mc-med Chapter 328 has been recorded.
Chapter 328 has been recorded.
Four days.
Lu Ran leaned back in his chair in the recording studio control room, watching Master Wang export the final version of the last song, and let out a long sigh.
Four days ago, he originally thought he would finish recording in one day, but now that he thinks about it, he was definitely bragging.
Eight songs, each of which had to be recorded in several versions, and each version had to be listened to and tuned repeatedly.
Shen Yuege's voice cannot be recorded for too long continuously; she needs to rest after recording for two or three hours.
Add in the arrangement, mixing, and post-production, and you're lucky if you can finish two songs a day.
"Mr. Lu, this is the final version of 'Coral Sea'." Master Wang handed over the USB drive. "Please listen to it again. If there are no problems, then all eight tracks will be complete."
Lu Ran took the USB drive, but instead of listening to it immediately, he turned to look at Shen Yuege sitting next to him.
Shen Yuege was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed. When she heard the noise, she opened her eyes and smiled at him.
"Are you tired?" Lu Ran asked.
"It's alright." Shen Yuege sat up straight. "It's much faster than I expected. I thought it would take at least a week to record."
"Four days is long enough." Lu Ran clutched the USB drive in his hand. "But it was worth it. The quality of these eight songs is even better than I expected."
Master Wang chimed in from the side, "President Shen has been in really good form these past few days. In the past, when recording songs, it would sometimes take him a long time to find the right feeling. This time is different; almost every take is perfect. Especially that song 'Little Dimples,' the transition in the second chorus—I've been recording songs for so many years, and I've never heard many singers sing it so naturally."
Shen Yuege felt a little embarrassed by the praise and smiled with her head down.
Lu Ran looked at her, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.
He knew why Shen Yuege was in such a good state.
She wrote half of the melodies for these songs herself.
Singing your own songs feels different, of course.
"Let's release them," Lu Ran said. "This time, we'll release two songs a day, one at noon and one in the evening. Let's release 'Little Dimples' first."
Shen Yuege nodded, took out her phone, and opened TUTU. Lu Ran also took out his phone from his pocket and logged into his account.
Master Wang sent the finished file of "Little Dimples" to both of their mobile phones.
Lu Ran listened to it once, confirmed that there were no problems, and then uploaded it to TUTU.
He typed a line in the title bar:
[New song "Little Dimples". A duet with @沈月歌. The third track on the album, with seven more to come. Two songs a day, plenty to go.]
Upon seeing this post, Shen Yuege couldn't help but laugh: "Who are you trying to compete with?"
"To those who say I've lost my touch," Lu Ran pressed the publish button.
The page refreshed, and the update appeared on the timeline. Shen Yuege reposted it with the caption:
[After four days of recording, we're finally finished. Every song on this album was co-written by Lu Ran and me. Hope you like them.]
The moment the post was shared, the comment section exploded.
"One song at noon and one at night? Lu Ran, are you even human?"
"Wait a minute, every song on this album was co-written by Yuege and Lu Ran? Yuege composed the music?"
"Listen to this first! The name 'Little Dimples' is so sweet!"
"I've finished listening. I'm dead. Dead from sweetness. 'Dimples and long eyelashes are your most beautiful marks'—what kind of divine lyrics are these?"
"Shen Yuege's voice is so sweet in this song! I used to think her voice was warm when I heard her sing big songs like 'Tomorrow Will Be Better,' but I never expected her to sing sweet songs so well!"
"Lu Ran is really good at writing love songs. They're not pretentious or affected; they're just genuinely sweet."
"One song at noon and one song at night—with this update frequency, I'd call Lu Ran the most conscientious producer in the music industry."
The hype is rising faster than expected.
Less than an hour after its release, "Little Dimples" entered the top ten of the new song chart.
The comments section was filled with positive reviews. Some people said this song would definitely become a must-sing song at karaoke, some said they wanted to fall in love after listening to it, and some even tagged their significant other.
At 8 p.m. sharp, Lu Ran released the second song.
