Marriage Concerto (Small Thing Called Love) - Chapter 35

Translator: Diana

Chapter 35: What is Your Favorite?

The watchband was not a luxury brand item, but it was thoughtful nonetheless. Inside the box, there was also a small piece of paper with the words “Happy Birthday” written on it.

The paper wasn’t signed, but he recognized this was Ding Meng’s handwriting.

So many years had passed, but Ding Meng’s handwriting still resembled the handwriting she had when they went to school together. After closer inspection, it had actually gotten a bit worse.

Qiao Yichen held the box as he secretly felt happy inside. Then, he moved the cursor around to exit the screensaver and noticed that Ding Meng’s penguin account was online.

He sent her a message.

QiaoYichen: The watchband you gave me doesn’t match my watch at all.

Soon after, he received Ding Meng’s reply.

MengMengDa: Then return it to me. I’ll find a hemp rope to gift you instead. *smile*

QiaoYichen: Why are you giving me a hemp rope?

MengMengDa: Because you need some whipping *wink*

QiaoYichen: …

Smiling at the computer screen, he typed out another response.

QiaoYichen: Although the watchband does not match my watch, it is rather thoughtful. I suppose I will reluctantly accept your kind gesture.

This time, Ding Meng did not reply and her icon quickly darkened. Qiao Yichen felt somewhat uneasy and began wondering whether or not she was actually going to find a hemp rope.

He got up from his seat and locked his bedroom door.

After his birthday successfully passed, dress rehearsals continued in full throttle. Qiao Yichen had already postponed all of his recording studio appointments and used up over half of his time on the concert. The remaining time was spent entirely on writing Ding Meng’s new song.

Today after Ding Meng finished dress rehearsals she went to the training center to attend class as usual. When class was about to end, an employee came looking for her and told her to go to Qiao Yichen’s office.

It could be said that she had recently been frequenting Qiao Yichen’s office. That’s right, to lie on the couch. However, he had called her over so officially this time, so the reason was definitely not to nap or snack.

Ding Meng continued guessing all the way to his office. In the end, she began to wonder with anticipation if the new song had finally been finished?

She knocked on the door and entered. Alone in the office, Qiao Yichen was looking at something he was holding. When he saw Ding Meng enter, he passed it over to her. “I have finished composing your new song. Take a look.”

Ding Meng jumped with joy. It actually was the new song! She finally had a song of her own. If she had to wait any longer, her hair would have turned white!

She took the score sheet from Qiao Yichen’s hands and looked at the title, I’m here.

Whoa, an English title. How high class. Ding Meng continued looking over the score. After attending a few months of classes, she could now understand how to read musical scores. However, the more she read, the paler her complexion became. In the end, she raised her head from the score sheet and looked over at Qiao Yichen, “You really want me to sing this song?”

Even though she already knew that all the songs composed by Qiao Yichen were very difficult to sing, this song was really too difficult. She was still an amateur. Couldn’t he be gentler towards her?!

This song spanned a large range of musical pitches. The two stanzas in the beginning were very low, and they weren’t even the type that stayed low for two notes and then rose back up. Rather, this occurred from the beginning to the end. At the chorus, the song suddenly rose by two octaves and continued to climb higher and higher from there. This really put a singer’s explosive power and breathing abilities to the test.

Qiao Yichen raised an eyebrow and looked at her, “What? Are you unsatisfied about something?”

Ding Meng replied smiling, “It is well written. The only part that is unsatisfactory is the difficulty.”

Qiao Yichen did not think so, “It’s not that bad. It’s just slightly more difficult than First Flower of February. You can do it.”

Ding Meng, “…”

Why had he suddenly become so confident in her at this time?!

She swallowed her saliva and said to him, “The high-pitch parts are fine, but the first stanzas are so low. I am not confident that I can sing this.”

Qiao Yichen responded, “After training you for such a long period of time, I have a better understanding of your singing abilities than you do yourself. Your range is very broad. Not only can you sing high notes, you can sing the low notes too. Not even Sima Xiaoxiao can compare to you in terms of vocal range.”

Ding Meng, “…”

Don’t let him confuse you!. He’s only praising you so sweetly right now because he wants to persuade you to sing this song! But when the time comes to go to the recording studio, one mistake and he will scold you until you turn into a dog!

Ding Meng wisely decided to maintain her silence.

Qiao Yichen used his job position to pressure her, “In any case, I have only written this one song. You’ll have to sing it whether you like it or not. ”

Ding Meng, “…”

Truth be told, this song that Qiao Yichen composed had potential. If sung well, it would definitely be outstanding. However, the prerequisite was… to sing it very well.

“For this song, first, one must be able to sing with force. Second, one must be able to maintain the continuously flowing melody using proper breathing techniques. These two points have been the main focus of your training. We can use this song to see how your training has progressed.” Qiao Yichen glanced over at her and said, “You can’t possibly lack courage to even give this song a try, right?”

Ding Meng, “…”

Using reverse psychology was so shameless. He was fully aware of how her personality was unable to resist taunting.

She held the song in her hands and earnestly said, “I will do my best to sing this song.”

“Ok.” Qiao Yichen casually nodded his head . “I want to hear the enchanting low notes and the touching high notes. High quality notes are the most basic of my requirements.”

Ding Meng, “…”

I already know that, Great Producer.

“I will give you three days to learn this song. In three days, come to the studio.”

