The Shoot

　　After uploading the post, Tang Miaoyi didn't bother checking how well it was doing, turning off Weibo instead.

A strong sense of anticipation sprung up. If her posts are already doing so well, imagine how well they would do after her next song? Or even after an album?

Now, since she just released the preview, she could begin to work on the promotional/music video for real.

Now, with her still gaining popularity, and "Fox" still No. 1 in the genre, is the best time to raise its popularity to another level.

- - - - - - - - - -

　　Just like that, Tang Miaoyi sat down at the computer desk, happily opened the arrangement software, and found the project file of "Fox".

Tang Miaoyi, having used a midi pad in the past, is familiar with the steps to recreate the song only using the pad.

　　"Configure the keys first."

　　The first step is to import each separate instrument/sound to a key, edit the location to an easy-to-reach location, and then remember what is where.

There is a common misunderstanding with midi pads...

They don't play every single note!

　　Many people who have never been in contact with a controller like them before seem to think that every note and musical sound is played individually with the pad. This simply is not true, though no one bothers to correct the misunderstanding, because it makes playing one seem more challenging.

But in reality, it's much simpler than that...

　　Generally speaking, for the sake of the coherence of the song, the performing DJ will choose one or several of the bass, chords, kick drums, or other background sounds, and play them as a backing track. The performer would then play the melody, or other notes over top of the backing track.

　　She thought about what to use for the backing track and decided on the lowest bass notes, the ambient sounds, the claps, and the basic chords. The melody, the supporting melody, and the Kick drums she would play herself, for the greatest impact.

She has to admit that "Fox" is a very suitable song to play on the pads.

Well, no better way to start, than to just begin, so they say.

- - - - - - - - - -

After Tang Miaoyi had wrapped up, there was a knock on her door, and An Qiuying walked in with a snow-white little white fox in her arms.

"Miaoyi, here are the homework papers for tonight. You need to finish them all so that you don't become too far behind." An Qiuying put down the big cotton ball, and placed four papers in front of Tang Miaoyi: "You have good grades, so you shouldn't be lazy. You have to be responsible for your own future, and the College applications are due soon..."

"Ah? Just leave it here, I'll do it tomorrow." The smile on Tang Miaoyi's face suddenly collapsed, turning sour.

　　"No, the teacher told me to watch you finish." An Qiuying rolled her eyes and sat next to Tang Miaoyi.

"Yip~" Da Mian jumped onto Tang Miaoyi's bed, and dove under the covers.

Looking at the worksheets in her hand, Tang Miaoyi sighed faintly, then turned her head to look at An Qiuying, acting upset, "You don't have to do this, right? ..." Tang Miaoyi said.

An Qiuying stared at Miaoyi, and for a second, almost relented. Her lip was quivering, her eyes massive, and the lights reflected off her pupils in a way that reminded her of a sad puppy. She swore she almost saw a tear fall down her face.

"..."

But she barely managed to pull herself together and realized she had been tricked. Now, even more determined, Qiuying said, "You're doing it, and that's final!"

"Aww, it didn't work~"

"..."

Miaoyi's facade fell apart so quickly, Qiuying questioned whether it even happened in the first place.

'Her acting skills are scary.'

- - - - - - - - - -

　　"You have nothing else to do now, hurry up and do the homework paper, I'll watch you here." An Qiuying said flatly: "Don't even think about playing games tonight."

　　"It's really not necessary, I haven't missed any homework yet..." Tang Miaoyi was still complaining relentlessly. As an Internet-addicted high school girl, she really didn't want to do the test paper.

Not only is this for an English class, in which she was already at a conversational level, but she had already been through high school! In essence, this was entirely useless!

　　Of course, Tang Miaoyi as a music critic in her past life, in an industry dominated by American/western songwriters, must be able to understand English. While not her first language, she could speak with some fluency, and be understood by a native English speaker for the most part. As for high school, while she didn't receive the highest marks, she passed in the 80th percentile.

"How about this? Since nothing in these worksheets is being marked, you can just give me a test instead…"

"A test? There's already a practice test in there."

An Qiuying glanced at Tang Miaoyi.

"I'm fully prepared for any test. You can choose a few questions to ask me if you don't believe me." Tang Miaoyi patted her chest confidently: "If I got all the answers right, can I not do them?"

　　"Stop gloating. You haven't even started yet." An Qiuying complained.

