Chapter 51: The Solar Project

Zhuang Menghua is known for her decisive and efficient work style. Even before the summer heat had fully arrived, she had already brought good news to Li Sishi.

However, even with Zhuang Menghua's connections and the good impression Li Sishi had made on Le Yun before, this apprenticeship was still just "apprenticeship" and had not yet reached the stage of formally "becoming an apprentice".

Facing Lu Yiting's gaze, Li Sishi stood up straight with confidence: "I will try my best to successfully become an apprentice!"

She chose Le Yun as her master not only because she remembered that Le Yun would be working with a director who shared the same name as him to produce a romantic love story about mermaids next year, but also because in her previous life, when she was building her exposure in the music industry, Le Yun greatly admired her talent and had once intended to take her on as his apprentice.

Unfortunately, in her previous life, Zhuang Menghua didn't want to spend too much effort on the resource-poor record company. Therefore, after graduating from the performing arts training class, Li Sishi returned to the film and television industry, where Zhuang Menghua held great power, and did not really develop her career in the music scene.

Now that Zhuang Menghua has acquired a batch of song resources through Li Sishi, she is more thoughtful than in her previous life, allowing Li Sishi to use these almost free resources for her own purposes.

While daily professional learning can be guided by professional teachers, "learning" in the music industry requires guidance from people in the industry, preferably big shots. Le Yun, known as the "Singing Saint" and "Great Demon," is the music industry mentor that Li Sishi currently considers the most suitable and favorite.

Moreover, if he could really become Le Yun's disciple, it would be equivalent to fulfilling a regret from his previous life.

Li Sishi thought to herself as she was being led to a master to learn martial arts.

Le Yun's residence is not far from where Li Sishi currently lives. It seems that Lu Yiting had informed him in advance, as he personally came to open the door to welcome her shortly after she rang the doorbell.

"You're here, please come in." When Le Yun isn't on stage, you rarely see his kingly demeanor as a "singing saint" or his alluring charm as a "demon." At first glance, he looks more like a kind and gentle uncle.

"Hello, Le Ji." Li Sishi greeted him obediently, which made Le Yun, who had long been thinking about her as his future apprentice, smile even more.

As Lu Yiting led Li Sishi into the living room, she also explained the situation to Le Yun. When she saw Cheng Erjian sitting on the sofa in Le Yun's living room, she smiled and nodded as a greeting.

Given Lu Yiting's status as a close confidante of Miss Zhuang, this way of greeting was not considered impolite to Cheng Erjian, who had only recently risen to the position of a TV actor.

"You two know each other?"

Le Yun noticed the subtle atmosphere between her apprentice and Li Sishi as they waved to each other.

"I'm good friends with Ah May's cousin." Cheng Erjian took the initiative to explain how the two met and how things developed, which made Le Yun laugh and say that the two were quite destined for each other.

Compared to Le Yun's hearty laughter, Lu Yiting was much more cautious: Cheng Erjian's recent performance and appearance have greatly pleased Zhao Jueshi, and it is rumored that he plans to promote him to the position of the leading male role in TV dramas, in order to succeed him as one of the previous "Five Tigers".

A handsome guy of similar age who is popular with young girls, and who is also good friends with Li Sishi's cousin... all these factors combined make him very attractive to young, naive girls!

It's not fair to say Lu Yiting is overly cautious; it's just that Huang Qianyan's incident left her with quite a bit of trauma, and she's afraid that her only promising protégé will be affected—Huang Qianyan had previously met with Li Sishi for a talk, and what if that love-struck mindset got to her? Would Li Sishi still be able to work hard in her career then?!

Upon thinking of this, Lu Yiting immediately became extremely attentive, keeping a close eye on Li Sishi's learning progress.

“You are very talented, but talent doesn’t mean everything. On the contrary, the more talented a person is, the harder they need to work.”

After listening to Li Sishi's rehearsal, Le Yun first affirmed her talent, and then began to teach her from the aspects of vocal techniques and breath control, "In the recording studio, this performance is sufficient, but if you want to hold a complete concert, then you need to use a singing method with better endurance..."

So, as the saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy. Even his master, Le Yun, admitted that Cheng Erjian didn't have much talent. Now, with Li Sishi, who was extremely talented and had a rebirth cheat code, as a contrasting example, after a day of lessons, even Le Yun, who was usually gentle with the younger generation, showed Cheng Erjian a rare look of disappointment and regret...

We're both learning to sing, but look at their progress and their skill level!

Unfortunately, Cheng Erjian was a very self-aware young man who knew early on that he wasn't cut out for it. So, when faced with his mentor Le Yun's regretful gaze, he just smiled shyly and then continued to study and practice singing diligently on the other side.

Aside from his commendable filial piety, this child's only redeeming quality is his "earnestness"—Le Yun sighed deeply.

Well, now that we have a new apprentice like Li Sishi who is both talented and lucky, Cheng Erjian, our eldest apprentice who isn't very talented, can be considered to have a junior sister who complements him.

Over time, Li Sishi added an irregular apprenticeship period to her daytime professional studies.

