42: New Songs Chart Ranking

Time flowed by, and in a blink, it was midnight on May 9th.

Chen Fang had to get up in the morning to record a show, so he had already gone to bed an hour ago.

He went to bed early, but there were plenty of people still awake.

After all, while staying up late is a slow death, isn't it also a form of joy?

In a villa area in the Capital.

Yue Qingzhu put down her game controller and went to the bathroom to wash her face.

After blow-drying her waist-length black straight hair and carefully applying her skincare products, she lay down on the bed and began the final step of her skincare routine—bathing in mobile phone light.

Ahem, this wasn't playing on her phone; it was understanding the music market.

She had gone back to her hometown for the May Day holiday and hadn't paid attention to the latest news in the entertainment industry.

It was a good time to listen to the new songs from the past week and the new songs released by various companies early this morning, now that the Friday song chart was updated.

Yue Qingzhu opened NetEase Cloud Music and connected to the Bluetooth speaker in her bedroom.

She took her tablet, burrowed into the soft covers, opened last week's new song chart, and started listening to them one by one.

These songs were not bad, but they were only at a 'not bad' level.

After listening to 20 songs, she only listened to the first minute of 16 of them, and among the remaining four, three were added to her 'acceptable' playlist.

Yue Qingzhu calmly picked up her phone and pressed the play button on this week's new song chart.

She didn't have high expectations for this week's new song chart.

Most of the songs that ranked high immediately upon release were works supported by fan economy.

Fans would wait until midnight, and as soon as a new song was released, they would help their idol climb the charts.

But it was still worth listening, as there might be a masterpiece recommended by a music company that invested resources.

Yue Qingzhu picked up the tablet next to her, just about to open her drawing software, when a breathless voice from the speaker suddenly assailed her brain.

She gripped her pen tightly, her breathing hitched, and she gritted her teeth, telling the smart speaker, "Next song!"

Yue Qingzhu rubbed her temples.

Forget it.

She'd just wait until next week to listen.

Just as she was about to tell the smart speaker to shut down, a soft piano sound came from the speaker, light and soothing like flowing water, one note after another, just like threads of memory being gently pulled.

Amidst the scattered single notes, a rustic warmth emerged, as if gently stroking her head.

It was very, very quiet.

Yue Qingzhu's hand, holding her phone, slowly dropped to her lap, and her gaze softened.

"Sunrise and sunset, deeper and deeper…" The singing voice was slightly hoarse, like the marks left by life's friction.

Yue Qingzhu's brows furrowed slightly.

Who is this? It sounds a little familiar.

She picked up her phone and clicked to see, her eyes widening slightly.

Chen Fang?

His song, the brightest star in the night sky, hadn't been released yet, and now he had released one meat and one vegetable?

Yue Qingzhu clicked on the information page and saw his name prominently written in the composing and lyricist columns.

She couldn't help but slightly part her lips.

The arrangement and lyrics of this song are first-rate.

He had only been 'canceled' for less than a month, and he could create two such excellent songs?

Yue Qingzhu rubbed her chin, her eyes narrowing slightly, and an evil thought emerged in her mind.

If she didn't help him find out the truth, would he then only have songwriting as an option?

Throw him into a studio, seal the doors and windows, one song a week, and don't let him out until he finishes writing.

Then why would she worry about not having good songs to sing? Heh heh!

Alright, that's illegal, she was just thinking about it.

Yue Qingzhu pouted.

In the speaker, Chen Fang continued to sing: "Hearing this, don't you worry, actually I'm doing alright..."

As the helpless and sorrowful singing continued, the cunning glint in her eyes gradually dissipated, and she slightly lowered her gaze.

Is this a song about his mother?

Mother...

Half a minute later, Yue Qingzhu didn't wait for the music to finish and pressed the pause button.

She turned off Bluetooth, turned off her phone, threw it by the bed, grabbed the small bear by the bed and hugged it, lay down, pulled the covers over her head, curled into a ball, and closed her eyes.

...

