Chapter 48: Oh, how about you sleep next door tonight?
Ding Meng’s fan meetup was organized very quickly. After the company’s official account announced the event, Ding Meng immediately sent out a post of her own and received an enthusiastic response from her fans.
The number of followers she had on Weibo was close to breaking through 3 million. After receiving ardent requests from the Little Lemons, she had promised that she would post a selfie when she reached 3 million. Yup, even though she had previously promised Jiang Man that she would take more selfies, she hadn’t taken a single one that satisfied her after all this time.
Just thinking about that was depressing.
When her follower count was just shy of 3 million, she received the With You promotional photo from Jiang Man. The post-production of the song was basically done and the release date was set for December 25th. Jiang Man told her to coordinate her activities with Gu Xin’s publicity activities by posting her own photo on Weibo.
This photo was a saving grace to Ding Meng’s dilemma. She gave up on taking a selfie. When she saw her follower count surpass 3 million, she posted the photo that Jiang Man had given her on Weibo.
Ding Meng_Lemon Leader (V): Thank you to my Little Lemons for all your support. My follower count has broken 3 million ~\(≧▽≦)/~ but taking selfies is a learned skill and I’m an aesthetically picky Taurus, so why don’t I just post this professional photo? :)#with you#
T/N: (V) is tacked onto verified accounts
After her post was published, she quickly received congratulatory messages from Little Lemons from everywhere.
“Lemon Leader is crazy beautiful! Such long legs! Please let me touch! *heart*
”
“Holy crap, I’ve been blinded by the brilliance! This sexy wild cat definitely isn’t our Lemon Leader!”
“Lemon Leader can hold her own even when taking the sexy route! No matter what, Lemon Leader dominates the world!
“My Lemon Leader is the most brilliant!”
“I’ve been looking forward to this collaboration with Gu Xin for forever! I can tell from this picture that the lyrics are definitely going to be intense *doge* 
”
“I have absolutely no idea why Gu Xin would collaborate with you *bye* 
”
“An anti-fan has snuck in →_→ elders, please boot the person.”
“The Left Chief Enforcer has arrived. Where is the anti-fan?”
“Hello Left Enforcer! The anti-fan has already been booted by me! I’m a small elder from the Southwest division! May I get a promotion?!”
…
After the news about With You began to spread, a large uproar swept across Weibo. As a result, Ding Meng also became a trending topic for two days straight. Her company took advantage of the situation and put her fan meetup tickets up for sale. Since there weren’t many tickets to begin with, they were completely sold out in a very short amount of time.
On the day of the fan meetup, Ding Meng performed I’m Here and You Wanted to Break Up With Me Today live, played interactive games with her fans, and along the way, met the legendary elders and enforcers among the Little Lemons.
In short, the entire event was filled with joy and cheer. Not only did the lucky Little Lemons receive CDs autographed by Ding Meng, Ding Meng also received many gifts from her fans, which were mostly food items.
After the fan meetup ended, the award ceremony crept even closer. While her company was energetically helping Ding Meng prepare her outfit, Qiao Yichen finished writing one song and notified her to start recording.
When Qiao Yichen switched out all the equipment in the recording studio for the newest models, his grand actions convinced the sound technician of his suspicions.
Today, Qiao Yichen still had an appointment with another singer before Ding Meng. She was another new popular idol named Shi Rou. Qiao Yichen figured that she was just in time to test the performance of the new equipment.
However, Shi Ruo’s performance challenged his bottom line yet again, “Miss Shi, you don’t need to continue singing. You might still become popular if you go back and continue acting in your idol dramas.”
Even though she had already heard the rumors about this award winning producer, Shi Rou was still unhappy with how he had talked to her, “Mister Qiao, if you came to that conclusion because you’re prejudiced against idols, you’ll appear really unprofessional.”
The sound technician looked up and glanced inside the booth. Sure enough, newborn calves didn’t fear tigers. It had been a long time since he had met a person willing to face off with Qiao Yichen in the studio.
