The headquarters of Shengyue Culture was located in an office building three streets west of Lujiazui in the Magic City. It wasn't particularly eye-catching, but everyone in the industry knew the place.

When Lu Zhixian arrived downstairs, Lin Shiya's manager, Sister Chen, was already waiting in the lobby.

A woman in her early thirties with short hair and a sharply tailored suit jacket, she saw him come through the revolving door and went to meet him.

“Teacher Lu, Shiya is waiting for you upstairs. Come with me.”

“Sister Chen, please don't call me 'teacher.' It makes me sound quite old.”

Sister Chen gave a short laugh but didn't respond, leading him into the elevator.

On the seventeenth floor, at the end of the corridor, was Shengyue Culture's professional recording studio. The door was slightly ajar, and the faint sound of a piano drifted out.

Sister Chen pushed the door open.

Lin Shiya was sitting on the sofa in the outer room of the studio. A stack of printed papers was spread out on the coffee table in front of her, and a cup of barely touched coffee sat at her hand.

Hearing the door, she looked up.

“Quite punctual.”

“The high-speed rail was punctual, so I followed suit.” Lu Zhixian tossed his backpack to the side and found a seat for himself.

Sister Chen poured him a glass of water, then retreated to one side to sit and pulled out a tablet to handle some work.

Lu Zhixian scanned the papers on the coffee table. It was a tracklist with eleven song titles listed. The seventh line was blank, with a question mark drawn next to it in red pen.

Lin Shiya followed his gaze, offered no explanation, and simply reached out to flip the stack of papers over.

“Where's the song?”

“What's the rush? Let's talk business first.”

Lin Shiya leaned back against the sofa and took a sip of her coffee.

“How do we calculate the split?”

Lu Zhixian raised an eyebrow.

Lin Shiya continued, “This song is a duet. You handle the lyrics, composition, and vocals, while I'll handle the vocals and distribution. The copyright for the lyrics and music belongs to you—there's no issue there. But this song will be included in my new album next month, so we need to be clear about the distribution revenue.”

“Give me a proposal.”

“One hundred percent of the songwriting copyright belongs to you. Vocal performance earnings will be a fifty-fifty split. Streaming revenue generated by this song within the album distribution will also be settled proportionally at fifty-fifty.”

Lu Zhixian thought for two seconds.

“Fine.”

Lin Shiya was stunned for a moment.

“You're not going to bargain?”

“What's there to bargain for? Fifty-fifty is quite fair. It's your album, your channels, and your fan base. Taking half is already a good deal for me.”

Sister Chen looked up from behind her tablet and glanced at Lu Zhixian.

Having been in this industry for so long, she had seen too many cases where bickering over the split led to a collaboration falling through.

Lu Zhixian's straightforwardness was a rarity in the circle.

Lin Shiya said nothing more, turning to glance at Sister Chen.

Sister Chen nodded, indicating she would follow up on the contract.

“Alright, business is over.” Lin Shiya set down her coffee cup and clasped her hands over her knees. “The song—take it out.”

Lu Zhixian pulled his phone from his pocket, found the demo for "the rose in the palm," and handed it over.

“Listen with headphones.”

Lin Shiya took the phone, fished a pair of monitor headphones out of the coffee table drawer, plugged them in, and pressed play.

The outer room of the recording studio fell silent.

Sister Chen secretly observed Lin Shiya's expression.

About ten seconds into the intro, Lin Shiya's finger lightly tapped her knee.

This was a habitual movement she made when she heard a melody she liked. Sister Chen, who had been with her for several years, was all too familiar with it.

When the verse started, the vocals in the demo were system-synthesized guide tracks, with the male and female voices following their respective parts.

Lin Shiya's finger stopped.

She tilted her head slightly, as if pondering something.

As soon as the chorus hit, her finger started tapping again, at a faster rhythm than before.

The song lasted over four minutes. After Lin Shiya finished listening, she didn't take off the headphones; she simply played it again from the beginning.

After the second listen, she took off the headphones and handed the phone back to Lu Zhixian.

“That part in the female chorus where it transitions to falsetto—did you write it like that on purpose?”

“Yes. Your falsetto transition point is higher than most female singers. This position allows you to switch back and forth between chest voice and falsetto, which will sound very captivating.”

Lin Shiya looked at him for a few seconds without speaking.

Sister Chen couldn't help herself from the side. “Shiya, how is it?”

“Very suitable.”

Just two words, but coming from Lin Shiya's mouth, they carried significant weight.

She was notoriously picky; every song in her albums had to go through several rounds of screening. Those she called 'very suitable' could be counted on one hand.

“Then, into the booth?” Lu Zhixian stood up and stretched his wrists.

“Don't you want to rest? You just got off the train.”

“I spent five and a half hours sitting down. If I rest any more, I'll start to rust.”