The night deepened, and finally, the sky began to show the first hints of dawn.

In the city, the sounds of vehicle engines and people's conversations gradually began.

10 AM.

Yue Qingzhu arrived at the Tianji Entertainment building.

As she walked into the lobby towards the elevator, she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Qingzhu."

Turning around, she saw a man in his thirties with a gentle and refined demeanor walking towards her.

This man's name was Tang Chen; he was a friend of her agent and also considered her friend.

Yue Qingzhu smiled faintly and said, "Good morning, Tang Ge."

Tang Chen walked with her towards the elevator and chatted, "Why are you at the company?"

"To use the recording studio."

"I'm just about to go to the recording studio to find Jiang Haotian; let's go together."

"Okay."

Tang Chen pressed the up arrow on the elevator and casually asked, "Did you go home for dinner during the May Day holiday?"

"Yes."

Yue Qingzhu's expression darkened, and her voice grew several degrees colder.

Tang Chen opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, said nothing more, and changed the subject, "Are you here to practice a new song?"

"Yes, to try out a song from a new team."

The elevator arrived on the first floor, and the doors opened with a ding.

The two walked in, went up, and arrived on the seventh floor.

Tang Chen looked at Yue Qingzhu, who had walked with him to the door of Recording Studio No. 7, in surprise, "Hmm? You booked No. 7."

"Yes, Jiang Haotian booked until 10 AM, and I booked to start using it at 10:30 AM."

Tang Chen nodded, knocked on the door, and entered.

As soon as he pushed open the door, a slightly familiar melody entered his ears.

Tang Chen quickly searched his memory and, after a moment, remembered: Wasn't this the song one meat and one vegetable that Chen Fang sang in the adventures a while ago?

It's released already?

In front of the mixing console, a brown-haired young man turned his head.

This was his artist, Jiang Haotian, 20 years old this year, whose main profession was acting.

But as the saying goes, an actor who doesn't want to be a singer isn't a good idol, and Jiang Haotian, adhering to this industry truth, occasionally released songs.

"Boss, Sister Qingzhu, good morning."

Jiang Haotian gave them a bright smile, then looked at Yue Qingzhu, "Sister Qingzhu, please wait a moment, I'll be tidied up right away."

"No hurry."

Yue Qingzhu sat on the sofa behind Jiang Haotian and, after a moment of hesitation, said, "This song is too sad, would you mind turning it off?"

"Oh, okay."

Jiang Haotian quickly pressed the pause button and swiftly put the papers and pens from the mixing console into his backpack.

Tang Chen looked at the mixing console, which was cluttered with his messy things, and couldn't help but frown.

When would he ever be more organized?

Tang Chen muttered to himself, walked over, leaned one hand on the mixing console, looked at the computer screen, "one meat and one vegetable, right? When was it released?"

Jiang Haotian said without thinking, "Early this morning."

"How's the ranking now? With the variety show's popularity boost, it should be in the top five, right?"

Jiang Haotian stood up to vacate the seat, "Boss, you can look, I'll pack my things."

Tang Chen sat down, held the mouse, and clicked while saying, "I've heard this song.

At the time, I thought Chen Fang was just overperforming due to the atmosphere at the cemetery, but I didn't expect the recorded version to have even more layered emotional expression and more appeal.

At this level, getting into the top three shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Jiang Haotian shook his head, "It's a bit difficult.

The song Sun Han sang last week on 'Idol New Era' also went online today.

'Idol New Era' is the most popular variety show right now, isn't it?

And two veteran singers also released songs this morning.

The quality of one meat and one vegetable is indeed high; it might enter the top three in a couple of days, but it's probably very difficult right now."

Yue Qingzhu, on the sofa behind them, was also somewhat curious.

She got up and walked behind Tang Chen, looking at the screen with curiosity.

After a few clicks of the mouse, the current new song data chart popped up on the screen.

The song title at the very top read prominently: one meat and one vegetable.

Sun Han's "Baby" ranked second, and the two veteran singers' songs were ranked third and fifth.