allonlinenovel Chapter 384 Director Liu
Chapter 384 Director Liu
Seeing that he remained silent for a while, Shen Yuege waved her hand in front of his eyes: "What are you thinking about?"
Lu Ran turned to look at her: "I'm thinking about how to help these people."
"Have you figured it out yet?"
"I've come up with a solution."
"What method?"
"Write songs."
Shen Yuege was taken aback: "Writing songs? What's the use of writing songs?"
"Have you forgotten 'The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau'? After that song came out, countless people made special trips to Tibet just to see the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Potala Palace. A good song can make a city famous; this is no joke. If I wrote a song about the Wumeng Mountains, capturing its beauty in the lyrics, and people wanted to come after hearing it, do you think that would be effective?"
Shen Yuege stared at him for several seconds, her expression changing from confusion to seriousness.
"Are you serious?"
"Seriously."
"You already have a melody in your head?"
"Yes. It happened when we were boating on the grassy sea. The boatman sang 'Axi Lixi,' a simple tune, but it has a lot of flavor. I want to write a new song based on that kind of folk song, with a faster tempo and a catchy melody, so that people can hum along after just one listen."
Shen Yuege was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "You, you can write songs whenever you want, make games whenever you want, and write scripts whenever you want. Is there anything you can't do?"
"I don't spend money."
Shen Yuege was speechless after hearing his words, and shook her head: "Fine, write it down. Write it down and let me see."
"It's not just watching, it's singing. This is a chorus, you sing the female voice, and I'll sing the male voice. Let's sing together."
Shen Yuege was stunned again, this time for even longer.
"The two of us? Singing a duet?"
"What's wrong? Is it not allowed? You're a superstar, and I'm your husband. Isn't it normal for us to sing a song together? Just imagine the scene: you sing the verse and I sing the chorus, or you sing the high notes and I sing the low notes. If we coordinate well, it will be absolutely amazing."
Shen Yuege thought about it and felt that the scene was indeed quite interesting.
She and Lu Ran have known each other for so long, but apart from their last album, they haven't sung many songs together.
"Are you sure you want to sing a duet with me?"
"Sure."
"Aren't you afraid I'll embarrass you?"
"You're embarrassing yourself? You're a superstar, what's there to be embarrassed about? I might be embarrassing myself, in case I sing off-key, your fans could make me trend on social media."
Shen Yuege couldn't help but laugh: "My fans won't scold you. They all know you're my husband, so scolding you is scolding me."
"That's not necessarily true. Fans these days are crazy; they'll curse not only their idols' husbands, but even their own fathers."
Shen Yuege laughed and patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, stop joking. Hurry up and write it, I'll take a look when you're done."
Lu Ran stood up, walked to his desk, opened his laptop, and created a new document.
He typed four words into the document: Lady Shexiang.
Then he stopped, thought for a moment, and added a few more words—Lyrics: Lu Ran, Music: Lu Ran, Singers: Lu Ran and Shen Yuege.
Shen Yuege leaned closer for a look, a smirk playing on her lips: "You even wrote my name down? What if I don't like it and don't want to sing it?"
"You'll want to sing it. Because none of the songs I write are bad."
"You're really not modest."
"This isn't a matter of being modest or not; it's a fact."
Shen Yuege rolled her eyes, said nothing more, and sat back down in the booth to continue looking at the stars.
Lu Ran stared at the screen, the melody of the song in his mind becoming clearer and clearer.
The intro features electronic synthesizer sounds with a brisk rhythm and elements of traditional Chinese instruments, but it's not the kind of rustic ethnic style; rather, it's a modern ethnic style with a touch of international flair.
He vaguely remembered the lyrics; the lyrics of that song from his past life were very vivid—"The Wumeng Mountains connect to mountains beyond mountains, moonlight spills onto Xiangshui Beach. Can anyone tell me if the heavens are calling out to you?"
These few lines are so well written.
Wumeng Mountain, the mountains beyond mountains, and Xiangshuitan are all real scenes.
