Chapter 13

Song Shuqi’s singing was like a wild boar barreling into a tranquil garden. Not only did it completely ruin the beautiful atmosphere, but compared to the others, his vocal skills seemed utterly dismal.

Not just the passersby, but even the other people on the stage looked over, their eyes filled with confusion.

Under the gaze of so many eyes and cameras, Song Shuqi’s expression stiffened as he bit the bullet and kept singing.

With great difficulty, he finally finished his part and immediately lowered the microphone, acting as if nothing had happened.

At the same time, he was panicking like mad on the inside.

He had never possessed much talent, and his singing was thoroughly mediocre. Before joining the talent show, he had undergone a short crash course with a coach hired by his agency, only to be shipped off to the survival show right after. Early on, he had built fame by hyping up his slight resemblance to Qiao Yanli, and everything after that had relied strictly on marketing.

After making his debut, he went straight into filming, building recognition across various idol dramas. He landed several leading roles and released a single strictly for fans along the way. Whenever he occasionally needed to sing at galas or events, his vocals were touched up in post-production. Real, proper singing and dancing had become a thing of the distant past.

Originally, he hadn’t been this panicked.

Even though this was a live broadcast, he still had some experience and was more than good enough compared to ordinary people. Besides, his paid online army would control the comments. And Qiao Yanli had been retired from the industry for two years; he was bound to be worse than before.

That was how it was supposed to be.

Who could have known… Who would have thought… Qiao Yanli had been away from the industry for two years, yet his vocal skills hadn’t regressed at all; in fact, they had improved!

The other three sang too well. The moment they opened their mouths, he knew he was in trouble.

Video clips of this performance would definitely circulate online, and the stark contrast would completely wreck his reputation.

Song Shuqi regretted it bitterly.

If this variety show had been pre-recorded, he could have had post-production tune his vocals, but it just had to be a live stream! If he had known, he never would have agreed to sing along!

【Is Song Shuqi’s singing really that terrible??】

【One second I’m listening to Qiao Yanli and my ears are practically getting pregnant^[1], and the next, Song Shuqi opens his mouth and causes an instant miscarriage on the spot!】

【Thank you, Song Shuqi. I didn’t think Qiao Yanli sang that well before, but the moment you opened your mouth, I understood! He really sounds amazing!】

【My roommate used to be a casual fan of Song Shuqi, and right now she’s questioning her life choices.】

【Qiao Yanli’s fans don’t need to step on others just to prop him up, do they? Song Song just wasn’t in good form today. He was exhausted from driving for so long. Everyone can go listen to his songs, they’re really good too!】

【Song fans, give me a break. Comparing a studio single polished with pitch correction to a live stage? Why is your boy the only one not in good form today? Qiao Yanli drove today too, so how come he sang circles around him?】

【To be fair, Song Shuqi didn’t actually sing that horribly. It’s just that the others performed too well, making the contrast absolutely brutal. All I can say is, the poor guy…】

【Can someone make a version of 《Midsummer Night》 without Song Shuqi?】

The song soon came to an end.

Song Shuqi lowered his microphone and walked away in disgrace. He could feel the phone vibrating incessantly in his pocket, but under the gaze of the cameras, he didn’t dare pull it out to look.

Next was Wan Yu’s solo. The others also put down their microphones and stood among the crowd to cheer for her.

Qiao Yanli counted the money inside the hat. Their performance had clearly satisfied the audience, as the passersby had opened their wallets generously, resulting in a bumper harvest.

Halfway through counting, he heard someone beside him ask, “Qiao Yanli, during the two years you were away from the entertainment circle, were you making music too?”

“Hmm?” he replied casually. “No.”

These past two years, he had focused on writing web novels, spending most of his time typing away. Occasionally he found inspiration for music, but he hadn’t expended much effort on it.

Refusing to give up, Song Shuqi pressed on, “Then after two years, how can you still sing so well?”

Qiao Yanli paused in counting the money.

He looked up. “I remember you came from a talent show too.”

Song Shuqi froze for a second. “Yeah.”

“Do you not sing anymore?”

“…No,” Song Shuqi hesitated.

Singing had no financial future, and it could never make him popular as quickly as acting. If he had stuck to the idol path, he would have faded into the eighteenth tier of obscurity long ago.

Qiao Yanli said calmly, “Maybe it’s just not something you want to do.”

If it wasn’t something he wanted to do, then not wanting to improve at it was only natural.

Song Shuqi was left speechless.

After that, he didn’t take the stage again. Possessing some degree of self-awareness, he knew better than to remind the audience of what had just happened, so he was uncharacteristically generous in ceding his screen time to the others.

At dusk, the impromptu concert came to an end.

The crowd dispersed to head home, and the band packed up their gear.

They tallied up the money earned from busking: several thousand Yuan in total, even more than what they had made selling ideas earlier.

With no need to head home and cook, the group headed to a nearby restaurant.

Though it wasn’t a luxury five-star establishment, the spread was hearty, featuring local specialties laid out across a packed table. Glasses clinked in celebration, and aside from Director Yang, who had lost even more hair, everyone was in high spirits.

For a time, the private room was filled with cheer.

That night, 《Midsummer Night》 trended on the hot search.

