After Lu Wei Xi's e-commerce class ended, she walked to the cafeteria and coincidentally heard several girls discussing the anniversary celebration of University T coming up in two weeks.
She was suddenly reminded that a fellow member of the student union had asked her yesterday about the arrangement of the program. Lu Wei Xi couldn't help but sigh.
Although Lu Wei Xi is part of the journalism department, she is not passionate about the subject. Besides singing, she has no other hobbies. What's more, she does not like to be in the limelight. Every year, out of the numerous activities and events at the university, she would only participate in singing competitions and nothing else.
Cheng Si Ran would often say if she was ever to become a reporter, she would be the type that many big enterprises and celebrities would like. That is because, even with a press card hanging around her neck or even if they can't see her, they would still want to talk to her because of her voice.
When she walked into the cafeteria, she just so happened to spot Xia Nuan who also helped get her a serving of lunch.
Cheng Si Ran is also at the table, busy playing with her nails. Her head is lowered, allowing her long beautiful waves to cascade over her shoulders, creating a beautiful visage.
Cheng Si Ran is also one of Lu Wei Xi’s roommates as well as the number one beauty of University T’s English Department, the dream girl of many boys on campus.
“Ah Xi, they don’t have spareribs today, so I got you fish aubergine instead.”
Xia Nuan pushed the tray toward her. Lu Wei Xi, who had suffered through an entire day of class, shook her head as if she didn’t mind. She hungrily picked up her chopstick and quickly dug in.
Across from her, Cheng Si Ran glanced over and helplessly sighed, “Xi Xi, do you know how many pairs of eyes in the cafeteria are staring at you? Pay attention to your table manners.”
Lu Wei Xi looked up and tried with great difficulty to swallow the eggplant in her mouth. She cleared her throat and spoke in a hushed voice, “I’m telling you, I saw him again last night.”
The two of them blank.
The first to react was Xia Nuan; her eyes widened as she raised her voice, “Are you talking about Wonder dada?”
“Yep, it’s him.” Lu Wei Xi nodded with certainty.
“My God, you’ve actually had a chance encounter with Wonder two times in real life. If someone in the network distribution circle knew about this, they would’ve put you on the homepage!” Xia Xuan looked at her enviously and expectantly, “I forgot to ask you before. Is he tall and handsome?”
“Well…..” Lu Wei Xi took a sip of her pork bone winter melon soup. She narrowed her eyes as she recalled, “Very tall, has a good body, his eyes...are also very beautiful. However, he seemed to have caught a cold during this time since he is always wearing a mask, so I don’t know exactly how he looks like.”
“Who’s Wonder?” Cheng Si Ran who had been listening in to their conversion in confusion intervened. Si
“It is the guy she fell in love at first sight at the hospital...wait, no, fell in love at first listen.” Xia Nuan turned and explained. After she did so, her eyes brightened, “Si Ran, Si Ran, when we get back, let me show you some of his work. After listening, you will understand Ah Xi’s feeling. That voice….sounds so good it can overturn the heavens.”
“.....Forget it, I don’t want to become a lovestruck fool.” Cheng Si Ran gave a lukewarm reply as she took a swig of water from the thermos. She looked at Lu Wei Xi curiously, “Where did you bump into him? You ran into him twice in a week….tut, maybe you two are destined.”
When she heard this, Lu Wei Xi who was picking up food with her chopsticks froze as she looked up bashfully, “At the supermarket, he came to buy something.” When she thought about what happened last night, her eyes dimmed, “But my reaction at the time was very shameful and he doesn’t seem to remember me.”
“It would be better this way,” Xia Nuan wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, “Ah Xi, why don’t you consider entering the 2-D world as a CV or something. If you become famous, it will be easier for you to hook up with him.”
“Me?” Stunned, Lu Wei Xi pointed at herself unconvinced, “Last time when I helped Ran Ran read a melodrama script, she was repulsed by my emotionless voice….forget it.”
But….
If I want to be closer to him, should I choose this path?
Lu Wei Xi looked down at her empty tray, deep in contemplation, “Do you think I’m qualified to become an online cover singer?”
Xia Nuan and Cheng Si Ran stayed silent. They glanced at each other and came to a mutual conclusion.
The next second, they spoke in unison, “Qualified!”
Who were they kidding, Lu Wei Xi is the school’s reigning two-year singing champion!
Xia Nuan’s cousin is also a well-known director in the ancient-style music circle, known by the alias Purple Glass. The affiliated group, Alluring Sounds, is also one of the best in the community so there is no shortage of resources. Xia Nuan also entered Alluring Sounds riding on her cousin's coattails. Usually, in the community, there is a mix of producers, singers, etc.