The moonlight shining on Xiangshui Beach is a beautiful sight to behold.
He typed out the first line of lyrics.
Then the second line, the third line, and the fourth line.
Shen Yuege had somehow come over again and stood behind him, watching him type.
She didn't say anything, just stood there quietly, watching the lyrics appear line by line on the screen.
When Lu Ran got to the chorus, his fingers paused on the keyboard for a moment, then continued typing.
The melody of the chorus spun in his mind several times, and fearing he might forget it, he quickly wrote down the sheet music.
It only took about ten minutes to finish the lyrics and music.
Because of his past experiences, he now avoids downloading things from the system unless absolutely necessary.
He looked at the complete manuscript on the screen, read it silently from beginning to end to make sure there were no typos, then leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
Shen Yuege reached out and flipped through the document, remaining silent for a long time after reading it.
"How is it?" Lu Ran asked.
Shen Yuege didn't answer immediately. She looked at the lyrics again, then turned to look at him with a complicated expression.
"Did you come up with this song while you were on the grassy field just now?"
"right."
"You figured that out after just one hour of boating?"
"What's wrong? Is it strange?"
Shen Yuege stared at him for several seconds, then shook her head: "It's not surprising. That's just how you are. You have so much stuff in your head that I don't know what to say, and you can just pull it out anytime."
Lu Ran laughed: "So, are you going to sing or not?"
Shen Yuege looked at the lyrics again, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled up: "Sing. Why not sing? I must be crazy not to sing such a good song."
Lu Ran was overjoyed inside, but pretended to be calm on the surface: "Okay. Then tomorrow we'll find a place to record the demo. It doesn't need to be too sophisticated, just guitar and vocals will do. Once it's recorded, we'll upload it to TUTU and let the netizens listen to it first."
"and then?"
"Then we'll go to the local cultural and tourism department and tell them we wrote a song for Wumeng Mountain. If they're smart, they'll know how to use the song for promotion. If they're not, then we'll do it ourselves. Anyway, TUTU is our platform, so we can promote it however we want."
Shen Yuege looked at him, her eyes filled with an indescribable light.
"What's wrong?" Lu Ran felt a little uncomfortable being stared at.
"Nothing much. I just felt you were particularly reliable today."
"I'm incredibly reliable every day."
"They were especially reliable today."
Lu Ran smiled, saved the document, closed his laptop, and stood up to stretch.
The stars outside the window were still so many and so bright, as if someone had lit a lamp in the sky above the Wumeng Mountains that would never go out.
He glanced at the stars and thought to himself, "After this song is released, I wonder how many people will travel thousands of kilometers to Wumeng Mountain because of these stars, these mountains, and this water."
I hope they won't be disappointed when they arrive.
...
The next morning, when Lu Ran woke up, he found that Shen Yuege was no longer in bed.
He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and heard voices outside the car.
After putting on his coat and getting out of the car, he saw Shen Yuege standing by the parking lot, talking to a middle-aged man in a jacket.
A young man stood next to the middle-aged man, taking notes in a notebook.
"You're awake?" Shen Yuege waved to him as he approached. "Come here, let me introduce you. This is Director Liu from the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Wumeng Mountain Scenic Area."
Lu Ran walked over and shook hands with Director Liu.
Director Liu was around fifty years old, with his hair neatly combed, wearing a dark blue jacket and sneakers, and looked like a pragmatic person.
"Mr. Lu, it's an honor to meet you." Director Liu shook hands firmly and smiled sincerely. "I heard you were coming last night. I wanted to visit you then, but I was afraid of disturbing your rest, so I waited until this morning. Ms. Yuege just told me about your songwriting. On behalf of the Wumeng Mountain Scenic Area Culture and Tourism Bureau, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you."
Lu Ran glanced at Shen Yuege, who shrugged, feeling somewhat embarrassed by her unauthorized contact.
However, he also knew that Shen Yuege was doing it for his own good, and she felt that she could help Lu Ran with this small matter.
