to the alphabet song, it would be an injustice to me! Alright, you must be busy. Contact me when you have the time.” 

Jian Jie, feeling foolish, said to Long Zichen, “Mr. Long, if you didn’t tell me earlier, I would have thought you didn’t want me to write songs. I will focus on singing in the future and stop being half-hearted.” 

Long Zichen bent down with a smile and said, “I was just being polite to Ding Tianwang. You took it seriously! Don’t think for a moment that I don’t want you to write songs. I want you to write more songs like ‘Dream’ and ‘Hope’.”

Jian Jie realized that Long Zichen was probably being modest in front of others, and he finally felt relieved. He had been quite conflicted before. 

As it was getting late, the group found a nearby hot pot restaurant for dinner. However, Jian Jie couldn’t handle spicy food. Despite ordering the mandarin duck hot pot with a non-spicy soup base, the broth became spicy after a while. Jian Jie blushed after a few mouthfuls, and Long Zichen quickly fetched a glass of water to filter out the chili oil for him.

“Brother Chen is so considerate. When I’m looking for a husband in the future, I’ll search for someone like Brother Chen,” one of the female colleagues remarked, clearly of marriageable age.

“I’m about to get married. Have you forgotten how Boss Long scolded Tong Liangliang two days ago? Boss Long doesn’t treat everyone the same,” another colleague firmly maintained his reason and didn’t forget Long Zichen’s past harshness.

Long Zichen raised an eyebrow and said, “Are you itching for trouble? Who wants our Xiaojie to be so good? I love him too.”

Everyone broke out in a cold sweat, thinking to themselves, “We’re sorry!”

Jian Jie, embarrassed by Long Zichen’s words, knew that Long Zichen treated him differently from other newcomers in the company. The favoritism was

 so apparent that anyone could see it. Some newcomers felt aggrieved, and others secretly waited for Jian Jie to fail, hoping to prove that Long Zichen had no vision. Jian Jie couldn’t say anything in response; he could only work hard to justify Director Long’s trust in him.

After that day, Long Zichen became busy with the post-production of the song “Hope.” The company had negotiated with a film and television company to use this song as the theme song for a youth inspirational TV series. If the TV series became popular, it would provide great exposure for the song and its creators.

Amidst the busyness, Long Zichen received an unexpected call from Liu Dongping. Liu Dongping informed him that there was a song in Ding Jiangyu’s new album that they wanted to produce as a duet. Liu Dongping had met the newcomer, brought by Long Zichen, a few days ago and had a positive impression. He wanted to invite the newcomer to audition for the duet version.

Long Zichen enthusiastically agreed over the phone but couldn’t help but think to himself, “This is so unbelievable! We only met briefly that day. Can it leave such a lasting impression? Does Ding Jiangyu really have conflicts with Lei Ting?”

Long Zichen immediately shared the news with Jian Jie. Whether it was true or not, they couldn’t miss this opportunity.

Author Notes“Dream” Original: Imagine – John Lennon

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