If you write your own songs, when they are released, both the listeners and the critics, in fact, will have uncertainties in their hearts.
Li Yuan knew that Chi Feiran had studied music since elementary school, playing various instruments like the piano and violin. However, being only seventeen years old and having no prior experience in pop music, could he really compose qualified songs?
The concerns of Chi Feiran were similar to those of Li Yuan, but the advantage was that he knew himself. His soul’s age was not just seventeen; he had formally studied composition in college.
However, he had been abroad all this time. Although he had listened to a lot of Chinese songs, it was mostly for entertainment purposes. When it came to composition, his style was mostly inclined towards Western music, and he had never written Chinese song lyrics before.
After releasing “Big Talk,” Chi Feiran sat in front of the piano, staring at the blank sheet music for hours without any ideas.
No inspiration whatsoever.
Creating something artistic often required the right timing, favorable conditions, and the right people. Forcing it might not lead to success.
Chi Feiran slumped onto the piano, and a series of keys resounded as he accidentally hit them.
Then he stood up, took the guitar hanging on the wall, and mumbled, “Maybe using the guitar for pop songs would be better…”
As it turned out, whether it matched or not, when there was no inspiration, bringing out the ancestor of guitars wouldn’t help in creating a song.
Chi Feiran felt the urge to modify some of his previous compositions hastily and submit them. However, he still had some sanity left. Li Yuan was putting in a lot of effort to guide him, and his family had made so many arrangements.
As long as he thought about these things, he couldn’t just casually brush it off.
But the more he thought about it, the greater the pressure Chi Feiran felt. His mind became even more chaotic, lacking any clear ideas.
Looking at the instruments in the music room, which were equally messy due to his frustration, Chi Feiran raised his hand and rubbed his hair in a rather unimpressive manner. He then turned and left the room.
Wandering aimlessly around the villa, Chi Feiran began to calm down a bit.
Artistic creation often required a spark of inspiration. In the absence of such inspiration, was it better to have a specific theme?
Chi Feiran pondered. The recent popular Chinese songs seemed to revolve around the theme of love.
Chi Feiran, who had never been in a relationship, murmured to himself, “…”
After taking a deep breath, Chi Feiran told himself that it wasn’t necessary to have romantic experiences to write love songs.
There were so many heartbreaking songs, and the creators weren’t necessarily dumped or turned into third wheels!
But then he thought again. Many classic works seemed to be created when the author experienced the emotions personally.
Chi Feiran, “…”
With the music festival three months away, did he have to go through a love, breakup, being a third wheel, and a backup plan in these three months?
The more he thought about it, the more unrealistic it seemed. Chi Feiran went online.
He wanted to see how others approached creative processes. After all, it was a desperate move.
After looking up the creative experiences of several highly successful songs, Chi Feiran fell into silence.
The first song: the singer reminisces about a lover who died of cancer, created with tears.
The second song: breaking up with a longtime partner, composed after excessive drinking.
The third song: betrayed by a beloved husband…
Chi Feiran trembled as he closed the webpage. Unaware of these tragic aspects of the teachers’ love lives, he felt guilty towards his father, Li Yuan, and his family.
If he had known earlier, he would have had a girlfriend in college. At least he could have written some sweet love songs.
But then he thought again. After graduating from college, he died in a car accident. The perpetrator was not even confirmed, and it was a good thing he didn’t have a girlfriend; otherwise, she would have been heartbroken.
Chi Feiran went through a myriad of thoughts but couldn’t come up with any inspiration for composition.
Later, when he was browsing the internet, he suddenly saw the background story of a song inspired by a movie. The artist was deeply moved, and that’s how the inspiration sparked.
Chi Feiran immediately rushed to the audio-visual room, intending to find a movie to watch.
The audio-visual room was extensive, resembling a professionally equipped private cinema.
In front of the DVD shelf, Chi Feiran found that the movies were categorized by genre, even including copies of unreleased films.
Chi Feiran hadn’t watched these movies. He recognized some names and some were completely unfamiliar.
However, the copies were labeled with expected release dates. He realized that these different-packaged DVDs were copies of unreleased movies.
Chi Feiran turned his attention to the romance movie section and randomly picked one up. To his surprise, on the cast list, he saw the name Rong Jin.
Chi Feiran instantly felt a burning sensation in his fingertips, as if there were still a slight itching from when Rong Jin signed his shirt with a pen.
He had already stored the shirt with Rong Jin’s signature.
Feeling somewhat uneasy, Chi Feiran picked up the DVD and, without paying attention, saw Rong Jin’s name on the list of actors.
Rong Jin debuted in films at the age of sixteen, and over more than ten years, he had acted in quite a few movies. Even in recent years, with reduced productions, the list was still quite long.
There was a variety of genres—modern, historical, romantic, martial arts, and more.
Chi Feiran decided to start from the beginning and watch all the movies. Eventually, he came across a movie cover featuring sixteen-year-old Rong Jin standing among several similarly aged boys and girls. He tilted his head slightly, gazing at a girl in a white dress. However, the girl wasn’t looking at him but smiling brightly at the camera.
The movie was called “Endless Summer.”
Chi Feiran inserted the DVD into the player.
Two hours later, Chi Feiran walked out of the audio-visual room with red eyes, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
What was this! How could that girl have such poor taste! Xia Fan liked her so much, how could she like a troublemaker?
Thinking about the end of the movie when Rong Jin, who played Xia Fan, watched the girl leave with a gaze full of reluctance, Chi Feiran felt even more uncomfortable.
He couldn’t find words to describe that gaze—full of unwillingness, containing a hint of watery brilliance yet seemingly devoid of it.
In the end, Xia Fan softly said, “Goodbye.”
But that girl would never come back.
When Chi Feiran saw the movie credits rolling, his whole mentality exploded.
But because of this, a melody flashed through his previously chaotic mind.
Enduring the discomfort, Chi Feiran returned to the music room and started writing and sketching on the staff.
After about a week, Li Yuan received the compositions from Chi Feiran.
Li Yuan was taken aback, both by Chi Feiran’s speed and his swollen eyes. “What happened?!”
Chi Feiran felt a bit embarrassed. “Just… writing songs…”
He had spent a week at home, watching movies that Rong Jin starred in. However, he didn’t watch many—only three early works.
Probably because Rong Jin was still young at that time, all the movies were about youth, love, and pain. He had even switched from a supporting role to the main character in his second movie.
But Chi Feiran couldn’t understand why the directors chose such a storyline for Rong Jin. Just judging by his appearance, these things shouldn’t happen to him!
Every time he read the movie synopsis, Chi Feiran felt that the director’s casting choices were illogical. However, once the movie started, Chi Feiran’s immersion was particularly strong.
Thinking about it now, Chi Feiran could only attribute everything to Rong Jin’s truly exceptional acting skills. He brought the entire story to life with his performance.
All the twists and turns, everything shaped by character and environment, became real under his interpretation.
Recalling this, Chi Feiran still felt a stabbing pain in his heart.
Li Yuan was a bit puzzled. Was writing songs such an emotional process? Did he cry because he couldn’t come up with anything?
Thinking like this, Li Yuan expressed concern and then focused on looking at the music.
Chi Feiran asked, “I recorded a demo, do you want to listen?”
Of course, Li Yuan wanted to listen. Despite his professional qualifications, reading sheet music couldn’t provide the same musical experience as listening.
Chi Feiran was a bit hesitant. He told Li Yuan, “I’ve never written Chinese lyrics before. You listen to the melody first; I’ll think about the lyrics later.”
When Chi Feiran composed the music, it flowed quickly due to the emotional stimulation. However, writing lyrics was truly baffling, and Chi Feiran experienced the feeling of doing anything to rhyme.
In this way, he composed five songs, but only managed to come up with lyrics for one.
Initially, Li Yuan didn’t pay much attention, even though he had expectations. After all, Chi Feiran’s age was a factor, and not everyone studying music could produce a remarkable piece.
However, when the melody was completed, Li Yuan knew that he had seriously underestimated Chi Feiran.
While Chi Feiran hummed along with the melody, he marked places in the score where he thought changes could be made to improve it.
After one song finished, Chi Feiran snapped back to reality and looked at Li Yuan, shocked by the intense gaze he received.
Chi Feiran was a bit unsure and asked in a low voice, “…Is it… okay?”
To himself, it sounded fine. Why did Li Yuan have that expression?
