Chapter 78: The Accompaniment Is Finished!

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It was the same room as last night.

Seeing Cao Xiwen again, Garen felt rather awkward.

He restrained himself from thinking about all the messy things from the night before, hoping to finish filming as soon as possible.

Cao Xiwen, on the other hand, showed little reaction; she greeted him with a faint smile, as if what happened yesterday was nothing at all.

In that instant, Garen suddenly thought, she’s a true actress—everything is just an act. Had he simply become too immersed in the role, blinded by the illusion?

There weren’t many staff members on set, just fourteen or fifteen in total. The extras who had been watching the fun yesterday were nowhere to be seen.

This final scene depicted a farewell at dawn.

Garen, playing Xue Yi, was leaving, and the two parted reluctantly.

The lines had all been improvised the previous night, which was quite a challenge for Garen. Fortunately, there was a teleprompter; when he couldn’t recall a line, he’d just glance at it discreetly.

By seven in the morning, the filming was finally wrapped, and Garen was officially finished.

“I can’t do it anymore, I need to catch up on some sleep!” Cao Xiwen yawned, waved her hand, and walked off with sleepy eyes.

Zhao Xin was the same; he’d only slept four or five hours the previous night and needed to rest as well. The daytime scenes would be completely handed over to the assistant director.

Still, he saw Garen off at the studio gate, watching him get into the car.

“Director Zhao! Go sleep! We’ll catch up later!”

“Take care on the road! I won’t see you off any farther,” Zhao Xin smiled. “I’ll call you when the celebration banquet comes around, you must make time for it!”

“No problem!” Garen smiled.

As a supporting actor, he wasn’t required to attend promotional events, but if the show’s ending theme were really to use "Fireworks Fade Easily," perhaps he’d have a chance to participate in the follow-up.

He arrived home after eight o’clock.

Chen Yingying had just finished making breakfast and saw Garen come in, exhausted and with red-rimmed eyes. Her heart ached and she asked, “Pulled an all-nighter, did you?”

“Ah! A whole night of torment.”

Seeing Chen Yingying reminded Garen of last night’s scene, and guilt overwhelmed him; he couldn’t help but hug her tightly.

“Go, go! Eat something first, then get some sleep!” Chen Yingying pushed him away, ran into the kitchen, and brought out a pot of millet porridge.

She also took out a few buns—these buns were oddly shaped, with filling squeezed out from the middle.

“Where did you buy these? They look so terrible!” Garen couldn’t help but frown in criticism.

“Terrible?” Chen Yingying looked aggrieved. “I spent all afternoon making these yesterday, hoping you’d eat them when you got home last night—but you didn’t come!”

“Huh?” Garen was startled, immediately changing his demeanor. “You made them yourself? That’s incredible, I have to try them!”

He took a bite—the skin was a bit sour, perhaps too much baking soda, but it was soft and well-fermented. The filling was decent, obviously seasoned with special bun and dumpling spices.

“Mm! Really good!” Garen nodded as he ate. “Come on, pour me a bowl of millet porridge!”

“Alright!” Chen Yingying happily brought him a bowl and sat beside him to start breakfast herself.

After gulping down two bowls and eating three buns, Garen finally felt satisfied, rubbing his stomach and burping. “I ate too much! If you ever lose your job, you should open a bun shop!”

“Hmph!” Chen Yingying pouted. “If I lose my job, won’t you support me?”

“Ah! Haha, of course I will!” Garen laughed. “I’m going to bed—want to join me?”

“Go, go, go!” Chen Yingying pushed him. “I have dishes to wash!”

“By the way, have you picked out the apartment? We should move soon—otherwise, if my two roommates come back, it won’t be convenient for you to stay here.”

“Already picked it!” Chen Yingying ran off, grabbed a folder, and handed Garen a sheet with a photo and description. “This one!”

“Alright!” He immediately sent a text to Maile, figuring he was probably asleep at this hour and didn’t want to disturb him with a call.

Over the next few days, Garen appeared on seven or eight variety shows, including Beijing TV, Jiangsu-Zhejiang TV, Jiangnan TV, Hunan TV, and others.

Among them, only Jiangnan TV had a reality show with ratings and reputation ranked in the national top ten; the rest were lukewarm indoor programs.

There was even a children's show, where he spent a day as a kindergarten teacher, played games with the kids, taught them songs, and had to feed them and change diapers.

He’d been spinning non-stop these days, and still had to find time to move house.

The new home was outside the Fifth Ring, farther from the Forbidden City than before, but for someone like Garen who didn’t need to rush to work by bus, it was quite suitable.

The location wasn’t too remote, access was convenient, and security in the neighborhood was strong.

