Chapter 47: Damn! It scared me so much my legs went weak

Night.

It grew deeper.

Zhang Jiali followed Zhou Yang into the recording studio again.

The recording studio was empty...

Only a few staff members yawned.

The lights in the lounge were dim.

Zhou Yang flipped through the song "Nine Daughters," his gaze gradually becoming stern!

"Forget everything Hu Zi told you. When singing this song, you must grasp one point: it is melancholy, ghastly, and unwilling..."

"Ah?"

"From now on, your name is not Zhang Jiali. You are Chu Renmei!"

"Ah?"

Under the dim lights.

Zhou Yang stared at Zhang Jiali, his expression growing stern: "You are a famous Cantonese opera singer, born in a small mountain village at the end of the Republic of China era. You had a lover, but your marriage was arranged by parents and matchmakers. In that feudal era, you had no choice but to be forced to marry your current husband, the village teacher Bu Wantian..."

"A marriage without love is despair, but you, who strictly observed the rites, did not do anything out of line. You always diligently managed this household, regarding your husband as heaven..."

"You thought this life would just pass by in an ordinary way, but no one expected your husband to secretly contract the bad habit of smoking opium..."

"Even now, if someone in the family goes astray, it can still ruin a family financially, let alone a mountain household..."

"That day, your husband owed a huge sum he could not repay and even knelt before you, begging you to use your body to pay off the debt..."

"..."

In the lounge.

Zhou Yang, in a suit and leather shoes, used a unique, heavy voice to tell her the story of "Chu Renmei."

Listening, Zhang Jiali momentarily felt dazed.

A few days ago, her parents back home had called her.

In the call, there was no concern for her well-being, nor any other warmth; instead, there was a barrage of scolding, cursing her for why her wages had not been remitted yet.

She held back her tears and tried to explain, but her parents did not listen at all; instead, they urged her to return home to get married...

"He is generous..."

"He is willing to pay three cows and a lot of betrothal gifts..."

"We have already accepted them. When you return, you will live with him..."

"..."

In the call, her parents' voices were always so irresistible.

In a few words, they sold her for three cows to a forty-year-old cattle farmer with a limp in the neighboring village.

She pleaded endlessly over the phone...

Saying she could earn much, much more money, that she would remit more money over, as long as they did not make her marry...

She knew very well that the cattle farmer would beat women; his first wife had been beaten away...

However, her bitter pleas were of no use at all; instead, they earned her a fit of hysterical cursing...

"Money-losing goods," "What did we raise you for?", "Ungrateful wolf," "Are you in such a hurry to cut off relations with us?"

Such ugly words all pierced her heart...

"You feel like a commodity, something that can be sold at any time..."

"But..."

"Looking at your husband on the ground, in agony and constantly repenting..."

"What choice do you have?"

"Your heart softened, and you finally agreed to this request in humiliation..."

"Just as you closed your eyes, preparing to open the door and face this humiliation, you were suddenly caught in the act by the villagers..."

"Countless accusations and curses trampled you underfoot..."

"But to preserve your husband's family reputation of generations of scholarly tradition and a life of integrity, you finally admitted to the crime of adultery..."

"And then..."

"You were beaten by fierce villagers, tortured by people, and had stones thrown at your head. The pain made you faint several times... The filthy cursing in your ears subjected you to the greatest malice and insult in this world... Almost everyone hated and resented you..."

"But you never resisted, thinking of your husband, thinking that you absolutely could not say a word... In the end, you were beaten to death by stones and your body was thrown into the wilderness..."

"..."

"You did not regret it. Your only belief was your husband's love. Until death, you told yourself that your husband loved you, and everything was just an inevitability under the manipulation of fate..."

"But..."

"Just as you were about to rest, the child you raised from a young age cried out and told you the truth..."

"All of this was your husband's conspiracy. He met the daughter of the No. 1 bank in Guangzhou, and to marry the wealthy young lady, he even set up a trap of adultery to harm you..."

"The so-called deep affection was all a scam..."

"From beginning to end, you were the only one performing a one-person play..."

"..."

In the lounge.

Zhou Yang's voice was like a knife, stabbing fiercely into Zhang Jiali's chest.

Listening, Zhang Jiali's tears flowed uncontrollably.

In the end, she trembled all over, sobbing until she could not speak.

Remembering the phone call from a few days ago...

Remembering all these years...

Remembering how desperately she had once strived to be seen, only to be cast into a corner like a commodity, like a money-making tool, with no one caring...

Sadness, distress, anger, unwillingness, resentment!

Her name is not Chu Renmei...

But...

Who can know she isn't the next Chu Renmei?

Inside the recording studio.

Zhou Yang finished the story, looking at Zhang Jiali squatting on the floor.

At this very moment, Zhang Jiali was already in tears.

Zhou Yang did not hand her a tissue; instead, he glanced at the time...

Immediately after.

"Remember this emotion!"

"Don't think about singing techniques, nor about how your voice is or isn't..."

"You only need to remember this emotion, and deeply imprint it into the depths of your heart..."

"Alright!"

"Go in and record the song!"

"Here are the lyrics!"

"..."

"The same melody..."

"I slightly modified the lyrics!"

Zhang Jiali took the manuscript.

Immediately after...

Looking at a section of lyrics.

【He is in a place of joy, I am in a moment of heartbreak】

【Only the moon knows my aggrieved mood; meeting is hard, parting is easy】

【The abandoned woman now regrets too late; do you remember when we were like the phoenixes, happily matching?】

【...】

After reading the lyrics.

Zhang Jiali nodded.

Then, lowering her head, she silently walked into the recording studio.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready!"

"Then shall we begin?"

"Good!"

Night had deepened.

Inside the recording studio.

Chen Feng, serving as both sound engineer and recording engineer, yawned and nodded at Zhang Jiali inside.

Then...

He adjusted the sound, put on his headphones, and began recording for the client as usual.

Drowsy, he yawned again, then immediately turned around, picked up a drink from the desk, and took a sip.

Just at that moment, the clock struck midnight.

He glanced at the time...

And yawned again...

Just at that moment.

A strange singing style suddenly reached his ears...

The next second...

His pupils contracted!

3:00 AM.

Recording studio.

The sound engineer Chen Feng, trembling as he walked out of the recording studio, pulled out his phone with shaking hands.

"Boss, I, I, I... can you come pick me up... in the future, in the future, don't call me for midnight shifts..."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I, I, I... damn it, my legs are a bit weak..."

"???"

(There is a song called "Rebirth of the Ghostly Union"; do not search for it if you are timid. The general concept of songs like "Nine Daughters" is based on this...)