Chapter Fifteen: Gratitude for Nature’s Gift

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Among the four mentors of "Voice of Dreams," Teacher Han is renowned for his emotionally resonant critiques and profound musical professionalism. Having once shed tears over a contestant's story, he also holds the highest favorability with the audience.

Cult Leader Huang focuses on a "cute and quirky" style; though not formally trained in music, his witty banter and back-and-forth with Teacher Han are major highlights.

Teacher Wang is an expert at managing the studio atmosphere, balancing out the serious or sentimental moments of the other mentors, and is the most worldly and socially savvy of the group.

In contrast, the newcomer Wei Yu is quite sharp-tongued. His scoring is objective to the point of being caustic, showing absolutely no mercy. He is filling in for Teacher Li this season.

Yu Wei sighed as he wrote this, his fingers pausing mid-flight over the keyboard. That Teacher Li was already gone...

After finishing the new chapter, Yu Wei habitually recommended a few other novels. After all, as a struggling writer himself, he knew all too well the agony of that uphill battle.

Might as well offer a helping hand where he could; there are no protagonists in real life—we are all just NPCs.

Because he had "plagiarized" the song "Heart Wall" in advance, Yu Wei had earned the title of "Entertainment Prophet" and successfully gained a degree of notoriety in the web novel industry.

His book had also benefited, with his follower count breaking a thousand and his daily readership jumping to two hundred in one go.

These numbers were not particularly high, but for a new book with only thirty thousand words in the same period, his start was already a cut above the rest.

This gave Yu Wei significant confidence regarding the performance expectations for his next work. If he could just get his hands on one more song, he could coast for the next month...

The concept of time in entertainment-themed novels is often abstract. Some protagonists churn out a song every three days and a script every five, somewhat ignoring objective reality.

No matter how talented one is, a human is not a music-making machine. If someone released a new song every day, the audience would likely suffer from aesthetic fatigue.

Yu Wei didn't want to make things too exaggerated. He aimed to release a work once a month just to maintain a presence so he wouldn't fade from the public eye.

"Time to go to work."

He had to head to the company today to record a song. His performance on stage had been an a cappella version; to get it onto music platforms, he needed a formal studio recording.

On the way, Yu Wei took a moment to check Weibo. His follower count had jumped by several hundred thousand, and the data was still climbing.

While it seemed like a massive gain, it was actually not even a fraction of what a top-tier traffic star commanded.

To put it in perspective, Qi Yuan had nine million followers, and breaking ten million was just a matter of time. Among their former bandmates, even the one with the fewest followers had over three million...

By comparison, Yu Wei’s following was truly modest, but he believed his data was more authentic. It would be a shame if those active users didn't come to read his book or leave a vote.

Just as he was grumbling to himself, he bumped into Qi Yuan walking out of the company entrance. His manager, Wu Qi, was trailing behind him, clearly on their way to handle business.

"Little Yu, you're here."

Yu Wei was startled by Wu Qi’s warm greeting. In the past, never mind greetings, this ace manager used to look at him with nothing but disdain.

Back when he and Qi Yuan were on good terms, she hadn't missed an opportunity to undermine him.

Qi Yuan, however, frowned when he saw him, looking as if he had something to say but couldn't quite find the words. After hesitating for a long moment, he simply offered a brief greeting.

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Though he didn't want to admit it, Qi Yuan had to face the reality that he and Yu Wei were no longer on the same track.

Don't let the fact that he currently had higher popularity fool you; years from now, people wouldn't remember a flash-in-the-pan idol, but they would still be listening to Yu Wei's songs.

That was the difference.

Whether a star has a representative work they can be proud of is much like a professional athlete having a championship title—no matter how much fans boast, the honors don't lie.

This was exactly why manager Wu Qi’s attitude toward Yu Wei had shifted so dramatically. It was well worth it to stay on good terms with a singer-songwriter; after all, a champion is someone who can coast on their laurels.

Yu Wei was well aware of this. A good piece of work is always the ultimate weapon in the entertainment industry. It might not be as exaggerated as in novels, but having one versus not having one makes a world of difference.

