Chapter 159 Why don't I give it a try?

The young man quickly familiarized himself with the lyrics.

He nodded, and Elder Lu, understanding the cue, started the accompaniment.

As the sound of gongs, drums, and firecrackers filled the air, the young man began to sing.

Yet, right from the very first line, Su Chen felt something was amiss.

The young man's voice was too green, and his delivery was dry, completely lacking in passion or a sense of joyful celebration; he had merely 'read' the song out loud strictly following the notes on the sheet music.

When the song ended, even Elder Lu frowned.

"That's not it!"

He picked up the sheet music again and looked it over.

"It lacks the right vibe!"

"Your articulation is accurate enough, and you kept the rhythm decently, but you're missing the emotion!"

"As I understand it, this song is meant for celebratory or auspicious occasions, and it needs to convey a sense of joy."

"Sing it again according to my instructions, let me hear it!"

Elder Lu gave the young man a few pointers and told him to try again.

The second attempt was much better, but somehow, the young man just couldn't squeeze out a smile.

"You keep pulling a long face, who are you in mourning for?"

"You need to smile! Make it joyful! Do you understand?"

"Once more!"

Elder Lu was on the verge of losing his temper, leaving the young man no choice but to force a smile that looked even worse than crying.

"No good! Again!"

"......"

After several consecutive tries, Elder Lu could no longer contain himself. He slapped the sheet music down onto the table with a sharp *thwack*.

"I always tell you to study hard and practice more, but you never listen!"

"All day long, you do nothing but glue your eyes to your phones!"

"When it actually comes down to business, not a single one of you is any use!"

The surrounding young assistants held their breath, standing obediently without daring to make a sound.

Su Chen finally understood what the dyed-blonde youth had meant earlier when he said, "You get used to the scolding after a while."

It seemed these people truly endured plenty of tongue-lashings while keeping this hot-tempered old man company day in and day out.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Su Chen quickly stepped in to mediate.

"It's fine, it's fine! Our main goal is to record the accompaniment anyway. I listened to the instrumental track just now, and there are no major issues—it should be fine."

To his surprise, this remark did not dispel Elder Lu's persistence; instead, it made him even more resolute.

"No way!"

"Without actually singing it through, how can we guarantee the overall effect of the accompaniment is perfect?"

"Sing it again! Put some heart into it this time!"

With that, he turned and instructed the young assistant once more.

Hearing that he had to go again, the young man's face twisted into an expression of sheer misery.

The poor fellow was clearly terrified of the old man, but how could anyone possibly force a genuine, pleasant smile under such circumstances?

Realizing that dragging this out was getting them nowhere, Su Chen could only shake his head with a helpless sigh and stand up.

"Why don't I give it a try?"

Hearing Su Chen offer this, Elder Lu was taken aback.

"You?"

The implication behind his thought was: Aren't you a songwriter? Do you actually sing too?

In this world, singer-songwriters who excelled at both composition and vocal performance were exceedingly rare.

From the moment Su Chen discussed the arrangement with him earlier, he had concluded that Su Chen was a songwriter, a fact Su Chen had implicitly acknowledged.

Consequently, he had jumped to the conclusion that Su Chen wouldn't be much of a singer, which was why he had summoned his own assistant to test the accompaniment.

Now, seeing Su Chen step forward to sing it himself, he couldn't help but feel a bit skeptical.

"You keep yelling at him, how could he possibly manage to smile?"

"Although I'm primarily a songwriter, I have sung a few tracks before. Let me give it a shot first!"

"Maybe it'll work out!"

Hearing Su Chen speak up for him, the young assistant cast a grateful look in his direction.

Hearing Su Chen put it that way, Elder Lu raised no further objections.

The accompaniment began.

Su Chen's body began to sway naturally to the rhythm of the music.

"Yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-ah-oh,
Yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-ah-oh
......"

"Wishing you prosperity and wealth,
Wishing you a brilliant life,
Let the best come your way,
And let the bad stay away
......"

The moment his voice rang out, an aura of festive, uplifting positivity instantly permeated the room.

Elder Lu's eyes lit up.

He stared intently at Su Chen's performance!

Almost immediately, as if infected by the upbeat vibe, he began nodding his head to the beat.

"I wish Third Uncle's business,
A reputation spreading far and wide,
Boundless fortune to live in a grand mansion,
Swaggering proudly,
With carefree joy to banish all woe
......"

Su Chen's vocals were rich with emotion and highly contagious. Although the lyrics leaned toward colloquialism, his delivery effortlessly brought out every ounce of the song's emotional core in his own unique style.

Listening to it made one feel a surging, radiant warmth from within, deeply inspiring!

Festive! Warm!

As the song came to an end, Elder Lu looked at Su Chen with a mixture of disbelief.

"Are you secretly a singer?"

"Artists who can both write and sing to this standard are few and far between nowadays!"

Su Chen quickly waved his hand in denial.

"I am still strictly a songwriter for now!"

His phrasing was clever; 'for now' implied he was temporarily identifying as just a songwriter.

As for the future, well, that was a matter for tomorrow.

"I was going to say, if you were a singer, I surely would have known about a talent of this caliber!"

His words carried high praise for Su Chen's vocal performance.

Little did Elder Lu know that Su Chen hadn't even exerted much technique; he had simply replicated the rhythm and feeling from his past life.

If he had gone all out, it probably would have shocked the old man even more.

Even so, this was more than enough to leave a profound impression on Elder Lu.

"Is it all right this time?"

Su Chen asked.

Elder Lu paused in thought.

"Give me a moment!"

He re-imported the source file into his computer and personally tweaked the mix once more.

Ten minutes later.

"There shouldn't be any problems now!"

The newly adjusted accompaniment featured modified drum beats and a re-rendered mix of the instrumental layers.

After receiving the updated backing track and running through the song once more, Su Chen found that it indeed sounded even better.

His admiration for Elder Lu's professionalism and rigorous dedication grew deeper still.

To express his gratitude, Su Chen transferred an extra thousand yuan to Elder Lu via WeChat, which the old man accepted without hesitation.

They exchanged contact information, and just as Su Chen was about to leave, Elder Lu asked with uncharacteristic curiosity,

"This song was obviously meant for you to sing, right?"

"Why didn't you just record the final version here in my studio?"

Hearing this, Su Chen smiled.

"This song was written for someone else. You'll see it on television in a couple of days!"

What?

See it on television?

Shouldn't it be heard on streaming platforms first?

Elder Lu and the group of young assistants exchanged puzzled glances.

-------------------------------------

Beijing, China Central Television.

The directors and planning team had already finalized the programming lineup for this year's Spring Festival Gala.

Tomorrow was the scheduled date for the comprehensive rehearsal linking all the acts together.

Prior to the rehearsal, the final round of review for the running order had to take place.

Inside the conference room, Hu Lina, the chief director of the Spring Festival Gala, sat at the head of the table, reviewing the program list displayed on the giant screen item by item.

The sequence of performances on the list had been compiled by the category directors and planning teams following the preliminary auditions.

Every act's duration and the transitional segments between them had been evaluated in consultation with the hosts' feedback.

Thus, it was a massive collaborative engineering project.

It demanded the highest standards of precision without a single margin for error.

......

*Author's Note: Original song "Wishing You Prosperity" (Gong Xi Fa Cai) - Original Singer: Andy Lau | Lyrics: Andy Lau, Johnny Yim / Chan Tak Kin (Ed: Andrew Tuason / Lee An-hsiu) | Composition: Chan Tak Kin*