Restart life

Chapter 286 0283 [Frontier Moon's Choice]

In early November.

The "Original Music Online Competition" jointly organized by Xiami Music, Xiaonei.com, and HaiNei.com has come to a close.

The competition was somewhat complicated.

The voting results from long-time Xiami Music users, Renren.com users, HaiNei.com users, and professional musicians' ratings have resulted in significant disagreements and differences.

Several major user groups have started making trouble, engaging in daily flame wars in the competition's comment section.

There was no other way but to create three separate lists, and then combine the scores from music critics to rank them.

Bian Guanyue and Tao Xue came over again over the weekend.

This time, they didn't bicker. They seemed to have gotten used to each other's presence and listened to the songs with great enjoyment together with Chen Guiliang.

"The song that won the school's online vote is so cool!" Tao Xue liked it as soon as she heard it.

Bian Guanyue surprisingly agreed: "I don't really like rap, but this rap is particularly interesting."

The same applies to Chen Guiliang.

The three of them surprisingly reached a consensus on their standards of music appreciation because of this song.

The song is called "Binary Love Letter".

The singers are the Tsinghua University duo, Mercury and Jupiter. Both have master's degrees in computer science.

The song begins with a rapid drumbeat, accompanied by the Windows XP startup sound and the old-fashioned modem dial tone.

Immediately afterwards, a boy began to recite binary code rhythmically.

"01100110, 01110010, 01101111, 01101101." (meaning from)

The rapper's voice suddenly became louder:
My love was burned onto old floppy disks.

It takes up 1.44MB but I dare not write to it due to read protection.
While (meet_you == true) the heartbeat overflows the stack in front of the Second School Gate

I spent the entire autumn compiling this, all for just one sentence: "Passed."

Even though none of these four lines of lyrics rhyme, they still have a certain feeling and flavor when sung.

Next up:
"I feel like an exception instruction stuck inside a try-catch block."

When your gaze sweeps across my void core.

Encapsulate the inexplicable longing into a static class.

But I lost all my courage when I tried to connect. Courage, courage, I've lost my courage.

Then it begins to recall the process of having a crush, accompanied by various life scenes such as "Lanqiying Internet Cafe" and "Wudaokou Last Bus".

The last part is even crazier:
"This love letter, written with the remaining cache..."
Transmitted for half a century amidst dial-up modem howling.
if (you.reply()== true){
system("format C:/Love"); // Format your life

} else {
my_heart.BlueScreen(); // Blue screen breaks my heart..."

The comments section was buzzing with excitement, with even computer science students pointing out syntax errors in the DOS formatting commands.

The singer himself came out to explain: "It was deliberately misspelled. This is love's violent modification of computer language. Love has tampered with the source code of life."

Some students who weren't computer science majors asked what the various codes and instructions meant, and a lot of knowledgeable students stepped in to help explain.

However, this song was destined to remain niche, only ranking first in the voting charts on Renren.com. It barely made it into the top ten on Xiami Music, and ranked outside the top thirties on HaiNei.com.

The winning song, chosen by users of Haiwainet, was actually a song written by Xu Song specifically for this competition.

The song is called "Farewell to the Moon Over a Thousand Mountains," and it speaks of another world that has never existed. It clearly imitates Jay Chou, yet Xu Song has also developed his own unique style.

Bian Guanyue commented, "I don't really like this song, 'Farewell to the Moon Over a Thousand Mountains,' because it's too heavily imitative."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "That's why it was voted to the top by users on the domestic and international internet. And long-time users of Xiami Music also voted this song into the top ten. Everyone still really likes Jay Chou."

The three continued listening to other songs when Huang Xinyuan suddenly called.

Huang Xinyuan was somewhat excited: "The song 'Farewell to the Moon Over a Thousand Mountains' has been uploaded to major music platforms by netizens. In just a few days, downloads on multiple music websites have skyrocketed. This song should definitely be one of our main ringtones going forward."

