54: Chapter 54 Xu Qingya's Miracle of Reverse Aging

Su Yuyan's new album, "song," went live promptly at midnight.

It was released simultaneously on three platforms: Tencent Music, NetEase Cloud Music, and Kuwo.

Times Media purchased full-screen splash ads across all platforms; upon opening any music app, the first thing one saw was Su Yuyan's ink-wash style promotional photo.

With a tear mole at the corner of her eye and slender hands playing a zither, the caption read four words: "A song."

Within one hour, the title track "song" surged to number one on the Tencent Music real-time hot song chart.

Two hours later, the Weibo topic #Su Yuyan song# had surpassed twenty million views.

The fans' comment control was uniform and synchronized: "Sister Yuyan, this traditional style is absolutely stunning!"

"This is what you call the ceiling of the Chinese music scene!"

Times Media Planning Department.

Director Wang stared at the backend data, unable to suppress the curve of his lips.

He sent a message to Chen Weiyang: "First-day data exceeded expectations by forty percent. As for Xu Qingya's side, there hasn't been any reaction until now."

Chen Weiyang instantly replied with a smiling emoji.

He had already won this game of chess.

At ten o'clock that same morning.

The official Weibo accounts of Xu Qingya's Studio and Tianyu Entertainment posted an update right on time.

The attached image was the concept photo for Xu Qingya's new album.

It was also in an ink-wash traditional style.

Wearing a plain qipao, her hair slightly tied up, she turned her head to look back.

The composition of the image almost completely clashed with Su Yuyan's promotional photo.

Once this Weibo post went out, the comment section instantly exploded.

"Holy crap? This style is exactly the same as Su Yuyan's!"

"No way, Sister Ya, isn't this just following the trend?"

The voices of doubt from haters and passersby were overwhelming.

But unexpectedly, these voices were quickly drowned out by another topic.

Most people's attention was drawn away by the photo itself.

"Wait, don't you guys think something is a bit off about this photo of Sister Ya?"

"Damn, I zoomed in to look; this skin... She's thirty this year, right? I'd believe it if someone said she was twenty."

"Sisters, look at the corners of her eyes! There used to be faint fine lines, but now they're completely gone!"

"Please, what skincare products does Xu Qingya use?! Begging for recommendations!"

The topic #Xu Qingya Reverse Aging# surged to the seventeenth spot on the hot search list without any warning.

And it was still climbing.

By twelve noon, this topic and #Su Yuyan song# appeared side-by-side on the hot search list.

One was at third place, and the other was at ninth.

"I originally came to watch the titans clash, but ended up getting distracted by Sister Ya's face."

"I don't care about the two divas clashing in style; I just want to know where Xu Qingya got her cosmetic procedures done."

"This isn't cosmetic surgery at all! Look at her neck and hands, her whole body is glowing! It's like she's undergoing reverse aging!"

Times Media.

Director Wang slammed his phone onto the table, his expression grim.

"Why aren't they dodging?"

According to his predictions, Xu Qingya's team should have urgently adjusted their promotional plan upon seeing "song" go live first.

Changing the theme, changing the style, or even delaying it.

That was the reaction a normal person should have.

But Xu Qingya's team not only didn't dodge, but instead met them head-on with almost the exact same style.

This was either stupidity, or—

Director Wang thought of a possibility, and his back felt a bit cold.

He dialed Chen Weiyang's number.

"Weiyang, Xu Qingya's side didn't change their plan. The style and tone have collided head-on with ours."

There was silence on the other end of the line for two seconds.

"Impossible." Chen Weiyang's voice carried confusion. "Their 'Red Bean' hasn't gone live yet; meeting us head-on now will only get them labeled as 'copycats.'"

Chen Weiyang opened the Weibo homepage of Xu Qingya's Studio, enlarged that concept photo, and looked at it over and over again three times.

There was a line of small text below the photo.

"Mandarin and Cantonese dual title tracks, please stay tuned."

Mandarin and Cantonese dual title tracks?

