Chapter Eight: Recording Music

“How much? I’ll pay for it!” Jiang Yun declared with an air of wealth and confidence.

Li Lulu watched from the side, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

“Pay? Do you even have the means to pay?” Wang Lili sneered, looking down her nose at Jiang Yun.

“This is an LV limited edition dress, worth tens of thousands,” Wang Lili boasted.

Jiang Yun curled her lips in disdain. “Isn’t it just a few tens of thousands? Give me your account number, I’ll transfer it right now.”

Wang Lili was taken aback by Jiang Yun’s display of affluence. Since when had Jiang Yun become so rich? Could those trending rumors online actually be true?

Wang Lili’s mind began to turn. “Oh, Jiang Yun, what are you saying? It’s only a dress, really, there’s no need for compensation!”

“No need to pay?” Jiang Yun replied coldly.

“Right! No need to pay, but…” Wang Lili hesitated, twisting her fingers.

Jiang Yun had no patience for Wang Lili’s antics. She called out to Li Lulu, turned on her heel, and walked away, refusing to listen to whatever Wang Lili wanted to say next.

Seeing Jiang Yun leave, Wang Lili panicked. “Jiang Yun, wait, wait!” She rushed forward and grabbed Jiang Yun’s arm.

“Let go of me!” Jiang Yun said icily.

Wang Lili was startled by Jiang Yun’s expression and immediately released her grip.

“Jiang Yun, please give me another chance, forgive me! I just lost my head for a moment,” Wang Lili pleaded, feigning innocence.

“First,” Jiang Yun said, “there’s nothing between us anymore.”

“Second, I don’t want anything more to do with you.” Jiang Yun’s face darkened as she stared at Wang Lili. “If you keep pestering me, don’t blame me for being rude.”

Wang Lili was frightened by Jiang Yun’s chilling demeanor and stood rooted to the spot, at a loss.

Jiang Yun beckoned to one of Wang Lili’s friends.

The friend approached.

“Account number?” Jiang Yun asked curtly.

“Huh? What account number?” Wang Lili’s friend was momentarily confused.

“Bank account number,” Jiang Yun said, straight to the point.

“Oh, oh!” The friend understood and recited the number: “6217 xxxx xxxx xxxx xxx.”

Without further ado, Jiang Yun transferred fifty thousand.

Beep beep!

Cheng Hong, Wang Lili’s friend, checked her phone and saw the bank’s confirmation message.

Jiang Yun walked away with Li Lulu.

“Don’t say Jiang Yun bullied you; here’s fifty thousand, buy yourself a new dress!”

Jiang Yun, Li Lulu, and He Yong returned to the Red Romance Café.

“Mr. He, sorry for the spectacle,” Jiang Yun said.

“Not at all, not at all! Emotional entanglements are common for celebrities,” He Yong replied, understandingly.

“Mr. He, you flatter me. I’m just an insignificant singer, nowhere near a real star,” Jiang Yun said.

Li Lulu stayed by her side. The two chatted a while longer, signed the bet agreement, and parted ways.

Once He Yong had left, Jiang Yun and Li Lulu hurried to the best recording studio in the city, preparing to record “Heartbreak Pacific.”

Having been there once before, Jiang Yun was familiar with the place.

“Xiao Jiang, you’re here?” Thanks to Zhou Lun’s introduction last time, Jiang Yun had met Wei Meng, the studio’s sound engineer.

Wei Meng was an elderly man in his sixties, dressed in a Tai Chi suit, a rather incongruous sight in a recording studio.

“Mr. Wei, I’d like to use the studio to record a song,” Jiang Yun said respectfully.

“That’s unfortunate. The largest studio was just rented out. They’ll be recording until tonight, I’m afraid,” Wei Meng replied.

Jiang Yun considered it: the big studio wasn’t much different from the small one. The big one had a band, the small one didn’t.

Last time, Jiang Yun had recorded in the big studio.

She made her decision. “I’m pressed for time, I’ll use the small one.”

“All right,” Wei Meng agreed.

“Who’s using the big studio?” Jiang Yun asked casually.

“Not a star, just a trainee named Zhou Ziqian. His father is the director of ‘You’ve Got Talent,’” Wei Meng explained.

Jiang Yun nodded and instantly dismissed these trivial details from her mind.

“Is leaving really so cruel?”

“Or is tenderness the true shame?”

“Or perhaps, loneliness means nothing to some.”

“No day, no night, no conditions.”

In the recording studio, Jiang Yun’s clear, resonant voice echoed.

“A step forward is dusk.”

“A step back is life.”

Her voice was pure, capturing the essence of a wandering hero.

“……”

“Deep in the Pacific, deep in heartache.”

“Deep in the Pacific, deep in heartache.”

“Cut!” Wei Meng called out as the song ended.

Through the glass, Wei Meng signaled that Jiang Yun had done excellently. Her A-level skill passed in one take.

“Hoo—” Jiang Yun, drenched in sweat, let out a breath.

Even with her A-level singing, she felt exhausted.

Once the recording was finished, Wei Meng completed the production and handed the master tape to Jiang Yun.

Jiang Yun and Wei Meng stepped out of the studio. As for Li Lulu, bored, she had wandered off somewhere unknown.

As they exited, they ran into Zhou Ziqian and his group, who seemed to have just finished recording.

“Who’s that? Getting personal guidance from Old Wei?” Zhou Ziqian asked his assistant.

The assistant adjusted his glasses. “Young Zhou, I don’t know. Probably not anyone important, maybe just someone with a personal connection to Mr. Wei.”

Zhou Ziqian nodded and quickly forgot the matter.

Jiang Yun borrowed Wei Meng’s computer and sent the digital audio files for “Words Are Not From the Heart” and “Heartbreak Pacific” to He Yong.

After sending the mp3s, Jiang Yun finally relaxed.

By the time Jiang Yun left the recording studio, night had fallen.

She messaged Li Lulu.

Soon, Li Lulu arrived.

“Boss, what are we eating tonight?”

“What, you want to mooch a meal again?”

The two headed to the city’s largest supermarket to buy plenty of ingredients.

Back at the rented apartment, Jiang Yun, a master in the kitchen, began cooking.

Li Lulu took on the task of cleaning the room.

As usual, Jiang Yun made four dishes and a soup: spicy chicken, shredded pork in garlic sauce, boiled fish, fresh spicy mantis shrimp, and a tomato-based tangy soup.

It must be said, food prepared by a master chef has a unique flavor, a whole notch better.

This time, Jiang Yun was smarter—she steamed enough rice for an extra serving. Otherwise, once Li Lulu had devoured everything, there’d be nothing left for herself.

After dinner, Li Lulu tidied up the dishes, and Jiang Yun handed her the task of washing them.

Li Lulu pouted as she went off to wash.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yun picked up her phone, waiting for something.

At ten o’clock sharp, she opened the NetEase Music app and played a song. The website crashed instantly.

Seeing this, Jiang Yun felt confident.

At the NetEase Music office building.

“What’s happening? Why is the website down?” the chief editor asked.

“Editor-in-chief, too many users are accessing, the server’s overloaded!”

“Hurry up, maintain and add more servers.”

He Yong saw the situation and realized he had underestimated Jiang Yun. And this was without any publicity or promotion.