Best Songwriter

July 27.

Early that morning, he got into Lin Fei's nanny van and headed to the airport with her.

From the capital, Beijing, to Magic City Huazhou.

In the adult world, work was an eternal theme.

Gatherings and relaxation were only occasional.

Like last night, Hu Wei had claimed he wanted to drink more, yet he ended up having only half a bottle of red wine.

Even less than he had drunk at Yan Yu's place before.

He had finally managed to get out of the bar, so he treasured this opportunity more than anyone.

And he still had two appearances to make today.

His ex-girlfriend getting married had left him a little depressed, but it was ultimately in the past.

During dinner, he received a message from a classmate mentioning a small incident at Zhang Qian's wedding.

They had even secretly taken a photo and sent it to him.

Zhang Qian wore a bright red Xiuhe dress, with an obviously unnatural smile on her face.

After looking at it, he laughed at first, then shook his head and turned off his phone.

His expression remained normal as he drank with everyone.

He was just more restrained with his drinking.

Kong Xi had only half a glass of red wine altogether, though she wanted to drink more.

But she had work today too.

Aside from Yan Yu, who had not drunk to her heart's content and regretted failing to drink Song Dao under the table at his home, everyone else had work to do.

Including Kang Peng.

He had already joined the company his mother ran, planning to officially take over after interning for a while.

In the car.

Song Dao reclined halfway in his comfortable seat and asked, "Sister Fei, do you know the specific rules of the show?"

Lin Fei shook her head beside him. "I only know the general idea. We'll have to hear the details from the chief director after we get there. But there definitely won't be that kind of tense, intense live competition. We'll sign the contract when we get there, and if there are really any problems, I'll correct them. Don't worry."

Song Dao nodded, wondering when would be a good time to give Lin Fei the two songs he had drawn from the Gold Treasure Chest.

If this show could keep raising her popularity, then Lovesickness could hold the line a little longer.

The songs that required a certain depth, for people like Hu Wei and Kong Xi, could be released sooner.

Lin Fei was exactly the opposite.

What she needed more was momentum.

Beijing traffic was congested, but the roads were still manageable in the morning. After more than forty minutes, they arrived at Capital Airport.

With their assistants' help, the two collected their boarding passes and checked their luggage. They passed through security via the VIP passage and entered the lounge to wait for their flight.

Song Dao had rarely flown in either his past or present life.

He was somewhat afraid of flying.

The original owner of this body had been even more terrified of it.

Just hearing the word "plane" made him nervous.

When it was time to board, they were the last two people to get on the plane.

They were still fully disguised.

Their hat brims were pulled low, and they wore masks.

Even so, Lin Fei was recognized by a few people.

Fortunately, everyone was busy boarding. They only stared at her in surprise a few times, somewhat excited but without doing anything excessive.

It was a medium-sized passenger jet. They sat together in the first row.

Seeing that Song Dao seemed a little nervous, Lin Fei smiled and asked softly, "Don't tell me you're afraid of heights?"

Song Dao said, "I'm afraid of flying..."

Lin Fei was a little speechless. She gently patted the arm he had resting on the middle armrest and comforted him softly, "Don't be afraid. It's fine. And if anything does happen, we'll all be in it together."

Song Dao: "..."

You're really good at comforting people.

"Welcome, everyone, to Best Songwriter. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Zhu Shao, and I'm the chief director and producer of this show. Next, let me introduce the guests participating in this program..."

A middle-aged man in his early forties, with a thick beard on his face, stood smiling before the crowd.

"The first person I must grandly introduce is our National Goddess, Jing University's top student, the Heavenly Queen of the Chinese music scene... Lin Fei!"

The moment he finished speaking, the room erupted into enthusiastic applause.

Fiery gazes turned toward Lin Fei.

Lin Fei, wearing a black long dress that fully displayed her beautiful figure, stood and gave everyone an elegant slight bow.

"Hello, everyone."

The crowd responded with another round of warm applause.

"I don't need to introduce Sister Fei too much. You all know better than I do just how popular she was back then. For her to join our variety show so soon after her comeback is a tremendous honor for me and the entire production team! Let's welcome her once again!"

Zhu Shao spoke with a broad smile before introducing the second heavyweight guest.

"This next guest needs no further introduction either. She is one of the top singers in today's Chinese music scene, a triple threat in lyrics, composition, and singing, blessed with both beauty and talent... Sun Meiqi!"

A sunny, energetic girl in a sports tank top and athletic shorts immediately stood and bowed to everyone.

With a humble expression, she said, "Hello, Director Zhu, Sister Fei, and all the teachers. I'm Sun Meiqi. I hope you'll all look after me!"

