Volume One: Peak at Debut Chapter Thirty-Two: Overnight Sensation

Chen Jing smiled at Xue Yue and continued, “Come on, let’s give it our all today. We should be able to finish recording ‘Red Shao’s Wish.’”

Xue Yue nodded. The first song they were recording was the album’s main track, “Red Shao’s Wish.” They had spent nearly three days on it, but today everything felt just right; it seemed likely they would complete the recording.

After lunch, instead of returning to his apartment, Chen Jing went straight to his office, where Li Qingwei was already waiting for him.

As soon as Li Qingwei saw Chen Jing enter, he stood up quickly and called out, “Boss Jing!”

Chen Jing smiled and nodded, “Have you had lunch yet?”

“Yes, I have,” Li Qingwei replied.

Chen Jing looked at him with a grin, “So, how does it feel to become an overnight sensation?”

Li Qingwei gave a shy smile and answered honestly, “It feels a bit unreal.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

Li Qingwei nodded and looked at Chen Jing with sincere gratitude. “Boss Jing, thank you. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.” He even started to bow.

Chen Jing, exasperated, stopped him at once. “What are you doing? Cut it out. We’re young people in this day and age—just speak your mind, there’s no need for all these formalities.”

Li Qingwei scratched his head sheepishly and grinned.

Getting back to business, Chen Jing asked, “So, have you decided to sign with our company?”

Li Qingwei nodded, a little excited. “Yes. Signing with your company, Boss Jing, has been my dream.”

Chen Jing smiled and continued, “Have you seen the rules for the third round of ‘Voice of Huaxia’?”

“I have.”

“What do you think?”

Li Qingwei hesitated. “Honestly, I’m a little scared. I’m afraid I might drag you down with my performance.”

Chen Jing shook his head, looking at him. “What’s there to be afraid of? You need to understand our current situation.”

“Huh?” Li Qingwei looked confused. “Our situation?”

Chen Jing smiled confidently. “Our situation now is that it’s the other contestants who are afraid of meeting us.”

“Uh…” Li Qingwei still couldn’t quite process it.

Chen Jing patted his shoulder encouragingly. “Don’t you sense it yet? After ‘Drifting to the North’ became a massive hit, you’re no longer the unknown Li Qingwei. With your current popularity, who wouldn’t fight for a chance against anyone? Remember, your popularity comes from your talent, not hype. As long as you perform steadily in the competition, who can say for sure they’ll out-sing you?” Chen Jing became a mentor, giving Li Qingwei a boost of confidence.

Li Qingwei was stunned for a while before mumbling, “Uh… Boss Jing, you know…”

“What?”

Li Qingwei scratched his head in embarrassment. “Didn’t you just say, who can out-sing me? I think that person is you.”

Chen Jing: “…” Brother, can you focus on the main point? Was I really talking about who can out-sing you?

Fortunately, Li Qingwei caught on. He looked at Chen Jing with gratitude and said, “I get it now, Boss Jing. Thank you for opening my eyes. I’ll work hard for the upcoming competition.”

Chen Jing waved him off, then pulled a notebook from the drawer and tossed it to Li Qingwei.

Li Qingwei caught it, a little baffled. “What’s this?”

Chen Jing explained, “It’s the song you’ll sing in the third round.” Since Li Qingwei had decided to sign with the company, it didn’t matter if he gave it to him early.

“An… original song?” Li Qingwei asked, instantly excited.

Chen Jing smiled. “Yes, and it’s another rap.”

“Thank you, Boss Jing! I… I…” Li Qingwei was so thrilled at hearing it was a rap that he was momentarily speechless.

“Take it home and practice. Once you’re familiar with it, I’ll help you produce the single.”

“Alright, I won’t let you—”

“Stop, stop!” Chen Jing quickly cut him off, exasperated. “Can we drop all the polite words from now on? It’s awkward to listen to!”

“Huh?” Li Qingwei was puzzled.

Chen Jing sighed. “I mean, you don’t need to keep saying all these words of gratitude. Just focus on your work. Everyone knows what kind of person you are.”

Li Qingwei suddenly understood and nodded. “I get it. A great favor needs no thanks, right, Boss Jing?”

Chen Jing rolled his eyes—if only he really understood.

In the days that followed, aside from helping Xue Yue with the album, Chen Jing threw himself wholly into preparations for the third round of “Voice of Huaxia.” Because not many episodes of the second round had been recorded for broadcast, the contestants for the third round were only given a week to prepare. For Chen Jing and his team, time was a bit tight.

