The Hidden-gem Singer

Everything had gone according to plan.

As expected, "The Fleeting Fireworks" became a hit. Even if this fool didn't do anything for the next week, his number of fans would steadily exceed the 100,000-mark. Yet, in the end, Cloud Hao didn't expect him to actually cause trouble at this critical juncture, resulting in the fans accumulated over the past three days unfollowing him!

This must be karmic retribution!

If he weren't hiding under the covers and pretending to be asleep, Cloud Hao really wanted to scream.

He immediately toggled his screen to the private message window. He was just about to have it out with this idiot, but before he could send him a message, the other party took the initiative to send him one.

Qian Yuan: [Those fans saw my past creations history and kept asking me to release the previous songs… I thought about what you said about removing them temporarily. It's been three days now, so I released my past songs.]

F*ck!

You released them just because they asked you to?

Will you eat sh*t if they ask you to?

Cloud Hao resisted the urge to diss him and deleted the sentence he had typed on the screen.

Qian Yuan: [After that, I also gave it some deep thought. I think I should face myself bravely.]

Qian Yuan: [I understand your kind intentions. You're worried that I'll be conceited and complacent. Indeed, those fans who looked me up because of "The Fleeting Fireworks" may be attracted to my past works and talent, but I don't think they will become a stumbling block in my music path.]

Qian Yuan: [They really love music, just like you and me!]

Cloud Hao's head was full of question marks.

What did you understand again?

Who cares whether your ego is inflated or not? I'm worried about you losing followers!

You can do whatever you want after this mission is completed. But can you let me receive the system reward first…

Cloud Hao was having a headache about how to reply to this idiot when another message came in.

Qian Yuan: [My past works are right there. There's nothing to hide. Besides, some people have already uploaded my past works to Bilibili. There's a bigger stage outside of the Yinke platform… And I'm ready for it.]

Cloud Hao was speechless.

That was also true.

The Internet had memories.

Even if he removed his past works, as long as someone was bored enough to look for them, they would definitely be able to find audio recordings that had not been taken down. Furthermore, at times, the more you worried and cared about certain things, the more exhilarated those bored flies would become.

It was the same even in Country Xia, where copyright protection was extremely strict. Some pieces that were non-profit with copyright information, if netizens were to remake it, it would be in a grey area as long as the creators did not request the other party to take it down or issue a public statement prohibiting the dissemination.

There was no need to think about it.

If it was his song, it would definitely have appeared in the remix section.

Somewhere Deep in the Clouds: […There's nothing I can blame you for. Let it be.]

Qian Yuan: [Thank you, good pal!]

Cloud Hao was speechless.

I thank you dumba*s!

Throwing the phone beside his pillow, the frustrated Cloud Hao couldn't be bothered to care about this guy anymore. He went to sleep with his head covered.

…

Although the lights were out in room 401, the other rooms on the floor were brightly lit.

Especially the room 402 next door, it was the most lively at this time every night.

The small Bluetooth speaker Yuan Gaofei bought had just arrived today. The recent hit song, "The Fleeting Fireworks'', was being played in the room. Aside from He Ping, who had climbed into bed early to read his book and was not interested, the other two were gathered in front of the table and reveling in the song.

After listening to the song, the little fatso, Zhou Xuan, furrowed his brows and pondered for a long time. Then, out of the blue, he said, "Don't you think that this voice… sounds a bit like Liang Ziyuan's?"

Yuan Gaofei was momentarily stunned. After listening to it carefully for a few seconds, his eyebrows raised.

"Eh? Now that you mention it, it does sound a bit like that."

"No way, you talking about Ziyuan?" Wang Ziyi's expression was strange as he said, "Can you even bear to listen to his singing?"

Although he was Liang Ziyuan's good buddy and they had meals and played basketball together, he had never once gone against his conscience and praised the guy's musical talent.

After all, others asked for money when they sang, but this guy asked for their lives.

He had only just turned nineteen and did not want to die in his prime.

He Ping, who didn't care about these things, was lying on the bed and reading some unfathomable documents. From time to time, he would expressionlessly cast cursory glances beneath his bed to hear what superficial things his roommates were talking about.

It seems to be about music today?

Shaking his head, he turned his gaze away disinterestedly and continued reading the book in his hand.

However, he couldn't help but hum along to the music.

Sss…

You don't say.

This song sounds quite nice!

"The Fleeting Fireworks" was played twice more, and the three people whispering beneath the beds finally came to a conclusion.

This Qian Yuan's voice was indeed similar to Liang Ziyuan's, but the former clearly sang much better than the latter. It was impossible for them to be the same person.

Having finally solved the case, Yuan Gaofei sighed regrettably.

