Chapter 66: Boss, Did You Call Me?

“Hello, everyone. This is FM103.5, City Voice.”

“I’m your old friend, Huahua.”

“Today is November 1st, 2000, the sixth day of the tenth lunar month. The weather is sunny, with temperatures ranging from 15 to 24 degrees Celsius.”

“The temperature difference between morning and evening is quite large, so please remember to keep warm.”

“Alright, now it’s time for our weekly new song recommendation.”

“Today’s featured song is by Melancholy Sister Chen Yu, titled Passing Through the Mortal World.”

“Hope you all enjoy it.”

Hearing this, Sun Qian immediately hushed the noisy girls around her, removed her headphones, and turned the volume to the max.

Instantly, the electrifying sound of music spread from the black headphones.

To be honest, the effect of listening to this through headphones was worlds apart from hearing it in a recording studio or a live performance.

Even so, a few of the girls nearby were drawn in by the soft and melancholic voice.

—Hey, surprised? Her silhouette is so light and carefree…

—Hey, you must understand, people come and go…

—The only thing that never changes in this world is that people always change…

—……

The song ended quickly.

Yet the girls were still immersed in the music.

Someone sighed, “That was amazing.”

“Even better than Zhao Yuanyuan’s song earlier.”

This statement immediately resonated with the group.

Even the classmate who had previously argued with Sun Qian was silent for a long time after hearing this song.

“We should buy the cassette and listen to it properly.”

“This quality is too poor.”

Qi Wen’s suggestion was immediately supported by Sun Qian.

“I think so too!”

“A song this good deserves to be played on a proper cassette! No, it should be on a CD!”

Seeing Sun Qian’s determined stance, Jiang Ning, who had been quiet all along, suddenly chuckled.

“Qian, do you like Chen Yu, or do you like this song?”

“Of course, I like this—uh, I mean, Chen Yu!” Sun Qian argued fiercely, “Her voice has this natural melancholic quality!”

“I see.” Jiang Ning smiled silently, ignoring the girls who were busy discussing the lyrics.

She turned away and looked at the blue sky outside the window, lost in thought.

She wondered how the album’s sales were going.

Although in her past life, these two songs had gained some level of recognition, they were quite unique both in quality and style.

Still, she couldn’t shake off a certain anxiety.

If these songs didn’t resonate with listeners…

Would anyone want to buy the songs she wrote in the future?

For some reason, Jiang Ning suddenly felt a sharp pang in her stomach.

The next moment, her face turned slightly pale.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled a square-shaped object from her backpack and stood up, walking toward the door.

“Jiang Jiang, where are you going?” Luo Shanshan asked curiously.

Jiang Ning’s expression twitched slightly, and she responded coldly, “Going to kill myself.”

“Oh, okay, but be quick. We have computer class next period in the lab.”

—

November 2nd, Thursday.

Just an ordinary workday.

As the owner of a music store, Old Luo had arrived early to organize the new batch of cassettes and CDs that had arrived last night.

It was Chen Yu’s album, Mortal World.

Normally, albums released the previous day would take until at least noon to arrive at Old Luo’s store.

But for some reason, the delivery driver called him in the middle of the night, forcing him to crawl out of bed and accept the shipment, shivering from the cold.

When the store’s clock struck eight, Old Luo flicked his cigarette ash and pushed open the shop door.

The morning sunlight bathed him in warmth—it felt pretty nice.

He stretched lazily and smiled.

Then, just as he opened his eyes again, he saw a group of young people with serious expressions striding toward him from down the street.

Old Luo was just a small-time businessman—not very bold.

Seeing this, his first instinct was to retreat back inside.

But before he could shut the door, a hand pressed against it.

“Boss! Do you have Chen Yu’s new album?”

“Give me a CD!”

More voices followed.

“Boss, two cassettes of Chen Yu’s album!”

“Boss—”

In just a few moments, more than a dozen people had come asking for Chen Yu’s cassettes and CDs by name.

Was she really that popular?

Even though Old Luo sold music albums, he rarely listened to domestic pop music.

He preferred classical symphonies and niche alternative music.

Some domestic pop songs had decent melodies, but after a while, they all sounded the same—just repetitive commercial tunes.

And the lyrics? All about love and relationships—ugh.

Old Luo had a bit of an “artistic temperament”—a serious case of it, actually. He couldn’t stand most mainstream songs.

Over time, he simply preferred listening to foreign music.

Not understanding the lyrics was a bonus—it was just about the sound.

As for Chen Yu’s new album…

After some thought, Old Luo opened up a CD, placed it into the player, and pressed play.

A cheerful tune filled the store.

After listening for a bit, he shook his head, picked up the tracklist, and saw that this wasn’t the album’s title song.

So he skipped to the next track.

But the next one wasn’t much better.

He continued skipping through five more songs, each one failing to meet his personal music standards.

For someone as picky as Old Luo, this was sheer agony.

By this point, he had given up hope for the last two tracks and was about to turn off the CD player—

When a new customer walked in.

A young girl, wearing a school uniform from First High.

She was stunningly beautiful, but more than that, she had a special aura that was hard to describe.

“Boss, do you have Chen Yu’s album?”

“…Yes. What format do you want?”

“A cassette, please.”

The girl smiled—her expression was clean and pure, blending with the sunlight streaming through the window like a scene from a painting.

Old Luo was momentarily dazed.

Then, he quickly grabbed a cassette from the shelf and handed it to her.

“How much?”

“10 yuan.”

“That’s pretty expensive.” The girl chuckled, pulling a bill from her pocket and handing it over.

“This is a genuine copy—of course, it’s a bit pricey.” Old Luo couldn’t help but correct her.

Just then—

The CD player automatically moved on to the next track.

The moment the music started, Old Luo felt something shift.

He froze.

For a long moment, he stood motionless.

Then, as if waking from a trance, he grabbed the tracklist, flipping it over to find the song that was now playing.

He murmured to himself, “Unforgettable… lyrics… Jiang Jiang…”

At that moment, the girl who had just taken the cassette seemed to hear something.

She turned around, her clear, water-like eyes filled with confusion.

“Boss, did you call me?”