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7:30 p.m.

Most people who had been busy all day had just finished dinner around this time.

Nightlife in the big city had not even begun yet.

Hu Wei, waiting backstage in a bar's lounge, opened Audio-Visual and prepared to browse some interesting videos to kill time.

The algorithm knew him well.

It recommended all kinds of pretty young women.

With beauty filters on, every one of them looked stunning.

Real or fake, as long as they were easy on the eyes, that was enough.

Hu Wei had graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and paid close attention to news about his alma mater, so he often came across related videos.

After scrolling through a few pretty girls, he saw a video of a young man onstage singing with a guitar in his arms.

The video was incomplete and completely unedited. The footage shook a little, and the image quality was rough.

He had intended to scroll past it, but the singing that came through instantly left his thumb hovering over his phone screen.

"In this heartless world, you are heartless too. You treat love like a transaction for money."

The moment that lyric appeared, it was like a bullet striking Hu Wei directly in the heart.

He cautiously looked around. Several band members were also sitting there scrolling through their phones.

Without saying a word, he took out his earphones and put them on.

Then he listened carefully.

A moment later.

A complicated expression appeared on his face.

He had thought he had already let it go.

After all, more than two years had passed, and he had gradually recovered.

His income from singing at the bar every day would not make him rich, but it was more than enough to support himself.

Yet this song suddenly dragged him back to that rainy night two years ago.

In that old basement, the air was so stifling that it was hard to breathe.

A battered fan, just as old as the basement itself, whirred noisily overhead.

Accompanied by his girlfriend's hysterical screams.

"That's right, I cheated on you. So what? Yes, he's the investor in my drama—the tacky rich guy you look down on so much. He's incredibly rich!"

"One meal from him costs more than your living expenses for an entire year!"

"One pack of cigarettes could buy you!"

"The apartment he rented for me costs twenty-eight thousand a month! Private elevator access, concierge service, and he paid for a whole year without even blinking!"

"I admit I'm vain, but let me ask you this: who wouldn't want that kind of life?"

"Hu Wei, wake up! Stop dreaming about music all day! You sit at home writing songs and releasing songs, making peanuts. Forget spending money on me—you can't even support yourself!"

"Do you still think you're that musical genius from the Central Conservatory of Music, back when countless girls circled around you?"

"Let's break up!"

"I can't live like this for even one more day!"

"There's such a nice apartment I can't even stay in, and I have to come back to this filthy doghouse and play house with you. I've had enough!"

"..."

He remembered that day. He had been wearing nothing but a pair of loose shorts, bare-chested, his hair a mess.

He watched in silence as his ex-girlfriend vented.

The basement had been unbearably hot, yet his heart had been ice-cold.

He could not believe that his girlfriend, who had always been gentle as water, could say such cruel things.

How could she cheat on him with such a clear conscience, even turning around and believing that everything was his fault?

You said there was no future with me, that you could not see any hope. I could accept that.

If you wanted to break up and find someone better, no one would blame you!

But secretly becoming another man's mistress behind your boyfriend's back—did you really not feel even a shred of guilt?

Why could you be so... righteous about it?

They broke up, as expected.

And he lowered his head, bent his back, and chose to become a bar singer.

With his deep, husky, highly recognizable smoky voice and handsome face that seemed full of stories, he had sung there for two years.

He had done fairly well for himself.

As for his music dream, what was that?

Could it feed him?

But at that moment, the clean-cut young man on his phone screen sang in a slightly sorrowful, magnetic voice, and Hu Wei's heart ached again and again.

He glanced at the uploader. Sure enough, it was a student from the Central Conservatory of Music.

"This original song is really good!"

"It would suit a bar too!"

"After all, plenty of people who come here drink to drown their sorrows. If it can move me so easily, it can definitely move even more people!"

Hu Wei pondered.

He sent the junior who had uploaded the video a private message.

"Hey, man. My name's Hu Wei, and I graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music too. Could you do me a favor and help me get in touch with the person singing in the video?"

There would not have been much of a problem if he simply sang it himself.

But Hu Wei deeply respected creative work, and he also wanted to get to know that junior named Song Dao.

After sending the message, he looked at the video, which did not have many comments, thought for a moment, and casually spent two thousand yuan boosting it.

A hundred yuan could bring roughly five thousand-plus views.

Two thousand yuan meant around a hundred thousand views!

He admitted that he had acted a little impulsively.

But he did not regret it!

This original sad love song would most likely become popular.

Hu Wei, who deeply related to the lyrics and held creation in great reverence, felt he had plenty of reasons to let more people see the video.

Soon, it was time for him to go onstage. Hu Wei took off his earphones and put away his somewhat old phone.

He picked up his guitar and left the lounge with several band members.

Half an hour later, a little after 8:00 p.m., the video blew up!

After finishing her song, Kong Xi repeatedly bowed in thanks before the tidal wave of applause.

She returned backstage with light footsteps.

She looked around and found that Song Dao had left, so she politely said goodbye to everyone and went back to the apartment she rented off campus.

She seemed cheerful and lively around others, but when she was alone in private, she was actually a rather quiet girl.

The songs she wrote were also relatively quiet folk-style pieces.

My Cat Can Do Backflips was her breakout work.

The title was a little funny and had a meme-like quality, but the content itself was rather artsy.

One reason it had become popular was that both her looks and the quality of the song were good, but an even bigger reason was that the title was amusing.

A whole crowd of goofy netizens turned it into all sorts of memes, and it exploded across the internet in a short time.

Students at arts schools generally matured early.

Especially girls.

After becoming famous, invitations and appearances came flooding in. Living in the dormitory like before was no longer realistic.

No matter how good the relationship had once been, when you suddenly became famous, stayed busy every day, and made piles of money, someone would always feel uncomfortable about it.

Kong Xi was smart. After suddenly becoming famous, she moved out of the dormitory.

Every few days, she treated her dorm sisters to a meal or gave them little gifts whenever she could.

There was more distance between them, and she was generous enough, so their relationship remained fairly good.

She had originally planned to invite them to dinner today too, but after hearing the song Song Dao had written, she temporarily changed her mind and pushed it back by a day.

She planned to speak with that senior about a collaboration.

Recently, her company had landed her a "big job."

She had been asked to write an insert song for a high-budget xianxia drama starring two of the hottest celebrities around.

It was called a xianxia drama, but it was really just a romance drama wearing ancient-costume skin.

A bunch of immortals did nothing all day except fall in love.

And hurt each other over and over.

Kong Xi had wanted to refuse at the time.

Her style was all folk music. She could not write other genres.

Especially since she had never even been in love—how could she write a sad love song?

But her manager said that the other side had specifically requested that she "sing" it!

It would be best if she handled the lyrics, composition, and singing herself, since that would make for a better selling point.

If that did not work, the company would find a way to acquire a new song.

Anyway, as long as Kong Xi sang it, they would accept it!

"Xixi, they think highly of you because you're especially popular right now, and your fans are particularly devoted. To put it bluntly, they're betting on your current traffic!"

"As for whether the song is well written, is that really so important?"

"You're a professional anyway. Just write something based on the plot. As long as it's not too bad, it'll be fine. It's not even the theme song, so what are you afraid of?"

"One million yuan! That's an astronomical price!"

"They only want the usage rights. If you handle the lyrics, music, and vocals all by yourself, you can get four hundred thousand before tax from this deal alone!"

"Four hundred thousand, baby!"

"You need to understand something. Your popularity may last, but it may also only be temporary. You need to make money while you can, understand?"

In the Xia Kingdom, if an independent musician uploaded a work to a music platform, the usual revenue split was sixty-forty.

The platform took forty percent, while lyrics, composition, and vocals split the remaining sixty percent.

If one person handled every part of the process, then all of that sixty percent pre-tax income belonged to them.

If lyrics, composition, and vocals were handled separately, the lyricist and composer could receive fifteen to twenty-five percent of that sixty percent.

The singer took the larger remaining share.

Of course, this varied from person to person. Particularly outstanding lyricists and composers, or singers with major status, had bargaining power.

The exact split would be negotiated separately.

For unknown lyricists and composers, it was not unusual to sell out a song for just a few thousand yuan in order to become known or simply survive.

But for a direct commission like Kong Xi's, where the production company only wanted the usage rights to the song, it was absolutely a great deal.

According to the sixty-forty split contract she had signed with her company.

She really could receive a large sum of money all at once.

Her company could be considered one of the good ones in the industry!

At other companies, even if a newcomer became popular, they would at most get twenty or thirty percent.

After all, the company had to package and manage its artists and provide all kinds of staff.

Many companies even deducted lyric and composition fees from the artist's own twenty percent!

So she was very grateful to her company and very tempted by this collaboration.

Like her manager had said, the production side had issued this custom commission more because they valued the traffic she currently brought with her.

Rather than buying a song, it would be more accurate to call it advertising expenses.

Once she completed the recording and uploaded it to a music platform, she could still enjoy the ongoing income it generated together with her company.

But the problem was that she had been stuck for over a month. She had repeatedly written several versions, yet she had never found the right feeling.

The drama had wrapped filming long ago and was about to air online and on television, but she still had no clue where to begin.

