Could He Be... You Know?

Next came a stretch of quiet phone-scrolling among the women.

Then, almost at the same time, the song "A Lifetime of Loneliness" began playing from several of their phones.

Hu Wei's highly distinctive voice was one every classmate present knew all too well.

Once the pride of the Central Conservatory of Music, he had also been the male god in the hearts of these girls... the unattainable campus crush.

It took everyone around ten minutes to finally figure out what had happened to Hu Wei and piece together the timeline.

Then they fell silent, exchanging wordless looks.

They all turned to Zhang Qian.

Zhang Qian calmly set down her phone and smiled at them. "What are you all looking at me for? He and I broke up. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. It's good that he managed to release a hit song..."

After a pause, Zhang Qian still could not help saying, "Besides, it's just one song. So what if it becomes popular?"

"Qianqian's right. Even if he gets famous, can he really be more impressive than an executive at a listed company?"

"One song doesn't prove anything. Unless he keeps producing hits."

"He and our Qianqian are already ancient history. His only identity now is our former classmate. A classmate's song has become popular, so we should be happy for him, right?"

"Wait, didn't any of you notice who wrote the song for him?" The slightly plump woman who had first found the news spoke up again.

Because her looks were ordinary, she had gotten married after graduation, and now her child was almost old enough for elementary school.

Perhaps because she was so ordinary, she got along well with everyone.

Including Hu Wei.

Everyone looked at her.

The slightly plump woman said, "Water Strike Three Thousand! You've never heard of him?"

"Who's Water Strike Three Thousand?" The women all looked confused.

The slightly plump woman said, "He created Kong Xi's 'Always Been Quiet'—lyrics, composition, and arrangement. He's an incredibly talented and mysterious songwriter. The key is that Director Zhang Yi even followed him on Shuibo! He also wrote a poem that, supposedly, professors from Chinese departments at many universities praised. It might even end up in elementary school textbooks!"

The moment she said that, the women present—graduates of the Central Conservatory of Music, most of whom had been struggling in the entertainment industry—were all stunned.

No one understood better than industry insiders what that meant.

"Our great talent Hu... could he have found himself a powerful patron?" someone murmured.

"Anyone Director Zhang follows definitely isn't ordinary."

"So Hu Wei is nearly thirty, and he's actually about to make a comeback?"

The women whispered among themselves, but none of them looked at Zhang Qian's face as it gradually turned ugly.

Because if they did, they feared they would not be able to keep the corners of their mouths from rising.

Hu Wei had recently become far more popular than Song Dao!

Information about his identity was quickly exposed across the internet as well.

Once the pride of the Central Conservatory of Music, the campus heartthrob in girls' eyes, and the star resident singer at a bar.

After meeting his benefactor, Water Strike Three Thousand, he had successfully turned his life around.

It was an inspiring story.

A classic underdog comeback—an old underdog finally sprouting anew.

Unlike Song Dao, that young Central Conservatory of Music graduate whose reputation was split between praise and criticism.

Although some people speculated that Hu Wei had suffered heartbreak, otherwise how could he sing so "healingly"?

But because the song was of sufficiently high quality, people focused more on the song itself.

And its writer was Water Strike Three Thousand, who had suddenly shot to fame over the past few days.

Almost everyone believed that Hu Wei would use this song to successfully enter the Xia Kingdom music scene.

Some even thought he would soon surpass Kong Xi, the currently popular young female singer.

With Song Dao serving as a negative example, some people in the music industry gave Hu Wei exceptionally high praise.

Top-tier singer Zhang Huan: This song's style leans somewhat toward the melancholy love songs of the nineties, but both the lyrics and composition are flawless. Given time, it will surely become a classic!

Second-tier Singer-Songwriter Ma Shen: Now this is what you call a song! Teacher Sanqian did a great job with the lyrics and music, the arrangement is excellent, and Hu Wei sang it well too. A late bloomer with a promising future!

Brother Shen ultimately could not resist this massive wave of traffic and, gritting his teeth, gave it extremely high praise.

Music critic Cui Luo: Everyone says I'm sharp-tongued and hates the way I talk. Every time I go live, damn, there are so many people cursing me, and they speak far worse than I do.

But I always tell the truth. Hu Wei's performance of this work is a genuinely excellent piece from every angle!

The Chinese music scene does not lack disposable pop songs, but it lacks good songs crafted with this kind of care!

They're both sad love songs, yet the difference in quality is like heaven and earth!

