147: Chapter 147: Is there really a chance to win this year's Golden Melody Award?

Hearing this, Lu Li still gave a tactical cough to cover up his embarrassment.

"Are you sure? Me?"

"Mhm."

Shen Qingxue nodded, her expression extremely serious.

"Rock Sugar Pear is a duo; it can't always be just me in the spotlight while you stay behind the scenes, right?"

Lu Li opened his mouth to say something, but found that he actually didn't know how to refute.

"The main thing is… what if we mess up?"

Lu Li scratched his head.

"It won't."

Shen Qingxue's tone was extremely firm.

"Although your singing skills aren't as good as mine, they aren't far off either. Besides, some of the styles of these songs are more suited for a male voice to interpret."

She paused, pulled a sheet out of the stack of manuscript papers, and pushed it in front of Lu Li.

"Take red dust inn for example. If it were changed to a female voice, it simply wouldn't have that dashing martial arts flavor."

Lu Li lowered his head to look at that piece of manuscript paper, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

The song red dust inn was indeed more suited for a male voice. That martial arts world aura and sense of vicissitudes—if sung by a girl, it would indeed lack something.

"You mean… the two of us will sing one each?"

"Mhm."

"Then I can't go on stage either, plus the current public opinion… So the songs I sing here will also be posted on Douyin?"

Lu Li asked tentatively.

Shen Qingxue nodded.

"Right, just post them on Douyin. Although current public opinion is unfavorable to us, we can't stop our steps just because of public opinion."

She paused and continued.

"Besides, the quality of these five songs is right here. Rather than hiding them away, it's better to strike while the iron is hot and release them one by one."

Lu Li leaned back on the sofa, resting his hands behind his head, and thought about it.

"Use these songs to raise expectations first?"

"Mhm."

Shen Qingxue's tone was certain.

"What netizens think is their freedom, but the quality of the work is objective. As long as the songs are good enough, coupled with the fact that the incident itself is just a scandal, the direction of public opinion will turn sooner or later."

Lu Li stared at her for two seconds and chuckled softly.

"Alright, then let's do it this way."

He straightened his body up from the sofa, picked up the manuscript paper of red dust inn, and lowered his head to take a look.

"Then I'll sing this one, and you'll sing hair like snow?"

"Mhm."

Shen Qingxue nodded, pulled out the hair like snow sheet from the manuscript papers, folded it, and put it into her pocket.

"Then our division of labor is clear. You practice yours, and I'll practice mine, striving to record the demo within two days."

Lu Li nodded.

"OK."

Shen Qingxue let out a long breath and stood up from the sofa.

"Then I'll go familiarize myself with the song, and you continue studying the arrangement."

"Got it."

Lu Li acknowledged, watched her walk into the bedroom, and then lowered his head to look at the manuscript paper in his hand, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.

red dust inn

Just thinking about how this song, filled with the martial arts dreams in countless people's hearts, was about to be released, even he couldn't help but feel a bit expectant.

"Swift gratitude and swift revenge, lingering affection between children… Tsk, once this song is released, won't it blow the netizens' minds?"

He muttered softly, then picked up a pencil and began to refine the arrangement.

…

Over the next two days, the two began their "seclusion".

Waking up at nine in the morning, after finishing breakfast, they started practicing songs, recording demos, and adjusting arrangements, occasionally having to deal with online public opinion together with their lawyers.

Sometimes they were busy until one or two in the morning before resting.

They didn't even have time to play games.

Lu Li almost wanted to denounce Starlight Entertainment for making his yuanshen lose a huge amount of game resources—rounding it up, he could have bought a set of apartments!

There's nothing wrong with that, right?

During this period, online public opinion continued to ferment.

Regarding the black material about Lu Li "cheating again", although technical appraisal had already proved that the chat records were forged and a lawyer's letter had been sent out, the impact had already been made.

A large number of netizens were still talking nonsense with their eyes open, stubbornly holding their ground even when evidence was slapped right on their faces.

As for Shen Qingxue's side, the black material was even harder to handle.

The photos were real. Although the context was fake, no one was willing to come forward to testify, and the direction of public opinion was clearly unfavorable to her.

[Why hasn't Shen Qingxue responded yet? Feeling guilty?]

[Exactly, the photos are already out, what else is there to say?]

[I believe in the Goddess; she's not that kind of person.]

[Wake up, upstairs; is there anyone clean in the entertainment industry?]

[Sigh, their accounts have been a bit abnormally quiet these past two days, not even having any interaction.]

[Could they have been scared silly?]

[Tch, they were built on hype to begin with, and now their true colors are showing.]

Lu Li leaned against the sofa, scrolling through the comments one by one, his expression unchanged.

Shen Qingxue sat opposite him, also holding a phone in her hand, her brows slightly furrowed.

"Stop looking at these."

Lu Li simply tossed his phone onto the coffee table; out of sight, out of mind.

"Looking at them won't change anything either. It's better to put our energy into things we can actually do."

Shen Qingxue raised her head to look at him, then nodded and put her phone aside.

"Is your demo recorded?"

"It's recorded. Want to listen to it?"

Shen Qingxue nodded, feeling a vague sense of anticipation in her heart.

Soon, Lu Li stood up from the sofa, walked over to the equipment, exported the demo of red dust inn, and played it once.

As the prelude sounded, a strong sense of destiny instantly dragged people into a martial arts world of swift gratitude and swift revenge.

Before long, Lu Li's voice came out from the speakers, carrying a hint of vicissitudes and unbridled ease.

"The end of the horizon is blowing sand."

"The story of the mortal world is called attachment…"

…

Spending a few minutes, Shen Qingxue quietly finished listening, and then subconsciously revealed a smile.

"Not bad, it's even better than I expected."

Lu Li grinned wide, turned off the equipment, and walked back to the sofa to sit down.

"How about your side? Is hair like snow recorded?"

"Mhm, give it a listen too."

Shen Qingxue picked up her phone, opened the recorded demo, and pressed the play button.

The prelude's raindrops and piano sounds were clean and aloof, as exquisitely beautiful as ever.

Soon, Shen Qingxue's voice slowly sounded, carrying a hint of poignant beauty amidst its aloofness.

"Wolf-tooth moon, the beauty grows haggard."

"I raise my cup, drinking up the wind and snow…"

Lu Li closed his eyes and listened to the end, then opened his eyes and gave a thumbs-up.

"Absolute perfection, you've got this year's Golden Melody Awards in the bag."

Shen Qingxue gave him an unamused roll of her eyes.

"Praise me randomly again and I'll knock your head crooked."

However, saying that, Shen Qingxue still felt quite regretful about this.

Without the company's resource promotion and relying solely on word-of-mouth among netizens, wanting to win the Golden Melody Awards this year was still very difficult.

It was just a pity for these explosive songs.

Born at the wrong time.