The funny thing is that Cheng Erjian was so obsessed with playing video games that when the two of them were learning their skills, he and Li Sishi rarely talked. They would talk about new game releases or how to play certain games.

Later, Lu Yiting, who was initially extremely wary of him, couldn't be bothered with him anymore—what kind of person was he? With such a beautiful and youthful woman like Li Sishi standing right next to him, he remained unmoved, but his eyes would light up the moment he heard anything related to games…

How old are you? You're still so childish and love playing video games!

When Le Yun occasionally saw this phenomenon, he couldn't help but laugh and tease Cheng Erjian, saying that he was so close to the City God Temple but didn't know to ask for a good fortune slip, thus missing such a good opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

"We're just like brother and sister. May's cousin is my good friend and brother, so May is also my 'good sister'." Cheng Erjian looked at Li Sishi, who was holding the sheet music and covering her mouth to chuckle, amused by Le Yun's words, and immediately explained with utmost seriousness.

Hearing this conversion, Le Yun gave him a speechless look: "Fine, don't say your master didn't remind you in the future."

"Master, I'm only seventeen years old. Don't you need to think so far ahead?" Li Sishi, who had officially become a disciple, exclaimed, then switched to another sheet of music and began practicing Mandarin.

“That’s true. In the past, seventeen-year-old girls could already be mothers, but now, seventeen-year-old girls who are doing well in school are still studying.” Le Yun nodded. “Studying more is a good thing, because what you learn will truly belong to you.”

"Brother Longsheng also told me the same thing." It's probably because most of the older generation of artists came from humble backgrounds, so both of the seniors Li Sishi met highly praised her for her love of reading and her ability to read.

"He's really gone to a lot of trouble for you to 'bring' him along," Le Yun said, always quick to joke.

“It’s not that he’s difficult to teach. Brother Longsheng is originally from an opera background and his singing skills are pretty good, but his operatic style is a bit obvious and he’s still working on it,” Li Sishi added.

As for her, a newcomer who is a complete novice in both the music and film industries...

The reason why he was able to partner with Lung Sheng, a pinnacle of the kung fu film industry, is due to the "Sun Project," a themed event held annually by Hong Kong Radio in the summer.

This is a charity performance that changes its theme and creates a new theme song every year. Its content mainly revolves around environmental protection, love, youth, struggle, and dreams, advocating that people strive for a better future.

The theme of "Power" encourages teenagers to give back and serve the community during the summer vacation; at the same time, it raises funds through the strong cooperation and support of various parties and donates them to various foundations.

The radio station takes this event very seriously, and since most artists nowadays are extremely enthusiastic about participating in charity events, they are able to invite celebrities and superstars to support and participate every year. They are also able to invite many heavyweight figures to sing the theme song and serve as the spokesperson for the year, the "Super Sun Ambassador".

For example, the first edition in 1988 invited Hollywood action star Rocky as the Sun Messenger for that year, and the second edition invited Zhuang Long, an American-Chinese star known at home and abroad for the movie "The Last Emperor"... This year, the "Super Sun Messenger" continues to make great strides, inviting Shizuka Ito, a well-known actress from Japan, to serve as the Sun Messenger.

However, this year's "Sun Project 93" has added a new position: Sun Boy/Girl.

This position was to invite relatively young new singers from Hong Kong to take on the role. After some maneuvering and competition, and in line with the Hong Kong Miss winner's responsibility to promote Hong Kong, Li Sishi stood out and became the first "Sun Girl". She was responsible for singing the theme song and touring with three big names: Long Sheng, Li Zongcheng and Zou Huayan.

So it's not that Lung Sheng's singing skills are too poor, it's just that the comparison is too hurtful—not to mention Li Sishi, this super newcomer, the other two partners are Li Zongcheng, a well-known "middle-aged" musician in Taiwan.

And Zou Huayan, the powerful singer known as the "King Killer"...

Le Yun is also one of the main performing singers of "Project Sun 93" this year, so he has been training Li Sishi very rigorously during this period: This is a super-large-scale performance event that tours multiple locations. The opening concert of the first stop was held in the Shanghai Stadium, which has a capacity of 10,000 people. As a new singer and lead singer of the Cantonese version of the theme song, who is sandwiched among three big names, Li Sishi has a very heavy task on her shoulders.

Considering this year's theme is "The sun shines on the earth, love spreads thousands of miles," Le Yun, while teaching Li Sishi various singing and performance techniques, also focused on discovering the clear and pure side of her voice.

On the theme of "love," the clarity and purity of a child's voice is most likely to touch the softest part of people's hearts.

“Come on, sing it again. Try to forget what I taught you as much as possible, and sing it in your own way, with your own unique flavor…” Looking at the sheet music, Le Yun called out once more.

Li Sishi took a deep breath, listening intently to the soothing and gentle prelude, carefully trying to capture the balance and interaction between the vocals and the music—

"Open your eyes, and a warm window / dispels the desolation of this barren land..."

As Li Sishi softly sang the first line of the Cantonese version of the theme song, "In a Clear Sky," the clear, pure, and indomitable spirit she conveyed brought a deeply satisfied smile to Le Yun's face.