Just as she sat down and glanced at the computer screen, Manager Sun didnât scold Xiao Yan for watching variety shows but instead let out a small sound. Pointing at Xu Qingyan on the screen, his finger trembled slightly.
âIâve heard the songs this guy wrote, theyâre pretty good. Thereâs also a music video, it blew up the trending searches.â
As he spoke, Manager Sun hit the pause button.
The camera kept rolling, Xiao Yan was holding a phone and filming Manager Sun. She thought he was just joking around, but then he actually opened up a music video.
The songâs intro played, Xiao Yan and Xiao Qing were still laughing.
âIt sounds quite nice, Manager Sun.â
âOf course, could my taste be bad?â Manager Sun, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses and appearing like a frail scholar, made a cool gesture as he sat in his computer chair.
The two girls burst into laughter, until⦠that moment a loud, resounding operatic voice came out. Xiao Yan immediately froze, suddenly overwhelmed with an indescribable feeling.
She felt electric shocks running through her body, from her brain all the way to the tip of her heart.
âManager Sun, what song is this?â Xiao Qing, who wasnât much of a talker, took the initiative to ask, her eyes sparkling.
âI saw it trending. Donât you guys love watching music shows?â Manager Sun turned his head, looking at them with an expression like he was looking at country bumpkins, âHow could you not even check out the trending searches, criticising the programâs songwriter.â
He let out a sigh and gave a thumbs up.
âThis guy is really something; he did both the MV and the song. Guess what place this song gotâsecond to last, now thatâs what I call being underrated.â
âWe had a day off yesterday, Xiao Qing and I slept from the afternoon straight through to this afternoon,â Xiao Yan said, âWho has time for trending searches? Woke up, had some food, and came straight to work.â
âAre you trying to lure me with pie in the sky again, huh? PUA boss?â Manager Sun looked wary.
âIf this song is second to last, the first place must be really good to listen to, huh?â Xiao Qing, looking at the silhouette of the horse rider in the MV ending, felt a bit downhearted.
âThe first-place song was also written by him, Iâve heard it, and itâs really nice too.â Manager Sun obligingly played âIf Youâve Heardâ again.
To those unaware, it could seem like a group of college classmates hanging out together rather than a workplace.
After the song finished, the empathetic Xiao Qing had already started shedding tears. Manager Sun, who got himself into this mess, could only take responsibility and handed tissues to Xiao Qing.
Xiao Yan, heartless as ever, laughed heartily and recorded everything on her phone.
âAre the other songs as good as âRiding a White Horseâ? Then Iâll have to check out this variety show,â Xiao Qing said, wiping her tears and pulling out her phone.
âIâm not stopping you, but I donât recommend it,â Manager Sun said, âbecause youâllâ¦â
âManager Sun, you mustnât say things carelessly!â
After some playful banter, the group clustered around a computer desktop to review the just-filmed footage. They collectively brainstormed editing ideas, most of which were in agreement.
However, on one particular pointâ¦
âBoss, itâs fine to include snippets from those two songs, not exceeding three sentences; it wouldnât count as copyright infringement,â Xiao Yan said, âbut⦠might we offend the programâs crew?â
âWeâre on the verge of closing down, what do we have to fear about offending anyone?â Manager Sun half-jokingly said, âThereâs nothing to be afraid of, we arenât naming names; just cut it out and itâll be fine.â
Although the studio staff always complained that Manager Sun didnât act like a boss, when it came to making crucial decisions, it was mostly Manager Sunâs call.
âAlright,â Xiao Yan agreed.
After repeatedly discussing the editing ideas, Xiao Yan got down to editing. Once finished, she directly uploaded the video to all of the studioâs accounts.
Almost within two minutes after the video was published, ten comments immediately appeared. The surge in traffic required validation, and those who arrived early were the active fans.
