dognovel Chapter 315 So what if you're up there?
Chapter 315 So what if you're up there?
The next morning, Lu Ran, for the first time ever, didn't set an alarm clock.
He was awakened by the sunlight.
The early winter sun was low in the sky, and its rays squeezed in through the gaps in the curtains, falling directly on his face.
He squinted and rolled over, the heavy cast on his right leg a reminder that he was still injured.
The phone screen lit up; it was a message from Shen Yuege.
Are you awake? Breakfast is ready.
Lu Ran replied with a "Coming Soon" emoji, then struggled to sit up in bed.
My right leg is much better than last week; at least it doesn't hurt as much when I lift it up.
He slowly moved to the bedside, put on his slippers, stood up while holding onto the wall, and limped a few steps.
As they reached the door, Shen Yuege pushed it open and came in.
"You didn't ask anyone to help you." She quickly walked over and took his arm.
"I can walk by myself."
"You can walk, but what if you fall?" Without waiting for a reply, Shen Yuege put his arm on her shoulder and supported his waist with her other hand, steadily leading him towards the restaurant.
Breakfast was laid out on the table: millet porridge, fried dumplings, cold black fungus salad, and a dish of pickled cucumbers.
Lu Ran sat down, picked up a fried dumpling, took a bite, and found the outer skin crispy and the filling delicious.
He couldn't help but add, "Aren't you going to the studio today?"
"I'm not going today." Shen Yuege sat down opposite him and handed him a folded piece of paper. "Didn't you say you wanted to write songs together? I wrote down the melodies I had memorized before. Take a look."
Lu Ran took the paper and unfolded it.
The paper was written in simplified musical notation; the handwriting wasn't particularly beautiful, but it was very neat.
He followed the sheet music, his fingers tapping lightly on the table to keep the rhythm.
He paused for a moment when he hummed the third line.
The more he looked at the melody, the more familiar it seemed.
It was a very clear, almost certain sense of familiarity.
He put down his chopsticks, brought the paper closer, and hummed it again.
That's right.
This is the melody of "A Little Sweet".
Although it only has a few short lines and is just a melody fragment without lyrics or arrangement, the way those notes are combined and the light, bouncy feeling are almost exactly the same as "A Little Sweet" from my previous life.
"What's wrong?" Shen Yuege noticed his expression and nervously leaned closer to take a look. "Is it poorly written?"
"It's not that it's bad." Lu Ran looked up at her. "Did you hum that yourself?"
"Yes," Shen Yuege nodded, "It's just a melody that came to mind before, so I wrote it down. What do you think?"
Lu Ran didn't answer immediately, but instead hummed the melody again.
He was actually aware of Shen Yuege's creative abilities.
As a singer, she is certainly not completely incapable of songwriting, but her songwriting ability is indeed significantly inferior to her singing ability.
He had heard her hum some fragmented melodies before, most of which were just average and nothing particularly outstanding.
But this part is different.
The quality of this section is clearly a level higher than the ones she hummed before.
"Yuege," Lu Ran put down the paper and looked at her intently, "this melody is very good."
Shen Yuege was stunned for a moment: "Really?"
"Really," Lu Ran said, "I'm not just trying to comfort you, it really is great. Listen here—"
He pointed to a few notes on the sheet music and hummed them softly.
"This direction is very comfortable. It's not an abrupt turn, but rather a natural progression. The pacing here is also very interesting. Most people would pause here, but you just move on directly, which makes it even more enjoyable."
Shen Yuege's eyes slowly lit up as she listened to Lu Ran's praise.
She could tell that Lu Ran's tone of praise was full of sincerity.
"You mean...this melody can be used?"
"Of course I can use it," Lu Ran laughed. "And I've already figured out how to make it up."
He stood up and limped toward the study.
Shen Yuege quickly followed and helped him up.
"Slow down, what's the rush?"
"I'm in a hurry," Lu Ran said. "I can't wait to turn this melody into a complete song."
He then turned to look at Shen Yuege and said affectionately, "My Yuege, you're wonderful."
Shen Yuege blushed slightly at this sudden remark and lowered her head to support him.
There was no response, only shyness.
In the study, Lu Ran sat down in front of the computer and opened the music production software.
Shen Yuege moved a chair and sat down next to him, still holding the piece of paper with the sheet music written on it.
"Let's settle on a melody first," Lu Ran said. "Those few lines you hummed can be the chorus; they sound pretty complete to me. Should I write the verses for you, or do you want me to come up with the ideas?"
Shen Yuege thought for a moment: "I want to give it a try. But I'm not sure if I can write it well."
"Let's give it a try." Lu Ran brought up the virtual piano in the software, pressed a few notes, and said, "Hum the melody of a verse first, just hum whatever you want, don't think too much about it."
Shen Yuege hesitated for a moment, then began to hum softly.
Her voice was very soft, as if she was testing the waters. After humming a few notes, she paused and looked at Lu Ran's expression.
Lu Ran didn't interrupt her, but listened quietly, his fingers tapping lightly on the keyboard.
She hummed a few more lines, this time more fluently than before, but then got stuck at a certain point.
"This part isn't going well," she said, pointing to a section of the score. "I want to go up, but it just doesn't feel right."
Lu Ran took the pen from her hand, drew a few notes on the sheet music, then turned up the volume of the virtual piano and pressed those notes.
