Entertainment: A song that brought his deceased wife back to life.

Xu Qing's voice came through the intercom.

"You're singing."

"What else would you sing in a recording session if not singing?"

"This song is for you to perform."

Luo Qianyu was stunned for a moment.

"The chorus is about someone who has decided to leave, but hasn't let go yet. What you're singing now is only about leaving, not about not being able to let go."

Luo Qianyu clenched her fist.

"Let's do it one more time."

The third time.

Turn around and leave—

"Stop. It's still not right. Your breathing is too smooth. You can't sing this line smoothly; you need to pull back on the word 'leave'."

Fourth time.

"The love between seabirds and fish is just a fleeting affair—"

"Stop. You've set the tone for 'accident' too high. It's falling down. Falling into your chest."

The fifth time.

The sixth time.

The seventh time.

Luo Qianyu couldn't remember how many times she'd heard it. The string music in her headphones kept looping, and she was sick of hearing the piano prelude. After each repetition, a single word would come through the intercom.

stop.

Xu Qing is with a different person today.

When Luo Qianyu practiced singing at home before, he would at most say "Pay attention to this part" and that would be it. Today, he was scrutinizing every word and every breath. Luo Qianyu had never experienced this kind of recording before.

Eleventh time.

"The azure coral sea, a fleeting moment of emptiness if missed—"

"stop."

Luo Qianyu took off her headphones.

"Xu Qing, what exactly do you want?"

There was a two-second silence on the intercom.

"Your technique is fine. Your pitch is perfect, and your breath control is good. But you should stay in the safe zone."

"What safe zone?"

"You dare not ruin yourself with your singing."

Luo Qianyu's fingers, gripping the earphones, turned white.

"The chorus of this song is like tearing open a wound. You have to feel the pain first for your voice to be right."

Luo Qianyu put her headphones back on.

The twelfth time.

When she sang the line "Dust in the wind waits, only to accumulate into harm," her voice trembled. Her throat tightened, and she couldn't catch her breath.

"continue."

Xu Qing did not call a halt.

Luo Qianyu gritted her teeth and continued singing.

"We weren't mature enough to be honest with each other back then—"

The sound cracked.

She couldn't hold back her emotions anymore. Something welled up in her eyes, and she blinked hard twice, but it didn't help.

She recalled that day at the TV show recording site.

Everyone in the audience sang along, but on the big screen, she was ranked second.

A catchy, shallow song. The arrangement is weak. It lacks artistic depth.

She remembered something from even earlier. Back in Xinghuang, she was pushed out by Sister Hong to serve drinks.

"Without enthusiasm, your smile can't be forced—"

When she sang this line, Luo Qianyu's voice completely broke down.

It wasn't exactly a sobbing voice. She just cried.

Tears fell onto the microphone's pop filter, and when she reached out to wipe them away, the back of her hand became wet.

The door to the control room opened.

Luo Qianyu heard footsteps.

The headphones were gently removed from the outside. The sound of the strings vanished instantly, and the studio became so quiet that only the hum of the air conditioner could be heard.

Then a pair of hands came around from behind and enveloped her completely.

Luo Qianyu didn't move. She leaned against Xu Qing's chest, her shoulders still trembling.

Xu Qing didn't say anything.

About ten seconds later, Xu Qing's voice sounded above her head. It was very soft.

"A haze begins to fall on the distant horizon; how can sorrow be calmed and purified?"

He was singing.

There was no accompaniment, no guitar. Just dry singing. The voice was very low, right next to her ear, almost breathy.

"A faint hint of helplessness always lingered on my face."

Luo Qianyu's shoulders gradually stopped trembling.

She listened with her eyes closed. Xu Qing's voice echoed in the enclosed recording studio, absorbed by the soundproof walls, becoming muffled.

Xu Qing stopped singing when she got to the chorus.

"You answer."

Luo Qianyu opened her mouth, but her voice was hoarse.

"Turning away... unable to say goodbye..."

His voice was trembling with tears. His tone was very nasal, but the pitch was accurate.

Xu Qing spoke up behind her, their voices overlapping.

"The love between the seabird and the fish was just an accident."

Luo Qianyu's tears were still falling, but she didn't stop.

"Our love has always had differences—"

Xu Qing answered.

"Dust in the wind waits, and eventually accumulates into harm."

There were no monitor speakers playing in the studio, but the recording light on the control panel was on.

