Chapter 25: As Long As You Are Happy

Jiang Qin swept a glance over the barrage of comments from the hired trolls.

"This song is called 'The You of the Past.' It’s a fusion of folk and rock. I’ll likely release more folk songs in the future, so feel free to follow if you’re interested. As for this particular track, my vocal range isn't quite the right fit, so I’ll be looking for a suitable singer to record it for the official release. If you think your voice is a good match, feel free to send me a private message with a vocal sample. I’ll listen to them once I end the stream."

[!! Oh my god, an opportunity like this? My third partner is a singer; I’m going to go tell him to hurry up!]

[My older brother isn't a professional singer, but he’s a music student—would that be okay?]

Jiang Qin happened to catch this comment and replied, "That’s perfectly fine. It doesn’t have to be a professional singer. As long as the fit is right, even a complete amateur or a student is welcome."

Hearing this, Lan Yuyan immediately thought of someone and hurriedly contacted him, urging him to record a clip and send it over. To increase her odds, she reached out to several others as well, both men and women.

Many music students were equally unwilling to miss this chance. They didn't care about the genre—be it folk or rock—as long as it sounded good. If they could secure the performance rights, a major hit might not be guaranteed, but a moderate success certainly was. In an instant, Jiang Qin’s private messages were nearly overwhelmed.

Most people were shocked that she was actually willing to let others sing her songs. After all, she wasn't a professional songwriter; given her performances at the bar, everyone had assumed she was aiming for a career as a singer herself. For a singer, a good song is the most precious commodity. Once they find one, they naturally hoard it for their own benefit—who would be willing to give that away? Inspiration isn't a bottomless well, after all. Even established composers usually keep a stash of works hidden away, saving them for critical moments. No one ever thinks they have too many good songs.

Those who had been jealous just a moment ago suddenly saw a different path forward. A Jiang Qin who only sang her own songs was a rival. But a Jiang Qin willing to compose for others was a potential partner! Especially for the males in the music department—what could be a better way to gain fame than becoming the partner of a songwriter? Generally, males who choose to pursue entertainment don't have very high mental power, so a C-rank female is already considered a good match. There were also more calculating individuals, holding onto the hope that if they became famous, they could pick and choose their female partners at will. After all, many female fans were completely irrational when it came to idol worship; they didn't care at all about a male's mental power level.

***

For the seventh song, the request for a minority language was selected again.

Whether or not Jiang Qin was angry didn't show on camera, but the viewers in the livestream were certainly livid.

[Even a fool can see someone is targeting her, right?]

[Heh, everyone should just get used to it. Many circles in our Federation are like this—they can’t stand the emergence of a genius, especially one from a low-ranking planet.]

[I had a junior who came from a trash planet because of his high mental power. He was ambushed during a mission this year and is now a cripple. After the culprit turned himself in, he 'mutated' into a beast and was put down on the spot—no evidence left behind.]

[The entire interstellar society is just one big chain of contempt.]

[No wonder people were slandering the streamer for stealing songs; it turns out there really is someone behind the scenes trying to sabotage her.]

[As a local from Azure Planet, I think I know the reason. The little female only worked at Moonlight Bar for two days, but yesterday she poached customers from several other bars. Because she trended on the StarNet, everyone went to see her out of curiosity, and those who were livestreaming also rode her coattails while promoting her.]

Minority languages are notoriously difficult to learn, and many people couldn't even speak this ancestral tongue themselves. Yet, after Jiang Qin sang in Xizhou and then in Cantonese, they were demanding yet another different language. She was only eighteen, not eighty-one; even if she had started learning from infancy, she wouldn't have had the time to master so many languages that offered no practical help for her future career.

Meanwhile, the rival bar owners behind the scenes were feeling smug. They knew that song genres were likely no longer a way to corner her, so they kept spamming minority language requests. Even if she knew three or four, they didn't believe she could pull out a different language for every remaining song! Hmph, if they let her finish ten songs smoothly today, they might not even be able to sell suppressants in their own bars anymore. They were already looking forward to the spectacle of Jiang Qin suffering from the backlash of her own popularity.

But what they didn't know was that Jiang Qin actually knew songs in several languages. Back at the orphanage, they didn't have a television, but the director did. When no one was watching them, Jiang Qin loved to crouch in the corner by the director's window because she could hear the sound from the TV. Shows like "Temptation of Going Home," "The Mute Bride," and "The Legend of the White Snake"—she had heard them all. She had listened to the opening and closing theme songs countless times, which included songs in Minnan, Thai, Korean, and Japanese. Although the TV shows were dubbed into Chinese, the songs remained in their original languages. Perhaps Jiang Qin was truly gifted; she had been singing since she was five.

It was because other children heard her singing that she was bullied even more severely later on. They forbade her from singing, especially in front of adults. Under the director's influence, every child in the orphanage understood exactly what kind of child potential adopters liked. Thus, they precisely suppressed any child who was most likely to be chosen. Jiang Qin was not the only victim.

Thinking back on how she learned those songs, even after all these years, Jiang Qin still found it hard to calm her emotions.

"I wonder if anyone still remembers the Minnan language? This next song is called 'As Long As You're Happy,' and it's a Minnan song."

"Life is vast, must we understand it all?
Sometimes clear-headed, sometimes indifferent.
Some say it’s good, surely some will say it’s bad..."

As the awkward, unfamiliar language flowed out, everyone in the livestream was stunned. They couldn't understand the words, but they felt it was incredibly impressive. They were struck once again by the word "illiterate."

Meanwhile, the scouts from major entertainment companies who had been secretly watching were even more excited. They felt as if they were witnessing a golden age where a hundred flowers bloomed in the music scene. The songs Jiang Qin had performed in just this one day already exceeded what most people released in several years. If this continued, she might end up dominating half the music library!

***

At the Jiang household, Jiang Rumeng gripped her palms tightly. She truly couldn't understand why Jiang Qin was still so outstanding even after being exiled to a barren planet. Was genetics really that important?

Thinking of this, she hated her father even more. Aunt Jiang Yulian had managed to find such excellent males, yet her own father, the aunt's biological brother, had settled for a D-rank female from a trash planet. Her beast form was even more detestable: a green-spotted rat. Whenever she thought about how she hadn't inherited a rabbit, but a green, spotted rat, she felt disgusted. The first time she saw it in a mirror as a child, she had wanted to peel off her own skin. In this family, everyone else had beautiful beast forms, and only she—anyone who saw her form would immediately know that she carried the genes of a low-level beastman from a trash planet.