Chapter 29: External Aid and Arriving Early at the Battlefield

Boss Park’s shop was exceptionally well-equipped. After clarifying the requirements for the video, he attached a pickup to He Tianran’s guitar and provided a high-fidelity microphone for Wen Liang’s vocals. Both signals were fed into an audio interface connected in parallel, and finally routed to a computer for mastering and storage.

For the recording, he brought out his Canon 5D3 DSLR, a camera he usually only took to anime conventions.

In the past, He Tianran had never bothered with such elaborate setups; he would simply position his phone and record, with the audio captured directly by the device. This whole production ended up taking quite a bit of time.

"If a worker wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools. I don't usually have a use for these things, but you two coming here is perfect. In the future, when band kids come to buy gear, I can let them hear the quality."

"The boss is so kind, truly thoughtful of you."

Wen Liang waited for him to finish his methodical explanation before thanking him aloud.

Watching the two of them take their time, He Tianran felt sweat bead on his forehead. Because of the delay, it was already 11:10 AM. There were only fifty minutes left until Cao Aiqing arrived, and he and Wen Liang hadn't even begun.

But fortunately, everything happening here was still within his plan.

"Why are you so sweaty?" Wen Liang asked, looking at him with confusion.

"Ah... I'm just nervous about collaborating with you."

He Tianran wasn't lying. Even without today’s circumstances, he would have been sweating from nerves during his first collaboration with Wen Liang.

"I think this kid is just soft; he needs more practice!" Boss Park teased, taking a sip of the milk tea Wen Liang had bought, and finally said, "Alright, Tianran, you go first. Let's record your fingerstyle part."

"Shouldn't we do the parts together first?" He Tianran asked urgently. He had intended to finish their joint segments first, figuring he could record his fingerstyle solo whenever.

"Are you in a rush?" Boss Park asked, sensing the urgency in He Tianran’s tone.

"No... not a rush. I was just worried that classmate Wen might have a performance class later."

Unexpectedly, Wen Liang shook her head and said, "Don't worry about me. I can spend the whole day with you today."

After saying this, she frowned and pressed, "Something feels... not quite right with you..."

"No, it's just... I was afraid you'd run off after leaving a WeChat message like you did at the boxing gym last time. I thought I had done something wrong."

He Tianran thought quickly on his feet. Wen Liang felt both guilty and happy after hearing this. She walked behind He Tianran, gently squeezed his shoulders, and said softly, "Don't worry. Last time, the training center kept calling to rush me. This time, I specifically took the day off. I’ll be here the whole time. Don't be nervous, just relax."

Hearing that his lie had garnered such a response—that she had actually taken the day off—He Tianran felt an intense wave of shame and cursed himself internally:

*I really am such a piece of trash...*

Boss Park, standing by and having been forced to eat a mouthful of "dog food," spat out a curse and couldn't help but urge them:

"I think you two came here today just to destroy my peace of mind! Come on, let's start."

Wen Liang pulled her hands away and went to stand by the camera to watch the small monitor. The decor of Boss Park’s shop was quite stylish; even if He Tianran didn't show his face, the background of the guitar wall looked far more professional than his previous videos.

A moment later, the guitar music, clear and transparent like falling water, poured out through the shop's speakers. He Tianran was always steady when he focused. As he played "Lovin' You," the music flowed like a babbling brook. The crispness of the harmonics, the neatness of the staccato notes, and the mastery of tempo—the entire piece was played without a single error.

"This kid’s 200,000 followers didn't come from nothing," Boss Park remarked with admiration. Wen Liang, leaning her chin on her clasped hands, gazed at the guitar-playing boy with sparkling eyes, clapping softly.

"Is this good?"

"When it comes to professional matters, I really have nothing to say to you..."

Hearing Boss Park’s response, He Tianran was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the fat man added, "Let's do it one more time."

"Why?"

"To get close-ups of your hands! You don't want the video footage to be monotonous, do you?"

"..."

And so, Boss Park adjusted the camera angle, and He Tianran had no choice but to play it again.

By the time this take finished, the sound amplified through the shop’s speakers had already attracted several customers who stopped to watch.

"Classmate Wen, are you ready?" Boss Park asked, seeing that the timing was perfect. Wen Liang tilted her head back, made a few "ah-ah-ah" vocal warm-up sounds, and gave an OK sign.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the girl sat down beside the boy. They nodded at each other, and the guitar music began once more.

The difference between fingerstyle guitar and accompaniment is that the former requires playing the melody, harmony, and rhythm simultaneously, while accompaniment only requires the rhythm, leaving the melody to the singer.

This was too simple for He Tianran, but the fact that it was his first collaboration with Wen Liang kept him highly focused.

