[Ding dong! Your special follow @Cupid released a new song 1min ago, come listen now.]
The young man sleeping on the bed was woken up by the vibrating sound from under his pillow.
He frowned, squinted his eyes irritably and turned on his phone. As soon as his vision focused, he saw the latest message pushed on his homepage.
“Bang!”
He sat up abruptly and his forehead hit the headboard hard, producing a sickening dull thud.
The young man covered his forehead, inhaled sharply and cursed fiercely under his breath.
But his eyes remained fixed on the phone screen. Red blood vessels spread across the whites of his eyes, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly from the pain, like an addict who had stayed up all night.
This person looked to be just over twenty years old, with a young face and body.
Alluring peach blossom eyes were set under handsome, well-defined brow bones. With fair skin and red lips, it should have been an androgynous face full of charm, but it was mostly ruined by his grimacing, ferocious expression.
Holding the phone with one hand, he used his thumb to scroll the screen, quickly entering Cupid’s homepage.
He stared at the “Latest Update” that appeared in the list, licked his dry lips, and without a second’s hesitation, opened Cupid’s new song.
“Greed”
Lyrics: Cupid
Composition: Cupid
Arrangement: Cupid
It was an English song, and the translated title meant “Greed”.
The song cover was a Gothic-style ancient castle hidden in the night. A pale crescent moon hangs high under the dome, and a lone crow perched on a rusty streetlamp, the ground full of decaying branches and dead leaves.
Unlike “Leap” which cut to the vocals within just a few seconds, the intro of “Greed” was several times longer. Upon hearing it, it was a sample of natural sounds like wind, rain, and the sound of wood scraping against the ground.
A biting cold wind pulled the listener into a long, cold, and damp corridor. Outside the corridor, it was continuous rain with gusts of strong wind.
Peering down the deep corridor towards the end of the road, it was as if you could see a broken wooden door connecting to the ancient castle silently pulling open a crack.
Faint, flickering light cast a swaying beam from the crack in the door.
As the outsider, you stop in front of the door. The wooden door makes a twisted “crea..ak..” sound, and a sense of hesitation and unease spreads into your heart bit by bit along the bizarre melody.
But the next moment, a grand, magnificent cello quartet abruptly begins!
The bleak wind and rain instantly fade away, and warm, yellow light slowly envelops everything.
The sound effect of gold coins falling flashed by in the background music.
You step into a magnificent, golden church.
Every brick and tile on the walls, the smooth floor underfoot, the pillars with exquisite carvings on their surfaces…
Everything in sight is built from glittering gold.
And directly in front of you, piled up like a mountain, are countless gold coins. The value contained within could instantly smooth away your past fatigue and sorrows.
As the sound of wind and rain in the accompaniment disappears, the cello music gradually hits its stride.
A deep, magnetic young male voice gently and slowly sings “your” story, his unhurried pace making “you” uncontrollably enchanted by it.
The young man’s voice exudes an indescribable nobility and elegance.
His English pronunciation and enunciation were not average, but were clear and elegant, with recitative-like pauses on certain words.
It was a voice that could make one think of red wine sealed in oak barrels in the cellar of a magnificent manor… rich and mellow, yet not lacking a clear, cool fragrance.
However, the harmony hidden behind the lyrics offered a completely different auditory experience.
More ethereal, more ancient, more elusive, like the mist over the Venice canals carrying the scent of parchment scrolls, bringing historical echoes from the steam age.
The exact same lyrics, repeated in the harmony, transformed into invisible incantations, as if they were about to stand up from the phone screen the next second, twisting their bodies made of unfamiliar characters and jumping out in cheerful dance steps.
A destitute adventurer hears fragmented whispers on a stormy night, seemingly coming from distant stars, yet also seemingly rooted deep in his consciousness.
They are indistinguishable in gender or age, and it was hard to tell whether they were good or evil, only the implied mischievousness can be discerned in the whispers.
As if a god sitting high on a throne cast a casual glance down and casually pointed him towards an unknown direction.
