96: Chapter 96 Xu Qingya: Thank You for Coming Home

At 10:00 AM the next day, Jiang Fan took a taxi to the Tianyu Media building.

The security guard at the entrance had been replaced.

The previous security captain, Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang, was gone, replaced by a middle-aged man in his forties who wore a walkie-talkie, stood straight as an arrow, and was polite to everyone.

Jiang Fan glanced at him, didn't think much of it, and walked straight inside.

The young lady at the front desk saw him and stood up reflexively.

"Teacher Jiang! Hello!"

"I'll help you call Manager Chen—"

Before she could finish, the elevator doors opened.

Manager Chen happened to walk out, clutching a stack of files. Seeing Jiang Fan, she waved. "Come on up, Xu Qingya has already arrived."

The two entered the elevator, and Manager Chen pressed the button for the top floor.

"Xu Qingya has urged me to come down three times already." Manager Chen flipped through the files in her hand. "I've never seen her take such an interest in any song before."

Jiang Fan smiled but didn't reply.

The elevator arrived.

The door to the Recording Studio was half-open, and the air conditioning was on inside.

Xu Qingya was sitting in a swivel chair with her legs crossed, holding an iced Americano, the straw chewed out of shape.

Seeing Jiang Fan enter, she lifted her eyelids slightly.

"You're here?"

"Yeah."

"Where's my song?"

Straight to the point, not a single wasted word.

Jiang Fan didn't banter with her; he took a USB drive out of his bag and handed it over.

Xu Qingya took the USB drive, twirled it between her fingers, and tapped her fingernails against the metal casing twice.

Manager Chen had already turned on the computer, and Xu Qingya plugged in the USB drive.

There was only one file in the folder: as you wish》.

Double-click.

The prelude began—the piano, a few very clean chords, layered with strings that unfolded layer by layer.

Xu Qingya's gaze fell on the lyrics file scrolling on the screen.

"You are the distant road, the lamp in the misty mountains—"

"I am but a child, walking in your gaze—"

The chorus melody surged, orchestral music layered and unfolded, a trumpet piercing through the middle, lifting the emotion of the entire song to an incredibly high level—

"If you have tasted the bitterness of my sweetness—"

"I wish to live as you wish—"

Four minutes and twenty-five seconds. The song ended.

The Recording Studio was quiet for about ten seconds.

Manager Chen stood behind the mixing console, her hands supporting the surface, her mouth hanging open.

Xu Qingya read through the lyrics from beginning to end again, her gaze lingering on the line "I wish to live as you wish" for a long time.

"Play it again."

Manager Chen dragged the progress bar and played it from the start.

This time, Xu Qingya closed her eyes, her right hand resting on the armrest, her index finger tapping gently to the beat.

After the second time, she opened her eyes. Her eyes were a little red.

She turned her chair to face Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan leaned against the doorframe, hands in his pockets. "How is it? Do you like it?"

"How is it?" Xu Qingya stood up from the chair. "Do you know what level of work this song is?"

She took two steps, her ponytail swinging, and stopped in front of him.

"This is ten times better than Tang Yingxue's light years》."

Manager Chen finally closed her mouth and interjected, "Xu Qingya is right. The scope of this song is different—it wasn't written for just one person; it was written for everyone."

Xu Qingya took a sip of her iced Americano and set the cup down on the table.

"Start recording."

Jiang Fan walked behind the mixing console, sat down, and put on his headphones.

Xu Qingya entered the recording booth and stood in front of the microphone.

She retied her ponytail, pulling it tighter, revealing the lines of her face and neck.

Manager Chen adjusted her in-ear monitors and gave her a thumbs up.

Jiang Fan pushed the talkback button. "Start whenever you're ready."

Xu Qingya closed her eyes and adjusted her breathing for two seconds. The prelude began.

She sang the first line. "You are the distant road—"

Her voice was restrained, like she was talking to someone she hadn't seen in a long time.

It was very soft, but every word was firmly supported by her breath; not a single note was weak.

By the second verse, the emotion began to rise.

Xu Qingya's breath control was textbook-level—

The tail end of every word was handled cleanly; when to restrain, when to release, the measure was handled with extreme precision.

Chorus. "And I will love the world you loved, wishing for the smile you wished for—"

When the song reached its climax, her voice was supported by the orchestral music, rising to an almost unbelievable height.

"The mountains and rivers are safe, the fireworks are ordinary, just as you wished to gaze upon. Oh, children, sleep soundly in your dreams, just as you loved them—"

As the final note fell, she ended it with a very restrained vibrato, letting it drop ever so softly.

The recording booth was quiet for three seconds. Jiang Fan took off his headphones.

"How was it?" Xu Qingya's voice came through the talkback.

Jiang Fan pressed the talkback button. "Very good." Jiang Fan paused. "The tail end of the second line of the chorus, 'wishing for what you wished,' could be reined in a bit more."

Xu Qingya said "Mm," without any wasted words. "What about the rest?"

"The rest—" Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair. "Teacher Xu, your voice was born to sing songs like this."

Xu Qingya turned her head away, pretending to adjust her in-ear monitor. But Jiang Fan saw the corner of her mouth curl up.

"Stop buttering me up. One more time."

The second time, the end of the chorus was handled even more cleanly. Before the outro, for the long note, Xu Qingya added a semitone slide herself—beautiful.

The third time, it was perfect.

Jiang Fan pressed the talkback button. "That's a wrap."

The door to the recording booth pushed open, and Xu Qingya walked out, a thin layer of sweat on her forehead.

She picked up the coffee on the table, took a sip, and then looked at Jiang Fan.

"Jiang Fan."

"Yeah?"

"When did you start writing this song?"

"The night before last."

Xu Qingya looked at him for two seconds. "I really want to pry open your brain and see what's inside."

Jiang Fan didn't answer the question; he stood up, unplugged the USB drive from the computer, and handed it to Manager Chen.

"I wrote some notes for the post-production mixing on the USB drive. Just have your Arrangement artist follow that for the string section."

Manager Chen took it and nodded. "Don't worry."

Xu Qingya sat cross-legged on the sofa, resting her chin on her knees, staring at Jiang Fan for quite a while.

"You said this song could help me surpass Tang Yingxue."

"Yeah."

"And what if I really do surpass her?"

Jiang Fan turned to look at her. "Then keep moving up. Second place isn't the finish line."

Xu Qingya stared at him. "Ye Anran?"

"Why not?"

The position Ye Anran holds has yet to be shaken by anyone in the entire Chinese music industry.

But hearing Jiang Fan say it—Xu Qingya actually felt that maybe it wasn't impossible.

Xu Qingya stood up from the sofa, walked over to him, and reached out to smooth the creases on his shirt collar.

"Then I'll be waiting."

Manager Chen coughed from the side and walked out with the folder. "I'll go arrange the post-production matters. You two talk."

The door closed. Only the two of them were left in the Recording Studio.

Xu Qingya's hand was still resting on his collar; she didn't pull it back.

"Jiang Fan."

"Yeah."

"You wrote such a good song for me; I have to thank you, don't I?"

"How will you thank me?"

Xu Qingya let go, picked up the car keys on the table, and shook them. "By going home."