Chapter Seventeen: The Song Release! (Please continue reading)
By mid-January, time had flown by swiftly.
Just a few days ago, Yunxue Yi finally terminated her contract with Tianxing Entertainment.
Today marked the release of her new single.
At noon, three women gathered at Yunxue Yi’s home.
The song “Encounter” had just been launched on all major music platforms.
Simultaneously, Tianxing Entertainment released Han Mei’s new track, “Waiting for You.”
Instantly, the entire music industry focused their attention on these two songs.
Everyone was curious about which singer’s song would gain the upper hand.
Because of the new release, Yunxue Yi had no mood to cook.
The four of them lit the stove at Yunxue Yi’s place, preparing to have hot pot.
For this occasion, Jiang Chen contributed beef meatballs sent from his mother.
When Jiang Chen entered Yunxue Yi’s home carrying a bag of meatballs, he found them all intently watching the backend statistics on various platforms.
“Let’s eat first. The songs just dropped; listeners probably haven’t even finished listening yet,” he said.
“Yeah, Yunxue, stop staring. Come on, let’s eat hot pot,” Tang Xiaxia patted Yunxue Yi on the shoulder.
“Alright, let’s eat hot pot,” Yunxue Yi nodded.
At the dining table, Tang Xiaxia offered comfort, “Don’t be too nervous, Yunxue.”
“I’m not nervous,” Yunxue Yi denied.
“If you’re not nervous, why are your chopsticks trembling while picking up a meatball?” Sister Li called her out.
Yunxue Yi was indeed struggling to steady her chopsticks when trying to pick up a beef ball.
She didn’t understand why. She had been confident before, but now that the new song was released, she suddenly felt nervous—something she had never experienced with past releases.
At that moment, Jiang Chen extended his chopsticks, picked up the meatball, and placed it in Yunxue Yi’s bowl.
“Even if you don’t trust yourself, you should have some faith in the song I wrote for you.”
Hearing this, Yunxue Yi pressed her lips and looked at Jiang Chen.
She finally understood the source of her anxiety.
It was the fear of disappointing him, who had written this song for her.
“You said before that if you can’t be a star, you can still be a chef.”
“If this song’s performance turns out to be dismal, I’ll fund a restaurant and hire you as the chef… Don’t worry, you still have a future, and I’ve got your back.”
Jiang Chen joked.
For some reason, Yunxue Yi suddenly felt less tense hearing him.
She bit into the meatball Jiang Chen picked up and suddenly burst out laughing.
“Alright, I’m really not nervous anymore.”
…
Meanwhile, several video bloggers who had been preparing for days to release a comparative review of the two songs to ride the wave of traffic were already taking action.
“A Cheng Loves Music Reviews” was a TikTok influencer with over a million followers.
Each video usually garnered hundreds of thousands of likes, sometimes even reaching a million.
He regularly posted song reviews and occasionally compared representatives of singers who had conflicts or whose fans were at odds.
This approach earned him millions of followers.
As a music review blogger, he was truly skilled and not a fraud.
Once, a fan of a popular celebrity angrily accused him of being unprofessional due to his critique of her brother.
Annoyed, the blogger presented his diplomas from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and a graduate degree from Manhattan School of Music in the U.S.
In that video, he firmly put the fan in her place and later released another video criticizing that popular singer again.
His commitment to music reviews, despite his high academic credentials, stemmed from a pursuit of fairness.
Originally, he planned to enter the music industry like his peers, but after witnessing some novice music bloggers slandering decent songs without cause, he resolved to become the most authoritative music reviewer and cleanse the chaotic review scene.
Today, as a respected music review blogger, he intended to release a video comparing the two recently contentious new releases by Yunxue Yi and Han Mei.
He wanted to find out which song was better and who sang better.
In his impression, Yunxue Yi’s vocal skills were solid and distinctive, though she lacked a truly outstanding hit.
As for Han Mei, he had little impression of her, but since she was a top-tier singer under Tianxing Entertainment, she shouldn’t be bad.
He thought, “Let’s listen to Han Mei’s song first.”
Setting up his camera and fixing its position, he began recording.
“Hello everyone, I’m A Cheng Loves Music Reviews!”
He greeted the camera.
“Today’s video is to review and compare two newly released songs that have sparked quite a debate recently. Many fans have been urging me to cover this topic. Don’t worry, here it is!”
“You probably already guessed the singers: Han Mei from Tianxing Entertainment and Yunxue Yi, who recently parted ways with Tianxing!”
“It’s January 15th, 12:15 p.m. I’m here camping on the music platform just to make this video for you all. Please give it a like!”
“Alright, without further ado, let’s listen to Han Mei’s ‘Waiting for You.’”
He searched for the song on the platform and clicked play.
As the intro played, A Cheng remained calm, but when Han Mei’s voice appeared…
By the chorus, A Cheng was frowning.
What was this singing?
As the song ended, he quickly stopped playback, his expression darkening.
“I hadn’t really heard much about Han Mei before, only that she was a top artist at Tianxing Entertainment.”
“I thought she couldn’t be that bad, but now I see her ‘top-tier’ status is largely inflated!”
“I checked—the song was composed by the acclaimed Ma Jing. While it’s not her peak masterpiece, it’s close to a hit.”
“But Han Mei sang it terribly! She couldn’t hit the high notes and relied heavily on auto-tune. There’s even electronic effects! Ordinary listeners might only feel a little discomfort, but as a professional, I can clearly hear the heavy editing in the chorus.”
“Professionals can tell. The song itself is good, but the singer is a letdown!”
“Lastly, Tianxing Entertainment, could you stop being so arrogant? Letting a promising star like Yunxue Yi leave and giving a golden composer's work to this fake top-tier singer Han Mei—can’t you tell the difference in talent?”
“Alright, sorry everyone, I got a bit carried away there. Now, let’s listen to Yunxue Yi’s new song, ‘Encounter.’”
“I’ll first check the lyricist and composer. Before the release, I asked around and found out it wasn’t from any big name.”
A Cheng looked at the composer and lyricist credit—Jiang Chen.
“Jiang Chen? Both lyrics and composition by someone named Jiang Chen. That’s an unfamiliar name, doesn’t seem to be a famous creator.”
Why did Yunxue Yi find such an unknown person to write her song?
Curious, A Cheng pressed play.
As the intro played, his doubts gradually faded.
Just from the prelude, you could tell the talent behind it was not ordinary.
When the vocals began, A Cheng’s face remained neutral, but by the chorus, his eyes widened.
This song was on a hit level! Another masterpiece!
The production was flawless, the melody smooth.
It was naturally singable.
There were no extremely high notes, but the melody was very pleasant.
The lyrics were well-written too!
Paired with Yunxue Yi’s voice, this song had already become a legend in his mind.
When the song ended, A Cheng still felt it lingered in his ears.
“This song is incredible, a masterpiece!” he declared plainly.
“This song is completely different in style from Yunxue Yi’s previous works, yet she handled it perfectly. It suits her voice very well.”
“The lyricist and composer is a real talent, handling both aspects with high quality. The melody is catchy, and the lyrics resonate with listeners. This is a true masterpiece!”
“This Jiang Chen is no ordinary person! Either a veteran genius under disguise or a prodigy suddenly emerging!”
“From what I know, it’s probably the latter.”
“How talented is this creator? Let me put it this way: based on this song alone, as long as his future works maintain decent quality, he’s destined to become a golden-level lyricist and composer!”
“Yes, not just a golden lyricist or composer, but both—a rare all-rounder. Since the establishment of the Chinese Music Association, there have only been three such talents domestically!”
…