GBP Chapter 316 "A Little Sweet"
Chapter 316 "A Little Sweet"
The next morning, Shen Yuege got up half an hour earlier than usual.
When Lu Ran was awakened by the noise coming from the kitchen, she glanced at her phone and saw that it was only 6:30.
He propped himself up and sat up. The cast on his right leg was still heavy, but it was lighter than last week.
He slowly moved to the bathroom, supporting himself against the wall. After washing up, he limped towards the kitchen.
Shen Yuege was standing in front of the stove frying eggs when she heard the noise and turned around: "Why are you up so early? I was thinking of calling you after I finished cooking."
"I can't sleep." Lu Ran sat down at the dining table. "What time did you get up?"
"Six o'clock." Shen Yuege flipped the fried egg over. "I'm going to the studio to record a song today, and I thought I'd go early so I can record a few more takes."
Lu Ran watched her busy figure and smiled: "What's the rush? It's not like we're catching a train. Record a song slowly, and if it's not good, we can start over. There's plenty of time."
Shen Yuege didn't say anything, but the corners of her mouth turned up.
After breakfast, Shen Yuege drove Lu Ran to Xingyue Studio.
As the car drove out of the residential area, the morning light of Shanghai had just begun to spread across the streets. The plane trees along the roadside were bare, their branches appearing particularly quiet in the thin winter mist.
"Did you bring the lyrics and sheet music?" Shen Yuege asked while driving.
"I brought it." Lu Ran patted the folder on his lap. "I went through it again last night and made a few minor changes. The lyrics are basically the same as the version we wrote. Is it okay for you?"
Shen Yuege shook her head: "No problem. The lyrics are quite good, it's just..."
"What is it?"
"It's just a little too sweet." She finished speaking, her ears turning slightly red.
Lu Ran laughed: "It has to be sweet. What kind of love song duet is it if it's not sweet?"
Shen Yuege glared at him, but didn't say anything more.
The car stopped downstairs at Xingyue Studio. Shen Yuege took a wheelchair out of the trunk and pushed Lu Ran into the building.
When the receptionist saw them, she immediately stood up to greet them, her expression even more enthusiastic than usual.
"Hello, Mr. Lu. Hello, Mr. Shen. Master Wang has arrived and is waiting in the recording studio."
"Thank you for your hard work." Shen Yuege nodded and pushed Lu Ran toward the elevator.
Inside the recording studio, Mr. Wang is adjusting the equipment.
Seeing the two enter, he put down his work and stood up to greet them.
"President Lu, President Shen," he said with a smile, "recording a duet today? That's quite rare. You two have been married for so long, and you've never actually sung a song together properly."
Actually, there was a song before, which was "Today You're Going to Marry Me" that Shen Yuege sang during her competition. It's just that it's been a while, so it's normal that Master Wang doesn't remember it.
"So I'm here today to make up for it." Lu Ran didn't explain, pushing his wheelchair into the recording studio. "Teacher Wang, is all the equipment set up?"
"Alright, alright." Master Wang sat down in front of the sound console, pointed to the monitor speakers in front of him, "The accompaniment is based on the sheet music you sent yesterday. Listen to it first, and we'll fix any problems you find."
Lu Ran nodded, and Master Wang pressed the play button.
A light and cheerful piano prelude began, with notes leaping out one by one, like dewdrops dancing in the morning light.
The strings were added in the chorus; they weren't complicated, but they were very soothing.
The arrangement of the entire accompaniment is clean and crisp, without any unnecessary embellishments, and every vocal part is clear and distinct.
Lu Ran listened with his eyes closed, then nodded: "Okay, record it like this."
He looked at Shen Yuege: "Yuege, let's try it once first. You listen from outside and get a feel for it."
Shen Yuege nodded, sat down in front of the mixing console, and put on her monitoring headphones.
Lu Ran pushed the wheelchair into the recording studio, stopped in front of the microphone, and adjusted the microphone's height.
Shen Yuege watched his movements from outside, then suddenly stood up, pushed open the door, and walked in.
"What's wrong?" Lu Ran asked.
"I've been thinking about it," Shen Yuege said, "This is a duet, let's record it together. If you're inside and I'm outside, singing through the glass, it just feels like something's missing."
Lu Ran looked at her and smiled: "Okay, let's record it together then."
Hearing this from outside, Master Wang quickly turned on another microphone, adjusted the settings, and gave them an OK sign.
Shen Yuege stood in front of another microphone, put on her headphones, and took a deep breath.
Lu Ran sat in his wheelchair, holding a sheet of lyrics, and glanced at her.
"Nervous?" he asked.
"A little," Shen Yuege said honestly. "When I recorded your songs before, I would sing inside while you listened from the outside. This time you're in there too, so it feels a bit different."
"What's different?"
"I can't quite put my finger on it," she thought for a moment, "but... I feel more at ease."
Lu Ran smiled: "Then let's keep this feeling. Let's begin."
Master Wang pressed the record button, and the accompaniment started playing in his headphones.
After the intro ended, Shen Yuege began to sing the first line.
"I'll pluck a shooting star and give it to you as a necklace—"
Her voice was softer than usual, as if she were whispering in my ear.
Lu Ran listened from the side, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.
When she sang the second line, she turned her head slightly and glanced at him, her eyes filled with a smile.
"May the moon be by your side—"
It was Lu Ran's turn. He waited a few beats before starting to sing.
"I'll write a love song for you as a keepsake—"
His voice was a bit lower than Shen Yuege's, but when the two voices overlapped at the same pitch, they were surprisingly harmonious.
