Rebirth from the Ashes

Once the night practice was over, Su Ruowan sneaked into Su Muyan’s room.

Su Muyan often sought unknown music producers from abroad for songs and bought off the music rights after he picked a tune he liked. Normally, a song would be selected before the lyrics were added by a hired composer or the singer themselves. The same goes with the choreography. The singer was free to hire a choreographer too.

Some of Su Muyan’s songs were bought but the lyrics were filled in by himself. It was easy with the foreign musicians as there was a chance local ghostwriters would blackmail and expose him, putting his career at risk.

“Muyan.” Su Ruowan entered the room in suspense. She cautiously asked him, “Have you gotten it?”

Speaking from personal experience, Su Muyan tried to ease her tension. “Stuff we bought is ours to keep. Don’t be scared. Nothing bad’s going to happen.”

“Okay.” Su Ruowan may appear ridden with guilt and worry, but scared? As if. Nevertheless, she still acted scared in front of Su Muyan.

“Oh, you. Take it easy or people will see through you.” Su Muyan grinned.

Wanwan was too kind and timid. The song was theirs since they bought it with their money, so there was no need to feel guilty and burdened. Su Muyan went to check on the downloading progress. It was completed.

Su Ruowan nodded and took great courage in replying, “Muyan, I got it. The whole thing is my fault. I shouldn’t have acted on impulse and agreed to it.”

“It has nothing to do with you.” Su Muyan was on her side. Following a sudden thought, murderous intent became visible in his eyes. He inquired, “Are you still hanging with He Lu?”

That woman was no angel with all that mind games and dirty tricks. She played a part in pushing Wanwan to perform her own original on stage and even made Wanwan look bad this morning.

“Lulu didn’t mean to.” Su Ruowan weakly defended He Lu.

Of course, she knew better than to hang out with He Lu, but there was no turning back for her now. She had no choice but to dance around He Lu since they were supposedly tight.

“People never repay you with kindness. When will you change that character of yours?” Su Muyan sighed and helplessly shook his head. This was no time to make a fuss over it. He urged her, “You better watch your back.”

Wanwan had always been a bleeding heart, and this was the case with Shen Xi and He Lu. If it were someone else in Wanwan’s position, the person would have despised Shen Xi and He Lu for their doings!

“Got it.” Su Ruowan added. “Lulu is just frank and not mean at heart.”

Su Muyan laughed in rage. “More like a snake in the grass. You’re naïve to tell her everything. Keep her at arm’s length. You’re competitors at the end of the day. How many times do I have to tell you this?”

Su Ruowan bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Muyan. I’ve disappointed you.”

Looking at her dejected face, Su Muyan did not have the heart to lecture Su Ruowan. Perhaps it was a good thing that Wanwan was innocent and kind, he could just take the burden off of her and stand by her.

A kind heart was better than having none like Shen Xi, that brat. The thought of Shen Xi sent Su Muyan in a fit of rage.

Su Ruowan sensibly followed behind Su Muyan as he tapped a folder on the desktop and a music file inside. Music began to play.

“These are the songs. Let’s have a listen to see what you like. You can try to fill in the lyrics and I’ll help you with that.” Su Muyan told her.

Su Ruowan gratefully stared at him. Her voice was soft and sweet like cotton candy. “Thank you, Muyan.”

“It is nothing if it helps you sail smoothly to your debut.” Su Muyan could already see it. He would be delighted for his sister to debut front and center but more so over the moon to step on Cosmos Entertainment to get ahead.

Nevertheless, he hit a stalemate with Mr. Xixi, unable to make any progress with the latter in the past two days. Su Muyan struggled to come up with a way to get through to him.

Yet, he was determined to make a breakthrough, or impress for a lack of a better word. Still, he did feel better that he was not alone in this. Mr. Xixi was not close with the other mentors as well.

“I will do my best.” Su Ruowan cheerfully balled up her fist.

“I believe you can do it. You are the best among all these trainees.” Su Muyan looked proud.

The duo listened to the music together to choose a tune.

Su Ruowan quietly remained attentive. Sure, she did not have the talent to compose a song, but that did not mean she could not appreciate a good song. She could pick up the good from the bad easily.

Su Muyan was quite accomplished in music. To him, the first few songs were mediocre and probably would do for Youtube singers. However, it was not good or mind-blowing enough for Wanwan to make it huge on the main stage.

Su Ruowan grew impatient as she listened on. Did Muyan give any thought to this? She might as well write her own songs than use these trashy songs.

The pair sat for a while giving an ear to the music. They had to first filter through the songs, then pick a few before making their final decision.

Suddenly, their eyes lit up when the prelude of another song came on after a lackluster one. They exchanged a glance and continued listening.

With the song coming to an end, Su Ruowan became unsure. Was it just a less trashy song out of all the rest? She turned to Su Muyan. “What do you think about this song, Muyan?”

Su Muyan nodded. “You can definitely perform this song on stage and make a splash with the nice and catchy tune, but it’s hard to say if it’d be a big hit.”

There was a saying going round in showbiz that publicity was what drew attention, but to make it big, it took fate. These words rang true not only to artists but also to songs. It was easier to make a splash through hyping, but to blow the audience away required both quality and chance.

Ten minutes later.

The QQ account Shen Xi got from Yuan Yu suddenly beeped. The icon was blinking under the name, Su.

Su sent a cropped picture. [Su: This is the song I picked. Get someone to choreograph the song too.]

Shen Xi imitated the former account user’s style of speech. [Microwave: Sure, of course. I have someone in mind. Leave it to me. You can count on me.]

[Su: I want the choreography in two days.]

Shen Xi curled her lips while her lean fingers danced around the keyboard. [Microwave: Alrighty! Get the money ready and leave the rest to me.]