Chapter 192: Chapter 192: A Seat at the Table

After being lectured, Cang Hong could only choose to obey, though he was still skeptical.

After all, while Cheng Bin monitored his work like a hawk, he had never actually forced him to do anything against his will.

No matter how much Cheng Bin stood to gain, he had never harmed him. As a result, Cang Hong usually only tried to negotiate at the very edge of Cheng Bin’s boundaries.

Other than the time he had recklessly returned to Central City out of concern for Jiang Qin’s safety, he had never once disregarded Cheng Bin’s words.

So, Cang Hong took his word for it and prepared to work hard, aiming to make a splash at the year-end celebration!

He still made sure to send his daily messages, though.

When Jiang Qin received his greeting, she replied, [It’s late. Get some rest.]

Receiving her reply, a delighted Cang Hong got back to work.

***

Many people had a morning routine: wake up, open a music app, and put on some light music.

Then they would start their day—washing up, changing clothes, doing their skincare routine, and other small tasks.

To their surprise, they discovered that over a thousand new songs had been uploaded at midnight.

What did that even mean? You could listen to three new songs a day and still have enough for an entire year.

With no time to pick and choose, they simply started playing songs from the top of the charts.

The first song… hmm, nice and energizing.

The second…

The fifth song… what a gentle opening melody.

“Flipping open the Notebook I carry with me…”

The voice was just as gentle.

“Female master, are you playing the new songs that were uploaded today?”

The woman, who was applying lotion, answered casually, “I am.”

Then she found herself involuntarily humming along to the line, “Loved ’til it hurt, hurt ’til I cried, cried ’til I was weary~~”

The melodies of the previous few songs were too difficult to sing. This one, however, was gentle, peaceful, and easy to learn.

She already knew a line after listening to it just once.

While she couldn’t remember the rest of the words, she had memorized the tune and could hum along through the whole thing.

After one playthrough, the app automatically skipped to the next track. She quickly went back and spent 1 Star Coin to download the song.

Then she played it again…

She listened quietly through the first half, but as soon as the chorus hit, she started singing along.

The more she sang, the more engrossed she became, as if she were truly singing out some heart-wrenching sorrow.

Even her partner couldn’t resist humming along with her.

The two of them repeated it several times. “Loved ’til it hurt, hurt ’til I was weary…”

’I don’t even know what’s supposed to hurt, but that’s the only line I know, so I guess I’m just in constant pain…’

They thought that was bizarre enough, but they were shocked to hear several other people humming the same song after they left the house and got to the office.

In the elevator, the breakroom, the bathroom.

They even heard it while out shopping on their lunch break.

They could understand all that, but why was their *boss* listening to it too?!

[My boss spent the entire morning in his office listening to that “Loved ’til it hurt” song…

I don’t know if he got divorced from his female master or something. It made me too scared to go in and hand in my proposal, in case I got my head bitten off.]

[What a coincidence! My mom was listening to it all day too. My dad and uncles are furious, asking everyone who this person is that caused her such heart-wrenching pain.]

[I’m the real victim here! This song is toxic. I’ll be trying to focus on work, and it’s like my mouth gets an itch and the lyrics just pop out.

I’ve sung it so many times that my female master is starting to wonder if I’m thinking about a long-lost first love.

Thankfully, I was quick with an explanation.]

[Upvoting this guilty man. You deserve to have a wife!]

[This song really has some kind of Magic Power. I don’t have any heart-wrenching romantic regrets or anything.

But still, I just want to belt it out like my heart’s been torn to shreds…]

Just as he finished posting the comment, he heard someone next to him warble, completely off-key, “Loved ’til it huuuurt~”

The corner of his mouth twitched as he glanced over. It was a man wearing discreet earbuds, eyes closed, absolutely wailing.

Judging by his expression, you probably couldn’t make a face like that unless you’d been constipated for ten days.

But that voice… it really made you want to rip your own ears off…

’If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have cheaped out and taken a public Flying Car,’ he thought.

…

Jiang Qin had only heard about the song’s explosive popularity from Lan Yuyan; she didn’t have time to check the Star Network herself.

Her days were now almost entirely spent on set with the *Medicine God* film crew.

On top of filming *Medicine God*, she also had to remotely supervise *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*.

She couldn’t completely step away from either project, so she was incredibly busy—so busy she wished she could split herself in two.

In addition to filming, she was also busy writing and publishing the novel version of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*.

To generate some buzz, she had already released a hundred thousand words on the platform.

Just imagine: when fans finished binging the novel, they’d turn around and find the TV series was already airing. They’d have to check it out, one way or another.

***

The popularity of “Notebook” was immense, and its play count continued to soar.

Even five days after its release, the number of daily downloads was still climbing.

Just then, the second song Jiang Qin had prepared for the Tianwen singers was released.

It was “Sea and Sky,” released by Peng Chen.

A true Cantonese classic.

He could already sing and play an instrument. While he couldn’t play ancient musical instruments, the all-in-one Interstellar instruments were a piece of cake for him.

To help him stand out, Jiang Qin had spent the last while helping Tianwen put together a proper band.

This song was a collaboration between him as the lead singer and that very band.

Peng Chen already had a small fanbase of his own. Combined with the hype surrounding Jiang Qin’s original compositions, the song quickly shot up from the bottom of the charts.

…

After Wen Jiaqi and her brother listened to it, they immediately made a post about the song.

[Cantonese Music Finally Has a Seat at the Table.]

[Come Check Out the ONLY Cantonese Song on the Year-End Charts.]

[Fans of Cantonese Music, You CANNOT Miss This New Song from Jiang Qin!]

As soon as the threads went up, they attracted countless people from their community.

[A Cantonese song? Who’s reckless enough to try and climb the charts with a Cantonese song at year-end?]

[Oh, it’s Jiang Qin? That’s not so surprising then. Still, it’s a bit too idealistic. During this clash of the titans, a Cantonese song is just too niche.]

[Sigh. Just for the fact that it’s a nearly lost dialect, we should all go support it. Let’s not dishearten the people who love and study Cantonese.]

[These days, only Jiang Qin would give a Cantonese song a seat at the table. From now on, she’s my idol!]

[Everyone go support it! Let people know the Cantonese community hasn’t completely disappeared yet!]

[Let’s go, let’s go…]

Spurred on by their calls, more and more people clicked on the song.

The first listen… ’It’s got a certain charm.’

The second listen… ’Still haven’t quite got it.’

The third listen…

“Today, I watch the snow drift through the cold night

Drifting far away with a heart grown cold

Chasing through wind and rain, lost in a fog where shadows blur~”

Mmm, makes you want to play along on an instrument.

A guitar would be even better.

’Even if I can’t play, I can just hold one and pretend.’

And you know what? Someone actually did just that…

A minor streamer, at that.

In his livestream, he just sat there hugging a guitar, eyes closed in rapture, lip-syncing to the song.

At first, everyone was praising how amazing he was.

Three minutes later, everyone was speechless.

It turned out he wasn’t the amazing one—the background music player was.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep