On Earth, October 1st is National Day, but not in this world. However, many music lovers are accustomed to waiting until midnight at the end of every month to refresh the new release charts.
Much like how many people have the habit of checking their social feeds right before falling asleep.
At eleven o'clock on the night of September 30th, Shang An put aside what he was doing and sat in front of his computer, waiting for the Music Association to refresh the new song charts.
This was the first song he had released since his debut, and it was even a collaboration with an A-list singer. Shang An felt that if he couldn't secure the number one spot on the new song chart, it would mean he had completely squandered a winning hand.
He had already asked around: no king or queen of pop was releasing music in October, and certainly no Grandmaster Composer was making a move.
Was this not enough for him to make a stunning debut?
As soon as the clock struck twelve, Shang An refreshed the page, and sure enough, a fresh row of new songs had already popped up.
Then various promotional banners rolled across the homepage.
Fan Sui strikes back with his new song "Distant Memories"!
Shang An's latest masterpiece, in collaboration with singer Yu Shanshan, presented for you
Lu Lan's "That Year"
……
Shang An casually scanned the promotional banners on the homepage, spotting the song promotions for two A-list singers, Fan Sui and Lu Lan.
He knew these two would be his main rivals.
He clicked on Fan Sui's new song first.
He noticed the lyricist and composer was listed as Qin Yelin—it sounded somewhat familiar, probably an old veteran in the industry, though he couldn't recall any of his works right away.
After spending just over three minutes listening to the song, Shang An breathed a sigh of relief. His own song should turn out somewhat better.
Next, he prepared to listen to Lu Lan's song, but before he could move his mouse to click on it, he suddenly caught sight of a promotional tagline on the homepage: Whale Fall's latest masterpiece, "Red Rose"……
Shang An's gaze was instantly drawn to it.
Whale Fall—this was a name he always remembered. In this year's song-writing competition, Whale Fall took the Gold Award while he took the Silver.
Yet he harbored no resentment. He had also listened to "Rice Fragrance," downloaded it, and kept it on repeat for a long time. Its quality was genuinely exceptional, and his own work indeed fell short.
Still, deep down, he didn't feel he was inherently inferior to Whale Fall.
After all, anyone could have moments of sudden inspiration.
Then, last month, he heard Whale Fall's "Let's Go Our Separate Ways," which was also of high quality.
Shang An had to admit that this Whale Fall fellow really had some tricks up his sleeve. He had even thought that if he ever crossed paths with him again on the new song charts, they could have a proper showdown.
After all, the Xinhai label that Whale Fall was signed to and the corporate power behind him were quite a match for his own.
He hadn't expected to run into him so soon.
Without hesitation, he clicked directly on "Red Rose."
The page redirected.
"Red Rose"
Composer: Whale Fall
Lyricist: Whale Fall
Arranger: Whale Fall
Vocals: Chen Song.
Hmm, a singer he had never heard of. Could it be a newcomer?
The sound of the piano was soft and soothing, gradually calming Shang An's emotions.
"In dreams, I dream a dream that cannot wake"
"The red imprisoned within the red thread"
"All the stimulation leaves behind only the fatigue of pain"
"No longer stirred at all……"
The singer's voice was very calm, telling the story in a smooth, steady flow—neither too soft nor too hard, hitting just the right note.
Shang An's emotions were gradually drawn in by the singing.
"When hugging you from behind, the face I anticipate is actually hers"
"To put it frankly, it's ironic; I don't quite understand, yet I desperately want you to understand……"
These lyrics... they had some real substance to them. Shang An gradually realized that things were straying from his expectations, and a sense of crisis began to creep in.
Vaguely, he seemed to experience that exact same feeling he had when he first heard Whale Fall's previous two songs.
Then he heard the lines that followed:
"What can never be gotten is always restless, those who are favored take it for granted"
"The red of a rose, a fragile, easily wounded dream……"
Holy crap, this is more than just having "some substance"—these lyrics were simply breathtaking.
Never mind the tune; just based on these lyrics alone, he had already lost!
