Lucky Draw

Chapter 10: Lucky Draw

The equipment at Yan Yu's place was indeed far superior to what was available near the school gate.

What caught Song Dao's eye even more was that this beautiful senior sister wasn't just proficient in multiple instruments—she also had unique insights into arrangement.

Even though the system had already provided the complete arrangement for the song, following her suggestions and making slight adjustments gave it a subtle boost.

In Yan Yu's own words, hiring people was too expensive, so she had to learn a bit of everything herself.

Song Dao thought she was full of it. While he didn't fully grasp the value of recording studio equipment in this world, even an ordinary setup couldn't be built for less than a million or two. Hers was clearly not ordinary.

Several of the brands in there were top-tier in the original owner's memory, ridiculously expensive.

The recording process went smoothly.

With the Versatile Voice blessing and his own painful experiences, Song Dao easily found the right feeling.

He barely paused, finishing almost in one go.

After recording two or three versions, Yan Yu gave him a thumbs-up, signaling he was done!

When it came time to pay, Yan Yu only charged a thousand.

Normally, her starting price was two thousand.

That meant the boss lady herself had helped out in every way and then given him a fifty percent discount.

Song Dao was naturally delighted.

Great equipment, low price—he had a place to record songs from now on.

Then everyone started preparing lunch.

Hotpot was probably the easiest cooking method for eating at home.

Back to basics—one big "cauldron" to cook everything.

Just wash the vegetables and slice some luncheon meat.

They said they'd drink a little, but they didn't actually drink much. Yan Yu didn't even let the eager Kong Xi touch any.

But she herself was a woman who drank baijiu.

When she tentatively asked Song Dao, his eyes lit up.

Few young people liked baijiu, especially young, beautiful women who drank it.

He felt this senior sister also had a story.

Yan Yu was equally surprised. She rarely met peers who enjoyed baijiu.

So they each poured a couple of ounces, drinking and chatting.

The more they talked, the more they clicked.

Yan Yu was talented and articulate; Song Dao, middle-aged in experience, had a wealth of life stories.

Kong Xi quietly ate her meal on the side.

After eating and drinking their fill, Song Dao first hailed a cab and took his leave.

Kong Xi said to Yan Yu with some envy, "Sister Yu is amazing, you clicked with him so well!"

Yan Yu, cheeks flushed from the baijiu but eyes clear, wore a thoughtful expression.

"For someone like him to be bewitched by a gold digger for years is really strange. Maybe life really needs some experiences before sudden enlightenment..."

She laughed self-deprecatingly. A man several years younger than her had awakened, yet she was still trapped here.

But there were some things she would never tell anyone.

No matter how close she was with Kong Xi, she only saw her as a little sister.

A girl who had never been in love—what life lessons could she share with her?

"You don't mind the advice I gave you today, do you?" she asked, looking at Kong Xi.

"Of course not, Sister Yu was looking out for me! Besides, I'm not that stupid. Senior Brother Song Dao can handle two completely different styles of songs—he's got real substance!"

Kong Xi said seriously, "I just got lucky with one song blowing up. My foundation is actually weak.

I'm more of an internet celebrity than a singer.

So I don't blame those famous veteran producers for looking down on me.

Becoming friends with Senior Song is definitely my gain. That song—many people in the industry could sing it!

And someone older, with more experience and insight, would definitely perform it better than me!"

Yan Yu smiled happily.

So it was true—many people's success seemed lucky, but it was never really accidental.

Even if she hadn't been involved today, Kong Xi, to get a song like "Always Been Quiet" to boost her, would have had to make concessions.

After all, she needed this too badly right now!

But truly few can see this clearly.

Song Dao took a taxi back to his rented room and carefully put away the first music contract he had signed since arriving in this world.

After showering, he sat at his desk and, with a sense of ceremony, opened the Penguin Music platform again.

Entering the Music Pavilion and clicking on the rankings—the Soaring Chart showed twenty-second, the New Song Chart seventeenth, and the Original Ranking had actually charged straight to fifteenth!

At this rate, breaking into the top ten wasn't out of the question.

Then he opened the creator platform; the number of non-member purchases had surged to fifteen thousand!

Based on the revenue split, in less than twenty-four hours, he could already pocket nine thousand yuan.

And this was only part of it.

The real big head was still in the member downloads!

Don't underestimate the low unit price—it couldn't compete with the sheer number of people!

Song Dao, who had been a bit drowsy, perked up entirely after seeing these results.

To be honest, if this song had been released in an era of fierce competition among gods, it could never have achieved such results.

It could only be said that everything came down to the right time, place, and people.

Without ringback tones, Two Butterflies and Mouse Loves Rice wouldn't have succeeded; without the live-streaming era, Guangdong Love Story wouldn't have been born either.

Song Dao then contacted the platform's customer service and sent over his newly recorded version.

Their attitude was surprisingly good!

