Chapter 87: In Full Swing

Relieved, Li Mu had been extremely busy these past two days. EasyListen was undergoing its final pre-launch testing. Although this was mainly handled by Kong Lingyu and his team, Li Mu still needed to stay updated on their progress and offer timely suggestions to prevent them from veering off course.

As for the website’s design, after a morning spent communicating with the graphic artists and several rounds of revisions, it finally met Li Mu’s standards.

Anticipating the influx of users EasyListen would attract, Li Mu instructed Kong Lingyu to add new servers and expand bandwidth, ensuring that the platform could handle at least one hundred thousand users streaming music simultaneously from the very start.

Meanwhile, a project manager from Chengyu Construction, the company responsible for the shop’s renovation, arrived in Haizhou with a team and two sets of design blueprints for Li Mu to choose from. Once Li Mu made his selection, construction commenced immediately.

In truth, Li Mu didn't have much autonomy regarding the renovations. The head office had very detailed requirements, complete with a specialized manual that dictated everything from the size, color, and patterns of the walls and floor tiles to the shelving, display areas, checkout counters, and lighting—every aspect followed official templates, leaving no room for personal improvisation.

With such standardized specifications, all the franchise shops ended up looking and feeling alike, so Li Mu saw no need to intervene further.

The project manager then hired a few local day laborers and led the team to begin work. Construction hours ran from seven in the morning to nine at night—overtime was apparently standard practice for their company, a work ethic that naturally delighted Li Mu.

During the renovation, Li Mu had only one additional request: he ordered a massive advertising banner from an ad agency. This banner hung from the top of his storefront all the way down to the ground, covering most of the shop’s façade.

Emblazoned on the banner, besides the giant Metersbonwe logo, were two striking images of the superstar Guo, each nearly two and a half meters tall. Bold text declared: “Metersbonwe Haizhou Store Opening Soon—Stay Tuned.”

After all, this was the busiest street in town. Li Mu didn’t want to focus solely on the renovations for the next month or two and neglect publicity. The imposing banner was impossible to miss—even a hundred meters away, it stood out clearly, serving as a powerful advance advertisement.

Every young passerby was drawn to the colossal display, instantly receiving the exciting message: Metersbonwe would soon open in Haizhou.

The video recording of Simple Plan’s qualifying performance had been scheduled by Southern Su TV for its prime-time debut two nights from now. EasyListen was set to officially launch at midnight that same evening. Li Mu decided he would make a trip to Jinling.

He notified Kong Lingyu in advance, instructing him to have the entire technical team work overnight on launch day, with everyone receiving triple overtime pay. Li Mu himself would be at the office to witness the historic moment of EasyListen going live alongside the team.

The following day at noon, Li Mu arrived at Simple Plan’s rehearsal studio. He listened as they ran through "Old Boys" several times. Zhang Kexuan’s vocal interpretation had reached an impressive level, and the band’s coordination and arrangement showcased the song to perfection. Li Mu became increasingly convinced that these four had the potential for major stardom; if, in the future, they could write their own songs, that would be even better.

After listening, Li Mu offered them a candid assessment: "At this rate, you’ll have no problem making it through the first round of the finals."

The finals were split into two rounds. The first round would narrow the field from eighteen to five, and the last round would decide the top three winners.

Immediately afterward, Li Mu and the band dove into the recording studio for a closed session.

The recording process was fairly standard: instruments first, then vocals, followed by post-production editing and tuning. Generally, what we hear in a finished song is the result of many takes, with the best segments spliced together—a scientific approach to recording. These days, even tone-deaf celebrities could release albums; as long as they could recite the lyrics a few times, post-production could correct any pitch issues.

The first song Li Mu and Simple Plan recorded was "Li Bai." The instrumental tracks only required three takes to perfect, but Zhang Kexuan’s vocals took more than a dozen. This wasn’t due to any lack of skill; rather, it was Li Mu’s relentless pursuit of perfection.

Listening to a studio recording is vastly different from a live performance. While small mistakes can be overlooked in a live setting, a recording must be flawless. Every single track recorded in the studio had to be impeccable—this was pop music meant for the masses, not a niche folk song like "Zebra, Zebra" that Li Mu had recorded himself.

At last, "Li Bai" met Li Mu’s exacting standards. After a short break, they tackled "Sunflower." With the previous experience, Zhang Kexuan recorded the vocals for "Sunflower" in just five takes.

With both songs finished and still some time to spare, Li Mu suggested, "Let’s ride the momentum and record 'Old Boys' as well. In a few days, you’ll be heading to Yanjing for the finals, flying back and forth. I’m worried you won’t have the time or be in such good condition then."

"Okay!" The band, already in high spirits, agreed. They grabbed a quick meal and dove into recording "Old Boys." Zhang Kexuan’s voice was somewhat strained, so Li Mu gave him more than two hours to rest. By the time the instrumental tracks were finished, Zhang’s voice had recovered, and his condition was at its peak. Having rehearsed "Old Boys" intensively over the past few days, the recording went even faster than the previous two songs.

Once all three songs were complete, everyone went out for a celebratory meal. Li Mu reminded them to keep an eye on EasyListen and, above all, not to leak any of the song files before the official online release. The four band members understood perfectly and nodded in agreement.

At last, Li Mu could breathe easy. That night at eight o’clock, Southern Su TV would broadcast the qualifying round. Zhao Kang, back in Haizhou, was already on high alert. Lately, his online team had been stirring up Simple Plan’s fan community with a provocative question: where could one listen to the official studio versions of "Li Bai" and "Sunflower"? The live versions just didn’t have great audio quality.

However, all the fans knew that Simple Plan hadn’t signed with any record company yet, and thus hadn’t entered the studio to record. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the day when their studio recordings would be released—but it seemed that would take a while.

Many fans speculated about the timeline. The most popular theory was that Simple Plan would only get the attention of major record labels after the mid-August finals. It would take at least half a year from signing to the release of their first album, meaning there was little hope of hearing studio versions or buying an album this year.

But Zhao Kang’s team launched a second wave of publicity, spreading “insider tips” online, telling fans that Simple Plan’s first single "Li Bai" had already been recorded, as had "Sunflower," and that both tracks would soon be released online—sparking heated discussion among fans.

Li Mu brought the master files to the EasyListen office. Kong Lingyu, along with two full-time techs, a server specialist, and several local computer science seniors working part-time, were all on high alert inside the office building.

Before going live, Li Mu conducted another full test of both the front and back ends with the team. Everything ran smoothly—most importantly, the website looked stunning. At least for the time, EasyListen was definitely the coolest music streaming site around.

All the tracks in the music library were sourced from the internet, a common practice for music streaming sites at the time. Li Mu understood that the initial stage of capital accumulation was always tainted, and the tech industry was no exception. Countless future billionaires had made fortunes through copying, imitation, infringement, and counterfeits. There was little point in feeling guilt now; keeping pace with the times meant avoiding universal condemnation. What mattered most was getting EasyListen off the ground and building a user base.

At eight o’clock, Southern Su TV’s broadcast began.

Online, forums were ablaze with anticipation for Simple Plan’s performance video. Everyone knew they’d be the last act in the qualifying round, so their slot wouldn’t air until after nine.

Meanwhile, Zhao Kang’s team kicked off their second round of publicity.