Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Rainbow’s Smile

“Thank you all for your love! I can feel your passion!!”

“Alright, next up, wave your glow sticks and let me see you all out there, okay?”

Under the spotlight, Jiang Qin seemed to be glowing.

Well, she really was shining. After all, her outfit and her makeup were both sparkling today.

All across the bar, lights of every color were swaying.

There were fan signs, glow sticks, and a spray of rainbow-colored bubbles shooting out from the stage.

The backing track had already switched to the next song.

Jiang Qin held a large bubble machine, blowing bubbles out over the crowd below the stage as she sang the new song.

Her tone was incredibly cheerful:

“The sky’s a cloud of cotton candy, so what if it comes falling down,

Take a deep breath, shake off the sorrow, if you’re mad enough to burst, just sing it out loud,

Love is easy, so easy, yeah yeah~”

With her playful dance and the whimsical, colorful bubbles, everyone could feel Jiang Qin’s joy.

“A rainbow is a smiling face, when you’re sad, just look up and sing out loud,

You got it?”

Unable to contain their excitement, the patrons were no longer content to sit in their booths. They all swarmed around the stage.

When Jiang Qin held out the microphone, they screamed and sang the next lines:

“Love is easy, so easy, yeah~ yeah

Feeling is easy, so easy, woo~ oo

Dreams are easy, so easy, yeah yeah~”

They hadn’t memorized all the lyrics, but they definitely remembered that line.

It was just so cheerful.

Their minds were filled with “easy, so easy”!!

Beta couldn’t be bothered to check the livestream anymore. She held up her camera, snapping away. CLICK CLICK. ’This lighting is great. This angle is perfect. The atmosphere in this one is amazing. And this one, and this one…’

Fueled by the excitement in her Spirit Sea, her Spiritual Body had been wandering around outside the entire time.

Or rather, it was circling Jiang Qin, following her with starry eyes and practically drooling.

The Spiritual Body was obsessed with appearances, just like its master.

Meanwhile, the viewers in the livestream were crying with envy.

[Is this even a bar anymore? This is a full-blown concert! The tears of envy are streaming from the corners of my mouth!]

[Heh, bars used to be shelters for low-class males. Now they’re high-end clubs…]

[Sob… I’m just a student, I have no time to see her live. Jiang Qin should do a universe tour.]

[You can tell Qin Bao has completely recovered from the trauma of being kidnapped. Her happiness is plain to see.]

[True, compared to her previous performances, she’s clearly let loose a lot more.]

[Qin Bao is especially energetic today.]

[All you singers in the Federation can just give up. My Qin Bao is about to book two more spots on the top-ten charts.]

[Pfft haha, I’m dying. It’d be hilarious if, at the end of the month, the entire July top-ten chart is just one person’s name.]

[Facts have proven that imitation will only get you so far. Only those who constantly innovate can survive in the music industry.

It’s the same in the film and TV industry. Yeah, I’m calling you all out! Can’t you come up with something new for once?

My whole family hasn’t watched a TV show or a movie in years.]

[Honestly, the stories in Qin Bao’s music videos are better than the plots of most shows and movies these days.]

[I suggest you female stans don’t hype her up too much. The higher you build her up, the harder she’ll fall!]

After posting that comment, Bode Luke angrily smashed his cup on the table.

His manager, sitting beside him, didn’t scold him. He just said coolly, “What’s the rush? She’s just a female. Once she gets a partner, she’ll be too lazy to work anymore.”

But Bode Luke couldn’t suppress his anger.

“How long will that take? She doesn’t even have a single partner. A mandatory pairing with a Beast Husband only happens if she’s still single at thirty.

By the time she’s thirty, I’ll probably be a complete nobody in the music industry.”

“Then what do you want to do? Scoop out her brain and put it in yours?”

“Can’t the company hire me a songwriter from the Empire?”

The manager scoffed. “Are you paying? Do you have any idea how much songwriters from the Empire charge? It’s a ninety-ten split!

That’s right. Ninety percent for the songwriter, ten for the singer. And if the song doesn’t generate a certain amount of revenue, the singer has to compensate the songwriter for their losses.”

Songwriters from the Empire are arrogant. They believe their songs are flawless.

If a song underperforms, it must be the singer’s fault.

So, naturally, the singer has to cover the losses.

Of course, these domineering terms only apply to singers from the Federation.

After all, Federation singers are notorious for being unable to make a hit, no matter the song. They won’t even cut a break for the Federation’s most famous singers.

At most, they’ll just be a little more tactful with their scorn.

Hearing that he’d have to pay, Bode Luke looked aggrieved. “So we’re just going to let Jiang Qin dominate the entire chart by herself?”

“Didn’t I warn you? Plenty of people held off on releasing songs this month, but you just had to be stubborn and release yours. And look, it completely tanked.”

“Patience, patience, patience! So if she releases a song every month, we’re supposed to just be patient and let her have the charts month after month?”

The manager said impatiently, “The major labels aren’t even panicking, so why are you?

Our label is small, and you’re not famous. Why are you so eager to be the nail that gets hammered down?

Wouldn’t it be better to wait for the major labels to make their move, and then we can step in and get a piece of the pie? But no. Now the song I worked so hard to acquire has been completely wasted by you.

If this keeps up, we’ll both be packing our bags and getting out of here!”

Bode Luke fell silent, but the look in his eyes was clearly defiant.

But the manager ignored him. ’What’s the use of being defiant?’ he thought. ’This isn’t a contest of combat strength. Even if he sees Jiang Qin as an enemy, he can’t deny that her songs are genuinely fresh and brilliant.’

“Alright, stop posting all that nonsense in her livestream. If you’re traced, just get ready to be canceled by the entire internet.”

With that, he left. He needed to figure out how to sign a new artist.

Bode’s career had clearly hit a dead end. The manager was thinking about signing a female singer, someone who could imitate Jiang Qin’s style. Maybe she could become an instant hit.

’You have to cash in on the hype while it’s hot.’

…

But Bode, growing angrier the more he thought about it, ignored his manager’s advice.

He went back to the livestream and unleashed a torrent of angry comments.

[A female’s greatest purpose is to soothe males and bear children, not to parade herself around in public.]

[The music world has plenty of singers. We don’t need one more. She’s already a privileged female, yet she still has to come and steal the livelihood of low-class males. It’s disgusting.]

[What’s so great about these shallow pop songs? They have zero substance. Only people with no taste like you would enjoy them.]

[She just uses her pretty face to seduce males, right? Who would actually like her music otherwise?]

[Those other singers didn’t lose to her music, they lost to her gender. After all, she’s one of the “precious females,” isn’t she?]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep