An hour later, she was done.
She moved into the recording booth and sang the song.
Lin Feng listened in awe.
It was just as he remembered it from back then.
No - actually, it was even better.
This was what had given him the idea of turning Su Yue into an idol.
He remembered many things from the future. Not just stocks.
He remembered movies and songs too.
He knew popular hits from the future. If he could find a talented composer to "restore" them, then have Su Yue sing them, she would definitely make it.
Of course, the songs he remembered were limited. He wouldn't always be able to produce more. Her career would quickly die if she couldn't produce a hit on her own.
That's why he had looked for Mengqi.
She was a talented composer too. Even if he ran out of good hits, she could take over and produce more.
As he thought of this, Mengqi finished recording.
She stepped out of the booth.
"What do you think? Was this what you had in mind?"
He shook his head.
Then he gave a thumbs up.
"No. It's even better."
Her eyes lit up.
She moved close to him, looking up at his face.
"Do you have any more songs?"
He scratched his cheek.
"Well, I do."
He had been expecting the restoration to take quite a bit longer. He hadn't thought she would be so talented.
He was expecting them to work on this one so Su Yue could debut with this single. But if it was this easy, maybe he should restore some more.
Three would be a good number. They could do a mini-album and build the suspense.
He nodded.
"I have two more."
"Quick, quick! Show them to me!"
She was practically jumping.
"Alright."
He moved back into the recording booth.
He sang another song, with the same mistakes as before.
But this time, she wasn't paying attention to that.
Just the song.
"And the other one?"
He sang that too.
She nodded slowly.
"Good, good."
She focused and began working on them.
…
A few hours later, she was done.
She sang them one after the other.
"What do you think?"
Lin Feng could only show a thumbs up.
Can I go back now? I'm starving.
She stepped closer, eyes sparkling.
"Do you have any more?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Do you think good songs grow on trees?"
She looked a little down.
"I guess it's impossible to produce so many masterpieces at once."
She paused.
"Are these the debut songs for Su Yue?"
He nodded.
"She's quite lucky."
Mengqi sighed.
"I wish I could sing such songs."
Then she looked at him.
"That reminds me. You promised to make me an idol again."
Her gaze sharpened.
"You don't seem to have any thoughts of that. Was that all a lie?"
Lin Feng raised his hands.
"You have to know your identity is quite controversial. Do you want our little company to die before it could even take its first breath?"
He met her eyes.
"Just as promised, I will build a home for you and give you an audience. When the time finally comes, they will be right there with you."
He paused.
"For now, we need to bide our time and build our strength."
She turned around.
"I know that."
Her voice was quiet.
"It's just... hearing such songs made me miss the stage."
Lin Feng observed her.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
"Ah, we should record guide tracks for Su Yue."
Without turning, Mengqi tossed a USB drive toward him.
He caught it.
"I was recording when I sang."
He looked at the drive in his hand.
"Don't we need to do a more professional guide?"
She turned to face him.
"Aren't you planning a stunt? Leaking the guide to produce hype?"
He nodded.
He was indeed planning that. It would've been better if they took a professional one with Mengqi going all out.
But Mengqi shook her head.
"I can tell what you're thinking. But that's a bad idea."
She crossed her arms.
"I'm a professional. Do you think Su Yue can reach my level by the time you want her to debut?"
Lin Feng shook his head.
"Then what do you think will happen if she debuts and it's worse than the leaked guide?"
Lin Feng finally realized.
Indeed. People would hate the official release. It wouldn't live up to the expectations.
It seemed he still had more to learn.
Mengqi changed the subject.
"Anyway, we should discuss her training."
Lin Feng's stomach growled quietly.
"Why don't we talk about it over lunch?"
She grabbed her jacket.
"I guess that works."
…
The two sat across from each other at a small restaurant.
Lin Feng set down his chopsticks.
"So, how are you going to go about the training?"
Mengqi swallowed her food before answering.
"For now, there isn't much to work on. I just need to get her ready to make the debut mini-album, right?"
Lin Feng nodded.
"Then we'll do a little fitness training, dance training, and mostly focus on voice training."
She took a sip of water.
"She seems quite talented, so in just two weeks, she should be in a passable state."
Lin Feng nodded again.
That wasn't bad at all.
"What will we need?"
"We'll rent a dance studio for two hours in the morning. From 5 AM to 7 AM."
She held up a finger.
"Most come fitted with basic training equipment, which will do for our needs. We'll do basic fitness for an hour and then dance training for the other hour."
She paused.
"I believe the rate is about ¥500 an hour, so it should be give or take ¥1,000 for the two hours."
She continued.
"After that, she can do whatever she wants until 5 PM. Then we rent a vocal room for three hours, up to 8 PM. The rate is about the same, so that would be about ¥1,500, give or take."
She set down her glass.
"In this session, we focus on vocal training, which is the most important part."
She looked at him.
"Overall, it's about ¥3,000 a day. If we train for two weeks, that's about ¥40,000, give or take."
She leaned back.
"What do you think?"
Lin Feng considered it.
It was quite expensive when added up.
But it should be fine. ¥40,000 was no longer much money to him.
He could earn that much in three days.
"Sounds like a plan."
He looked at her.
"Do you have the modified contract? Can you give me the one for Su Yue? I'll talk to her about our plan."