With no other way out, the adventurer musters his last bit of strength and sets out on the path ahead against the biting cold wind.
He never expected that the playful voice could actually lead him into a golden room hidden within the dilapidated ancient castle!
Overjoyed to the point of tears, the mysterious young man finally calmed his tumultuous emotions.
He paced back and forth in the golden room, wary and apprehensive, his mind absent-mindedly recalling that mysterious voice.
Was it a god’s charity?
…Or a devil’s bait?
The song’s finale switched to a melodious and peaceful cello solo, and a monologue from the adventurer’s perspective drew a perfect conclusion to this audio-visual feast.
As for this monologue, it was:
[The storm ceases, daylight gradually breaks.
God-given, no one knows the secret of this place.
Let these treasures remain sealed.
Perhaps one day in the future, a traveler like me will come here for shelter, and this wondrous experience can be passed down through generations.
And I, still have places to go…]
“…”
The young man sitting on the bed stared at the phone screen, his breathing rapid.
Only after the music stopped and automatically played the next song after 5 seconds did he barely regain his senses.
Shen Yuchuan pulled out a tissue irritably, roughly wiped off the beads of blood on his fingers caused by his teeth grinding, while using his other surviving hand to scroll up the screen and play “Greed” a second time.
He sat on the bed listening to it over and over more than ten times, while constantly refreshing the comment section below the song, watching helplessly as the number of comments increased exponentially, and the reposts and likes surged dramatically.
[Ahhhhhh it’s so amazing!!! It sounds so good, heaven for voice-cons! It directly numbed me with pleasure [intoxicated][intoxicated]]
[The style is so different from “Leap”, it jumps directly from rock to whichever corner this is? Such grand arrangement, composition, lyrics, and arrangement are all done by one person? Brother, are you so awesome?]
[Magical realism? Dark epic style? It’s kind of interesting…it feels like I’m about to sign a contract with a demon and become a dragon-slaying hero next second (draws sword)]
[A big boss in the comments of the last song predicted it, Brother Cupid definitely has a complete and high-quality music team behind him. The arrangement of this song is more complex than Leap, the production costs of these two songs definitely aren’t low, especially this Greed… it sounds very expensive just listening to it.]
[Did anyone notice the lyrics?
“Kneel before the golden light, lay bare your desires in my sight.
Is this feeble wish your only plea? Speak the hunger buried deep in thee!”
“Hear the damp whisper clawing at your soul…let its rot take control.”
Oh my God, these lyrics are full of powerful aggressiveness, but Cupid sings them so divinely, it feels like my brain marrow has been sucked out [dazed] Cupid…Cupid… take me away…]
[A poisonous snake wearing a holy robe unhurriedly recounts its heart-swaying commands, just like chanting solemn divine decrees, the imagery is so strong, so wonderful…]
[Is it only me who finds it a bit…(shy finger gesture)? He opens by telling me to kneel, says my desires have always been under his gaze, on one hand wants me to be honest about my cravings, on the other hand wants to completely control me… I can’t help but kneel down, I found I could still listen while kneeling, so I knelt even more happily [blush]]
[Cupid, a genius singer with a major S-vibe outbreak]
[Great song, I already added it to my playlist. It’s a song with a strong personal style, well-produced, and very worthy of the listeners. Out of a full score of 5, I give 4.5, the remaining 0.5 is for you to keep up the good work with the next one and maintain this release speed, you will definitely have a place in the gold and silver charts in the future [rose][thumbs up][thumbs up]]
The more Shen Yuchuan read, the more panicked he felt, and he started biting his knuckles anxiously again.
He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes casting a shadow on his lower lids, and muttered to himself: “It’s just a nice voice… It’s too exaggerated…”
Half an hour later, Shen Yuchuan exited the comments page and went to the homepage to check the daily chart. He scrolled all the way to the bottom 500, and didn’t see “Greed” there.
Fortunately…
He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he remembered something the next second.
No, this song has been out for less than half an hour, how could it be so outrageous as to directly climb to position 500 on the daily chart? Was he crazy thinking about such impossible things?