I hope more works like this appear in the future, instead of all that "See Through" and "Heartbroken" nonsense... tacky as hell!

In Feiyang Music Movement's office.

Song Dao, whom Lin Fei had invited over to listen to "Lovesickness," looked somewhat speechless as the Heavenly Queen, dressed in a blend of purity and allure today, sat there reading comments to him.

She wore an off-white off-the-shoulder knit top, revealing just the right amount of her delicate collarbones and fair, fragrant shoulders.

Below, she had paired it with light-blue straight-leg jeans, their color naturally faded as though marked by the passage of time.

The trousers fell in a straight cut, perfectly tracing the lines of her legs and showcasing a pair of long, slender, straight legs.

On her feet were a pair of white canvas shoes, clean and refreshing.

What appeared to be an ordinary outfit somehow blended pure beauty and sensuality perfectly on her.

Yet she was reading Song Dao Cui Luo's comments that praised one person while putting another down, laughing as she read.

Absolutely vile!

Lin Fei had originally hated Cui Luo. Whenever he praised someone, he would inevitably drag someone else over to stomp on.

And over the past few years, she had always been the one getting stomped on.

But today was different.

No one outside knew that Water Strike Three Thousand and Song Dao were the same person.

So it was especially amusing.

She increasingly felt that Song Dao's idea of using a pen name was brilliant.

The longer it dragged on, the more famous Water Strike Three Thousand became. When the truth came out one day, the people who praised Three Thousand while trampling Song Dao would only embarrass themselves even more thoroughly.

She was so looking forward to it!

"...instead of those 'See Through' and 'Heartbroken' cheesy pop songs. So tacky, hehehe..."

Lin Fei laughed like a little fox, her eyes curved into crescents, bright and lively.

Despite laughing so exaggeratedly, there was not a single wrinkle at the corners of her eyes.

Song Dao stared for a long while but could not find even one.

His face darkened. "You called me here just to read gossip articles to me? Also, they never called them cheesy pop songs!"

"Hahahaha!" Lin Fei completely lost it and burst into laughter as she looked at Song Dao. "You read it too?"

Song Dao rolled his eyes and ignored her.

This woman could drink like her father—her tolerance was absurdly high. As for her attitude toward money, who knew who she took after? She spent like crazy.

Only after getting to know her better did he realize that she was rather devious. Such a huge Heavenly Queen, yet she was full of wicked little amusements.

He was somewhat doubtful. How had a girl like this been driven out of the industry by public opinion back then?

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you." Lin Fei finally stopped laughing.

She did not know why, but she always felt that this handsome young musical genius radiated a steadiness far beyond his age.

What young person acted like him?

He was like some old cadre.

Too steady!

That was why she could never resist chatting him up, wanting to see Song Dao lose his composure.

She did not know where this strange sense of mischief came from. She had clearly not been like this before.

In front of outsiders, she was still very aloof.

Lin Fei stood up, walked over to the player, and pressed play.

A melodious piano melody drifted out. Soon after, Lin Fei's softly voiced singing followed, her breath flowing out slowly.

The three words "Red Bean grows" were delivered with an obvious breathy treatment, making it sound as though she were whispering softly by one's ear.

It created an atmosphere of distant, lingering emotion.

At the same time, it echoed the ancient and faraway feelings depicted in the lyrics.

She was a true master!

Song Dao suddenly recalled a meme from his previous life.

This woman really was extraordinary.

The words "Water Queen" truly had been the greatest humiliation for her.

Once this song came out, if anyone dared call her a Water Queen again, those old professors at the Central Conservatory of Music would probably come out and curse them.

When she sang the lines [The easiest thing to forget is the poetry of the ancients; the thing most scorned is Lovesickness], the emotional delivery of the entire song entered a minor climax.

Especially the word "scorned," which was also delivered breathily.

It gave the listener a contradictory feeling: her lips claimed disdain, while her heart suffered deeply from lovesickness.

Restrained, profound, and deeply moving!

These were all things the original owner had learned in professional classes, yet they were now perfectly embodied in Lin Fei.

As she sang, [Fireworks embrace the debauched, true love is no more], she still ended in a breathy voice, letting the sound gradually fade into the air.

Like the loneliness and melancholy left behind after fireworks vanished, it gave people endless room for reflection.

It also elevated the emotions of the entire song.

Clap, clap, clap!

Song Dao couldn't help but applaud.

A Heavenly Queen was a Heavenly Queen—she really was fucking amazing!

