When Song Dao received the message, he was still on his way home.
Hu Wei, sitting in the front, looked excited.
He was not dressed as formally today. Instead, he had copied Song Dao and worn a shirt with jeans.
He looked much younger too.
Paired with that handsome face, he looked especially energetic.
But Song Dao was wearing a tracksuit today, looking even more casual.
After practicing his voice in the park every morning, he would run two laps around the two-thousand-meter track. Sportswear was more comfortable.
"Boss, did Teacher Lin say when that song would be released?"
"Wait a little. No rush."
"Mm-hm, no rush. No, actually, it's pretty urgent. It would be best if it came out next month!"
Hu Wei rubbed his hands like a fly and turned back with a grin. "So, Boss, could you talk to Teacher Lin about it?"
Next month?
Wouldn't that be when his ex-girlfriend got married?
Sure enough.
Men were boys until the day they died.
He had not completely let go in the end.
His heart was unwilling, and the resentment remained.
Song Dao said, "Alright. I'll talk to Teacher Lin later."
Then he saw several messages from Lin Fei.
They included two documents, along with a message from Lin Fei.
He opened the document labeled [Demon Love].
--At the beginning of the Great Zhou, Emperor Taizong, who had just unified the realm, often suffered nightmares in which enemy soldiers killed on the battlefield came to claim his life.
So he issued an order across the land, launching massive construction projects to build Buddhist temples everywhere.
To help those departed souls cross over.
He also sent Master Zhenxuan to the Western Regions to seek the true scriptures.
In the past, Great Demon Wuzhiqi had wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace and was suppressed beneath Five Finger Mountain by the Buddha for five hundred years...
Master Zhenxuan passed through the area, broke the seal, and rescued Wu Zhiqi. He took him as his disciple, and master and disciple headed for the Western Regions together.
When they passed White Tiger Ridge, Wu Zhiqi encountered his former lover.
A White Tiger who had cultivated for many years and possessed immense magical power.
Faced with his former love, who no longer recognized anyone close to her and wanted to devour his master, Wu Zhiqi could only brace himself and stop her.
Later, he discovered that White Tiger's desire to eat Master Zhenxuan was a lie. What she truly wanted was to keep Wu Zhiqi there.
Five hundred years had passed, yet she still loved him deeply...
In the end, Wu Zhiqi still chose to accompany his master to the Western Regions. He only left White Tiger with a string of plant seeds from the south.
They agreed that one day, when the seeds took root, sprouted, grew into great trees, blossomed, and bore fruit, he would return to see her.
Song Dao thought, Isn't this this world's Journey to the West?
The original owner had watched it as a child. It was called Journey to the West, and its plot was very similar to Journey to the West.
It was also about subduing demons, eliminating evil, and obtaining the true scriptures.
No wonder people said the two worlds had developed along similar paths. Even their cultures shared many similarities.
But they were only similar. In the end, they were still two different flowers.
What surprised Song Dao was how perfectly this movie matched the song he had obtained from the Premium Gold Treasure Chest!
He had always been considering one question.
No matter how classic a song was, it still needed time to prove itself.
Even if a good song was simply a good song, and people could quickly fall in love with it upon first hearing it.
But if it had a story supporting it, the effect would obviously be even better!
That was also why so many hit songs came from film and television productions.
The two complemented each other. Blended together, they could become shared memories for a generation, or even several generations.
When a familiar melody began to play, one's thoughts would instantly be pulled back to some sunny afternoon or a rainy day.
They would remember the people and events of the past.
That was how nostalgia was born.
So if he wanted to promote those classic songs from Earth and open up the market, the best way was actually to tie them to film and television productions.
Like a seed planted in the hearts of this generation.
Then he opened the document labeled [Three Kingdoms].
He glanced over it and immediately laughed.
Although his memories of music from his previous life were vague, he still remembered the titles of those songs and parts of their melodies.
Three Kingdoms!
This one was even more incredible!
If the system gave him a matching song, and there were no major problems with the drama filmed by Xia Kingdom's top director, it would definitely become a massive hit!
He had previously felt that the system's song selections carried a sense of destiny. They were incredibly precise.
Now, he was even more certain of it.
