Chapter Ninety-Eight: And Now You’re Turning Up Your Nose?

The bonfire blazed higher, its light falling across every guest’s face. Through the camera lens, every expression was starkly visible.

At that moment, the rest of the guests were filled with awe.

A song Chen Fang had composed in such a short time had turned out to be this good.

Was he even human?

No.

Chen Fang was a god.

A god in the realm of music.

At the very least, in the history of the country’s music scene, there had almost never been a musician who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

The well-known top-tier producers everyone admired usually needed a year or two to write a truly excellent song. Inspiration came first, then gathering material, then lyric writing, arranging, and finally fine-tuning. All of that took time.

But Chen Fang... seemed not to need time at all.

What he lacked was only inspiration.

Once inspiration struck, the song simply appeared.

They were all entertainers.

And in fact, among the seven artists gathered around the fire, every one of them except Chen Fang had more years in the business than he did.

And yet, facing Chen Fang, they felt the pressure one would normally feel before an older generation of master musicians.

"Chen Fang, how long did it take you to write this song?"

A female guest spoke up.

Everyone’s faces grew serious.

Please.

Make the writing time longer.

Otherwise, we’ll all look completely useless.

Chen Fang smiled, set down the guitar, and casually tossed a few more sticks into the fire.

"From the moment I saw this bonfire, I started thinking it over in my head. While you were singing just now, I’d pretty much finished it, and then I just sang it offhand."

That was casual?

This was what he called "just singing it offhand"?

Among the guests, An Tinghan had some understanding of Chen Fang’s abilities, but even she wore a face of utter disbelief.

On-the-spot composition, and it only took half an hour...

For a moment, even the crackling of the bonfire seemed to fall silent.

The production team’s subtitles appeared at just the right moment to keep the program lively, or else all the guests would have gone quiet and the atmosphere would have frozen in an instant.

......

"I’m convinced. Chen, you’re my brother!"

"Bold of you. You should call him Master Chen."

"Chen Fang really is the kind who stays silent until he shocks everyone. He used to be an obscure street singer, and now that he’s on the rise, nobody can hold him back."

"You have to admit, talent is more useful than hard work."

"Who do you think is better, Shen Qingshan or Chen Fang?"

"I think it’s Chen Fang."

"Probably Shen Qingshan. Back in the day, Shen Qingshan was incredible too, and more than a third of the country’s classic hits were written by him."

"Could young Shen Qingshan write a song in half an hour?"

"........."

The answer was obvious.

No, he could not.

Shen Qingshan had once taken part in a music speed-writing show. The rules were simple: participants had to compose a song in the shortest possible time, and then the judges and audience on site would score it based on its quality.

Shen Qingshan had taken two hours to write his song.

Its quality was average, nothing outstanding.

But at least it was listenable.

As for the other contestants, they either failed to finish within the allotted time and were eliminated, or produced songs so awful they were not worth comparing.

As expected, Shen Qingshan came in first that year.

It was no exaggeration to say that this show had fired the first shot in Shen Qingshan’s early rise to fame. After that, his creative output exploded again and again, gradually cementing his title as the nation’s number-one hitmaker.

That was why everyone had always believed that two hours was the limit of songwriting.

But now Chen Fang had used only half an hour.

And what was more, the song "The Deep Sea" was far better than the one Shen Qingshan had written on that show years ago.

After so many years, another monster had appeared in the country’s music world.

And this one was even more outrageous.

On television, Chen Fang could roughly guess what these guests were thinking. This was exactly the kind of shock he wanted, because it would boost his popularity and win him new fans.

If even entertainers who lived and breathed show business were stunned by him, then there was no need to mention the wider audience.

On TV, to avoid the awkward silence from dragging on, the director had the guests play a few small games, and the atmosphere soon became lively and warm again.

As expected.

Without Cheng Jie, that troublemaker, everyone got along quite harmoniously.

Amid laughter and chatter, this episode of Let’s Fall in Love Together drew to a close. In the final minute, all the guests and crew stood together for one group photo. As the image froze, the episode came to an end.

Inside the villa, Su Murou was still savoring the moment.

Of course, she was not savoring the show itself, but the three songs Chen Fang had sung.

Her favorite was "The Deep Sea."

Though the song sounded deeply sorrowful, the more she listened, the more healing it felt.

"The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" and "Farewell, My Dear Friend" were lovely too, but compared with "The Deep Sea," they still felt like they were missing something.

"Chen Fang, sing 'The Deep Sea' again, will you?"

"It’s so beautiful."

"When you release the official version, I’m going to download it and make it my ringtone."

Su Murou looked thrilled.

She had loved singing since she was young, but unfortunately, she was hopelessly tone-deaf.

"I’m not singing it again," Chen Fang replied.

Cold.

Heartless.

You rotten man!!

Su Murou glared at him through gritted teeth, as if she wanted to bite him in the next second.

But in an instant, she changed into a pitiful expression, shoved Chen Fang aside, and clung to Ji Mei’s arm, whining sweetly, "Miaomiao, you’ll definitely grant me this tiny wish, won’t you~"

Seeing this, Ji Mei gave a helpless smile and said to Chen Fang, "I want to hear it too."

Chen Fang raised his middle finger at Su Murou.

This girl had gotten smart.

As long as Ji Mei was coaxed into being happy, Chen Fang was basically in her grasp.

After all, Chen Fang could never refuse Ji Mei’s requests.

Su Murou flashed a crafty smile and stuck her tongue out at Chen Fang, looking immensely pleased with herself.

"Only once."

"After I sing it, I still need to sleep."

Chen Fang was not very pleased.

He had originally wanted to go in and sleep with Ji Mei right now, all because of Su Murou.

Su Murou gave him a disdainful glance. "You two go into the bedroom to sleep? I’m almost too embarrassed to expose you. Young people should exercise a little restraint. Chen Fang being lustful is one thing, but Miaomiao, you need to control yourself too! And another thing: I have to criticize the soundproofing in this place. It’s obviously been done on the cheap."

Whenever Chen Fang came here, it was guaranteed to be a full-scale assault, fireworks in every direction.

At ten at night, they went into the room.

By three in the morning, the whole place was still shaking.

The key point was that the soundproofing was not even that good.

Su Murou could bury her head in a pillow and still faintly hear the tiniest sounds of breath and gasps.

How was that any different from watching a video?

No.

Wait.

It was far more thrilling than watching a video.

Thinking of this, Su Murou’s face turned a little red, as though some indecent scene had flashed through her mind.

"You’re even complaining about the soundproofing?"

Chen Fang was genuinely stunned.

Before Su Murou arrived, the kitchen, the sofa, the balcony—everywhere had been a battlefield. They could fire wherever they pleased. Once Su Murou showed up, Chen Fang and Ji Mei’s territory had been squeezed down to the bedroom.

And she still had the nerve to complain that he was in the way...