"Hah, it's a pity Liang Ziyuan can't sing. Otherwise, his tone is really quite similar to this Qian Yuan. If he carried the guitar and went to the female dormitory downstairs to sing two verses, he could probably deceive the young girls."

Wang Ziyi gave him a sidelong glance.

"Oh please, does he need to rely on talent to pick up girls?"

Zhou Xuan happily said, "I think it's okay to pick up girls with his face and break up because of his talent."

Yuan Gaofei let out a deep sigh and sat on the chair.

"Hah! I'm envious!"

No matter how good a song was, you would be tired of it after repeating it multiple times.

However, Zhou Xuan became interested in Qian Yuan's other works, so he searched for them on the Yinke website.

Most people rarely visited Yinke, which was a niche platform especially for music producers, just like how most people wouldn't go to CNKI to look for information.

However, this song, "The Fleeting Fireworks'', had become popular all of a sudden. As such, the usual search engines did not have any information about the singer "Qian Yuan''. He could only follow the clues to find the headquarters of this legendary original musician—Yinke.

"He actually has more than 20 songs… Turns out he's not a newcomer."

Looking at the gold label of [Original Musician] that had just been added yesterday, Zhou Xuan kept feeling like something was amiss. He couldn't put his finger on it, though.

After all, he was just a small uploader in the game section. He could still comment on and evaluate games, but in terms of music, he couldn't keep up, whether it was in professional knowledge or music literacy.

With a hint of curiosity and anticipation, Zhou Xuan put on his headphones and clicked on the first single.

However, as soon as he heard the prelude, he nearly fell off his chair in shock.

"F*ck… What the hell is this?"

The wild and piercing sounds of instruments were like a ruler bashing up a blackboard. It was mixed in with guitar, which sounded like noise, and indiscernible singing skills. It was difficult to understand what on earth this guy was singing. As a result, Zho Xuan had a "That's it?" and "I can do it too if I try" feeling when he first heard it.

It was only later that the singing became increasingly awful to the point of being disturbing.

Oh my God… Portraying noise as an art…

I'm not sure I can do that if I try.

After listening to the entire song, Zhou Xuan comforted himself that it was someone's debut work, after all. Perhaps it was accidentally recorded and uploaded while he was tuning the instrument. Thus, he clicked on the second song.

In the end…

He nearly died at the prelude.

Hearing the constant moving of the chair at the table next to him, Wang Ziyi tilted his head back and curiously glanced at Zhou Xuan, whose entire body was spasming.

"What are you doing? Why are you moving so much?"

"Ahem, it's nothing."

Wang Ziyi glanced at his roommate's computer screen then disinterestedly turned his gaze away when he saw that Zhou Xuan was not looking at that kind of good stuff. He continued playing in the instance with his online couple on "The Oracle".

Zhou Xuan took a deep breath. He pressed the pause button and opened the comments section of the song.

Comments section.

[The author's previous songs… Hmm… It feels a bit strange.]

[It's strange indeed, but after hearing more of it, it oddly has the right feel! How should I explain it, it's irresistibly quirky!]

[Yes, yes, yes, especially the song "The Butterfly Outside the Window"! The soramimi in the third verse with singing and guitar playing just brainwashes you!]

[Butterfly outside the window? Isn't it a high butterfly? *laughs*]

[Hahaha urp, I'm laughing so hard. Love it, love it! You shall be my hidden-gem singer from now on!]

What the hell?

The reviews seem okay?

Will you really not get criticized for making art on an artist's forum?

Zhou Xuan felt that his worldview had taken a hit, and he even generated a tinge of self-doubt.

Could it be…

My taste is not good enough to appreciate it?

After all, this was the Yinke platform. Many big shots in the music industry had registered accounts, and most of the users here were true music lovers. Their music tastes and competencies were definitely much higher than the rest of them novices from other platforms.

This won't do!

My goal is to be the new generation content uploader!

If I can't even handle BGM, how can I take control of my own life!

Gritting his teeth, Zhou Xuan overcame his fear and pressed the button to continue playing the song. He even added all eighteen songs into the playlist in one shot.

Just like that, with his eyes closed and enduring the mental pollution, he listened to all the twenty-odd songs. When he put his headphones down, Zhou Xuan felt as if he had been brainwashed, and his mind was all muddled up.

To the extent that…

He actually had the thought of "It sounds a little nice". He shouldn't be having such nasty thoughts.

"I've been f*cking polluted…"

Zhou Xuan hugged his head and banged it on the table with a pained expression. He tried to get his hearing back to normal and drive the mental pollution out of his brain.

However, in that instant, another thought suddenly flashed across his mind.

If I cut these songs into a video and upload it on the remix section…

In a split second, Zhou Xuan, who had been lying on the table, stopped screaming and excitedly clenched his fists.

"F*ck, I found a gem!"

Hidden-gem singer?

This is a f*cking treasure mine!