Besides, the two of them had discussed this matter last night.
"Director Liu, you're too kind," Lu Ran said. "I just wrote a song; whether it will be of any help is still uncertain."
Although Lu Ran felt that the song would definitely become popular if it were released normally, the effect would definitely be faster if it had official support.
"Definitely." Director Liu's tone was very confident. "President Lu, you may not know how famous you are in Guizhou Province. Many people here know about Lady Shexiang, but only as a historical figure. If you can write her story into a song, the impact will be completely different. Young people nowadays don't like reading written introductions, but they love listening to songs. If you sing one song well, it will be more effective than us putting up a hundred 'GG' signs at the entrance of the scenic spot."
Lu Ran felt that Director Liu was very clear-headed, knowing both his strengths and weaknesses. Working with someone like that wouldn't require much explanation.
"Director Liu, then I'll get straight to the point," Lu Ran said. "I've already written the lyrics and music for this song, and we can record a simple demo today. After the demo is recorded, I'll post it on TUTU. TUTU is a platform of TuTu Technology, with over two million daily active users. I can guarantee that this song will get enough exposure on its first day of release."
Director Liu's eyes lit up.
"But this is only the first step," Lu Ran continued. "The second step is up to you. After the song becomes popular, many people will definitely want to come to Wumeng Mountain. You need to improve the supporting facilities and services. Don't let people come and think, 'The song was so good, but this is all I got?' Otherwise, the song will have been a waste, and the people will have come for nothing."
Director Liu nodded repeatedly: "President Lu is right. We've already started working on it. The scenic area's infrastructure has been upgraded over the past two years; the parking lots, toilets, and visitor center have all been renovated. As for accommodation, there are several guesthouses and hotels inside and around the scenic area. While the conditions aren't comparable to those in big cities, cleanliness and hygiene are not a problem. Regarding transportation, the road from the city center to the scenic area was just repaired last year, and both buses and cars can travel there. The only problem is promotion; we are indeed weak in this area."
"So I'm here to fill this gap for you," Lu Ran said. "I'll write the songs, I'll handle the promotion, and you guys just need to take good care of the tourists. If the tourists are satisfied, they'll go back and tell their friends, and their friends will tell their friends, and word of mouth will gradually build up. That's more effective than playing games."
Director Liu was extremely excited. He turned to the young man next to him and said, "Xiao Zhang, write this down. When you get back, immediately arrange for someone to handle the publicity for TUTU. All resources must be in place; we can't afford to drop anything."
The young man quickly jotted down notes in his notebook, then looked up and asked, "Mr. Lu, when will this song be available online?"
"These next couple of days," Lu Ran said, "we'll find a place to record the demo today, and release it tomorrow or the day after. It won't take too long."
Director Liu shook hands with Lu Ran again, this time gripping even harder, until Lu Ran's fingers ached a little.
"Mr. Lu, Ms. Yuege, what are your plans for today? I'll have Xiao Zhang act as your guide and show you around the Wumeng Mountains. We have quite a few attractions around here. Besides the museum and Caohai you visited yesterday, there's also Baili Rhododendron, Jiucaiping, and Beipanjiang Grand Canyon—all wonderful places. Although the rhododendrons aren't in bloom this season, the scenery is still beautiful."
Lu Ran glanced at Shen Yuege, and Shen Yuege nodded.
"Then I'll have to trouble Director Liu," Lu Ran said.
"No trouble at all. You've helped us so much, this is nothing." Director Liu turned to the young man and said, "Xiao Zhang, don't do anything else today, just stay with President Lu and Miss Yuege. Is the car ready?"
"All ready. The bureau's van has just been washed and is full of gas."
"Alright. You two go ahead. Mr. Lu, Ms. Yuege, have fun. Call me anytime if you need anything."
Director Liu shook hands with the two men again, then hurried away. He walked with long strides, as if he were rushing to do something important.
Lu Ran watched his retreating figure and chuckled softly.
"This bureau chief has really found a way to make his way in the world."
...