The young man’s face darkened, and he let out a gloomy breath. He lowered his head to exit the Light Music app, hesitated for two seconds, then resentfully closed the background play button for “Greed”.
Only then did he put down his phone, lay back on the bed, and stare at the ceiling with his bloodshot eyes.
–Why?!
Another genius, a brand new, unheard-of, boundlessly promising genius just like Wen Xinyi!
He thought of the news he learned in the chat group yesterday. The thought that the company could contact Cupid at any time made the emotions in his heart become even more turbulent.
Xinda Media was never stingy with truly talented and capable artists.
They really were willing to spend money and resources. Their external reputation was much better than that of ordinary entertainment companies, which was why more and more musicians and singers were flocking to Xinda. The five major charts on the Light Music app had long been half occupied by Xinda Media.
Once someone like Cupid is signed by Xinda, he would definitely be promoted upwards by the company with an A-level or above contract. The resources that should belong to him in the future are very likely to be snatched away by this guy.
Among artists of similar stature within the same company, especially newcomers without background or connections, the resources they could access, or rather, that were suitable for them, were inherently limited.
If A takes some, B gets less. Add another C, and what each person gets will only be less.
To put it bluntly, it’s a game of dividing the cake. On the surface, everyone treats each other politely and everything looks peaceful, but behind the scenes, the knives and forks are clashing fiercely.
Shen Yuchuan had persuaded the company’s upper management to swap his and Wen Xinyi’s resources with great difficulty.
That was why Wen Xinyi, who was originally scheduled to go to “Sing If You Want”, suddenly changed course and entered “Next Stage”.
And Shen Yuchuan, who should have really participated in the boy group survival show, obtained the resident guest spot on the S-level variety resource “Sing If You Want”.
Among the young male artists cultivated by Xinda Media, Wen Xinyi and Shen Yuchuan were undoubtedly the two most valued ones.
The former was noticed by Chen Shiyu early on for his outstanding voice and musical sense and taken under her wing, while the latter received strong cultivation from the company through his father’s nepotistic connections.
Due to the coincidence of various training plans, all of Wen Xinyi and Shen Yuchuan’s educational paths from the age of 13 were almost identical.
Whether it was the art entrance exams for junior high, high school, and university outside the company, or the instructors hired for them by the training manager within the company, they were all exactly the same.
Theoretically speaking, the 8 years from age 13 to 21 should have been enough to cultivate a friendship between the two. Xinda Media also envisioned it this way and the company hoped the two key seedlings they focused on would grow into two pillars supporting each other.
Unfortunately, Shen Yuchuan was jealous, proud and arrogant. He always competed and grabbed, and insisted on having the best of everything no matter what.
And Wen Xinyi, on the other hand, had a softer, more yielding personality in his youth.
He had a large family to support behind him, and because he was thin-skinned, felt embarrassed to trouble his teacher, so for a long time he swallowed his pride and endured Shen Yuchuan’s actions.
As they grew older, Shen Yuchuan showed no signs of restraining himself, but Wen Xinyi gradually learned to refuse and fight back.
Over time, their relationship became increasingly stiff. The friendship of their youthful school days had long been blurred by arguments and cold wars, and something not worth mentioning.
In fact, over the years, Shen Yuchuan had not only clashed with Wen Xinyi. With his personality, he had never repeatedly offended many within the company.
In the resource distribution for Xinda’s young newcomers, Wen and Shen were given the top priority. At least one-third of the reason for this was Shen Yuchuan’s frantic targeting of his peers, grabbing all the good resources he could see.
Wen Xinyi managed to avoid the worst of it, firstly because of his talent in music, and secondly because he had Chen Shiyu backing him.
But not long ago, Shen Yuchuan also became Chen Shiyu’s student, hence the resource swap between the two.
And now the sudden emergence of Cupid, a potential newcomer eagerly watched by Xinda Media, was crashing into the company’s solidified hierarchy with overwhelming force.
