Chapter 48: Orange Music

Jiang Ning ultimately declined Liao Liao’s invitation.

She didn’t even agree to the promise of making it to at least the second tier in the entertainment industry within three years.

It was clear just how wary Jiang Ning was of the murky waters in showbiz.

However, she didn’t completely shut the door on the idea—she simply said that before graduating from high school, she wouldn’t consider anything else.

And honestly, that made sense.

A high school student’s primary job was to study hard and take the college entrance exam in the best possible state.

So, Jiang Ning quickly put the matter of selling songs behind her, immersing herself fully in the vast ocean of knowledge.

But after just one day, she was already drowning in a sea of test papers.

Looking at the towering pile of papers in front of her…

And then glancing at her classmates, all scribbling away furiously…

Jiang Ning felt her brain throb. She let out a light sigh before bowing her head and joining the ranks of these problem-solving machines.

At noon, during lunch break, Jiang Ning asked Yang Mei’s supervisor for a two-hour leave.

She had promised to be back in class before the afternoon session, so she left school in a hurry.

Today was the first day of her scheduled song revision with Liao Liao.

For the next week, she would need to take two hours off at noon every day.

Fortunately, she had already made a deal with Yang Mei’s supervisor. Otherwise, getting this leave approved would have been a real headache.

After leaving the school, Jiang Ning followed her memory and arrived at the entrance of a store called Orange Music.

Upon entering, she saw that the first floor was filled with musical instruments—from pianos to saxophones, from violins to horsehead fiddles.

It seemed like anything available on the market could be found here.

At that moment, a twin-tailed girl suddenly popped her head out from a pile of instruments. She stared at Jiang Ning with wide, curious eyes.

“Hello, may I help you?”

“I’m here to meet Sister Liao Liao…”

“Sister Liao Liao? Oh! Follow me.”

Upon hearing the name, the twin-tailed girl immediately climbed out of the instrument pile. She dusted off her JK-style skirt and quickly led the way into the store.

Jiang Ning followed her through a long corridor until they arrived in front of a thick, heavy door.

As soon as the door was pushed open, a blast of loud, jarring music hit Jiang Ning’s ears, making her instinctively frown.

But as soon as the twin-tailed girl stepped inside, the noise abruptly stopped.

When Jiang Ning followed in, the first thing she saw was Liao Liao sitting in a chair, covering her ears with both hands, looking utterly defeated.

At the same time, she noticed another person in the room—a trendy boy with silver-gray hair, dark eye shadow, and a lip piercing.

The boy was holding an electric bass, his face brimming with excitement and anticipation as he looked at Liao Liao.

“Liao Boss! So, how many stars is my new song worth?”

Liao Liao clearly had no intention of answering.

She massaged her temples, glanced at the bewildered Jiang Ning, and smiled weakly.

“You’re here?”

“Do you want to take a break first?”

Hearing this, Jiang Ning looked at the exhausted Liao Liao, smiled, and said,

“No need, let’s start right away. I still have class this afternoon.”

“Alright.”

With that, Liao Liao turned to the trendy boy, took a deep breath, and ordered:

“Orange Peel, get yourself into the recording booth. Now.”

“But Liao Boss! You haven’t even rated my—okay, okay, I’m going!”

Sensing the murderous intent in Liao Liao’s eyes, the trendy boy immediately fled.

Watching his retreating back, Liao Liao shook her head helplessly and introduced him to Jiang Ning.

“My middle school classmate, Liu Ming. Also in the music scene. Though he’s really good at post-production, he insists on trying to write songs.”

“If he could actually write good songs, that’d be fine, but…”

She sighed.

Then, she pointed to the twin-tailed girl beside her.

“This is Tang Tu, a recent graduate of Haicheng Music Academy. She specializes in percussion and has an exceptional sense of rhythm.”

Another musician.

Jiang Ning politely shook hands with her.

Hmm.

No doubt about it—percussionists had strong hands.

Jiang Ning subtly massaged her palm.

At that moment, Tang Tu handed over a guitar from who-knows-where.

“Jiang Ning, I heard from Sister Liao that you have an amazing voice, and your songwriting skills are top-notch.”

“Oh, not at all…” Jiang Ning modestly replied while accepting the guitar.

The moment she held it, she noticed the difference—both the feel and the sound quality were leagues above the guitar she had used in the hotel.

As expected from professionals.

After a few words of admiration, Jiang Ning began her first recording session under Liao Liao’s guidance.

This time, her performance was even better than when she had sung on the hotel stage.

Especially in terms of breath control and tone precision.

So, when she finished the song and returned to the recording room, she was met with three pairs of eyes, each carrying a different emotion.

The trendy boy looked complicated.

Tang Tu’s eyes were filled with admiration.

And Liao Liao—pure delight.

“Well? How was it?”

“What do you mean ‘how was it’? It was amazing!” Tang Tu didn’t hold back her praise.

Her big eyes sparkled as she stared at Jiang Ning.

“Was it really that good?”

Jiang Ning, feeling a little embarrassed from the compliment, put on the headphones and listened to her own playback.

Oh.

She had to admit…

It really did have a special charm.

At this moment, Liao Liao brought up the same question again.

“Jiang Ning, are you really not going to reconsider my offer?”

Offer?

Jiang Ning immediately understood what she meant.

She grinned.

“I refuse.”

Even though she had expected rejection, Liao Liao still looked a little disappointed.

But that didn’t affect their efficiency.

For the next hour, Jiang Ning worked with Liu Ming and the others to refine the song.

Time flew by.

It wasn’t until an assistant brought over some milk tea that Jiang Ning remembered she still had class in the afternoon.

She quickly said her goodbyes and dashed back to school.

Just in time for the first period—biology.

As she walked in, she saw their biology teacher, Auntie Huang, drawing a giant paramecium on the blackboard, meticulously labeling every single cilium.

Jiang Ning sighed in relief.

Good thing human anatomy was covered in middle school.

Otherwise, knowing Auntie Huang’s personality, she might’ve brought in an actual cadaver for a live demonstration.

Jiang Ning returned to her seat.

“Jiang Jiang, where did you go during lunch?”

“Had something to take care of.” Seeing Luo Shanshan looking all mysterious, Jiang Ning couldn’t help but ask,

“What’s up?”

“Someone confessed to Sun Qian.”

Hearing that, Jiang Ning’s gossip radar immediately activated.

She glanced over at Sun Qian—the class social butterfly—who was staring blankly into space.

She leaned in toward Luo Shanshan.

“Who? So bold?”

“Li Haoyang from Class 7. He’s got an amazing physique—six-pack abs!”

As she spoke, Luo Shanshan’s eyes sparkled with admiration, her expression that of a total fangirl.

Jiang Ning was speechless.

Back in the day, I had six-pack abs too.

Why didn’t I ever attract fangirls?

Sigh.

A global mystery.

“And? What happened?”

“Sun Qian rejected him.”

“Huh?”

That actually caught Jiang Ning off guard.