Chapter 43: Brother Suchen, What Kind of Song Did You Write?

"White Fox" took off by riding on the popularity of "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," and then turned around to boost "Strange Tales" in return. It was a perfect collaboration where both benefited from each other. Though the reputation of "Strange Tales" was less than ideal, at least in the end the losses were minimized. Director Li Chengnian didn't call Su Chen again to express his thanks, but everyone understood the situation without saying it aloud. He had spoken with Su Chen on the phone before and knew Su Chen was a perceptive person. Sometimes, there was no need to spell things out too clearly. After all, he couldn't just say, "My film was awful, thank goodness your theme song saved it!" That wouldn't be appropriate for such a prominent director, and both sides would be embarrassed. For this, he owed Su Chen a favor, and that was enough.

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"Hey, Tang Jiayi, can you send me your brother's WeChat ID?" Kong Shan grinned mischievously at Tang Jiayi in the dormitory of Class 3, Grade 1, Jiangcheng No. 2 High School.

Tang Jiayi rolled her eyes. How many days had Kong Shan pestered her about this now?

"Are you dreaming?"

Kong Shan was good in every way, except she was too lively and clingy.

"Hmph! Your brother asked me and Jia Jia to take good care of you at school," Kong Shan said. "Of course, I need to give him regular updates!"

Tang Jiayi was even more speechless at this.

"Do you have any shame?" she retorted. "Isn't it always me who brings you meals at school? Who fetches water in the dormitory every time but Jia Jia and me? Who cleans up? And you..."

Tang Jiayi rattled off Kong Shan's "misdeeds" like a seasoned prosecutor.

Ke Jiajia snickered quietly on the side.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Kong Shan quickly interrupted.

"Don't sweat the small stuff!"

Her eyes darted around as she suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, isn't it always me who helps you with your homework?" she countered.

Tang Jiayi blushed slightly, mimicking Kong Shan’s tone and arguing shamelessly, "Don’t sweat the small stuff!"

Homework was her weakness, and indeed, Kong Shan and Ke Jiajia always helped her out.

Tang Jiayi changed the subject, "Anyway, you can forget about getting my brother Su Chen's number!"

"Come on, Tang Jiayi, you're so stingy!" Kong Shan exclaimed in exaggerated indignation. "It's just a number! What's the big deal? Are you hiding something? Or do you have a thing for your brother Su Chen?"

Tang Jiayi sprang up at those words and chased Kong Shan around the dorm.

Kong Shan hid behind Ke Jiajia.

A commotion ensued—typical for Tang Jiayi’s dorm. Though all of them were from the same city, because their workload was heavy, most of their time was spent living at school. Dormmates spent the most time together, and their familiarity was undeniable. They were all in the bloom of youth, lively and energetic, so scuffles and teasing were perfectly normal.

Seeing the two still at it, Ke Jiajia hurriedly changed the subject, "Stop messing around, you two! By the way, Tang Jiayi, I still don’t know what your brother does?"

Sure enough, Kong Shan stopped and chimed in, "Yeah, what does your brother do? How did I forget to ask? You’ve never mentioned it!"

Kong Shan was blunt and straightforward, speaking whatever came to mind.

"Hehe, not telling!" Tang Jiayi teased.

Another round of playful chaos followed. Ke Jiajia could only watch helplessly, resigned to their antics. There was no controlling them, so why bother?

Fortunately, the chase didn’t last long this time. When they settled down, Tang Jiayi announced proudly, "My brother Su Chen is a composer!"

"A composer!" Kong Shan repeated, her voice rising.

"Does that mean he writes songs? Does he know any celebrities? What songs has he written? Let us hear them!"

She fired off several questions in rapid succession, never giving anyone a chance to respond.

Tang Jiayi paused at Kong Shan’s barrage. Oh no! She realized she had never actually asked her brother about this.

In some ways, Tang Jiayi and Kong Shan shared similarities—perhaps that's why they became friends.

Seeing Kong Shan’s expectant gaze, Tang Jiayi steeled herself and bluffed, "You don’t know what a composer is? It’s someone who writes lyrics and music for singers! Do you know what a singer is? A celebrity! Of course he knows celebrities. Not just knows—he’s close with some!"

Kong Shan grew excited, and even Ke Jiajia leaned in, eager.

"Who, who? Can you get us an autograph next time?"

Tang Jiayi puffed up with pride. "That depends on your performance!"

Then, beckoning them closer, she whispered mysteriously, "I can’t tell you who he knows."

"They have confidentiality agreements—how could I just spill it?" she continued. "I can only say, he’s pretty amazing."

Though disappointed, the two were quickly placated when Tang Jiayi continued, "As for autographs, I can ask next time. If you behave yourselves, maybe I can get you an autograph from a big star."

She added an air of secrecy to bolster her story, "But remember, keep it quiet!"

They nodded eagerly.

After successfully bluffing her friends, Tang Jiayi slipped into the bathroom and secretly took out her phone. She found Su Chen’s number pinned at the top of her WeChat and typed a message.

"Brother Su Chen, what songs did you say you wrote last time? I’d like to listen when I have time!"

Su Chen had mentioned selling a song for 800,000 yuan, and she’d forgotten to ask which song it was. Luckily, her earlier bluff had covered the gap—otherwise, she’d have embarrassed herself!

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Su Chen was preparing to attend the August debut planning meeting when he received Tang Jiayi’s message.

Hmm? Songs?

He suddenly remembered. He’d expected Tang Jiayi’s inquiry back in the restaurant, but she seemed to skip the question then. Only now, after all this time, she thought to ask. Was her reaction always this slow?

"I’ll tell you when I have time. It’s hard to explain clearly over WeChat."

Su Chen had no intention of hiding anything from Tang Jiayi; since childhood, they had no secrets between them. But this was something he needed to tell her face-to-face, because the company had confidentiality policies. It was fine for him to tell her, but if she accidentally let it slip, it would be a problem.

She might not realize the importance over WeChat.

After seeing her reply, "Okay!" Su Chen finally put his phone away with peace of mind.

Tomorrow was August 1st—the day for the rookie ranking battle, and also the debut day for Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an. Today, he needed to go over every task to ensure nothing went wrong.

For a new singer to debut, either they built up popularity through talent shows, and once the hype reached a certain level, their debut was considered successful, or they were packaged by an entertainment company and released songs to compete for rankings. If they could break into the top ten of the monthly rookie chart, it counted as a successful debut.

Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an had chosen the second route. Though the rookie chart was like a battleground for novices compared to the main chart, competition each month was fierce. Besides trainees who hadn’t debuted, there were also singers ranked below third-tier. Winning a spot on this chart was far from easy, especially for trainees with no reputation—it was a yawning chasm.