After some casual chit-chat, Sister Shan got down to business. “Old Huang, do you have any decent songs on hand right now?”
“For her?”
“Yeah. Wenwen’s putting together her first album.”
“I’ve got five songs, but they’re just average—good enough to fill up the tracklist, but nowhere near lead-single material.”
“I’ll take all five. But I also need a lead single—”
“Hold on! Shan, isn’t that song Light Years Away written by your girl herself? I thought it sounded pretty good! Should be more than enough for a lead single.” Old Huang cut her off.
“That song got picked up by Director Liu for his movie’s theme.”
“Tsk! Your artist’s got some luck!”
“So that’s why I’m counting on you for the lead single.”
“I’ll do my best, but I’ve got a lot on my plate lately. You probably know the company’s been looking into putting together a girl group, like they do in South Korea. If that goes through, I won’t be able to help with your lead single.”
Sister Shan nodded. She’d heard whispers about that.
Since Old Huang had put it that way, Sister Shan wasn’t about to pin all her hopes on him. She took the USB drive with his five songs and turned to leave.
Back in the car, she handed the drive to “Lin Shuwen.” “Wenwen, take a look at these tonight and get familiar with them.”
“Sister Shan, didn’t Old Huang say these five songs are just average?”
“Exactly! That’s why they’re filler. An album usually needs about ten songs. These five are just to round it out—they’re not our lead tracks.”
“Isn’t that kind of cheating the listeners?”
“Wenwen, you don’t actually think having an album full of hits is a good thing, do you?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Let me put it this way: if you were already a diva at the top of the music scene and about to retire, then yeah—putting out an album packed with top-tier hits, dropping the mic, and shaking the whole industry would cement your legacy for a long time.
But right now? You’ve only been around for a year. You’ve won two decent awards at the Golden Melody Awards, but you know better than I do how huge the gap is between a ‘little diva’ and a true diva.
If you release a killer album full of hits right now, your status in the industry would skyrocket overnight—you might even become a legend.
But after that, you’d have to keep every single album at roughly the same quality. Otherwise, people would say you’ve lost your touch. You’ve still got your whole career ahead of you. Do you really think it’s a good idea to be labeled as ‘washed up’ that early?”
Luo Ming fell silent. Her words reminded him of a famous band from his previous life—F.I.R.
Back on April 23, 2004, F.I.R. dropped their debut album F.I.R., which included thirteen songs like Our Love, Lydia, and Your Smile. Within four months, it had sold over 900,000 copies.
The quality of that album was astonishingly high. Their next few albums had some classic tracks too, but people always felt they didn’t quite measure up to the first.
That led many to think F.I.R. peaked right at their debut and went downhill from there.
From that perspective, Sister Shan’s reasoning made sense.
That evening, Luo Ming got home and emailed the five songs from the USB drive to Lin Shuwen.
Lin Shuwen had just gotten back herself. That day, she’d gone with Rong Mu to check out the office space at the high-tech park.
The office Rong Mu had found was over 300 square meters of usable space—no shared common areas factored in. It was already nicely fitted out, with utilities and internet all set up. All they needed was office equipment, and they could start hiring.
As for registering the studio, the government was encouraging college graduates to start their own businesses. Both Luo Ming and Rong Mu were fresh grads, so they qualified for various policy supports. The paperwork should go through in about a week.
Speaking of which, Rong Mu actually liked the name “Scorching Light” too.
But he had no idea that Yao Chong had written poetry, nor had he ever heard the line “Scorching light cleans the branches; glistening dew gathers on the grass.” Heck, he didn’t even know who Yao Chong was.
Later, Lin Shuwen listened to the five songs Luo Ming had sent and replied: “The quality is pretty average—not great, not terrible. Just standard fare.”
“That’s what Sister Shan said too. The main thing is the lead single.”
“Yeah. Hey, Luo Ming, I’m thinking of moving. Staying at a hotel all this time has been such a hassle. I actually have an apartment in Bingzhou, so I’m planning to just move in there. That way, it’ll be more convenient for us to learn singing and coding from each other. What do you think?”
“I’m fine with that.” Luo Ming replied instantly.
They’d built up a basic level of trust over the past few days. Besides, it was Lin Shuwen’s place—she could do whatever she wanted with it.
“Okay, I’ll get in touch with Lawyer Xie tomorrow. She’ll probably call you to ask if it’s okay to hand over the property deed and access card to me. Just say yes.”
“Got it.”
“Also, do you have any valuables I should pay extra attention to during the move? I don’t want to lose anything.”
“The most valuable thing I own is my computer.”
“Alright. Business done—shall we get started on today’s lesson?”
“Sure!”
Early the next morning, Lin Shuwen took a cab to Lawyer Xie’s firm—mainly because she couldn’t remember Xie’s phone number.
Lawyer Xie was a woman in her early forties. When she saw this man asking for Lin Shuwen’s property deed and access card, she immediately called “Lin Shuwen” to confirm.
“Lin Shuwen” naturally gave the green light.
So Lawyer Xie handed over the documents and card, all while mentally scripting an entire melodramatic love story in her head.
To be fair, it wasn’t entirely her fault for overthinking. Luo Ming was pretty good-looking, and they seemed around the same age. Plus, Lin Shuwen’s tone over the phone sounded a bit different than usual—it all seemed a bit off.
After leaving Xie’s office, Lin Shuwen went back to the cramped rented room Luo Ming had been staying in. She called a moving company, had them load everything up, and directed the driver to Lanshan Residences.
Lanshan Residences was considered an upscale neighborhood in Bingzhou, with tight security. Unsurprisingly, Lin Shuwen and the movers got stopped at the gate.
Good thing she’d come prepared. She’d already picked up the property deed and access card from Lawyer Xie, so she just flashed them and got right in.
The movers hauled everything inside, Lin Shuwen paid them, and started unpacking.
This apartment had been bought for her by her parents—a cozy two-bedroom, one-living-room unit with about 60 square meters of usable space. Perfect for one person.
Her parents were still working in the capital, so there was no need for a big place. Besides, the family home back in their hometown was plenty large enough.
After more than three hours of cleaning and organizing, Lin Shuwen finally had the place spotless. She put away Luo Ming’s clothes, computer, and all his other stuff too.
