How did I become famous?

Chapter 138 Fang Bielu Song

The next morning at eight o'clock, Liu Mang still hadn't seen Fang Bie.

When he saw Fang Bie again, it was already 11 a.m.

But he didn't recognize him.

He didn't recognize Fang Bie until Fang Bie patted him on the shoulder.

"Old Fang, what happened to you?"

The man who appeared before him was a far cry from his usual unkempt appearance: unshaven, disheveled, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops.

The man was dressed in a suit, wearing matte leather shoes, and a watch that looked understated yet luxurious on his wrist. His hair was clearly styled in a slicked-back style, and he wore non-prescription glasses on his nose. Overall, he looked quite respectable.

It was obvious that this person was Fang Bie.

Fang Bie reached out and smoothed his slicked-back hair: "How is it? Don't I look much more handsome?"

"You stood me up for three hours just to do this?" Liu Mang was speechless. "But we're here to record a song. If you dressed up like this, people who didn't know the price of your outfit would think you were selling insurance."

Let's not talk about places like Japan.

In China, people wearing suits and ties outdoors on hot days are either bank employees or insurance professionals.

Or it could be a friend of someone from the 4S store.

Of course, some bosses do wear suits, but when they go out, they're more likely to be sitting in their cars enjoying the air conditioning.

Fang Bie is certainly not one of them; in fact, those in the know can understand everything just by looking at the price of his outfit.

A tie for a high-end bespoke suit from Tiffany's can cost 1,700.

Needless to say, the shoes...

And that watch.

Liu Mang, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the brand of the understated yet luxurious watch: "Holy crap?! Patek Philippe?! Where did you get that?"

He didn't ask Fang Bie if she was wearing a fake.

Because he knew Fang Bie, this guy either didn't wear it at all, or if he did, it was definitely the real deal.

Fang Bie raised his left hand, which was adorned with a watch, and gently stroked the side of his slicked-back hair, grinning slyly: "A gift from the young lady."

"Damn it!" Liu Mang gritted his teeth. "Seriously, this kind of good thing happens? I worked so hard, staying up all night to help you with the song and contact recording studios, and I never had this kind of good fortune?"

Then his expression immediately changed, and he smiled obsequiously: "Old Fang, Brother Fang, I need your help. Can you ask our young lady if she has any close friends? I don't have high expectations, just someone with a tenth of her family's wealth will do."

Fang Bie glanced at him sideways: "Wait, is Wu Kai's ex-wife deeply in love with him? By the way, Fatty, what does your family do? They seem pretty rich."

"My dad used to be a pianist, I think. I heard he won all the major piano awards in the world. According to him, if the piano world is equivalent to the NBA, then he's a grand slam winner of MVP, FMVP, scoring champion, rebounding champion, assist champion, steal champion, and block champion. Anyway, he's quite unhappy that I didn't pursue a career in piano. He was quite unhappy that I studied directing. A few years ago, he was quite happy that I was ostracized by the film industry and started writing songs, but now he's unhappy again."

Liu Mang waved his hand: "Let's not talk about my old man. I know what kind of person Skinny Monkey's ex-wife is. What I miss is my naive self back then, and the unfair things that happened with the teacher. But I also talked to Skinny Monkey, and he's had a tough time too. Well, what's past is past."

"You're so easygoing," Fang Bie said dismissively. "Where's the song?"

Liu Mang had just made a casual joke and then moved on: "Come on, let's get in the car and see. Let's go to the recording studio first."

After driving for about half an hour, the two arrived at an old-fashioned bungalow.

Liu Mang's friend's recording studio is right here.

In his circle, most of the musicians are from wealthy families; many of them play music purely for fun and don't care about becoming famous.

However, the equipment here is quite professional.

Upon meeting the boss, I saw an ordinary-looking man with long hair and glasses.

Fang Bie could tell at a glance that this guy's hobbies were either rock or folk music.

It turned out he wasn't entirely wrong; they were into both rock and folk music.

"Hey Director Fang! I'm a huge fan!" The man came up and shook hands with incredible enthusiasm, then pulled out his phone, "Can we take a picture together?"

How can Fang refuse?

"sure."

So that guy put his arm around Fang Bie's shoulder and took a selfie together.

After that, I saw him post on his WeChat Moments. I don't know what he posted, but his eyes were a bit too close to the screen, so I'm afraid his eyesight isn't very good.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." After posting on his WeChat Moments, the person grabbed Fang Bie's hand and shook it. "My name is Gao Jianli, Director Fang, you can just call me Xiao Gao."

Gao Jianli, who plays musical instruments and sings, also has poor eyesight. Fang Bie smiled and said, "Hello."

Tsk, it's a pity it's not Gao Jianli from "Qin's Moon", otherwise I might have been able to see his domestic anime wives Xue Nu or Yan Ling Ji.

After shaking hands, Gao Jianli led the two to the room opposite the recording studio's glass partition: "Director Fang, I heard from Fatty Liu that you wrote a song. I wonder if you brought the demo? Or do you want to record it here?"

Fang Bie looked at Liu Mang, who winked.