Qiao Yichen smiled slightly and laughed, “Do you usually console yourself like this? Even people with only have a slight appreciation for music would be able to tell that your performance just now was extremely terrible.”
After getting ridiculed by him like that, Shi Rou became even more angered. She looked at Qiao Yichen and sneered, “I had heard a long time ago that Great Producer Qiao liked to curse people out in the studio. Since you’re so capable, why don’t you come and let me hear you sing.”
Sound technician, “…”
Why did she pull out the “if you’re so good why don’t you come try” card that quickly? He hadn’t seen enough yet.
Of course Qiao Yichen didn’t sing. He merely reminded her, “The time is already up for your appointment with us. There’s still another singer who needs to record. Please leave.”
The other singer that he had mentioned was precisely Ding Meng. In fact, Ding Meng had already arrived. When she saw the crowd of people surrounding the outside of the recording studio, she squeezed up curiously, “What happened?”
The worker in front of her didn’t even turn around when replying, “Shi Rou is inside fighting with Great Qiao.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She knew it wasn’t possible for every singer to be scolded into submission by Qiao Yichen. It turned out that some people actually quarreled with him.
In the middle of her thoughts, the door was suddenly opened from the inside and everyone quickly dispersed. Shi Rou had walked out angrily and was holding a phone while speaking to someone, “What kind of producer did you find me? I’m never recording with him again!”
Ding Meng blinked as she watched Shi Rou depart angrily.
The worker next to her had obviously also heard what Shi Rou had said just now and spoke sharply, “As if anyone cares if they record with her. Even if she leaves, Qiao dada can still wake up from his dreams in laughter.”
Ding Meng laughed wordlessly.
Qiao Yichen walked out from inside and looked at Ding Meng, “Why are you still standing here? Come in.”
“Okay.”
As Ding Meng walked in, Qiao Yichen at her side spoke, “I’m not in a good mood right now, so you better sing well.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Why was he taking his issues with Shi Rou out on her?
The first song Qiao Yichen had written was called Era. This was a song that cause one to reminisce about one’s student days. The lyrics and melody were very refreshing and warm, but if you thought that was all there was to it, you’d be gravely mistaken!
After all, this song had been written by Qiao Yichen!
What Qiao Yichen excelled at the most was using changes in pitch intervals to create a climactic contrast and then ingeniously bringing the two pitches together seamlessly.
Using Era for example, the entire song was a melodious ballad, but it had quite a few small intervals that actually jumped a whole octave. After Qiao Yichen worked his magic, those intervals that were hidden within the main octave became soft and gentle. Even though they were high, they weren’t ear-piercing.
However, whether or not singers could reach that level was completely dependent on their own skill.
Ding Meng was currently feeling grief and indignation. If it was just her debut song I’m Here, that would have been fine. After all, even a layman would be able to tell that the song was very hard. However, Era appeared very simple. Why did it also have to contain so many tricks? Why couldn’t he just let her sing a song effortlessly?
Ding Meng collected her thoughts and began to sing with concentration. In the end, not even thirty seconds had passed before she was gestured by Great Producer Qiao to stop.
“Have you still been attending classes at the training center?” He asked expressionlessly.
Ding Meng, “…”
She felt like that phrase could be translated into “Have you still been doing the homework that I gave you?” This was all karma she had reaped from back in the day.
“Work has been rather busy recently…”
“So you haven’t been going?” Qiao Yichen stood beyond the soundproofed glass as he looked at her, “All singing techniques will become unfamiliar without regular practice.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She automatically translated that phrase into “All problem solving skills will become unfamiliar without regular practice.”
…Who knew that Qiao Yichen would hold a grudge all the way to this day?
“Start over.”
Ding Meng started singing again but was interrupted by Qiao Yichen just as before, “I don’t want to hear gaudy techniques like those.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Very good. Goudan-er wouldn’t need to sleep on the bed tonight.