After a short intro, Wen Liang’s ethereal, crystalline voice emerged:

*Loving you is easy cause you're beautiful*
*Making love with you is all I wanna do*
*Loving you is more than just a dream come true*
*And everything that I do is out of loving you*
*……*

Even though He Tianran had heard Wen Liang sing on the school stage a few times before, he was still captivated by her highly recognizable timbre and the complex emotions woven into her voice. Especially the elfin-like, continuous single-syllable chants in the song—they were so melodious and beautiful that they were truly refreshing.

The girl’s singing echoed throughout the mall. More customers gathered in the guitar shop. They watched the man and woman in front of the camera, and when the song ended, they broke into applause.

Wen Liang handled the situation with composure, nodding graciously to the crowd. He Tianran finally realized why Boss Park had connected the microphone to external speakers—he and Wen Liang were performing a free commercial gig for him!

"Can we request a song? We'll pay!"

"Yeah, is the young lady livestreaming? Which platform? I'll send you a rocket."

Most of the customers who entered the shop had been drawn in by the singing. Seeing that the crowd wasn't too large yet, a few people boldly made requests. After all, with livestreaming being so popular, most people were used to these situations.

He Tianran glared at Boss Park with a murderous look, but the guy just whistled with a thick skin, pretending not to see.

"Shall we continue?" Wen Liang leaned over and whispered to He Tianran.

It was a good suggestion for him—filming the video while also practicing his stage fright—but time waited for no one!

"Wen Liang, Tianran, why are you two here?"

Just as the boy was caught in a dilemma, a familiar figure appeared in the crowd.

Xue Yong!

He wore an expression of surprise that was perhaps a bit too exaggerated, but even so, He Tianran almost knelt down to call him a savior!

The appearance of this unexpected guest stunned Wen Liang. He Tianran took the opportunity to put down his guitar and walked over to him, pretending to chat. While no one was looking, he whispered, "Brother, I can only help you this much..."

Xue Yong blinked, his eyes full of gratitude.

He had regretted not being able to talk to Wen Liang during late-night snacks yesterday, but to his surprise, he had received a WeChat message from He Tianran after getting home, asking if he wanted to meet Wen Liang today.

For him, was that even a question?

This junior of his... he was a true brother!

He Tianran kept his composure. A second later, a look of pain crossed his face. He clutched his stomach and said to Boss Park, "I need to use the restroom. Boss, take my place. Remember to collect money for requests—we’re not working for free!"

The fat boss, who had been complaining about the first part, beamed with joy at the second half and nodded eagerly.

Then, the boy gave Wen Liang a final instruction: "That barbecue yesterday wasn't clean; I'll be back in a moment..."

Wen Liang looked at him with some confusion, but before she could speak, Boss Park had already sat in He Tianran’s seat, picked up the guitar, and said, "Haha, well, Classmate Wen, do you happen to know how to sing... 'Renai Circulation'?"

...

He Tianran stood by the railing not far from the guitar shop. It was now 11:43 AM. Although Xue Yong was ten minutes late, it wasn't too late. With him and Boss Park stalling Wen Liang, the girl wouldn't be able to spare any attention for him for a while.

Besides, Xue Yong wouldn't want to leave too early, so he would surely pull out all the stops to find excuses to stay. As for how to handle Wen Liang, that would depend on his own skills.

He was currently on the second floor, and the Thai restaurant where he had arranged to meet Cao Aiqing was on the third. If he went up now to prepare, the timing would be just right.

Wen Liang’s singing drifted from the guitar shop again. This time, the style had shifted to something sweet and soft. When He Tianran heard it was indeed "Renai Circulation," he almost laughed out loud. He hadn't expected Wen Liang to be able to sing that song too—she really was a little jukebox.

Just as he was smiling, a beautiful figure suddenly appeared at the mall entrance within his line of sight.

Cao Aiqing?

Why did she arrive early?

He watched the girl ignore the brand boutiques on the first floor and calmly step onto the escalator. She looked around, and finally, seemingly drawn by the singing, she turned to look toward his direction.

He Tianran crouched down, his pupils constricting sharply.

If Cao Aiqing walked into the guitar shop out of curiosity like the other customers, then this time...

Wouldn't he be finished?

A crouching figure quickly darted into the second-floor public restroom amidst the surprised gazes of passersby.

He Tianran went to the innermost stall. He stood on the toilet seat and retrieved a backpack from a groove housing some LED strips.

He unzipped it to reveal another set of clothes inside.

He had specifically asked Wen Liang to pick out his outfit that morning so that she would have a deeper impression of him today.

But this set in the bag was one he had prepared before entering the mall at ten o'clock. It was a completely different style from what he was currently wearing. If one only looked at his back, it would be difficult to tell it was the same person!