Shen Yuchuan had noticed Cupid earlier than anyone else at Xinda Media, and he never considered the possibility that Cupid might refuse to sign with Xinda.
Although many budding creative musicians dreamed of running an independent studio, dreams were rosy, but reality was thorny.
Small studios had almost no access to top-tier resources, whereas Xinda Media only needed to wave its hand for artists to bring their new songs and albums to promote on popular variety shows, could slot songs they wanted to promote into various A+, S+ invested web dramas and TV dramas as OSTs with just a few words, and could quickly prepare for the shooting of artists’ music videos and assemble top-tier planning teams in the industry…
Besides that, things like hot search marketing accounts working together, popular senior stars reposting and promoting, etc., were all just basic operations not worth mentioning.
Tch, could a small independent musician’s studio accomplish these things?
Faced with the olive branch thrown by Xinda Media and the temptation of an A-level contract promising various top-tier resources, it would be strange if a newcomer could remain calm enough to thoughtfully weigh the pros and cons.
Refuse? Only a young master from a family with mines or immense power and influence would have the confidence to say no.
The high costs of making serious music and the crazy desperation of musicians going bankrupt are one deterrent. Where would ordinary people get so much money to burn?
Moreover, with Cupid’s natural talent and artistry, he shouldn’t be trapped by these miscellaneous matters.
Shen Yuchuan closed his eyes and picked up his phone again.
[Have you found the person I asked you to look into?]
Aaa Geek Internet Cafe Customer Service Xiao Yun: [? It’s only been a day, boss, we’re already looking into it~ Expect to have results the day after tomorrow~]
Shen Yuchuan typed impatiently.
[Can you do it any faster?]
AAA Geek Internet Cafe Customer Service Xiao Yun: [Not for the time being, boss~ I recommend you purchase the expedited queue-jumping service~ For just 998 we guarantee the boss will see the results before 2 PM today~]
Shen Yuchuan choked and typed sullenly.
[Forget it, just do it as soon as possible. Don’t let anyone else jump the queue.]
AAA Geek Internet Cafe Customer Service Xiao Yun: [Okay then, dear~]
*
The popularity of Cupid’s new song “Greed” was fermenting.
Two hours later, Cupid appeared in the song’s comments section for the first time, unexpectedly dropping news about the song’s MV and album.
@Cupid [lv.4 Creator Verification]
[Greed” is the first pre-release single from the new album. The MV will be released next Saturday (October 4th) at 8 PM. Hope everyone likes it [heart]]
A single stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the comment section once again experienced an explosive surge of activity.
[Ahhhhhh so fast!!! Brother, you are literally the dream lover of us career fans [heart][heart][heart]]
[Fuck, a MV is out already? Cupid, do you have to be this hardworking? By the way, was “Leap” a song from the new album?]
[Is this the power of a big boss… Awesome, I’m definitely buying this album, just to support original works.]
[Please tell me if it’s a digital album or a physical album? I want a physical album from Brother Cupid to collect at home. If there’s a vinyl record, that would be even better [heart][drool][drool]]
[It should be a digital album. My industry friend said Cupid hasn’t signed with a company yet.
A new artist’s studio can’t handle physical albums. Those things cost money, people, and time. From design to contacting factories to logistics and shipping, it’s all very troublesome. If Cupid is a solo musician, it’s even harder, it’s basically impossible to release a physical album.]
[It’s fine, a digital album is good too. I’ll like whatever Cupid releases prprpr [heart][heart]]
[If there’s a MV… will Cupid himself appear on screen? Judging by the voice, he feels quite young, probably only in his twenties?]
[Cupid doesn’t sound like a newcomer. The voice’s distinctiveness is too high, and he’s too good at singing. But if I had heard it before, there is no way I would have no impression… Could Cupid be a behind-the-scenes worker in real life? [pondering]]
[A singer-songwriter who simultaneously satisfies the three conditions of talent, voice, and musicality could never remain unknown forever. Brother Cupid is really about to take off on the spot, come on brother!]