This is Fang Bie's song no matter how you look at it, and Liu Mang wouldn't have told anyone without his permission.

"Let's record it now." Liu Mang handed the USB drive to Gao Jianli. "Old Fang, don't let Gao's nearsightedness fool you, he's an absolute master at arranging music. Many former singers in the music industry have recorded their tracks with him."

"Oh? So you're an expert. My apologies for not recognizing you."

"It's nothing." Gao Jianli didn't care. He pulled up the melody and lyrics from Liu Mang's USB drive.

After watching for two minutes, he turned around, his expression even more enthusiastic than before: "Director Fang, did you write this song yourself?"

Fang Bie nodded: "It was a joint effort between me and Fatty Liu."

Gao Jianli thought for a moment and said, "I feel that the piano and drums would also be useful. How about we record a segment first, and I'll try it out on my end?"

"Okay, thank you for your help."

Fang Bie entered a recording studio separated by glass, put on his headphones, set up the sheet music and lyrics, and then heard Gao Jianli's voice coming through the headphones: "Director Fang, just let me know when it's done."

Fang didn't smoke a single cigarette today because he was recording a song.

He cleared his throat and gave an OK sign.

A few seconds later, the intro to piano music came through the headphones.

As the music started, Fang Bie's familiarity with the song from his previous life returned.

He closed his eyes, got into the zone, and began to sing "I DO".

"I remember that autumn, we agreed to meet at a slightly cool beach. It felt like a scene from a fairy tale, right before my eyes."

Liu Mang and Gao Jianli next door were shocked. They looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

Fang kept his eyes closed and ignored the two of them.

He felt like he had gone back.

Back in that karaoke bar from his past life, he was the karaoke king and the karaoke prince.

He was completely absorbed in the moment. He thought about the dishes the young lady cooked, about how kind she was, and about the years he had spent with her.

He poured all his emotions into this song.

He felt he had never performed so well before.

He was completely captivated by it.

A few minutes later, he finished singing the song, and neither Gao Jianli nor Liu Mang interrupted him.

He took off his headphones and saw the dumbfounded expressions on the faces of the two people on the other side of the glass wall.

Steady!

These two are truly top-notch; they didn't even cry after listening to the song they poured their hearts into!

Fang Bie mentally clenched his fist.

Could it be that someone on our side has a talent for singing?

No! This time won't do! Next time, I'll make them cry!

He went next door beaming, and as soon as he entered, he asked, "How was it? Did you sing very well?"

Gao Jianli took a deep breath, finally snapping out of the shock of Fang Bie's singing.

"How should I put it? It's definitely a level I've never seen before." He carefully chose his words. "I think, Director Fang, you still have a lot of room for improvement."

"Huh?" Fang Bie was stunned. "I didn't sing well?"

No wonder they're top-notch arrangers; their standards are just too high!

Liu Mang, standing next to him, twitched his eye and said, "Old Fang, forget it. Xiao Gao, why don't you play a raw audio recording for him to hear first?"

Dry audio refers to pure human voice without any added music.

Gao Jianli nodded and pressed play: "Director Fang, be prepared."

Then, Fang Bie's singing began.

Hmm... how should I put it?

Fang Bie himself was shocked.

He felt that Gao Jianli's statement was a gesture of respect.

Based on his own impression after listening to it, it was probably not even in tune, let alone off-key.

"No, am I really that bad at singing?"

Gao Jianli pushed up his glasses: "Director Fang, it's alright. There are plenty of singers whose live performances are only slightly better than yours. Anyway, when it comes to recording songs, you can record them repeatedly and endlessly. Once the post-production tuning is done, you can sell them. It's not a big deal."

Fang's face fell: "But I'm going to sing live!"

"Huh? This..." Gao Jianli was at a loss for words.

What he actually wanted to say was, "Why don't you write the song and let someone else sing it, Director Fang?"

But given the other person's status, as a fan of Fang Bie, he really couldn't be sarcastic towards his idol.

Fang Bie was also quite frustrated.

In his previous life, he was known as the KTV Prince and the Jay Chou of Los Angeles.

Could it be that my friends were just being perfunctory?

A moment of silence fell over the room.

After a long pause, Gao Jianli broke the awkward silence, trying to find a way to help his idol: "Director Fang, when you sing, are you better at high notes or low notes?"

Fang thought for a moment and answered honestly, "I can't sing high notes; if I do, I'll be out of tune. I can go down low notes, but I can't guarantee I'll be in tune."

Gao Jianli nodded.

To put it bluntly, he's alright at singing soothing songs.

Let's forget about the other song, "Can't Open My Mouth," he probably can't sing it either.

"I DO" is quite good, but the key is too low.

"Director Fang, let's do it again in a bit. This time I'll turn up the in-ear monitors for you, and remember to pitch it a little higher. Also, this is a recording studio, so the soundproofing is absolutely no problem. You don't need to sing quietly like you're at home; it won't disturb the neighbors."

"..." Fang Bie forced a smile. "Okay, I'll do it again."

He returned to the next room dejectedly.

(End of this chapter)