Premium Gold Treasure Chest

The next morning.

Song Dao groggily opened his eyes and checked the time. It was only a little past nine in the morning, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

The agreed time over there was in the afternoon. There was still time.

A young body really was great!

After drinking that much, one good night's sleep was all it took.

If it had been his forty-year-old body from before, drinking like that would have left him miserable for an entire day.

They had gotten pleasantly tipsy at the barbecue stand first, then headed to a bar, where the group had downed several more bottles of foreign liquor.

Just as Zhu Xiao had said, the young masters of Beijing had stopped pretending.

The barbecue had only cost a few hundred yuan, but the drinking session had run up tens of thousands!

Once he got drunk, he admitted that his own Mom was actually a fairly famous second-tier singer, still active onstage to this day.

His dad was the head of the Beijing Theatre Troupe.

He was a bona fide second-generation celebrity.

So for nearly the entire second half of last night's drinking session, the conversation had revolved around Kang Peng.

Zhu Xiao in particular kept flattering him throughout, making it clear between the lines that he hoped Brother Peng would give him a hand.

Kang Peng pretended to be too drunk and never responded.

Song Dao also kept his drinking under control, staying sober the whole time.

After seeing the other two off, Kang Peng was the last one he sent home.

Kang Peng smiled and said that since they were all in Beijing now, Song Dao should feel free to speak up if there was ever anything he could help with.

What Song Dao remembered most clearly was this—

"Brother Dao, my Mom said there's been some talk online lately that isn't very favorable toward you. Luckily, you didn't come out to chase the traffic, but she still told me to remind you to be careful. It'd be best if you found a company.

Right now, you're not big enough to draw too much attention from those people. But if you keep getting more popular, someone might decide to come after you.

The darkness of the entertainment industry is hard for outsiders to imagine.

If you're performing elsewhere, try not to touch any food or drinks other people give you.

And if you go live online, don't just run your mouth carelessly and leave something for people to use against you.

Anyway, if you ever need your brother's help, just say the word!"

Those words had been truly heartfelt, and Song Dao was deeply moved. He asked Kang Peng to pass along his thanks to Auntie.

Kang Peng had laughed and said, "When you see my Mom in the future, remember to call her Sister Jing. She won't be happy if you call her Auntie!"

Jin Jing, a second-tier singer in the Xia Kingdom, had been in the industry for more than twenty years without a single scandal.

Most of her songs were patriotic bel canto pieces, and her voice was soaring, clear, and incredibly penetrating.

Looking at the encyclopedia entry on this "elder sister," along with clips from all sorts of gala performances, Song Dao thought Kang Peng had really kept a low profile.

For four whole years of university, he had never let even a hint slip.

If they had not graduated, he probably would have kept it hidden.

Three in the afternoon.

Song Dao got dressed neatly and left home.

He was still wearing a blue-and-white plaid shirt, jeans, and a pair of canvas shoes.

Youthful and handsome.

His face was not the sharply defined, masculine kind of handsome, but rather a slightly softer yet not effeminate sort of good looks.

With a pair of glasses, he would look even more refined and scholarly.

A little like Leon Lai in his younger days.

He was the type who could make a living just by showing his face.

He had not paid much attention to it himself, but there were already many female fans online, as well as quite a few auntie fans and Mom fans.

They did not care what he sang at all. They were simply obsessed with his face.

Song Dao had thought that arriving half an hour early would put him ahead of Lin Fei.

But when he arrived at three thirty, Lin Fei, the Heavenly Queen, was already there!

She was sitting on the first-floor sofa chatting with Yan Yu.

The moment Song Dao opened the door and saw that strikingly beautiful face with its exceptional presence, he froze slightly.

He subconsciously checked the time on his phone.

Yan Yu smiled. "You're not late. I asked Sister Fei to come over early so we could chat."

Lin Fei took the initiative to stand. There was still a trace of surprise in her eyes, though she controlled her expression well. Smiling, she said, "So you're Teacher Water Strike Three Thousand. Hello, Song Dao. I'm Lin Fei."

Song Dao also smiled and greeted the two of them. "Hello, Sister Fei. Hello, Sister Yu."

"Come sit!" Yan Yu said as she went over to the tea table to make Song Dao some tea.

"Yan Yan really kept things hidden. She never told me who Teacher Water Strike Three Thousand was. So this was what she had been waiting to spring on me." Lin Fei said with a smile.

