Chapter 29: As Prolific as a Mother Sow

Su Chen handed over the final mixing of “Courage” to his boss, and then accompanied Zhang Fuyu and Wang Bingling on a shopping spree. The two girls wore oversized sunglasses and masks, so no one on the street recognized them. After all, who would imagine a pop diva and a sweetheart idol shopping so carefree with a newcomer to the entertainment industry?

Once freed from their idol personas, they enjoyed themselves like any ordinary pair of friends. But Su Chen suffered for it: burdened with bags of all shapes and sizes, he trailed behind them in the vast shopping center from two in the afternoon until eight at night! After dinner and seeing the two girls off, Su Chen was exhausted to the point of collapse.

He hailed a cab home, not even bothering to change his clothes before falling face-first onto the bed, still reeling from the ordeal. Women were truly terrifying creatures… While shopping, they seemed to have boundless energy and endless topics of conversation; after six or seven hours, they were still as lively as ever! If Wang Bingling hadn’t noticed Su Chen’s increasingly numb expression, the two might have shopped until the mall closed for the night!

Even so, Su Chen was utterly spent. Yet, he reflected on his day and realized he hadn’t come away empty-handed. For example, his bank card now showed an extra 2.4 million! Having sold “The One I First Loved” and “Courage,” Su Chen finally achieved the feat of becoming a millionaire in this lifetime.

This sum would be a fortune for ordinary folk, but for musicians, it merely allowed them to live a bit more freely. Still, it was enough. Su Chen was confident that if he could weather the airing of “Rising Stars,” the path ahead would be smooth.

With that thought, strength surged back into his drained body. He bounced up from the bed, took a shower, and went to sleep, certain that tomorrow would be a better day.

For the next two days, Su Chen devoted himself to preparing for “Rising Stars.” He didn’t idle away his time, thinking himself naturally gifted; on the contrary, he meticulously prepared each song he would perform. Taking things seriously was the greatest respect he could show both himself and his competitors.

During this time, Zhang Fuyu announced the release date of her new single “Courage” on social media, and news about the song shot to the top of the trending charts.

Almost all major music influencers reposted and commented on her announcement:

“Hello, dear fans! It’s been over half a year since my last release—surely you’ve all been waiting! I have good news: my new song ‘Courage’ will be uploaded to Penguin Music tomorrow! And you’ll never guess who wrote it—it’s Su Chen, the original singer of ‘Queen!’ This ‘Queen’ is my favorite of all the songs I’ve sung, and I hope you’ll love it too. I must thank Su Chen once again for giving me such a perfect, beautiful song! I hope ‘Courage,’ our collaboration, will bring you surprise and the strength to face any difficulty!”

Her devoted fans flooded the comments with anticipation, nostalgia, and joyful tears. Some playful voices joked, “Even the farm donkey wouldn’t dare take a break like you!”

But what astonished everyone was that “Courage” had only just been announced, and would be released the very next day on Penguin Music—without even the basic pre-release publicity. This was a pop diva’s new single! Such an abrupt release was almost unheard of in music history, and it only heightened the anticipation for Zhang Fuyu’s “Courage.”

At the same time, curiosity about Su Chen soared. What sort of magic did this newcomer possess, the one who debuted at the diva’s concert, to earn such high praise from her?

On the day “Courage” dropped, it instantly knocked “Midnight Whiskey” off the bottom of the new songs chart. The reviews were nearly unanimous: Su Chen’s songwriting was brilliant, Zhang Fuyu’s singing was beautiful! The flood of praise propelled “Courage” swiftly into the top three, settling at number three.

Now, the top three songs on the chart were “Queen,” “Actor,” and “Courage”—all written by Su Chen.

This result left netizens amazed and full of admiration, but also sparked a wave of jokes at Zhou Qiang’s expense, spawning catchphrases like, “What level are you compared to me?”, “Do I know my own X better than you do?”, “We’re not close—don’t try to associate,” and “Is it Zhang Fuyu who gave you the courage?”

What drove the internet even crazier was the remote conversation between Wang Bingling, now back in Bay Province, and Zhang Fuyu:

“Fuyu’s new song is so good! Let me tease my own new release—it’s called ‘The One I First Loved,’ a classic Bingling-style bittersweet ballad~ It’ll be out this month! And I’ll let you in on a little secret… Su Chen wrote this one too!”

Boom!

The entertainment industry was turned upside down that day, as Su Chen’s name stirred up a storm.

Suddenly, topics like “Su Chen is as prolific as a mother pig,” “Su Chen, genius musician!” and “Writing a heartbreak song for Wang Bingling—will Su Chen explode in popularity or fade away?” raced up the trending charts.

Meanwhile, in a luxury single apartment in Shanghai, Lin Yanran set an empty beer bottle down on the table, her eyes hazy. The table before her was littered with bottles, some even tipped over, spilling their contents onto the floor.

“Su Chen… why did you act so useless when you were with me…” she murmured. “Why couldn’t you shine like you do now? If you’d been like this, I never would have broken up with you! You’re so cruel!”

Last time, Xu Fangyuan teamed up with Wang Qi and Zhou Qiang, hoping to take Su Chen head-on, but they suffered a crushing defeat. Wang Qi lost countless fans, almost falling back to his pre-debut obscurity. Zhou Qiang, meanwhile, was reported by netizens, and the police came to investigate; though there was no solid evidence to convict him, no one dared to use him or his songs anymore.

Su Chen, riding the wave of attention, now rivaled Lin Yanran in popularity. This plunged her into self-doubt once more.

Why did I break up with Su Chen? Wasn’t it because he was useless and didn’t deserve me? But why now? How could he become so successful as soon as he left me?

Curled up on the sofa, her once pure face now twisted with conflicting emotions—frustration, confusion, bewilderment… and growing resentment.

Lin Yanran didn’t even realize that, amid these sudden changes, her mindset had shifted from wishing him well to no longer wanting Su Chen to succeed. A dark, perverse mentality had silently taken over her mind.

She hated him.

She hated Su Chen’s success.

This success forced her to constantly deny herself, filling her with disgust.