"Red Rose" had a total runtime of four minutes, and during those four minutes, Shang An's inner state transitioned from brimming confidence and hope to utter despair and hopelessness.
My top spot on the chart—gone!
He looked at the description beneath the song "Red Rose" and suddenly felt a surge of irritation. What is this? Bringing a newcomer out to fight right out of the gate—could you at least show us a little respect?
The pathetic part was that he couldn't even beat him.
Frowning in annoyance, Shang An closed the music app.
He had no desire to listen to the other songs anymore. The number one spot he had longed for and obsessed over was gone, so he didn't care about the rest.
Meanwhile, across the internet, quite a few netizens had clicked on "Red Rose" simply because of the name Whale Fall, and now they were all unanimously downloading it, leaving likes, and recommending it to their friends.
The word-of-mouth reputation and download volume of this song were growing at a ferocious speed.
On the first day, the ranking wasn't prominent enough yet.
But starting from the second day, it began steadily overtaking the songs released by several A-list-ranking singers.
By the third day, the song's download volume had already surpassed all other new releases.
Even though the singer performing it was a newcomer.
Xu Nanshan, the head of Xinhai's Composition Department, was also keeping a close eye on the new song charts.
When the rankings came out on the first day and he saw "Red Rose" sitting firmly at the very top—just as he had anticipated—he grinned from ear to ear.
His decision not to hesitate when Yu Hai made his request had indeed been the right one; this kid's talent was plain for all to see!
Over the next few days, "Red Rose" remained securely perched on the throne of the new song chart, and the comments beneath the song were overwhelmingly positive:
"What can never be gotten is always restless, those who are favored take it for granted—oh my god, what kind of divine lyrics are these?"
"I'm married, but I still can't forget her to this day."
"Discovered a treasure of a singer, his voice has so much feeling."
"You can always trust Whale Fall's lyric-writing talent."
"There's no such thing as bitter sugar in this world. Oh wait, yes there is—his wedding candy!"
……
Chen Song, the vocalist of "Red Rose," instantly overshadowed three A-list singers right upon his debut, making a name for himself with a single song.
Overnight, his Weibo followers increased by several million, making him wake up laughing even in his dreams.
This was the first time Whale Fall had demonstrated his terrifying ability to launch and cultivate stars to the masses.
Many Xinhai trainees looked at Chen Song—who had been practicing right alongside them just days ago—now flooded with endless commercial gigs and rushed off their feet, turning green with envy.
They frantically asked around for any news about Whale Fall, yearning to be handpicked by this composer. Unfortunately, throughout the entire Xinhai agency, the only person who had ever met Whale Fall in person was Department Head Xu Nanshan.
Now that Whale Fall was Xu Nanshan's prized darling, he naturally wouldn't allow anyone to disturb him.
Through the explosive popularity of "Red Rose," Yu Hai's emotional fruits ushered in another bumper harvest. His Weibo following also surged by several million, many of whom were industry insiders.
After consuming another batch of various fruits, Yu Hai's stats transformed into:
Appearance: 85.
Voice: 75.
Singing Skill: 69.
Once the stats got this high, he had to consume multiple fruits just to increase a single point.
Yu Hai sighed. It was getting harder and harder to improve.
Checking the download numbers for "Red Rose," they had already surpassed three million. His contract with Chen Song stipulated a 9-to-1 split in earnings. Since Chen Song was a newcomer, he only took a 10 percent cut.
He mentally calculated the amount of money he would receive, and his mood gradually began to improve.
As it turned out, simply counting money could always make a person happy.
Putting down his phone, Yu Hai began his physical therapy for the day.
After three months, his bones had basically healed. Over the past few days, he had started gradually ditching the crutches and spending a set amount of time doing non-weight-bearing activities.
In another week or two, he was expected to walk normally.
Yu Hai practiced until a light sheen of sweat beaded on his forehead before taking a break, then turned to reading, living a structured, two-point routine every day.
Two weeks later, Yu Hai was already able to walk to school normally.
He no longer had to face his classmates' gingerly, tiptoeing gazes—the kind of look one might reserve for a fragile porcelain doll.
