“Back to the starting point again
Your youthful face in my memory
We’ve finally reached this day
Old photos under the desk mat, countless memories linked
Today the boy will go to the girl’s final appointment
Back to the starting point again
Standing dumbly in front of the mirror
Clumsily tying the knot of a red tie
Combing my hair into the look of an adult
Putting on a handsome suit
When I see you later, you’ll surely be more beautiful than I imagined”
After hearing the first four lines, Chen Sichu was completely stunned. WTF? Wasn’t this exactly the plot from the script just now?
“Sis—”
“Don’t talk. Just record properly.”
Chen Sichu nodded and obediently shut up.
“How I wish I could go back to those years
Back to the classroom seats, deliberately seeking your gentle scolding
The permutations and combinations on the blackboard—do you have the heart to solve them?
Who sits with whom, and he loves her again.”
The guitar and the singing both paused here. The Chen sisters knew the chorus was coming, and they instinctively held their breath.
“The heavy rain we missed in those years
The love we missed in those years
How I want to hug you
To embrace the courage we missed
I once wanted to conquer the whole world
Only in the end, looking back, did I realize
Every little bit of this world is all you.”
“Every little bit is all you! These lyrics connect perfectly with all those little details earlier!” Chen Sichu thought to herself.
What Chen Junmiao cared about was the way the song expressed things. Its lyrics were not the traditional neatly parallel kind, but rather told a story. Once placed into the story of the micro-film script, it had a strong sense of imagery and emotional impact.
But Luo Ming did not know what the Chen sisters were thinking. He continued to pluck the strings and sing the next chorus:
“The heavy rain we missed in those years
The love we missed in those years
How I want to tell you
To tell you I haven’t forgotten
That night the sky was full of stars
The promise under a parallel universe
If we meet again, I will hold you tightly
Hold you tightly.”
After finishing the song, Luo Ming put down the guitar and asked the Chen sisters, “How did it feel?”
“So good! It’s simply heavenly!” Chen Sichu said while clapping.
Hearing this, Luo Ming’s mouth twitched, and he complained inwardly, “With that line, anyone who didn’t know better would think you were Tang Keke!”
Chen Junmiao’s comment was much more measured: “Sister Wen, this song is indeed very good. The lyrics of the verses don’t follow a style of neat parallelism and elegant rhyme. Instead, they have a feeling of telling a story in a gentle, unhurried way.
The chorus is the emotional explosion when the story reaches its climax. It’s great and very distinctive.”
“Sister Wen, how did you come up with this song? Did you suddenly get the idea after reading the film script?” Chen Sichu asked.
“Of course not. I wrote this song a long time ago. Let’s not talk about that. With this song added, how likely do you think this micro-film is to become popular?” Luo Ming changed the subject and asked.
“Fifty-fifty, maybe! The song is only a bonus. The key is still polishing the script details you mentioned earlier, but this song will definitely become popular.” Chen Junmiao said after thinking for a moment.
“Sister Wen, are you planning to use this song as the theme song of the micro-film?”
“Yes, but I won’t be the one singing it. We need to find a male singer, and also—”
“And also what?”
“Miaomiao, go register the copyright for this song. Put the copyright under Luo Ming’s name. Don’t let Sister Shan know.”
Chen Junmiao was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
Luo Ming had asked Lin Shuwen and learned that Sister Shan had a studio under her name, and that studio was affiliated with Huayue Entertainment.
Lin Shuwen, Zhou Ping, and the artists Sister Shan had managed were all signed with Sister Shan’s studio.
Sister Shan had always been relatively lenient with the artists under her. Because of this studio, the copyrights of the four songs Luo Ming had brought out were still in Lin Shuwen’s hands, but within the contract period, sixty percent of the profits had to be given to the company. After the contract ended, the company also enjoyed the right to use the songs.
Never mind the usage rights for now, but sixty percent was too much.
Luo Ming did not want to keep giving away money for nothing.
Lin Shuwen thought the same way, so after “Snail,” the two reached an agreement. In the future, for any original songs, except those that absolutely had to be sung by Lin Shuwen, the others would bypass Sister Shan and be registered by themselves.
“Sister Wen, should we come up with a stage name or something to keep people from finding out?” Chen Junmiao asked.
“We do need a pen name. Let me think… let’s call it Long Ye.”
“Long Ye? Which two characters? Does it have any special meaning?” Chen Sichu asked curiously.
“The Long with the three dots of water plus dragon, and Ye as in leaf. As for the meaning, even if I explained it, you wouldn’t understand.”
The name Luo Ming chose came from taking one character each from the names of the protagonists Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu in “Your Name.”
And these two people, like Luo Ming and Lin Shuwen, were brought together because of body swapping.
“If there’s a chance later, let’s make ‘Your Name’ too!” Luo Ming thought to himself.
After that, Luo Ming pretended to discuss script details with the Chen sisters, but in reality, he was adding in some detailed plot points from his previous life’s “You Are the Apple of My Eye.”
By the time the script was revised, it was already past five in the afternoon. Just then, Lin Shuwen sent a WeChat message asking how Luo Ming was handling things.
Luo Ming then sent the Chen sisters away and called Lin Shuwen.
“Hello—Luo Ming, how are things going?”
“Everything is going smoothly. Wenwen, I think this micro-film script is pretty good. I have an idea.”
“What idea?”
“We’ll use our identity as investors to take the largest share of this micro-film. Best if we can get the copyright of the micro-film, or at least the joint development rights.”
Hearing this, Lin Shuwen immediately understood what Luo Ming was thinking: “Luo Ming, are you thinking of remaking it yourself after the micro-film becomes popular?”
“Yes. A film with an existing fan base, with a little polishing, can become a box-office hit.”
“Are you that sure this micro-film will become popular? And do you know what Liang Hanwen wants to do with this micro-film?” Lin Shuwen asked.
“You know?”
“There’s a Shanghai College Student International Micro-Film Festival in June next year. If I count correctly, it should be the third edition.” Lin Shuwen said.
“He wants to submit the micro-film to the competition?”
“Yes. Once his micro-film gets shortlisted, it can attract more investors. If it wins an award, this micro-film will almost certainly be remade, at least as an online film.”
“You mean the chances of us getting joint development rights aren’t good?”
“I didn’t say that. I haven’t met him, so I don’t know if he’s the type who is extremely confident in himself.”
“Uh, then tomorrow when you come back, discuss it with Miaomiao and Chuchu and see how exactly to negotiate.”
“Why are we already negotiating? Is this script that good?”
“The script is fairly standard, but its strength is that it feels real. I also added some interactions I saw when I watched young couples dating in high school, and I gave this film a song.”
“A song? You wrote another song?”
“Yes. I happened to have written a song before that fits this script perfectly. I had Chuchu record it. You can take a look when you come back.”
“Then the song copyright—”
“It’s under my name. I also came up with a stage name, Long Ye. I had Miaomiao register it under that name.”