Chen Guiliang said, "Okay, you decide. What about the download numbers for 'Binary Love Letter'?"

Huang Xinyuan said, "There is a lot of discussion about that song, but the number of downloads is less than one-third of that of 'Farewell to the Moon over a Thousand Mountains'."

"There's also a song called 'My Love Will Never Regret.' It's a very old-fashioned, sentimental ballad that didn't even crack the top 20 on any of the three online charts. But its online downloads are second only to 'Farewell to the Moon over a Thousand Mountains,' currently ranking second. Based on my experience making ringtones, once this song gets popular, its downloads are estimated to far surpass those of 'Farewell to the Moon over a Thousand Mountains.'"

Professionals have different perspectives on issues.

Huang Xinyuan has been working on ringback tones for two or three years, and he knows that a large portion of ringback tone users are unlikely to participate in this vote. And these are precisely the main users of ringback tones!

If you were to submit "Two Butterflies" to a competition, it probably wouldn't even make the top 50, but its ringtones sell very well.

After exchanging words with Huang Xinyuan, Chen Guiliang called Wang Hao, the CEO of Xiami.

Wang Hao said with a mix of worry and joy, "The month-long online original music competition has brought Xiami Music over 20 new registered users. But the composition of the new users is too mixed, and the original 10 users have some complaints, feeling that Xiami Music has been polluted. Sigh, I'm working on coordination, mainly by splitting the charts to resolve the conflict."

Chen Guiliang said, "You need to figure out a way to retain both new and old users as much as possible."

This "wanting both" attitude left Wang Hao speechless.

Xiami Music is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ByteDance, so it needs to seize the time to develop and deliver an excellent performance before its IPO.

After finishing his business, Chen Guiliang continued to listen to music with them.

Although he wasn't practically embracing two women, one sat to his left and the other to his right. The two girls were sitting very close together, both staring at the computer screen.

“Listen to that song ‘Chrysanthemums Boiled by the Autumn Fence,’ the title alone is Chinese style,” Tao Xue said, pointing to a song on the chart.

I listened for three or four minutes.

Bian Guanyue commented, "The imitation is very rough, far inferior to Xu Song's."

Bian Guanyue is usually quite reserved in her speech, but she becomes very sharp-tongued when it comes to music.

They are currently in the house that Chen Guiliang and Bian Guanyue recently bought.

Bian Guanyue deliberately revealed it, and Chen Guiliang couldn't stop her...

Tao Xue was visibly disappointed upon hearing the news, but she still accepted the invitation to visit the new house. Around noon, Bian Guanyue stood up and said, "I'll cook for you."

Tao Xue pouted.

Bian Guanyue is playing the role of the hostess again.

When she heard noises coming from the kitchen, Tao Xue said to Chen Guiliang, "When I make money in the future, I also want to buy a house... Well, purely for investment. Senior, would you like to partner with me?"

Chen Guiliang readily agreed: "Okay."

Tao Xue cheered up and skipped to the kitchen: "Senior, I'll help you cook!"

"No, I can do it alone."

"Then I'll help you wash the vegetables. Where's the knife for peeling potatoes?"

"Let me look for it, I think I bought it..."

Both of these girls are only mediocre cooks; the food is passable, to say the least.

Now they're all vying to show off.

Listening to the sounds coming from the kitchen, Chen Guiliang imagined the idiom story in his mind: "The man from Qi had a wife and a concubine..."

Bah! I'm not going to beg like those people from Qi!
Chen Guiliang took out his tape recorder and started studying English again. His English level is improving rapidly, especially his listening and speaking skills.

Although he worked hard in his senior year of high school, he had too much knowledge to catch up on, so he could only allocate some time to studying English.

Now, I practice all the time except for work, so it would be a shame if I didn't improve quickly.

"Senior, come out for dinner!" Tao Xue called out from the living room.

