Chapter 43: Record-Breaking Ratings and a Hidden Easter Egg

“Director Chen, good morning!”

Lin Ziyao, having just woken up in her room, descended the stairs with Qin Yu and greeted Director Chen.

As they approached, they noticed his face was covered in stubble, yet he radiated an invigorated glow.

“Yesterday’s first episode broke all viewership records,” Director Chen announced.

Retrieving the data Xiao Li had compiled, he was eager to share the news with Lin Ziyao and Qin Yu.

Lin Ziyao, who typically got a headache from numbers, merely glanced at the report before handing it to Qin Yu.

Unlike Lin Ziyao, who was oblivious to data, Qin Yu’s eyes lit up upon seeing the figures. “Congratulations, Director Chen!” she exclaimed directly.

“I merely rode on Ziyao’s good fortune,” Director Chen replied, waving his hands dismissively, attributing all credit to Lin Ziyao.

After passing the documents to Qin Yu, Lin Ziyao had been quietly eating her breakfast. It wasn’t until Director Chen mentioned her that she turned, her face a mask of confusion, as if asking what they had been discussing.

After chatting for a while in the dining room, Director Chen hastily finished a few bites of breakfast and returned to his room. He intended to catch up on sleep, as he was still needed to host the final day’s activities in the afternoon.

One by one, the other guests staying in the villa also woke up and came downstairs, ready to begin their last day of variety show filming.

Meanwhile, in the outside world, the scheduled release time for the Penguin Music songs had arrived. Viewers who had pre-ordered the songs all received notification reminders from Penguin Music.

Even Xiao Yang, who had pre-ordered the song immediately last night, was no exception. Since it was still Sunday, she had just enjoyed a lie-in and was now lying in bed, scrolling on her phone. She wanted to see what new shenanigans the hilarious group members in Qin Yu’s fan club were up to.

Upon entering the group, she immediately saw a large image pasted by the ‘dog admin’—a screenshot of Lin Ziyao resting her head on Qin Yu’s lap.

“I told you, they’re definitely a match!” the dog admin continued, claiming credit in the group, with many members echoing their sentiment below.

Ever since the show aired, witnessing Qin Yu and Lin Ziyao’s various interactions, this group of people had transformed into dedicated ‘shipper-scientists,’ meticulously searching for ‘sugar’ with magnifying glasses.

The dog admin, who had initially promoted the pairing in the group, had now become the chief ‘shipper-scientist,’ distributing ‘sugar’ everywhere and encouraging other members to join their cause.

Few could resist the charm of a beautiful girl; if one wasn’t enough, then two certainly would be.

Watching the two beautiful girls interact on the variety show, their hearts felt utterly purified.

Even Xiao Yang, who had previously maintained her stance as a devoted solo fan of Qin Yu, found her resolve wavering after watching their interactions in *Star Week*. The dynamic between Lin Ziyao and Qin Yu, in Xiao Yang’s eyes, was genuinely heartwarming and soothing.

“Ah, what a pity, we only have enough ‘sugar’ left for four more servings,” a rather pessimistic group member lamented, believing that the ‘sugar’ had a clear end in sight. Once the variety show concluded, they speculated, the two would likely go their separate ways.

“Nonsense! They’re both from the same studio; they see each other constantly. I think you went to bed too early last night and missed the Weibo post from their studio.”

Such a statement was immediately refuted by another member, who promptly posted Qin Yu’s studio’s Weibo update.

“So, that means we’ll have plenty more ‘sugar’ to enjoy in the future. Yay!”

“As long as it doesn’t end tragically, there’s a good chance for more ‘sugar’!”

One particular group member was muted for five minutes by the dog admin.

“Shut up! I forbid you from cursing the ‘sugar’ I ship!”

The dog admin was then muted for an hour by the group owner.

The dog admin quickly faced retribution from the group owner, and this little drama brought a temporary quiet to the group. Xiao Yang continued to speculate about Qin Yu’s new song with the other members, all while sharing humorous images.

“Just a small hint: the new song contains an obvious Easter egg.”

At that moment, the group owner, who had been silent, spoke up, dropping a bombshell into the now-calm chat.

“What Easter egg???”

“About what?”

“Is the group owner’s info reliable?”

After speaking, the group owner went back to lurking. Many members were influenced by the owner’s statement and began speculating about the Easter egg in the new song.

Xiao Yang, however, did not participate in this discussion. This wasn’t because she didn’t trust the group owner; it was because the release time for Qin Yu and Lin Ziyao’s songs had arrived!

She immediately opened the Penguin Music app on her phone, eager to be among the first to listen. Yet, upon launching the app, she was met with a blank screen and a loading indicator.

Even opening Penguin Music on her computer yielded the same result. She then checked Weibo and saw a rapidly climbing trending topic:

Penguin Music crashed!

Even though Penguin Music had several programmers on duty, they were helpless against the surging crowds. They could only quickly issue an apology on Weibo.

They admitted their operational error and, as a preemptive measure, released interview photos. They promised to resolve the issue within five minutes to alleviate listeners’ dissatisfaction.

The result, however, was that the comment section was flooded with uniform messages of ‘wife.’

The photos taken by Qian Fang were of exceptionally high quality. Whether they were individual shots of the two or their joint photos, they all possessed a strong cinematic quality, which managed to quell a significant amount of the listeners’ anger.

Soon, Penguin Music successfully restored its software and compensated all listeners with several days of free membership.

Xiao Yang finally saw Qin Yu’s new song, “Original Dream,” had been updated:

Vocals: Qin Yu

Lyrics and Composition: Lin Ziyao

Lin Ziyao wrote this song too?

Xiao Yang was utterly astonished. She had never imagined Lin Ziyao could write a song for Qin Yu; she had initially assumed it would be an original piece by Qin Yu herself.

She quickly pushed her surprise aside and began to immerse herself in Qin Yu’s singing.

Qin Yu’s voice was delicate and distinctive. After hearing Lin Ziyao’s performance, she had grasped the method, infusing her own conviction into the song. This amplified the song’s overall emotional impact, offering Xiao Yang a completely different kind of inspiration.

The song wasn’t long, and Xiao Yang quickly finished listening to the entire piece. It was immediately apparent that the Easter egg the group owner mentioned was hidden within it.

The lyrics contained the phrase ‘invisible wings,’ clearly a direct link to Lin Ziyao’s song title. However, considering that both highly inspiring songs were penned by Lin Ziyao, this connection became entirely logical.

When Xiao Yang clicked on the new song chart, she discovered that the two songs released today had already appeared on the rankings. Although they couldn’t yet compare to songs that had been released for a longer period, they had already reached the top twenty. This was just after their release, and the subsequent momentum suggested they would likely climb to the number one spot on the new song chart, highlighting their immense potential and quality.

Wait!

A thought struck Xiao Yang: Lin Ziyao’s identity in Director Chen’s variety show was that of an individual trainee.

An individual trainee capable of creating two high-quality original songs?

She felt as though she was witnessing a rising star in the music industry, poised to soar alongside Qin Yu.