Zhan Yiran was still waiting for the release of 'Peace of Mind', staying up all Wednesday night until Thursday morning.
She originally wanted to wait together with Gu Nanyan, but Gu Nanyan said she needed to rest and wouldn't wait.
"Big Sister Gu, aren't you excited at all?"
Zhan Yiran couldn't understand. Big Sister Gu was the one involved, writing the lyrics, composing the music, and singing. Even Zhan Yiran, a mere observer, was tremendously excited, yet Big Sister Gu remained unmoved, not even asking a single question.
"Why be excited? It's just a small matter."
Gu Nanyan calmly raised her eyes. It was just the release of a song, not some major event.
Before the two nations of Daqin went to war, she could sleep as usual.
"Big Sister Gu, you're so calm!"
Zhan Yiran admired her greatly. When would she ever reach Big Sister Gu's level?
Since Gu Nanyan wasn't waiting, Zhan Yiran could only wait alone.
As the hands of the clock slowly moved to 12, Zhan Yiran was so excited that her hands and feet trembled, and she couldn't even stand.
She could only curl up in bed and wait.
Finally, it was Thursday morning.
'Peace of Mind' was released, and Zhan Yiran was the first to click and listen to it.
"Woo, it's so beautiful, like the voice of an angel!"
After listening to the entire song, Zhan Yiran's eyes were brimming with tears as she sniffled and went to leave a comment, thinking she would be the first one.
But when she looked, there were already over a thousand comments packed densely together.
"Wow, what a song, it's too good!"
"I'm going to die, this song is just too good!"
"I can't believe there could actually be such a beautiful song in the world."
"Ah ah ah, I was just helping my child with homework and was so angry my chest hurt, I almost had a heart attack. Then I happened to click on this song, and I instantly felt relaxed, my whole body unwound, and my chest stopped hurting."
"It's just a song, how can it be so magical? You must all be paid endorsers. Let me listen to it, if it's not good, I'll definitely give it a bad review."
After a while, this ID appeared again:
"Woo woo woo, I was wrong, you weren't exaggerating, this song really is good, amazingly good!"
...
Zhan Yiran scrolled through the comments one by one, her eyes blurred with tears.
At this time, Zhan Music was also closely monitoring the song's release situation.
However, they were mainly focused on 'Endless Love', no one was paying attention to 'Peace of Mind'.
"It's on the charts, it's on the charts!"
A staff member shouted, "It's only been half an hour since its release, and it's already on the charts, that's so fast, Teacher Qiu, you're going to create a miracle!"
Qiu Feiyue covered his forehead with his right hand, completely unmoved.
It was just getting on the charts, what was there to shout about? What he wanted was the number one spot, to dominate the charts for at least three months.
'Endless Love' was his labor of love.
"You all just watch, I'm going to rest for a bit."
There weren't many people listening to songs in the middle of the night, he would have to wait until morning to see the results, so he had no time to wait around.
The next morning at 9 AM, 'Endless Love' had climbed to number three.
An assistant reported the good news to Qiu Feiyue: "Teacher Qiu, it's at number three, it's already at number three."
"Just number three?"
Qiu Feiyue was a little unhappy, thinking it was too slow. He got up to take a look.
The assistant didn't dare speak.
"Oh right, how about Teacher Ji's song, what was it called again? Did it chart?"
Qiu Feiyue remembered Ji Ying's song that was also released early this morning, so he asked.
The assistant shook her head: "Not sure, that was just some scrap song, it wouldn't be able to chart."
Qiu Feiyue was just asking casually, and since the assistant didn't know, he just dropped it.
They continued watching the charts, and by noon at 12 PM, 'Endless Love' had risen one spot to number two.
"Teacher Qiu, it'll be number one soon."
The assistant was excited. "It's almost there, 'Endless Love' is almost number one."
"Refresh it, quickly refresh it, maybe it's changed!"
The others urged.
The assistant clicked to refresh, and in an instant, the charts changed. The previously unheard of 'Peace of Mind' had surprisingly taken the number one spot.