After recording for two hours, the progress was slim. Ding Meng figured that if they continued recording at this rate, her album might not be released for another two years.
That evening, Qiao Yichen had an appointment with another songwriter so he didn’t come home to eat. After Ding Meng casually ate some food, she went to the second floor and practiced for a while.
In reality, she didn’t think that her skills had regressed. After all, she had also sang during her collaboration with Gu Xin. However, in order to satisfy the fussy Great Producer Qiao, she still practiced.
By the time she finished practicing, Qiao Yichen still hadn’t returned home. She took a bath and nestled in the bedroom while browsing Weibo. Since Jiang Man had told her to establish a presence when she had some free time, she had recently been very diligent about logging onto Weibo.
She had never followed Shi Rou before, but for some reason on her homepage, Weibo had recommended Shi Rou’s newest post.
Shi Rou (V): Some great producer is too full of himself. Do you really think that the music industry will stop spinning if you’re not around? After saying that other people sing badly, why don’t you sing a couple songs yourself? Who doesn’t know how to act pretentious? *bye*
Ding Meng, “…”
Was she talking about Qiao Yichen? Hahaha why would my producer sing for you to hear? How important do you think you are…?
She clicked on the comments and saw that most were Shi Rou’s drama fans agreeing with her. There were also a small number of people who knew Qiao Yichen and were standing up for him. There were also Shi Rou’s anti-fans that were relentlessly attacking her.
Ding Meng shut off Weibo and thought to herself, was this Shi Rou an idiot? How could a newcomer who had just debuted go on Weibo to blast a producer after encountering a small issue? Did her manager not care?
She drank a mouthful of cold water from the cup beside her but the irritation she was feeling didn’t go away. She opened Weibo again and responded to Shi Rou’s post.
Ding Meng_Lemon Leader (V): Why don’t you record yourself singing and post it up for everyone to hear? That would prove yourself if the producer spoke incorrectly
Chapter 48: Oh, how about you sleep next door tonight?
Ding Meng’s fan meetup was organized very quickly. After the company’s official account announced the event, Ding Meng immediately sent out a post of her own and received an enthusiastic response from her fans.
The number of followers she had on Weibo was close to breaking through 3 million. After receiving ardent requests from the Little Lemons, she had promised that she would post a selfie when she reached 3 million. Yup, even though she had previously promised Jiang Man that she would take more selfies, she hadn’t taken a single one that satisfied her after all this time.
Just thinking about that was depressing.
When her follower count was just shy of 3 million, she received the With You promotional photo from Jiang Man. The post-production of the song was basically done and the release date was set for December 25th. Jiang Man told her to coordinate her activities with Gu Xin’s publicity activities by posting her own photo on Weibo.
This photo was a saving grace to Ding Meng’s dilemma. She gave up on taking a selfie. When she saw her follower count surpass 3 million, she posted the photo that Jiang Man had given her on Weibo.
Ding Meng_Lemon Leader (V): Thank you to my Little Lemons for all your support. My follower count has broken 3 million ~\(≧▽≦)/~ but taking selfies is a learned skill and I’m an aesthetically picky Taurus, so why don’t I just post this professional photo? :)#with you#
T/N: (V) is tacked onto verified accounts
After her post was published, she quickly received congratulatory messages from Little Lemons from everywhere.
“Lemon Leader is crazy beautiful! Such long legs! Please let me touch! *heart*”
“Holy crap, I’ve been blinded by the brilliance! This sexy wild cat definitely isn’t our Lemon Leader!”
“Lemon Leader can hold her own even when taking the sexy route! No matter what, Lemon Leader dominates the world!
“My Lemon Leader is the most brilliant!”
“I’ve been looking forward to this collaboration with Gu Xin for forever! I can tell from this picture that the lyrics are definitely going to be intense *doge* ”
“I have absolutely no idea why Gu Xin would collaborate with you *bye* ”
“An anti-fan has snuck in →_→ elders, please boot the person.”
