101: Preparations before recording Chapter 101

Shen Qingxue's fingers paused on the manuscript paper for a fleeting moment.

"coral sea?"

She murmured the name once, her gaze falling on those few lines of lyrics in the chorus, and something in her heart was gently stirred.

"Mhm, coral sea."

Lu Li leaned back against the sofa, resting his hands behind his head in a leisurely manner.

Shen Qingxue did not reply, instead reading it over three more times, from the verse to the chorus, from the lyrics to the melody.

With almost every re-read, she was able to discover new details.

Especially when thinking of Lu Li's terrifying speed of writing a complete song in just thirty minutes, it was even more astonishing.

Such talent was something she had only ever seen in a very few people.

"How is it?"

Lu Li's voice pulled her back to reality.

Shen Qingxue raised her head, meeting his 'hurry up and praise me' expression. The corners of her mouth twitched slightly, and she swallowed the praise that was on the tip of her tongue, saying only two words indifferently.

"Not bad."

Lu Li instantly became displeased and curled his lips.

"Not bad? Your standards are truly high, Milady."

Shen Qingxue ignored him, turning the manuscript paper over to look at the blank side, and spoke only after a moment of thought.

"How do you plan to release this song?"

Originally, she had other plans, but Lu Li's performance completely exceeded her expectations.

As a result, the plan had to be changed.

Lu Li leaned back against the sofa, resting his hands behind his head and crossing his legs.

"Didn't we say we'd release this song while shooting the video?"

Shen Qingxue nodded slightly. This line of thought was originally the same as what she had thought at first, but after truly seeing how insanely popular this song was bound to be, she felt a bit reluctant.

"I have an idea, see what you think of it?" Shen Qingxue thought for a moment and spoke.

"Let's hear it?"

Shen Qingxue raised her head and glanced at him.

"Let's release the verse part first to whet the netizens' appetite. Once we've recorded the official audio version, we'll release the official version then. How about it?"

Hearing this, Lu Li fell into thought.

Wow, this move really maxed out expectations, but it would be tough on the netizens; they wouldn't be able to listen to the whole good song at once and would have to wait.

After confirming there was no problem, Lu Li nodded.

"Alright, then it's settled. We'll only release the verse, leave some suspense, and whet the netizens' appetites. Are we shooting now?"

Shen Qingxue did not answer immediately, instead looking down at the loungewear she was wearing and raising a hand to touch her hair.

Having bustled about in the kitchen for half a day just now, her hair was a bit disheveled, and her clothes were stained with a trace of cooking smoke odor.

Coupled with the fact that this was an insanely popular song, if they shot it tonight... it always felt a bit informal.

"Let's do it tomorrow. It's too late today, and my state isn't good either."

In the end, she still gave up, changing tonight's originally scheduled shoot to tomorrow.

Lu Li glanced at the time; it was almost ten o'clock.

It was indeed not early. After tossing and turning for a day, he was also exhausted enough. Resting for a night would not only restore his energy but also allow Shen Qingxue to become more familiar with the lyrics.

Killing two birds with one stone.

"Alright, then let's shoot tomorrow. Morning or afternoon?"

"In the afternoon. The lighting is a bit better."

Shen Qingxue paused for a moment and continued.

"Besides, we can debug the equipment first in the morning so we won't be flustered when the time comes."

Lu Li nodded, stood up from the sofa, and stretched lazily.

"Then that's settled. I'm going to take a bath, and you should rest early too."

"Mhm."

Lu Li turned and walked toward the bedroom, but stopped after taking two steps and looked back.

Shen Qingxue was still sitting on the sofa, holding that sheet of manuscript paper and looking at it.

"Stop looking, I'll let you look your fill tomorrow."

Lu Li casually said a sentence and turned to enter the bedroom.

Shen Qingxue raised her head, looking at the closed door, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.

She folded the manuscript paper, then stood up, turned off the living room lights, and walked into her own room.

...

The next day, the weather was clear and fine.

But Lu Li did not feel very good.

Because a burst of clattering and clinking sounds rang out, instantly waking him up.

Lu Li opened his eyes drowsily, listening attentively for a moment. It sounded like someone was tuning musical instruments.

Afterward, he crawled out of bed and stepped into slippers as he walked out of the bedroom.

In the living room, Shen Qingxue had already changed into a new set of clothes—a white shirt paired with wide-leg denim pants, her hair hanging loose with a few wisps tucked behind her ears.

She was squatting in front of that pile of unopened equipment, holding a recording microphone in her hand and carefully studying the manual.

Hearing the commotion, she raised her head and glanced at Lu Li.

"Awake?"

"Mhm."

Lu Li yawned, walked over to squat down beside her, and glanced at the equipment on the ground.

"What is all this stuff, how do you tune it? Do you know how?"

Shen Qingxue handed the manual to him.

"I don't know, but I can learn."

Lu Li took it and flipped through it. The densely packed English and professional terminology gave him a headache.

He closed the manual and tossed it aside.

"Forget it, let me try first. It doesn't feel too complicated either."

Shen Qingxue glanced at him, said nothing, and shifted to the side to make space for him.

Lu Li squatted down, picked up the sound card to examine it back and forth, and then picked up the microphone to test its feel.

To be honest, he wasn't too familiar with this professional equipment either. Back when he ran commercial gigs before time-traveling, the equipment used was all prepared by the organizers.

But even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had seen pigs run; after tinkering with it a few times, he could still figure out the general principle.

The two of them squatted right there in the living room, studying that equipment for the better part of the morning.

After tossing about for another half hour, all the equipment was finally debugged and set up.

The microphone, sound card, and monitoring headphones were all connected normally, and the recording software was also able to pick up sound properly.

Lu Li said "hello" twice into the microphone, and a clear sound came through the monitoring headphones. He nodded with satisfaction.

"Done."

Shen Qingxue took the headphones, tested a couple of phrases as well, and only took them off after confirming there were no problems.

"This afternoon will depend on it."

Lu Li stood up from the ground, patted the dust off his knees, and glanced at the time.

Eleven-thirty.

"Let's eat first, rest for a bit after eating, and work in the afternoon."

Shen Qingxue nodded, stood up, put the equipment back in place, and then went to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Lu Li wasn't idle either, anyway following closely by her side to help out.

...

After lunch, the two rested for a while and casually recorded the instrumental accompaniment for "coral sea".

Until two o'clock in the afternoon, when the sunlight slanted in through the windows. This was precisely the time when the lighting was at its best.

Shen Qingxue pulled the curtains halfway closed to make the light a bit softer, then stood in the center of the living room, looking around to find a suitable shooting location.

"How is it if we record over there?"

Lu Li pointed to a spot beside the sofa where there was a white wall; the lighting was just right, neither too bright nor too dim.

Shen Qingxue walked over and stood there, letting Lu Li look at the effect.

"How is it?"

"Alright, right here."

Lu Li mounted his phone on the tripod, adjusted the angle and height, and then returned to Shen Qingxue's side.

Shen Qingxue tilted her head and glanced at him.

"Are you ready?"

"Definitely ready."

Lu Li nodded.

Shen Qingxue took a deep breath and nodded slightly at Lu Li.

Lu Li reached out and tapped the record button on the screen.

The red recording indicator light lit up, and the images of the two people appeared on the phone screen.