Standing on the balcony facing east, he could see a cluster of detached villas—rumor had it that many entertainment industry stars lived there, with starting prices at twenty thousand per square meter.

Garen rented a duplex apartment, with two floors; each floor was only fifty or sixty square meters. The first floor had a living room, kitchen, and guest bedroom; the second floor had the master bedroom and a study.

Both floors had bathrooms, but only the upstairs one had a shower.

He completely renovated the study, adding soundproofing on all six sides, turning it into a small home recording studio.

The equipment came from the company’s second-hand stock, but it was all professional-grade, incomparable to ordinary consumer devices. Garen didn’t take everything—just a set including recording gear and post-production software. Li Ronghao not only gave him an ultra-low price, but also helped with the studio renovation.

Watching the recording studio come to life, Garen was both delighted and deeply moved.

He had finally taken the first step. In the future, countless classic musical works would be born in this little studio.

A week later.

At nine o’clock that morning, Garen arrived at the company and headed straight for Li Ronghao’s office.

Just as he reached the door, three people came out; Garen recognized one of the men as someone from the talent agency, a friend of Maile’s, named Yangzi.

The other two, a young man and woman, looked to be in their early twenties, not much different from himself.

“Hello, Senior!” the young woman greeted him first, smiling and bowing.

The young man followed suit, calling out and bending ninety degrees.

Yangzi quickly introduced, “Brother Lun, these are the new singers our company just signed. I’ll be managing them, and I’ll need your help in the future!”

Garen waved off the formality with a smile. “No need! Let’s all work hard together. You’re older than me, so don’t call me ‘Brother Lun,’ it feels weird—just call me Alan.”

“Haha! In our industry, it’s not about age, it’s about achievements! You’re at the peak now, the hottest rookie, and a major brand for Rainy Day Music! All the singers applying here are coming for you!”

That was true. While the most popular person in the company was still Liu Xiayu, she was more like a mythical figure—many admired her but couldn’t reach her. Garen, on the other hand, came from humble beginnings, an inspirational role model. New singers coming to apply all hoped to become the next Garen.

Why not the next Liu Xiayu? Well, you’d need a father and brother like hers!

After a few pleasantries, Garen entered Li Ronghao’s office and found the old man listening to music with his eyes closed and headphones on.

He was no longer as busy as before. Outside affairs were handled by a vice president at the film company, and he’d arranged everything internally for now.

All he needed to do each day was listen to reports, give opinions, and review documents.

“Mr. Li! Mr. Li!” Garen called out twice, but got no response, so he went over and nudged him. “Teacher Li, are you asleep?”

Li Ronghao opened his eyes and, upon seeing Garen, joyfully took off his headphones. “Come, come, listen to this arrangement!”

“What is it…” Garen put on the headphones, and Li Ronghao played the track from the beginning.

As soon as he heard it, Garen was stunned. “Isn’t this ‘Nunchaku’?”

But the music sounded much better than before, completely HD stereo!

And in some instrumental parts, there seemed to be subtle new touches.

After listening to the whole track, Garen asked, “Is this newly made?”

“Keep listening!” Li Ronghao gave a mysterious smile.

The next two tracks were “Love Before the First Century” and “My Sky.”

The arrangements were identical to what he’d previously given, just redone, with some delightful new details.

“Who made these?” Garen asked after hearing all three.

“The company’s music director—you know him!”

“I do!” Garen nodded. “That Manson-Lee, he’s American, isn’t he?”

“He’s Chinese—his real name is Li Qing!” Li Ronghao chuckled. “He made these accompaniments. What do you think?”

“They’re great!” Garen said. “Absolutely usable!”

“If you say they’re good, then that’s settled! He’s coming back from abroad at noon; we’ll have a meeting together this afternoon.”

“What do you mean? He’s still overseas?” Garen was surprised. The new equipment had already been installed and tested; he thought these tracks were created with it, but the music director was still abroad?

Li Ronghao explained, “These three accompaniments were made in America. Tomorrow, you’ll start recording on the new equipment here. You must do your best—don’t let Li Qing look down on you!”

“Huh?” Garen didn’t quite understand; Li Ronghao seemed oddly dissatisfied with Li Qing.

Li Ronghao didn’t elaborate. In truth, he didn’t want to.

He really didn’t like Li Qing.

Just to make a few accompaniments—couldn’t he wait for the new equipment to be ready? Couldn’t he use Liu Xiayu’s old studio? Why insist on going to America?

From the perspective of the deputy general manager, this was a wasteful expense.

But after hearing the results, he had to admit he was impressed.

The performances were all live instruments—quite different from MIDI files, and the American production standards were high. At least, Li Ronghao felt he couldn’t match them.