Chapter 5: Someone Even More Vile Than He Luoluo

Fresh from recording her new song, the rising star Jiang Qi lay sprawled on her bed in a white onesie, sporting a face mask with no regard for her image, planning to watch a show and then call it a night.

Ding-dong—

Her phone buzzed.

Jiang Qi glanced at the screen. It was her best friend, Chen Xueling, calling.

So late and this girl still wasn’t asleep? She was usually the most health-conscious of them all—what was going on tonight? Jiang Qi answered, saying, “Our little Xue’er, how come you’re still up past one?”

“I’m sending you a DouShow music short video link. The song is so healing it’s giving me insomnia,” came the reply. Before Jiang Qi could say more, the call ended abruptly, as if Chen Xueling had something urgent to do.

Curious, Jiang Qi tapped the short video link her friend had sent. The screen bounced to the DouShow interface.

“‘Dispelling Sorrows.’”

The title had a certain appeal. She wondered about the content.

These days there were plenty of original songs in short videos, but most were forgettable and shallow. Though she scrolled DouShow herself, she rarely lingered on the music section.

But since it was from her best friend, it couldn’t be bad. After all, what good friend would set her up for disappointment?

Jiang Qi quickly noticed that the short video had over half a million comments, eight million likes, and eighty thousand shares.

“So popular?” Jiang Qi was stunned. She’d posted plenty of short videos herself, but none had ever garnered fifty thousand comments, let alone half a million. That was the kind of influence only the old guard of music legends possessed—rewards of a lifetime’s dedication.

The video played slowly, the music wrapping around Jiang Qi’s ears like a bewitching claw.

“When you step into this hall of joy,
Carrying all your dreams and hopes...”

The guitar intro was unremarkable, but the moment the lyrics resonated in her ears, Jiang Qi set aside her initial disdain, growing solemn.

The untrained listener might be entertained by the surface, but the trained ear recognized the craft. The singer’s skill was competent, likely classically trained, with solid fundamentals. What truly drew her in, however, were the lyrics. Just two lines, and already they painted a scene that pulled tears to the brink.

As the video continued, Jiang Qi unconsciously peeled off her carefully applied face mask.

“Faces painted with all kinds of makeup,
No one remembers who you are.
Three rounds of drinks, and you sit in a corner,
Stubbornly singing a sorrowful song,
Hearing it buried in the din...”

Without realizing it, Jiang Qi had moved to the sofa in her bedroom.

Through these few lines, she seemed to glimpse her own future self. Every year, countless newcomers entered the music world—how many were truly remembered by the public? Would she be remembered? Or, in the end, would she too be singing her bitter song alone in a corner?

A wave of inexplicable bitterness washed through her. She was already lost in the world conjured by the lyrics.

“You raise your glass and say to yourself,
A toast to the rising sun, a toast to the moonlight...”

The low, husky voice, coupled with those tremblingly poignant lyrics, pushed Jiang Qi’s emotions to their peak. The chorus had barely begun, yet she was already utterly ensnared.

No wonder there were so many comments and shares. If this song didn’t become a hit, it would be an injustice.

Just as her emotions were about to burst forth, the singing abruptly stopped.

Jiang Qi: ???

She blinked in confusion, checking her phone, only to find the video had ended.

She hurriedly tapped into the uploader Helolo’s profile, only to see a single video posted.

She knew all too well the tricks of music short video creators—cutting a song into multiple parts to attract followers and boost traffic.

She replayed the video, noticing that it had been uploaded four hours ago.

Four hours and still no second half? Was this a joke?

In that instant, Jiang Qi felt as if countless feathers were tickling her soles.

A maddening itch.

It drove her crazy—she wanted to tear Helolo to pieces.

What a damn tease.

She listened to it again, and finally noticed that the lyricist and composer were the same person.

“Jia Bei—does anyone in the industry go by that name?” Though a newcomer, Jiang Qi was no stranger to the music scene. There were plenty of lyricist-composers around, but only a handful at the gold standard, and she’d never heard of anyone called “Jia Bei.”

She searched for Jia Bei’s DouShow account and found it was a brand-new profile.

“A scammer, maybe!” Just as Jiang Qi was about to exit, a new video popped up on Jia Bei’s profile.

Curiosity compelled her to click.

The video was simple: a sheet of white paper ruled with horizontal lines, bearing the words “‘Dispelling Sorrows’ — Lyric Version.”

One line of lyrics per page, accompanied by gentle instrumental music, as the pages were turned one by one.

When the page turned to, “A toast to the rising sun, a toast to freedom,” Jiang Qi’s heart leapt into her throat.