Chen Guiliang took off his headphones and went to the dining room. He saw that both girls were wearing aprons and looked like virtuous wives at home.

If they can continue to live together harmoniously like this, Chen Guiliang is willing to accept ordinary-tasting meals.

"This braised beef with tomatoes is a dish I learned to make this summer vacation," Bian Guanyue proudly introduced the feast she had prepared.

Tao Xue quickly said, "I made this hot and sour shredded potatoes and scrambled eggs with tomatoes."

Chen Guiliang tasted each dish, then, against his conscience, gave a thumbs up: "Delicious! This beef is stewed until very tender, and the combination with the tomato flavor is simply amazing... Hmm, this hot and sour shredded potato is also good. It's very rare to see such ordinary dishes cooked to this standard..."

The two girls believed his praise and quickly picked up the dishes they had made.

Then they looked puzzled: It's just so-so, is it really that delicious?

Immediately afterwards, they picked up the dishes each other had made, instantly realizing that Chen Guiliang was praising them excessively.

Tao Xue followed Chen Guiliang's lead and said, "Wow, senior, your cooking is really delicious."

Bian Guanyue also said, "You cooked it very well too."

Now it was Chen Guiliang's turn to think to himself: You two are so fake.

After lunch, Chen Guiliang helped them wash the dishes, and the sink was almost overflowing with people.

But Chen Guiliang was very happy.

I'm so happy I wish this moment could last forever.

The two women clearly sensed Chen Guiliang's emotions. Although they each harbored resentment, they kept it hidden. They were simply trying to appease that scumbag.

In the afternoon, Chen Guiliang took them to play in the rooftop garden.

By the moonlit border, Bian Guan lay under the grape trellis enjoying the cool shade, while Tao Xue excitedly took fish food to feed the goldfish in the pond.

Chen Guiliang stood to the side, grinning foolishly: This scene is so beautiful!
If Han Han can do it, why can't I? It's not that difficult, really.

After playing in the rooftop garden for a while, Chen Guiliang took them to play badminton in the community.

There are so many internet professionals in this run-down neighborhood; people greet Chen Guiliang every now and then. Only after asking do you learn that they're either senior executives or key personnel at some company.

On the unprofessional badminton court, Bian Guanyue and Tao Xue were playing fiercely. They had been holding back all along, but now they were determined to win.

Chen Guiliang felt the scene was familiar and suddenly remembered the sitcom "iPartment".

Isn't that what Hu Yifei and Nuolan are like?
Damn it, I shouldn't have looked down on "iPartment" for plagiarism before. Their plots are so much more relatable to real life.

But the situation today is much better than before.

Perhaps over time, they will get used to each other's presence.

After playing badminton, Chen Guiliang drove them back to school, his hands dripping with sweat.

The second Friday.

Bian Guanyue called Chen Guiliang: "Is she going over on Saturday or Sunday?"

"Uh... I don't know, let me ask." Chen Guiliang realized. Things definitely wouldn't develop as he had expected.

After calling Tao Xue, Chen Guiliang called Bian Guanyue back and said, "Tao Xue said she's coming to visit tomorrow."

Bian Guanyue said, "I have something to do tomorrow, so I won't be going. Could you take her back to school before evening and then pick me up?"

Chen Guiliang could only say, "Okay."

Neither of them said anything more, but the basic meaning was clear.

Bian Guanyue tacitly approved of Tao Xue's presence, but she didn't want the three of them to be together, as it would make everyone feel awkward. She told Chen Guiliang to plan his own time from now on.

After hanging up the phone, Bian Guanyue sat on the steps of the playground, lost in thought.

Her upbringing made her feel that she would never fall in love with any man.

But once you've truly fallen in love, it's impossible to let go.

She had understood her aunt and uncle's marital situation back in junior high school.

Either let go as soon as possible, or choose to compromise; otherwise, you'll end up like your aunt, stuck in a stalemate where neither divorce nor reconciliation causes pain for both of you.

(End of this chapter)