Because of this connection, when it was time for Lu Wei Xi to release her first cover online, Xia Nuan put in 120% of her effort to help guide her with enthusiasm and patience. By helping her choose a song, getting the copyright, producing and helping her advertise….it is called being a good friend and showing good sportsmanship in the industry.
From the number of hours added up, they worked really hard the entire week. Early Saturday morning, Lu Wei Xi, wrapped up in a thick blanket, sat in front of the computer and carefully listened to the song one last time. Afterward, she opened the web page and nervously uploaded the cover song, which she had recorded three times, onto 5sing.
“Xiao Nuan, what do I write for the inspiration part in the introduction?” Lu Wei Xi had stared at the text box on the screen for a long time but couldn’t come up with anything. In the end, she had to turn to Xia Nuan for help.
Xia Nuan, who is sitting next to her, is already promoting Lu Wei Xi’s not-yet-released song on the Alluring Sounds QQ group chat. She mindlessly replied, “Write whatever comes to mind, but it’s better to be straightforward. If you write too much, people will not necessarily read it. "
“Oh.” Lu Wei Xi nodded thoughtfully.
After a minute, with her newly registered username, “Eastern Attempt,” she successfully uploaded her first ancient cover of “Green Snake."
Speaking of this, this is the first time Lu Wei Xi sang an ancient-style song. Originally, she wanted to do a cover of a pop song but Xia Nuan told her that there is a larger audience when it comes to ancient-style music. After all, if you want to listen to pop music, you can go buy a CD directly and listen to Jay Chou, Eason Chan, or Jacky Cheung. In the online entertainment circle, ancient-style music is more mainstream.
In the past few days, Lu Wei Xi had found a lot of ancient songs to listen to and in the end, chose this one because she liked the mood expressed in the song. The world is singing the praise of the love between Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian but who notices Xiaoqing, who never gave up on the White Snake and stayed by her side all the time?
“The sun continued to set by the Broken Bridge,
I will not send you back with a few empty words,
Still looking for that old friend step by step...
Leifeng (Pagoda) stood before the West Lake,
Reflecting that I am a demon, a celestial;
If the cave is still a thousand years old,
Who are you flooding Jinshan (Temple) for? "
After she uploaded it and listened to it one more time, she felt good about herself and closed the 5sing page. She then started to work on the thesis paper for her Introduction to New Media class.
Almost an hour in, she had already written three-fifths of the paper. She rubbed her eyes and saved the word document so she could work on it another time. Xia Nuan, who had been silently staring at her, saw that she closed the document and immediately came over with her laptop, “Ah Xi, do you want to consider joining Alluring Sounds?”
“...Huh?” Lu Wei Xi who was stretching took a while to process her words.
Xia Nuan didn’t say anything and just push the laptop in front of her so she could read the group chat.
CV-Pond Fish Thinking Deeply: Wow, what a talented young lady! Ah Nuan, quickly rope her in!
Producer-Crisp and Clear: The emotions are right and the voice is clean and clear. Is this little sister studying music in real life?
Lyricist-Meow Meow Don’t Cry: This voice….I feel like it matches a song that I’m working on. Ah Nuan, have her enter the group, I want to hook her up with some new songs!
Producer-Crisp and Clear: Wait...I just looked at the inspiration section. Damn, this little sister is so bold as to confess to Wonder-Sama?!
……
Lu Wei Xi looked at the last message on the QQ group chat and thought about what she wrote in her introduction page. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, was it... was it too straightforward?
Xia Nuan saw the complicated look on her face thought that she was contemplating whether to join the group, “Ai-ya, don’t hesitate. After entering the group, the resources are much richer. Moreover, Alluring Sounds is counted as one of the best in the ancient music circle and had worked with Wonder dada before!”
“Huh? Have worked together?” Once she heard the word, Wonder, it immediately caught her attention. She looked up and immediately agreed with no hesitation, “Okay, I’ll join.”
Hearing her affirmative response, Xia Nuan gave herself a pat on the back, “I know it would be useful if I mentioned him, that’s great!” She took the laptop back and began to type in the group chat. After a few seconds, don’t know what she saw but her mouth gaped open, “Ah Xi….your introduction….”
“.....What is it?”
Why is it the introduction again…?
Lu Wei Xi frowned and couldn’t help but open the 5sing page to look at it again. Unexpectedly, there are more than 30 replies in the comments section. 70% praised her for her singing skills while the other 30% praised her for being bold enough to confess to Wonder.
She clearly only wrote one sentence––––My first cover is dedicated to Wonder, I really like you, if there is ever an opportunity, I hope to work with you.
She looked at the sentence over and over again but couldn’t find anything wrong with it. As a normal fan, isn’t this normal?