Song Dao stood quietly behind Lin Fei, studying the young singer-songwriter from Hong Kong.

She was probably the strongest young female singer at the moment after Lin Fei.

She was likely around his age, but she had exploded into popularity as soon as she debuted.

An undeniably popular Little Heavenly Queen in the music industry!

Her vocal range was broad, she could handle high, middle, and low notes, her technique was exceptional, and her voice was highly recognizable.

He had not expected the production team to invite her.

In many people's eyes, other than her youth, Sun Meiqi was absolutely comparable to Lin Fei in every other respect.

"Next, I'd like to introduce a renowned singer-songwriter from the Chinese music scene. He has been active for over twenty years, created countless classic songs, and left a youthful mark that accompanied several generations as they grew up... Please welcome Teacher Ma Shen!"

Ma Shen, with his long face and heavy stubble, stood up somewhat awkwardly and greeted everyone.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Ma Shen."

Because he had run his mouth during a previous livestream, publicly declaring that Song Dao was nothing more than an internet celebrity singer and was no good at all.

He had even made a bet, saying that if Song Dao could get even one song into the top three of any of the Soaring Chart, New Song Chart, or Original Ranking within a year, or make it into the top hundred of the Hot Song Chart or Popularity Index Chart, he would lose.

Yet he had never imagined that they would meet so quickly on the same show.

When he first received the invitation and learned who else would be participating, Ma Shen had even wanted to refuse outright.

He knew exactly what the production team was trying to do.

Did they not just want to create a talking point?

Unfortunately, the production team had deep pockets and offered far too much!

Damn it, with a fee of several million, he simply could not bring himself to refuse.

Luckily, he was an old hand in the industry.

Making money was nothing to be ashamed of.

Anyway, Song Dao had been brought in by Lin Fei. If anyone lost face, it would be Lin Fei!

He only needed to do what he was supposed to do: criticize Song Dao.

As for whether Lin Fei would be unhappy because of it, he could not worry about that much. At worst, he could explain things privately afterward. Whether she listened or not did not matter.

So despite feeling a little awkward, he still nodded openly to everyone one by one.

He even acknowledged Song Dao.

—Nothing personal, just business.

Song Dao maintained a polite smile, without much stirring in his heart.

In terms of mental age, he was not much younger than this man.

The adult world only cared about pros and cons.

I'm here to become famous and make money.

"The fourth heavyweight guest deserves a special introduction!"

Zhu Shao slightly bowed toward an elderly man with somewhat graying hair sitting on the sofa, then gestured with his hand. "Teacher Li Jun!

When it comes to this name, Sister Fei and Brother Shen must be extremely familiar with it.

But younger people may not have heard of him. Still, when it comes to Teacher Li's musical works, everyone will definitely know them well..."

At that moment, Sun Meiqi raised her hand. After Zhu Shao looked over, she stood up, first giving Li Jun a slight bow before saying, "Director Zhu, don't underestimate us young people. I've heard many songs written by Teacher Li. My favorite is 'Grassland, My Home.' It's simply incredible!"

"Haha, impressive!" Zhu Shao laughed.

Then he said seriously, "Teacher Li is a true hall-of-fame musician. He has trained multiple Heavenly Kings and Heavenly Queens, true first-tier superstar legends!"

The younger people could not help letting out startled cries.

Li Jun stood with a smile.

The old man was not particularly concerned with his appearance and looked rather casual.

Smiling kindly, he said in a very amiable manner, "It's not that exaggerated. In our day, we called them singers. Heavenly Kings and Heavenly Queens were terms brought over from Hong Kong by people like Teacher Sun. They do sound rather nice."

Sun Meiqi stood again, clasping her hands together with a humble expression.

Before this gentleman, she truly did not dare accept the title of teacher.

Lin Fei and Ma Shen also stood, both showing great respect toward this esteemed senior.

With a respectful expression, Lin Fei said, "Teacher Li is my idol and a senior I deeply respect. Every time I listen to your songs, I feel as if I'm right there in the scene. We younger generations have much to learn from you!"

Li Jun nodded with a chuckle. "Little Lin, you're too polite. Your song Lovesickness is good. It was well written, and you sang it even better. Your singing has improved tremendously!"

Then he abruptly changed the subject. "Was the person who wrote it your boyfriend?"

Lin Fei was slightly startled, but quickly caught the question and smiled. "No, Teacher Li. He is also a songwriter I deeply respect!"

"Oh, the lyrics are so tender and poignant. I thought your boyfriend had written it especially for you."

Lin Fei said, "It was written for Demon Love. As for you, when you create again, you might want to think of me more. I've always hoped to collaborate with Teacher Li."