In response to countless pleas, someone screen-recorded the live ensemble performance of Midsummer Night from the variety show and replaced Song Shuqi’s part with the audio track from Qiao Yanli’s album. The resulting track was even more flawless than the live stage. The moment it was posted, netizens hungry for quality content immediately pushed it onto the trending list.

The comments under the trending search were buzzing.

【After watching the live stream this afternoon, I immediately looked up Qiao Yanli’s songs to listen to, and wow, his songs are genuinely amazing. Why wasn’t he popular back then?】

【Is the person above serious? Qiao Yanli wasn’t popular? Just because he retired for a while, have the little girls nowadays forgotten how terrifying it was when he debuted at center position with an overwhelming lead and shot straight to top-tier status?】

【I don’t really get it. Wasn’t everyone bashing him over the Water Bird Award just yesterday? How come the entire internet suddenly started praising him? Is Qiao Yanli’s paid online army that powerful?】

【Maybe the contrast was just too stark… People mocked him so much over the Water Bird Award that I genuinely thought he was just a pretty face. Then out of nowhere it turns out he’s damn incredible, shoving pure talent right in my face. Who wouldn’t be shocked?!】

【To be fair, now I feel there was a good reason he won the Golden Finch Award… That year, the top singers either didn’t release new songs or put out mediocre tracks, while he had real talent. Snatching the award was a matter of the right time, the right place, and the right people. How did he end up getting flamed so badly afterward?】

【Whispering here, wasn’t it all because of Luo Nian… Last year when he won an award and got blasted across the whole internet, his paid army dragged Qiao Yanli out as a shield. Whenever Qiao fans tried to explain, they were dismissed as mindless fans, and Qiao Yanli himself just slacked off and did nothing. He was already suspected of being just a pretty face because of how fast he rose to fame, so…】

【Why say Qiao Yanli slacked off? Even though he retired, I feel like he sings even better than before. He was clearly practicing and improving over these past two years. I used to be indifferent to Qiao Yanli, but now I’m on the verge of becoming a fan.】

【I’ve already ordered all of Qiao Yanli’s old albums. So when is his next album coming out?】

…

Late at night.

The bright moon hung high, the night cool as water.

Sister Fang called.

Under the watchful eye of the live stream cameras, Sister Fang generally wouldn’t contact him unless it was something important. Qiao Yanli stepped away from the cameras and walked to a quiet corner outside the villa to take the call.

“Xiao Qiao! Good news!” The moment the call connected, Sister Fang’s excited voice rang through the receiver. “Staff from Director Shao’s side reached out to me!”

Qiao Yanli raised an eyebrow slightly. “Director Shao?”

Director Shao was also a renowned director in the country, famous for making art films. Most of his works were critically acclaimed but commercially modest, yet he had won awards left and right.

However, that had little to do with Qiao Yanli. Although he was famous enough, he had no acting experience in the past, and Director Shao never looked at popularity when casting actors, choosing only powerhouse performers. It was therefore impossible that he would cast him.

Sure enough, Sister Fang continued, “Director Shao’s new movie has wrapped filming and is in post-production and promotional stages, but they haven’t found the right person for the theme song yet. I heard they approached several singers, none of whom satisfied Director Shao. Conveniently, the video of you singing today went viral, and the whole internet is talking about you, so Director Shao’s staff got in touch with us.”

Qiao Yanli was a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected that singing casually on a variety show would lead to this kind of pleasant surprise.

Hearing no reply from him, Sister Fang assumed he wanted to decline and earnestly advised, “Xiao Qiao, I know you came out of retirement to act, but this is a great opportunity. Your fans have always wanted you to release new songs, and you can also use this chance to connect with Director Shao. Who knows, maybe you’ll even get a chance to appear in one of Director Shao’s movies down the line…”

Qiao Yanli chuckled. “Who said I was going to turn it down?”

Sister Fang was thrilled. “You’re willing to take it?!”

“Like you said, it’s a great opportunity.” Qiao Yanli looked up. The sky tonight was exceptionally clear, starlight glittering overhead. He said, “I didn’t get the chance to mention it earlier, but I’ve gathered a lot of inspiration over these two years. Once this variety show is over, if I have time, I could put out two albums…”

He paused, then corrected himself, “Two might not be enough.”

On the other end of the line, Sister Fang was practically dancing with joy. “You want to release albums too?! No problem! I’ll set it up right away!”

Qiao Yanli: “I-“

“Beep-“

Qiao Yanli: “…”

He lowered his phone, somewhat perplexed.

Had his retirement from the industry traumatized Sister Fang that much? Hadn’t he said ‘if I have time’?

Fortunately, as excited as Sister Fang was, she still remembered the proper business.

Not long after hanging up, she sent over a contact card, supposedly belonging to someone on Director Shao’s staff.

The profile picture was a landscape photo of green hills and clear waters. Qiao Yanli took the initiative to send a greeting.

Q: 【Hello, I’m Qiao Yanli.】

The other side cut straight to the point: 【I hear you write your own songs. I need a song here. How long will it take you to write one?】

Q: 【One day will be enough.】

The other side: 【?】

Qiao Yanli thought about it and added amiably: 【If it’s really urgent, tonight works too.】

【Supreme Virtue Like Water^[2] has enabled friend verification. You are not yet their friend. Please send a friend request first. You can only chat once they approve it.】

Qiao Yanli: “…?”