Redeeming the song Drowning Sorrows.
This song was written, composed, and performed by Earth singer Mao Buyi.
Yu Hai felt that this song suited Zhou Mingxuan's voice very well.
He closed his eyes to digest the extra knowledge newly added to his mind.
Only then did Yu Hai write out the lyrics and sheet music, and begin producing a demo of the song on his computer.
Seeing how focused and earnest he was, the other composers in the room did not disturb him.
Because he was not yet very familiar with the relevant music production software, Yu Hai spent the entire morning getting everything sorted out.
Reluctant to make a phone call, Yu Hai looked up Zhou Mingxuan's number directly and sent him a message.
"Hello, I am Whale Fall. I have a song that suits your voice quite well. Would you like to try it?"
Practicing diligently in the vocal classroom, Zhou Mingxuan stared at the text message in complete bewilderment.
What is this?
Am I seeing things?
Am I dreaming?
He pinched his thigh and took several deep breaths to calm himself down. Then, with trembling hands, he frantically tapped at his phone screen.
He typed a few words, deleted them, typed a few more, modified them, and finally sent:
"Okay, I'll sing it. Thank you, Teacher Whale Fall."
Then he felt that this reply was too brief and wanted to say something more, but he didn't know what. Once again, his fingers tapped against the screen, deleting and rewriting.
After several minutes passed without any reply from Yu Hai, Zhou Mingxuan began to grow increasingly nervous: Did I reply too slowly? Has Teacher Whale Fall changed his mind? Or was my attitude insufficiently sincere, and my gratitude not heartfelt enough?
What should I do?
Just as he was feeling helpless and sitting on pins and needles, a new message arrived a minute later: "Two o'clock this afternoon, come to Studio No. 1."
During those few minutes, Yu Hai had been booking the recording studio on his computer.
Because he wasn't very practiced at it, it took him a little extra time.
The look of frustration instantly vanished from Zhou Mingxuan's face, and he hurriedly tapped his phone to reply: "Okay, okay. Thank you, Teacher Whale Fall. I will definitely arrive on time."
Without a moment's hesitation, he bolted out of the vocal classroom and tracked down Gao Yue, the manager assigned to him by the company.
Zhou Mingxuan's manager Gao Yue was simply dumbfounded when she heard what he had to say.
"What did you say? Teacher Whale Fall?"
"Mm-hmm, that very Teacher Whale Fall. The Teacher Whale Fall who wrote Red Rose!" Zhou Mingxuan said, gesturing excitedly as he shoved his phone in front of her face for her to see.
Looking at the content on the screen, Gao Yue still found it somewhat hard to believe and muttered, "Could it be a scammer?"
Zhou Mingxuan rolled his eyes: "What do I have that a scammer would want?"
Born in the countryside, he had come to a big city right after graduating from high school. Fortunately, because of his decent voice and innate musical talent, Xinhai had signed him on as a trainee; otherwise, penniless and lacking a higher education, he might now be washing dishes in some restaurant, delivering takeout, or laying bricks.
"That's true." Gao Yue thought for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "Why did Teacher Whale Fall choose you? Did you know Teacher Whale Fall beforehand?"
Zhou Mingxuan shook his head: "I saw Teacher Whale Fall for the first time yesterday." Suddenly recalling his lucky encounter this morning, he muttered in disbelief, "Wait... I happened to run into Teacher Whale Fall at the company entrance this morning, and I gave him an apple..."
"What?" If she hadn't needed to maintain her graceful demeanor, Gao Yue would have wanted to dig out her ears to check if she was suffering from auditory hallucinations: "Are you telling me you traded an apple for a song from Teacher Whale Fall???"
Zhou Mingxuan nodded. Although it sounded incredible, this was indeed his only connection to Whale Fall.
"What kind of apple could possibly be that valuable?" What Gao Yue actually wanted to say was: Where did you buy that apple? She needed to go buy a truckload of them!
The flock of little singers under her management were crying out for resources; if she could bribe Whale Fall with an apple, she would directly master the code to wealth!
"It was just an apple from the company cafeteria—the complimentary after-meal fruit, free of charge." Zhou Mingxuan offered a sheepish grin and scratched his head at Gao Yue's "Are you kidding me?" expression.
When he voiced this guess, Zhou Mingxuan himself didn't believe that Whale Fall had chosen him to sing for that reason.
Perhaps the timing was just right, and he simply happened to appear before Teacher Whale Fall.
—
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Yu Hai saw Zhou Mingxuan and his manager waiting at the entrance of Studio No. 1.
Both of them were extremely excited upon seeing Yu Hai. Zhou Mingxuan was thrilled and grateful, wanting to shake his hand, but then pulling back and stumbling over his words: "Teacher Whale Fall, thank you, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity."
As for his manager Gao Yue, the moment she laid eyes on Yu Hai, her inner self went wild with marmot screeches.
Oh my god, he is so, so, so handsome!
The women in the group chat weren't exaggerating in the slightest; how could such a handsome person exist in this world?
And he's talented too! What do I do, this lady is about to lose control!
Outwardly, however, she maintained an intellectual and polite demeanor as she reached out to shake Yu Hai's hand: "Teacher Whale Fall has a discerning eye. Our little Zhou's talent is top-tier among all the company trainees. I'm sure he won't let down the song you've given him."
Nurtured by the Beauty Fruit over this period, Yu Hai's appearance rating on the Whale Fall system panel was now approaching 90 points.
This heaven-defying attribute was no joke.
One had to know that the system's benchmark for appearance was 60 points as a passing grade; an ordinary person with regular facial features and no major flaws on their face could barely scrape by with a pass.
Many handsome men and beautiful women in the entertainment industry relied on makeup effects, and their actual system appearance ratings might not even reach 70 points.
Only a few top-tier fresh-faced idols and bare-faced beauties renowned for their looks could barely reach the system's 80-point appearance rating.
Thus, one could easily imagine how breathtaking Yu Hai's current appearance was in the eyes of many.
Yu Hai nodded at the two of them, handed the sheet music to Zhou Mingxuan, took out his phone to play him the demo, and asked, "How is it? Do you like it?"
With glowing eyes, Zhou Mingxuan stared at the lyrics and sheet music in his hands and nodded repeatedly: "I like it, I love this song so much! Thank you, thank you, Teacher Whale Fall, for giving this song to me."
"Good. Familiarize yourself with the lyrics, and we'll strive to get it done in the next couple of days. We'll release the song in November."
Zhou Mingxuan nodded heavily, and as he familiarized himself with the lyrics, he couldn't help exclaiming, "Teacher Whale Fall."
"Mhm?"
"These lyrics are written so well."
"Just sing it well."
"I will."
Perhaps children from the countryside were indeed diligent enough. Within two days, Zhou Mingxuan successfully completed the recording of Drowning Sorrows.
After encrypting and emailing the song to Director Old Xu, Yu Hai declined Zhou Mingxuan's invitation to dinner.
For no other reason than his sense that the other party couldn't afford to treat him to a meal.
Ever since that apple, the most prominent label attached to Zhou Mingxuan in Yu Hai's mind was: poor.
Upon receiving the song, Xu Nanshan immediately arranged the relevant promotional resources. Yet, after listening to the track himself, he once again marveled at Yu Hai's genius.
The lyrics of this song were written with such profound emotion; he believed it would undoubtedly become another breakout hit.