Chapter 40: There Must Be Deep Meaning Behind Him Writing This Book
I used to scoff at it, but now I study it frame by frame.
This was exactly Qi Yuan’s thought at the moment…
He was treating the seventh episode of “HELLO Roommate” as a tutorial video, especially the segments featuring Yu Wei, which he watched with particular seriousness.
Know yourself and know your opponent, and you will never be defeated.
To study his opponent intently, Qi Yuan hung up on his agent four times, and finally simply turned on flight mode—even the biggest matters could wait until he finished watching the program!
He wanted to see exactly how Yu Wei wrote his songs.
How is a song born? Qi Yuan was the only one who truly believed the program’s title, because he had completely cut off contact with the outside world and hadn’t checked the trending searches.
It was hard to imagine that tonight, he was the only one truly watching the program…
“Is it necessary to type so many words to write a song?”
Qi Yuan didn’t understand but was greatly shocked; Yu Wei’s approach was quite unique—he had never seen any other musician create like this.
“There must be profound meaning behind doing it this way.”
A master has no superfluous actions; clearly, Yu Wei at this moment was the master recognized by Qi Yuan.
The program had progressed more than halfway, but the camera shots featuring Yu Wei were basically all him typing in the room—typing during the day, typing at night, typing on sunny days, still typing on rainy days.
However, Qi Yuan didn’t find it monotonous; on the contrary, he was greatly inspired—this was Yu Wei’s perseverance and tenacity in creation?
He had originally thought Yu Wei wouldn’t like variety shows, that restless field of fame and fortune, but now it seemed he was greatly mistaken; only those who could persevere in their original intent amid the restlessness were true masters.
Soon, the program reached Yu Wei’s singing segment.
So he sat up straight, savoring that serene and lonely melody, as if in an instant, the noisy world quieted down, leaving only a fine rain needle piercing his numb heart.
The program specially used a three-way perspective for this segment: one side was the rainy scene outside the house, one side was the warm scene of Yu Wei sitting on the sofa singing and playing for everyone, and finally the scene in the “sick room” where Fei Hong was taking care of Zhou Mumu.
The rainy scene was to create atmosphere, the caregiving shot paired with Yu Wei’s love song had a unique flavor, and it could also hype CP…
“What the hell is this editing!”
Other audience members might like this, but Qi Yuan only wanted to watch Yu Wei sing; with the camera cutting away, how could he study his opponent?
Immediately after, the chorus rose like overlapping waves, Yu Wei’s voice becoming even more steady amid the surging sound waves; the anger Qi Yuan had just felt instantly dissipated, and he was once again immersed in the music.
The looping music slowly faded away; he quietly watched the program reach its end, but the quiet lingered in his ears, like the aftertaste of a recent rain lingering in the air, a heavy dampness that couldn’t be brushed away.
This song was in no way inferior to “Heart Wall,” and it even surpassed it in lyrical depth.
Being so prolific while ensuring the quality of every song—this was too terrifying.
Qi Yuan slightly calmed his mood before reopening his mobile phone and connecting to the internet; surely everyone was praising this song by now…
Huh? Novel, what the hell?
Seeing the top trending search, Qi Yuan was dumbfounded; he had only been offline for an hour—how did it feel like half a century had passed? Was this still domestic?
He had read web novels back in middle school; they couldn’t be called lowbrow but were indeed vulgar, and now suddenly being told that Yu Wei wrote these?
So what he was typing in the program was writing a novel? I…
“Wu Jie, why didn’t you tell me about something this big?”
Wu Qi: 6
Was it her who didn’t say anything? She had called Qi Yuan the moment she saw the trending search, but he wouldn’t pick up no matter what…
After hanging up, Qi Yuan felt like a primitive man; he had completely lost track of what Yu Wei was doing.
“I must take a look at this book.”
Yu Wei couldn’t have superfluous actions; there must be a reason for him writing this!
With a desire to get to the bottom of it, Qi Yuan downloaded Qidian Reader.
……
The midday sun was fiercely blinding, the revolving door’s huge tempered glass curtain wall now a scorching mirror; Qi Yuan quickly passed through the revolving door, and only upon entering the lobby did he feel a bit more awake.
Two patches of dark blue hung under his eyes, the whites of his eyes threaded with red; clearly, he hadn’t slept a wink last night.
Qi Yuan had researched “Why Do Stars Care So Much About Ratings?” all night and had some gains.
He planned to try his luck at the company to see if he could encounter Yu Wei and verify his guess.
“Yo, isn’t this our Yuan Shen?”
