Chapter 18: Human Affection Is the Most Precious

"Xu Fangyuan’s tactics are as cunning as ever," Su Chen sneered coldly. With just a single glance, he could tell this scheme was Xu Fangyuan’s handiwork. This method of stepping on him to rise to power—he had only just witnessed it a few days ago, in the statement released by Starlight Entertainment. Last time, he simply hadn’t had the energy to refute it, and so the matter faded away unresolved. But Xu Fangyuan had trampled over him again and again—did she truly believe he, Su Chen, was without temper?

After skimming the first trending topic, Su Chen clicked on the second, titled "Wang Qi’s New Song Crushes ‘Queen’."

"Wang Qi: Ladies of the King, your King has returned! I’m bringing my new single ‘Midnight Whiskey’ to Penguin Music on June 1st. Let’s enjoy a musical feast together!"

Beneath his Weibo post, a frenzy of his "King’s Ladies" were in wild celebration!

There was also a video attached—a clip of Wang Qi being interviewed by an entertainment media outlet. Most of the questions were insipid, things like his thoughts on the new song or whether he was confident about breaking into next month’s new song chart.

But then the host followed up with a sharp question.

"We know that Qiqi’s new song will be released on Penguin Music next month. As far as I know, there’s another hit song uploading to Penguin Music these days!"

Wang Qi gave a casual smile and replied, "You mean ‘Queen,’ right?"

"Oh? So you’ve also been paying attention to this song?" the host asked in surprise.

"Do you have confidence you’ll beat it?"

He chuckled. "‘Queen’ may barely pass muster for the general public, but to our professional ears, it’s riddled with errors! Of course, for a newcomer’s debut, it deserves recognition, but as someone with experience, my advice is that he still has much to learn."

"If you insist on comparing, I can only say the two songs aren’t even in the same league. If I really compete, it would look like I’m bullying the novice."

Wang Qi’s tone seemed sincere, but every word dripped with arrogance.

His fans, however, saw it differently, filling the comments below with fervent praise:

"Wang Qi is so kind!" "How can an amateur compare with Wang Qi?" "It’s thanks to seniors like him that newcomers can improve!"

Amid the torrent of fans, even the few voices of doubt were soon drowned out.

Having read through the trending topics, Su Chen at his computer didn’t feel angry—in fact, he was rather amused. For someone like him, who in his past life had seen the entertainment industry’s endless scheming, the actions of these two were hardly out of line.

But they had overlooked one thing: the quality of the work itself. If two songs are close in quality, then the performer’s status can indeed tip the balance. But if the gap between the songs is vast, then no amount of capital manipulation can make up the difference—it’s just pouring money into a bottomless pit.

If, in the face of "Queen" and "Performer," the two explosive hits of his previous life, this so-called "Midnight Whiskey" could even get noticed, Su Chen would surrender on the spot!

After thinking for a moment, Su Chen logged in to his Weibo and typed: "‘Queen’ and ‘Performer’ have already been uploaded to Penguin Music and will be released alongside Brother Qiqi’s ‘Midnight Whiskey’ tomorrow. I look forward to receiving guidance from my two seniors. Thank you very much!"

Before posting, Su Chen made sure to tag Wang Qi and Zhou Qiang.

With the current buzz, "Queen" was no longer just about the song itself. Thanks to Wang Qi and Zhou Qiang’s involvement, it had become a grand entertainment spectacle!

If Wang Qi could ride Su Chen’s popularity, why couldn’t Su Chen do the same?

After posting, Su Chen closed Weibo. Just then, his phone vibrated. He had assumed it was a message from Zhang Fuyu, but to his surprise, she was calling directly.

Su Chen answered, "Hello, Sister Fuyu, what do you think of the song? Do you like it?"

Zhang Fuyu was silent for a moment before she spoke. "Su Chen, tell me honestly—did you really write this song in just the past two days?"

"Uh… no," Su Chen replied.

"Phew… I thought so. There’s no way you could produce something of this quality in just two—"

Before she could finish, Su Chen interjected, "To be precise, it only took me half an hour."

He was being modest. In truth, the song was already fully formed in his mind! Still, composing and writing lyrics takes time, so saying half an hour was about right.

Zhang Fuyu paused on the other end for a long while, clearly not believing him, but she truly adored the song.

"Well… Little Chen, I won’t beat around the bush. I genuinely love this song and hope to buy it from you," Zhang Fuyu said sincerely. "I only need the performing rights; your name will still appear as the lyricist and composer. As for the price, I can offer five hundred thousand, plus five percent of the future royalties."

Hearing this, Su Chen frowned slightly.

Five hundred thousand was no small sum, especially with royalties on top.

Typically, original songs sell for about ten thousand; excellent works might go for thirty to fifty thousand. Only established musicians could command two to five hundred thousand for top-tier songs.

So for a newcomer like Su Chen, Zhang Fuyu’s offer of five hundred thousand was both a sign of her true appreciation and a gesture of special consideration.

Yet, even with that in mind, selling this song for just five hundred thousand—if people from his previous life found out, they’d call him a fool!

But Su Chen had debuted at her concert, and through subsequent interactions, he’d found Zhang Fuyu to be a genuinely good person.

So, he decided to treat it as making a friend. In the entertainment world, relationships are the most precious currency of all!

Seeing Su Chen hesitate, Zhang Fuyu grew anxious.

"Little Chen, I know the quality of this song is outstanding. How about this—if you think the share is too small, I’ll give you my portion too, increasing your cut to ten percent."

That was nearly her limit. After all, as she was still under contract, most of her earnings from the release would go to the company, and her share was probably only thirty percent.

And spending five hundred thousand of her own money on a song by an unknown songwriter—no company would foot the bill for that.

Zhang Fuyu’s eagerness stemmed from the sense that her career had hit a bottleneck. Without a smashing hit, her popularity would soon decline. From this song, she saw the hope of making it big again!

"All right, I’ll send the complete lyrics and score to you in a bit," Su Chen replied.

Zhang Fuyu was instantly overjoyed.

"Thank you! I promise this song won’t be wasted!"

Only then did she realize she didn’t even know the song’s title.

"By the way, what’s the name of this song?"

"‘Courage.’"