"It was supposed to be a surprise for you!" Yan Yu replied with a laugh from over there. "Does it feel surprising?"

"It really does. I never expected Teacher Sanqian to be so young."

Lin Fei had an excellent temperament and was very easygoing, without the slightest bit of a diva's arrogance.

Lin Fei was even prettier in person than she was on camera.

Most of what he had seen were Lin Fei's old videos. Now that he saw her in person, aside from her even better temperament, she seemed not to have changed much. She even looked a few years younger than Yan Yu.

Mainly because the two had very different styles.

Yan Yu was the glamorous, commanding older-sister type—mature and sexy. Her pair of peach blossom eyes, especially, were so alluring that even an ordinary gaze from her could feel soul-stealing.

Lin Fei, on the other hand, was ethereal.

Her skin was like snow, her features like a painting.

Sitting quietly there, she looked like a fairy who had stepped out of a picture scroll.

For a woman who possessed both beauty and talent like this to be called the National Goddess, and to become the dream lover of three generations of a family, was truly not an exaggeration at all.

"I heard from Yan Yan that Teacher Sanqian has a song he wrote but hasn't released yet, one meant for someone else to sing? May I be lucky enough to hear it first?" Lin Fei did not jump straight into discussing work.

"You don't have to be so polite, Sister Fei. Just call me Song Dao. Haven't you heard that song yet?" Song Dao asked.

Yan Yu came over carrying the teapot and said, "How could I let someone else hear it without your permission? Sister Fei isn't an outsider, of course, but rules are rules."

Song Dao nodded. Only by doing things this way could people truly feel at ease making music with her.

"Alright, then let's go listen to it first."

Since he wanted to join Lin Fei's Feiyang Music Movement and secure better terms, he still had to let them see his abilities.

Otherwise, as a newcomer, what did he have to negotiate with them?

Song Dao's ideal was to receive more than thirty percent as a singer, preferably forty percent like Kong Xi.

As a lyricist and composer, he needed to receive at least more than twenty percent as well.

As a newcomer without much of a name, he could accept getting less in the beginning.

With the company's operations making the overall pie bigger, he definitely would not lose out in the end.

Once he became successful enough, even if he did not bring it up, Lin Fei's side would take the initiative to do so.

You earned as much money as your abilities warranted; it was the same in every industry.

It was only because resources in the entertainment industry were concentrated and competition was too fierce, with everyone grinding themselves to the bone, that so many unscrupulous companies ruthlessly exploited newcomers.

In any case, before anything was finalized, he would assess the situation first. If they could not agree on the terms, he could always find another company.

From what Kang Peng had implied last night, he seemed to be thinking of helping introduce Song Dao to some people.

After all, his mother had deep connections in this industry.

Seeing Song Dao agree, Lin Fei grew somewhat impatient and immediately wanted to head upstairs.

The three of them went to the second floor.

Yan Yu found a pair of headphones for Lin Fei, put them on her, and pressed play.

Lin Fei sat quietly as the piano intro began. Her eyes brightened slightly, and she glanced at Yan Yu.

Yan Yu immediately revealed a somewhat smug smile.

"We've already sat facing each other all night; I'm afraid dawn is about to break."

"I'm starting to understand that our love is about to fall apart too."

The moment Song Dao's slightly low, husky voice came through the headphones, surprise appeared on Lin Fei's face.

She seemed to find it a little hard to believe that this was the same person who sang "See Through" and "Sad City."

His vocal tone, range, and timbre were all vastly different!

With her expertise in this field, if Song Dao went on one of those masked-singer variety shows, she might not be able to tell it was the same person for quite a while!

Those singing skills... not bad at all!

A sense of sophistication she had never felt in Song Dao's previous songs came rushing at her with those two lines of lyrics.

No wonder Yan Yan thought so highly of him!

When she had arrived early, Yan Yu had not told her who Water Strike Three Thousand was during their conversation, but she had talked quite a lot about Song Dao.

Lin Fei had almost suspected that Yan Yan liked Song Dao.

After all, he really was handsome!

Only now did she understand that Song Dao was Water Strike Three Thousand, and that he was genuinely talented!

Lin Fei quickly became absorbed in it.

When the song reached the chorus, her expression grew even more serious.

—I had nothing to hold against you. What I wanted to keep, you wanted to forget. The happiness and pain we once shared, what was yours and what was mine, were all written off from this day on!

