Chapter 204: Spoiling Gets You Killed
“Mom, what song did you pick this time?”
After arriving home, Qi Luo An immediately went to her mom to gather intel, not only to help Yu Wei ask, but she herself was quite curious too.
Honestly, she had doubts about Xiao Chen’s music taste; her mom’s listening taste had always been pretty native, after all, her favorite Yu Wei song was “Map of Mountains and Rivers”…
“Map of Mountains and Rivers” isn’t native, but among Yu Wei’s songs, it’s still pretty down-to-earth, and Chen Jinyi just loves that style.
Originally, Qi Luo An planned to invite Yu Wei over for dinner together, but Yu Wei’s attitude was very firm: if it’s National Day, then National Day—going early wouldn’t be a loss?
There was nothing to do but let him be; a day late or early didn’t matter, as long as he made it.
“Aunt, I’m here to mooch food again.”
Shen Yutong had come along; she was always a regular at the Qi house, so she wasn’t very polite, just casually complimented that Aunt looked much younger.
The host paid great attention to maintenance, and Chen Jinyi naturally looked more graceful than her peers; this wasn’t just flattery.
“Yutong sure knows how to talk.”
Chen Jinyi gave her own daughter a meaningful look—you see that!
It really wasn’t her praising someone else’s child; what daughter asks about work the moment she walks in? At least chat about something fun first.
“I’m just concerned about you too.”
Qi Luo An knew her mom well; her poor taste wasn’t from lack of exposure, but from too much exposure.
Both parents were big shots in the music scene, and Chen Jinyi basically grew up immersed in golden hits, with strong music appreciation ability.
Before, when listening to Yu Wei’s songs, she was the first to react to the quality of the work and could give precise evaluation.
But perhaps overdoing it had the opposite effect; under the thick artistic atmosphere’s infection, she grew increasingly fond of native works—nothing not native, not hype.
Just like a veteran bookworm who’s read countless books, finally finding brainless feel-good novels the most enjoyable, who cares about settings or logic—just empty the mind and read.
“Really?”
Chen Jinyi noticed the mobile phone gripped in her daughter’s hand and quickly had a guess: “You’ve never been this concerned before.”
“This wouldn’t be asking for someone else, would it?”
Shen Yutong quietly gossiped on the side—Aunt was truly prescient; know your daughter best, she could almost draw the conclusion, just missing a name.
Qi Luo An was speechless for a moment; next time for anything about Yu Wei, she’d just ask directly—when it came to mind games, she couldn’t beat her mom…
“Oh, I misspoke; he shouldn’t count as someone else.”
Chen Jinyi teased a couple times but didn’t hide it; this time she picked an old song, “Past Can Only Be Savored”.
Though her tastes were native, she wasn’t stupid; for this officially backed large stage, nostalgic inspirational and main melody styles were the most suitable of the three.
“This year’s theme also has reunion elements; remember to tell him.”
Chen Jinyi knew it like the back of her hand—Yu Wei was probably asking for references, and she was very expectant of his performance, so she shared everything she knew.
She didn’t know what it would be like sharing the stage with that kid, whether it could make her feel the appearance of an old friend.
……
“Reunion?”
As a singer and gala host, Aunt Chen should know some inside messages; she had no choice but to believe it.
Using this theme for the holiday was naturally fine, but thinking deeper, Yu Wei felt reunion at this juncture might have another layer of meaning.
Possibly, the island troops DLC was about to merge into the national server version…
There were plenty of old golden hits about reunion, but the specific choice would depend on Sister Liu’s coordination with the organizer.
“Looks like Aunt still has a good impression of me; at least no grudges.”
This kind of inside info, if seized, could let a nobody skyrocket; sharing it was a favor, not sharing was duty.
Since she proactively shared some, it showed Aunt Chen had high hopes for him, maybe with a bit of testing—opportunity given, whether he seized it was up to him.
Though he hadn’t decided on the specific song, the novel could be written ahead; outline the plot framework, then slot in the song later.
Entertainment novels are like that; except for works with related plot, most appearing songs could swap positions or even other songs with little impact.
Yu Wei’s book was even more casual; nothing a competition couldn’t solve, after all, the competing songs had no related plot.
When in doubt, have natives fight natives; any song could fit in…
But Yu Wei definitely didn’t plan to be so casual; he planned to make the third round a themed competition, each with fixed style, testing their song selection ability.
Not long after finishing the plot framework, Sister Liu’s call finally came; Yu Wei didn’t dare delay and quickly answered.
Since they contacted him ahead, he probably had some tasks…
Sister Liu’s recount matched Chen Jinyi’s inside info closely: besides nostalgic inspirational main melody, it was reunion.
But this was just for other singers.
The organizer had another expectation for Yu Wei: internationalization. They specially invited him not just for his domestic fame, but for his overseas influence.
Piano pieces don’t spread fast, but their infectiousness is strong; anyone who’s heard “Castle in the Sky” gets curious about Yu Wei.
This was a point the higher-ups valued highly.
Though the concert was an international window, honestly, most domestic music events were just self-indulgent, with few foreigners watching.
Yu Wei had some overseas influence, so the organizer hoped he could make a breakthrough there.
Expectation was just expectation; best if achieved, no harm if not—just take the chance to try.
“This requirement is a bit high.”
Many Chinese golden hits couldn’t internationalize back then despite perfect timing; now using old songs already had a handicap, and balancing internationalization was even harder.
Singing foreign songs directly was impossible; on this official stage, singing foreign songs? Was he floating or had they forgotten how to wield the knife?
“No worries, don’t pressure yourself too much; it’s just an expectation, not a hard order.”
Actually, the organizer barely made demands; he didn’t even have to do original—whether new song, theme, style, all up to him.
“I understand.”
Yu Wei definitely wouldn’t pressure himself; he had no grand ambition for world fame, just singing casually, go with the flow.
Per the organizer, decide the song by noon tomorrow, formal rehearsal in the afternoon to prepare the program list ahead.
Liu Ning was still worried and wanted to chat more, but then heard clear keyboard clacks from the phone—obviously Yu Wei writing.
This kid had nerves of steel; rehearsal tomorrow and he still had the mood to write.
But trusting Yu Wei, she didn’t ask more, hung up proactively to continue coordination work.
No use rushing this; Yu Wei decided to write first.
He already had some ideas; for songs to go international, focus on melody.
Foreign songs no-go, but Chinese adaptations of foreign songs should be fine; even if lyrics incomprehensible, melody gets recognition.
Combining nostalgic inspirational theme, Yu Wei quickly had a target.
……
“This kid must be cheating; why’s he writing so fast today?”
Qi Luo An, in a blue satin embroidered pajama dress, leaned at the desk writing, but her keyboard smoked from pounding and still couldn’t catch Yu Wei’s tail lights.
“At this juncture, he still has the leisure to write; truly rare.”
Shen Yutong quietly leaned by the bed playing on her mobile phone, but hearing Yu Wei was still writing, she felt some admiration.
This was her first concert, so she was inevitably nervous; even phone games couldn’t focus, yet he could settle down to write.
Maybe this was the gap between them.
Just as she wondered what song Yu Wei planned this time, her phone notification finally popped with a “Collection of Works” update reminder.
“The Devotion of Suspect X” updated?”
Qi Luo An turned back thoughtfully to look at her— no wonder Yu Wei wrote so fast; it was a suspense novel.
She’d heard Yu Wei talk about this book; he described the plot and twists in detail, so clearly he’d planned the whole plot long ago—writing fast made sense.
Yu Wei updated two chapters at once; chapter three had police discovering the corpse, but the face was disfigured, fingerprints destroyed, and a deflated bike left at the scene.
But police ultimately confirmed the deceased as Tomura via bike fingerprints, and naturally traced to Yasuko.
Shen Yutong read slowly; by chapter three’s end, there were already many comments, but little reference value.
“Thought the genius mathematician was ruthless; that’s it? Destroying fingerprints useless, better to destroy the corpse.”
“Why fingerprints? Just use DNA testing?”
“The novel’s era probably didn’t have developed DNA tech.”
Though free speech, readers were mostly doubtful.
Earlier plot had Shi Shen say he’d handle the corpse, but so far it seemed ineffective; police still traced to the mother-daughter pair.
Shen Yutong doubtfully opened chapter four; Qi Luo An was already busy copying comments—good, lots of doubt is good.
She knew the later plot and understood this segment’s purpose.
Chapter four’s plot was much more exciting, not only with police’s simple contact with Shi Shen, but introducing another genius, Yukawa.
These two chapters advanced the intellectual battle main line; though the core trick wasn’t showing yet, suspense was plentiful.
Shen Yutong was fully immersed, read both chapters in one go—forget nervous, now she just wanted the next plot.
Suspense novel withdrawal was too strong; she even forgot the grand stage coming up.
“Finished? Good, right?”
Qi Luo An grinned mischievously at her; others might not know, but Shen Yutong was truly a fervent reader of Yu Wei’s suspense novels.
Even wrote a song specially for the work; her obsession was clear.
“Want spoilers? I know all the later plot.”
Originally wanted to say spoilers kill the fun, but Shen Yutong was cultured, so she casually raised her phone and snapped a photo of Qi Luo An.
“What are you doing?”
“Using your pajama beauty pic to urge Yu Wei to update.”
Though casual snap, in the photo Qi Luo An’s clothes were loose, collar slightly open, even showing collarbone and slipped strap—quite sexy at first glance.
This naturally revealed lazy charm far surpassed those online posed edge-teasing ones.
Letting Yu Wei see ahead what he’d see later—wasn’t this another kind of spoiler…
