Chapter Forty-Two: The Upload Begins

After playing more than a dozen pieces in a row, Liao Yuan finally cooled down from his excitement. He carefully played a few more chords and at last detected traces of tonal discord. Ignoring Miao Bizhu’s astonished gaze, he quickly stood up, leaned obsessively over the piano, and, with the tuning hammer, began to adjust the strings and gaps. He listened intently for differences in pitch, then continued to fine-tune the tightness and alignment of the keys.

As the scion of a musical family, Liao Yuan’s predecessor had mastered the fundamentals of piano tuning with unusual proficiency. If not for a lack of repair skills and a sudden emotional upheaval, the young Liao Yuan would likely have already obtained his piano tuner’s certification. Now, drawing on the experience left by his former self and as a music enthusiast, Liao Yuan found it effortless to tune a piano to perfection.

Watching him use a tuner to adjust the unisons, octaves, and the twelve-tone equal temperament, Miao Bizhu could only stare, mouth agape. The piano is an exceedingly complex and precise instrument: a standard piano has eighty-eight keys, more than two hundred strings, and over eight thousand parts, all held to the strictest standards of pitch and mechanical performance. Yet Liao Yuan disregarded these daunting rules, calibrating every note and mechanism with flawless accuracy.

What is genius? Perhaps, it was exactly this.

Half an hour later, Liao Yuan sat down to play again. The disharmonious sounds had vanished completely, and at last a satisfied smile spread across his face. Turning around and catching sight of Miao Bizhu, he froze, as if only then recalling he had a guest at home. “Oh? Miss Miao, you… haven’t left yet?”

“No, I’ve been here all along.”

Miao Bizhu looked at him with worshipful eyes. “It’s precisely because I stayed that I was able to hear you play such beautiful music. It’s truly fortunate to listen to you perform.”

Recalling his earlier, almost manic state, Liao Yuan felt his cheeks grow warm. He stood, smiling. “I’m in a good mood today, Miss Miao. Let’s go out for a big meal, my treat!”

At his words, Miao Bizhu’s eyes lit up with delight. “Really?”

…

At the neighborhood eatery.

Staring at the plate of egg fried rice before her, Miao Bizhu was dumbfounded. “This is… the big meal?”

Liao Yuan, having just spent a good deal of energy and now feeling quite hungry, nevertheless maintained his usual slow and graceful pace. Upon hearing her question, he smiled. “In my eyes, this is the most delicious feast there is! I come here often.”

Miao Bizhu was on the verge of tears. Good heavens! A man who can afford a piano worth 1.43 million is treating me to egg fried rice! She was deeply moved.

Liao Yuan, for his part, saw nothing amiss. He chewed slowly, savoring each bite, his elegant demeanor out of place in the noisy, crowded restaurant—a sight that drew more admiration from Miao Bizhu.

A true master, she thought to herself. Every gesture exudes dignity!

And so, she eagerly dug into her plate of fried rice. After just a couple of bites, her eyes brightened, and she began eating more quickly.

“Is it good?” Liao Yuan asked.

Miao Bizhu nodded enthusiastically. “Maybe I’m just hungry, but it tastes great!”

“That’s good. I was worried it might not suit your palate and was thinking of ordering a couple more dishes.”

Miao Bizhu: “???”

Then why don’t you order them already!

After their meal, Liao Yuan and Miao Bizhu went together to a home improvement market to buy soundproofing materials. The supplier assumed Liao Yuan was renovating a new home and was both enthusiastic and sincere, even offering to connect him with contractors. When Liao Yuan explained it was for an old apartment’s renovation, the supplier was clearly surprised, but his enthusiasm didn’t wane.

“We have three grades: high, medium, and low. The basic grade offers standard soundproofing, enough to block ordinary household audio. The medium grade is comparable to what KTV rooms use. The high-end option is top-tier—eight-star hotel standard, waterproof, fireproof, with world-class safety performance. If you buy our high-end materials, we’ll even throw in free installation labor for any space under a thousand square meters—completion within a week at the fastest!”

Liao Yuan considered. The decibel output of a piano wasn’t especially high; regular soundproofing would suffice. “No need for the premium option,” he said. “Just the standard, for home use.”

The supplier produced a price list. There were three packages: low, medium, and high. The basic package was 1,499 yuan per square meter, using ordinary materials. For the sake of his neighbors and privacy, Liao Yuan chose the medium package, which included all the usual soundproof boards, cotton, and mats, at 2,499 yuan per square meter. The high-end package added top-quality materials, soundproof doors and windows, and polyester fiber acoustic panels, but at a steep 6,999 yuan per square meter.

“The medium package has a labor fee of five hundred yuan per day, settled daily. If you agree, I’ll bring someone over to measure the space right away,” the supplier said. “All our materials are environmentally friendly and meet international standards. You can move in as soon as the installation is done. You won’t find better value for your money.”

At this point, Miao Bizhu tugged at Liao Yuan’s sleeve and whispered, “Isn’t this too expensive?”

Liao Yuan didn’t think so. His place was around eighty square meters. With the medium package, the total was about two hundred thousand yuan. Of course, fully renovating the whole space would be wasteful. For now, he only needed the living room soundproofed, which was about twenty square meters—so fifty thousand yuan, a reasonable budget.

Though not extravagant, Liao Yuan’s monthly income was still in the fifty to sixty thousand range. With June approaching, his pay slip had arrived early—since he’d just transferred to the online division, his base salary was halved, at just over twenty-seven thousand. But with the audio rights payment for “Ghost Blows Out the Light,” the total came to sixty-five thousand, expected to arrive in the next couple of days after financial review.

So he agreed readily.

The supplier, who had been prepared to haggle with these two young people, was momentarily stunned by Liao Yuan’s swift agreement, but quickly rallied and dispatched workers to measure the apartment.

Within just two days, the soundproofing system was installed. The living room’s walls—ceiling, floor, and all sides—were lined with soundproof cotton, boards, and mats. With the finishing touches from the supplier, the entire space was transformed.

Late at night.

Liao Yuan switched on the recording system, set it to depth-of-field mode, and aimed the condenser microphone at the row of steel strings on the piano’s back frame.

He took a deep breath—the first piece for his new journey as an uploader was about to begin.

----

ps: Updating bright and early—dear readers, your recommendation votes should still be valid, right? Please be kind...