Winning Big and Sleepless

That night, the song was uploaded to Penguin Music.

An hour later, it swept the charts.

New Song Chart, Soaring Chart, Hot Song Chart, Popularity Index Chart...

It took first place on four charts, excluding the Musician Original Chart and the newly launched Classic Chart!

Song Dao, who was at home eating Greedy Frog, was a little dumbfounded.

He knew that with Lin Fei's abilities and popularity, releasing a new song after six years was bound to cause an explosion.

It wouldn't be difficult for her to reach number one on charts like the New Song Chart and Soaring Chart.

But the Hot Song Chart was genuinely not easy to climb!

Penguin's charts had always been tied to profits.

Without enough downloads, there was no way to get on them.

And they only refreshed once a week.

Yet just one hour after release, it had gone on a slaughter spree and swept the charts?

What kind of terrifying numbers did that take?

"Am I about to get rich?"

Song Dao's eyes shone as he nearly rushed to Feiyang Music Movement's backend to check the data.

Lying on the somewhat worn bed in his rented apartment, Song Dao felt that he had really won big this time.

Even if he did nothing else for the rest of his life, the copyright income from this one song would probably be enough to give an ordinary person financial freedom in a first-tier city.

"I've become one of those people who can live off a single song for the rest of my life!"

However, the person who had truly won big wasn't him.

At midnight that night, Demon Love's first-day box office figures were released.

685 million!

That number directly shattered the record for the highest opening-day box office in the entire Xia-language film industry!

This was what true madness looked like!

That night, probably no one in the entire Demon Love production team, from top to bottom, could sleep.

The only slight regret was that the film had not chosen to premiere worldwide at the same time.

This world had never seen the game Black Myth, and Journey to the West, Xia Kingdom's biggest IP, had not drawn much attention in the West.

When Zhang Yi made Demon Love, he had decided to focus entirely on the Xia-language market.

At the time, he probably hadn't expected the movie to become this explosively popular.

There was some regret, but it was enough.

With the release of this xianxia mythological epic, his position as Xia Kingdom's number one director would become unshakeable.

That was why he and Demon Love's producers were the biggest winners!

Lin Fei came right after them.

The income from the song itself was completely irrelevant to her.

As she exploded back into popularity like a returning king, the fashion world, with its incredibly sharp instincts, and all the major top luxury brands contacted Feiyang Music Movement almost immediately.

Whether they could collaborate right away was another matter. Establishing a connection first, however, was essential.

It was nighttime?

What workhorse cared about day or night?!

There was only one goal—

Please remember me!

Why would the sudden emergence of a few newcomers in the music industry make companies with music divisions act as though they were facing a great enemy?

That was why!

Music was also an important piece of the entertainment landscape. Once it gained momentum, it would inevitably come to the table to claim a slice of the cake.

Someone like Kong Xi or Hu Wei, after becoming popular, could hold out a plate and get a small piece.

But a Heavenly Queen of Lin Fei's caliber was a big shot who could snatch the knife outright, hold it in her own hand, and cut however she pleased!

Her public recognition had already been top-tier. From her looks and vocal ability to her spotless private life and incomparable academic credentials, she had always stood apart in the entertainment industry—a terrifying presence capable of mowing through everyone.

Now, she had returned like a king with Lovesickness, as though protected by divine light, almost completely making up for what had once been her greatest weakness.

One song might not be enough, but since she could produce a song of this caliber, who dared guarantee there wouldn't be a second? A third?

So that night, besides those who had won big and couldn't sleep, even more people tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep!

Lu Wen was one of them, and he was utterly frustrated.

No matter how much he calculated, he never expected Song Dao to sign with an agency so quickly.

He did not know which company it was, but since Song Dao had already signed, there was almost no chance of snatching him away from someone else.

This task had completely failed.

And Miao Xiu had ended up saddled with a million-yuan debt because of it.

When she came back, she demanded money from him.

She said, "If it weren't for you, how could I possibly have written him an IOU?"

"A million yuan—how am I supposed to pay that back?"

Lu Wen was not short on that kind of money, but he did not want to hand it over to Miao Xiu like that.

Once there was a first time, there would be a second. How could things continue like this?

Besides, what would that make it?

Did a man of his status and standing need to spend a million yuan keeping a woman?

So he did not give her the money.

But he did not completely shut her down either.

He promised to give Miao Xiu more resources going forward so she could pay off the debt as soon as possible.

He then called Chen Qingshan to inform him of the situation.

Chen Qingshan did not blame him.

After all, Lu Wen had moved quickly enough.

All they could say was that there were too many smart people. They saw Song Dao's potential, and others naturally saw it too.

"If we didn't sign him, then we didn't sign him. Let's keep pushing forward with the other matters."

Those other matters naturally meant finding Water Strike Three Thousand and putting more effort into cultivating Times Media's in-house creators.

If a suitable opportunity arose, they could also strike at the two newcomers Feiyang Music Movement had just brought up and knock them back down!

Yet before that matter had even blown over, Demon Love suddenly became a massive hit, and Heavenly Queen Lin Fei made her triumphant return with Lovesickness.

The song that had allowed Lin Fei to make her comeback had also come from Water Strike Three Thousand!

For Times Media and many other companies with music businesses, finding Water Strike Three Thousand had clearly become the most important matter at hand.

But no matter how many connections Lu Wen used or how he asked around, he got no answer.

There were leads, however.

Through various inquiries, he learned that Feiyang Music Movement had a partnership with a recording studio called Life is Messy Studio.

