Chapter 19: Voices Toward the Future

“ I feel so bad for you—getting chewed out even when you ranked second.”

“ Hey, if you ever ranked third, would the sky just collapse?”

“ Hey? I’m talking to you. Didn’t you hear me?”

Lin Xi lay sprawled across her desk, chattering endlessly at Xia Jin Nian beside her.
But the girl acted as if no one were speaking at all, eyes fixed on the blackboard as she took notes nonstop.

No one knew how long it took, but the bell finally rang.
The teacher dismissed the class, and only then did the girl beside her turn her head—like she had just emerged from seclusion.

“ I don’t know. Maybe? I’ve never ranked third~”

“ Seriously? Is your reaction time broken? It’s been ages—now you respond?”

“ We were in class just now. You’re not supposed to talk during class. It disrupts studying.”

“ You are just—”

The boy was caught between laughter and frustration, raising a thumbs-up.
The girl tilted her head.

“ Thanks~”

“ …Six.”

As the alarm blared—
“Ring, ring, ring—”

Lin Xiyue was once again yanked out of her dream made of memories.

She rubbed her eyes hard, still a bit dazed.

That little episode had happened back when she first met Xia Jin Nian.
And yes—Xia Jin Nian really was the definition of a perfect, rule-abiding good girl.

And yet that same good girl, who wouldn’t even whisper during class, actually climbed over a wall last night just to watch a meteor shower with her.
If that wasn’t a sign of how much she valued her best friend, what was?

“ Hurry up, get washed, eat breakfast, and get ready for work. If you’re late, your pay gets docked—”

Xu Wei opened the door, tossed the line over her shoulder, and left.
Lin Xiyue could only crawl out of bed in resignation.

After a bit of rushing around, mother and daughter arrived at the company.

“ Madam Xu, Miss Lin—Miss Xia has already arrived. I asked her to wait outside your office—”

Secretary Xiao Li hurried over to report, prompting the two to quicken their pace.

Signing the contract wasn’t complicated.
Both sides already understood the terms well.
A few signatures and it was done.

“ Right, Jin Nian—now that you’re officially an artist, head to the RougeNet assessment station this afternoon. There’s one near our company, so it’s not far.”

After confirming the contract was fine, Xu Wei tossed it aside and turned to remind Xia Jin Nian.

“ Okay, no problem, Director Xu~”

“ Don’t be so formal. When no outsiders are around, just call me Auntie Xu.”

“ Mm—Auntie Xu.”

The two were surprisingly in sync.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiyue was confused again—What on earth was RougeNet?
In the end, her “incompetent producer” status forced Xia Jin Nian to explain.

For an artist, two attributes could never be avoided:
Professional skill—and appearance, or “visual appeal.”

People say not to judge by looks, but audiences are brutally honest.
Good visuals could add points out of thin air.
Plenty of pretty “vases” with terrible vocals still managed to get by.

In C-Country’s thriving entertainment industry, it was inevitable that some authoritative organization would quantify appearance.
But since StarNet was a national institution, it couldn’t openly rate celebrities’ faces.

So a private organization—RougeNet—was created.
They developed scoring rules and testing standards, set up assessment stations across major cities, and specialized in evaluating celebrities’ looks and giving them a concrete score.

Though the idea felt somewhat improper by traditional moral standards, it became widely accepted.
A high RougeNet score could even be used as a promotional highlight.

Being placed under spotlights and magnifying glasses—observed, dissected, judged—
That was simply part of the pressure that came with high celebrity income.

After understanding the system, Lin Xiyue nodded thoughtfully—then dismissed it.

Please. This is my wife.
How could her looks possibly be lacking?

Even putting aside the lover’s filter, sure—objectively, Xia Jin Nian might be a tiny bit less stunning than Lin Xiyue.
But she was still an extraordinary beauty.

Eighteen, bright and youthful, at the height of her bloom—
There was nothing to be afraid of.

While the two discussed RougeNet, Xu Wei was watching a video on her computer—
The group performance Ran Zhu recorded last night.

As a professional producer, while moved, she also noticed something else—
Her daughter and Xia Jin Nian seemed to have great chemistry.
This song, Meteor Shower, would actually work very well as a duet.

She didn’t know why—
They were clearly just best friends.
Yet she kept sensing a hint of something… couple-like.

Besides, Yueyue wasn’t lacking in ability or talent at all.
She wouldn’t drag anything down.
If the two girls debuted as a duo, that would actually be ideal.
At least then she wouldn’t have to worry her investment would go down the drain.
The psychological trauma Lin Ziyu left her was still too deep.

Adopted daughters could betray you—
But surely a biological one wouldn’t?

Not that now was the time to bring this up.
They had only just signed Xia Jin Nian; saying anything now might make the girl overthink.

For the rest of the morning, Xia Jin Nian stayed in the studio practicing vocals.
Now that a single was officially being released, she couldn’t treat it like a casual demo anymore.

Improving basic vocal technique, correcting her old amateur habits, polishing the song’s details and emotional expression—
None of this could be rushed.
It would take at least a week before the track could be released.

Xu Wei personally supervised everything.
This studio permitted no other artist to enter.
Lin Entertainment was clearly giving their all.

During a break, Secretary Xiao Li approached.

“ Director Xu, PigPig Music launched a new event this morning called Voices Toward the Future.
It’s only for artists who’ve never released a single.
First place gets official debut promotion resources.
Should we help Miss Xia sign up?”

Besides StarNet, the country’s largest official platform, the growth of C-Country’s online ecosystem had birthed several strong private music platforms in recent years—such as PigPig Music and Penguin Music.

PigPig Music was powerful.
If they provided debut promotional resources for Xia Jin Nian, Lin Entertainment could save manpower and funding—and the results would probably be even better.

“ Sign her up.”

Xu Wei nodded.

“ But register two names.
Add Yueyue as well.”

“ Eh?”

Secretary Xiao Li was puzzled, but the boss’s word was unquestionable.
She left the studio to begin contacting PigPig Music…