Huayu93: From Selling Magnetic Cards to Entertainment Tycoon

Chapter 25 MIDI Master "Frog Bro"

Huang Guokai acted quickly.

The next day at noon, he found Li Si'an in the cafeteria and said that they had made an appointment to meet on Saturday afternoon.

"Where to?"

"Over at Tuanjiehu, that's Frog Bro's studio."

"Brother Frog?"

"His nickname is He Changxin, but people in the industry usually call him Frog." Huang Guokai took a bite of rice. "He works with MIDI and is exceptionally skilled."

Li Si'an nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

On Saturday afternoon, Li Si'an hailed a taxi on the roadside. Huang Guokai stood beside her, hesitating for a moment.

"Shall we take a taxi?"

"It's too cold. You'd freeze to death if you rode your bike there." Li Si'an opened the car door. "Get in, it's my treat."

Huang Guokai didn't say anything more, bent down and crawled inside.

The car drove east. January in Beijing was bitterly cold, and a thin layer of fog covered the car windows. Li Si'an wiped the glass with her sleeve and glanced outside—there weren't many people on the street, and the locust trees along the roadside were bare.

The area around Tuanjiehu is a residential building complex. Huang Guokai stopped in front of one of the buildings and led Li Si'an into the unit.

Third floor, on the right. Huang Guokai knocked three times, and the door opened.

The person who opened the door was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with long hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a black hoodie with a skull printed on the chest. He was thin, with a narrow face, small but bright eyes, and a small tuft of beard on his chin.

"You're here? Come in."

The voice wasn't loud, and it had a slight southern accent.

Huang Guokai stepped inside and then gestured with his chin towards Li Si'an.

"He Changxin, we usually call him Frog Bro." Then, turning to Frog, he said, "This is my classmate, Li Si'an."

The frog nodded and glanced at him.

Li Si'an extended her hand: "Hello, Brother Xin."

The frog squeezed the fist, its lips twitching slightly. "They all call me Frog, so you can call me that too."

"Okay, Frog Bro."

The frog didn't stand on ceremony any longer and turned to walk inside.

Li Si'an followed Huang Guokai inside and smiled as soon as she entered.

The living room wasn't big, only about fifteen or sixteen square meters. The floor was covered with old floor tiles, and the whitewash on the walls had turned yellowish. But along the wall by the window, there was a row of equipment—a synthesizer, a sound source, a mixing console, and an Atari computer, with cables crisscrossing the floor like a spider web.

"Wow, you've got quite a setup." Li Si'an squatted down to look at the synthesizer, then turned back to the frog and smiled, "Korg M1?"

The frog raised an eyebrow: "You recognize him?"

"I recognize it. I can't afford it." Li Si'an stood up, patted his pants, and said, "Guokai told me you had a full range of equipment here, and seeing it today, it's even more complete than I expected."

The frog leaned against the table, hands in its pockets, and twitched its lips as if to say it was smiling.

"Guokai said you wrote a song, with electronic parts?"

"Yes, I wrote a piece in the ancient style, but there's a section in the arrangement that requires the sound of an electronic synthesizer. I couldn't figure it out myself, so I came here with a thick skin after hearing that you could do it."

Did you bring the sheet music?

"I brought it." Li Si'an took out the stack of musical scores from her bag and handed it over. "Take a look first. If there's anything wrong, just tell me and I can fix it."

The frog took the sheet music and flipped through two pages. His expression didn't change much; he just looked at it, line by line. When he got to the third page, he tapped his finger on the score, then turned back to the first page and read it from the beginning.

Then he looked up and glanced at Li Si'an.

"Did you write this?"

"Yes. Both the composition and the arrangement."

What did you study?

"The music program at the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy is a bit of everything. It covers a wide range of subjects, including vocal music, instrumental music, arrangement, and composition."

The frog nodded, placed the sheet music on the synthesizer, pulled over a chair, sat down, and began turning the knobs on the device.

