Chapter Eighty-Four: Zhang Ya Is Truly a Promising Talent

“People as lost as I am.”
“People searching, like me.”
“People as mediocre as I am.”
“How many of them have you seen...”
Little Wang listened, gradually entranced.

Before his eyes was a city ablaze with lights.

Back when he was about to graduate, he believed that with his own abilities, he’d soon make it into the city’s upper echelons.

Yet now, seven or eight years after graduation, he was still nothing more than a junior employee.

Day after day, his life repeated itself, paying off car and mortgage loans.

He’d been on a few blind dates, but to no avail.

“People like me, unwilling to live an ordinary life.”
“How many people are there in the world?”
“People as inexplicable as I am.”
“Is there anyone who would feel sorry for me...”

A song began to play, and Little Wang sat up straight with a jolt.

“Driver, what’s the name of the song you just played?”

“Nice, isn’t it?” The driver chuckled. “It’s called ‘People Like Me,’ and the singer is Chen Nan.”

“Oh! Got it!”

Little Wang immediately opened his cloud music search.

It turned out the song had just been released today by Chen Nan.

He quickly favorited and downloaded it, then opened the comments section.

He found that everyone’s feedback after hearing the song was almost identical to his own.

“Guess what I discovered, guys? Lyricist and composer: Lin Ze!”

Lin Ze?

Little Wang scrolled to the top of the lyrics and indeed saw that both lyrics and composition were by Lin Ze.

He’d been seeing Lin Ze’s name everywhere online lately—so much so that he was getting a little annoyed.

But for this song alone...

He was a fan!

...

“@Chen Nan! Show yourself!”

“Chen Nan, you really kept this under wraps. When did you buy this song?”

“Why did Lin Ze only respond to you?”

In their small group chat of singers, many were questioning Chen Nan.

“Maybe... this song suited me, so Lin Ze gave it to me,” Chen Nan dodged the truth.

“How much did you pay?”

“Eighty,” Chen Nan replied, grinning as he looked at the song’s statistics.

“I paid the price for a top-tier songwriter, and it was worth every cent!”

Hearing Chen Nan’s words in the group chat, everyone was gnashing their teeth with envy.

But then they realized: if their companies were to approve a purchase, the budget likely wouldn’t be this high, and their own savings wouldn’t be enough...

They simply couldn’t afford it!

Maybe they could ask the company for half and cover the rest themselves?

“Guys, guess how much Zhang Yang paid for his latest song?” someone asked in the group.

Everyone thought about it—the lyrics and melody of that song were both first-rate, and with Master Shi’s name attached...

“It has to be at least a hundred, right?”

“A hundred is conservative. With Master Shi back in the game, maybe a hundred and twenty?”

“Nope, Zhang Huai paid a full one hundred and fifty!” the person replied. “A pity, though—it’s a good song, but... something’s missing.”

“One hundred and fifty...”

Chen Nan repeated under his breath.

With that much, he could buy two songs from Lin Ze.

Next time, if he had the chance, he’d definitely cling to Lin Ze for dear life!

“His fans are going crazy with the charts. If Chen Nan’s song overtakes his, now that would be something.”

Chen Nan glanced at the numbers.

“Sigh, I might not get that chance, but second place is solid enough.”

Though Zhang Yang wasn’t much of a singer or actor, his fans loved spending money on him.

His ability to rake in cash far exceeded that of other actors and singers.

...

“This song... is something else!”

Zhang Huai sat in his office, listening to Chen Nan’s song.

For some reason, this song fit Chen Nan’s voice perfectly.

And Chen Nan wasn’t particularly handsome, so having him sing this song was just right; if another star sang it, it would feel off.

Zhang Huai smacked his forehead.

Brilliant! Lin Ze truly is a tough opponent.

He writes, sells, and records songs.

Could he really have predicted half a month or a month ago that I’d be making Zhang Yang switch tracks this month?

What kind of person can produce so many masterpieces in such a short time?

“Boss, I’m back.”

Zhang Ya called, her voice timid.

Hearing her gentle tone, most of Zhang Huai’s anger melted away.

Though this time she hadn’t succeeded, Zhang Ya had still managed to grab a wave of attention.

With this surge of popularity, the company just might manage to push Zhang Ya and cash in.

Who would pass up money?

“Boss, I’m downstairs at the company. If you need anything, I’ll come up...”

Shortly after, Zhang Ya appeared in Zhang Huai’s office.

Zhang Huai glared, “You really messed things up this time! Do you realize that?”

Immediately, Zhang Ya put on a pitiful face, approached Zhang Huai, knelt on one knee, and guided his hand to her cheek.

“You have no idea how strong that woman Lin Chunshui is—she slapped me so hard my face swelled up. See?”

Looking into her eyes, Zhang Huai swallowed his anger.

“Boss, I...”

Zhang Ya batted her eyes, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I screwed up, but I didn’t mean to. Please, forgive me...”

“Hey, you...”

There was a brief sound of a zipper.

A while later, Zhang Ya was touching up her lipstick in front of the mirror.

“Pity the handprint’s gone from your face. If we’d taken some photos or a video at the time and posted them online, you might’ve gained a lot of fans,” Zhang Huai said, sipping water.

“Boss! I’d never forget that.”

With a charming smile, Zhang Ya took out her phone—it was a video she’d shot in the airport bathroom.

“I was going to post it, but since it was a big deal, I wanted you to see it first.”

Zhang Huai was very satisfied with her attitude. After a quick watch, he was suddenly inspired.

This Zhang Ya—she had real potential!

“A talent worth cultivating!”

“Post it! While the buzz is still hot!”

Zhang Ya agreed softly, then sat on the sofa.

Soon, the video appeared online amid a torrent of criticism.

In the video, the handprint on her face was clear, and Zhang Ya’s eyes brimmed with tears.

“Hello, everyone, I’m Zhang Ya...”

“I’m not really like what people online say. I’m not anyone’s lover; I’m just an ordinary girl chasing after her idol...”

“I spent a lot of money, bought a ticket to the inn, just hoping to see Lin Ze. The toilet got clogged—it wasn’t my fault.”

“When I saw someone in a blue apron coming up, I thought it was Lin Ze. I got a bit excited when I saw him. I believe any Lin Ze fan would go crazy with excitement seeing him up close.”

“But I never imagined what would happen next...”