My agency went bankrupt before I even got on stage.

An hour later, Lian Xiaoyu brought Lin Fan to a recording studio.

Lian Xiaoyu led Lin Fan through the recording studio door and said, "This recording studio is owned by my friend! She happens to be here today, so I'll introduce you two in a bit."

Lin Fan followed silently behind her, feeling that there was something strange about the way the boss emphasized the word "coincidentally" when he said it.

As soon as he entered, Lin Fan saw a slender figure sitting on the sofa.

The sun was shining brightly on Huahai Island in May, slanting in through the window and falling directly on her snow-white legs, giving them a delicate, lustrous sheen like white jade, which made Lin Fan feel somewhat dazed.

"Yan Yan! Let me introduce you. This is Lin Fan. Lin Fan, and this is my friend Xia Yan."

As soon as Lian Xiaoyu finished speaking, Lin Fan saw a breathtakingly beautiful face turn around: "Hello."

Her voice was soft and light, with a slight upward inflection at the end, like a gentle stream, melodious and pleasing to the ear. Her face was exquisitely beautiful, with eyebrows like distant mountains, eyes like autumn waters, cherry lips, and a delicate nose. Her demeanor was cool and aloof, yet she didn't give off an air of arrogance or coldness.

If I had to use one word to describe her, it would be "a perfect combination of two Feis"—the beauty of a fairy sister and the temperament of a diva.

Ahem, please forgive Lin Fan, a homebody, for being uneducated and unable to utter such brilliant lines as "Clouds remind me of her clothes, flowers of her face."

Lin Fan blushed, looking utterly pathetic: "Hello."

Lian Xiaoyu looked at Lin Fan's bright red face and chuckled inwardly. Her friend was really awesome! Using her best friend as a backup plan was indeed a foolproof trick.

Xia Yan glanced at Lian Xiaoyu, fully aware of her little scheme, but didn't expose her. Instead, she politely said to Lin Fan, "I've heard your song 'I Caught a Cold in That Corner,' it's very good. I wonder if I would have the honor of seeing the complete sheet music?"

Sheet music... of course, there isn't any!

Lin Fan was called over by Lian Xiaoyu early in the morning without any preparation. It's not like she was given sheet music just like that.

Fortunately, Lin Fan arrived with a cheat code: Forced Skill: Staff Notation Mastery, activated!

In a few quick movements, the sheet music was written out on the spot.

The sheet music for "I Caught a Cold in That Corner" is very simple, just a few simple notes, yet it conveys a variety of emotions, including lightheartedness, etherealness, and sadness. It truly captures the essence of music, letting the music itself speak for itself rather than relying on lyrics.

Lian Xiaoyu was a complete novice and didn't understand these things, so she could only ask Xia Yan to help her take a look at the sheet music.

Xia Yan had heard Lin Fan sing this song a cappella long ago. Now that she had the sheet music, she automatically transformed the sheet music into background music in her mind and combined it with Lin Fan's a cappella singing to imagine a complete live performance.

Xia Yan herself couldn't help but hum along softly.

The moment Xia Yan opened her mouth, Lin Fan wanted to kneel down!

That light and ethereal timbre, powerful singing skills, precise rhythm, and full of emotion were even better than the original singer in Lin Fan's memory!

This young lady not only has the aura of a diva, but her voice and singing skills are also diva-level! Lin Fan didn't look at the young lady's face carefully just now. After all, it was their first meeting, and it would be impolite to stare at her for too long.

Listening to the young lady humming, while enjoying the ultimate auditory pleasure, Lin Fan felt an increasing sense of déjà vu about her. Hmm, he wasn't Jia Baoyu, but this familiarity wasn't just his imagination. He couldn't help but quietly ask Lian Xiaoyu, "Boss Lian, is your good friend quite famous?"

Lian Xiaoyu's expression was somewhat strange, and she said in a low voice, "Are you sure you don't know him?"

"I think I know her...?" Lin Fan felt increasingly uneasy. This fairy-like young lady in front of him seemed to have appeared in his predecessor's memories before.

Lian Xiaoyu chuckled, but didn't continue the introduction. Instead, she listened quietly to Xia Yan humming.

Lin Fan scratched his head. He had a lot of memories from his predecessor, but he hadn't looked through them carefully. Now it seemed that he really should do his homework properly, otherwise he would be embarrassed like this again next time.

Xia Yan hummed only a short part before stopping.

Lian Xiaoyu asked nervously, "How is it?"

"Fantastic! I love it!"

Lin Fan thought to himself, "Of course it's great! After all, this song was a huge hit across the country back then, and a certain mobile phone model successfully entered the market because of it. It's been proven by the market! Quality guaranteed!"

Xia Yan's renewed affirmation greatly boosted Lian Xiaoyu's confidence: "If you say it's good, then it must really be good! Xiao Fanfan, come on, let's hurry up and record the song. We might not be able to finish recording it in one day!"

Xia Yan put down the sheet music and looked at Lian Xiaoyu: "How do you want to record it? How do you want the arrangement done?"

"Uh..." Even Xiaoyu hadn't considered this question. It was her first time bringing someone into a recording studio, and she didn't know what the intricacies were.

Xia Yan knew that her best friend had acted impulsively and wanted to break into the entertainment industry. In reality, she lacked knowledge of the intricacies of the industry and even basic common sense, so she couldn't be relied on at all.

Passing through the light rain, Xia Yan looked at Lin Fan: "What are your thoughts?"

Lin Fan opened his mouth, wondering what he could possibly think.

What could a plagiarist possibly be thinking?

Although I possess musical skills such as "never singing off-key", "basic arrangement", and "intermediate singing", and I have written out the complete score for this song, that's all I can do.

Arranging a song is a very complex task. It requires determining the overall style, the instruments to be used, discussing whether there will be harmonies and vocals, and polishing each lyric and even the melody of each word again and again. After all that is done, it is not over yet. You also need to constantly find the emotion that the song needs. Whether it is the performance or the singing, it needs to be infused with emotion.

After everything is confirmed, you need to find a top-notch band and musicians. Ordinary bands only have guitars, basses, keyboards, and drums. If a song requires classical instruments such as the guzheng, xiao, and konghou, or instruments such as the piano, cello, and violin, then it becomes troublesome. You need to find professional musicians. If the band or musicians you find are not professional enough, the recorded song will be completely different, like heaven and earth.

All of the above is just a simple preparation of the accompaniment. Next, the singer needs to sing along with the accompaniment again and again until they achieve the desired state or level of performance.

If the emotion isn't there, the resulting song is unlistenable!

This process requires a top-notch recording studio, and even more so, a legendary audio engineer with a million-dollar annual salary! Without an audio engineer, many singers wouldn't even make it onto the stage! A top-notch audio engineer can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

This is assuming everything goes smoothly. If the singer cannot resonate with the accompaniment during the performance, the arrangement and lyrics need to be revised because the singer, music, lyrics, and emotions need to be highly harmonious; otherwise, the song will be unlistenable.

Recording a song is not as simple as you might imagine.