"Is this okay?"
After listening, Shen Yuege nodded: "This is good. Better than I thought."
"Then it's settled." Lu Ran recorded those few notes into the software. "You can continue humming the rest."
And so, the two of them went through the process, one sentence at a time.
Shen Yuege hummed a passage, and Lu Ran helped her write it down. Sometimes he would use it directly, and sometimes he would adjust one or two notes slightly.
If she encounters a problem she really can't figure out, Lu Ran will give her a few options to choose from before she can continue.
Throughout the entire process, Lu Ran focused on Shen Yuege.
He wasn't in a hurry to write the whole song, but instead let Shen Yuege think about it and try it out on her own.
When she got stuck, he guided her. When she was unsure, he helped her make the decision.
But all the melodies originated from her.
This gave Shen Yuege an unprecedented sense of participation.
In the past, when she sang songs written by Lu Ran, all she had to do was sing.
The melody is ready-made, the lyrics are ready-made, the arrangement is ready-made; all she has to do is sing those ready-made things well.
That is certainly a form of creation, but such creation has its limits.
Today is different.
Every note she plays today comes from her mind.
Lu Ran simply helped her water, fertilize, and prune the branches, but the seeds were her own.
"Moon Song," Lu Ran suddenly spoke up, "have you considered adding a duet part to this chorus?"
Shen Yuege was taken aback: "A duet?"
"Hmm." Lu Ran pointed to the melody line on the screen. "Look, this is the main melody you're singing. But wouldn't it be more interesting if we added a male harmony in these parts, with one singing in harmony with the other?"
Shen Yuege stared at the screen for a while, then hummed a tune.
She first hummed the main melody, and then tried adding a low-pitched harmony to the positions Lu Ran mentioned.
After humming, she paused for a moment, then turned to look at Lu Ran.
"It seems... to sound even better now."
"Right?" Lu Ran laughed. "This song was originally written for the two of us, it would be a waste not to sing it."
Shen Yuege looked at him, and couldn't help but smile: "You certainly know how to add drama to your life."
"This isn't adding extra scenes, it's a reasonable division of labor," Lu Ran said seriously. "You're responsible for making it sound good, and I'm responsible for making yours sound good."
Shen Yuege was amused by his words and gently patted his shoulder.
The two of them spent the entire morning in the study.
Shen Yue hummed the melody, and Lu Ran wrote down the score.
Shen Yuege came up with the lyrics, and Lu Ran helped her polish them.
For parts that Shen Yuege was unsure about, Lu Ran would write several versions for her to choose from.
By noon, the basic framework of the song had been finalized.
The melody was very similar to "A Little Sweet" in Lu Ran's memory, with only some minor changes.
Shen Yuege's version of the verses is a little more melodious than the original, and the chorus is also slightly slower, making it sound gentler overall.
The lyrics were also written by the two of them together.
Shen Yuege writes in a very direct and sincere style, without beating around the bush or playing tricks.
Lu Ran helped her adjust some wording to make the sentences flow better, but the overall feel was still that of Shen Yuege.
Lu Ran never expected that this song would be almost completely reproduced in this world in this form.
"Listen to this." Lu Ran played the sample he had made.
The melody played by the virtual instruments echoed in the study, with a light piano as the base and strings added in the chorus. It was not complicated, but very comfortable.
After listening, Shen Yuege remained silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Did I really write this song?"
"Of course you wrote it," Lu Ran said. "I just wrote down the score for you."
"But you clearly helped me change a lot of things."
"Changes are possible, but the source is still yours." Lu Ran looked at her. "Without those melodies you hummed, I couldn't have written anything. So this song is yours."
Shen Yuege lowered her head, her fingers gently stroking her knees.
After a while, she raised her head, her eyes were a little red, but she was smiling.
"Lu Ran".
"Um?"
"Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?"
"Thank you for making me realize that I can create music too." Her voice was a little hoarse. "I used to think that songwriting was something for songwriters like you, and that all I had to do was sing well. But today I realized that I can do it too."
Lu Ran looked at her and said seriously, "You could have done it. You just hadn't tried before."
Shen Yuege sniffed and smiled: "Then you have to let me try more often in the future."
"Of course." Lu Ran pointed to the computer screen. "We'll write this album together. You write half, I'll write half. No, you write 60%, I'll write 40%."
"You're just trying to fool me again."
"I'm not kidding you," Lu Ran said. "That melody you just wrote, I might not be able to write it. Everyone has their own strengths, and your strength is that kind of natural, sincere melody, unpretentious and genuine. That kind of thing can't be learned."
Shen Yuege looked at him, then suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"This is a reward for you." She said, then stood up and quickly walked out of the study. "I'll go cook; you can rest for a while."
"Just a kiss?" Lu Ran asked with ill intent, touching the cheek that had been kissed.
Shen Yuege rolled her eyes at him: "Then what else do you want to do?"
"Yes," Lu Ran answered reflexively.
Shen Yuege took a while to react, and suddenly her face turned red.
"With legs like that, you still won't behave." Shen Yuege pouted, feigning anger, and then went to the kitchen.
Looking at Shen Yuege's back, Lu Ran really wanted to say, "My legs are fine even like this."
"At worst, you can stay upstairs!"
...