Li Jun waved a hand. "I'm old. My brain isn't as sharp anymore. You have Water Strike Three Thousand, so you don't need an old man like me. At my age, all I hope to see is young people pair up..."

Lin Fei covered her face.

The Heavenly Queen was embarrassed.

Do you know Water Strike Three Thousand is right here, sir?

The others watched the old man joke around with the Heavenly Queen, the show's two main stars, and all began laughing nearby.

Urging Lin Fei to find a boyfriend on a show was probably something only a hall-of-fame big shot like him could do.

And only he dared to do it.

Anyone else would not even be able to withstand Lin Fei's presence.

But with that exchange, the show now had its entertainment value, and the old man's Old Urchin personality had emerged as well.

He was a very interesting person!

Song Dao knew of him from the original owner's memories.

He had been a top composer in the Chinese music scene during the eighties and nineties, skilled at all kinds of mainstream songs.

Counting them up, he had written at least several hundred classic songs that had been widely sung in those days.

He was a genuine composing giant.

Almost every song he wrote could have made it onto the Spring Festival Gala.

Yin Hong, a Heavenly King-level singer universally recognized in the Chinese music scene, had collaborated with him on many songs.

No matter the occasion, whenever he was mentioned, Yin Hong would say that he was Teacher Li's student.

Besides him, many singers who rarely appeared nowadays had become famous by singing his songs.

It was simply that there had been no internet in that era, making it difficult for people to pay attention to creators.

And the old man had kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public.

That was why many people outside the industry truly did not know him.

But it was impossible for a Music Conservatory student like the original owner not to have heard of him.

This hall-of-fame musician could not only write mainstream songs; he was equally accomplished in pop music!

In the mid-nineties, he had written a large number of pop songs and made a whole group of young people famous.

Those people were now also pillars of the Chinese music scene.

And because he came from an ethnic minority, he had created quite a few songs with exotic flair as well.

Before this, the old man had never participated in any variety show.

The production team was truly well-connected to have invited him out of retirement.

With him and Lin Fei, the show's overall quality was basically guaranteed.

And with Sun Meiqi and Ma Shen, two currently popular singers who possessed both popularity and skill.

This music variety show carried tremendous weight!

"The four heavyweight guests have now been introduced. Next, please let the four trainees introduce yourselves to everyone and to our viewers. We'll edit it into bonus footage and release it on Tencent Video as a preview..."

The show's investors were none other than the deep-pocketed Tencent!

Zhu Shao continued, "We'll still go in the same order as before."

From crane cameras to shoulder-mounted cameras to handheld cameras, several cameras instantly focused on Song Dao at once.

Everyone's eyes gathered on him as well.

Lin Fei, seated on the sofa, gave him a reassuring look, signaling that he did not need to worry.

Song Dao was not nervous at all.

Because he had secretly eaten an Emotion Stabilizing Candy just now.

Old Master Li teased Lin Fei like that, yet he didn't change expression.

"Hello, Director Zhu. Hello, teachers and friends. My name is Song Dao, and I'm honored to join this program with all of you."

Song Dao first faced the camera, then gave a slight bow to everyone looking at him.

Then that was it.

A little aloof.

But still poised and composed.

Everyone responded with applause.

Next was a young girl from Sun Meiqi's group named Xue Lin.

She looked only eighteen or nineteen, with a cute round face.

She was a little shy by nature.

After nervously saying a few words to the camera, her face turned slightly red.

Song Dao noticed that the girl had excellent vocal qualities.

Her voice was sweet, but not thin.

After that came a handsome young idol brought by Ma Shen, named Zhao Qi.

He looked like he had received training. He had a great sense for the camera, and there was nothing to fault in any aspect.

But Song Dao could tell that he was proud.

He only showed respect toward a select few people with status.

Like the director, for instance, or the mentors.

When he and Lin Fei had just arrived, Zhao Qi had enthusiastically come over to greet Lin Fei, then ignored him.

But now, in front of the camera, he appeared extremely humble.

Last was a girl from Li Jun's group named Zhong Yutong, an ethnic minority girl.

Like Kong Xi, she was a major internet celebrity who had risen to fame over the past two years.

She was also a singer-songwriter, with a fanbase across the major platforms that rivaled Kong Xi's.

Lin Fei had mentioned this to Song Dao on the way over.

In fact, the program's first choice from Feiyang had been the duo of Lin Fei and Kong Xi.

They were from the same company, and Kong Xi was famous enough as well.

But Lin Fei had refused.

In her eyes, Song Dao was more suitable for this program than Kong Xi.

And he needed this kind of exposure more.

The various attacks against Song Dao online could also be answered through this show.

Especially since Ma Shen was coming too.

Perfect. Didn't you run your mouth and make a bet?

You won't even get a year—you'll apologize!