Chapter 27: An Unexpected Revelation

“Is that so? Congratulations!” Hearing Lin Ziyao’s words, Yang Tian quickly reacted, offering his congratulations.

He had only mentioned the matter as a suggestion from his manager, without any strong intention of seeing it through. For him, maintaining a good relationship with her was paramount, especially since he was still a trainee. He might need her songs himself once he debuted.

At this point, the others also joined in congratulating Lin Ziyao on signing with a company. The conversation at the dinner table soon shifted to other topics.

Qin Yu, sitting beside her, knew perfectly well that the contract given to Lin Ziyao hadn’t been signed. It had merely been carefully tucked away and brought back to the villa.

However, this was hardly the opportune moment to expose her. Since Lin Ziyao had brought it up herself, in the eyes of everyone else, she was now considered ‘one of their own’ – part of the company.

Having been busy all day, Lin Ziyao returned to her room shortly after dinner, leaving Feng Qiqi and Dai Wen to clean the dishes.

When Qin Yu entered the room, she found Lin Ziyao sprawled out, sound asleep, with the blanket kicked aside. One arm dangled loosely over the edge of the bed, a sight that brought a helpless expression to Qin Yu’s face.

She carefully adjusted Lin Ziyao’s position on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. This was precisely why she had made Lin Ziyao practice her smiles before dinner; she had been yawning intermittently all afternoon, and it was clear she would fall asleep the moment she touched the bed.

‘It looks like she hasn’t even showered yet?’ Qin Yu thought, looking down to see Lin Ziyao still in her day clothes. ‘Should I wake her?’

Yet, gazing at Lin Ziyao’s peaceful sleeping face, Qin Yu decided against disturbing her.

‘I’ll deal with it later.’

Meanwhile, in an apartment in Jiang City.

Qian Fang emerged from the steamy bathroom, comfortably wrapped in a bath towel. Since the song materials needed for the interview with the company hadn’t been prepared, she hadn’t bothered returning to the office to wait idly after the interview. Instead, she had asked them to send the documents to her email.

With the interview records and photos already in her possession, working overtime at home was far preferable to toiling away miserably at the office.

She quickly scanned her inbox. In the time it took her to shower, the other party had already sent the song materials and the final versions to her email.

However, Qian Fang wasn’t in a hurry to open the email and start working. First, she walked to the kitchen to brew herself a cup of coffee, anticipating a long night ahead at her computer.

“Let’s see who wrote these two songs,” Qian Fang murmured, clicking open the email as she sipped her coffee.

She hadn’t asked this question directly during the interview. Firstly, she hadn’t received the materials then, and secondly, Qin Yu’s debut song had been an original composition.

Therefore, Qian Fang had simply asked how Qin Yu approached her creative process. This allowed for flexibility; ‘creation’ didn’t necessarily mean songwriting, it could also imply singing, giving her room to interpret. She had assumed she would eventually see the details, so she hadn’t pressed for specifics at the time.

As her cursor scrolled down and she saw the columns for ‘lyrics’ and ‘composition,’ her composure instantly shattered. The coffee in her hand nearly spilled.

She quickly put down the cup, double-checking the email format for any errors. The name “Lin Ziyao” was emblazoned in the ‘lyrics’ and ‘composition’ fields.

‘No way?’ she thought, recalling the girl who had sat beside Qin Yu. Back then, it seemed Qin Yu had prompted her to explain how the songs were created.

Exercising caution, she dialed the contact person’s number. “Hello, I’m a reporter from Penguin Music. I wanted to ask about the materials you sent me. The ‘lyrics’ and ‘composition’ fields list Lin Ziyao’s name. Can you confirm that’s correct?”

“That’s correct. Thank you!”

After a moment, the contact person’s verified answer came through: the provided information was accurate!

Hanging up the phone, Qian Fang shook her head with a wry smile. One truly couldn’t underestimate anyone. She had initially assumed Lin Ziyao was merely releasing songs on the coattails of Qin Yu and the show’s momentum, simply to garner some attention.

She had never imagined that both songs were actually her own creations. No wonder Qin Yu had asked her to describe the creative journey.

Now, Qian Fang found herself with a burgeoning headache. She had listened to both songs, and their quality was undeniably excellent, with highly inspiring lyrics that would appeal to a broad audience upon release.

Previously, Qian Fang had intended to focus the exclusive interview on the popular idol’s second song, centering the entire piece around Qin Yu. Lin Ziyao’s contribution had been a minor part.

However, with Lin Ziyao credited for both the lyrics and composition, featuring her as the interview’s main selling point would undoubtedly capture more attention. Her immediate task was to completely shift the focus of the entire interview.

Faced with this unexpected turn of events, her only option was to first organize and review all the interview transcripts.

‘It looks like I’ll be pulling an all-nighter tonight,’ Qian Fang mused.

It was well past midnight by the time Qian Fang finally finished organizing all the interview records and photographs.

Gazing at the screen full of interview transcripts, Qian Fang leaned back, stretching her body with a languid yawn.

A click of a key turning in the lock at the door announced the arrival of her friend and roommate, Jiang Yi. Qian Fang didn’t even need to look up. They attended the same university, though their majors — journalism and medicine — had absolutely no relation to each other.

“Working overtime on another report?” Jiang Yi was intimately familiar with her friend’s habits. If the laptop was out of her room, it almost certainly meant a late night of work.

Without turning away from the screen, Qian Fang replied to Jiang Yi’s question, “There was a slight unexpected development with the interview. I need to change the article’s focus.”

“Who released new songs this time?” Qian Fang only needed to write exclusive interviews when new songs were about to be released.

“Qin Yu, and someone you probably don’t know named Lin Ziyao,” Qian Fang stated. With that, she opened the audio files, allowing Jiang Yi to listen to the two songs.

“Wow, these two songs are really good! I never expected Qin Yu could sing with such infectious emotion,” Jiang Yi remarked after listening, sharing her immediate impression.

“They’re good, right? And here’s the thing: Lin Ziyao wrote both the lyrics and the music,” Qian Fang told her roommate, explaining, “That’s why I’m working overtime tonight.”

Qian Fang’s words made Jiang Yi look at her with a puzzled expression. What did that have to do with working overtime?

Perhaps sensing Jiang Yi’s confusion, Qian Fang offered a wry smile and explained, “The main issue is that the interview originally focused heavily on Qin Yu, and I knew too little about Lin Ziyao.”

“But she’s quite beautiful in person. I’ve decided to frame the article around the collaborative efforts of these two beautiful young women; that should work well,” she continued. She then pulled up a photo of Lin Ziyao and Qin Yu together on her computer and showed it to Jiang Yi.

Qian Fang turned back to see her roommate’s peculiar expression after seeing the photo.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, a little puzzled.

Jiang Yi then pointed at Lin Ziyao in the picture and slowly began, “I know this girl.”