Lucky Card x3

Liang Yin dragged Lin Chudong into a long chat. At first it was fine, all proper business.

But later on, the questions turned to gossip.

Who really cheated or not, who got set up in that prostitution scandal?

These questions gave Lin Chudong a headache. He was about to open his treasure chest. Big Sister, could you go to sleep already?

If it weren't for her big chest, he'd have kicked her out long ago!

Liang Yin chatted until her eyes grew drowsy, then reluctantly left.

The room next door was the shopkeeper's wife's, similar to his, but Liang Yin didn't stay often—she had her own place.

After Liang Yin left, Lin Chudong eagerly opened the treasure chest.

This was a Green Treasure Chest, probably higher quality than the previous ones. He wondered if the chests' quality was random or followed some pattern.

If the quality kept improving, that would be amazing.

[Ding]

The chest opened.

[Purple Treasure Chest x1] [Lucky Card x3]

Just as expected—the chest quality was getting better!

Following the color scheme of equipment in games, a Purple Treasure Chest was definitely higher quality than a Green one.

And this time, he got more items too—three Lucky Cards.

As the name suggested, they boosted luck, though what boosting luck could do was unclear.

But based on Lin Chudong's understanding of the system, he definitely couldn't use Lucky Cards to buy lottery tickets. Even if he did, he wouldn't win big—thirty or fifty at most.

So he'd keep them for now, use them at a critical moment.

Open the Purple Treasure Chest!

[29:59:59]

This time, the opening time was a full thirty hours. It seemed the higher the chest quality, the longer the wait.

Lin Chudong grew even more eager for the next chest.

Today, Lin Chudong gave Ms. Zhang's son his usual lesson. Not many students came; the shop was nearly empty.

Fortunately, Liangyin Music Shop didn't rely solely on teaching—selling instruments was the main profit source.

Liang Yin had no time to sell instruments either. She rushed back to the shop in a flurry.

"Brother Fei, the company registration is done. The business license will come through in a few days. Should we go record first?"

"When the paperwork's ready, we'll release it."

Lin Chudong nodded. "Alright, let me finish this lesson."

Liangyin Music Shop closed for another day. Lin Chudong, Liang Yin, and Wang Zhi carried bags and bags of various instruments, loaded them into the car, and headed straight for the recording studio.

"This studio costs three thousand an hour, damn expensive. Brother Fei, make good use of your time!"

Wang Zhi's jaw dropped. "Fuck, is this studio plated in gold? Three thousand an hour—even a high-end escort isn't that pricey!"

Lin Chudong said, "As long as the recording equipment is good, four hours should be enough if we're fast."

"Let's start!"

A middle-aged man walked out and said, "Brother Fei, I'm Tian Yang. Just call me Xiao Tian. Are all the musicians here?"

Liang Yin had already called ahead, letting them know Da Fei was coming, which was why the studio opened to outsiders.

This kind of professional studio usually served Performing Arts Troupes or big entertainment companies and rarely opened to the public.

Three thousand an hour was still a favor to Da Fei.

Lin Chudong said, "It's just me. I'll record one track at a time. Teacher Tian, you can start."

Tian Yang was taken aback. Many singers were multi-talented, and professional singers had to know several instruments.

But performing was performing, recording was recording.

Performing needed to look good, while recording was the true test of skill.

Many singers, even highly skilled ones, didn't dare do it themselves and hired musicians instead. He hadn't expected Da Fei to be so confident.

Of course, he'd seen the Weibo posts too. Maybe Da Fei was broke and couldn't afford to hire musicians.

"Brother Fei, we can start. Which track first?"

"Drums."

"Alright, the metronome is with me."

"Keep it. I don't need it."

Tian Yang paused, then felt a bit speechless.

Recording without a metronome? Was he joking?

This is audio recording—it has to be the most perfect version possible, since most people will only ever hear this one.

Besides, with separate track recording, how would everything sync up without a metronome?

We'll probably have to redo it later.

Tian Yang didn't say much more. The guy was the singer, so let him do his thing. At three thousand an hour, even recording for a full day would net a tidy sum.

Lin Chudong picked up the drumsticks and tapped a few beats with his left foot.

Then, his hands swung into motion, and the sound of dong ci da ci rang out.

Tian Yang nodded slightly. The sound was pretty good—Da Fei really lived up to his reputation.

But rhythm couldn't rely on feel alone. He quietly turned on the metronome, matched it to Lin Chudong's drumming, then set it aside, waiting to see when he'd lose the beat.

Liang Yin stood outside the recording studio and murmured, "Da Fei is so handsome. Look how well he hits that bass drum—his hand-foot coordination is insane. Was Da Fei originally a drummer?"

Wang Zhi didn't understand drums, but the shopkeeper's wife did. Since she said so, it must be impressive.

"No, Brother Fei started as a guitarist, but his drumming is pretty good too."

A few minutes later, Lin Chudong stopped.

"Done?"

Tian Yang's face showed a flicker of shock. Even at the very end, his rhythm was still perfectly aligned with the metronome!

"Done, Brother Fei. One take..."

It was utterly unbelievable. Was his brain a machine? How could he have such steady rhythm?

And one take with no flaws—every sound was perfect and precisely placed.

Tian Yang set aside his earlier dismissiveness and adopted a humble attitude instead.

"Brother Fei, what do we record next?"

"Rhythm guitar. Play back the drums I just did."

"Got it!"

And so, in about two hours, all the tracks were fully recorded.

Wang Zhi, standing nearby, sank into deep thought. Lin Chudong's skill level made him start to doubt himself.

He was also a trained professional, having practiced hard for over a decade, yet he couldn't reach Lin Chudong's level.

Even with his best song, if he opened his phone camera to record a video, he'd struggle to avoid mistakes.

Let alone being like Lin Chudong, where every single note was utterly perfect.

Just this one guitar part alone would take him over a decade to master—how could he possibly have time to learn other instruments?

Guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, flute, backing vocals—eight tracks total, all done in one take.

The guitar alone had three tracks, each with different sheet music, and he didn't make a single mistake. It was absolutely insane!

Most importantly, he was the lead singer!

Singing was his strongest skill—didn't he need time to practice that too?

If professional musicians were all at this level, then he really couldn't cut it as a guitarist. Should he switch to practicing bass instead?

When the tracks were mixed and the accompaniment came out, the beautiful sound made Liang Yin's scalp tingle.

This song was bound to be a hit!

Lin Chudong said, "Teacher Tian, we can prepare to record the vocals now."

Tian Yang was taken aback. "Brother Fei, are we finishing everything in one day? Don't you need a break?"

Lin Chudong replied, "At three thousand an hour, I can't afford to rest. Hurry up, let's make the most of the time."