What did I have to hold against you? Those who felt no pain suffered no torment. On the road we once walked hand in hand, only I believed it would last forever~

Song Dao's rich, magnetic voice, tinged with a faint rasp, along with the overwhelming emotion in it, made Lin Fei's scalp tingle.

What incredible vocal skill!

And could this kind of song really have been written by a young man who had just graduated from university?

Shiyilang had probably been in his thirties when he wrote this song.

Once someone passed thirty, their understanding of life was naturally completely different from when they were in their twenties.

So Lin Fei's doubts were perfectly reasonable.

But she also knew that geniuses existed in this world.

Back when Dong Hui had been a top-tier composer, he had once told her that if a godfather-level figure stepped forward to support her, her achievements would be far more than simply becoming the Heavenly Queen of the Xia-language Region.

"Your vocal tone is excellent, your range is broad, and your voice is highly distinctive. More importantly, you're cultured, and your understanding of songs surpasses that of most people. It's a pity my abilities are limited. It's difficult for me to write songs that truly suit you."

She had only been eighteen at the time, still preparing for the college entrance exams, and she had been unable to fully understand what her teacher meant.

Later, when countless people mocked her as a watered-down queen, she felt wronged and upset, but she finally understood that her songs really had been lacking something.

But what could she do?

Dong Hui had helped her contact several godfather-level music industry veterans, but all of them had politely declined.

It wasn't that they looked down on her. They simply felt they weren't a good fit.

As one godfather-level veteran famous for writing love songs, who had a rather blunt personality, had put it: Lin Fei was already outstanding, and Brother Hui needn't belittle himself. If the two of them continued to work closely together, they would definitely produce even more classic songs.

To put it bluntly, Lin Fei had already been a Heavenly Queen at the height of her fame, with Dong Hui, a top-tier lyricist and composer, behind her. Those people simply weren't very willing to do something that merely added flowers to brocade.

If they wrote a good song, it would be expected. But what if it flopped?

Wouldn't people laugh at them then? A mighty godfather of the music industry, yet not even as good as a top-tier lyricist and composer...

They couldn't afford to lose that kind of face!

That was why they said it wasn't a good fit.

If Dong Hui hadn't suffered that accident, then even if he couldn't have taken Lin Fei to an even higher level, she wouldn't have withdrawn completely.

The reason she had never made a comeback all these years also had a great deal to do with the fact that she had never found a good song that truly moved her.

Top-tier lyricists and composers couldn't simply be cultivated.

She had been searching all along as well.

Although Song Dao's A Lifetime of Loneliness still fell short of the very best works by those godfather-level veterans, in her eyes, it was no worse than those classic pop songs.

And how old was he?!

He had only just graduated from university, twenty-four or twenty-five at most.

At such an age, he had already created songs like [Always Been Quiet] and [A Lifetime of Loneliness], possessed such exceptional singing ability, and was a singer-songwriter who could write lyrics, compose, and sing.

Forget this era—even if he had been placed in that era when immortals battled one another, he would surely have earned a place for himself!

Lin Fei almost instantly came to the same conclusion as Yan Yu.

So much so that after listening through it once, she immediately played it again.

She was unbelievably excited!

After two listens, her eyes had turned slightly red.

She sniffed hard.

Then she looked at Yan Yu first. "Yan Yan, thank you!"

Yan Yu smiled. "If you want to thank someone, thank Xixi first. If she hadn't suddenly decided to ask Song Dao for a song, I wouldn't have had the chance to meet such a talented musician."

Lin Fei nodded. Looking at Song Dao, she said with complete sincerity, "Teacher Song Dao, come to our company. You can state whatever terms you want. As long as I can meet them, I'll do my best to satisfy them!"

Just as Song Dao was about to speak, the system notification suddenly sounded in his mind.

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[Main Quest Activated]

[Main Quest: Bring the talented Heavenly Queen, whose musical dream still lives on despite being mocked by others, back to the music scene]

[Activation Reward: Premium Gold Treasure Chest x1]

[The quest will officially begin after the singer passes the host's assessment]

There was also some information about reputation and rewards afterward, but Song Dao barely looked at it.

He was utterly shocked inside.

A Heavenly Queen truly was a Heavenly Queen—the system had directly offered a Gold-tier treasure chest.

And fucking... a Premium Gold one at that!