238: Chapter 238 Golden Melody Awards Nomination List

...

In the blink of an eye, Saturday arrived.

Lu Li and Shen Qingxue went out in the morning and headed to Jiang Cheng's studio, which was the place where Xu Ran and the others had been gathering to rehearse these past few days.

After arriving at Jiang Cheng's small studio,

pushing open the door, they saw Xu Ran and the others standing by the first-floor window, holding guitars and just practicing "boundless oceans, vast skies".

Hearing the door open, he turned his head and saw Lu Li and Shen Qingxue walking in, his hand movements stopping subconsciously.

"Brother Lu, Sister-in-law, you're here."

Hearing this, Shen Qingxue's expression suddenly became a bit unnatural.

She hadn't expected that Xu Ran would so easily… see through the relationship between her and Lu Li.

On the contrary, Lu Li, who was beside her, couldn't help giving Xu Ran a thumbs-up in his heart.

This young man really knows how things work!

The other three boys nearby also raised their heads one after another, nodding toward them with slightly restrained movements.

"It's fine, just go ahead and busy yourselves. Don't mind us; we'll just take a look first."

Lu Li coughed, then glanced at some draft papers scattered on the floor.

He bent down, picked up one of them at random, and took a look.

The content inside was chord markings handwritten by Xu Ran. The handwriting was a bit sloppy, but one could tell it had been carefully pondered over.

"How has the practice been going these past two days?"

Lu Li put that piece of paper back on the desk and asked casually.

Hearing this, Xu Ran scratched his head with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

"It's not particularly good, but compared to the very beginning… it's a lot smoother."

Lu Li nodded and walked over to Xu Ran's side.

"Alright, then run through it from start to finish. Let me listen, and I'll join in later to build up some chemistry."

Xu Ran took a deep breath, turned his head, and signaled to the other three.

The prelude rang out quickly.

In the first section where he started singing, Xu Ran's voice clearly carried a hint of caution. His breath was kept relatively flat, not fully letting go.

Lu Li stood nearby without interrupting, listening quietly.

Until the start of the second verse, Xu Ran gradually got into the zone, and the depth and strength in his voice both came through.

As for the chorus, the coordination among several people was more tacit than Lu Li had expected. Although some transitions were slightly raw, the overall momentum was already there.

After listening, Lu Li thought for a few seconds before speaking.

"The overall direction is correct. Practice it a few more times when the time comes, and it'll be just about ready. The main thing is still an issue of emotion."

Then Lu Li pointed out some other problems.

After listening, Xu Ran fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment, then picked up his guitar again.

"Then let's go through it one more time."

Soon, the few of them finished the second run-through.

This time, Xu Ran clearly let go a bit more than just now, and the explosive power in the chorus also came up, bringing the coordination of the other few people to become much smoother as well.

After listening, Lu Li nodded slightly.

"That's pretty much the idea."

Xu Ran put down his guitar and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Listening to it this way, we're still quite far off, but the direction is clear now."

Lu Li did not continue this topic.

"It's fine, just practice more. Right, do you guys have an electric guitar here? Let me play along with you a few times and see."

Xu Ran nodded immediately.

"Yes, I'll go get it for you."

With that, Xu Ran ran up to the second floor to look for an electric guitar.

Not long after, he ran back downstairs and handed an electric guitar to Lu Li.

"Shall we try it first?" Lu Li said.

"Okay."

Soon, the melody of "boundless oceans, vast skies" sounded once again.

Only this time, the band went from four people to five.

But what surprised people was that with Lu Li's joining, this ensemble was actually very smooth.

You must know, this was only their first ensemble play.

...

Lu Li practiced with Xu Ran and the others a dozen more times.

But fearing that Shen Qingxue would feel bored on the side, he didn't plan to keep practicing like this forever.

After all, the world is vast, but his wife is the most important.

After returning the electric guitar to Xu Ran, Lu Li thought for a moment and said.

"Alright, you guys continue practicing these few days. When it feels about right, you can record a version yourselves first to listen to the effect, and then tell me if there's anything that needs adjusting."

Xu Ran nodded solemnly.

"Okay."

Afterward, Lu Li and Shen Qingxue said their goodbyes.

By the time the two of them came out of Jiang Cheng's studio, it was almost noon.

The two walked slowly along the street for a while, then found a small restaurant and sat down.

During this time, Lu Li took out his phone and clicked on the official website of the Golden Melody Awards to take another look.

There was no new news at all.

Naturally, if there had been news, it would have been a miracle.

"Stop looking."

Shen Qingxue's voice came from across him.

"It's going to be announced next Monday anyway. Looking at it now won't make it come out any earlier."

Lu Li put down his phone, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"That's true. Being anxious is useless."

...

Monday, 8:00 PM that night.

Lu Li sat cross-legged on the living room sofa with a laptop resting on his knees, the screen's light reflecting on his face.

Shen Qingxue sat beside him, her gaze also falling on the computer screen.

At this time, the official website page of the Golden Melody Awards had been refreshed more than a dozen times by Lu Li, but each time it was just the four words "No notification for now".

"Hey… when on earth can this notification be released?"

Lu Li couldn't help complaining, his fingers subconsciously refreshing on the trackpad with an increasingly fast frequency.

"Don't rush."

Shen Qingxue's voice came from the side.

"It said it would be announced at eight o'clock; it should only be delayed by a few minutes."

Lu Li let out an "Mn", but did not stop the movements of his hands.

He refreshed it again, but the page still hadn't changed.

But at this moment, the page suddenly jumped.

"Hey! It's out!"

Lu Li's voice involuntarily raised a bit.

Shen Qingxue's body also leaned forward subconsciously, the two of them crowding toward the screen together and pressing against each other.

The page loaded for about two seconds, and the official page popped up.

Lu Li hurriedly clicked in.

In this announcement, the nomination list was arranged by award category, starting with Album of the Year.

Then downwards in order were Song of the Year, Best Lyricist, Best Composer…

Lu Li's gaze quickly swept across the first few lines.

Their names were not in the nominations for Album of the Year.

But this was expected. After all, the two of them only released singles; where would an album come from?

Soon, the nomination list for Song of the Year scrolled down, and still nothing.

Lu Li's brow furrowed subconsciously.

Even the nomination list for Song of the Year didn't have it? It would be one thing if recently released songs like "blue and white porcelain" or "bubble" weren't selected.

But even the slightly older "coral sea" or even "actor" weren't selected?

Shen Qingxue didn't speak, but her thoughts were clearly the same as Lu Li's.

Lu Li could only patiently continue flipping down, his fingers sliding on the trackpad, scanning the nomination list line by line.

When it came to the Best Lyricist nomination column,

he saw several familiar names, but still none of his own. As for the Best Composer nomination following that…

There was similarly none.

The page was still scrolling down: Best Arrangement nominations, Best Production nominations…

Lu Li's gaze became faster and faster. The further down he flipped, the more that bit of anticipation in his heart sank.