"Listen to this tone first."

He pressed a button, and a sound came out of the speaker—not the sound of a traditional instrument, but a floating, slightly metallic electronic sound, like a thread suspended in mid-air, trembling slightly.

Li Si'an's eyes lit up after hearing this.

"This is it. How did you adjust the tone? I couldn't get it to work on the equipment at school no matter what I tried."

The frog didn't reply, but its hand paused for a moment, and its mouth twitched again.

He began to play on the keyboard. He wasn't playing the main melody of "Puppet Show," but rather something improvised—his left hand laid the foundation, while his right hand played the melody in the high register, with electronic sounds floating on the traditional pentatonic scale.

After hearing this, Li Si'an slapped his thigh.

"Okay, that's the taste. How long will it take me to learn your skills?"

"It depends on talent." The frog finally smiled. "Sing the verse first, let me hear it."

Li Si'an cleared her throat.

During his puberty, his physique improved, and his voice grew along with it. It wasn't the high-pitched voice of a teenager, but a deep, resonant male voice with strong bass notes and clear, uninterrupted treble.

I've been training in music for three years, including breath control and resonance. Although I'm not a professional singer, my foundation is solid.

He sang the first line.

After listening, the frog didn't say anything, but turned around and started turning the faders on the mixing console.

Huang Guokai stood to the side, not saying a word, but his eyes were fixed on the frog's hand.

Li Si'an leaned over and patted Huang Guokai on the shoulder.

"Brother, thanks a lot this time. I'll treat you to hot pot later."

Huang Guokai hummed in response, but didn't turn around, continuing to stare at the frog's hand movements.

The recording process took almost a month to resolve.

Li Si'an would go to Tuanjiehu every few days. Sometimes it was because the frog's tuning was off; the synthesizer sound was too harsh or too weak, not what he had in mind.

Sometimes the recording of the pipa and erhu went wrong, and it was difficult to schedule the teachers at the school; sometimes the transitions between the arrangement sections were not smooth, and the two of them tried seven or eight versions before settling on the point where the intro led into the verse.

Frog is a meticulous person. Once, for the sake of the decay time of the last note, he turned the knob for half an hour. Li Si'an listened beside him, saying "almost there" over and over again, but he didn't get annoyed and kept turning it until Li Si'an nodded.

The vocals were recorded quickly. Li Si'an has a good voice and has practiced her breath control and resonance. She sang it three times, and Qingwa chose the first version, only fixing one off-key note.

Every time we leave Tuanjiehu, it's already dark.

Huang Guokai sat in the taxi, talking much more than he had on the way there. He spent the entire afternoon huddled in front of the equipment, watching every operation of the frog, occasionally adjusting it himself.

He was incredibly excited when he came out, and chatted with Li Si'an about the arrangement the whole way, discussing how to handle the drum beats and how to make the synthesizer's soundstage wider. Li Si'an listened, occasionally chiming in, but he did most of the talking.

Li Si'an thought it was great. This kid was practically mute at school, but he wouldn't stop talking about this.

One evening at the end of January, Zhang Ziyi came to the store.

She was wearing a military green cotton-padded jacket, her hair was tied in a ponytail, and her face was a little red from the cold. A gust of cold wind blew in when she entered, causing the poster on the counter to curl up at one corner.

"Long time no see, Boss Li." She pulled down the zipper of her cotton-padded jacket and plopped down on the chair next to the counter.

"What brings you here? What have you been up to lately?" Li Si'an took a hot water bottle from under the counter and handed it to him. "Warm your hands up first."

Zhang Ziyi took it, held it between her hands, and rubbed it a couple of times.

Thanks. I've signed up for a class to prepare for the Central Academy of Drama entrance exam.

"Central Academy of Drama?"

"Hmm. I don't want to dance anymore."

