Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

At six o'clock in the morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

In the data center of Penguin Music, the technician on duty stared at the graph on the screen.

"Red Bean" garnered eight million views within six hours of its release.

This number would be considered an excellent result for any top-tier singer's new song on its first day of release.

However, the data trends for the other two songs were completely beyond his comprehension.

"The Woman Who Is Easily Hurt" has garnered 12 million views.

"Legend" has 9.6 million views.

The three songs together garnered nearly 30 million plays in six hours.

Even more outrageous is the growth curve.

The growth rate of "Red Bean" has slowed down, but the curves of "Easily Hurt Woman" and "Legend" are still rising.

In particular, the number of views for "Easily Hurt Woman" increased instead of decreasing during the period from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., when the internet traffic was at its lowest.

Backend data shows that this song has an absurdly high rate of being played on repeat.

Everyone who heard it was kept there.

-

Chen Weiyang was awakened by his phone vibrating.

He set an alarm last night, planning to get up early to check the data and write a few Weibo posts mocking Xu Qingya.

He opened the Penguin Music app and first glanced at "Longing," a song he had helped produce.

The album has sold over 40 million copies and is still going up.

Yes, it's safe now.

Then he switched to Xu Qingya's album page.

"Red Beans", eight million.

A mocking smile appeared on Chen Weiyang's lips.

"this one?"

The thumb continues to slide down.

"The Easily Hurt Woman" - 12 million.

His fingers froze on the screen.

Cantonese song? Six hours? Twelve million?

He slashed downwards with force.

Legend - 9.6 million.

Chen Weiyang quickly exited the app and reopened it.

I refreshed it twice.

The number didn't decrease; instead, it jumped up significantly.

He opened the comments section of "Easily Hurt Woman".

The pinned comment is a long review written by a Cantonese music fan, analyzing the song's melody structure and emotional treatment line by line.

The ending boldly states:

"I've been listening to Cantonese songs for thirteen years. This song is number one in my heart, no question about it."

Chen Weiyang left the comments section and clicked to listen to the audio.

The prelude begins.

Thirty seconds later, he threw his phone on the blanket and stared intently at the ceiling.

As a top-notch producer, his ears don't lie to him.

This is not a good song at all.

This is a once-in-a-decade masterpiece.

Chen Weiyang grabbed the water glass from the bedside table and took a sip.

The cold water slammed down my throat and into my stomach.

Two days ago, his words in the office, "The show is about to begin," now felt like a resounding slap across his face.

My phone vibrated again. It was a call from Wang Hao.

"Chen Weiyang, have you looked at the data?"

"I've seen it."

What's the deal with Xu Qingya's Cantonese song? Who wrote it?

Chen Weiyang's knuckles turned white as he gripped his phone.

"Jiang Fan".

"Director Wang," he said hoarsely, "the most urgent matter right now is..."

"The most urgent thing is to cut our losses!" Wang Hao interrupted him irritably.

The hashtag #RedBeanPlagiarismOfLove# has resurfaced and is trending again.

Wang Hao's speaking speed increased.

"What's even more troublesome is that some music critics have started comparing the arrangement structures of 'Longing' and 'Red Bean.' They say the harmonic progressions of the two songs are highly similar, suspecting that 'Longing' was imitated after listening to the demo of 'Red Bean.' Do you know what that means?"

"I understand," Chen Weiyang said through gritted teeth.

"Today, we'll maintain a unified message: 'Longing' is an independent work and has nothing to do with 'Red Bean.' I'll communicate with Su Yuyan."

At 8:00 AM sharp, the Penguin Music real-time hot song chart was updated.

"The Woman Who Is Easily Hurt" suddenly dropped to second place.

It's just one step away from the top spot, "Longing".

The hashtag #TwoDivaStyleDuel#, which trended on social media for three days, has become a tool for Tianyu Media to drive traffic.

Countless onlookers flocked in and listened to both albums at the same time.

Then the tone of the comments section began to change.

"Wait a minute, this 'Red Bean' and Su Yuyan's 'Longing' are similar in style, but... how should I put it, after listening to 'Red Bean' and then going back to listen to 'Longing,' I always feel that 'Longing' is missing something."

"What's missing? I'll tell you—it's missing a soul."

Is it possible that "Acacia" was actually just a copycat?

