"What? 4,000 for a song?"
"Look, kid, that’s just the going rate. There’s nothing I can do about it."
"Big sister, I’m a minor. Can’t you give me a discount? How about 1,500? For 1,500, you record the song and put together the backing track for me too."
"Kid, it doesn't matter if you're a minor or even in elementary school—it's just not happening."
"Actually, I am in elementary school."
"Do you really think I believe that?"
"Don't be like that, sister."
"Don't be like that, little brother."
"Could you drop the 'little'?"
"???"
Outside the Tianlai Recording Studio, Ye Ge was haggling with the proprietor.
There weren't many recording studios in Linhai. Ye Ge had only managed to find four. He’d called the others, and the prices were all between 3,000 and 4,000 per song.
This was a flat-rate package, meaning you could record as much as you wanted without time limits, and they’d handle the backing track for you. Of course, the backing tracks were all synthesized by software—there was no way they’d provide live musicians.
Eventually, Ye Ge found this Tianlai Recording Studio. Since it was relatively close, he decided to come and take a look in person.
"Sister, to be honest with you, Qingfeng Recording Studio just offered to do the whole package for 2,500," Ye Ge said, looking as sincere as possible.
"Listen, little brother, to be honest with you, the owner of Qingfeng Recording Studio is my uncle. Their absolute lowest price for a full package is 3,000."
"Then why are you at Tianlai Recording Studio?"
"Because Tianlai Recording Studio is owned by my aunt."
"And where's your uncle?"
"Drunk driving. Hit a pillar and kicked the bucket."
"..."
"Look, kid, I can see you really want to record. 3,000—that's my final offer. I really can't go any lower!"
"2,500. Man, I’m really broke. I’ll be honest—I just graduated from high school, I confessed to a girl, and I got dumped. My heart is broken, and I just want to record a song to express how I feel.""……" Lin Wanwan, the shop clerk, shot Ye Ge a blank look. "Forget it, kid. You've been pestering me for half an hour now; I've never seen a high school senior with such persistence. Fine, I'll go ask my aunt, but if she says no, then it’s really a no."
"Thanks a million, sis."
Ye Ge sat in the lobby, letting the air conditioning cool him off, while Lin Wanwan went to find her aunt.
Meanwhile, inside a room at the Tianlai Recording Studio, a woman who appeared to be in her thirties sat on a sofa.
She was dressed in a tight-fitting skirt that barely reached her thighs, revealing a pair of shapely, slender legs encased in black stockings. Her fair shoulders were bare, and as the sunlight caught her delicate collarbone, her skin looked smooth, flawless, and impeccably cared for.
There was a profound sense of maturity in the arch of her brows, and her silhouette, ripe as a peach, exuded an effortless, boundless allure with every movement.
Facing her sat a girl of about seventeen or eighteen.The girl and the young woman shared a sixty-percent resemblance: both had clear, bright eyes, arched willow-leaf eyebrows, and long eyelashes that trembled slightly. Their fair, flawless skin was tinged with a faint, rosy flush, and their thin lips were as delicate and dewy as rose petals.
The girl was clutching the hem of her short skirt, which barely reached her mid-thigh. She wore long student socks on her lower legs, and her leather shoes were positioned in a slight pigeon-toed stance. She was dressed in a black Japanese-style school uniform and sported a yellow wig.
The girl pouted her cherry-red lips and lifted her chin with a huff.
"Yuan Guoxue! I’m going to tell you one last time! Get rid of this bizarre outfit you’re wearing, and take that wig off your head! You’re just a kid—what are you doing with yellow hair? I absolutely loathe yellow hair!"
The woman slammed her hand against the table several times, making the teacup jump."Yuan Mei! I’m telling you, this isn't some dyed-hair delinquent look! This is Tsumugi Kotobuki from K-On! I'm cosplaying! This isn't just some weird, tacky outfit!" Yuan Guoxue stood up in a fit of rage.
"Cos-what? I think you’ve lost your mind! Do you have any idea how old you are? You’re about to start university; you’re a grown young woman now!"
"You promised me! You said if I scored 600 points, you wouldn't interfere with my hobbies. I estimate I scored at least 640!"
"Fine, fine, I’ll respect your personal hobbies," Yuan Mei said, taking a deep breath. "But what is this business about you wanting to apply for the Japanese department at Yuhang University? Of all things to study, why Japanese?"
"I don't care! I got the grades, so I get to choose my major!"
"Yuan Guoxue, I am doing this for your own good!"
"The words that scare me the most are 'for your own good'!"
"Yuan Guoxue! What do you think you’re doing?"
"You get back here!"
"Come back!"
*SLAM!*
Yuan Guoxue stormed out, slamming the door so hard she gave Lin Wanwan, who was just about to open it, a fright.
Good grief, her cousin was arguing with her aunt again, it seemed.
Inside the room, Yuan Mei took several deep breaths, her face flushed with anger.
"What are you standing outside for?" Yuan Mei snapped, taking her frustration out on Lin Wanwan.
Lin Wanwan remained silent.
"Aunt, there’s a high school graduate outside. He says he wants to rent our recording studio."
"So rent it to him! Why are you telling me about this?"
"Well, he wants to record a whole song for 2,500 yuan... He seemed really patient. He’s been chatting with me for half an hour already, and I just couldn't take it anymore," Lin Wanwan said helplessly.
Yuan Mei was slightly surprised. Students were usually thin-skinned—they were often too shy to haggle with street vendors, yet this one had spent half an hour negotiating a price.
"Forget it, forget it. 2,500 is fine. Consider it a discount for a graduate."
Yuan Mei waved her hand, dismissing the situation as just another high schooler playing around. She had seen plenty of these students, and even college kids, who liked to write nonsensical, non-mainstream songs—it was always "you love me" or "I love you," or "the pain of longing" or "tears of heartbreak." Once they finished their songs, they’d post them online and share them on their QQ spaces as "Songs of My Youth"...
And what was this "cosplay" nonsense? Young people these days, she really couldn't understand them.
"Alright then, I’ll go tell him."
Seeing her aunt agree, Lin Wanwan hurried out, terrified of becoming the next target of her aunt’s anger.
"Alright, brother, it’s a done deal. 500 yuan deposit, and the remaining 2,000 to be paid after the recording," Lin Wanwan said as she walked out to Ye Ge.
"No problem," Ye Ge nodded. "Thank you, miss."
"Don't thank me, I'm just helping my aunt look after the shop for the summer," Lin Wanwan smiled as she pulled out a small notebook. "Come on then, here's the contract. Fill it out. You need to contact us three days in advance before you record."
"Got it." Ye Ge carefully read through the contract. Seeing that everything was in order, he signed his name.
Lin Wanwan put the contract away and opened a spreadsheet on the computer. "What was the name of your song again? I need to register it here."
"Only Once."