"I was still thinking of a way to get Sister Fei to open her golden voice, but she delivered herself right to my door. The only issue now is probably Teacher Lin's reaction when she hears Sister Fei can only get twenty percent..."
"This is a good chance to see whether this fairy-like girl truly doesn't care about money, or whether she's just pretending."
Song Dao pondered.
Seeing Song Dao reading something, Hu Wei, who sat in front, did not dare interrupt him. He could only silently encourage himself.
From junior to Teacher Song, then from Teacher Song to Boss.
The whole process had been so smooth that even he found it a little unbelievable.
He had thought himself a proud man, a man with backbone.
Even when faced with drunken customers looking for trouble at the bar, he had never backed down.
Now he understood. He had not been afraid before because those people could not control his fate.
But the junior sitting in the backseat, several years younger than him... could!
That was why, yesterday afternoon, despite his boss trying to keep him, he had quit that well-paying job without hesitation.
That was why he had somehow learned to open his junior's car door, without feeling the slightest humiliation.
I'll prove to everyone who knows my name that I'm not daydreaming!
When Song Dao returned home, he did not rush to reply to Lin Fei.
He only replied with an okay.
As usual, he turned on his computer, logged into the Penguin Musician creation platform, and checked the data.
This had become the happiest part of every day for him.
See Through Love, See Through You had 250,467 non-member downloads.
Sad City had overtaken it with 314,566 non-member downloads.
As the buzz cooled, the growth rate began to slow.
But that was already very good for Song Dao!
Non-member downloads alone had brought in more than five hundred thousand. After it reached him, he would receive over three hundred thousand before tax!
Even after taxes, and after the system took another half, he could still get more than one hundred thousand.
And that was only from non-member downloads. There were also member downloads and advertising revenue.
He estimated that it should come to more than two hundred thousand in total.
Adding Kong Xi's share, that was over three hundred thousand a month!
Even if it dropped sharply later, it would not be difficult for these songs to keep bringing him tens of thousands in income every month.
And that was without him accepting any appearances. His income had already surpassed that of most people in this era.
It was not as if no one had contacted him recently. Since he had not registered an account on My Show, the private messages on Audio-Visual and Shuibo had exploded. He could not possibly read them all.
Quite a few were invitations from businesses or program crews.
He had not responded to any of them.
Miao Xiu had nothing to do with him in the first place. Riding this wave of popularity would offer no benefit to his future.
Lin Fei was not the sort of boss who drained every last drop from her artists.
The terms were very flexible. If he was unwilling, no one could force him.
So Song Dao was very satisfied with his current situation.
Interestingly, the two songs that had originally entered the top ten of the Musician Original Chart had now been pushed out.
See Through Love, See Through You ranked twelfth, while Sad City ranked eleventh.
Because they had always been a little far from the top ten on the Soaring Chart and New Song Chart, there had not been much change. They remained in the teens every day.
Song Dao knew that the top ten were reserved territory for major companies.
If not for the explosive wave of popularity that had pushed them in all at once, it would have been nearly impossible to claim a spot there.
And signing with a company would not change that situation.
At least, not for these two songs.
After signing, the most that could happen was that some of the criticism aimed at him personally would gradually decrease. When it came to throwing money around, he still could not compete with the major companies.
Song Dao did not care either.
First, the potential of these two songs had basically been brought out by the previous wave of popularity. It would be difficult for them to reach new heights afterward.
Although his share from Always Been Quiet was relatively smaller, in the long run, it would definitely earn more than these two songs.
Second, even if Lin Fei was willing to spend money, he would oppose it.
After all, there would be more good songs later.
Checking his reputation, he saw that it had already accumulated to seven or eight hundred thousand. He was not in a hurry to draw again.
Based on the trend shown by the system, it clearly placed more importance on finding singers in this world and promoting the classic songs in its library.
Since that was the case, he could simply keep quiet and make his fortune.
The system treated him like a tool, and he treated his collaborators like tools.
Everyone was the same.
That was perfectly reasonable.
June 26th.
Eight in the evening.
The summer's most anticipated historical fantasy romance drama, Immortal Sword Asking for Love, officially premiered!
It aired on Orange, the leading local television station, while the online platform was Tencent Video.
With nothing much to do, Song Dao picked up his old tablet and planned to watch casually with the mindset of learning about the culture.