"Breaking news! Chen Weiyang, the lyricist and composer of 'Longing,' just switched from Tianyu Media to Times Media last month! He left and immediately released a song with a similar style. It's terrifying to think about!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Fanyin Culture Studio.

Li Cheng's eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and there were four empty Red Bull cans lying on the table.

Zhou Yutong arrived at the company right on time, and was startled when she opened the door and saw Li Cheng's condition.

"Brother Li, you didn't sleep all night?"

"Sleep what? Sleep." Li Cheng didn't even look up, staring at the computer screen, muttering, "Do you know how many views 'Easily Hurt Woman' has right now?"

"How many?"

"Eighteen million. Only nine hours after it went online! And this is a Cantonese song?!"

Zhou Yutong's mouth opened into an "O".

"When did mainland audiences start to like listening to Cantonese songs so much?"

"That's the scariest part."

Li Cheng suddenly raised his head, his face full of fervor.

"The data from the Greater Bay Area hasn't been integrated into the network yet!"

"Once the channels to Hong Kong and Macau are expanded, this number will double!"

-

That afternoon, public opinion completely reversed.

Four of the top twenty trending topics on Weibo were related to Xu Qingya.

#Xu Qingya's New Album Reaches Godhood# - Third.

#Easily Hurt Woman on Repeat# - Seventh.

#Xu Qingya defies aging# - Chapter Twelve.

#Two divas clash in style# - Eighth.

Meanwhile, topics related to Su Yuyan's "Longing" have slipped from the top ten to sixteenth place on the list.

In-depth music reviews from major music-related social media platforms have begun to be produced in large numbers.

The discussion was first sparked by a long article published by "Melody Deconstructor," a music critic signed with Tencent Music.

Title: From "Red Bean" to "Easily Hurt Woman": What Level of Creator is Jiang Fan?

The article, which is over 3,000 words long, compares "Red Bean" and "Longing" section by section from three dimensions: harmony, melody construction, and lyrical imagery.

The conclusion consists of only one paragraph:

"If 'Longing' is a meticulous imitation by a skilled craftsman, then 'Red Bean' is a casual, spontaneous work by the original author. The difference between the two lies not in the technical aspects, but in the aesthetic dimension. Chen Weiyang uses 'Longing' to show us where his ceiling is. Jiang Fan, on the other hand, uses three songs to tell us—he has no ceiling."

-

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Su Yuyan's agent, Zhao Li, called her three times.

Su Yuyan finally answered the call.

"Yu Yan, the online public opinion is completely out of control!"

"I've seen it." Su Yuyan's voice was devoid of emotion.

"That Chen Weiyang is a good-for-nothing. The company spent 20 million on promotion and distribution, and now it's all gone down the drain. No, it's worse than that; we've essentially given Xu Qingya's new album two days of free promotion."

Su Yuyan leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window of her apartment, holding a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Zhao Li, this is not Chen Weiyang's fault."

"If not him, then who is to blame?"

"It's our fault for underestimating that person." Su Yuyan placed the cup on the windowsill. "The three songs Jiang Fan wrote for Xu Qingya, each one exceeded the limits of imitation. Even if we had released them a month earlier, the result would have been the same."

Zhao Li remained silent for a while.

"So what do we do now? This wave of public opinion has significantly impacted your reputation. Many people have started saying that we are..."

"It's the one that followed the trend. I know." Su Yuyan emphasized the word "followed the trend" very softly.

After hanging up the phone, she opened Jiang Fan's WeChat chat window.

The last message was from her, the night after the finals of "The Rising Star".

Su Yuyan picked up her coffee again and took a sip.

Her delicate, languid face was reflected in the glass window.

Everything that happened in the hotel suite on the night of the finals flooded my mind like a tidal wave.

She still can't figure out what it is about that man that makes someone as controlling as her completely powerless.

She put down her cup, picked up her phone, and opened the book "Easily Hurt Woman".

The prelude flowed out.

Her brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

It's not because it sounds bad.

It's just that it sounds so good.

She understood better than anyone what a Cantonese song of this caliber meant. With just this one song, Xu Qingya could open up the entire Greater Bay Area market.

And this powerful weapon came from the hand of the man who tormented her to the point where she couldn't get out of bed.

Su Yuyan turned off the screen.

Leaning back in his chair.

There was also a note tucked inside the frame of the dressing table mirror.

Above were four characters written by that man in a flamboyant style:

Thank you for your hospitality.