Chapter Three: Did You Write That Song Yourself?

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“This weather is unusually cold. Would you like to come in for a cup of hot tea?” Chen Jiang invited.

“Sure, thank you.” Yi Yunxue cradled the plump ginger cat, exhaling a puff of white breath as she stepped into the living room.

Seated on the sofa, she looked toward Chen Jiang and said, “Thank you for taking care of my little Ju these past few days.”

“No problem, it was nothing.” Chen Jiang sighed in relief.

Fortunately, she was quite reasonable and didn’t accuse him of being a cat thief; otherwise, that would have been extremely embarrassing.

“What should I call you?” Yi Yunxue asked.

“My name is Chen Jiang,” he replied.

“Were you just playing the piano?” Yi Yunxue’s gaze fell on the grand piano in the living room. “A Steinway? How much did it cost?”

“I don’t really know much about brands. A classmate helped me pick it out. It’s a secondhand piano, cost over a hundred thousand yuan,” Chen Jiang explained.

“The song you just sang... did you write it yourself?” Yi Yunxue voiced her curiosity.

“You heard that?” Chen Jiang was taken aback.

“I was just outside the door and happened to catch you singing it,” she clarified.

“I wrote it.” Chen Jiang admitted, unabashed.

Though the song had originally been composed by Jay Chou in his past life, this world had no Jay Chou.

To bring Jay’s work into this world and help it flourish, he had to swallow his pride and take credit for it himself...

“You’re amazing!” Yi Yunxue’s eyes sparkled. “Could you play and sing it for me again?”

“If it’s suitable, would you consider selling me the song?”

“Huh?” Chen Jiang was surprised. “You want to buy this song?”

He hadn’t expected that his spontaneous performance just now would catch her interest.

“What’s the song called?” Yi Yunxue’s eyes shone brightly.

“The Promise of the Dandelion.”

“The Promise of the Dandelion? What a beautiful title!”

“You really like this song?” Chen Jiang added water to the kettle and placed it on the heater.

“Yes, this song is of high quality. Netizens always say I haven’t found a good enough song yet. I’m just missing one decent track,” Yi Yunxue nodded, her slightly chubby face blushing.

Chen Jiang thought for a moment and honestly said, “This song was actually composed for a male voice. Although a female can sing it, it loses something.”

Originally, Jay Chou had been the male vocalist for this song’s version.

Chen Jiang hoped that in this world, the song would be sung by a male singer with a voice close to Jay's timbre.

“Is that so?” Upon hearing this, Yi Yunxue visibly looked a little disappointed.

“But I have another song here that I think might suit you better,” Chen Jiang suddenly said.

“You have other songs?” Yi Yunxue suddenly became interested.

At that moment, the water boiled.

Chen Jiang lifted the kettle lid and smiled, “Have some tea first, then I’ll sing it for you.”

“This is a single-origin tea I brought from my hometown—very pure.”

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After sipping the tea, Yi Yunxue found it indeed very clear and refreshing. She didn’t usually drink tea but could taste the sweetness.

“Alright, I’ll play and sing for you,” Chen Jiang stood and sat at the piano.

A long melody began.

After the prelude, his voice softly began: “Hearing the departure of winter...”

“I woke up in a certain year, a certain month...”

This was another golden hit!

Yi Yunxue widened her beautiful eyes, her gaze toward Chen Jiang completely transformed as she listened attentively.

A golden hit often came from sudden inspiration. If both songs were of this quality, it proved the composer’s true talent.

When the song finished, Chen Jiang turned and asked, “How do you feel about it?”

“I really like this song, but somehow it doesn’t quite suit me,” Yi Yunxue hesitated.

“Do you mean you haven’t sung this style before and feel your voice can’t handle it?” Chen Jiang immediately guessed her thoughts.

“Why not challenge yourself? This song isn’t actually that difficult.”

“Your vocal range is wide. I always felt you’d be better suited to songs with a more natural singing style.”

Hearing Jiang’s tempting voice, Yi Yunxue made up her mind, tossing the drowsy ginger cat in her arms aside: “Alright! I’ve decided—I want this song.”

“Meow~” The chubby ginger cat protested.

“Name your price,” Yi Yunxue looked at Chen Jiang.

“I’m not short on money,” Chen Jiang smiled, shaking his head.

“How about we collaborate?”

“Collaborate? You mean share the profits?” Yi Yunxue asked.

“Yes.” Chen Jiang nodded.

“Alright, then we’ll split it fifty-fifty.” Without hesitation, Yi Yunxue agreed.

She believed this song was worth that much!

Even if she had to cover production and promotion costs herself, the fame it would bring was priceless.

The quality of this song, Yi Yunxue vaguely felt, could rival the classic hits of reigning divas!

Most importantly, Yi Yunxue didn’t lack money.

“Okay, I’ll draft the contract in the next few days, and then we can sign.”

Chen Jiang was a bit stunned; he hadn’t expected her to propose exactly the profit-sharing deal he had hoped for.

He was just an unknown creator, while she was a top-tier celebrity.

He knew the industry rules—fifty-fifty contracts were usually reserved for top lyricists and composers.

Though it said fifty-fifty, ultimately, she’d likely receive less since she’d handle post-production and promotion.

“Alright, I’ll wait for your contract,” Chen Jiang nodded.

After a few more cups of tea and exchanging WeChat contacts, Yi Yunxue picked up the ginger cat and said, “I’ll be off now.”

“Little Ju, say goodbye to the kind uncle who took care of you for a few days!”

She waved the cat’s furry paws.

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“Bye-bye.” Chen Jiang laughed.

He hadn’t expected that behind the scenes, the star Yi Yunxue was actually this kind of personality.

“Oh, and here’s some cat food, canned treats, and cat sticks I specially bought. Take them with you,” she said.

After seeing her off, Chen Jiang returned to the sofa, still bewildered.

Today’s events felt surreal.

The ginger cat he found turned out to belong to the upstairs celebrity, who unexpectedly heard him sing and then proposed a collaboration.

“It’s like something out of a novel,” Chen Jiang murmured.

“This big fat cat is actually called Little Ju... such an ironic name.”

He stood and went to his study, turning on the desktop computer he originally bought for gaming.

He searched the music copyright database and began entering the compositions.

Within half an hour, he registered the copyrights for the two songs he just performed.

“Better register a few more,” he thought.

Spending the entire afternoon, Chen Jiang uploaded over ten songs—all popular hits from his past life.

“Gurgle.”

His stomach suddenly protested. Looking out the window, he realized it was getting late.

The cold outside was biting. Though Guangdong Province was in the south and didn’t snow, late December was still very chilly.

Temperatures were in the single digits.

Chen Jiang ordered delivery from a nearby restaurant, then opened the most famous novel platform in this world: Yue Dian Reading.

Simply copying songs wouldn’t pass the time, so Chen Jiang planned to bring his web novels from the past life into this world, updating daily to pass time.

Web novels often ran into millions of words; even a minimum of four thousand words a day took two or three hours to write.

Chen Jiang also read novels in this world. Their online fiction shared some familiar tropes from the past but mostly followed old clichés.

For example: The Dragon King Returns, The Immortal Emperor Reborn, and recently popular themes of wealthy tycoons getting revenge.

Stories like hidden wealthy parents, “Turns out I’m the rich heir!”

Opening with a class reunion...

Fantasy novels still lingered around the “rags to riches” trope.

Chen Jiang immediately thought of the Cthulhu-themed Western fantasy novel that dominated the charts for years in his past life—The Secret.

That book alone had over four million words.

It would keep Chen Jiang busy writing for one or two years!