Chen Weiyang stared at these five characters, his finger hovering over the screen, motionless for a long time.

A Cantonese song? Where would a Cantonese song come from?

He had never heard of any plans for a Cantonese song in Xu Qingya's new album.

When he participated in the promotional discussions at Tianyu Entertainment before, no one had ever mentioned it either.

This was not within his scope of intelligence.

This meant—this was a new song.

A song that only appeared after he left Tianyu Entertainment.

The hand holding the phone was a little unsteady.

He pinched his tiger's mouth to force himself to calm down.

Don't panic.

Cantonese songs are inherently a niche track in the mainland market and can't make any waves.

Xu Qingya is not a Cantonese singer; rashly crossing over will only expose her weaknesses.

"Director Wang, don't be nervous. The dual Mandarin-Cantonese title track is just a gimmick. The more she struggles, the more it shows she lacks confidence. We won't move; we'll wait for her to play her hand."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Weiyang leaned back in his chair, looking at the skyline outside the window.

He told himself that this must be Xu Qingya bluffing.

Two o'clock in the afternoon. Tianyu Entertainment, Recording Studio No. 1.

Xu Qingya had changed into a black dress, her hair tied in a low ponytail, wearing no makeup.

Even without makeup, walking in the hallway made passing staff members turn their heads repeatedly.

Jiang Fan walked beside her, carrying a kraft paper bag in his hand, containing the sheet music for "the woman who easily gets hurt" that had just been finished in the morning.

Manager Chen was already waiting in the Recording Studio.

The door pushed open, and the two walked in one after the other. Xu Qingya naturally took the paper bag from Jiang Fan's hand and spread it out on the mixing console.

Jiang Fan walked to the equipment and sat down, starting to adjust the parameters.

Xu Qingya stood behind him, one hand resting on the back of the chair, looking down at his operation.

The distance between the two of them was no more than twenty centimeters.

Manager Chen watched this scene, her mouth opening, but she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

Her gaze landed on Xu Qingya's makeup-free face.

Having debuted for over a decade, high-intensity schedules, staying up late, and stress had more or less left their marks.

But in the last month, these marks were disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When did the change start?

Manager Chen carefully recalled.

It was after Jiang Fan appeared.

What on earth did this man feed her...

The red light of the Recording Studio lit up.

Xu Qingya put on her headphones and stood in front of the microphone.

Jiang Fan's voice came through the monitor: "Let's go through a complete take for the first time. Don't aim for perfection, just find the feeling."

Xu Qingya closed her eyes.

The prelude flowed out from the headphones, deep and sorrowful.

She opened her mouth, and the first line of Cantonese lyrics escaped her lips.

"People are gradually getting drunk, the night is getting deeper—"

The voice passed through the microphone, was amplified by the pre-amp, and filled the entire control room.

Manager Chen stood in the corner, forgetting to drink the coffee in her hand.

This song was completely different from "Red Bean."

Two extreme female states of mind, both from the hand of the same man.

Manager Chen turned her head to look at Jiang Fan in front of the mixing console.

His right hand rested on the fader, his eyes fixed on the jumping audio track waveforms on the screen, his expression focused and calm.

Jiang Fan pressed the talkback button.

"Qingya, for the third line of the chorus, let your breath sink a little more."

Xu Qingya's voice rang out again.

This time, even Manager Chen could hear the difference.

That feeling of unwillingness, of knowing one would get hurt but still charging like a moth to a flame, all came out.

Jiang Fan stopped the recording, pulled up the waveform from just now, dragged the timeline, and precisely located the third bar of the chorus.

"Here." He tapped the screen. "A little more breathiness, let the tail end drop, don't cut it off. Let it dissipate."

Xu Qingya nodded in the recording booth.

The third take began.

As the tail end of the last lyric slowly dissipated in the control room.

Manager Chen's wrist trembled.

Coffee splashed onto the back of her hand, but she didn't even notice.

That lingering sorrow and detachment that went down to the bones.

It had even more flavor than the diva who swept the Cantonese music scene ten years ago.