"Whose song is this?" Qiu Feiyue's tone was unpleasant.
The assistant hurriedly looked it up. "The lyrics, music, and vocals are all by 'Jia He', it seems like a new artist."
Jia He was the stage name Gu Nanyan had chosen.
Qiu Feiyue: "Which company is it from?"
The assistant opened the detailed information and upon seeing Zhan Music and the producer Ji Ying, her voice seemed to get caught in her throat, unable to make a sound.
Qiu Feiyue leaned over to look, and his expression instantly changed. "'Peace of Mind' is the song produced by Ji Ying?"
The assistant didn't dare speak.
The other staff members looked at each other, also not daring to make a sound.
One of them mustered some courage to speak up: "Could it be that Miss Zhan paid to get it on the charts?"
Hearing this, Qiu Feiyue's expression improved a bit, but he was still grim.
He needed to go talk to Ji Ying. If Miss Zhan wanted to chart or record a song for fun, that was fine, but it couldn't affect his 'Endless Love'.
'Endless Love' was his labor of love, meant to win awards.
Just as Qiu Feiyue was getting up, the assistant accidentally pressed play on 'Peace of Mind', and a light, melodious tune, like the voice of heaven, rang out.
In an instant, everyone froze, not daring to make the slightest noise, unconsciously holding their breath and pricking up their ears to listen intently.
The people seemed to be transfixed, their minds devoid of any emotion, their entire body and soul immersed in this melodious music.
The song ended.
The group remained silent for a long time.
After who knows how long, Qiu Feiyue slumped into a chair, covering his face with both hands.
He had lost, utterly and wholeheartedly lost.
'Peace of Mind' was indeed far superior to 'Endless Love'.
Before listening to 'Peace of Mind', Qiu Feiyue had been very confident in 'Endless Love', thinking this song would change and usher in a new era of popular music.
But after hearing 'Peace of Mind', Qiu Feiyue felt that 'Endless Love' was simply shit, stinking shit!
Before hearing 'Peace of Mind', the others could still console Qiu Feiyue by saying Miss Zhan paid to get it on the charts.
After hearing 'Peace of Mind', no one could offer words of comfort, because to say 'Endless Love' was better than 'Peace of Mind' would not just be a simple lie or flattery.
It would be shameless! It would be blatantly spouting nonsense! It would be an insult to Qiu Feiyue!
Liu Yuanyuan was a die-hard fan of Ji Ying, having admired her since middle school. When she heard Ji Ying had produced a new song, she was so excited her eyes turned red.
Her co-worker Zhang Miaoman leaned over and asked, "You like Ji Ying?"
Liu Yuanyuan eagerly nodded: "I've liked Teacher Ji for almost 20 years now, her songs are all very beautiful."
Zhang Miaoman was a fan of Ji Ying's ex-husband Fan Yulin. She really disliked Ji Ying: "Everyone says those songs weren't written by her, but by Fan Yulin, just credited to her name."
Liu Yuanyuan frowned: "Those are just baseless rumors, it's impossible. If Fan Yulin really wrote them, they're already divorced, why wouldn't Fan Yulin claim credit himself?"
"That's because our Yulin has a conscience. Ji Ying couldn't have children, so Yulin married her just to have his own child. Ji Ying couldn't give birth but wouldn't let others do it either, so domineering!"
Seeing Zhang Miaoman saying such things, Liu Yuanyuan didn't bother arguing with her. It's the modern era now, women don't even bind their feet anymore, yet she still bound her little brain.
Liu Yuanyuan put on her headphones and hit play, she wanted to listen to Ji Ying's new song.
Zhang Miaoman, ignored by Liu Yuanyuan, was very unhappy. She prepared to leave bad reviews for "Peace of Mind".
Entering the page, she casually hit play, planning to listen first before leaving a negative review.
Hmph, that Ji Ying has been back for two years now without a single good song, this one will probably be terrible too.