He didn’t encounter Yu Wei, but ran into Zhang Lingye who was getting water downstairs; setting aside the off-stage rhythm, their personal rapport was okay, so they definitely had to chat a few words upon meeting.
“Holy shit, what did you do last night?”
Only when Zhang Lingye got closer did he notice Qi Yuan’s state—visibly fatigued all over, with deep dark circles that looked like he was about to die.
This guy usually dressed meticulously, like a fake model mannequin; when had he ever been this sloppy?
Qi Yuan just smiled without speaking, the bloodshot corners of his eyes lifting slightly, that hint of smile seeming forcibly mustered.
He felt it was worth it…
“Ahem, did Yu Wei strike you that hard?”
After four years together, Zhang Lingye knew exactly what kind of person Qi Yuan was; this arrogant perfectionist, being surpassed by the obscure Yu Wei, was probably psychologically twisted.
“Vulgar!”
Qi Yuan had indeed felt a bit unbalanced at first, but now he had accepted reality and found a method to defeat Yu Wei.
“Do you know why Yu Wei wrote this book…”
His expression was utterly fatigued, even a bit tragic, but this smile was exceptionally confident.
Originally, Qi Yuan hadn’t planned to tell anyone else, but seeing Zhang Lingye still in the dark, he couldn’t help feeling a slight urge to share.
“Maybe… pure interest.”
Although Zhang Lingye also completely didn’t understand what Yu Wei was doing, he wasn’t curious—who doesn’t have some special hobby? What if Yu Wei just liked this?
“Heh, with that attitude, you’re not fit to be Yu Wei’s opponent; he wrote this book with another profound purpose!”
“?”
After chatting all night with a book friend named “My Chinese Sucks,” Qi Yuan had gradually uncovered the truth behind Yu Wei writing this book.
“First, this book seems like just an ordinary power fantasy, but the rating plot actually subtly contains Yu Wei’s dissatisfaction and disappointment with the entertainment industry; those exaggerated satirical plots aren’t also a true portrayal of the entertainment industry?”
Hearing “first,” Zhang Lingye knew trouble was coming—you could spout nonsense, but several points?
Don’t drag me into your madness…
Actually, after Yu Wei’s book exploded in popularity, netizens’ views roughly fell into three categories, one being Qi Yuan’s type of conspiracy theory.
They firmly believed the novel’s plot had traceable elements and was filled with idealism, embodying Yu Wei’s silent resistance against the entertainment industry!
The second category was libertarianism; they thought Yu Wei wrote web novels out of pure personal interest, no need for overinterpretation.
But libertarianism had many branches, one faction believing Yu Wei wrote books as a “thought excretion” process; while creating high-quality songs, he would output dross, and writing novels was for decompression…
However, this faction was attacked by novel enthusiasts: Why call our book dross?
The third category was the inverted sequence; they thought it was normal for Yu Wei to write books, what was abnormal was him becoming a star.
This is web novel territory—you guys should get lost!
But Qi Yuan’s conspiracy theory had reached a masterful level, several layers above ordinary overinterpretation…
He smiled with his mouth, the two patches of blue-black under his eyes seeming even deeper: “Second, Yu Wei wrote this book to self-tarnish?”
Zhang Lingye: Holy shit dude, what the hell are you saying?
“In the current internet environment, what people love most is to deify someone, then once the popularity fades, personally topple that god…”
Those who or things that explode overnight are praised as high as they’re hyped, and fall just as hard; any product of public opinion will be injured by public opinion.
“Yu Wei is the same; he exploded because of one song and was called a musical prodigy of the new era by many media and netizens—you know that’s very dangerous!”
Zhang Lingye had been starting to tune out, but this sentence made him pause.
The current environment did seem like that; no matter internet celebrities or stars, the more they’re hyped, the harder it is to end well—internet deification is too scary.
“But Yu Wei deliberately wrote a textbook example, even vulgarly unbearable power fantasy novel, which is equivalent to personally lowering his perfect image in netizens’ minds—that is, self-tarnishing.”
“This way, netizens still think he’s amazing, but won’t overhype him, because compared to a star, a failure author is more real and more approachable.”
“Setting an imperfect persona for himself makes him a person with flaws and shortcomings, not a god hyped up by praise.”
“Yu Wei’s move is self-tarnishing to preserve himself; it seems abstract, but it’s actually stepping down from the altar personally, from the masses and to the masses.”
What to do—Zhang Lingye felt a bit convinced…
Qi Yuan grinned, his bloodshot eyes like cracked glaze; Yu Wei was a terrifying opponent, talented, visionary, and with even greater foresight.
Unfortunately, he had figured it out!
“The gentleman tarnishes himself and preserves his body—this is great wisdom.”
