Completely Unafraid

The show had four heavyweight guest mentors, along with four young trainees.

Zhu Shao introduced them from the front. "The rules of our Best Songwriter program are very simple.

The main focus is on sightseeing and enjoying nature.

Or wandering through city streets and experiencing the warmth of everyday life.

In a relaxed environment, create music that everyone will love!

Creation itself should be relaxed, pleasant, and joyful.

So there will be no on-site PK in this program.

There will be twelve episodes in total.

Each episode will take three to five days to film, with the entire production cycle lasting around two months.

Filming should be completed by early October.

Six locations have been tentatively selected.

Huazhou is the first stop.

We may need some time to get accustomed to one another at the beginning, so we'll be filming here for around twenty days.

We'll aim to finish filming and producing the first three episodes.

Since we'll be filming and broadcasting simultaneously, everyone may have to work a little harder.

Now, let me explain the specific rules..."

As Zhu Shao explained, Song Dao finally learned all the rules of the show.

Twelve episodes, twelve songs!

In each episode, the four trainees had to create one song each.

That made forty-eight songs in total.

The first five episodes would feature five original songs, with no restrictions on subject matter or style.

Previously written songs could be used, as long as they had not yet been released.

Everyone agreed that this part should count as their comfort zone.

Then came three "assigned topic" songs.

During that process, under on-site notarization, they would draw lots to select one of three style categories required by the production team.

For the first eight episodes, mentors could offer guidance but could not create in place of the trainees.

The entire creative process would be shown on camera.

The first five freely created original songs were fine, and there was not much expression on anyone's face.

Anyone daring enough to join this show naturally had some real skills.

But the instant the rules for the three "assigned topic" songs—whose themes would only be revealed through a notarized on-site draw—were announced, someone could not help letting out a low gasp.

The difficulty had just shot up by more than a little.

Even Song Dao, who had the system and was rapidly accumulating reputation, could not help raising an eyebrow slightly.

It really was a little difficult!

He would have to rely entirely on System Daddy's support.

Perhaps in some people's minds, this was something that could be rigged.

After all, among the four mentors, only Lin Fei, the Heavenly Queen, was not in the songwriting lane.

The other three were all professionals.

But for a variety show of this level, if it were faked and exposed, their public images would definitely collapse.

Neither the mentors nor the trainees would end well.

No one would take such a risk lightly.

Especially given the identities of these mentors, it was even more impossible for them to allow themselves to do something like that.

Everyone finally realized that while the show looked relaxed and cheerful, it was actually filled with hidden traps.

Ma Shen could not help saying, "It looks pretty easy, but it's actually not simple at all!"

Li Jun was an old veteran. What had he not seen before?

He looked completely calm and unruffled.

Sun Meiqi looked confident and even waved a fist at the camera.

Lin Fei?

Sister Fei was expressionless, and she even accidentally yawned.

She quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Zhong Yutong from Li Jun's group smiled, seeming quite confident.

Xue Lin from Sun Meiqi's group looked a little adorably blank, as though she was somewhat troubled.

Zhao Qi from Ma Shen's group was better at adding drama for himself.

He sighed at the camera and pressed a hand to his chest.

A little too effeminate.

Aside from raising his eyebrow at the beginning, Song Dao, like Lin Fei, did not show much expression on his face.

Of the remaining four songs, two would be duets.

There were no restrictions on genre.

The other two would be songs the trainees created for their mentors!

There were no restrictions on subject matter.

For the two duet songs, the mentors could create together with the trainees and participate deeply.

In other words, this was openly permitted "cheating."

When Zhu Shao introduced this segment, he said with a smile, "These two duet songs can be considered a little benefit from the production team for all of you."

Bullshit!

Ma Shen immediately curled his lip.

How could creating duet songs on the spot possibly be easy?

What kind of benefit was that?

It was clearly a pit the production team had dug for the mentors!

If the quality was even slightly lacking, they would inevitably be mocked by everyone.

Of course, they definitely would not be afraid of that.

As for the final two songs, the ones the trainees would create for the mentors, those were even harder.

Li Jun was fine. The old man had never been a singer to begin with.

Given his standing in the industry, he did not care much about such things.

As for the other three, there was no need to say anything about Lin Fei. Her comeback song had been an outright bombshell, and everyone in the industry knew that she would never sing a song unless it was good.

Ma Shen and Sun Meiqi were Singer-Songwriters themselves and had rarely sung anyone else's songs since their debuts.

So the final two songs would be extremely difficult for the trainees!

If they created them well, fine. But if they dropped the ball, they would not merely embarrass themselves—their mentors would be affected as well.

Zhu Shao watched everyone's reactions with a smile.

"There will be no on-site PK in the program, but there will be an off-site competition.

Penguin Music will open a special Best Songwriter section.

During the broadcast period, these songs will be uploaded to Penguin Music through a 'limited-term exclusive' copyright arrangement.

They will be available to the public for free!

No audio downloads will be provided; listeners may only stream them.

There will be four songs per episode, and voting will be open to the whole public, with one vote per IP address.

The production team has already invited notaries, and every stage will be notarized on site.

In the end, whoever has the highest cumulative vote total will win."

It had to be said that these rules were fairly fair.

Even if Lin Fei was popular and could help Song Dao gain some votes in the final four songs, in front of these three, he would still find it difficult to win the championship without sufficiently good songs.

Once the rules had been introduced, multiple cameras simultaneously aimed at the faces of the four mentor-trainee groups present.

They tried to capture everyone's inner thoughts.

Even the youngest of the four mentors, Sun Meiqi, was a seasoned artist who had been tested by the industry for years. Her expression management was flawless.

Still, they could not help wanting to see the reaction of Lin Fei, the Heavenly Queen who had just returned to the top.

Although they did not make it too obvious, the cameras still caught some interesting details.

For example, their eyes secretly darted toward Lin Fei from the corners of their vision.

The production team really knew how to stir things up.

First, they had invited Ma Shen and Song Dao, a pair with a bit of a grudge between them.

Song Dao's status might not have been high enough, but that did not matter.

He had been popular recently!

Even after so many days, his two sad pop songs still hung within the top twenty of Penguin Music's three charts.

People in the industry knew what the top ten of those charts was like, so regardless of how people in the mainstream music scene viewed Song Dao's songs, their money-making ability was beyond doubt.

So when Lin Fei proposed bringing Song Dao onto the show, the production team did not hesitate at all and readily agreed.

Then they immediately turned around and invited Ma Shen.

Awkward?

Awkward was exactly the point!

Audiences had long grown tired of those fake scenes where everyone acted friendly and got along.

What they wanted was people tearing into each other face-to-face. What they wanted was a battlefield of chaos.

Otherwise, where would the entertainment value come from?

Just like how they had spent heavily to invite Lin Fei.

On one hand, they valued her currently unbeatable popularity; on the other, they definitely wanted to create talking points!

Do not talk about feelings with capital. It had no bottom line.

If Lin Fei had been afraid and refused, the production team could have used that to stir up publicity too—we invited her, after all.

But would Lin Fei be afraid?

Before, she definitely would have been.

It had nothing to do with being cowardly.

Everyone had their own specialty. Her talent and ability were not on the songwriting track, and even if she did not need to create songs herself, she was still completely unsuited to this type of program.

But now, she was completely unafraid!

Song Dao did not need her guidance.

Not only did he not need her advice, he could even advise her!

In her eyes, Song Dao joining as a trainee was practically a dimensionality-reduction strike!

It was fortunate that he had used the pen name Water Strike Three Thousand to write songs for others, then created five songs that he "liked."

If they were all songs like the ones he had written for Hu Wei and Kong Xi, then coming onto this show would feel a little like bullying people.

So the only question she needed to consider now was—

How could she make Song Dao famous without exposing his Water Strike Three Thousand pen name?

As for if this matter was exposed in the future, she would have something to say then as well.

"My Song Dao didn't use those songs to compete against you!"

When the camera aimed at Lin Fei's face, the young Heavenly Queen who had returned wore a poised, elegant smile.

She looked utterly calm and unruffled.

As for Song Dao standing behind her... uh, the camera gave him a shot, but quickly swept past him.

—At twenty-four, he stood there like a lackey.

E-Network had always been lavish with money.

With Huazhou as the first stop, the production team had specifically rented an old Western-style villa as the filming location.

The house was large enough that each of the eight guests had a room, with some left over.

The rest of the production crew stayed in nearby hotels.

Other than the bedrooms, all shared spaces had already been fitted with fixed cameras.

Relaxed, leisurely vacation life was one of the show's attractions.

Since it was a vacation, the production team would not leave obvious traces of deep involvement. There were no tasks, only a simple script.

The mentors and trainees were left to improvise on their own.

For three meals a day, as well as clothing, housing, and travel, they could make their own choices.

They could create in their rooms, chat with other guests, go shopping, or buy groceries. All of that was fine.

Those were the rules.

They could enjoy romance and refinement, or the warmth of everyday life.

The whole point was to keep things casual.

The production team was not worried about lacking footage, either.

The trainees' creative process alone could provide enough material.

Add the scenes of everyone chatting together, and putting together enough for a full episode would be no problem at all.

Of course, the most important thing was still the trainees' creative process.

And their public performances after the songs were completed.

If they were experienced "old hands," they could make a show like this truly shine.

For example, all kinds of antics—

Racking their brains over songwriting, pulling their hair, staring wide-eyed.

When disagreements arose, arguing their case with their mentors, even getting emotional enough to quarrel.

When they wrote something they were satisfied with, they could not help bursting into tears.

This was not made up.

Because someone had already done exactly that.

Ma Shen and his trainee, Zhao Qi, were both on the second floor.

Their rooms were right next to each other.

Not long after returning to his room, Zhao Qi knocked on Ma Shen's door, excitedly saying that he had an idea.

He wanted to discuss it with Teacher Ma.

There were no fixed cameras set up in the bedrooms, so during normal daytime conversations like this, crew members followed along to film.

Thus, the production team quickly captured the first rather compelling moment—

Zhao Qi showed Ma Shen a short section of sheet music he had written on his phone, excitedly saying that he had thought of it on the plane.

His expression was incredibly animated, and he explained everything with great confidence.

This kid was a little effeminate, but he really did have some talent. His professional knowledge was not lacking either.

Ma Shen nodded repeatedly in response.

It had to be said that the footage shown on camera turned out quite well.

Of the four young singer-songwriters participating in the show this time, aside from Xue Lin, whom Sun Meiqi had brought along and who was a complete newcomer, the other three had some degree of fame.

Zhong Yutong was a hugely popular internet influencer. Song Dao... ahem, according to the production team's introduction, he was also an internet influencer.

Lin Fei did not correct them.

Only this way would the show's entertainment value be better.

Zhao Qi, meanwhile, was introduced as a young singer, songwriter, author, and actor, giving people the impression that he was exceptionally versatile.

He was an artist under Qiankun Entertainment, which Ma Shen had founded.

Of course, that would not be publicly disclosed.

Using variety shows to promote one's own artists was nothing new these days.

As long as they could ensure good entertainment value, no one would care about such things.

For viewers, it was enough that the show was entertaining.

Everything else was irrelevant.