Besides, when other students got injured, their classmates didn't seem to treat them with this level of caution!
They brought him breakfast and snacks, saved seats for him, carried his backpack, and shielded him from being jostled by other students.
For nearly two months now, whenever he came to school, the students in Composition Class 1 took meticulous care of him in every possible way.
Yu Hai recalled the original owner's memories of his first two years in college; his former classmates hadn't been nearly this helpful.
Where had things gone wrong?
October 21st was a Friday, and Yu Hai had no classes at school in the afternoon. So he decided to check in at the Xinhai Composition Department today.
Having joined Xinhai for nearly two months, he still hadn't met any of his colleagues.
That really was a bit inexcusable.
Wearing a mask and a cap, Yu Hai hailed a cab and headed to the Xinhai company headquarters office building.
There was no help for it—given his current appearance, the number of double-takes he drew on the street was simply too high, making Yu Hai, an inveterate homebody, extremely uncomfortable.
You could call it a manifestation of social anxiety.
To prevent singer fans from blockading the entrance, taxis were not allowed to enter the compound gates.
Yu Hai had never been here before, but fortunately, he had the employee badge Old Xu had given him. Although the security guard found him a bit suspicious, he still let him through.
Walking into the Xinhai building, he pulled down his mask under the curious gazes of the two young women at the front desk and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, which floor is the Composition Department on?"
His exquisite facial features, fair skin, and graceful jawline instantly left the two receptionists stunned.
So handsome!
So good-looking!
"It's, it's on the sixth floor," one of the young women stammered, pointing toward the elevators.
"Thank you," Yu Hai said, putting his mask back on and walking toward the elevator banks.
Behind him, the two receptionists gazed at his retreating figure, their eyes filled with reluctance to look away and bodies itching to spring into action.
As soon as Yu Hai's figure vanished into the elevator, one of the receptionists let out a soft shriek: "Who is he? He's so handsome! I want his profile, right now!"
"Yeah, his skin is so nice!"
"Aww, I forgot to take a picture."
After chattering and discussing among themselves for a while, still unsatisfied, the two girls whipped out their phones and began messaging in a WeChat group chat.
"A super handsome little guy just came by. Does any buddy know the inside scoop?"
"A handsome guy? Which fresh-faced idol?"
"No way, I've never seen him before, and he looks seriously, super, super good-looking."
"Mmhmm, way better-looking than those fresh-faced idols!"
"You guys are exaggerating! You've seen your share of the world, why are you reacting so dramatically today?"
"Could it be a new rookie signed by the company?"
Before everyone could discuss and reach a conclusion, a sister in the group named "Composition Department's Plum Blossom" suddenly sent a message: "Ahhhhhh, so handsome, seriously so handsome."
The two front-desk girls immediately chimed in: "Sister Plum saw him too, right, right? He's really that handsome!"
This instantly piqued the curiosity of many in the chat, because in their impression, Sister Plum from the Composition Department had extremely high standards.
Earlier, when the company signed a new idol singer named Xie Mingfeng, many female colleagues thought his looks were god-tier and became his visual-fandom fans, but Sister Plum thought his appearance was at best mildly handsome and even complained that his skin was too terrible.
Who would have thought that today, Sister Plum would actually be struck speechless by another man's looks.
For a moment, the messages in the chat group flew by at lightning speed.
"Who is it? Sister Plum, who is he?"
"Pics or it didn't happen!"
"I don't believe it, send a photo let me see!"
"Is he in the Composition Department? I'm going to walk past and check."
After a little while, Composition Department's Plum Blossom sent another message: "Oh my god, do you guys know who he is?"
Followed by a chorus of frantic inquiries:
"Who is he?!!!"
Composition Department's Plum Blossom dropped a stunned meme sticker.
"Whale Fall!"
"He is Teacher Whale Fall!"
The entire chat group exploded.
Even the female employees throughout the entire company were shaken to their cores.
"Oh my god, Teacher Whale Fall is this handsome?!"
"I thought Teacher Whale Fall was some middle-aged uncle around forty."
"A man with both looks and talent—I'm in love!"
"From now on, my dreams have a purpose!"