Chapter 8 It Really Is Su Chen!

Su Chen was taken aback and glanced to the side, only to see Xiao Meng standing at the doorway, her face alight with delight.

Xiao Meng’s real name was Zhuang Xiaomeng. She had been Lin Yanran’s assistant before Lin rose to fame, one of the few who truly understood how much Su Chen had contributed. Due to work, she’d often come to pick up Lin Yanran and had eaten Su Chen’s cooking several times at their home, forging a decent relationship with him. But after Lin Yanran’s career took off, the company reassigned Xiao Meng to another artist, and they hadn’t been in contact for quite some time.

Su Chen smiled gently. “Xiao Meng, it’s been a while.”

“Brother Chen, it really is you! It’s been so long!” Xiao Meng greeted him, then suddenly remembered something and quickly fell quiet.

Su Chen noticed she was following behind a man in a mask and guessed she was working, so he didn’t try to continue the conversation.

He handed the USB drive to the studio owner. “Boss, could you mix these two songs for me?”

“...Two songs? Brother Chen, you recorded two songs in two hours?” The owner was astonished.

For most people, recording one song in two hours was already a challenge, let alone two. And Su Chen hadn’t even hired a sound engineer—he’d done it all alone! The owner was doubtful about the quality of these songs.

“Actually, it’s not quite like that...” Su Chen began.

I knew it! How could he finish two songs in two hours? At most, they’d be rough drafts. The owner felt he’d uncovered the truth.

Su Chen paused, then said, “In fact, besides the two songs, there’s also a demo of another one. To be precise, it’s two and a half.”

Owner: ???

Did he actually record songs?

Nearby, Wang Qi, wearing sunglasses, looked on with disdain.

Two and a half songs in two hours? Does he think this studio is a karaoke bar?

In truth, they didn’t know that if Su Chen had gone all out, he could’ve recorded even more. But he’d found a nice guitar in the studio and, caught up in the moment, spent half an hour playing around.

After a brief silence, the owner laughed to ease the awkwardness.

“Haha, Brother Chen, your efficiency is remarkable! Very well, you can pick up the finished mixes in two working days.”

The customer is always right—even if he’d recorded a string of farts, the owner could mix them! Business is business, no matter what.

“Alright.” Su Chen nodded and turned to leave.

Before Su Chen had even exited, the owner plugged the USB into his computer, donned his headphones, and with great curiosity opened the first audio file titled “Queen”.

Meanwhile, as Su Chen passed Xiao Meng, he didn’t forget to greet her.

“Xiao Meng, I’m heading out. Let’s arrange a meal sometime when we’re free!”

“Mm, goodbye, Brother Chen.” Xiao Meng smiled and nodded, watching Su Chen walk out.

The next moment, Wang Qi’s cold voice came from nearby.

“Xiao Meng, are you close with that freeloader?”

“...Freeloader? Which freeloader?” Xiao Meng asked, confused.

“I mean Su Chen,” Wang Qi replied, frowning.

“Oh... You mean Brother Chen. I worked with Sister Yanran for a while, so I know him.” Xiao Meng explained, “Actually, Brother Chen is a decent person...”

“Shut up!” Wang Qi snapped, his face icy. “I only asked if you were close, not if he’s decent!”

“You call me ‘Brother’, and you call that freeloader ‘Brother’ too. Are you putting us on the same level?!”

Within the company, many knew about the relationship between Lin Yanran and Su Chen. Most envied and resented him for having such a girlfriend, and were happy to see him criticized—like Wang Qi. A smaller group, under strict company orders, feared leaking information could damage their careers or even their basic livelihoods.

So Xiao Meng always felt guilty toward Su Chen.

“No, no!” Xiao Meng waved her hands anxiously. “Brother Qi, I just thought since he’s a songwriter, getting familiar could help you get his works in the future.”

“The songs he wrote for Sister Yanran are truly incredible!”

In her anxiety, Xiao Meng managed to organize her thoughts and say what was in her heart.

Wang Qi’s expression eased a little at her words.

He snorted coldly. “Look deeper at people. Some are gilded on the outside but rotten within. You’re low in the company ranks, so you’re unaware of certain things.”

“Sister Yuan told me that all Lin Yanran’s songs were written by her. She just let Su Chen sign his name out of charity. How could a freeloader possibly write songs?”

Wang Qi sneered. “Seeing him today confirms it. Su Chen recorded two and a half songs in two hours? Two and a half pieces of trash, more like!”

“He probably couldn’t find someone to sponsor him, ran out of money, and in desperation decided to try songwriting himself... Does he really think he can write songs? Hahaha!”

Wang Qi glanced at Xiao Meng arrogantly. “Stay away from people like that. I have standards—I find them disgusting!”

“Okay, Brother Qi...” Xiao Meng replied casually, though her thoughts wandered back to the first time she’d heard those songs Su Chen had written for Lin Yanran, and how they had stunned her.

If even Su Chen couldn’t write songs, then surely no one in the world could.

Meanwhile, Wang Qi approached the owner.

“Boss, are there any rooms available?” Wang Qi asked, but noticed the owner was unmoved, still wearing headphones, staring at the screen in astonishment!

He was listening to Su Chen’s song!

The owner had dabbled in music himself years ago, so his surprise was even greater.

When the line came—“I envy your love, grand and unstoppable, like a queen whose popularity never wanes”—he shivered with goosebumps.

This... This “Queen”, was truly just recorded by Su Chen?

Perfect. Stunning.

No matter how he evaluated it, he couldn’t find a single flaw.

“...Boss?” Wang Qi called impatiently.

“Ah... Sorry, I got carried away... You’re here to record, right? We have rooms available,” the owner apologized.

“Good. Book me for half a day. And make sure it’s not the room that guy just used,” Wang Qi said arrogantly, anger burning within him.

What’s so good about whatever that loser recorded?! Are they really treating him as the songwriter of “Queen”?!

If it weren’t for Sister Yuan insisting the studio’s feng shui was good, he’d have left already.

No... He would expose the place on social media!

“Of course, I’ll show you over,” the owner replied.

Wang Qi turned and saw Xiao Meng still standing there, lost in thought, and barked, “What are you waiting for? Hurry up! If you delay my recording and charting, I’ll dock your salary by a thousand this month!”

“I’m coming, Brother Qi!” Xiao Meng hurried over. But whether she moved too quickly or simply didn’t watch her step, she tripped over a cable on the floor, tugging the owner’s headphone cord from the computer.

In the next second, a deep male voice rang out.

“...Enough to see through all the rights and wrongs. By then, you’ll no longer be praised in my heart.”

“Treating you as the queen will no longer be my story...”

Wang Qi was stunned—the melody was so familiar!

He looked at the owner and quickly asked, “Boss, is this song the one that guy just recorded?”

“Yes, it’s called ‘Queen’. You think it’s good too, right? That kid’s a genius!” the owner replied. “And he did it in two hours, without an engineer, all by himself! Unbelievable!”

Wang Qi was dumbfounded.

So Su Chen... really was Su Chen!

Just then, Wang Qi saw a red Porsche 918 roar past the door of the studio.

In the driver’s seat, that familiar face was etched deep into his mind!

It was Su Chen... still Su Chen!

At this moment, Wang Qi was utterly stunned.

Beside him, the owner reluctantly closed the audio file, his gaze landing on the song below “Queen”, intending to listen to it later.

Its name was “Actor”.