Chapter 131: The Competition Is Dropping Gold Coins Again?
At five-thirty in the morning, the city was still immersed in sleep, but Liu Wang had already brought Yu Wei to the logistics warehouse, preparing to set off.
Yu Wei had only gone home to lie down for three hours, so he naturally wasn’t awake yet, but compared to photographer Old Zhang, he was much better off.
As the only photographer traveling with the team, the program team had assigned him quite a bit of work; inventorying the equipment had taken some time, meaning he hadn’t slept all night.
After loading the truck, Liu Wang wasn’t in a hurry to depart; he double-checked the quantity and state of the goods to ensure nothing was missing or damaged.
“Let’s check the vehicle again.”
He had Yu Wei check if the cargo doors were securely closed and if the goods were firmly secured, proactively involving Yu Wei.
Pretty variety show sense, knowing to assign me some work…
Once everything was ready, the few of them entered the driver’s cabin, preparing to depart.
Behind the driver’s cabin, a self-added living compartment was faintly visible, connected to the truck body in a rugged yet practical way.
This was where Liu Wang usually slept, but with three people, the space was obviously insufficient; they’d have to find another way later.
The truck slowly drove out of the logistics park; the east was already turning white, and Yu Wei gazed at the gradually awakening city outside the window, gaining a whole new understanding of long-haul trucking.
“Let’s play some music to perk up.”
As soon as the in-car music started, Liu Wang instantly got into the groove, his whole demeanor much more spirited; Yu Wei wasn’t idle either, taking out his tablet and starting to type with one hand.
Riding in a big truck didn’t cause motion sickness easily; although staring too long still felt uncomfortable, Yu Wei wrote while taking breaks—when he got tired of writing, he’d look at the scenery outside the window, feeling quite leisurely.
However, after a few hours, he clearly started feeling uncomfortable; mentally he was still full of novelty, but physically he couldn’t hold up—sitting made his butt sore.
The results of yesterday’s competition between Jiang Si Heng and the little idol hadn’t come out yet, but Teacher Jiang had the win in the bag; he had plenty of old fans, and his strength was undeniable.
Yu Wei had roughly finished writing the competition results, but he wasn’t in a hurry to continue; instead, he paused the recording of “Enthusiastic Praise Top Streamer” again.
Since the last break, he’d written several more competitions; a novel needed some logic—the characters weren’t supermen, they couldn’t keep recording forever.
Yu Wei choosing to pause at this critical juncture definitely had a purpose; he wanted to create a song to guard against Qi Yuan’s sect foundation.
If Old Senior Chen was really a cheater like him, it’d be hard to deal with, because cheaters’ moves had no logic.
In normal musician exchanges, you’d definitely have some prior understanding of each other’s strength, but dirty tricks were hard to handle because they defied understanding.
If it were anyone else, Yu Wei wouldn’t be so competitive, but Chen Ping was different—there was a gap even among cheaters.
Old and not dead is a thief; dead and not stiff is a demon— the guy’s gone, yet he still wants to pop out and stir things up…
Had to nail down his coffin lid; to be safe, Yu Wei prepared two songs, keeping one as backup to increase fault tolerance.
Old Deng, you’re the challenger!
He planned to arrange a mentor opening segment in the plot; in general competition programs, mentors would show off from time to time—otherwise, what qualified them to be mentors.
In the novel, the two songs would go one each to Meng Han and the protagonist; even if Qi Yuan read his book, he wouldn’t know which one he’d face.
In a master showdown, it was all about information asymmetry.
Qi Yuan might not count as a master, but the songs in his hand probably did; plus this period of special training, had to guard against it.
“Old Liu, what type of songs do you like?”
Yu Wei had originally called him uncle, but Liu Wang stopped him; in their line of work, there were only three ways to address people: old big, old small—for someone Yu Wei’s age, Old Liu was fine.
“I like upbeat songs; can’t listen to draggy ones while driving.”
This was Liu Wang’s honest thought—who listens to slow songs while driving?
Of Yu Wei’s previous songs, only “Dream Chaser’s Heart” and “Map of Mountains and Rivers” were suitable for the road—not that the others were bad, they were just too soft.
Couldn’t listen to “Treading Waves” while driving, or get immersed and zone out, sending road users to the otherworld…
The photographer in the back instantly aimed the camera at Yu Wei upon hearing this; it was only the first day of recording, and he was already preparing to create?
“Just asking casually.”
Studies show that under moderate fatigue, natural recovery takes 20-22 minutes, while fast-paced music can significantly alleviate fatigue in just 8-10 minutes.
Seems no matter where you are, everyone likes fast-paced music on the road—not only does it effectively perk you up, it also releases pressure.
One song to refresh the mind, two songs for endless energy, three songs for immortality…
There were plenty of fast-paced songs, but to match the driver’s story, another round of elimination was needed.
Yu Wei quickly had an idea and started writing the related plot for the song.
[Mentor Meng Han slowly walked from the shadows into the light, wearing a simple white shirt with a gray suit over it, exuding a world-weary temperament tempered by years amid his seriousness.
He didn’t immediately look at the audience, but slightly lowered his head, adjusting the microphone height, as if engaged in a silent self-dialogue.
When the piano sound faded, he raised his eyes, gaze deep and calm, looking into the distance, and sang the first line.
“So much I want to say but haven’t yet
Saving it up because I want to turn it into a song.”
This was Wei Yu’s new song “The Hill”; singing his new song myself—who knew what he’d sing for his opening later.]
“The Hill” was still very suitable for driving; most importantly, its theme connected somewhat with drivers—ask and it’s about crossing the hill.