Li Si'an leaned back in her chair, watching her. Zhang Ziyi spoke in a very calm tone, as if she were talking about what to eat today.

"Haven't you been practicing all this time? You even won an award at the Taoli Cup. Are you just going to stop dancing like that?"

"So what if I won an award?" Zhang Ziyi placed the hot water bottle on her lap. "I can't get into a big dance troupe. How many years can I dance outside? I might as well find a school to go to."

Li Si'an nodded, offering no words of advice. He knew she later went to the Central Academy of Drama and became an international star. That was her path, and he didn't need to interfere.

"So what are you preparing now?"

"Arts entrance exam. You can only take the college entrance exam if you pass the professional exam." Zhang Ziyi sighed. "I'm currently rehearsing a skit. The teacher made us write and perform it ourselves. It's so hard, my brain is about to explode."

What role are you playing?

"A country girl comes to the city. I wrote a scene where she's waiting for someone at the train station, but they don't come, and she's crying and laughing at the same time." Zhang Ziyi gestured. "The teacher said the emotion wasn't strong enough and told me to dig deeper."

Li Si'an listened without interrupting.

Zhang Ziyi rubbed her hands together and looked at him: "What about you? What have you been busy with lately? I heard you've been going off-campus a lot."

"I'm making a song."

"Songs? Don't you own a record store? How come you're writing songs?"

"Just writing for fun." Li Si paused for a moment. "By the way, I have something to tell you. I'd like to sign up for a performance at the graduation show."

Zhang Ziyi raised an eyebrow: "What program?"

"I plan to have you and Tang Yun do a duet. I'll use the music from the song I wrote as background music, and I'll choreograph the dance."

Zhang Ziyi put down the hot water bottle and looked at him with some curiosity.

"What kind of dance?"

"A story about a puppeteer and his puppeteers. You play the puppeteer, and Tang Yun plays the puppeteer. The dance is based on folk dance, but the puppeteer's part is expressed using mechanical dance—pauses, precise timing, and the feeling of being led by strings."

Zhang Ziyi paused for a moment, probably imagining the scene in her mind.

"Robot dance? Isn't that breakdancing?"

"Yes. Nobody's ever combined folk dance with robotic dance before." Li Si'an looked at her. "Would you like to give it a try?"

Zhang Ziyi remained silent for a few seconds.

"What kind of music is it? Let me hear it."

Li Si'an took out a cassette tape from under the counter—a demo he had recorded at Qingwa's place, which he had copied. He put the tape into the tape recorder on the counter and pressed play.

The pipa prelude began, followed by the sounds of an electronic synthesizer, and then his voice. Zhang Ziyi listened to the first chorus without speaking. She only spoke after the entire song had finished.

"Did you write this song?"

"Um."

"You sang that?"

"Um."

Zhang Ziyi looked at him with some surprise, then suddenly smiled.

"Wow, Li Si'an, I've known you for so long, I never knew you had this ability."

"So, are you going to jump or not?"

Zhang Ziyi thought for a moment, then rubbed her hands on the hot water bottle a couple of times.

"I have my entrance exam for the Central Academy of Drama on March 5th. Before that, I have to focus on preparing my skit and lines, so I don't have time to rehearse dance."

"It's alright," Li Si'an said. "For your part, I plan to have you dress as a man and perform the puppet show. The movements are simpler than the puppets, and the focus will be on Tang Yun. You don't need to do any rehearsals before the exam; just focus on maintaining your basic skills."

Zhang Ziyi raised an eyebrow: "Wearing men's clothing?"

"Yes. As for puppeteers, a more neutral style gives them a greater sense of control."

Zhang Ziyi thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay. But formal rehearsals can only begin after I finish my art exams, on March 5th."

"There's enough time. The performance isn't until the end of April, a month and a half is enough."

Zhang Ziyi stood up and zipped up her cotton-padded jacket.

"Okay. You can start making it up, I'll contact you after the exam."