"Is that song your original work?" the assistant director asked, raising an eyebrow in slight surprise.
Xu An nodded, admitting quite candidly, "It is indeed my original. I believe this song is a perfect fit for today's theme."
Hearing this, the assistant director didn't press further. He glanced at the watch on his wrist and said to Xu An, "The guest performances start in fifteen minutes. I don't care which song you use, just make sure you don't mess up when it's your turn to go on stage."
With that, the assistant director looked Xu An up and down, then called over a makeup artist.
"Xiao Liu, take him over, give him a simple makeup job and fix his hair. Time is tight, hurry, hurry!"
Without lingering, the assistant director turned and went straight to report the outcome to the line producer.
After taking a few steps, his voice drifted back: "Don't screw this up!"
He didn't even look back. As for which song Xu An chose, it made little difference to him—he had never expected anything from him anyway.
As long as this episode was recorded in full, that was enough.
Whether Xu An got chewed out by the audience in front of their televisions later was not his concern.
The makeup artist named Xiao Liu walked over to Xu An. Taking in his handsome appearance and tall, slender figure, she nodded with satisfaction. "Follow me. Time is tight, we'll just have to make do with a light makeup look."
Xu An had no objections; he didn't mind makeup. But thinking about the upcoming performance, he said, "Do you mind if I run back and grab my laptop first?"
There were no substitute songs ready; he intended to write a new one on the spot using music production software. Fifteen minutes should be plenty of time.
Xiao Liu nodded and pointed toward a temporary tent not far away. "Find me there after you grab it. Don't take too long—don't blame me if your makeup isn't finished."
Without waiting for an answer, she turned and walked toward the temporary tent, her hurried steps suggesting she had other matters to attend to.
Not wasting any more time, Xu An hurried back to the RV, grabbed his laptop, and left.
This was his only asset. Fortunately, the original owner had studied music arrangement; otherwise, he really would have been stuck using the song Du Hui had prepared.
...
...
A somewhat crude dressing room.
Staff members bustled about in all directions, occasionally bumping into one another, though neither party paid it any mind as they rushed to keep up with their respective tasks.
In front of a half-meter-high vanity mirror.
Xu An sat straight in his chair, his eyes fixed downward as his right hand rapidly glided the mouse, adding tracks one by one in the arrangement software.
That practiced dexterity was enough to make veteran arrangers in the industry blush with shame.
For no other reason than the fact that this kid added audio tracks at a god-defying speed. Normal arrangers would ponder for several seconds—or even dwell for minutes or hours—before inserting a track.
Yet Xu An didn't hesitate for even a single second. If not for the awkwardness of using a laptop mouse, he probably would have added them even faster.
It was as if the original melody was already deeply rooted in his mind, requiring no thought at all.
And indeed, that was the case. To his pleasant surprise, not only was the arrangement deeply ingrained in his memory, but he could recall the lyrics down to the very last word.
Apart from the songs he already remembered, even tracks he had only heard in passing could be recalled entirely, complete with arrangement and lyrics.
This was simply incredible.
He had read in novels that protagonists who transmigrated always received some kind of perk. Could this be his?
What's more, aside from sharing the exact same historical background as Earth, this world completely lacked every single song, film, television series, and variety show from Earth!
At this thought, the corners of Xu An's lips curled upward into a faint smile.
"Keep your face still, I'm doing your eyeliner."
Xiao Liu was currently bent over at the waist, eyeliner pen in hand, her face practically pressed against Xu An's.
Hearing this, Xu An immediately wiped the smile from his face. Looking at himself in the mirror, he was thoroughly satisfied—his looks were identical to those from his past life!
Not just his appearance, but his name as well.
If not for the sudden influx of the original owner's memories, he would have thought he had ended up on some film crew back on Earth.
When Xiao Liu pulled her right hand back and leaned slightly to inspect the newly drawn eyeliner, she nodded with satisfaction. "You have very pretty eyes."
Xu An smiled faintly. "Thank you for the compliment."
"I was talking about the eyeliner I drew," Xiao Liu said, freezing the smile right on Xu An's face.
"Though your eyes really are quite pretty and full of life," Xiao Liu added, changing tack just in time to spare him the awkwardness.
A pair of peach-blossom eyes—the kind so deeply affectionate that even a dog would look at them and feel the romance.
Lowering his gaze slightly, she looked at the laptop resting on Xu An's lap. The display, which had been completely blank moments ago, was now crowded with dense layers of audio tracks, leaving Xiao Liu somewhat startled. "You're already done writing the song?"
Even if she hadn't eaten pork, she had seen pigs run; she knew a thing or two about music arrangement. She hadn't expected him to finish this fast.
How long had it been?
Not even ten minutes, right?
"I didn't write it on the spot. I wrote this melody a while ago, I'm just copy-pasting it now."
Xu An deliberately offered an explanation; otherwise, he feared word would get out and someone would treat him like a freak to be dissected for science.
"Is that so..."
Xiao Liu muttered under her breath. She didn't know much about this sort of thing anyway, so if he said so, it must be true.
She resumed putting on his makeup.
Once the arrangement was finished, Xu An hit save, closed the laptop, and softly hummed the tune.
He had no idea whether his current vocal cords could handle this song.
Based on the original owner's memories, however, there was nothing wrong with his voice—he wasn't tone-deaf at all. On the contrary, his vocal timbre was exceptionally gentle.
This came as a pleasant surprise to Xu An.
In his past life, part of the reason Xu An had never wanted to step onto a stage was that his voice lacked any distinctive features.
It was just ordinary—the kind of voice that, when thrown into a crowd, completely blended into the background.
Hearing the melody Xu An kept humming under his breath, Xiao Liu, who was busy styling his hair, couldn't help asking in surprise, "Is this a song you wrote?"
"Yeah. What do you think?" Xu An didn't dare nod because she was currently grabbing his hair and continuously spraying hairspray.
"It sounds really nice. The melody gives me a very beautiful feeling," Xiao Liu said sincerely.
After all, Xu An was merely humming the tune, much like a song demo without lyrics.
"It's beautiful alright. You'll get to hear it when I go on stage."
Xu An didn't plan to sing it right then and there—not to put on airs, but because the backstage area was simply too noisy.
Just then, the assistant director suddenly walked into the tent and spotted Xu An sitting in front of the makeup mirror.
Through the mirror, Xu An caught sight of the assistant director striding over, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
Could it be that they had found another guest and no longer needed him?