Chapter 58: Guests Have Arrived

On September 1st, schools across China reopened.

From then on, the fantasy epic "Back to School" began.

At the same time, Cheng Chen's second album, "The Lone Warrior," went online.

On its first day, sales exploded across all channels.

Tianhai Records' phones were flooded with calls from distributors; even though Wang Tianxiao had prepared in advance, he was still overwhelmed by the massive market.

"Boss, ten copies of 'The Lone Warrior'!"

"Boss, do you still have any 'The Lone Warrior'? Give me two!"

"Boss, 'The Lone Warrior,' you get it?"

Nearly all video stores and stationery shops were looted clean by fans, yet many still left empty-handed.

Cheng Chen's blog was overrun again.

"Tianhai Records is useless—such a huge fanbase, and they still didn't stock enough albums!"

"Big Brother's new song is amazing—even though I've heard it before, I just can't get tired of it!"

"I bought 'The Lone Warrior' for my lover, but my wife caught us in the act—now I'm selling it cheap at 200 yuan per copy!"

"Holy shit, guy upstairs, you're intense—not even mentioning the cheating scandal, you marked up the album by several times—don't you feel guilty?"

"I strongly condemn you… You have a wife but still have a lover!!! I'll take it for 200 yuan—offline transaction!"

Cheng Chen's previous album sold over 600,000 copies in a single month; although sales dipped afterward due to the Huaxia Yinyuehui, it was only temporary.

With Cheng Chen's live rescue and the new album's release, sales of "Wolf Loves Sheep" unexpectedly revived, doubling again.

The songs were widely sung, sales were explosive, and Cheng Chen was the undisputed most commercially valuable singer in the industry.

After all, not every singer could release two high-quality, consistently excellent albums within three months—he was practically a walking money tree.

Several music giants had long recognized Cheng Chen's enormous commercial potential and had secretly approached him with huge offers; during that time, Wang Tianxiao became paranoid.

She practically clung to him like a wife guarding against scheming fox spirits from outside.

Faced with the giants' multi-million-yuan contracts, Cheng Chen rejected them without hesitation.

Haitian Records was small, but he controlled everything himself, held equity, and enjoyed high freedom.

If he went to a giant, a single contract would bind him tightly.

Disobedient? First bury him for ten years!

As a reincarnated soul, Cheng Chen knew exactly what mattered more.

Moreover, with his knowledge of the future, the value he would create later would far exceed millions…

In the afternoon, Cheng Chen received a message from Wang Tianxiao.

Jingtai Cultural Channel confirmed a partnership with Huaxia Yinyuehui, launching the "Singer Competition," open to young singers in Jingcheng.

Rules as follows:

The preliminary round has no age limit, no art form restrictions, no threshold, and aims solely to find the best singers.

Judges will be members of Huaxia Yinyuehui, with a live audience of one hundred serving as third-party judges.

Successful candidates will enter elimination rounds, culminating in the battle for the title of Song King.

After receiving Wang Tianxiao's call, Cheng Chen froze in place.

Wait… isn't this just Lu Sheng's "I'm a Weirdo"… no, "I'm a Big Star"?

Countless weird contestants, half of them from Lu Sheng—when it comes to weirdness and rustic charm, they lead the pack.

It was a show even locals from Lu Sheng felt ashamed to watch.

The seed contestant from the future version of "I'm a Big Star," who invented the breathy singing style in "Deadly Hometown," became essential material for Bilibili's ghost-catch UP masters.

To put it simply, the brother's singing had zero technique—pure emotion—listeners were driven mad, scratching their heads and itching all over.

You could say this show:

Talented contestants sang their stories; weird contestants sang disasters.

The "Singer Competition" used the exact same format as "Big Star"—no wonder Cheng Chen had never heard of it in the future; it probably failed to launch or had zero popularity.

"Get ready—today's just the press conference; preliminaries start the day after tomorrow."

Wang Tianxiao said.

After learning the format, Cheng Chen immediately didn't want to join—but considering how much Huaxia Yinyuehui had made him suffer before, he decided he absolutely had to go and annoy them.

After hanging up, someone suddenly knocked on Cheng Chen's door.

"Sis, what's this?"

Cheng Chen opened the door and saw Gao Yuanyuan carrying bags and packages.

"I had a fight with Mom—I'm staying here for a few days."

Gao Yuanyuan stomped in, dragging her bags.

Cheng Chen had always seen Gao Yuanyuan as the neighborly older sister type.

Intellectual, elegant, never letting emotions show on her face.

He had never seen her this angry before.

Kinda funny.

"What happened, sis?"

Cheng Chen poured her a glass of water.

Gao Yuanyuan sat on the sofa, hugging a pillow, furious:

"When I was on set, I dreamed of going home; now that I'm not acting and resting at home, Mom keeps arguing with me every day.

She scolds me for sleeping in, for not eating on time, and now she won't stop nagging about my diploma—I haven't even picked it up yet! It's driving me crazy…"

Gao Yuanyuan was a native of Jingcheng; her parents were both intellectuals. She once said in an interview that she couldn't stand their nagging and desperately wanted to move out.

Thinking of this, Cheng Chen couldn't help but show a faint smile—he hadn't expected that this girl who had always forced him to call her "Sister" could have such a little-girl mindset.

"What are you laughing at? You have no idea how nagging my parents are. Wait until you visit my place someday, then you'll know!"

Gao Yuanyuan shifted into a comfortable position and stretched her body, her perfect figure instantly on full display—especially the curve of her waist and those long, straight legs. No wonder she had a background as a model.

"Oh right, when you called me yesterday you didn't really explain clearly—what exactly was going on with that radio station live broadcast?

Even though the news is reporting on it today, it definitely won't be as real as hearing it from you, the person involved. Hurry up and tell me about it."

Gao Yuanyuan sat cross-legged on the sofa, cupping her chin in both hands, blinking her big eyes.

Looking at her expectant face, Cheng Chen's heart seemed to skip half a beat.

Oh no…

Then, Cheng Chen told her about the radio station visit from beginning to end, and at her request, he took out the guitar and played and sang "If Only We'd Made It Young" once more.

The sun set in the west, and the orange-yellow light poured through the floor-to-ceiling window onto the two of them.

The two in the living room chatted about the fun things that had happened on the set of "Heaven Sword," each sharing their own awkward stories.

The sound of laughter kept drifting out, while the suitcase Gao Yuanyuan had brought lay quietly by the entryway.

At this moment, Cheng Chen looked at Gao Yuanyuan and suddenly asked softly:

"Sister, if you lived here with me, what would he think?"

……