Lin Fei glanced at Song Dao and said, "It's mainly because Teacher Sanqian taught me so well..."

She did know this singing technique.

But she hadn't used it at first.

During the recording process, she had always felt that something was off.

So she called Song Dao, that shut-in, over to ask for advice.

Feeling that it was hard for him to teach a Heavenly Queen, Song Dao simply sang it through for Lin Fei in front of Yan Yu and her manager, Li Qingqing.

At first, he had thought that he was just someone cheating with a system and ought to know his place, but he had overlooked the fact that this style of singing wasn't one Lin Fei commonly used!

So when Lin Fei first went in to record, he hadn't thought much of it, assuming she would definitely handle it.

It wasn't until he got her call that he realized where the key lay.

And during his performance, Lin Fei finally found the proper way to unlock the song.

Although Song Dao had sung it in a male voice at the time, his grasp of that melancholy was something she lacked.

It was like mist in the sky—everywhere yet faint; faint, yet filling the entire world...

To put it plainly, it was an incredibly powerful ability to infect others with emotion!

Teacher Dong had taught her things like that before, and she herself had learned a great deal through years of experience.

But it wasn't until Song Dao opened his mouth that she finally understood: she ultimately wasn't the creator.

When it came to controlling a song, it still had to be the original creator!

After Song Dao's "guidance," although Lin Fei's vocal tone differed slightly from that of the original singer in his previous life, she still conveyed every emotion in the song with precise perfection.

Even Li Qingqing, who had been present at the time, was left staring in a daze.

Yan Yu couldn't help sighing. "I thought it was already amazing that he could train Hu Wei and Kong Xi. I never expected he could even teach a Heavenly Queen..."

But in Song Dao's view, as long as Lin Fei found the right method, a song like this was no challenge for her with her exceptional vocal skills.

When she sang other pop songs in the future, she would be even more at ease.

"Teacher Song, thank you!"

Lin Fei looked at Song Dao with utter sincerity. "Thank you for giving me the courage to sing again, and thank you for breathing this vitality and energy into the Chinese music scene."

"That's a bit much, sis." Song Dao waved a hand. "It's not that serious. I'm not that great."

As time went by, he became more and more accustomed to his younger identity, and calling people "sis" came naturally to him now.

"Write more songs!" Lin Fei said with a serious expression. "For me, and for everyone else. As long as you write it, I'll sing it!"

Those who truly loved music couldn't resist a good song.

Song Dao nodded. "Alright, I'll do my best!"

Then he turned down Lin Fei's invitation to hold a small celebration party.

"Forget it. This is only a little success—don't get cocky. When Lovesickness becomes a huge hit together with Demon Love, and when I've put together enough songs for you to hold a concert, then we can talk about you taking the stage again."

Song Dao ran off as soon as he finished speaking.

Lin Fei was speechless and drove over to Yan Yu's place.

"He actually said I was getting cocky?!"

Lin Fei went to complain to Yan Yu, and in a fit of anger, got angry for a moment.

It made Yan Yan laugh herself silly.

Lin Fei looked slightly aggrieved. "Yan Yan, do you think Song Dao might be a little misogynistic?"

"Huh? Hahaha!" Yan Yu couldn't help laughing. "No way, right? He seems pretty normal to me."

Lin Fei said, "Look, people online say he spent millions on his ex-girlfriend but never even got together with her. Sure, the woman had her reasons, but does that mean he really had no problems at all?"

Yan Yu looked thoughtful. "That's true. I heard that when a man has an arrow on the string, he can't control himself at all."

"Exactly, exactly! I've heard that too!" Lin Fei said, thoroughly agreeing.

"Look at him after the breakup. Whether it's Xi Xi or the two of us, in his eyes, we seem no different from Hu Wei. And he understands women so well, writes such good lyrics..."

Yan Yu immediately looked a little horrified. "Could he be... you know?"

"No way!"

The two women, neither of whom had much experience with dating, analyzed the situation with great seriousness. If they kept talking, by the next time they met, they might start treating Song Dao like one of the girls.

Naturally, Song Dao had no idea that a rich second-generation little princess and a Heavenly Queen of the music world could be bored to such an extent.

The main reason he had run off so quickly was that, while he was with Lin Fei just now, the system had already sent him a notification.

Because Always Been Quiet and A Lifetime of Loneliness had become massive hits, he had gained a huge amount of prestige from Kong Xi and Hu Wei.

Just as it finished settling his rewards, two new missions appeared!