“The Left Chief Enforcer has arrived. Where is the anti-fan?”
“Hello Left Enforcer! The anti-fan has already been booted by me! I’m a small elder from the Southwest division! May I get a promotion?!”
…
After the news about With You began to spread, a large uproar swept across Weibo. As a result, Ding Meng also became a trending topic for two days straight. Her company took advantage of the situation and put her fan meetup tickets up for sale. Since there weren’t many tickets to begin with, they were completely sold out in a very short amount of time.
On the day of the fan meetup, Ding Meng performed I’m Here and You Wanted to Break Up With Me Today live, played interactive games with her fans, and along the way, met the legendary elders and enforcers among the Little Lemons.
In short, the entire event was filled with joy and cheer. Not only did the lucky Little Lemons receive CDs autographed by Ding Meng, Ding Meng also received many gifts from her fans, which were mostly food items.
After the fan meetup ended, the award ceremony crept even closer. While her company was energetically helping Ding Meng prepare her outfit, Qiao Yichen finished writing one song and notified her to start recording.
When Qiao Yichen switched out all the equipment in the recording studio for the newest models, his grand actions convinced the sound technician of his suspicions.
Today, Qiao Yichen still had an appointment with another singer before Ding Meng. She was another new popular idol named Shi Rou. Qiao Yichen figured that she was just in time to test the performance of the new equipment.
However, Shi Ruo’s performance challenged his bottom line yet again, “Miss Shi, you don’t need to continue singing. You might still become popular if you go back and continue acting in your idol dramas.”
Even though she had already heard the rumors about this award winning producer, Shi Rou was still unhappy with how he had talked to her, “Mister Qiao, if you came to that conclusion because you’re prejudiced against idols, you’ll appear really unprofessional.”
The sound technician looked up and glanced inside the booth. Sure enough, newborn calves didn’t fear tigers. It had been a long time since he had met a person willing to face off with Qiao Yichen in the studio.
Qiao Yichen smiled slightly and laughed, “Do you usually console yourself like this? Even people with only have a slight appreciation for music would be able to tell that your performance just now was extremely terrible.”
After getting ridiculed by him like that, Shi Rou became even more angered. She looked at Qiao Yichen and sneered, “I had heard a long time ago that Great Producer Qiao liked to curse people out in the studio. Since you’re so capable, why don’t you come and let me hear you sing.”
Sound technician, “…”
Why did she pull out the “if you’re so good why don’t you come try” card that quickly? He hadn’t seen enough yet.
Of course Qiao Yichen didn’t sing. He merely reminded her, “The time is already up for your appointment with us. There’s still another singer who needs to record. Please leave.”
The other singer that he had mentioned was precisely Ding Meng. In fact, Ding Meng had already arrived. When she saw the crowd of people surrounding the outside of the recording studio, she squeezed up curiously, “What happened?”
The worker in front of her didn’t even turn around when replying, “Shi Rou is inside fighting with Great Qiao.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She knew it wasn’t possible for every singer to be scolded into submission by Qiao Yichen. It turned out that some people actually quarreled with him.
In the middle of her thoughts, the door was suddenly opened from the inside and everyone quickly dispersed. Shi Rou had walked out angrily and was holding a phone while speaking to someone, “What kind of producer did you find me? I’m never recording with him again!”
Ding Meng blinked as she watched Shi Rou depart angrily.
The worker next to her had obviously also heard what Shi Rou had said just now and spoke sharply, “As if anyone cares if they record with her. Even if she leaves, Qiao dada can still wake up from his dreams in laughter.”
Ding Meng laughed wordlessly.
Qiao Yichen walked out from inside and looked at Ding Meng, “Why are you still standing here? Come in.”
“Okay.”
As Ding Meng walked in, Qiao Yichen at her side spoke, “I’m not in a good mood right now, so you better sing well.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Why was he taking his issues with Shi Rou out on her?