Then he got hooked.
This historical idol drama, which he had previously assumed would be melodramatic and full of clichéd tortured romance, was surprisingly good.
First, the casting was excellent!
The male lead was named Qin Ge. Needless to say, he was handsome, and he also had a pair of peach blossom eyes that seemed to speak.
His acting was quite good too!
Such a handsome man made his entrance looking ugly, yet he brought a little beggar vividly to life.
The plot flowed smoothly, and the dialogue was not awkward either.
The female lead was Zhao Xue. Having debuted as a child star, her acting was even more impressive. She portrayed a willful fairy who descended to the mortal world to find her husband with remarkable depth.
Second, the production team was willing to spend money!
As expected of a crew willing to spend a million on a single song, they had clearly put enormous effort into everything from costumes and props to set design.
Finally, the show's overall score was excellent!
It was the work of Feiyang Music Movement.
Song Dao was not just praising his own company. If a good drama lacked equally good music, its impact would absolutely be greatly diminished!
How important was a score?
Replace it with comedic sound effects, and ninety-five percent of horror movies would instantly become comedies.
Feiyang Music Movement might not have especially powerful lyricists or composers internally, but there were definitely masters in the field of scoring!
There were only two episodes that night, and he finished them shortly after ten.
Song Dao actually felt a little unsatisfied.
He did not know whether it was an illusion, but as he gradually grew used to this body and this world, and moved farther away from all those troubles of the past, his mindset had unconsciously begun to grow younger as well.
Over the next few days, he barely went out.
Lin Fei did not urge him to write songs either.
This was not a hen laying eggs. He could not produce one a day, or one every few days. He needed inspiration.
He conveyed Hu Wei's wishes to Lin Fei's side.
Lin Fei agreed immediately.
When they had been drinking that night, Hu Wei had mentioned a little about his ex-girlfriend.
So even though Song Dao had not said a single unnecessary word, Lin Fei still guessed what Hu Wei wanted.
After agreeing, she discussed it with Song Dao.
"How about we spend one hundred thousand yuan promoting his chart ranking first? Do you think that's too little?"
A hundred thousand might not have seemed like much, but it was already enough to push Hu Wei into the top twenty of the New Song Chart or Soaring Chart.
After all, those things updated once a day. As long as they controlled the pace of the spending and stayed in the top ten for several consecutive days, it would not be difficult to achieve a promotional effect.
The Hot Song Chart updated once a week, and throwing money at that one would truly cost quite a lot.
Song Dao had recently heard from people at Penguin Music that the Popularity Index Chart was going to undergo some adjustments and might be linked to the Soaring Chart.
In addition, they were going to launch a new Classic Chart, ranked according to historical download numbers and listening figures, with the former carrying more weight.
It would be almost impossible to throw money at a chart like that.
So all along, only the top ten of the Soaring Chart, New Song Chart, and original musician rankings had been fiercely contested ground.
No one cared much about ranks outside the top ten.
"I think that's quite a lot," Song Dao said.
"Also, I'm planning to spend another hundred thousand to hire some relatively well-known singing streamers, as well as some decent music critics on Audio-Visual and My Show, to promote it," Lin Fei said from the other end.
"That works too!"
Compared to ranking on music platforms, finding people to promote it through mobile video apps was also a fast way to spread a song.
Just like his two songs—they had actually affected the music platforms because they had become so popular on video sites.
"Then it's settled."
June 30th.
The last day of the month.
Hu Wei, once a talented student of the Central Conservatory of Music and now an obscure figure in the music scene, released the first single of his life on Penguin Music.
That same day, Immortal Sword Asking for Love, which had already aired ten episodes, finally reached its first major climax.
The suffering began!
The male lead, who had gotten through his hardest days with the second female lead by his side, ran into the female lead when he had only just started to recover.
The female lead was a little spoiled and willful. Her clever, mischievous personality was far more attractive to the male lead than the second female lead's gentleness and domestic virtue.
As the plot progressed, the second female lead caught sight of the increasingly intimate male and female leads, as well as the lingering looks beginning to pass between them.
Feeling somewhat dejected, she quietly walked away.
At that moment, Kong Xi's "Always Been Quiet" finally... made its appearance amid the fervent anticipation of countless people.
Before you continue