Lin Shiya didn't try to persuade him further. She stood up and pushed open the door to the inner recording room.

The recording studio was a high-priced renovation by Shengyue Culture; the soundproofing and acoustic treatment were top-tier.

Lu Zhixian scanned the equipment inside and nodded.

“Where's your recording engineer?”

“On standby next door. I'll call him over.” Sister Chen left as soon as she finished speaking.

Taking advantage of the gap, Lu Zhixian transferred the arrangement files to the studio workstation and pulled them up to check each track.

The recording engineer was a tall, thin man in his thirties named Fang. He wore round-rimmed glasses. After entering, he shook hands with Lu Zhixian and then skillfully sat down behind the mixing console.

“Who are we recording first?” Engineer Fang asked.

Lu Zhixian glanced at Lin Shiya.

“Record mine first. She can listen to how the finished male vocal part feels to get into the right state.”

Lin Shiya didn't object. She sat down at the monitoring station in the outer room and put on her headphones.

Lu Zhixian entered the recording room, adjusted the microphone height, and put on his in-ear monitors.

“Let's go.”

The arrangement began. After the intro, Lu Zhixian started to sing.

“The tears overflowing from your eyes...”

“The passengers are despair and heartbreak...”

“I can see you holding back the sorrow...”

One take.

Engineer Fang gave him a thumbs up from outside.

Lin Shiya took off her headphones, walked to the mixing console, and leaned down to whisper something in Engineer Fang's ear.

Engineer Fang nodded and played back the track they just recorded.

Lu Zhixian came out of the recording room and took a sip of water.

“How was it?”

“In the second verse, the line 'the forever you spoke of'—you added a slight vocal fry at the end of your breath. Was that intentional?”

“Is your ear a radar?” Lu Zhixian smiled.

“Yes, it was intentional. The emotion of the lyrics at that point is hesitation. Ending it cleanly wouldn't have felt right.”

Lin Shiya nodded and turned to walk into the recording room.

She stood in front of the microphone, took a deep breath, and signaled that she was ready.

“The unique warmth in your gaze...”

“Is a tomorrow that will never go out...”

“I can feel...”

But after Lu Zhixian finished listening, he shook his head.

He pressed the talkback button.

“Shiya, you're singing the chorus too 'full'.”

Inside the recording room, Lin Shiya looked up at him through the glass window.

“This part actually doesn't need that much power. Pull back a bit and leave about thirty percent empty space to let the listener fill in that emotion themselves. The more you pack it to the brim, the less the audience feels like they can participate.”

Lin Shiya thought for a few seconds.

“Again.”

On the second take, when she reached that part, she indeed pulled back.

The voice was lighter, but the emotion didn't drop; instead, it gained an indescribable layer of depth.

By the third take, after adjusting the falsetto transition, the connection of the entire bridge became more than a level smoother.

Engineer Fang sat behind the console, swallowing hard as he listened. Having worked with Lin Shiya for three years, he knew the level of this minor diva all too well.

To be able to point out specific directions for improvement on this basis—and for every suggestion to have an immediate, visible effect—this man truly knew his stuff.

The rest of the recording session went much more smoothly than expected.

Lin Shiya's ability to learn and adapt was extremely strong; she could basically digest Lu Zhixian's suggestions in one or two takes.

On the occasional spot where they disagreed, Lin Shiya would directly state her thoughts. If Lu Zhixian found them reasonable, he would adopt them; if not, he explained why without any ambiguity.

The working rhythm between the two was very tight. They only rested twice, for no more than ten minutes each time.

By 5:30 PM, all the main sections of the female vocals were recorded.

Sister Chen had gone out halfway to buy food. When she returned, she found the two of them still in the studio working on the duet parts. The lunch boxes sat in the outer room, completely cold and untouched.

Recording the duet part was more complex than the solos. The two vocal lines had to intertwine within the same frequency range without clashing.

Lu Zhixian re-entered the recording room and stood with Lin Shiya in front of two microphones.

“In the chorus duet, stay slightly behind me. I'll take the main melody while you take the high harmony. We'll converge on the final line.”

Lin Shiya adjusted the volume of her monitors. “Understood.”

The accompaniment started, and both opened their mouths at the same time.

“the rose in the palm”

“Stung without realizing”

“You deserve to be cherished”

“You understand my expectations”

“Withered after brilliance”

“After several cycles of the moon”

“I (You) am here”

The effect of the first take of the duet made Engineer Fang sit bolt upright in his chair.

Sister Chen stood in the outer room holding the cold lunch boxes, her mouth slightly agape, forgetting what she was supposed to be doing.

One take was all it took.

Engineer Fang played it back once to confirm, then turned to Lu Zhixian with a complicated expression.

“Teacher Lu, this duet... don't we need another take as a backup?”

“Do you think we need one?”

Engineer Fang shook his head. No. This one was the best.