She was afraid it would end there, afraid this was a fake account.

But to her surprise, the pages kept turning, the music flowing on.

“Awakening my longing, softening the cold window,”
“Thus, I can fly against the wind without looking back.”

The lines connected flawlessly—it really was the original writer... Jiang Qi grew excited, silently congratulating herself for being clever enough to search for the lyricist-composer’s DouShow account.

The next page turned, revealing a string of ellipses that made Jiang Qi’s eyes widen, nearly spitting blood in exasperation.

The soothing music persisted, the pages kept turning.

Page after page, nothing but ellipses.

Jiang Qi stared at those dots for a full six minutes, the maximum duration for a DouShow short video.

Finally, on the last page, the damned ellipses were replaced with:

“Surely no one actually watched to the end! No way! No way!”

Jiang Qi couldn’t help herself—she threw her phone across the room.

This person was outrageous.

Ellipses would have been better!

After her fit of anger, Jiang Qi reluctantly picked up her phone, now sporting several new cracks.

“Damn Helolo. Even more damn Jia Bei,” Jiang Qi shouted, needing to vent or risk going mad.

After unlocking her phone, she suddenly noticed a change on Jia Bei’s profile.

The account had been officially verified as a lyricist-composer, with a representative work: “Dispelling Sorrows.”

“It’s really him,” Jiang Qi marveled.

DouShow never verified accounts carelessly—it was all rigorously reviewed.

“If it’s really him, why only post one more line of lyrics? Might as well not have posted at all!” Jiang Qi was utterly defeated.

To offer hope, only to crush it yourself.

She’d never seen such an infuriating lyricist-composer.

Unable to help herself, Jiang Qi opened Jia Bei’s comments. There were barely more than ten thousand comments—a far cry from the bustle on Helolo’s side.

[Hamburger Eater]: “I thought Helolo was bad enough, but now I see there’s someone even worse. Today’s truly an eye-opener.”
[46876]: “I bow to the master. Such amazing lyrics—they remind me of my hometown and its local specialties. Master, do you accept delivery addresses? I want to send you some gifts, just to pay my respects.”
[467648]: “I don’t know if Helolo is a jerk, but you definitely are, @Jia Bei.”
[64676]: “Anyone else make it to the end of the video like me?”
[467946]: +1
[In Class]: +1
[Little Feng Ye]: +1
[Unhurried]: “Certified master—this really is the lyricist and composer of ‘Dispelling Sorrows.’”
[Picado]: “Confirmed! The lyricist and singer definitely have some sort of secret deal.”

After reading the comments, Jiang Qi felt as if she’d found her tribe. Her nimble fingers flew as she commented, “Double it, @Jia Bei.”

That set off an explosion in Jia Bei’s comment section.

Jiang Qi’s DouShow account was verified, and any comments made from celebrity or media accounts were automatically pinned to the top by the platform.

[Jiang Qi Fan Club]: “Wow! Qi Qizi is here too!”
[Jiang Qi’s Little Fangirl]: “My goddess Jiang Qi is listening to ‘Dispelling Sorrows’ too. That means I’m listening to it together with her!”
[Jiang Qi’s Number One Fanboy]: “Jiang Qi, I want to have your babies!”

Countless comments poured in beneath Jiang Qi’s post.

She quickly clicked share, sending the video to her WeChat Moments.

“Discovered a super healing set of lyrics—definitely gold standard.”

She then shared Jia Bei’s video link to her Weibo.

Hmph!

If healing is what we need, let’s all heal together.

Soon, comments began to appear below her Moments post.

[Chen Xueling]: “Wow! Qi Qi is even more mischievous than me.”

You little brat, and you have the nerve to call me out... Jiang Qi pouted.

[Singer Sun Xixi]: “I’ve seen so many people sharing this—going to listen now.”

[Singer Mo Li]: “It’s a lyricist, too—definitely need to check it out.”

[Host Teacher He]: “Just watched it—super healing, but easy to get frustrated.”

Reading comment after comment from industry friends, Jiang Qi laughed heartily, hugging her phone.

She finally understood the true meaning behind the song’s title.

“Dispelling Sorrows” really could dispel sorrow—provided you shared it with friends who hadn’t heard it yet.

With her comment, the video’s popularity soared higher.

Comments quickly surpassed twenty thousand, and likes hit a hundred thousand.

More and more people flocked to watch.

Some arrived from Helolo’s side, others from their idols’ Weibo posts.

And then, at a certain moment—

The onlookers were astonished to see a string of pinned comments appear in the video’s comment section.

—

(Post first, edit later.)

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