Why bother writing songs? Fast forward to the "Don't Laugh Challenge"

Why bother writing a song for Chapter 5? Fast forward to the "Don't Laugh Challenge"!
Xia Shen didn't react for a moment, but Qi Yixiang had already grabbed his phone, jumped off the bed, and came straight to Xia Shen's side.

Zheng Xingqi and Wen Xiong were not idle either, and they also came over one by one.

Everyone gathered around Qi Yixiang's phone screen.

At this moment, Qi Yixiang's phone was showing a paused video on Douyin (TikTok). The video featured a man with slicked-back hair, glasses, exaggeratedly pale makeup, and a full dark blue suit.

While it appears refined, it carries a strong sense of greasiness, so much so that it seems to overflow from the phone screen, causing a strong feeling of physical discomfort to those who look at it.

"Watch it yourselves." Qi Yixiang pressed the play button, and the video started playing.

Just then, a powerful melody began to play.

Boom boom boom boom.

The man spoke.

"I dried up my silence, and regretted my impulsiveness."

Even if I make a mistake this time, it's just because I'm afraid of missing out.

"Together we call out, 'Dream~'"

"It hurts when we're separated~"

"Does this mean that the most painful dreams are the ones that are never finished?"

The video ends with the man sticking his butt out.

It then enters a loop playback.

The video was playing on repeat.

Only a few people stared dumbfounded at their phone screens, falling into a deafening silence, completely speechless.

The video is less than 15 seconds long.

But the data is terrifying, absolutely terrifying.

A video that was only released 6 hours ago has received 260 million likes, and that number is still rising.

The number of comments reached 25.8.

There were even 26 people who clicked "favorite" without knowing why.

The number of reposts is even more outrageous, approaching one million.

In today's fast-paced, postmodern era, such a short video is, undeniably, an incredibly staggering number.

After a long pause, Wenxiong finally spoke: "This person looks familiar, like I've seen him somewhere before. Qi Yixiang, if I remember correctly, could this be that senior?"

Qi Yixiang was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, that's right, it's him."

Xia Shen: "."

Xia Shen didn't know how to evaluate it, or rather, he was at a loss for words.

Looking at the data in the video, he was bewildered.

He silently took Qi Yixiang's phone and then opened the comment section below the video.

"Damn it, these few seconds will take a lifetime to heal. Help! Why did I even click on this video?"

"It's so spicy it hurts my eyes, it really hurts my eyes."

"I want a pair of eyes that haven't seen this video!"

"But I don't know why, even though this video is really cringeworthy and makes me uncomfortable for ten seconds or so, after watching it, if I don't watch it for a while, it feels like ants are crawling on my body."

"This might be what they mean by 'it's uncomfortable to watch for ten seconds, but uncomfortable to not watch for a whole day.'"

"This is so damn addictive."

"But I have to say, the singing is quite good, and the song is very energetic."

"I've already added this song to my favorites. And let me tell you, the original version is pretty good too."

"I think the original version is not very good, but Tian Min's DJ version is much better."

"Is this song actually good? They gave me a sugar pill; I listen to it while taking insulin."

"People of the Tang Dynasty listen to Tang songs."

I exited the video and took another look.

At this point, the video had been pinned to the top of the page by an account named 'Tian Min'.

It ranked #1 on the Challenge Chart, #1 on the Rising Chart, and #3 on the Douyin & Kuaishou Hot Search Chart!

Clicking into the detailed challenge entry, a barrage of similar videos immediately appeared. The song's play count for the entire entry had reached a staggering 3 million!
And this is just the current data; it's still climbing and growing!

Within the hashtag section, various oily items instantly flooded the phone screen, each labeled with the tag 'high-quality human male'.

What a scene, a veritable painting of hell.

Xia Shen seemed to remember something as well, and handed Qi Yixiang's phone back. He then picked up his own phone and opened various music platforms that he hadn't used in a while.

First, I opened Hongyun Music.

Then, he immediately noticed the message notification bar displaying three red dots [.].

Upon clicking, one is shocked to find the backend data already in disarray.

Work: Give Me a Song's Time

Current views: 675.37 million↑
Playlist: 75.32+
Comments: 9.4+
Clicking on the comments section again, it's no longer the pitiful dozen or so comments it used to have.

The previous comments, such as "no one has created a masterpiece" and "discovered a hidden gem of a niche singer," are still there.

However, it has already been washed away by new comments.

I shut up in silence, regretting my impulsiveness. Even if I made a mistake this time, it was only because I was afraid of missing out. Being together is called a dream, being apart is called pain. Does that mean the most painful dream is the one that's left unfinished?

"Those who came via Douyin, let's gather together."

"Tian Min successfully made this song a hit."

"Help! It's a really nice song, but why do I always think of Tian Min's flirtatious figure whenever I hear it?"

"This song has become the exclusive background music for high-quality men."

"I don't understand. The original song is so good, so why isn't it popular? Instead, the DJ version is driving up the numbers first."

"This song is actually a new song. I didn't know there was still music like this in the music scene these days. It really amazed me as soon as I heard it."

"After listening to the original, I realized that Tian Min's remix was not very good. The original had many advanced chords, but they were all omitted to adapt to the special circumstances there, which made it sound a bit uncomfortable. Moreover, those kinds of songs are really easy to make. Let's just say, the two versions are completely different, and the production difficulty and cost are not on the same level."

"Xia Shen? I've got it, I've followed him!"

"There's only one song! I hope to see and hear even better works in the future."

"But how should I put it? I still prefer the DJ version, because the drumbeats are really awesome!"

Xia Shen then opened the personal information center.

His musician page has gained 5000 followers, now reaching 5071.

Opening other platforms reveals a similar pattern, indicating explosive growth.

How so? The scores on several platforms are ridiculously high, with listeners giving the song an initial score as high as 9.7.

But there is still one problem.
Although his score is high, it is still far ahead of Tian Min's Remix DJ version, which has a score of 5.2.

However, the two versions are not comparable at all in terms of data.

Tian Min's DJ version has already occupied the number 1 spot on the trending charts on various platforms, leading the original version by several levels.

Although most of the reviews were things like "awful to listen to", "so lame", and "the Chinese music scene is finished".

However, the number of views kept increasing, and the popularity kept rising.

On the contrary, Xia Shen's original version, despite receiving rave reviews, saw an unusually slow increase in viewership and various data metrics.

Everyone gave it a good review, but I didn't really listen to it!

Especially in the realm of music and soda music directly under Douyin and Kuaishou, the gap is enormous!
It wasn't until Xia Shen saw the details of various copyright revenues and other income in her private inbox that she understood.
[Dear musician, your work has been used and generated copyright revenue. We have sent you today's details.]

[Dear musician, if a musician adapts your work, you can share in the corresponding copyright revenue.]

[Soft Music: 37.28 views]

[Hongyun Music: 9.72]

[Penguin Music: 25.12]

When the detailed income statement appeared, Xia Shen finally smiled.

It's just not a happy smile.

He turned off his phone screen, his smile wan: "Forget it, let's just destroy it. Why bother writing songs? Let's just fast forward to the 'Don't Laugh Challenge'."

At this moment, all his persistence and steadfastness seemed so ridiculous in the face of stark reality.

(End of this chapter)