The breakthrough from zero to one is the hardest, and many traffic stars get stuck at exactly this step.

As expected, Wu Qi didn't want to miss out on the connection. She tested the waters: "Little Yu, that song of yours is truly excellent. I’ve almost become a fan of yours myself. When is the next one coming out?"

Yu Wei had heard this tone before. When he was a kid playing at a classmate's house, the parents would often say the same thing: "You're so good at your studies, why don't you take some time to tutor our Jiahao?"

Trying to freeload off a relationship, were they?

"It's not that easy to write. I'll need another four years to refine my craft."

Yu Wei’s reply was understated, but the mention of "four years" successfully silenced them both. After all, how many four-year stretches does a person have in their life?

His words were essentially a clear declaration: any excellent work is hard-won—it’s not something you can just get for free because you want it.

Wu Qi felt too embarrassed to press the issue further. Looking back on the last four years, she had never taken Yu Wei seriously, and it felt truly shameless to say such things now.

To Qi Yuan, however, the words carried a different weight. Four years. Yes, Yu Wei had spent so long honing his craft before that one moment of stunning success; what right did he have to feel unbalanced?

Looking at himself, he was either on variety shows or filming idol dramas. His schedule was packed to the brim, yet he hadn't set aside a single day to improve himself.

Superficial!

The reason he was inferior to Yu Wei was simply because he was too superficial!

Qi Yuan was silent for a long time, as if he had experienced a sudden realization.

"Sister Wu, cancel that variety show invitation."

"What did you say? Isn't that already finalized?"

"Cancel it."

Qi Yuan watched the direction in which Yu Wei had left, his gaze growing firmer. Only someone like that was worthy of being his opponent.

If it were Yu Wei, he certainly wouldn't waste his time on such trivial, superficial matters.

...

"Did you run into Wu Qi and the others just now?"

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As soon as Yu Wei entered the company, he was met by Liu Ning, who wore a knowing smile. Clearly, she had witnessed the entire encounter.

"Yeah, they wanted a freebie, so I sent them packing."

"I figured as much."

Liu Ning glanced out the window at the pair who hadn't gone far yet and chuckled, "You’d better be careful not to get used by them."

As a manager, she knew a lot of the inside dirt. Qi Yuan's manager would stop at nothing to promote her artist—playing up fake chemistry, stepping on others to boost him, or manufacturing sob stories to manipulate fans.

Back when the group first formed, Zhang Lingye, the most popular member at the time, had been treated like a blood bag for them. After they were done milking their "ship" for traffic, they wouldn't hesitate to give him a kick on their way up.

The reason she had stammered and suggested Yu Wei play along with the "ship" drama last time was that she knew Qi Yuan’s "ships" sold well. They were truly capable of anything for profit.

But then again, Yu Wei was a fighter. Building his own success without resorting to underhanded tactics was real talent.

"Your heat is really high lately. I was thinking you should strike while the iron is hot." Liu Ning showed Yu Wei her laptop screen, which displayed a few commercial opportunities he could consider.

"It’s a pity all the good resources have been snatched up recently. There are only a few local music festivals left. Are you interested?"

Yu Wei decisively refused.

He only knew one song right now. A music festival guest couldn't just sing one song and walk off stage...

If there were no resources, there were no resources. He was open-minded about it. In novels, protagonists always have seamless transitions—finishing a song and heading straight to a variety show, then finishing a variety show and heading straight to a film set. How could things be that convenient in real life?

Was the entertainment company opened just for him, waiting for him to step in and take the next turn?

Work schedules in the entertainment industry are extremely irregular. It's common to have a "window period" where things come to a standstill for half a year.

"Wait a minute, a variety show slot actually just opened up. It's a lifestyle reality show, pretty relaxed."

"I'll go ask about it for you."

There was such a good thing?

Although he had written about many variety shows, Yu Wei had never seen one in person. Naturally, he had no reason to refuse if the opportunity arose—he could just treat it as gathering material for his novel.

He wondered who would just give up such a good gig...

Whatever. Thanks to the gifts of nature.