Chapter 70

“Why?” Zhou Yangwen was puzzled. “If you’re worried that becoming an artist will affect your studies, you don’t need to worry at all—we’ll guarantee your study and rest time to the maximum extent, and your schedule is entirely up to you!”

Luo Quan shook her head: “That’s not the reason. I simply don’t want to sign a contract. Any other cooperation request is fine, but this one is out of the question.”

There was no way—the system forcibly required her not to sign any artist contract with any company, so it wasn’t that she didn’t want to sign, but that she simply couldn’t.

Zhou Yangwen sighed in regret: “It’s such a pity you can’t sign.”

Luo Quan smiled: “We can still explore other forms of cooperation. There’s no need to fixate on this.”

Zhou Yangwen gave a bitter smile: “There probably aren’t any cooperation opportunities right now… but I have something to say, Luo Quan—I hope you won’t be angry.”

“Go ahead.”

Zhou Yangwen gathered his thoughts and said: “Your songs may dominate the Japanese music scene now, but they’re in Japanese, so the domestic market is far too small—you won’t make money or gain popularity through album sales alone… unless you release a Chinese album, or even a bilingual Chinese-English one. As long as the quality is solid, we can definitely push you to stardom!”

“These are just minor issues!” Luo Quan waved her hand confidently, a faint smile curling at her lips. “I can write great Japanese songs—I can write great Chinese ones too. But that’s for later. Right now, I need to rest properly.”

Zhou Yangwen smiled: “No one dares question your talent. I’m looking forward to your first Chinese album!”

As they spoke, the three suddenly heard Wen Xia’s name announced on stage.

“Please welcome the 2016 Weibo Annual Advancing Artist: Wen Xia, Wang Xuan, Wang Yan, Zhao Muyang… come up and receive your award!”

This award, translated, was the Annual Best Newcomer Award—given to the artists whose fanbase grew fastest within the year. Its value was neither high nor low.

But Wen Xia, as China’s top female idol, how could she have only one award in 2016, when her popularity exploded?

After receiving the Advancing Artist award, staff told her not to return to her seat immediately. Soon, her name appeared again on the list for the Weibo Annual Popular Artist award.

Less than three minutes later, Wen Xia returned to the stage and joined a group of popular young male idols in playing a few mini-games.

Perhaps because she got slightly too close to the young idols during the games, female fans watching the live stream flooded the chat with comments accusing Wen Xia of being shameless and seducing their men.

The logic of girlfriend fans was impossible to understand with normal thinking—they were professionals at jealousy. In their minds, every woman near their “boyfriend,” except themselves, was a seductress who deserved to die.

Luo Quan, watching these envious, jealous, and hateful comments from below, felt both irritated and amused. She didn’t even bother defending Wen Xia—she simply turned off the chat and chose to ignore it.

Soon, the game segment ended. Amid applause, Wen Xia descended the stage holding two trophies. Though the Weibo Night awards weren’t particularly prestigious, they were still major honors from China’s leading media outlet. Winning two at once was undeniably a substantial achievement.

Luo Quan muttered sarcastically: “Look at you, so proud you’re practically kicking your heels into the sky!”

“Oh come on, what’s so impressive about two trophies? I’ve won countless of these in Korea,” Wen Xia said dismissively, though her smug grin betrayed her inner triumph.

Luo Quan gritted her teeth: “Pfft, maybe next year I’ll be Weibo’s Annual Goddess—then watch me drive you crazy!”

Wen Xia wriggled like a cheerful caterpillar: “Go ahead and win one then! Talking big is easy!”

“Next, please welcome the Weibo Annual Most Influential Musician Cao Mufeng and the Weibo Annual Most Popular Musician Pan Yunhai…”

The host rattled off five or six music awards and winners in quick succession, then finally uttered a name no one expected: “Weibo Annual Pop Musician Luo Quan—please come up and receive your award!”

The previous winners were all expected—China’s current handful of viable young singers were limited. But when Luo Quan was named Pop Musician, the chat exploded with question marks.

Not just the audience—even Luo Quan herself was stunned.

She’d only debuted a month ago. Even if her songs were brilliant, she should’ve been eligible for the 2017 awards. Why was she winning now?

Yet the female host’s introduction of Luo Quan’s win had been extremely high praise:

“Her songs sparked nationwide discussion upon release. ‘Lemon,’ ‘The Wind Blows,’ and ‘Spark’ became the year’s top video BGMs, used over a billion times!”

“Her electronic single ‘Faded’ debuted at number three on the B-chart and was the most-covered song in China this year—visible on Bilibili, TikTok, and countless livestreams!”

“Though all this happened within just one month, there’s no denying she’s leading a new trend in Asia’s pop music scene!”

After hearing this praise, people no longer found her win absurd. Aside from lack of seniority, how did she fall short of the veterans sharing the stage with her?

More importantly, in China, unlike Japan and Korea, seniority meant nothing—only ability mattered. This rule applied even to young male idols, since looks were a form of talent too.

“What are you standing there for? Go get your award!” Wen Xia, seeing Luo Quan still frozen after standing up, slapped her firm buttock.

A soft “Pia!” echoed. Luo Quan winced.

“I’ll settle this with you later!” Luo Quan shot a glare at Wen Xia’s smirking face, then sprinted up the stage.

As usual, winners gave acceptance speeches. Luo Quan was last, and when her turn came, she seemed timid.

After a long pause, Luo Quan finally spoke: “I never imagined this trophy would be mine. In my view, my body of work is far too small to deserve the title of Annual Original Musician—I truly feel unworthy.”

“But since the production team chose to give me this award, it must be recognition of my ability and talent. I’ll work hard and bring you even better music in the future!”

Her humble, well-worded speech earned a wave of applause from the audience. The celebrities, however, remained unimpressed—this debut singer clearly hadn’t impressed the veterans below.