"Hello, Teacher Song, you're really timely! Some people have already started reporting that the audio quality is average today, and we were just about to reach out to you. It's great that you've recorded a new version!"

The customer service rep sent a thumbs-up.

Then they indicated that Penguin was willing to maintain a long-term partnership with a young, talented creator like Song Dao.

If the songs he created from now on were all released exclusively on the platform, they would offer more revenue splits and promotional support.

Song Dao naturally wouldn't refuse such a good deal.

As the largest music platform in the Xia Kingdom, Penguin had over five hundred million active users.

If he could really land a classic hit, he could earn a considerable income just from the platform alone.

After the other party said they would review the audio source and put it online as soon as possible, Song Dao logged off the platform and silently thought: Check reputation.

[Host Reputation: 354976]

Seventy times!

He could already draw seventy times now!

Song Dao was thrilled.

After silently thinking about drawing, a virtual wheel appeared before him.

It was covered in dazzling, radiant treasure chests that almost made Song Dao's eyes blur.

Exquisite bronze treasure chests, shiny silver treasure chests, gleaming gold treasure chests, and even sparkling diamond treasure chests!

Song Dao was stunned, thinking to himself, Is this something I'm even qualified to look at right now?

After quickly calming down, he immediately spotted the trap.

The Dog System had deliberately made these treasure chests look exquisite and radiant, drawing people's eyes irresistibly toward them.

But in reality, this virtual draw wheel had hundreds of slots!

His eyesight was already excellent, yet he still couldn't quite make out what was written on them.

He had originally thought that with his current "sky-high reputation," he could at least pull out one or two good songs, but now he felt a bit uncertain.

Looking at the options for a single draw and a ten-draw.

He steeled his resolve and chose the ten-draw.

He felt this way had a higher chance of getting "top-tier" items.

The pointer started slowly at first, and whether it was an illusion or not, it seemed to stutter when passing over those dazzling treasure chests, making Song Dao's heart pound.

Then it spun rapidly like a helicopter rotor.

A few seconds later.

It stopped abruptly at one spot, then repeated the process.

After about thirty seconds, ten prizes appeared before Song Dao in text form.

[Throat Lozenges x3, slightly sweet, mint flavor, can quickly relieve throat fatigue]

[Beginner Suona Skill x1]

[Beginner Erhu Skill x1]

[Beginner Flute Skill x1]

[Beginner Bel Canto Skill x1]

[Intermediate Arrangement Ability x1]

[Throat Lozenges Plus x2, slightly sweet, orange flavor, quickly restores vocal fatigue and enhances explosive power]

"Damn."

Song Dao couldn't help but silently curse the Dog System.

These prizes—couldn't say they were bad.

Throat lozenges, Throat Lozenges Plus—both were practical.

For a singer, they were genuinely good stuff.

These instrument skills, bel canto technique, arrangement ability—needless to say, they were what musicians dreamed of.

Especially after he got the Advanced Guitar Skills from the Newbie Gift Pack, he understood their value even more.

But the problem was, he wanted to draw treasure chests!

Gritting his teeth, he did another ten-pull.

Maybe because he'd badmouthed it earlier, the result almost made Song Dao's vision go dark.

He only got three throat lozenges and one Beginner Suona Skill.

The rest were all "Thanks for Your Patronage"!

At this rate, the first ten-pull giving ten prizes was just newbie luck?

Song Dao checked the description—a hundred beginner skills were needed to advance to intermediate!

The system knew how to game!

Unconvinced, Song Dao chose another ten-pull.

This time, he won six times.

One throat lozenge, one Emotion Stabilizing Candy, three skills.

This time there was a new thing—Emotion Stabilizing Candy—

A soft candy, slightly sweet, keeps emotions stable for two and a half hours after eating.

Mm, for calming nerves, this was good too.

He pulled again, winning five times.

Until, like a gambler, on his sixth ten-pull, a shiny... Bronze Treasure Chest finally appeared before his eyes!

Song Dao almost shed tears.

Your sister!

Three hundred thousand prestige!

Even deducting the previous hundred thousand, the remaining two hundred thousand prestige was earned from twenty million in heat.

In a short time, getting that kind of heat again would be tough.

Looking at the remaining tens of thousands of prestige.

Song Dao chickened out—better keep a reserve.

"A man should know contentment."

"Better than having no treasure chest at all!"

He muttered, first storing the throat lozenges, Throat Lozenges Plus, and Emotion Stabilizing Candy—which could be taken out anytime—into the System Inventory.

Then he used up all the various beginner skills.

Just like before, a flood of related knowledge poured into his mind.

For example, with Beginner Suona Skill, he felt he could go pick up a funeral gig right now...

Finally, he took a deep breath and opened the Bronze Treasure Chest!

The moment he saw the song title, Song Dao froze for a second, then felt a bit speechless.

So I'm stuck singing this kind of heartbreak ballad?