âDamn, I actually saw Xu Qingyan in the âBird Talkâ memes. I complained about it yesterday too, at this point the program really doesnât need to continue, itâs all rigged.â
âYeah, I watched his love-themed variety show too, it was quite interesting. Donât understand why so many people are dissing him, didnât get it then but it seems reasonable now.â
âThatâs how talented people are, maybe nobody could see it at the time. But I feel like Pei Muchan and Zhouzhou saw it, haha.â
âI thought I was following a romance reality show down below, but who knew itâs actually a workplace romance series. The sight of two pop princesses competing over a songwriter is just too funny, do celebrities also get wrapped up in this rat race?â
âThe key is that they actually know each other! Zhouzhou and Xu Qingyan were middle school classmates, the childhood friends turned power couple are so sweet to ship! Who understands, that feeling of both growing up to become bosses!â
âPower couple, right, ð, it really is sweet to ship! If I hadnât watched âI Am a Singer,â I wouldnât have known Xu Qingyan wrote seven songs in two months!â
âYou guys are totally out of the loop, Zhouzhou posted today. She teased the eighth song written by Xu Qingyan, in our field, heâs absolutely a godfather of composition!â
âI saw that post too, itâs said to be âFragrant Paddy,â and Teacher Xu even recorded a version himself. Zhouzhou said, this is a childhood gift from Teacher Xu!! Ahhh!! Who gets this kind of romance!â
âWhat exactly is their relationship? Iâm a bit confused, Iâve been shipping them recently, Xu Qingyan seems to be in the same studio as Sister Pei!â
After one night, Xiao Yan was stunned when she turned on her computer at work the next day.
âXiao Qing, pinch me!â
âWhat for? Still half asleep?â Xiao Qing rolled over in her chair, glanced at the screen, âThree million views? Is this from the video edited last night?â
âYes⦠yes, three thousand comments, I thought we got reported.â Xiao Yan was finding it hard to speak, overwhelmed by the explosive overnight data.
Just then, President Sun happened to yawn his way past and was forcibly dragged over by Xiao Yan.
âPresident Sun, look! Itâs blown up!â
âWhatâs blown up?â President Sun adjusted his glasses, bent down for a look, âOh~ I thought it was something else. Making a fuss, isnât it normal for videos to go viral?â
âWhy⦠why is that?â Xiao Yan was completely bewildered.
âItâs not us thatâs blown up, itâs them whoâs become a sensation.â President Sun took out his phone, âLook at the trending searches, there are ten, five of them trending, star of the day.â
âThat many?â Xiao Qing was stunned.
âOf course, theyâve been gathering strength to make a sudden success, got trending because of that spat with the production team. And then all the songs they wrote got listened to again, all went viral at once.â
President Sun was gleefully foolish, as if this was his own accomplishment.
âWhatâs this called, theyâve been gathering strength to make a sudden success, from adversity comes prosperity. It proves that hardship is the last dark night before success, I think we can survive this too.â
âHope the company doesnât go bankrupt!â President Sun shouted the rather weak slogan.
Scenes like this were happening in different places, people looking down at their phones. They saw the video push, and more and more bloggers started chasing the heat to make videos about Xu Qingyan.
More people heard âQing Tian,â heard âThe One I Miss.â People were moved by the most sincere and unpretentious singing voice and realized⦠Your journey continues with empire
That in this impetuous era, there were still people insisting on originality. Not making cheesy pop songs, not plagiarizing nor producing knock-offs, he wrote seven songs in two months!
And, the eighth song coming soon.
â¦
Cicada Studio.@@novelbin@@
Pei Muchan stretched at her desk, her figure full and shapely. Her eyes slightly narrowed, she pressed down on her eyebrows and looked at Xu Qingyan across from her, and asked.
âDo you remember that TV drama? The one that bought âQing Tianâ as its theme song.â
ââA Journey of Flowersâ?â Xu Qingyan thought for a while before he remembered, it was something from over a month ago, âWhat about it, is it airing soon?â
âYeah, they contacted me.â Pei Muchan leaned back in her chair and said lazily, âIt was originally set to be âYouthful Journey,â but after much hesitation they ultimately refused.â
âWhat song did they choose?â Xu Qingyan was curious.
Pei Muchanâs expression darkened a bit, she pressed her lips together silently for a moment before speaking.
âA song by Ji Chen.â
âHuh? Does the production team have no taste at all?â Xu Qingyan almost sprayed out his tea, âA rock anthem for youth?â