201: Chapter 201: First, record "Encounter".

The next morning, Lu Li was awakened by a knock on the door.

He rolled over, squinted at his phone, and saw it was only seven-forty.

Shen Qingxue's voice came from the doorway, sounding a bit muffled through the door panel.

"Lu Li, are you up yet?"

Lu Li buried his face in the pillow and replied in a muffled voice.

"Up, I'm up."

It was quiet outside the door for two seconds, and then Shen Qingxue's voice sounded again.

"Then hurry up, I'll wait for you downstairs."

The footsteps gradually faded away.

Lu Li lay facedown on the bed for another half a minute before getting up.

After washing his face and changing his clothes, when he walked out of the room, the hallway was empty.

He walked quickly toward the elevator. When he reached the first-floor lobby, Shen Qingxue was sitting on the sofa by the window, looking down at her phone.

Hearing the footsteps, she raised her head and glanced at him.

"Faster than I expected."

"Of course, when have I ever made you wait?"

Lu Li sat down next to her and asked casually.

"Have you eaten breakfast?"

"I have. I brought some for you, and it's on the table."

Lu Li was slightly stunned, then looked in the direction she indicated. Sure enough, there was a paper bag on the table.

He walked over, picked it up, and opened it to find two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk, which were still hot.

He carried the paper bag back, sat down next to Shen Qingxue, and without being polite, took out a bun and took a bite.

"Then we'll go straight to the organizer's place later?"

Lu Li asked while chewing.

"Yeah, I've already contacted them. The recording studio is free this morning and can be used directly. Let's finish recording "encounter" first, and then worry about the matters of "blue and white porcelain"."

Lu Li nodded, asked no more questions, and concentrated on finishing the breakfast in his hand.

After he swallowed the last bite of the bun, finished the soy milk, crumpled the paper bag into a ball and threw it into the trash can, he stood up.

"All right, let's go."

The two walked out of the hotel side by side and then called a cab.

The destination was not far from the hotel, and they arrived in a little over ten minutes.

There were fewer people at the entrance today than yesterday, with only two staff members sitting at the front desk.

Seeing Shen Qingxue walk in, one of them immediately stood up.

"Teacher Shen, the recording studio is on the third floor and is ready. I'll take you up."

"Thank you."

Shen Qingxue nodded and walked toward the elevator following the staff member, with Lu Li following behind her.

The recording studio was not very large, but the equipment was very complete.

The soundproofing effect was also quite good.

The staff member led them to the door, briefly explained how to use the equipment, and then left.

Only the two of them were left in the recording studio.

Lu Li walked over to the mixing console, looked down at the knobs and faders, and reached out to tweak them a couple of times.

"The place is nice, and the equipment is better than I expected."

Shen Qingxue walked over to him and also looked down.

"Then shall we start now?"

"Yeah, let me go through the accompaniment for you first."

Lu Li sat down in front of the mixing console, entered the written arrangement framework into the computer, then put on his headphones and began to adjust the various tracks.

Shen Qingxue did not disturb him and stood quietly to the side.

Occasionally, her gaze lingered on his focused profile, and then she looked away nonchalantly.

After a little over half an hour, Lu Li took off his headphones and turned his head to look at her.

"It's about ready. Listen to the full version of the accompaniment first and see where needs adjustment."

Shen Qingxue nodded, took the headphones he handed over, and put them on.

Lu Li pressed the play button.

The prelude slowly flowed out from the headphones.

The overall atmosphere was softer than the initial version and had more layers.

Shen Qingxue listened with her eyes closed, then opened her eyes.

"It's good, but for the transition from the verse to the chorus, the strings can be pulled back a bit more; it feels like they're overpowering the vocals a bit."

Lu Li was slightly stunned, then nodded.

"Alright, let me adjust it."

He turned back, operated on the computer for a few minutes, and then played it again.

This time, Shen Qingxue did not raise any more suggestions for modification. She just listened quietly and then took off her headphones.

"It's fine now."

"Shall we start recording then?"

"Yeah."

Lu Li stood up from in front of the mixing console and made room for her.

Shen Qingxue walked to the microphone, adjusted its height and angle, put on the monitoring headphones, and made a gesture to Lu Li.

Lu Li pressed the record button, and the prelude came out from the monitor speakers, echoing softly in the recording studio.

Shen Qingxue closed her eyes, waited for the prelude to advance to the appropriate node, and slowly began to sing.

She sang very steadily the first time, controlling her breath and emotions very well, and every note fell right where it should.

But after singing it through once, she shook her head first, took off her headphones, and looked at Lu Li.

"No good, I made a bit of a mistake. Some of the ending notes feel like they need to be a bit lighter; right now, my enunciation is a bit too heavy."

Lu Li nodded and didn't say much else, just pressed the record button again.

The second time, the third time.

After each time she finished singing, Shen Qingxue would stop, point out the parts she felt were not satisfactory enough, and then start over.

Lu Li sat behind the mixing console, listening quietly, occasionally giving his own opinion when she asked.

By the Nth time, Shen Qingxue sang the last word, took off her headphones, and tilted her head to glance at him.

Lu Li didn't speak immediately. He listened to the version they had just recorded from beginning to end again, then raised his head and met her gaze.

"It's a pass."

Shen Qingxue let out a slight breath, walked away from the microphone, and sat down on a nearby chair.

Lu Li saved the audio file they had just recorded, then turned to look at her.

"Next is the post-production work. The finished product should be out around tomorrow. When recording..."

"No rush, just take your time with it."

Shen Qingxue leaned against the back of the chair, her gaze falling on his face, with a trace of reliance in her tone that even she herself hadn't noticed.

"Anyway, there's still plenty of time."

Lu Li nodded and turned back to continue processing the files.

The recording studio was quiet for a while, with only the soft clicks of the mouse and keyboard.

Lu Li backed up the audio file, made some simple marks, then stood up from in front of the mixing console and stretched.

"Alright, it's basically done. We'll handle the rest when we get back."

Shen Qingxue nodded, stood up from her chair as well, walked over to him, and glanced down at the dense track waveforms on the computer screen.

"About how long will post-production take?"

"It depends. If it's fast, the first version can be out tomorrow; if it's slow, it might take a little bit longer."

Lu Li closed the software and turned to look at her.

"By the way, should we go ask the organizers later if we can borrow a few traditional Chinese instrumentalists? Anyway, "blue and white porcelain" will be recorded sooner or later, and it'll be more reassuring to finalize the lineup early."

Shen Qingxue thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright, they should be working on the second floor. Let's go straight over and ask."