Xia Nuan, who had finished talking in the group chat, removed her gaze from the screen only to see Lu Wei Xi’s confused expression. She looked at her in admiration, “Although there is nothing wrong with what you wrote, it’s just that Wonder dada is too high and mighty. I remember there was a female fan who confessed to him every day on Weibo. She persisted for three or four months, and even those of us who were watching were touched. Later when the host at the YY interview ask him about this matter, can you guess how he answered?"
Lu Wei Xi stared at her and uneasily asked, “....how?”
Xia Nuan sighed, “Three words: a little annoying.”
“.....”
Lu Wei Xi sat there in silence. Three seconds later, she uncertainly asked, “Then...should I change it?”
“....Forget it, leave it as is. Besides, I don’t think he will see it. I just want to tell you that Wonder is aloof and there is a boundary that you can’t approach. You should prepare yourself mentally in advance,” Xia Nuan seriously said.
“Okay...tell me, what is his Weibo?” When she said this she heard the system beep on the computer. She clicked on the QQ verification message bar and accepted the group invitation.
“It’s just called Wonder, but there is rarely any activity. It is said that it's because he finds it too much of a hassle to manage it” Xia Nuan couldn’t help but sigh, “There are many people who say that he is not actually part of the industry. Besides punctually recording his part...he is mostly in the shadows. In short, he is notorious for being cold and famous for being antisocial. In the previous YY conference, he used the excuse of being jet-lagged to not participate. But like you said….it is very likely he could have returned to China recently.”
Lu Weizhen recalled the voice of the person she heard in the supermarket last night, and nodded confidently, “It is him, I would recognize his voice anywhere.”
A ring alert sounded on the computer. Lu Wei Xi clicked on the group icon at the lower right corner of the screen. Her name was changed according to the format given by the administration.
Art Designer-Dreams Come Late: Welcome, newcomer clap, clap, clap
Producer-Crisp and Clear: Welcome, newcomer clap, clap, clap +1
CV-Idle Person: Welcome, newcomer clap, clap, clap +2
Slightly comforted by the enthusiasm of everyone in the group, Lu Wei Xi steadily replied back.
Cover Singer-Eastern Attempt: Hello everyone ^^
CV-Pond Fish Thinking Deeply: Grab a stick and sing. Hello little sister, this here is a pond full of fish.
Lyricist-Meow Meow Don’t Cry: Sister East, an ancient-style game is looking for someone to sing a song. I just listened to your "Green Snake" cover and feel that your voice is very suitable.
Lu Wei Xi was surprised by the turn of events. Just as she joined, someone already gave her a song to sing. Sure enough...the resources are good.
Cover Singer- Eastern Attempt: Okay, send me the lyrics so that I can sing a demo first. If you are not satisfied, you can replace me. After all, I’m still a newcomer.
Lyricist-Meow Meow Don’t Cry: Little sister is so straightforward! Let me add you first so that I can DM it to you.
Cover Singer-Eastern Attempt: Okay
…...
After chatting with the others for a while, Lu Wei Xi checked the time. In half an hour, she has to go out with her classmates to discuss their semester report. Saying goodbye to everyone, she logged off and exit the browser.
As she was about to turn off her computer, she remembered Xia Nuan mentioning his Weibo. Unable to help herself, she opened Sina Weibo, searched up Wonder and add him to the “Special Attention” list.
After opening his Weibo homepage, she found that it is completely barren with not even an avatar. In total there are two posts, both of them are “Reposts”. At first glance, one can tell it has been abandoned by the owner for a long time.
Lu Wei Xi looks at the time stamp of the posts and saw that it is from two years ago. It should be from when he first entered the circle. However, maybe because there are too little posts, the comment section on both posts have already broken to the ten thousand marks.
The first post is for a radio drama he was in, which is also the one that Lu Wei Xi listens to every night before going to bed. The second...is a cover song?
So it seems….he can sing too.
In that case, is there really a chance to work with him in the future?
Thinking of this possibility, Lu Wei Xi couldn’t help but get giddy with excitement.
She quickly took out her phone and downloaded the song that he sang onto Kugou so that she could listen to it all the time. At this time, she received a call from her senior, Lu Yu, to hurry her downstairs.
Lu Wei Xi couldn’t help but sigh with regret. She turned off the computer and started to change. She looked out the window and saw that the sky had turned grey. Clouds are billowing in the air looking as if it is about to rain. Thinking about it, she thought it best to put on a long and extremely warm down jacket before walking outside.
Idol chasing on another level. But romanticized for consumer's fantasies. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI keep reading the same thing twice or three times wonder if the translator didn't catch that.
ReplyDelete