"Let the stars wink at you—"
After the first verse was sung, the two looked at each other and smiled simultaneously. That kind of understanding didn't need words; a single glance was enough.
In the chorus, the two voices intertwine.
"Every day is a sunny day when I'm with you."
"The summers that have passed through the wind have become forever—"
"Your smile, your eyes, every single moment of yours—"
"These are all my most precious poems—"
When Shen Yue sang the line "Your smile, your eyes," her voice carried a very natural warmth.
It's not something built up with skills; it flows from the heart.
She kept looking at Lu Ran while she sang, her eyes serious as if she were talking about something very important.
Lu Ran felt that gaze, but did not turn to look at her.
He was afraid that if he looked at her, he wouldn't be able to continue singing.
It wasn't because I was nervous, but because the feeling was so intense, so intense that it made my throat tight.
After the first take, the two came out of the recording studio, and Master Wang played back the track they had just recorded.
The three listened quietly, and none of them said a word.
Finally, Master Wang spoke first: "Mr. Shen, you're in better shape today than I've ever recorded any song for you before. It's not that your technique has improved much, but the feeling in your voice is something I've never experienced before."
Shen Yuege was taken aback for a moment: "What does it feel like?"
"It's sweet," Master Wang said. "It's just sweet. Not the kind of sweetness that's forced, but a natural sweetness. Were you thinking about something happy while you were singing?"
Shen Yuege did not answer, but only glanced at Lu Ran.
Lu Ran answered for her: "She was indeed thinking about happy things."
Shen Yuege gently patted his arm, but she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
"Let's do it again," Lu Ran said. "The rhythm of the first verse could be a little looser; it's a bit too tight right now."
"I think so too." Shen Yuege nodded. "In the chorus, I held the last note of the second verse a little too long, it's not quite right."
The two of them went back into the recording studio, put on their headphones, and stood in front of the microphone.
The second time, Shen Yuege sang the verses more relaxedly, as naturally as if she were chatting.
Lu Ran's harmonies were also adjusted in intensity, no longer overshadowing the main melody, but rather supporting it steadily below.
During the chorus, the two interacted more.
When Shen Yue sang "Your Smile," she turned and glanced at Lu Ran.
Lu Ran happened to be looking at her too. Their eyes met, and he twitched his lips, suppressing a laugh, and continued singing his part.
But that eye contact was captured by the microphone.
There was a very subtle fluctuation in his voice, as if his heartbeat had skipped a beat.
Master Wang listened from outside, his fingers moving lightly across the mixing console, pushing the volume of that track up a little more.
He didn't want to edit out that subtle nuance. It would be a shame to remove it; it was the most authentic element of the song.
After the second take, Shen Yuege listened to it and shook her head: "I entered one line too early in the second verse of the chorus."
"It's okay," Lu Ran said. "Let's do it again."
The third time, the fourth time.
Each iteration involved adjustments to the details.
Shen Yuege's pitch, breath control, and enunciation; Lu Ran's harmony, rhythm, and intensity; the two's coordination, response, and interaction.
Sometimes Shen Yuege would spot the problem first, sometimes Lu Ran would hear it first, and sometimes Master Wang would raise his hand to signal it from the mixing console.
After recording for the fifth time, Lu Ran was finally satisfied.
"Let's go with this version."
Master Wang pulled up the recorded audio track and played it from beginning to end.
Inside the monitor speakers, the two voices intertwined, sounding like a conversation or a heartfelt exchange.
Shen Yuege's voice is warm and clear, while Lu Ran's voice is calm and restrained. The two different textures combined create a wonderful chemical reaction.
After listening, Shen Yuege remained silent for a while, then said, "This song is really beautiful."
"It's not that the song is good," Lu Ran said, "it's that you sing it well."
Shen Yuege looked at him, gently squeezed his hand, then let go and stood up to pour water.
But the smile on his lips was impossible to suppress.
Master Wang watched this scene from the side, wisely keeping quiet and continuing to work on post-production.
Lu Ran oversaw the entire process of arranging and mixing in the afternoon.
Master Wang sat in front of the mixing console, adjusting the sound of each track to its optimal state.
The volume of the vocals, the depth of the reverb, the EQ curve, the dynamic range—every parameter was repeatedly adjusted until Lu Ran nodded in approval.
Shen Yuege sat next to Lu Ran, quietly watching him work.
When he gets serious, his brows furrow slightly, his lips purse slightly, and his gaze is focused as if he is doing something very important.
To her, the way he worked seriously was more captivating than any sweet words.
"Moon Song," Lu Ran suddenly spoke up, "Listen to this part, isn't the harmony too forward? It's drowning out your main melody."
Actually, Lu Ran asked this on purpose. He wanted Shen Yuege to feel more involved and to feel that she created the song.
Shen Yuege leaned over to listen, then nodded: "A little. Let's postpone it a bit."
Lu Ran told Master Wang, and Master Wang lowered the volume of the harmony track by two notches and played it again, and it was just right.
"Perfect." Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
Master Wang exported the finished product, saved it to a USB drive, and handed it to Lu Ran.
Lu Ran took the USB drive, held it in his hand, and turned to look at Shen Yuege: "This song is one we wrote together. We both wrote the lyrics, and you wrote the music. What do you think?"
Shen Yuege thought for a moment and said seriously, "I think this is the best song I've ever sung."
"Is it really that good?"
"Of course," Shen Yuege said, "because this song is sung for you."
Lu Ran looked at her and suddenly smiled.
"Then write a few more poems in the future."
"it is good."
...