Damn it!
System, you really are a Dog System!
I got excited for nothing!
Song Dao felt like cursing someone's mother.
He had thought that two Silver Treasure Chests would at least yield two pretty good songs.
Turns out he had been overthinking it.
—Intermediate suona.
—Intermediate flute.
Why were they skills?
And seriously, could this be any more insulting?
Was this aimed at me? So I had to play wind instruments, huh?
Full of resentment, Song Dao cursed furiously in his heart.
Then he chose to use them.
Both his suona and flute skills advanced to the intermediate level.
Well, damn, with a suona in hand right now, he could probably play a Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix so well that netizens couldn't tell the difference while experts remained expressionless...
What was the melody of Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix again?
Song Dao racked his brains for a long time and could only barely recall a few notes.
He cursed the Dog System a few more times in his heart.
Only then did he turn his attention to those two Gold Treasure Chests.
They were no longer premium items, but based on his earlier guess, Gold Treasure Chests should contain representative works by top stars or hit songs by Heavenly Kings and Queens.
He wondered what kind of songs these two would be.
After silently saying "Open" in his heart, two lines of text appeared before Song Dao again.
Scar
Ask
"They're actually Heavenly Queen Lin's?"
Song Dao considered Lin Fei's vocal tone and singing ability, then silently nodded.
Since she could effortlessly handle a song like Lovesickness, she already possessed the ability to master any pop song with ease.
Not to be too immodest, but when Lin Fei sang pop songs now, it was downward compatibility—a dimensionality-reduction strike.
After debuting at her peak and then spending five or six years refining herself, it might not actually have been a bad thing in some sense.
Looking at those two songs, Song Dao felt that he was probably destined to take it easy for a while.
As a songwriter, under the pen name Water Strike Three Thousand, he could bring a Heavenly Queen back to the top and transform a newcomer like Kong Xi.
In between, he could easily make an ordinary person like Hu Wei famous.
But as a Singer-Songwriter, using his real name Song Dao, he could only sing pop songs that had once been wildly popular but were now treated as cheesy tunes.
System, you really know what you're doing!
July 26, 2025.
It had been exactly one month since Song Dao came to this world.
Today was a good day.
Hu Wei's ex-girlfriend was getting married.
Onstage, Zhang Qian wore a pure white wedding gown, radiant and stunning.
With a blissful, sweet expression, she leaned against a middle-aged man with a fairly decent figure.
This man was a vice president at Starry Sky Film and Television. His name was Liang Hua.
He held considerable status in the industry.
He was the kind of big shot whom even A-list stars had to treat with respect and courtesy.
Even though it was his second marriage, in many people's eyes, Zhang Qian had absolutely married above her station.
However, Zhang Qian had maintained a good public image over the years.
She had only dated one boyfriend, devoted herself to acting after their breakup, and was never involved in scandals.
As for being kept by an investor, that simply didn't exist.
She was a very calculating woman.
Even when she had been kept back then, she remained extremely cautious and low-key.
She never used luxury brands.
After meeting Liang Hua, she had left without hesitation the financial backer who had also grown a little tired of her.
It had always been a mutually beneficial arrangement, and both sides had been satisfied with the outcome.
If there was one thing she still couldn't let go of, it was probably that Hu Wei had suddenly become famous at the "advanced age" of nearly thirty.
His fame had come so unexpectedly that it left her dizzy.
She was no longer that innocent and ignorant little girl from back then. Having spent years around powerful people, she had seen too much.
Naturally, she understood what Hu Wei's rise to fame meant.
Advertisements, endorsements, commercial performances, variety shows... Even if he could only get the industry's most basic rookie contract, he could still earn enough in a year to buy a very nice home in a place as expensive as Beijing.
Not to mention that he had signed with Feiyang Music Movement.
Many people privately called its boss, Lin Fei, an industry disruptor.
She was famously generous!
No one knew how Hu Wei's music contract had been arranged, but his management contract with Feiyang definitely gave him no less than a forty-percent cut.
The more Zhang Qian thought about it, the worse she felt.
In outsiders' eyes, she had turned into a phoenix after landing on a high branch.
A minor actress marrying an industry big shot.
From then on, not only could her career soar, but her life had also transformed in a single step into that of a wealthy socialite.
But only she knew how difficult things really were.
Being a stepmother and a young daughter-in-law dealing with strong-willed in-laws were not major problems. She was confident she could handle them.
First of all, Liang Hua wasn't very capable.
As a woman nearing thirty, she had strong desires.
However, aside from the period when they had first fallen in love and he had been intensely interested in her, he had recently become somewhat indifferent.
He still treated her well.
But he wanted her to stay home, support her husband, and raise children.
In Liang Hua's words: "Our family doesn't lack money, and we don't need you to earn money to support us. Just be a proper wealthy wife."
He no longer seemed very willing to give her the leading role in that television drama he had previously promised her.
But that was not what Zhang Qian wanted.
She wanted to be famous!
She had never even considered having children.
So as she stood onstage, listening to the witty words of the famous host serving as the wedding emcee.
Zhang Qian smiled brightly, but inwardly she wondered: How long could this marriage possibly last?
Then, during the toast rounds, an incident happened that made her extremely angry.
More precisely, it was not an accident.
When she, dressed in a bright red Xiuhe wedding dress, arrived at the table of her friends and family—her Central Conservatory of Music classmates.
Just as everyone stood up, a male student's phone suddenly rang—
"I would rather watch you sleep so peacefully than see you wake with such ruthlessness as if we had broken apart. You said you wanted to escape, yet you were destined to settle somewhere. Passion died, love faded, and all that remained was an empty heart. Do you still want it..."
It was incredibly loud.
Like one of those knockoff phones from twenty years ago.