"Expecting Love".
Part of the melody for this song was written by Shen Yuege, and Lu Ran only made some adjustments and polishes for her, so the melody is slightly different from the song in her previous life.
When Lu Ran published it, he specifically noted in the title:
[New song "Looking Forward to Love". The melody was written by @沈月歌. I just lent a hand.]
The moment this post was published, the comment section exploded again.
"A melody written by Sister Yuege? That's amazing!"
"No wonder the melody of this song is different from the songs Lu Ran wrote before. It turns out it was Yuege's work."
"It sounds great! It really sounds great! Sister Yuege, please write more songs in the future!"
"Lu Ran said he was just an assistant, that's too modest. But you can tell he really wants Yuege to be seen."
Shen Yuege was sitting on the sofa scrolling through her phone when she saw these comments.
She flipped through the pages one by one, unable to suppress the smile on her lips.
"Lu Ran," she looked up, "look at the comments section, so many people are praising my writing."
"It's well-written." Lu Ran leaned back on the sofa, his right leg resting on a footstool. "I didn't say anything wrong."
Shen Yuege lowered her head and continued scrolling through the comments. After a while, she suddenly spoke up: "Do you think anyone will actually play these songs at their weddings in the future?"
"It's not just some people, it's a lot of people," Lu Ran said. "Just you wait and see, it won't be long before your songs are playing at weddings. 'Today You're Marrying Me' is already being used, and 'A Little Sweet' and 'Bare Face' will also be used. At least half of these eight new songs will become popular wedding tracks."
After listening, Shen Yuege remained silent for a few seconds, then said, "So, does that mean I'll become a wedding singer from now on?"
Lu Ran was amused by her words: "So what if you're a wedding singer? A wedding singer is still a singer. And think about it, every couple gets to hear your songs on the most important day of their lives, what a blessing that is."
Shen Yuege thought about it and felt that what he said made sense, but she still said, "You're just trying to coax me."
"I'm telling the truth." Lu Ran's smile faded, and he looked at her seriously. "Yuege, do you know what you're called online right now?"
Shen Yuege was stunned for a moment: "What?"
"Queen of Sweet Songs," Lu Ran said. "Some people even call you the Guru of Love Songs. Go search it up yourself; people are already calling you those titles."
Shen Yuege opened the search box with some skepticism and entered her name. The related searches that popped up prominently displayed "Shen Yuege Sweet Song Queen," "Shen Yuege Love Song Guru," and "Shen Yuege Wedding Songs."
She stared at the search results for several seconds, then looked up at Lu Ran with a complicated expression.
"I've really become a wedding singer."
Lu Ran couldn't help but laugh out loud.
For the next three days, Lu Ran and Shen Yuege released a new song every morning and another one every evening.
All six songs were of a very high standard and received high praise from the audience.
After the release of "Another Paradise", a music critic wrote a long article saying that the song is "a new height in Chinese-language love duet songs".
After the release of "You Are the Song in My Heart", some people in the comments section said, "I didn't expect Lu Ran to sing Hokkien so well."
After the release of "Love a Little", some people compared the song with "A Little Sweet", saying that "Lu Ran's level of writing sweet songs has reached its limit".
"Coral Sea," the album's final song, topped the trending searches less than two hours after its release.
The comments section was filled with hundreds of pages of messages. Some people said, "The melody of this song is so beautiful," while others said, "The two people's voices are as harmonious as the sea and the beach."
With eight new songs, plus the previous "A Little Sweet" and "Bare Face", and the earlier "Today You're Going to Marry Me", Shen Yuege alone occupies half of the wedding song list.
A netizen posted a poll on TUTU titled "What song do you think is a must-play at your wedding?" Shen Yuege's songs occupied six spots in the poll. However, the song with the most votes wasn't "A Little Sweet" or "Today You're Marrying Me," but rather "Little Dimples."
In the comments section of that poll post, one comment was pushed to the top:
"From now on, if anyone gets married and doesn't play Shen Yuege's songs, I'll feel that the wedding is incomplete."