Before Xu Qing walked in, she pressed the record button.

The two of them sang from the chorus all the way to the last line.

"Love is buried deep in the coral sea."

Luo Qianyu's voice trailed off for a long time, with a slight upward tremor, before finally falling back down and stopping steadily.

Xu Qing let go of her.

I went back to the console, pulled the slider twice, and pressed stop.

Luo Qianyu stood in front of the microphone, her face covered in tears.

"Did you just record that?"

Xu Qing didn't turn around.

"This one is approved."

Luo Qianyu wiped her face with her sleeve.

"You did it on purpose."

Xu Qing saved the split-track file and turned off the monitoring.

"Wash your face. I'm going to leave the tent."

Luo Qianyu stared at his departing figure and sniffed twice.

-

Downstairs from the recording studio.

2:40 a.m.

Only one barbecue stall on the street was still lit. The owner was clearing away tables, but when he saw the two people walking over, he lit the grill again.

Luo Qianyu sat on a plastic stool, her hands tucked into her sleeves, and remained silent.

Xu Qing sat opposite him and flipped through the menu.

"What do you want to eat?"

Luo Qianyu ignored him.

"Roasted chicken wings?"

no response.

Grilled oysters?

Still remained silent.

"Roasted eggplant with minced garlic?"

Luo Qianyu's eyes twitched.

Xu Qing saw it. He turned around and called out to the boss.

"Boss, two orders of grilled eggplant, extra garlic. Ten chicken wings and two bottles of orange juice, please."

Luo Qianyu turned her face to the side.

"I didn't say I wanted to eat."

"Your eyes are moving."

"That's a blink."

"You blinked, and you weren't going that way."

Luo Qianyu glared at him.

Xu Qing unscrewed the orange juice and pushed it in front of her.

Luo Qianyu didn't answer.

"Xu Qing."

"Um."

"Did you deliberately make me cry in the shed today?"

Xu Qing unscrewed the other bottle of orange juice and took a sip herself.

"right."

Luo Qianyu's eyes reddened again.

"You admitted it quite readily."

"If you don't cry, that emotion won't come out."

"So you kept telling me to stop, pushing me to the brink?"

"Only twelve times. Before, when I recorded songs for other singers, I would record a chorus forty times."

Luo Qianyu opened her mouth, but the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat.

The roasted eggplant was served. A thick layer of minced garlic was spread on top, sizzling with oil.

Xu Qing handed her a pair of chopsticks.

Luo Qianyu took it, poked a piece of eggplant with her chopsticks, and stuffed it into her mouth.

After chewing a couple of times, his expression relaxed.

"Is it tasty?"

Luo Qianyu didn't speak, but poked at the food with her chopsticks again.

Xu Qing observed how fast she ate and silently pushed the second serving of eggplant toward her.

After eating half a portion of eggplant and three chicken wings, Luo Qianyu finally spoke.

"You yelled at me and then hugged me. Are you being unreasonable?"

"speak."

"What are you going to say?"

"The one where you cried is the best of all the versions."

Luo Qianyu slowed down her chewing of the chicken wing.

"real?"

"In the last line of the chorus, 'Love is buried deep in the coral sea,' your note rose slightly at the end and then fell back down. That's not something you can do with technique."

Luo Qianyu lowered her head and stared at the minced garlic in the plate.

A few seconds passed.

"Next time, could you hug me right after you're being mean, instead of waiting so long? I almost ate the microphone during those eleven times."

Xu Qing picked up a chicken wing and put it in her bowl.

"OK."

Luo Qianyu bit into a chicken wing and mumbled something.

"What?"

Luo Qianyu took the chicken wing out of her mouth.

"I said—that song is really good."

Xu Qing took a sip of orange juice.

"Of course it sounds good. It was written three years ago."

Luo Qianyu kicked him.

Here we go again.

The streetlights cast long shadows of the two people. Smoke from the barbecue stall rose and mingled with the aroma of garlic.

Luo Qianyu finished the last chicken wing, her fingers covered in oil, and wiped them on Xu Qing's sleeve twice.

"Xu Qing."

"Take your hand away."

"If those two judges give us 70 points again in the next recording, then..."

"Won't."

Why?

Xu Qing pushed her greasy hands off her sleeve, pulled out a tissue, and tossed it to her.

"Because this time, there's no way to even pretend."