Hu Wei's highly recognizable raspy voice carried a faint sorrow and helplessness.
In the banquet hall, where gentle background music was playing, it pierced through everything.
It was even a little grating.
Not only did everyone at that table look over, but people at several nearby tables also couldn't help glancing in their direction.
The male student fumbled with his phone and hung up, looking deeply embarrassed.
He raised his glass apologetically. "Sorry, sorry. I forgot to mute it."
The dozen or so people at the table, along with the Central Conservatory of Music students at nearby tables, all wore strange expressions.
They wanted to laugh but felt too awkward to do so, so they held it in.
The reason Zhang Qian knew it was not an accident was because that bastard was especially close to Hu Wei!
Back in school, they had been the kind of best friends who could practically wear the same pair of pants.
So he had deliberately tried to embarrass her!
To make matters worse, her husband Liang Hua had no idea that his wife had once been involved with Hu Wei.
He only knew that Zhang Qian had dated someone before. He did not know who it was.
Seeing the other man's embarrassment, Liang Hua even smiled and tried to smooth things over. "Is this Hu Wei's Well-intentioned but Misguided? That guy was a late bloomer, huh? Oh, right, he seems to be from your Central Conservatory of Music too, isn't he?"
Everyone awkwardly smiled and nodded.
Zhang Qian's expression shifted slightly as she said, "Hurry up and make the toast. Why are you talking so much?"
"Hahaha, alright, alright. Come on, thank you all..." It was a joyous occasion, and in front of his wife's classmates, Liang Hua gave her plenty of face.
Although the matter had been smoothed over and no one would continue making trouble at an occasion like this.
A thorn had been planted in Zhang Qian's heart.
As Hu Wei became more and more famous, what had happened between them would eventually be exposed.
But on such a happy wedding day, it was not the time to discuss this with her husband.
She would talk about it later!
During the rest of the toast rounds, she tried hard to keep smiling.
But inside, her emotions churned violently.
[How could I describe my pain]
[I loved wrongly for a lifetime when I let go of your hand]
Was this meant to disgust me?
I'm not hurting at all!
So what if you became famous?
I'm a billionaire now!
At Song Dao's new home.
Yan Yu and Lin Fei, two gorgeous women, were cooking in the kitchen.
Hu Wei was helping out.
Since Kong Xi kept making things worse, she had been kicked out and was sitting in the living room chatting with Song Dao.
"Master, your new place is pretty nice!"
As Dark Sky became a massive hit, Kong Xi had grown increasingly respectful toward Song Dao and had begun calling him Master.
Song Dao had corrected her several times, but it had been useless, so he simply let her be.
As long as the music revenue split remained unchanged, nothing else mattered. He could even accept being called Little Song.
"Not bad. The environment and property management are both good."
"I kind of want to move too. The place I'm living in now was accidentally leaked by one of my classmates, and entertainment reporters are always staking it out." Kong Xi sounded unhappy.
"Accidentally leaked?" Song Dao glanced at her.
"Maybe...?" Kong Xi sounded uncertain.
She was not stupid. She just did not want to assume the worst of others.
"You should move somewhere else as soon as possible," Song Dao said.
"I think Master's place is pretty great." Kong Xi revealed her fox tail. "The neighborhood is nice, it's close to Master, and I could come over to help Master clean up whenever I have time."
"That works too." Song Dao nodded. Where she moved was her own freedom.
"But forget about helping me clean up..."
It was not so much that he was overly wary of women. It was simply that Somersault Cat Girl was... well, rather average at that sort of thing.
She was clumsy. After helping in the kitchen for three minutes just now, she had broken one plate and one bowl before being kicked out.
He had no idea what the place she lived in looked like.
In the kitchen.
Yan Yu was showing off her skills.
Even with the range hood running, the aroma still drifted out.
It was hard to imagine how a rich second-generation girl who had lived in luxury since childhood had developed such excellent cooking skills.
Lin Fei was surprisingly no less capable in this regard.
Song Dao could understand that.
Her parents had divorced when she was young, and her mother had struggled to raise her alone. The chances of her growing up spoiled and helpless had been low.
Hu Wei could cook too. He had no trouble making ordinary home-style dishes.
A Heavenly Queen, a rich and beautiful older woman, and a recently rising young singer were all cooking together.
Honestly, that kind of lineup was almost unheard of.
If someone filmed a clip and posted it online, it would instantly shoot to the headlines.
Song Dao naturally wasn't that bored.
He was feeling a little panicked now.
Because Yan Yu had brought alcohol.
It was customary to liven up a new home after moving in, adding a bit of life to the house.
He didn't have many friends, nor did he want too many people knowing where he lived.
He had only invited a few people close to him. His manager, Li Qingqing, would be coming later, and after asking the others' opinions, he had also invited Kang Peng, who had always kept in touch with him.
When Yan Yu arrived, she brought him a crystal horse ornament.
It looked majestic and spirited, exquisitely crafted.
It was probably a zodiac edition some major brand was releasing for next year.
And Song Dao happened to be born in the Year of the Horse.
The elegant older woman had been thoughtful.
The problem was that she had also brought two cases of alcohol.
One case of red wine and one case of baijiu.
Hu Wei had carried them in, of course.
The moment the elegant older woman entered, she declared that no one was leaving until they were drunk.
If it had been anywhere else, Song Dao wouldn't have fled halfway through—he would have run immediately.
But this was his home. There was nowhere to run!
Worse still, who knew what had gotten into Hu Wei today? He actually smiled and said that was fine, that they could drink until dawn.
It was Yan Yu who found a chance to secretly tell him.
"Hu Wei's ex-girlfriend is holding her wedding today. He's in a bad mood, so you, as his master, can't let him down..."
Before you continue