After Lin Yuan left, Zhou Ruiming listened to “Balloon” once more.

“The quality is indeed good…”

Even on the second listen, Old Zhou had the same evaluation.

This song didn’t make Old Zhou want to applaud immediately like “Big Fish” did.

But Old Zhou understood that this was normal.

No composer can make every piece they create a hit.

After Lin Yuan had already produced three hit songs in a row, being able to come up with another song of decent quality was already very satisfying for Old Zhou.

“This song is suitable for release in March, especially since next month will be another fierce competition…”

The new season coincides with the Spring Festival, and the market competition is as intense as it was in December.

So, avoiding February is a natural choice for many singers.

It’s important to note that even a song of “Big Fish’s” quality only managed to reach the tenth spot in December’s competitive group.

Old Zhou had studied the data.

The conclusion was that even if “Big Fish” had entered the charts at the beginning of the month, it would have likely only reached around fifth place.

With this in mind, Old Zhou contacted Zhao Jue and sent over “Balloon.”

“Lin Yuan’s song?” Zhao Jue was surprised after listening. “He’s so prolific.”

Old Zhou agreed, “Indeed, very prolific, and this time the quality is also quite good. Although it doesn’t feel as strong as the previous ones, I think if we release it in March, it has a chance to climb the rankings. Also, he specifically requested Jiang Kui to sing it.”

“Jiang Kui, huh?” Zhao Jue thought for a moment. “After ‘Big Fish,’ Jiang Kui’s popularity is quite good. The company does have plans to cultivate her, so I have no objections to her singing it.”

“Alright.”

Old Zhou pondered, “The most surprising part of this song is how long the opening line is. I’ve listened to so many songs, and this is the first time I’ve heard one with such a long opening.”

Zhao Jue laughed, “No problem, Jiang Kui is a professional singer. This shouldn’t be too difficult for her.”

Old Zhou thought for a moment, “True.”

…

The two discussed briefly and finalized the work plan.

When Jiang Kui received the notification, she was so excited that she jumped in place.

Teacher Xian Yu really let her sing the new song!

It turns out that being persistent can indeed lead to success!

However, when she got the sheet music for “Balloon,” Jiang Kui realized she might have been a bit too early in her excitement.

Especially when she entered the recording studio, she deeply understood why Lin Yuan had asked about her lung capacity the day before—

Because this song is extremely oxygen-deprived!

How deprived? Just look at the first verse: “Black, white, red, yellow, purple, green, blue, gray, yours, mine, his, hers, big, small, round, flat, good, bad, beautiful, ugly, new, old, all kinds of styles and patterns for you to choose.”

Jiang Kui counted.

Yes, a total of fifty-six words!

And there’s no chance to breathe in between!

The first verse requires all these words to be sung in one breath.

Entering the recording studio, Jiang Kui managed to sing the first verse on her first try, but she was severely out of breath afterward, taking several seconds to recover.

Especially the last few words, where her voice trembled noticeably.

This was a sign of unstable breath control.

Jiang Kui never thought she’d experience unstable breath control while singing!

“Can I just say, as expected of Teacher Xian Yu, this new song is really unique…”

The recording engineer was amazed by the song, “Even for professional singers in the company, singing so many words in one breath isn’t easy.”

“Not only that,” another engineer marveled, “if it were just the length of the first verse, it would be one thing, but the pitch at the beginning of this song isn’t low. The higher the pitch, the harder it is to sing the verse in one breath.”

“I’ll try again.”

Jiang Kui told the engineer and tried several more times, which made her head spin more and more.

Because every time she sang, she had to take a huge breath!

At the end of each phrase and the beginning of the next, she had to take a deep breath.

Moreover, after taking a big breath, she had to release it evenly, biting each word with just the right amount of force. If she used too much force on any word, the whole rhythm would break.

In the end, even if Jiang Kui managed all these points, she would still run out of breath on the last few words—

Ordinary people might not notice.

In fact, to the average listener, Jiang Kui’s performance might already seem perfect.

But as a singer with high standards for herself, Jiang Kui wouldn’t allow herself to run out of breath on the last few words. Otherwise, it would be a disservice to Teacher Xian Yu’s song. So she spent most of the day in the studio, determined to record the perfect version.

“Let’s continue tomorrow.”

By evening, without achieving a satisfactory result, the engineer suggested calling it a day.

There’s no doubt that Jiang Kui can sing “Balloon.”

But to perform it perfectly, Jiang Kui would need countless takes, as this is no ordinary song.

“Jiang Kui?”

No response. The engineer couldn’t help but look at Jiang Kui, only to find her slumped in a chair, tongue out:

“Aba Aba Aba Aba…”

The two engineers burst into laughter.

But they completely understood Jiang Kui’s state; the song’s opening melody was almost inhumane.

“I have an idea,” said the engineer on the left. “When we finalize the version, let’s not remove the breathing sounds. It might make it more relatable.”

“Won’t it affect the listening experience?” The engineer on the right was a bit concerned.

Recording studios often use mixing techniques to eliminate breathing sounds.

Too much breathing noise can be odd and disrupt the emotional flow of the song, so it’s usually minimized or cut out entirely in mixing.

“It’ll be fine,” the left engineer said. “All these techniques are just to make the work sound better, that’s the premise. There’s no black-and-white formula for recording. Many emotional songs like to keep the breathing sounds. If we keep the breathing in ‘Balloon,’ listeners will better understand the song’s uniqueness.”

“True.”

The right engineer was convinced, smiling, “The breathing in ‘Balloon’ is quite noticeable. Before the first line is even sung, the singer has to take a deep breath. It’ll be hard for listeners not to notice.”

“I think it’s a good idea.”

Jiang Kui had recovered, though her head was still spinning, she could at least communicate normally with the engineers. “Let’s keep the breathing sounds in the song. It’ll counter the criticism that our studio’s work lacks a live feel.”