Li Yuanjie returned to his studio and began sifting through musical fragments composed by his hired songwriters during moments of inspiration. He listened to each one, selecting those that fit the theme of a "Summer Song" for immediate use, planning to fill in any gaps later.
He certainly wouldn't submit any of his best work; giving it to Zhang Yanzhuo would be a waste. Yet he couldn't afford to tarnish his own reputation either, so he aimed to create a song that would achieve "minor fame."
Something too good would be wasteful, while something too bad would damage his image. He knew Ye Huanqiu would likely finish last, but even coming in second-to-last wouldn't be a good look.
As his songwriting skills reached their peak, he was on the verge of piecing together a complete song.
Suddenly, Gou Bing, one of his lackeys, burst into the studio, interrupting his train of thought. Li Yuanjie, on the verge of snapping, was about to explode when Gou Bing blurted out, "Young Master Li, you won't believe this! Yang Chaoyue's team has already finished their song!"
Li Yuanjie's anger was cut short by the news. He scoffed, "Just kicking a broken pot harder. How did you even find out about this?"
"Yang Chaoyue posted a picture saying she's already memorizing the lyrics," Gou Bing explained. "Another celebrity, Chen Yihan, asked if the song was ready, and Chaoyue replied with a nodding emoji."
Gou Bing finished explaining and noticed a mocking glint in Li Yuanjie's eyes. He hastily added, "I'm just a fan of Chen Yihan and follow her posts."
"Hmph, look at you, so pathetic. If you put half that energy into songwriting, you'd be a Gold-tier lyricist in no time. Then you'd have your pick of girls."
Gou Bing could only force a smile. Li Yuanjie, losing interest, waved him out and told him to close the door.
"That clown shouldn't have stirred up so much emotion in me," Li Yuanjie muttered to himself. "The Teacher was right—I need to temper my mindset further." With the matter settled and his composure restored, Li Yuanjie entered his "sage mode," reflecting on his behavior.
Chen Yihan had just finished speaking with Uncle Xu. Leveraging her family's extensive connections, she quickly obtained the results of their investigation: One Leaf Knows Autumn's real name was Ye Huanqiu, a former employee of Nuocheng Company who had remained stuck at Bronze One-Star for years without advancement.
The One Leaf Knows Autumn account had been recently created, and his songs had only been released recently. He currently resided in the Demon Capital.
This was all publicly available information. Digging deeper would raise legal concerns, so Chen Yihan stopped there, content with uncovering his identity.
A composer and lyricist who had left Nuocheng Company, stuck at Bronze One-Star despite seven years of service—the underlying injustice was glaringly obvious. Given the exceptional quality of his music, Chen Yihan had reason to believe Ye Huanqiu had deliberately concealed his true talent to avoid being exploited by the company.
Only after successfully leaving Nuocheng had he begun publishing his work on Guochuangwang.
Seven years of quiet endurance, followed by an explosive debut after breaking free.
Chen Yihan couldn't deny a flicker of interest in this young man, who was a year younger than her.
She checked the time and sent a WeChat message to Yang Chaoyue.
Yang Chaoyue's company had a small soundproof booth, though it wasn't equipped for recording. Fortunately, it wasn't time to record yet.
Ye Huanqiu arrived by ride-hailing service and met with Yang Chaoyue's manager, Sister Zhang, before heading to the booth.
Yang Chaoyue was diligently practicing the tongue-twisting lyrics, nodding and swaying with such ease that it seemed she was having no trouble at all.
When she paused to check her phone, Sister Zhang pushed open the door. "Chaoyue, put your phone away. Teacher Ye is here to see you."
Yang Chaoyue glanced at the message from Chen Yihan and casually opened it. Chen Yihan's voice immediately boomed from the speaker: "Chaoyue, how's your practice with Mr. Ye going?"
"Oh, Yihan just messaged me and I was checking it. I wasn't slacking off! A Ye, if you don't believe me, I'll recite it for you right now!"
"No need. I trust you, just as you trust me."
Ye Huanqiu once again said something that deeply moved Yang Chaoyue. Apart from Yihan, he was the first male friend who trusted her so completely.
"Let me explain the key points of the song first. I brought my laptop—we can use this basic setup to try it out. If it sounds good, we'll move to a proper recording studio."
"Okay," Yang Chaoyue agreed without hesitation.
Ye Huanqiu was mainly trying to save money. Renting a recording studio alone, without professional assistance, cost 4,500 yuan per session. He certainly couldn't afford to casually rent such a place.
Sister Zhang sat nearby, watching Ye Huanqiu and Yang Chaoyue begin rehearsing. The bag he'd brought contained an assortment of quirky gadgets—relics from his past attempts to do big things on a small budget, mostly for basic recording and adjustments.
Now, armed with the advanced music programming skills granted by Starbeam's generous gift package, Ye Huanqiu wielded these tools with ease, extracting remarkably polished vocals from the humblest equipment.
Meanwhile, Ye Huanqiu had also acquired a free alien-tech-assisted vocal training method from Starbeam. This product of the future, refined over millennia, was currently the foundational vocal training textbook for children under eight in the Taris Galaxy.
Starbeam was happy to give it away; it held no value for them anyway. They needed Ye Huanqiu to grow quickly, gain popularity through his work, and obtain the special energy bestowed by Earth Star.
Sister Zhang, sitting nearby, initially watched Ye Huanqiu teaching Yang Chaoyue. But after hearing Yang Chaoyue's initial attempts, she promptly put on her AirPods and started listening to some good music.
About three hours later, feeling her inner ear muscles fatigued, she removed her wireless earbuds. When Yang Chaoyue sang again, the sound was completely different.
It wasn't exactly heavenly, but compared to her previous singing, it was a complete transformation.
Yang Chaoyue herself might not have realized it yet, but as her manager, Sister Zhang knew her artist's voice intimately.
After Yang Chaoyue finished singing "Chinese" one more time, Sister Zhang exclaimed excitedly, "Are you really Yang Chaoyue? Am I dreaming?"
"Why are you shouting so loudly? You scared me!" Yang Chaoyue's heart skipped a beat. Sister Zhang rushed over and hugged her tightly, scrutinizing her jawline and face to confirm she wasn't some master of disguise wearing a skin mask and impersonating Yang Chaoyue.
She burst out laughing with joy.
"She's gone mad..." Yang Chaoyue muttered, bewildered by her manager's sudden outburst. Meanwhile, Ye Huanqiu had already made minor adjustments to her recording, imported the audio tracks and sound effects, and played it back.
Listening to the song through the laptop's cheap speakers—which were no match for her company's Devialet system—Yang Chaoyue was astonished. The voice singing the song was completely different from the one she had heard just three hours earlier.
"A Ye, am I hallucinating or dreaming? Or did you use some kind of audio-enhancing magic? Is this really my own voice?"