When Shen Yuege saw this message, she was sitting in her study organizing the data from the past few days.
She handed the phone to Lu Ran, her expression a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
"Look, I've really become a wedding singer now."
Lu Ran took the phone, glanced at it, and laughed: "So what if I'm a wedding singer? It's a compliment. Think about it, how many singers in the Chinese music scene get this kind of treatment? People want to play your songs at their weddings, which means your songs resonate with them."
In their past lives, countless singers probably wished they could sing their songs as wedding songs, since that would be a form of retirement insurance.
Shen Yuege looked at him, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just sighed softly.
"What's wrong?" Lu Ran asked.
"It's nothing." Shen Yuege lowered her head and continued looking at the data. "It just feels a bit unreal. A few months ago, I was just someone who could sing. Now suddenly I've become someone who can write songs, and so many people like my songs."
Although Shen Yuege knows that she doesn't contribute much to songwriting, and that none of her songs were written independently, it is still a big step forward for her.
"You didn't suddenly become one." Lu Ran handed the phone back to her. "You've always been able to write, you just hadn't tried before. You tried this time and found you wrote well, so keep writing. From now on, you'll write half of your albums, and I'll write the other half for you."
Shen Yuege looked up at him, her eyes glistening with a thin layer of tears.
"Lu Ran".
"Um?"
"Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?"
"Thank you for letting me discover that I can do it too."
Lu Ran looked at her and smiled: "You could have done it all along. It's just that no one told you before."
She turned around, walked back to Lu Ran's side, sat down next to him, and gently leaned on his shoulder.
"Lu Ran".
"Um?"
"After this album is released, will you be busy with game development?"
Lu Ran paused for a moment, then said, "Yes. Sakura Games' 'Samurai Warriors' is launching tomorrow. I need to keep an eye on it."
Shen Yuege didn't say anything, but simply moved even closer.
Lu Ran reached out and put his arm around her shoulder, patting it gently.
"I'll spend more time with you after I'm done with this busy period."
"You said it."
"I said it."
The two sat there quietly, neither of them speaking.
The night outside the window was deep, but the light inside the room was warm.
Lu Ran looked down at Shen Yuege, who was leaning on his shoulder, and found that she had closed her eyes and was breathing evenly and deeply.
He moved slightly, trying to carry her to the bed, but his right leg was too weak, and he failed after one attempt.
Shen Yuege was awakened by his movement, opened her eyes and looked at him: "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I wanted to carry you to the bed, but I couldn't."
Shen Yuege smiled, stood up, and walked to the bedside to sit down.
"Your leg isn't healed yet, don't push yourself."
"understood."
Lu Ran stood up, supporting himself on the armrest, and limped to the bedside, lying down next to Shen Yuege.
The two lay side by side, staring at the ceiling.
"Lu Ran".
"Um?"
Are you nervous about the Sakura game launching tomorrow?
Lu Ran thought for a moment and said, "A little. But it's not the kind of intense tension, it's more like... I can't quite put my finger on it, it's like knowing there's a tough battle ahead, you're prepared, but you can't completely relax."
Shen Yuege turned to look at him: "Do you think League of Legends can win?"
Lu Ran also turned to face her.
"Yes," he said with certainty. "League of Legends isn't a game that can be sustained by a fleeting moment of popularity. Its lifespan is incredibly strong, stronger than many people can imagine. Sakura Games' Samurai Warriors is indeed well-made, and its stats may look impressive. But whether a game can go far depends not only on its first-day stats, but also on how many people are still playing it six months, a year, or three years later."
He looked into Shen Yuege's eyes and continued, "League of Legends can keep people playing for three, five, or even ten years. That's its strength."
Shen Yuege looked at him without saying anything, but simply reached out and gently took his hand.
The two lay facing each other, holding hands, and neither of them spoke.
Lu Ran closed his eyes, his mind starting to race with thoughts of tomorrow.
Sakura Games' "Samurai Warriors" will be released tomorrow.
The battle is finally about to begin.
...