As for the second song, let the protagonist sing it in tomorrow’s update; today’s chapter couldn’t fit it.
After the voting deadline for Jiang Si Heng and the little idol, Yu Wei filled in the specific votes and then published the new chapter.
Netizens weren’t surprised by this ending—a talented musician winning was normal—but what was this mentor opening segment afterward?
Got an itch to perform and sing a bit yourself, huh.
New song, another new song; but since it was directly given to Meng Han for his opening, and from the sound of it, there seemed to be another new song later…
If other singers pulled this gimmick, netizens wouldn’t buy it, but when Yu Wei said it, they really believed.
The guy was notorious for high output, and quality wasn’t bad; every one or two weeks a new song popped out—sometimes they really felt other original singers were like physical book authors, unable to produce anything for years.
Yu Wei was like a web novel bigshot, updating daily—just ask if other musicians were scared; not only couldn’t keep up with speed, quality might not match either.
Maybe he even had drafts; this time he just stopped acting, casually shaking out two hoarded songs.
He hadn’t been this generous before; writing the finals plot in the novel involved three songs, but dragged over three matches with time gaps.
Dropping two songs at once like this was a first—could it be he was starting explosive updates?
“One song is an itch, but two songs are?”
“I’m more curious who these two songs will be for—giving prizes to contestants again?”
“What, the competition is dropping gold coins again?”
“I bet it’s Meng Lei; in the novel, the song went to Teacher Meng Han, so by inheritance law, Meng Lei should get this song.”
“Goddamn inheritance law—with the loser-gets-prize format, the second song should go to Chen Chen.”
Don’t think Yu Wei’s competition was fake, but the rewards were hard currency—a representative work beat a dusty plastic trophy by miles?
Readers were abuzz, debating who Yu Wei’s gold coins would drop to this time; getting his song made the competition totally worth it.
Netizens thought this way, and the stars there for the songs even more so; after reading the new chapter, they were raring to go, rubbing their fists—two songs, high chance it’d be their turn.
Especially those already seated in the elimination spots after losing—could their opportunity be coming?
At this moment, the most excited was still Xia Zan; though he was the fourth to lose, the first two were girls.
By Yu Wei’s writing in the novel, this song should suit a male voice better; excluding Chen Chen and Tong Yulu, didn’t it fall to him next?
Thinking of soon owning a representative work, he couldn’t help humming lightly—losing the competition was right.
Seeing the competition drop gold coins again, many contestants were clearly unsteady; a few got anxious and even wanted to ask Yu Wei directly, but were stopped by their agents.
This stuff wasn’t something you could just demand; proactively asking would actually lower your standing—the closer to the moment, the less you could rush.
“Who are these two songs for?”
While others hemmed and hawed not daring to ask, Tong Yulu had already made her move—she was great at this, never hiding her purpose.
Coming to mooch again.
“Not you anyway; doesn’t suit a female voice, take a break.”
Tong Yulu sent a crying sticker pack, then went silent directly—one bold move for lifelong introversion…
While everyone discussed this, only Qi Yuan saw through it—Yu Wei was coming for him.
Was this the feeling of being the protagonist? Opponent pulling all killer moves, he remained unmoved.
“What’re you doing, come over and shuck corn quick!”
“Coming.”
Qi Yuan didn’t even have time to smile; hearing the shout, he pocketed his mobile phone, turned, and went back to the field—the summer fields were scorching hot on the feet.
Laboring the muscles and bones, starving the body, emptying the form—that was all; he was someone meant to shoulder great responsibility…
Yu Wei wasn’t faring much better; the blazing sun scorched the endless highway, and Liu Wang steadily parked the heavy truck under a roadside tree shade, preparing to eat something before continuing.
No village ahead or behind, just roaring vehicles kicking up waves of heat; Liu Wang took out his electric pot and started cooking instant noodles.
Photographer Old Zhang wasn’t idle either, taking out slices of sauce meat pickled by his wife from the fresh-keeping box and tossing them in; it was his first time on the road, and he’d brought provisions.
Yu Wei had just redeemed the song; “The Hill”‘s exchange data was ten thousand posts in the book friends’ circle, a requirement he’d long met.
“After running trucks long enough, you learn to handle your own stomach.” Liu Wang complained while cooking noodles, “A service area meal costs half a tank of my fuel money—not as practical as this.”
Yu Wei didn’t quite get it; he took the enamel bowl of noodles, but felt the noodles had an extra flavor.
This was the norm of a life on the move…
While eating, he checked his mobile phone; Qi Luo An’s novel had just updated—by the timing, it’d enter the library today, with new readers tonight.
It was time!
Yu Wei tapped to the end of the new chapter, solemnly typed a “History” and sent it; after sending, he felt his Dao Heart clear, the weather even cooler.
“?”
Qi Luo An noticed this comment right away; she’d written days of single-player level content, and the first reply was this?
“Not that it’s not coming, the time hasn’t arrived yet.”
Yu Wei’s reader account was his author account; after all, he wasn’t planning to hide—everyone knowing the book was related to him would boost data faster.
This counted as prepping Qi Luo An mentally; others seeing a plagiarized novel pretending to be original would curse, better he strike first.
As long as she weathered the first wave, it’d be fine once the novel was out—he’d been through it, rich in experience.
In Qi Luo An’s novel, “Malice” had been noticed, with folks joining the follow-up read army, steadily progressing.
Her eighth chapter had only five follow-up reads, still a ways from redeeming a work; Yu Wei didn’t want to crush her confidence, or it’d break her and she’d abandon the book—wasn’t his binding for nothing?
“Platinum potential, sleepless nights, update fast.”
