My Wife is a Big Star

Chapter 48 - Initial Dream

Chen Ran had never studied singing, so there was no need to speak of his professionalism.

In order to sing out the song in his head completely, he carefully recorded it many times, mainly to avoid going out of tune.

He wasn't a singer himself, and his voice couldn't compare to a professional's; after singing it so many times, his voice was a bit hoarse.

When Chen Ran listened back, he felt somewhat dissatisfied, feeling as if he were a bit out of breath.

The verse part was fine, but once it reached the chorus, it felt a bit grating on the ears.

Although his voice didn't sound good, at least it wasn't out of tune!

Chen Ran felt his throat couldn't take any more singing, so he sent it over.

But sometimes when listening to a song, one doesn't necessarily need perfect singing technique to feel moved.

Just like Zhang Fanzhi—she had been in a bad mood lately, right at her lowest point.

She was even frequently lost in confusion, wondering whether she should continue singing at all.

When Chen Ran sang the first line of the lyrics, his unprofessional voice happened to pierce her heart.

"The initial dream, held tightly in hand..."

"The place I most want to go, how can I turn back halfway..."

"The initial dream, I will definitely reach it..."

"Only when a true longing is realized can it count as having been to heaven..."

During the chorus, the sound of the guitar was a bit loud; Chen Ran's throat was uncomfortable, so things like emotion had nothing to do with him, and his voice even cracked a bit.

In Zhang Fanzhi's ears, it was another feeling entirely.

It was like what some people say: if you record and auto-tune it in a studio, I won't feel anything; what I like is your two-hundred-yuan guitar and ten-yuan mic, shouting at the top of your lungs until your voice gives out.

At this time, it wasn't just simply listening to a song, but rather searching for resonance.

The recording was very short and finished playing in no time.

Zhang Fanzhi was momentarily dazed, then clicked to listen a second time.

"If dreams do not fall from the cliff at the critical moment..."

Zhang Fanzhi murmured this line of the lyrics and couldn't help but purse her lips.

Persistent people will possess invisible wings.

Is it talking about me?

For a song less than two minutes long, Zhang Fanzhi listened to it over and over again.

……

Chen Ran was waiting for Zhang Fanzhi to reply to his message.

As it turned out, after waiting for over half an hour, there wasn't the slightest bit of movement from that side.

He was a bit puzzled; could it be that she hadn't seen it?

Or was it because of what happened at noon, and she was still embarrassed?

We're on WeChat, for crying out loud!

After thinking it over, he still gave Zhang Fanzhi a call.

After it connected, Chen Ran asked, "Did you not see the WeChat message?"

Zhang Fanzhi was lost in thought, only then realizing that so much time had passed and she still hadn't replied to Chen Ran; she said,

"I'm still listening."

Chen Ran felt a bit embarrassed; for an ordinary person like him to sing for someone else truly felt a bit bashful.

"What do you think of this song?" Chen Ran asked.

"The song is very good." After Zhang Fanzhi spoke, she felt it wasn't certain enough, so she added, "It's extremely beautiful!"

She hesitated slightly. "You said this song... was written by you?"

Zhang Fanzhi came back to her senses, only then remembering that Chen Ran had said he wrote this song for her!

The melody and lyrics were both very unfamiliar; Zhang Fanzhi was a singer and also loved listening to music, so she had heard almost every hit song.

A song of this quality could not possibly be anonymous.

The fact that she hadn't heard it could only mean one thing: the song really might be an original by Chen Ran!

Truly, Zhang Fanzhi still refused to believe it.

Chen Ran's singing was quite poor, which wasn't surprising since he had never studied music.

But how could someone who hasn't studied music write a song, especially one with such high production value?!

Zhang Fanzhi had tried it herself, so she naturally knew how difficult songwriting was; writing a great song like this was even more difficult!

Chen Ran wasn't surprised that Zhang Fanzhi would be suspicious; if you were an ordinary PE teacher who solved a world-renowned problem and won a math prize, people would also doubt if you were really the one who solved it.

"I wrote it!" Chen Ran didn't hesitate; although he felt a bit guilty and even a bit shameless, being evasive was even more pointless.

There was no original author in this world; the song was in his mind, so writing it down counted as writing it, he supposed.

"But..." Zhang Fanzhi wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't; this kind of suspicion hurt people the most.

Chen Ran knew what she was worried about and smiled.

"Rest assured, I definitely wrote the song myself. I only wrote the lyrics; the melody is in my head. Since I don't know numbered musical notation, I couldn't record it. However, you definitely won't find a song with the same melody and lyrics in this world!"

Zhang Fanzhi felt slightly more at ease; based on her understanding of Chen Ran, he wouldn't joke about something like this.

Chen Ran asked, "I said that what you're lacking right now is a good song. What do you think of this one?"

Zhang Fanzhi thought about her feelings while listening to the song just now; this kind of inspirational song indeed provided strength when encountering a predicament like hers.

More importantly, both the lyrics and melody were top-tier. It was no exaggeration to say that this song was better than any she had sung before.

"You're really giving this song to me?" Zhang Fanzhi asked.

"I said it's for you, didn't I? Would I lie to you?" Chen Ran laughed.

"Actually, when I went to your house just now, I wanted to play it for you in person, but as it turned out..."

"Cough!"

Before Chen Ran could finish, he was interrupted by Zhang Fanzhi's cough.

When they were on the phone just now, she had been thinking entirely about the song, and Zhang Fanzhi had put that incident behind her. She hadn't expected Chen Ran to bring it up, leaving her a bit embarrassed and annoyed.

Chen Ran changed the subject and said, "The song doesn't have a score. I'm busy tomorrow. When I'm free, I'll go to your house, and then you can write out the notation. Can you do that?"

Zhang Fanzhi was a professional singer; transcribing the music by ear wasn't too difficult for her and could be done with some time. Taking Chen Ran's song like this made her feel uncomfortable, but she truly needed this song!

She thought for a moment and said, "Chen Ran, this song is indeed very, very good, and I also really, really need it. Once the song is written out, I will buy it!"

Chen Ran originally wanted to say that the song was meant for her and there was no need for the trouble of paying. But he could also hear the seriousness in Zhang Fanzhi's tone; their relationship hadn't reached the point where it was natural to just give a song away for free.

If he really insisted on not taking money, he felt Zhang Fanzhi wouldn't accept it; her temperament was quite stubborn.

"Alright, when I'm free another day, we'll get the score done first. As for the money and such, I don't know the market rates anyway, so you decide." Chen Ran adopted an air of "I trust you completely."

Zhang Fanzhi said seriously, "I won't let you lose out!"

Chen Ran didn't say anything; given his relationship with Uncle Zhang, it wasn't something that could be measured by one or two songs. When he thought about writing a song for her, he hadn't considered taking money at all.

If Zhang Fanzhi wanted to give it to him, he would take it; he happened to be quite short on cash right now.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Ran felt his throat was still a bit uncomfortable. It was only after drinking several cups of boiled water that he felt a bit better.

He had only sung for a short while and already felt like this; how did those stars who sang at the top of their lungs for one or two hours at concerts do it?

Meanwhile, at the Zhang residence, Zhang Fanzhi was clutching a phone, listening to it over and over again.

Suddenly, Zhang Fanzhi wrinkled her nose, feeling a bit vexed. She took out her phone and sent a WeChat message asking:

"What is the name of this song?"

Chen Ran replied almost instantly.

"Initial Dream!"

Zhang Fanzhi looked at these four words, her mind drifting slightly.