The vast majority of Feiyang's songs were recorded there.

It was not difficult to find information on the owner of Life is Messy Studio.

There was no need to ask around—one search on an app would bring it up.

But when he asked about the owner's identity, Lu Wen immediately felt a little numb.

Not just him—even Chen Qingshan, upon hearing the name Yan Yu, immediately said, "You can ask, but whatever you do, don't offend her."

The Beijing circle could be large or small, depending on how you looked at it.

The surname Yan was not common to begin with, and for these entertainment industry bigwigs, finding out Yan Yu's identity was not particularly difficult.

After asking a few people in the music industry, Yan Yu's background became clear.

They could not afford to provoke her. They truly could not!

Thus, by July 19th—the third day after Demon Love's release—no one in Xia Kingdom's bustling entertainment industry had managed to uncover Water Strike Three Thousand's true identity.

This person was like a mystery.

Quite a few veteran figures in the music scene had been stirred into action.

But while they were certainly curious about who Water Strike Three Thousand was, they were even more interested in Lovesickness.

They all gave it extremely high praise.

The "Water Queen" label that Lin Fei had regarded as the greatest humiliation was no longer mentioned by anyone this time!

Ma Shen still intended to make a career in the music industry, and previously, he had only attacked Song Dao.

He was not some reckless lowlife like Cui Luo, who could act without restraint.

So when someone asked what he thought of Lin Fei during a livestream, he very cleverly launched straight into a stream of lavish praise.

"What? Sister Fei insulted me?"

"How could that be?!"

"She never named anyone. How can you say she was talking about me?"

"Stop trying to sow discord here. Back then, Sister Fei and I appeared on quite a few shows together. We're very familiar, okay?"

The worst off was music critic Cui Luo.

He, who never let any trending topic pass him by, had recently not even wanted to go live.

He had talked too big before.

He had offended Lin Fei and her fans far too deeply.

Even though getting cursed at was how he made his living, the terrifying, unprecedented level of attention right now still made his liver tremble.

Granted, he could still stubbornly insist that Lovesickness was not a good song. After all, everyone had their own definition and understanding of what made a good song.

But he did not dare.

He was a music critic.

As a music critic, he naturally had to understand music.

Not to mention that this song had directly alerted many revered figures in the music industry, who had all come forward to praise it and give it extremely high evaluations.

Even without that, he would not dare stare wide-eyed and spout nonsense.

So he was torn.

But in the end, he still could not resist the lure of all that traffic.

He went live.

Then he got cursed so badly he practically fell apart.

The public was furious!

The chat was filled with nothing but insults.

Normally, there would be some people on the same wavelength as him who would come out to back him up, but today, not a single one was anywhere to be seen.

The livestream's popularity was absurdly high, but the flood of curses also made Cui Luo realize how serious the situation was.

So without hesitation, he did two things.

The first thing.

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and solemnly bowed to the camera in apology.

"Sister Fei, I'm sorry. I was blind, ignorant, and far too arrogant. I sincerely apologize to you for every bad thing I've said about you over the years!"

"A man has to make a living in this world. Please forgive me."

"I haven't seen Director Zhang's movie yet—I simply can't get a ticket—but I've already listened to Lovesickness."

"A good song! An absolute masterpiece! I have to say, Teacher Water Strike Three Thousand is incredible. My admiration for him is like the surging Yangtze River. He completely helped Sister Fei shake off the label that us blind fools had pinned on her."

The second thing.

He cursed Song Dao!

Although that young man did not have enough status, this was no time to worry about that.

He needed someone to divert attention, didn't he?

"If it weren't for that pop singer who vanished without a trace after releasing two songs, I never would've provoked Sister Fei!"

"Sister Fei is absolutely not an overrated singer. Her vocal ability is already among the very best in today's music scene. But even now, I still stand by what I said before—Song Dao simply isn't good enough!"

"This is where I disagree with Sister Fei. Sister Fei is a woman, our National Goddess. Women are emotional, after all. I'm a rough man, and if I don't like something, I just don't like it."

"Same old point—look at Sister Fei releasing a song. She effortlessly tops the charts. Then look at him. Brother Shen thought too highly of him, saying he could make the top three... He can't even hold a spot in the top ten. What gives him the right to compare himself with all those outstanding singers on the charts?"

Yet what he never expected was that he would be proven wrong at lightning speed.

On Shuibo.

Lin Fei, who had been quiet these past two days and had not announced a new song like Kong Xi and Hu Wei, unexpectedly made another post related to Song Dao after her previous post supporting him.

"I'm very happy that, after Hu Wei, Feiyang Music Movement has welcomed another newcomer with both talent and looks, @Song Dao. Welcome!"

That one short sentence instantly caused an uproar.

How much attention was she getting right now?

The moment she posted something like that, the comments section exploded.

Then it shot onto the trending lists of every major platform at an unbelievable speed.

Although it could not surpass the increasingly popular Demon Love of the past two days, it still made it into the top three.

[Lin Fei Song Dao]

[Song Dao Signs With Lin Fei's Company]

[Feiyang Music Movement Gains Another Fresh Force—Why Does Lin Fei Think So Highly of Song Dao?]

What was amusing was that Dong Yu seemed to be paying special attention to Lin Fei.

The moment Lin Fei posted, Dong Yu immediately reposted it.

—Supporting my sister.

The exact same four words as before, very much in line with her personality.

Yet the impact this time was far greater than the last!