Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 27 Preparations to Leave Middle-Aged Women

Qin Chuan pushed open the door to the recording studio.

Behind him followed three little ones, their eyes filled with wonder.

"Is Brother Jin Nian going to record a song here?"

Qin Chuan nodded: "The owner here is my friend, so you don't need to stand on ceremony."

This is a proper commercial recording studio. It's not big, but it has everything you need—soundproof booths, a mixing console, monitor speakers, and sound-absorbing cotton on the walls. The sound engineer is a man in his early thirties surnamed Zhou. He has a beard and seems quite reliable.

"What are we recording?" Old Zhou glanced at Qin Chuan.

"This kid wants to record a song," Qin Chuan said, handing over the lyrics and sheet music. "Ode to Young China."

Just after leaving the bookstore, Luo Jinnian suggested recording a song and taking care of the copyright issues.

The famous director was quite curious; he could also write songs? Since he had nothing better to do, he brought a few children to his favorite recording studio.

Are they children?

Old Zhou glanced at the lyrics, said nothing, took them, and placed them on the music stand. "Go in and test the microphone position first, I'll adjust the power."

Luo Jinnian walked into the soundproof room, put on his headphones, and stood in front of the microphone. Old Zhou gave an "OK" sign from the other side of the glass and pushed up the clippers.

"Hello, feed." Luo Jinnian tested the phone.

"Okay. Step forward half a step... Alright."

The accompaniment begins. It's a MIDI arrangement with piano and strings as a base. Luo Jinnian takes a deep breath and begins to sing:

"The rising sun shines brightly, its light is boundless—"

After singing only the first line, Lao Zhou pressed the intercom: "Stop. Your breath is too tight, relax and let the sound come out. Try again."

Luo Jinnian adjusted her breathing and repeated it a second time.

"The rising sun shines brightly, its path is radiant. The river emerges from its hidden source, flowing into a vast ocean—"

This time it went smoothly. Old Zhou didn't interrupt. Luo Jinnian continued singing, and when he entered that spoken-word-style section, his emotions gradually rose. "If the youth are wise, the nation is wise; if the youth are wealthy, the nation is wealthy..." Each "if" was pronounced short and forcefully.

He was startled the moment the chorus started.

"A young man has his own youthful exuberance, his body as upright as mountains and rivers—"

Old Zhou sat up straight, his index finger unconsciously tapping the rhythm lightly on the edge of the mixing console.

The renowned director couldn't see his expression, but he could sense that Lao Zhou's gaze had become more focused.

When singing "Dare to measure the sun and moon again," Luo Jinnian's mind conjured up images of himself in another time and space—those figures running on the playground, his profile as he did practice problems late at night, and his voice reciting in unison at the morning flag-raising ceremony.

The last line, "With the nation, there are no borders," was sung.

Luo Jinnian took off one earphone and heard Lao Zhou say into the walkie-talkie:

"Alright. Just this once."

Luo Jinnian stepped out of the soundproof booth. Old Zhou was leaning back in his chair, staring at the screen with a complicated expression. "Who wrote these lyrics?"

"A friend of mine."

Luo Jinnian decided to attribute the credit for the lyrics to his own pseudonym, "Early Spring Tea," and from then on, he would be known to the public as an artist friend of "Early Spring Tea."

It wouldn't be surprising if a future great writer could write this word.

Old Zhou didn't press further, pressed play, and played the previous recording of the dry vocals and accompaniment together. The sound coming from the monitor speakers was even more powerful than expected, surprising even Luo Jinnian himself.

"No need for too much fixing," Old Zhou said. "Just a little adjustment to the volume balance will do. Want to pick up the finished product the day after tomorrow?"

"it is good."

The famous director wanted to pay a deposit, but Luo Jinnian stopped him.

He just received the 50,000 yuan reward for "The Great Tang Dynasty Tales," so he's now rich, although the presence of the middle-aged woman often makes it feel like he's penniless.

Since he has the money, he has to pay for the recording himself.

Qin Chuan did not refuse.

Ever since reading The Little Prince written by the boy, he has always treated Luo Jinnian as an adult.

"Brother Jin Nian's song is so powerful!"

"It's a pity I'm still too young to sing the lyrics with true grandeur." Luo Jinnian knew his own limitations; after all, he was too young, and his voice was too immature to sing with the same powerful and majestic feeling as Brother Jie.

The three children walked out hand in hand, with the famous director protecting them like a nanny.

Behind him, Lao Zhou had put his headphones back on and played "Ode to Young China" again.

The melody of this song is just so-so, not particularly top-notch in today's developed entertainment industry, but the lyrics... truly elevate the entire song.

The lyrics were so good that they made him feel like he was back in his teenage years, copying his favorite lyrics into a notebook.

After walking a distance, Fei Yuxi said regretfully:

"Even though my brother received the bonus, he still can't improve his life."

The boy had just paid the deposit for recording the song, but he couldn't afford to change into decent clothes. He hadn't been seen wearing the clothes she had given him before.

Luo Jin smiled when he was young, but being a middle-aged woman was his situation, and in this situation, he could not live the life he wanted.

"Consider it as her saving me money; now I can keep saving until the end of the year."

In fact, Luo Jinnian was already making multiple preparations to break away from the middle-aged woman; he couldn't place all his hopes on the two directors.

Becoming a child star and then having a falling out with your family is the worst possible solution.

His real plan was to get the middle-aged woman to beg him to give up custody of her child under the pressure of public opinion.

Achieving this goal is both difficult and easy; in essence, it boils down to two words: "reputation."

This plan actually started when he began writing.

Every story he writes now can be used to deconstruct his family environment issues, from "Grandma," about swapping bodies with his granddaughter, to "Summer, Fireworks, My Corpse," about several naturally "bad kids," to "Take Her Eyes," about never seeing the light of day, and the "Laughing Cat Diary" he is currently writing...

Finally, he used his trump card, "The Little Prince," to get the media, who flocked to it, to speak on his behalf.

Luo Jinnian needs to embody the image of a true "model child," so that even at the end, he will pitifully say in front of the camera, "My mother is a good mother."

East Asian cultures don't appreciate an image of someone resolutely defying their parents. The middle-aged woman has already failed in life, and Luo Jinnian can't sacrifice the bright future of a nine-year-old child for her sake.

Even now, he still doesn't understand how there could be such a heartless person in this world who would starve their own child to death.

Looking at her hands, Luo Jinnian murmured: I will get justice for you.

"The lyrics to that song were pretty good, you wrote them yourself, didn't you?"

The young man claimed in public that it was written by his friend, but Qin Chuan was well aware that he was using the pseudonym of a great writer.

"Yes, our school is holding a National Day performance, and my homeroom teacher requires me to perform a program."

Luo Jinnian came to record a song today not because he wanted to release it and hope it would become as popular as it was in his previous life, but simply to avoid future copyright disputes.

Qin Chuan gave him a thumbs up for writing a song for a primary school performance, thinking, "This kid really knows how to put on an act."

Speaking of the National Day performance, he suddenly remembered that a friend of his was going to cover a performance at some school.

They said it was a very formal event organized by the station, but oh well, how could it be such a coincidence?

Qin Chuan shook his head, finding it amusing.