Chapter 56: "I Believe" and "Clouds Become Rain"

The next day, Su Chen arrived at the company earlier than usual. As the composer, there might still be things to discuss during the accompaniment recording process. Instead of heading to his desk, he walked straight toward the recording studio.

Just as he rounded the corner, he heard furious shouting coming from the hallway outside the studio.

"Are you out of your mind? What did I tell you yesterday? We need to record! Record the song!"

"Didn't I tell you not to be late? Huh?"

"Traffic jam? Why didn't you leave earlier if you knew there'd be traffic?"

"Do you have any idea how important this recording is?"

He turned the corner and saw Zhu Xueyi, the music director, holding his phone and spitting reprimands at the person on the other end. Beside him were several unfamiliar faces—likely juniors from the music department.

Fang Xiao stood off to the side, cold and silent.

When Su Chen approached, Fang Xiao greeted him warmly, "Su Chen, you're here? We might have to wait a bit longer. The music department's people haven't all arrived yet."

Su Chen nodded, saying nothing.

A few minutes later, Zhu Xueyi finished berating the person on the phone, hung up, and quickly tried to placate Fang Xiao with a forced smile:

"Director Fang, I'm really sorry. That kid had a traffic accident on the way, got stuck in traffic! I've already scolded him... He’ll be here soon, but it might take a while. What do you think?"

Fang Xiao’s expression grew cold again as he faced Zhu Xueyi.

"Is there only one bassist in the whole company?"

"Didn’t I tell you yesterday to find someone reliable?"

Zhu Xueyi surreptitiously wiped his cold sweat.

"The other bassists aren't here today, only this kid. Normally, he's pretty reliable—I don't know what's gotten into him today. Do you think...?"

Fang Xiao said nothing, face stern, and turned toward the artist department. After a few steps, he looked back at Zhu Xueyi and said,

"Thirty minutes. I don’t care how you do it, get everyone together for me. I’ll be back at nine-thirty. I expect to start immediately."

Then, to Su Chen, he spoke gently, "Su Chen, you can rest for now. We'll come back in a bit."

Su Chen nodded slightly.

After Fang Xiao left, Zhu Xueyi let out a long sigh of relief, as though a great weight had been lifted. Su Chen couldn’t help but smile at the scene, yet felt a bit puzzled. Zhu Xueyi, after all, was director of the music department—a middle manager in the company, on par with Fang Xiao in rank. Why was he so afraid of Fang Xiao? He didn’t dwell on it.

A little after nine-thirty, a young man, drenched in sweat, rushed over in a panic. Fang Xiao glanced at his phone.

"Four minutes late."

Zhu Xueyi, as if switched on, launched into another tirade at the young man.

Fang Xiao, visibly impatient, said, "Enough. Let’s get started. It’ll be noon soon if we delay any longer."

Only then did Zhu Xueyi relax, signaling discreetly to the young man. The group quickly followed Fang Xiao toward the recording studio.

Everything was ready. Aside from some adjustments to a few drum beats, the accompaniment recording went very smoothly. Once the accompaniment was done, it was time to record the vocals. Compared to last time, Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an had made significant progress. Since their debut, the company had placed much greater pressure on them, especially regarding professional standards. Luo Jiaxing had struggled through the previous recording, but after a few practice runs, his performance this time was much improved. Qu An’an, being more professionally trained, had no issues at all.

With all recordings completed, the next step was release arrangements. This time, Fang Xiao took full charge of coordination, saving Su Chen a great deal of trouble.

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"Did you hear? Teacher Su has a new song coming out!"

"Really? So soon? Is it because of that online bet with Mu Qingyun?"

"Not sure, but I saw him discussing things with Director Fang yesterday. I don’t know who’ll get the new song this time."

"Haha, don’t even bother guessing. I saw Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an heading to record today."

"..."

In the trainee training room, a crowd buzzed with chatter. Upon hearing that Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an had been chosen for the new songs, voices of envy and jealousy rippled through the group.

"Why is it always those two?"

"They've already debuted—why not give others a chance?"

"You should ask Teacher Su about that. You bumped into him a few times, but still didn’t get picked."

The girl being teased blushed slightly.

"Ah, who knows when we’ll finally get our break?"

"Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an are really lucky!"

"With Teacher Su’s songs, even a plank of wood could debut!"

Everyone sighed with both envy and frustration.

Qin Pei, upon hearing the news, said disappointedly to her agent Guan Mei, "Those two newcomers again. Looks like I don’t have much chance."

Guan Mei remained optimistic.

"You never know. Let’s see what opportunities come. Do your best and leave the rest to fate."

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On August 15, Star Orange Entertainment’s official Weibo account announced:

Company artist Luo Jiaxing will release a new song, "I Believe," on August 16.

Qu An’an will release a new song, "Clouds Become Rain," on August 16.

Su Chen immediately reposted the announcement. He now had over 800,000 followers, which certainly helped with publicity. As singers, Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an were even more effective at attracting fans. In just half a month, both had surpassed one million followers:

Luo Jiaxing had 1.38 million,
Qu An’an had 1.92 million.

Both had reposted the announcement before Su Chen. At the same time, the company’s other promotional channels began investing resources.

With the heat from Su Chen’s rivalry with Mu Qingyun still lingering, the news quickly caught the attention of netizens.

"Tang Guo is releasing another song so soon?"

"Looks like he really intends to make Mu Qingyun eat crow."

"Five songs in just one month—what a phenomenal output!"

"The first three songs were already incredible. If these two make it onto the charts, he’ll be crowned king for sure!"

In response to the online discussions, someone claiming to be an industry insider gave a balanced answer:

"If these two songs also make it onto the charts, it’ll be a historic achievement, and crowning him king would be well deserved!"

"But who knows about their quality? It’s not that easy to make the charts."

"It’s just that Tang Guo’s previous two songs were so outstanding, people are under the illusion that it should be easy."