She looked like an extrovert, but she was practically turning into an introvert.

She had known about Senior Song Dao for a long time, but before this, he had only had eyes for Miao Xiu and never interacted with other girls.

In Kong Xi's view, Senior Song was talented. Quite a few teachers had said his creative ability was solid, and he was skilled at many instruments.

The song he might have written in just three days today had also shown her just how capable he was.

So she began to consider it.

Of course, if she had not been truly desperate, she would not have gone to Song Dao in a panic to ask him for a song.

I'll just give it a try. What if it works out?

As Kong Xi opened Audio-Visual and scrolled through it, she considered how to phrase the matter to her senior.

If it worked, how much would be appropriate to offer him?

She was somewhat popular, so she should have at least a little initiative, right?

But then she scrolled straight into Song Dao's performance from that night.

And got completely trapped in the comments section.

For the moment, she forgot all about asking for a song.

9:00 p.m.

The comment barrage on that video was already too much for the moderators to handle—

"Holy shit, how badly must he have been hurt to write a song like this?"

"This song is fucking amazing!"

"Say that again!"

"That hit right in the heart, bro."

"No, how did you know my girlfriend just ran off with a rich, greasy middle-aged man?"

"I feel personally attacked!"

"Did you install cameras in my house?"

Opening the comments section, it was even livelier inside!

"I'm Song Dao's schoolmate, and I've got some major gossip for everyone. Song Dao only broke up with his girlfriend three days ago!

Apparently, his girlfriend forced him to confess at the graduation gala. Then, after signing with a big company a few days ago, she immediately dumped him.

The first sword drawn after making it ashore was to cut down the one she loved.

That was one hell of a move.

It's already spread all over our school forum.

But that isn't important. What matters is that Song Dao wrote this song in only three days after the breakup.

So tell me, isn't he incredible?"

"Am I the only one who thinks this guy is such a turnoff? How could a breakup possibly be only one person's fault? Is it wrong for a girl to choose the life she wants? Instead of reflecting on his own problems, he dumps dirty water on an innocent girl and even writes a song to retaliate. What a scumbag!"

Both comments received massive numbers of replies. Some Music Conservatory students came forward to reveal the truth, while passersby shared their own emotional journeys. At the same time, quite a few people sympathized with the "female lead" and spoke up for Miao Xiu.

Information about Miao Xiu, along with photos people had taken of her before, was quickly posted online as well.

The reason this incident sparked such heated discussion so quickly was certainly related to Hu Wei buying traffic, but even more so because the singer was extremely handsome, and the song itself was... quite good!

The lyrics struck a deep chord with people who had gone through similar experiences. For many, one listen was enough to resonate with them and make them feel understood.

At the same time, the gossip that had been exposed, along with the lyrics, also "hurt" those girls who believed they could make whatever choices they wanted.

"You put on the new clothes he bought you."

"I watched you ride away in a Little Car, carefree and dashing."

"You treated love like a transaction for money."

Those blunt lyrics shattered their defenses on the spot.

There was no need for paid trolls to join the battle. They immediately started hurling insults in the comments.

By the time the paid trolls Lu Wen had hired arrived, the video's comments section was already a complete mess.

In just an hour or two, it had received over a hundred thousand likes and more than ten thousand replies.

With the paid trolls fanning the flames, its popularity was still skyrocketing.

It was practically getting pushed onto the trending charts!

Most internet users were actually silent.

Forget commenting—even liking a post felt like too much effort.

If so many people hadn't had a sore spot touched, there never would have been so many replies.

So the moment the paid trolls began launching a massive attack on Song Dao, the organically supportive netizens immediately became furious.

They started arguing fiercely with those people stirring up trouble.

But they were still somewhat overwhelmed.

The paid trolls all pushed the same narrative: "Freedom in love; Song Dao has terrible character, and because he couldn't have her, he wants to destroy her; men like this are terrifying, girls, you all need to be careful," and other such talking points.

They elevated it to a moral issue, focusing entirely on personal attacks.

Trying to win an argument online had always been extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Not to mention fighting organized paid trolls.

The situation had yet to become completely one-sided mainly because too many people had resonated with the song.

They all had intense emotions bottled up inside, emotions they usually found difficult to express to others.

Faced with the paid trolls' narrative, this group simply ignored them.

"You say what you want. I'll say what I want."

For a time, people were reposting the video in group chats, forums, and every high-traffic corner of all kinds of social platforms.

Ten o'clock that night.

The video entered the top thirty of Audio-Visual's trending searches.

—Musical prodigy breaks up, writes a song savaging his ex-girlfriend.