As the days passed and the song “Drifting to the North” continued to ferment in popularity, its potential fully exploded. Not only was it played on repeat everywhere, but it also became the anthem for all migrant workers. Every worker could hum a few lines, and if you couldn’t, it proved you weren’t a real member of the drifting tribe. According to them, this song spoke to the hearts of all those who wandered the country for work—how could they not love it?

With the song’s success, rap music as a genre also caught fire. Where rap had previously been ignored, suddenly all rap songs were in demand. Sadly, fans discovered that aside from a handful of decent tracks, most rap songs were hard to stomach. After searching for more, only to be disappointed, they’d always return to “Drifting to the North.”

Some fans even looked up Li Qingwei only to find that, apart from “Drifting to the North,” he hadn’t released any other songs.

Yet with his debut single, “Drifting to the North,” he shot straight to second place on the Huaxia national music charts, just behind Lin Ruohan’s “Aurora.” With such an achievement, many regarded Li Qingwei as a trailblazer for rap music, and entertainment companies scrambled to sign him. In the end, they discovered he had already signed with Jingrun Entertainment. Faced with such a giant, the other companies quietly abandoned any attempt to poach him.

In comparison, Chen Jing, who had sung “Drifting to the North” with Li Qingwei, received less attention from the general public. Of course, this was only among ordinary fans. Within the music industry, all eyes were on Chen Jing. His recent exposure was significant—not to mention “The Brightest Star in the Night Sky” and “Birch Woods.” The fact that he was credited as lyricist and composer for both Lin Ruohan’s “Aurora” and “Drifting to the North” was enough to make every singer eager to work with him. Artists at Jingrun in particular fought fiercely for the few songs he’d handed in to the company as assignments.

It’s also worth noting that a segment of the general fanbase started paying attention to Chen Jing—not all because they liked his music, but more for his looks and charisma. This group was made up mostly of young women, drawn to him after watching “Voice of Huaxia.” For them, looks are justice!

Some fans even established a fan club for Chen Jing on Weibo, with the president’s ID being “Big Brother’s Little Fairy.”

One day, both Chen Jing and Li Qingwei received notice to come to the recording site of “Voice of Huaxia.” It wasn’t to start the third round, but to record the team assignments and determine each group’s opponents.

At the site, they ran into Xie Weiyu and Gu Tao.

Xie Weiyu looked at Chen Jing, her eyes sparking, and said coldly, “I hope we don’t end up in the same group.”

Chen Jing smiled calmly, “I hope so too.” In reality, this was all for show. There was no way their groups would go head-to-head at this stage. After all, “Voice of Huaxia” was organized by companies like Huafu and Jingrun—they wouldn’t risk having their own artists eliminated before the final four. Eliminating either side would be a loss.

“Hmph.” Xie Weiyu snorted and turned away. She understood this as well, which was why she dared to speak so sharply. According to her agent’s analysis, the last group they wanted to meet was Chen Jing’s.

Beside her, Gu Tao shyly looked at Chen Jing and, mustering her courage, said quickly, “Chen Jing, your singing in ‘Drifting to the North’ was wonderful. Good luck in the next round.” She ducked her head and hurried after Xie Weiyu.

“Uh…” Chen Jing was a bit surprised. This was the first time someone had complimented his singing in “Drifting to the North”—he found it rather amusing.

Li Qingwei, observing the interaction, asked puzzledly, “Boss Jing, how do you know these two beautiful women?”

Chen Jing glanced at him sidelong and muttered, “Because of you.”

“Huh?” Li Qingwei was confused. Because of him? What did that mean?

Chen Jing just smiled and didn’t explain, pushing Li Qingwei. “Come on, let’s get ready for the recording and see who our opponents will be.”

“Yeah, I hope we get lucky and draw a weaker group.”

Chen Jing shrugged, “Doesn’t matter, it’s all the same.”

“Uh, okay.” Li Qingwei was speechless. The boss was certainly bold.

Based on the total scores from the second round, the program team re-ordered the groups. Chen Jing’s team was first, Xie Weiyu’s was second, and so on, down to eighth. Next, they assigned each group an opponent. Since it wasn’t much work, the whole process took about an hour to record.

When all the groups had been matched, Chen Jing’s opponent was Group Five. Li Qingwei, upon learning who they’d face, breathed a sigh of relief. He’d looked into Group Five; neither of their contestants had been particularly outstanding, which greatly boosted his confidence.

On the other hand, Group Five’s members felt a wave of despair when they realized their opponents were Group One. Both wore wry smiles. The remaining groups, seeing they didn’t have to face Group One, felt relieved. Even the fourth group, paired with the second, comforted themselves by saying at least their opponent wasn’t Group One, which made Xie Weiyu grit her teeth.

“Hmph! Just wait. This round, I’ll be the top contestant,” Xie Weiyu thought confidently, glancing at Chen Jing.