The first song Qiao Yichen had written was called Era. This was a song that cause one to reminisce about one’s student days. The lyrics and melody were very refreshing and warm, but if you thought that was all there was to it, you’d be gravely mistaken!
After all, this song had been written by Qiao Yichen!
What Qiao Yichen excelled at the most was using changes in pitch intervals to create a climactic contrast and then ingeniously bringing the two pitches together seamlessly.
Using Era for example, the entire song was a melodious ballad, but it had quite a few small intervals that actually jumped a whole octave. After Qiao Yichen worked his magic, those intervals that were hidden within the main octave became soft and gentle. Even though they were high, they weren’t ear-piercing.
However, whether or not singers could reach that level was completely dependent on their own skill.
Ding Meng was currently feeling grief and indignation. If it was just her debut song I’m Here, that would have been fine. After all, even a layman would be able to tell that the song was very hard. However, Era appeared very simple. Why did it also have to contain so many tricks? Why couldn’t he just let her sing a song effortlessly?
Ding Meng collected her thoughts and began to sing with concentration. In the end, not even thirty seconds had passed before she was gestured by Great Producer Qiao to stop.
“Have you still been attending classes at the training center?” He asked expressionlessly.
Ding Meng, “…”
She felt like that phrase could be translated into “Have you still been doing the homework that I gave you?” This was all karma she had reaped from back in the day.
“Work has been rather busy recently…”
“So you haven’t been going?” Qiao Yichen stood beyond the soundproofed glass as he looked at her, “All singing techniques will become unfamiliar without regular practice.”
Ding Meng, “…”
She automatically translated that phrase into “All problem solving skills will become unfamiliar without regular practice.”
…Who knew that Qiao Yichen would hold a grudge all the way to this day?
“Start over.”
Ding Meng started singing again but was interrupted by Qiao Yichen just as before, “I don’t want to hear gaudy techniques like those.”
Ding Meng, “…”
Very good. Goudan-er wouldn’t need to sleep on the bed tonight.
After recording for two hours, the progress was slim. Ding Meng figured that if they continued recording at this rate, her album might not be released for another two years.
That evening, Qiao Yichen had an appointment with another songwriter so he didn’t come home to eat. After Ding Meng casually ate some food, she went to the second floor and practiced for a while.
In reality, she didn’t think that her skills had regressed. After all, she had also sang during her collaboration with Gu Xin. However, in order to satisfy the fussy Great Producer Qiao, she still practiced.
By the time she finished practicing, Qiao Yichen still hadn’t returned home. She took a bath and nestled in the bedroom while browsing Weibo. Since Jiang Man had told her to establish a presence when she had some free time, she had recently been very diligent about logging onto Weibo.
She had never followed Shi Rou before, but for some reason on her homepage, Weibo had recommended Shi Rou’s newest post.
Shi Rou (V): Some great producer is too full of himself. Do you really think that the music industry will stop spinning if you’re not around? After saying that other people sing badly, why don’t you sing a couple songs yourself? Who doesn’t know how to act pretentious? *bye*
Ding Meng, “…”
Was she talking about Qiao Yichen? Hahaha why would my producer sing for you to hear? How important do you think you are…?
She clicked on the comments and saw that most were Shi Rou’s drama fans agreeing with her. There were also a small number of people who knew Qiao Yichen and were standing up for him. There were also Shi Rou’s anti-fans that were relentlessly attacking her.
Ding Meng shut off Weibo and thought to herself, was this Shi Rou an idiot? How could a newcomer who had just debuted go on Weibo to blast a producer after encountering a small issue? Did her manager not care?
She drank a mouthful of cold water from the cup beside her but the irritation she was feeling didn’t go away. She opened Weibo again and responded to Shi Rou’s post.
Ding Meng_Lemon Leader (V): Why don’t you record yourself singing and post it up for everyone to hear? That would prove yourself if the producer spoke incorrectly
