I Became an All-round Artist

For Chen Zhiyu, it was a sleepless night.

But for many industry insiders, it was just another ordinary night, even though the new season kicked off this evening.

"Who cares about a season with no suspense?"

Everyone thought the same thing: "Chen Zhiyu is definitely going to be number one on the June New Songs Chart."

With the anticipated "Battle of the Two Yus" dead in the water, most people considered it a foregone conclusion.

Even so, by the next morning, these same people were still checking the charts as part of their routine analysis of the industry trends through each season's song performances.

As expected.

No surprises at the top of the June New Songs Chart:

"A Little Pain"
Singer: Chen Zhiyu
Composer: Wu Tiange
Label: Brilliant Silverlight
Downloads: 1.01 million

Seeing the download numbers, many people nodded instinctively. Chen Zhiyu's new song had broken one million downloads on its first day.

Not bad for a top-tier artist!
That’s a strong number!

It's worth noting that song downloads don’t spike overnight. With so many great songs bombarding listeners in Qizhou each month, people tend to grow desensitized and need time to decide whether a song is worth downloading. So, this result was impressive.

Even if Jin Shuyu had participated in the June competition, he would’ve had a hard time beating Chen Zhiyu's song. His absence might not be such a bad thing after all.

It seemed secure. This championship was in the bag.

With that thought, people's eyes naturally drifted to the second-place song, assuming it was far behind Chen Zhiyu's.

The second-place song was titled "Red Rose".
Singer: Sun Yaohuo
Lyrics & Composition: Xianyu
Label: Star Light Entertainment
Downloads: 880,000

Those who were slower to react were stunned, while the quicker ones gasped, some even letting out a startled curse:
"Holy crap!"

Something was off with this second-place result!

If Red Rose had been sung by Jin Shuyu, people wouldn’t have reacted this way. Jin Shuyu achieving such numbers would’ve been normal. A top-tier singer’s first-day numbers shouldn’t be too shabby, after all.

But the singer was Sun Yaohuo.
Who the hell is Sun Yaohuo?
Bro, this isn’t normal.

Seriously, was this chart manipulation?

It’s not that the industry has bad memories—it’s just that there are too many singers in Qizhou, with new songs and artists popping up every month. It’s hard to keep track.

After a while, someone finally remembered:
"Sun Yaohuo? Isn’t he the one who sang Like Summer Flowers? He’s a rookie, only debuted about six months ago!"

How does a rookie manage this!?

Now, everyone’s gaze naturally skipped over Sun Yaohuo and fixated on two words that caught their attention the moment they saw them:
Xianyu.

The truth is, as soon as people saw those two words, they already had a pretty good idea of what was going on. So, any thoughts about chart manipulation were just lighthearted jokes.

It was obvious.
Xianyu had carried the day again.
Another Xianyu carry!

Wait, why am I saying "again"?

Quick thinkers had already put on their headphones and started listening to Red Rose. Whenever there’s an unexpected result on the charts, the solution is simple—just listen to the song.

A few minutes later, after hearing the whole thing, one of the top composers at Sahai Culture sighed and posted in their company’s composer chat:
"Chen Zhiyu doesn’t have much time left."

Boom!

The group chat exploded!

Everyone knew exactly what that top composer meant. For a newcomer like Sun Yaohuo to rack up 880,000 downloads on the first day, overtaking Chen Zhiyu was just a matter of time. The championship would ultimately go to Red Rose.

"I’m freaking speechless."

"Xianyu is terrifying."

"Breaking the hierarchy between singers not once but twice—it’s impressive enough to do it once, but Xianyu has done it again!"

"Is this guy even human?"

Suddenly, someone quietly remarked:
"Remember back in January when Xianyu wrote a song for Zhao Yingchrome? It happened to be when Chen Zhiyu also released a song, and Chen had to settle for second place. Now, the second time Chen’s releasing a song this year, he runs into Xianyu again..."

"Pfft!"

"Fate, man!"

The group was in stitches. There were jokes everywhere—"Chen Zhiyu is so unlucky," "Give the guy a break," "A fish comes from a thousand miles away to meet him," "I’ve seen this episode; Chen disappears in the end," and "Surprise! It's me again."

The three major labels were old rivals.
Sahai Culture was gloating over Brilliant Silverlight’s misfortune. Without any of their own top-tier artists in the competition this season, they could just sit back and enjoy the drama, adding fuel to the fire with sarcastic comments.

The entire industry was buzzing.

At Star Light Entertainment, however, the mood was twice as joyful.

The company knew about Jin Shuyu's one-month suspension. Many had worried they’d lose their chance at the championship, not understanding the company’s decision. Little did they know, Xianyu was the real trump card!

"Sun Yaohuo is just chilling."

"Xianyu’s ace is going to win it."

"That ace truly lives up to the hype."

"Now I’m starting to think the company intentionally held Jin Shuyu back. Imagine if he had released a song this month. Sun Yaohuo might’ve crushed him. Top-tier artists aren’t afraid of losing, but losing to a rookie would hurt—a lot."

"..."

Zhao Jue overheard the chatter and felt a bit dazed. The truth was, she had only suspended Jin Shuyu because of Xianyu. But in everyone else’s eyes, it seemed like she had foreseen Xianyu’s rise and had kindly given Jin Shuyu a way out.

"I swear, that’s not what I was thinking!"

Her assistant, looking impressed, said, "Your strategy is brilliant, Director Zhao. Even though you punished Jin Shuyu and Tao Ran, now they’ll be grateful for it. I never expected you to be so farsighted!"

Zhao Jue flashed a casual smile and said confidently,
"Yep, that’s exactly what I thought."

This rookie really turned into a blossoming star, after all.

Meanwhile, over in the composition department, a high-ranking executive who had previously argued with Old Zhou personally called him, speaking in a much gentler tone this time:
"I was wrong before. Thinking it over, I realize you had your own difficulties. I fully support your work."

"Thank you for your understanding."

After hanging up, Old Zhou burst into laughter in his office. He was the only true "prophet" in this entire situation. From the moment he heard Red Rose, he knew this was a surefire win. Jin Shuyu and Tao Ran were minor issues in comparison, and firing that audit team member was just a small matter.

As long as Xianyu didn’t break the sky,
Old Zhou would remain invincible!

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