Originally, Ding Meng wanted to say that three days was cutting it rather close. After all, the concert was coming up soon and a good portion of her time everyday was spent at dress rehearsals. However, when she thought about how Tang Shiran’s Kiss Kiss was going to be released in two days, she clenched her teeth and promised, “I got it. I will use all the time that I can, and I guarantee that I will learn this song in three days.”

The next three days were practically like hell. Ding Meng barely even had time to breathe. Everyday, after singing was more singing. Now she understood what Qiao Yichen meant when he told her to protect her voice. Due to the extent she was using her voice, forget about eating spicy food, she didn’t even want to speak a single unnecessary word anymore.

Luckily, the three days of hard work did not go to waste. She learned the song I’m here from beginning to the end.

The first time she sang it to Qiao Yichen in the recording studio, Ding Meng was honestly slightly nervous. As she wore her headphones and looked at Qiao Yichen through the glass, she felt this experience was rather novel.

In the recording studio, Qiao Yichen was God. His words were the law.

“Are you ready?”

When Qiao Yichen’s voice came through the headphones, Ding Meng felt the illusion that he was speaking in a low voice right next to her ears, causing her to lose her senses momentarily.

“Are you ready?” He asked again.

Ding Meng quickly recovered and nodded towards the people outside: “Ready.”

“Start.” Qiao Yichen’s voice came through and the track’s intro began to play.

Ding Meng kept her eyes on the music sheet, slowly losing herself in the song’s emotions, “An empty room with nothing, but the moonlight to accompany me. On this chilly night, extend a hand and look through the gaps between your fingers to see the flickering stars. When will you realize…”

“Stop.” This was the first time Qiao Yichen interrupted Ding Meng. “I have said before that high quality notes are the most basic of my expectations, but right now you can’t even deliver that.”

Ding Meng, “…”

Before coming into the recording studio, she had already expected this would happen.

“In addition, follow the music sheet when you sing. Don’t randomly change the key on your own.”

Ding Meng, “…”

She really couldn’t sing such a low key!

“From the start.” Qiao Yichen spoke and glanced at her, “If you continue on like this, I will have you sing it verse by verse.”

Ding Meng, “…”

This time around, Ding Meng was interrupted by Qiao Yichen at the exact same spot. Actually, she really admired Qiao Yichen. Everytime he interrupted her, he was able to point out a different shortcoming. After recording for an hour, he hadn’t repeated a single one.

In the blink of an eye, it was already mealtime. However, zero progress had been made on the song.

“That’s it for today. Everyone can go eat.”

Thankfully, Qiao Yichen was fussy, but not to the point of being so unreasonable that he prohibited meal breaks if recording didn’t go well. The employees broke up into small groups and went to eat. Ding Meng took off the headphones and exited the recording booth.

Qiao Yichen had yet to leave. After turning off all the equipment, he looked over at her, “Let’s go eat together.”

Ding Meng wanted to cry, but she had no tears. Initially, she had thought that she was finally free. She didn’t expect that she would also have to face Great Producer Qiao while eating.

The two of them left together towards the cafeteria. Since they were recording a song today, it wasn’t strange that the two of them showed up together. After Qiao Yichen ordered two set meals, he and Ding Meng looked for an empty table.

Ding Meng quickly adapted to the situation and used her chopsticks to place some food into Qiao Yichen’s bowl. “Stir-fried pork, your favorite!”

Qiao Yichen raised his eyes to shoot her a glance, “Don’t think about currying favor with me. I won’t go easy on you in the recording studio.”

Ding Meng wrinkled her nose and used her chopsticks to pick up the stir-fried pork that she had just put in his bowl. “Then give it back to me.”

Qiao Yichen lifted his hand and used his chopsticks to push down her chopsticks, “If it is in my bowl, it is mine.”

Ding Meng, “…”

“A person shouldn’t be so shameless.” she advised earnestly.

Qiao Yichen flashed her a smile “In our company, people with the least shame have the highest positions.”

Ding Meng, “…”

Dammit, what sort of strange company had she entered?

“Also, my favorite isn’t stir-fried pork.”

Ding Meng blinked her eyes with doubt, how could it be… after living together with him for this long, his favorite food was clearly stir-fried pork. She looked over at him, “What is your favorite then?”

Qiao Yichen looked at her with a smile and blinked without saying anything.

Ding Meng frowned and thought, che, what’s the point of being mysterious about that? So annoying.

The two people ate quietly without saying anything to one another. Two female employees sat down at the table next to them and were now discussing Tang Shiran’s new single.

Have you heard that song Kiss Kiss? It’s been trending on Weibo ever since it was released yesterday. It’s been rising rapidly on the music charts too.

“Eh, I have heard it. Tang Shiran’s change in style since the competition has been dramatic. It feels like this song did not fully show off her skill.”

“She was willing. It’s very easy for these types of songs to become popular.”

Ding Meng eavesdropped on their conversation while eating. What they said was true. Even though Kiss Kiss was slammed as a bubblegum pop song by Qiao Yichen, it was the type to become popular with ease. Thanks to the catchy lyrics and rhythm, it could basically be learned after listening once.

Qiao Yichen suddenly spoke up, “You don’t need to mind others. Although I approve of Tang Shiran’s singing skills, I don’t approve of her attitude towards music. She is not serious about music. She just likes the feeling of fans chasing after her.” After saying this, he lifted his head to look at Ding Meng, “Don’t worry. You just need to do well yourself.”

Ding Meng’s anxious emotions were calmed by his brief words. Looking at him, she nodded, “Okay, I got it!”