　　Tang Miaoyi: "..."

　　Why, when she heard these words, she felt a slight sense of aggrieved...

(A/N: The sentences in * are in English)

Qiuying: "Ok, say a correct response, *Hello, How are you doing*."

Miaoyi: "*I'm doing well! I finished recording my music video today!*"

Qiuying: "... Ok, I guess that's it then..."

Miaoyi: "..."

Qiuying: "So are you going to class tomorrow, or..."

Miaoyi: "Whaaaaaaaaaa?"

And just like that, the English lesson ended. Qiuying had given up, defeated with one sentence.

She had two reasons for ending the test after one sentence. the first was that Miaoyi's grades weren't actually that low, and on the most recent test, she scored at the top of her class, as usual.

The second reason was that Qiuying didn't understand what Miaoyi said at all!

She understood enough of Miaoyi's words to know she wasn't just spouting random nonsense, but compared to someone who needed to speak English for their career, Qiuying was a child in both senses of the word.

- - - - - - - - - -

　　After that, Tang Miaoyi stayed at home for a few days, but her grades stayed high, and in some subjects even increased, which surprised many people in the class.

　　An Qiuying was shocked most of all, "Maybe this is the true meaning of talent?"

　　"By the way, Miaoyi, with how skilled you are in production, you will definitely choose an art school in the future, right?" An Qiuying suddenly thought of something.

　　"Art colleges?" Tang Miaoyi was slightly taken aback, not knowing how to answer.

　　She had never even thought about it.

　　"I'm going to apply for the Conservatory of Music. They have a campus right here in Shanghai." An Qiuying propped her cheeks and whispered, "Maybe we could even go to the same school."

Miaoyi was quite surprised: "You're applying to a music school? Do you play any instruments?"

She hadn't seen Qiuying with an instrument before, so this new situation surprised her.

"Well, I really like music. It's been my dream to become a singer ever since I was little. I don't play any instruments, but because of my family situation, I had a lot of time to practice." When An Qiuying said this, Tang Miaoyi could feel how much the intensity of her eyes rose.

　　"Well, I haven't thought about it, but The Conservatory of Music, huh?" Tang Miaoyi lowered her head, thoughtful, her mind racing...

　　Now that the general situation of "Fox" has been decided, and the response has been unexpectedly good, then...is it time to take the next step?

- - - - - - - - - -

"Huh, Tianyou Entertainment..."

　　Clicking into a chat box with the ID [Tianyou Video - Hip-Hop Production Team], Yang He edited a message: "Hi, after an internal meeting, our company has decided to cooperate with this project. The choice of the producer needs to be agreed upon by both parties. We will not decide by ourselves. At the same time, the person who is chosen may not agree to produce this promotional song. This is also a problem. We need to find a suitable person, and a replacement in case something comes up."

Ding~

　　The other party sent a message quickly: "No problem, I am very happy to be able to cooperate with Light Cloud Music, can you show me your recommended list of producers? Price is not a problem, what our production team needs is the perfect song."

"No Problem." Yang He replied, and quickly wrote a reply:

　　"The list is as follows:

　　The Rex, representative works: "King", "I am Zenith", "The Dodo".

　　Fang Wu, representative works: "Sleepless Tonight", "Night of No. 13", "Infinite Magnification". "

　　CNED, representative works: "Colorful Purple and Red", "Great Rivers and Mountains", "I Want to Fly High". "

Eric, representative works: "Remember that one party in '99", "I was there", "I've done everything"."

[TMY has sent you a video file, [CLICK] to accept. ]

- - - - - - - - - -

"Oh?"

While creating the list, Yang He got a notification from TMY. After thinking about it, he decided to add a new name:

"TMY, representative work: "Fox"."

Yang He, having completed his list, sent it off, "This is a list of producers who are preferred, but have not agreed to perform yet. In addition, I will attach their contact information to this message."

"Thank you." Tianyou Video was quick to reply.

Finally, the deal was completed. Yang He breathed a sigh of relief and stretched in his chair.

"Now, to see what TMY sent over."　

[From TMY: "The promotional video is recorded, thank you for your sponsorship."]

- - - - - - - - - -

　　"Finished?" Yang He's heart moved, remembering the video he had asked for, he immediately clicked to receive the video.

The video content is only a minute long, and the time passes quickly.

When the video finally ended, Yang He sat up from his chair in shock: "It's going to explode, it's really going to explode."